Remember the Rainbow
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8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
SUBJECT: REMEMBER THE RAINBOW
The flood was the most horrible of tragedies. Every living thing upon earth was wiped out except one small family—eight persons—and a boat load of animals. The trauma of witnessing such a scene must have been one of the most terrifying experiences possible.
Imagine the trauma of living through a torrential rain that lasted 40 days and 40 nights—never a break in the rain—a rain so heavy and thick that a person could not see his hand in front of his face.
Imagine the trauma of experiencing all the subterranean waters breaking loose from volcanic eruption after volcanic eruption, all the subterranean waters lying right underneath the crust of the earth bursting loose, shooting upward, and rushing madly about flooding the earth (Ge. 7:11).
Imagine the trauma as the fact gradually dawned upon Noah and his dear family: their family was the only surviving family upon earth. All others had perished because they had cursed God, rejected and rebelled against Him, and refused to follow and obey Him.
Imagine the trauma of living upon the boat for a whole year, of having a whole year to think about righteousness, sin, death, and the judgment of God.
Imagine the trauma of knowing that you are a sinner and that God judges sin, judges sin beyond any question. Noah knew this. How then could he know that God would not rise up and judge him and his dear family when they sinned in the future, judge them as He had just done all other sinners? The trauma of such attacking thoughts must have stricken the survivors with terror.
Left only to themselves, Noah and the survivors would have been terrified; they would have lived in constant fear and terror. But they were not left to themselves: God was with them. God loved Noah and his dear family, loved them because they had trusted Him and were true followers of God.
God cared about them, about their needs. God knew about their apprehension and fear, knew about the uneasiness, uncertainty, and insecurity that often attacked their hearts.
God knew that Noah and his dear family needed one thing above all else: assurance—the assurance that the terrifying tragedy of the flood would never again take place. They needed to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they and their seed would survive and replenish the earth. This assurance is just what God gives.
The author of the covenant (v. 8).
The author of the covenant (v. 8).
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,
The author is God and God alone. Usually a covenant is an agreement between two parties. Each party agrees to do something; thereby a covenant of behavior is established between them. But not in this case, not in the Noahic covenant. In this covenant—the Noahic covenant—the promise of God will be fulfilled no matter what Noah and the rest of mankind do. This is what might be called …
• A one way covenant
• An unconditional covenant
• A covenant of promise
• A covenant of grace
Neither Noah nor any other person has to do anything in order to receive this promise of God. The Noahic covenant is an unconditional covenant, a covenant of promise, a covenant of grace, a covenant that is established and set up by God no matter how man behaves. God and God alone established the Noahic covenant. Note how clearly this is brought out:
⇒ “behold, I establish my covenant” (v. 9).
⇒ “I will establish my covenant” (v. 11).
⇒ “The covenant which I make” (v. 12).
⇒ “I will remember my covenant” (v. 15).
⇒ “The covenant, which I have established” (v. 17).
The recipients of the covenant (vv. 9–10).
The recipients of the covenant (vv. 9–10).
9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth.
God gave this promise, this covenant …
• To Noah and his sons
• to their seed or descendants. The word seed is the Biblical term for descendant and refers to all the descendants of Noah. This means that the Noahic covenant was given to the whole human race, for Noah stood at the head of the human race, as the father of all who were yet to be born upon the earth. All the seed—all of the human race—are traced back to Noah. But also remember this most important fact: when the word seed is used in connection with the promises or covenants of God, it is singular and refers primarily to the promised Savior or Messiah of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Scripture itself tells us this [see Ga. 3:16])
16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.
• to all animals
This is a most wonderful fact: it means that the Noahic covenant is given to every living being upon earth, both man and animal. It means that we who live today—all of us—are the recipients of the Noahic covenant. These great promises of God are given to us and to all our children, even those who are yet to be born. These great promises are even given to the animals of the earth. What are the promises? What is the Noahic covenant established by God with us and the earth? This is the discussion of the next point.
The covenant (v. 11).
The covenant (v. 11).
11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
The promised seed was part of God’s covenant with Noah.
Noah was the only living father upon earth. All other fathers had been destroyed in the flood. Noah stood as the father—the head—of the whole human race, as the father of all succeeding generations.
God loves man too much—loved Noah too much—not to give the only surviving man upon earth the great assurance of salvation, the great hope of the coming Savior.
God had given the assurance of the promised seed to Adam right after Adam had experienced his terrifying fall into sin. Why not now give the same assurance to Noah right after his terrifying experience?
The evidence of the verse points strongly to God doing just this. When God said, “I will establish [fulfill, continue, and carry out]—my covenant with you,” He was most likely talking about the covenant of the promised seed. When Noah heard these words, his heart must have been flooded with great peace and security, for he knew …
That he was acceptable to God
That God was looking after and caring for him in a very special way
That God had chosen him for a great purpose, that of bearing the promised seed, the line through whom the Savior of the world would come
The covenant was also the promise to never again destroy the earth with a universal flood.
The sign of the covenant: the rainbow (vv. 12–16).
The sign of the covenant: the rainbow (vv. 12–16).
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
The assurance of the covenant: God and His Word
The assurance of the covenant: God and His Word
17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
There are a lot of unreliable things in life—God isn’t one of them. It’s one thing to be patriotic, but being godly is even greater.
If tomorrow all my things were gone
I'd work for all my life.
And I had had to start again,
With just my children and my wife.
And I'd think my lucky stars to be livin' here today,
Cause the flag still stand for freedom and they can't take that away
[Chorus]
And I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the ones who died who gave that right to me
And I'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today
Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land, God Bless the USA.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God bless the USA!
The reliability of God
God’s character and nature are reliable
4 “The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.
God’s promises are reliable
56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.
44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.