The Covenant with Noah (Genesis 9)
The details of this chapter are very important from the point of view of biblical revelation because they detail what could be described as ‘A New Beginning’. Before we look at some details of this new beginning, I want to make some brief comments on the sin of Noah that is detailed in this chapter. We are familiar with the command that Oliver Cromwell gave to the artist that was painting his portrait: ‘Warts and all.’ Noah is a biblical hero, but the biblical writer does not hide his failings. God wants us to notice this and take warning from it.
1. Lessons from the sin of Noah
The most obvious lesson from this incident is that previous grace does not prevent future failure. We see Noah falling into sin. He is an example that experiencing great blessing from God, of performing a crucial role in the development of his purposes, does not ensure that such recipients and role-players will not fall into sin. ‘Sometimes those who, with watchfulness and resolution, have, by the grace of God, kept their integrity in the midst of temptation, have, through security, and carelessness, and neglect of the grace of God, been surprised into sin, when the hour of temptation has been over. Noah, who had kept sober in drunken company, is now drunk in sober company. Let him that thinks he stands take heed’ (Matthew Henry).
Noah’s sin is a reminder that witnessing divine judgement on others will not prevent us sinning. Noah had seen the most fearful display of divine wrath as he observed the flood upon the earth. Although he had seen God’s judgement, he still sinned. This shows the power of sin to overcome the knowledge of what God has done to others.
Noah sinned as a mature believer. People of that day lived a lot longer than we do. Noah had walked with God for hundreds of years when he fell. His fall is a reminder that it is not only young believers that need to be warned about falling into sin. But Noah is not the only example of such in the Bible. Moses was in his eighties when he committed the sin that prevented him leading the children of Israel into Canaan. David was in his fifties when he sinned with Bathsheba.
Noah sinned in an area of life which in itself was not sinful. He had become a farmer and planted a vineyard, both very commendable activities. It looks as if he had made a feast of celebration, another good thing to do. But in the midst of such useful activity he sinned. Again, a reminder that we do not have to be in a worldly place to fall. Many a person has sinned in a religious activity.
Noah’s sin did not justify the sin of Ham. We’ve read of Ham’s glee at seeing the consequence of the sin of his father. This was a terrible sin. It is possible to delight in the sins of other people, for example, by enjoying sinful programmes on the television. Ham should have responded the way that Shem and Japheth did, by remedying the situation. I suppose we have here an example that love covers a multitude of sins.
Ham’s sin is a reminder that little sins can have large consequences. In the providence of God it brought bondage into his family and they lost out on the blessings that were promised to the descendants of Shem and Japheth.
2. What is a biblical covenant?
We are aware that there are several covenants in the Bible such as those God made with Adam, with Abraham, with Moses, with David, as well as the new covenant that Jeremiah predicted. Further we are aware that covenant can be used as a theological title as in the covenant of works, covenant of grace and covenant of redemption. We may get confused by these different covenants and wonder what their differences are. I will mention four features of covenants that are important to remember.
A covenant is an agreement that God makes with a person, regarding that person as a representative of others.
In the covenant God makes promises to the person and requires particular responses from him.
The person with whom God makes the covenant pictures Jesus Christ in one or more ways. One common way is that each covenant involved a sacrifice typifying the great sacrifice of Christ.
The biblical covenants progress in detail as time moves on. Therefore the covenant with Abraham contains more information than does the covenant with Noah – an obvious progression is that the Saviour, who would bring blessings to the world, would be a descendant of Abraham. These various covenants can be likened to resting places on a road. The road is history from Eden to Paradise, and the covenants are places where we can stop and see what God is doing. Today we are going to stop at the resting place called the Covenant with Noah.
3. The Background to the Covenant with NoahThe immediate background is God’s universal judgement of the human race by the flood. For several thousand years, ever since the failure of Adam, humanity had degenerated to such an extent that the only answer was divine judgement. There had been visitations of grace throughout that period, when God in mercy visited the people with his salvation. They were given predictions of the coming of the Saviour, heard the preaching of men such as Enoch and Noah, and were given signs of coming judgement such as the life of Methuselah, the revelation to Enoch about the Lord coming to judge, and the building of an ark by Noah. All these were ignored by the people of the ancient world.
The days before the flood were very similar to ours from a spiritual point of view. We have the Bible’s message about Jesus, we have been given messengers from heaven, and we have been given signs of the times. Jesus in Matthew 24 gives a list of signs that will point to the fact that he will one day return. He mentions wars, famines, earthquakes and other matters. It is important to note that he does not point to a specific war or famine or earthquake as a sign of his coming. They all, throughout human history since he returned to heaven, point to his coming. It is interesting to observe how humans react to these problems. A common explanation today is global warming and no doubt it is a possible cause. Yet in so describing these events, we lose sight that Jesus said that they are signs that he will yet come in judgement.
The flood is a reminder that God’s patience will eventually come to an end. Peter applies this to us when he says in 2 Peter 3:5-10: ‘For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
‘But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.’
4. Theological lessons of the covenant with Noah
Firstly, the covenant of Noah contained a promise that there would never be again a universal flood. In accommodating himself to Noah’s need of assurance, the Lord instituted a sign of this promise, the rainbow. Notice that the rainbow is not primarily a sign to us that God will keep this promise; rather it is a sign to God. Of course, God does not forget his promises but he wanted us to know that he would keep it. Each time we see a rainbow, we should say to ourselves, ‘Once again, God is committing himself to the promise he made with Noah my representative.’
Secondly, there is probably a reference here to the development of human governments, particularly in their God-given authority to use the sword as a means of punishment. The most important feature for human governments to notice is the dignity of each individual person, that in some ways each person, although sinful, still retains the image of God. This aspect of the covenant with Noah is still in force today and will be until the end of time (9:12).
Thirdly, the biblical writers use the covenant with Noah to provide encouragement. For example, Isaiah uses it when he is encouraging Israel during the dark days of the Babylonian captivity when it seemed as if all hope had gone. He says in Isaiah 9-10: ‘This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
Fourthly, the covenant with Noah indicates that God has not changed his mind about his original plan to have a man in charge of his creation. He repeats to Noah the original divine command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with people. Further he promises to ensure that the lower creatures, which voluntarily respected Adam, would continue to have a dread of humans.
Fifthly, the covenant with Noah shows that a converted sinner cannot fulfil this role of being in charge of God’s world. Each human person with whom God made a covenant failed, usually in their strong points. Noah had been faithful for centuries before a hostile world, but failed when all these observers had perished. Abraham failed when he twice showed lack of faith in God’s protection by asking Sarah to pretend she was his sister. Moses was marked by meekness, yet he lost his temper. David, who valued loyalty to God, betrayed the loyalty of one of his soldiers by committing adultery with his wife and arranging for his murder. All these eminent leaders failed, and the reality is that all our chosen leaders will eventually fail, even although they possessed great grace.
This all points to the necessity of a Deliverer who is more than a forgiven sinner, of a Leader who will not succumb to our greatest enemy. It points to the coming of Jesus. He is the One to who Noah pointed to. Jesus will deliver sinners from the eternal judgement of God because he himself underwent a baptism of divine wrath far more intense than the flood of Noah. Also Jesus will bring all who trust him safely through the eschatological turmoil of the final day to the beauty of the new world order that will last forever.
Of Noah, it had been predicted that he would bring ‘rest’ to the human race. In a sense he did so, because he took those saved from judgement through to a place where they could begin again. Yet in a sense, he failed because he himself was a sinner. He reminds us that we need the true Rest, Jesus Christ, who alone can give rest of soul in this life and complete rest in the presence of God in the life to come.
1. Lessons from the sin of Noah
The most obvious lesson from this incident is that previous grace does not prevent future failure. We see Noah falling into sin. He is an example that experiencing great blessing from God, of performing a crucial role in the development of his purposes, does not ensure that such recipients and role-players will not fall into sin. ‘Sometimes those who, with watchfulness and resolution, have, by the grace of God, kept their integrity in the midst of temptation, have, through security, and carelessness, and neglect of the grace of God, been surprised into sin, when the hour of temptation has been over. Noah, who had kept sober in drunken company, is now drunk in sober company. Let him that thinks he stands take heed’ (Matthew Henry).
Noah’s sin is a reminder that witnessing divine judgement on others will not prevent us sinning. Noah had seen the most fearful display of divine wrath as he observed the flood upon the earth. Although he had seen God’s judgement, he still sinned. This shows the power of sin to overcome the knowledge of what God has done to others.
Noah sinned as a mature believer. People of that day lived a lot longer than we do. Noah had walked with God for hundreds of years when he fell. His fall is a reminder that it is not only young believers that need to be warned about falling into sin. But Noah is not the only example of such in the Bible. Moses was in his eighties when he committed the sin that prevented him leading the children of Israel into Canaan. David was in his fifties when he sinned with Bathsheba.
Noah sinned in an area of life which in itself was not sinful. He had become a farmer and planted a vineyard, both very commendable activities. It looks as if he had made a feast of celebration, another good thing to do. But in the midst of such useful activity he sinned. Again, a reminder that we do not have to be in a worldly place to fall. Many a person has sinned in a religious activity.
Noah’s sin did not justify the sin of Ham. We’ve read of Ham’s glee at seeing the consequence of the sin of his father. This was a terrible sin. It is possible to delight in the sins of other people, for example, by enjoying sinful programmes on the television. Ham should have responded the way that Shem and Japheth did, by remedying the situation. I suppose we have here an example that love covers a multitude of sins.
Ham’s sin is a reminder that little sins can have large consequences. In the providence of God it brought bondage into his family and they lost out on the blessings that were promised to the descendants of Shem and Japheth.
2. What is a biblical covenant?
We are aware that there are several covenants in the Bible such as those God made with Adam, with Abraham, with Moses, with David, as well as the new covenant that Jeremiah predicted. Further we are aware that covenant can be used as a theological title as in the covenant of works, covenant of grace and covenant of redemption. We may get confused by these different covenants and wonder what their differences are. I will mention four features of covenants that are important to remember.
A covenant is an agreement that God makes with a person, regarding that person as a representative of others.
In the covenant God makes promises to the person and requires particular responses from him.
The person with whom God makes the covenant pictures Jesus Christ in one or more ways. One common way is that each covenant involved a sacrifice typifying the great sacrifice of Christ.
The biblical covenants progress in detail as time moves on. Therefore the covenant with Abraham contains more information than does the covenant with Noah – an obvious progression is that the Saviour, who would bring blessings to the world, would be a descendant of Abraham. These various covenants can be likened to resting places on a road. The road is history from Eden to Paradise, and the covenants are places where we can stop and see what God is doing. Today we are going to stop at the resting place called the Covenant with Noah.
3. The Background to the Covenant with NoahThe immediate background is God’s universal judgement of the human race by the flood. For several thousand years, ever since the failure of Adam, humanity had degenerated to such an extent that the only answer was divine judgement. There had been visitations of grace throughout that period, when God in mercy visited the people with his salvation. They were given predictions of the coming of the Saviour, heard the preaching of men such as Enoch and Noah, and were given signs of coming judgement such as the life of Methuselah, the revelation to Enoch about the Lord coming to judge, and the building of an ark by Noah. All these were ignored by the people of the ancient world.
The days before the flood were very similar to ours from a spiritual point of view. We have the Bible’s message about Jesus, we have been given messengers from heaven, and we have been given signs of the times. Jesus in Matthew 24 gives a list of signs that will point to the fact that he will one day return. He mentions wars, famines, earthquakes and other matters. It is important to note that he does not point to a specific war or famine or earthquake as a sign of his coming. They all, throughout human history since he returned to heaven, point to his coming. It is interesting to observe how humans react to these problems. A common explanation today is global warming and no doubt it is a possible cause. Yet in so describing these events, we lose sight that Jesus said that they are signs that he will yet come in judgement.
The flood is a reminder that God’s patience will eventually come to an end. Peter applies this to us when he says in 2 Peter 3:5-10: ‘For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
‘But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.’
4. Theological lessons of the covenant with Noah
Firstly, the covenant of Noah contained a promise that there would never be again a universal flood. In accommodating himself to Noah’s need of assurance, the Lord instituted a sign of this promise, the rainbow. Notice that the rainbow is not primarily a sign to us that God will keep this promise; rather it is a sign to God. Of course, God does not forget his promises but he wanted us to know that he would keep it. Each time we see a rainbow, we should say to ourselves, ‘Once again, God is committing himself to the promise he made with Noah my representative.’
Secondly, there is probably a reference here to the development of human governments, particularly in their God-given authority to use the sword as a means of punishment. The most important feature for human governments to notice is the dignity of each individual person, that in some ways each person, although sinful, still retains the image of God. This aspect of the covenant with Noah is still in force today and will be until the end of time (9:12).
Thirdly, the biblical writers use the covenant with Noah to provide encouragement. For example, Isaiah uses it when he is encouraging Israel during the dark days of the Babylonian captivity when it seemed as if all hope had gone. He says in Isaiah 9-10: ‘This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
Fourthly, the covenant with Noah indicates that God has not changed his mind about his original plan to have a man in charge of his creation. He repeats to Noah the original divine command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with people. Further he promises to ensure that the lower creatures, which voluntarily respected Adam, would continue to have a dread of humans.
Fifthly, the covenant with Noah shows that a converted sinner cannot fulfil this role of being in charge of God’s world. Each human person with whom God made a covenant failed, usually in their strong points. Noah had been faithful for centuries before a hostile world, but failed when all these observers had perished. Abraham failed when he twice showed lack of faith in God’s protection by asking Sarah to pretend she was his sister. Moses was marked by meekness, yet he lost his temper. David, who valued loyalty to God, betrayed the loyalty of one of his soldiers by committing adultery with his wife and arranging for his murder. All these eminent leaders failed, and the reality is that all our chosen leaders will eventually fail, even although they possessed great grace.
This all points to the necessity of a Deliverer who is more than a forgiven sinner, of a Leader who will not succumb to our greatest enemy. It points to the coming of Jesus. He is the One to who Noah pointed to. Jesus will deliver sinners from the eternal judgement of God because he himself underwent a baptism of divine wrath far more intense than the flood of Noah. Also Jesus will bring all who trust him safely through the eschatological turmoil of the final day to the beauty of the new world order that will last forever.
Of Noah, it had been predicted that he would bring ‘rest’ to the human race. In a sense he did so, because he took those saved from judgement through to a place where they could begin again. Yet in a sense, he failed because he himself was a sinner. He reminds us that we need the true Rest, Jesus Christ, who alone can give rest of soul in this life and complete rest in the presence of God in the life to come.
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