God’s covenant

Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." – Genesis 9v11

God made a covenant with man. That may not sound like much on first appearance, but think about it for a moment. A covenant is a binding agreement. It is astounding first of all that a holy, sovereign, perfect God would bind Himself to man in any regard. This is even more amazing in that there are no conditions placed on this particular covenant. God simply covenants not to destroy the earth by flood ever again.

Here we find another early example of God’s grace. The “Old Testament God’ is often unfairly portrayed as a God of wrath and anger and violence and cruelty. I think that comes from the fact that people don’t want to see the ‘just’ side of God. It is similar to people who have an inbuilt hatred and disrespect for the police or government authorities. They look for an excuse not to ‘like them’ so much that they are blind to the good things.

And so it is with God. People who see the judgement of the flood can overlook the fact that after that God’s justice is satisfied He gives mankind a second chance, and this time promises that no matter what, He will never judge like that again.

Then He seals the covenant in a beautiful manner. Covenants are sealed by a wax stamp, an embossed seal, a signature, or some other means. Since man was not a signatory to this covenant there was no need for man to sign. Even with the list of commandments given before this, God did draw them into the agreement. He simply made a promise to the world. Even if man did not keep us his part, God would.

So He sealed the covenant. He placed a rainbow in the sky as the seal of His covenant. That beautiful rainbow is a constant remind of the love and patience and grace of God toward man.

I am grateful for a covenant making and covenant keeping God.