Among all the books that have ever been written, none have been more under attack than the Bible. Yet, it is the best-selling book of all time, as it is by far the most revered book in all the world! It is amazing how even just the extreme polarization of the Bible is in and of itself a testimony of its truthfulness and divine authorship. Entire church splits and denominations have arisen because of how differently people interpret it, and the passages about the Noahic Covenant that we’ll be examining today are no exception. Many believe the Flood of Noah is merely a myth, and dismiss the obvious worldwide geological evidence as proof of gradual change over millions of years. Others, including even some conservative Bible scholars, will insist that the Flood was local rather than global. But there are serious problems with this view as well, as it completely undermines the covenantal nature of what the Flood was all about.
Why is this issue important to address? Because it undermines how the very message of the gospel itself is portrayed. Woven into the fabric of Scripture is the same Gospel truth. We see this underlying theme in all of the covenants, including the Noahic Covenant. So what is the Noahic Covenant, and what significance does it have on God’s redemptive plan? To answer this question, we first need to look at where Noah is first introduced in Genesis 5. In this chapter, we see the recurring statement “…and he died”. It is a reminder that the curse of death that resulted from the Fall is in full swing. Aside from Enoch being the lone exception to this rule (v. 24), the pattern in this text repeats itself until we come to a man named Noah. When Lamech (not to be confused with the Lamech who had multiple wives in chapter 4) became the father of a son, something special happens. A prophecy was given concerning his son and he was called Noah because, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed” (v. 29).
By Noah’s time, the world had become a violent place, full of wicked men, and in Genesis 6:5 we have the all too familiar statement: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” In the following few verses, God expressed His displeasure with man, considering blotting out man from the face of the earth. But then in verse 8 we see a shift. Despite the widespread corruption throughout all the earth, “[….]Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Was there something intrinsically special about Noah? No. He was a sinner just like the rest of us. Yet, God chose to demonstrate His saving grace towards him.
In order to understand the Noahic Covenant, we have to understand the context surrounding the Flood, starting with when God first commanded Noah to build the ark. The text reads as follows:
“Then God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch…Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.’” (Genesis 6:13-14, 17-18)
There are many things I could point out concerning this text, such as all the typologies that are present, even down to the very pitch that was used to cover the ark. But for our purposes, today I will be focusing particularly on the word covenant in this text. This is the first time the word covenant appears in the Bible, and it comes in the context of impending judgment. This is significant because God was setting the stage for what would become a major theme in all of redemptive history: that humanity deserves to be judged for their rebellion against the Creator; yet, there are some that God chose to demonstrate His grace towards and are recipients of His covenantal blessing.
Most of us are familiar with what comes next in the narrative. The flood waters came, and Noah and his family remained safe in the ark while the entire outside world perished. Nearly a year later, the flood waters that engulfed the whole world subsided, and Noah stepped outside. Then, in Genesis 8, we read that Noah built an altar to the Lord, and upon smelling the soothing aroma the Lord said, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done” (v. 21). It was as though there was now a new beginning…a brand new start! Thomas Schreiner puts it this way in his book Covenant and God’s Purpose for the World: “Moses draws parallels between the new start with Noah and the initial creation of Adam and Eve, indicating that a fresh era had commenced, that there was something like a new creation after the flood.“ But God didn’t just leave Noah with a verbal promise to never again destroy the world with a flood, He formalized it by making a covenant with him. To seal the deal, He chose the rainbow to be the sign of the covenant.
“Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, ‘Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.’ God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ And God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth’” (Genesis 9:8-17).
When we read the account of Noah and the Flood, it serves to remind us that apart from the grace of God, there is no escape from God’s judgment. Had the Flood been local rather than global, there would have been other options for preservation, even something as simple as migration to a different part of the world. In fact, there would have been no reason at all for Noah to build an ark in the first place. But just as Jesus is the only way of salvation for sinners (John 14:6), the ark was the only way to avoid God’s watery judgment in Noah’s time. The covenant God made with Noah was a covenant for all creation, thus pointing to the universality of the judgment. The restated command to be fruitful and multiply in Genesis 9:1 is identical to the original command given in Genesis 1:28; hence, both creation covenants are global in their extent. We have introduced the historical background of the Noahic Covenant, and next time we will discuss how it remains relevant to us today and how it ultimately points us to the past, present, and future work of Christ.