Previously, we introduced the Noahic Covenant: where we find it in Scripture and its historical context. To sum it all up, God caused a global flood to occur in the days of Noah to judge the world for its wickedness and wipe everyone out except for Noah and his wife, and Noah’s sons and their wives…8 people in total. God saved the animals by bringing two of each kind into the ark. Then, God made a covenant with Noah and all of creation, promising that He would never again destroy the earth with water. God also chose the sign of the covenant to be the rainbow. Why a rainbow? Thomas Schreiner has a good explanation for this in his book Covenant and God’s Purpose for the World, where he wrote, “The sign of the covenant is that God has withdrawn his bow. He has put his weapons of war down and will not wipe out the human race again.”

The Noahic Covenant is similar to the Adamic Covenant in that both involve a covenant that God made with all of creation. But unlike the first covenant of creation, God established this covenant despite the fallenness of mankind and the presence of sin in the world, with a promise to withhold future judgment on a world that rightfully deserves it. When God blessed Adam, He did so while Adam was still innocent and untainted by sin. But when God blessed Noah in a similar fashion, He did so in spite of Noah having a sinful nature. So what does this mean? It means that God is a God who is rich in mercy. God’s eternal plan was to create a race of humanity that would truly appreciate and worship Him for all that He is. Adam’s sin did not thwart God’s plan; it was always part of the plan! God’s covenant with Noah is not a Plan B. Instead, God used Adam’s sin, and all of the sin of the pre-Flood world that would follow, for His own purposes: to demonstrate His attributes of mercy and grace towards undeserving sinners such as Noah and his family.

So what is the significance of this covenant, and why does it matter to Christians today? For starters, notice how, just like the first promise God gave in Genesis 3:15, this promise has no conditions. Neither Noah nor his descendants are required to perform any kind of works or keep any commandments in order to keep their end of the bargain. Instead, God will keep His promise to Noah and all of creation no matter what, as a demonstration of His mercy and grace. This is therefore an unconditional covenant, or as some might call it, a covenant of grace. The promise is eternal and can never be broken, for it is upheld by the God who never changes. Schreiner made a similar observation and wrote, “The covenant to preserve the world, then, wasn’t grounded on human godliness and goodness. Instead, the continuity of the world is due to the mercy of God.” This has amazing implications: the God who saved Noah and his family from the Flood and promised them that He will never again judge the world with a flood is the same merciful God who saved you from His judgment and wrath that you likewise deserve because of your sin. He has promised you that He will never again judge you for your sin, for Christ took upon Himself all of your sin and guilt while He was on the cross and as Paul famously declared, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Next, let’s take a closer look at the prophecy that was given concerning Noah. As a refresher, this is what we read concerning Noah in Genesis 5:29: “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.” Perhaps there was a messianic expectation on Lamech’s part, that Noah himself would be the one to fulfill this prophecy as none other than the Seed of the woman that was promised to Adam and Eve. After all, Eve too appeared to express hope that her firstborn son Cain would be that promised Seed, as Genesis 4:1 seems to imply. To a certain extent, Noah did fulfill the prophecy, if we consider how there initially was rest in the post-Flood world from all the wickedness that was rampant prior to the Flood. Noah was the means God chose to usher in a new golden age of peace and righteousness in the world. But Scripture tells us that this new utopia would be very short lived due to the sinful nature that still resided within Noah and his family. The narrative doesn’t shy away from recording their shortcomings after the Flood, and they would go on to produce offspring who would continue in their depravity and incur upon themselves future judgments from God, such as the Tower of Babel incident. It is no wonder then that with the establishment of the Noahic Covenant also came the need for instituting corporal punishment in the realm of human government (Genesis 9:5-6). Noah was not the long-awaited Messiah, but the Messiah did come through Noah’s lineage many centuries later in a little town called Bethlehem: His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the true and better Noah who gives everlasting rest to all those who come to Him (Matthew 11:28), and He will one day completely free us from the curse when He creates a new heaven and a new earth for us to inhabit that will never again be subject to sin and death.

The Noahic Covenant is a wonderful reminder of God saving His people from the judgment that they justly deserve for their sin, and promising them a new beginning. While we may find it increasingly difficult to fully appreciate the rainbow due to the wicked times we are currently living in, let’s not lose sight of the fact that the rainbow indeed has a real and everlasting significance for the Christian, forever reminding us of God’s faithfulness in keeping His covenant promises and preserving His own. Instead of wiping out every inhabitant on the earth, God graciously chose to save one family, out of whom would one day come the promised Savior of the world. The types and shadows that are present all over the life of Noah and the Flood are fully realized in Christ, because He is the true and better Noah. The one who upholds all of creation by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3), entered into His creation to be put to death on a cross by the very men whom He created, and He did so to “…save His people from their sin.” (Matthew 1:21). Even now, Christ is continuously preserving us through His intercessory work on our behalf and through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in every moment of our lives. Next time, we will begin taking a closer look at the life of Abraham and the covenant that God established with him.

[1] (Schreiner, 2017)

[2] (Schreiner, 2017)