THE COVENANT WITH NOAH
The word "antediluvian" has been given to the age before the flood. It simply means "preceding the deluge." It was an age saturated with gross iniquity. There were two strains of humanity then in existence. The descendants of Seth called themselves by the name of the Lord. They were "sons of God." The descendants of Cain were loose and dissolute men. The two families mingled in marriage. Their offspring became violent, and as a result, wickedness was great in the earth. Every imagination of the thoughts of human hearts was evil continually, and the Lord was sorry He had made man. It grieved Him in His heart. He declared, "'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them'" (Genesis 6:7; RSV).
There was one exception, a man by the name of Noah. He is introduced with two remarkable statements. The first reads, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (v. 8). The second says, "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God" (vv. 8, 9). This is the first time the word "grace" is used in the Bible, and Noah was the first man to be called "just."
The original Hebrew word for "grace" is one that suggests an active personal principle manifesting itself, not in a mere attitude, but in deed. It is not an abstract quality but a vital demonstration. It may be properly defined as a free bestowal of kindness upon another who does not deserve the blessing, and has no means of adequately paying for it. God looked upon Noah with favor, which manifested itself in the provision for his escape from the determined destruction.
The word "just" is akin to the word for "righteousness," and this is a word of relationship. Noah had kept himself free from the contamination of the social culture. He walked with God instead of with the world. A direct descendant of Seth, he had kept his association pure. He was "blameless in his generation" (RSV). God disclosed to Noah His determination to make an end of all flesh because violence reigned in the earth. Probation was to be extended for 120 years, during which time Noah was to construct an ark.
The means chosen to purge the earth was a cleansing bath of water. Since every nation of antiquity has its tradition of the flood, this may account for the almost universal ritual employment of water as a symbol for purification. After more than a year in the ark, Noah and his family stepped forth into a new world. Noah's first act was to construct an altar. In the role of patriarchal priest he offered sacrifices of every clean beast and bird. The sacrificial odor pleased the Lord, who vowed never again to destroy every living creature as He had done. The lifetime of the earth would be an undisturbed continuity.
Noah and his sons now constituted God's sole representatives for the population of the new world. Accordingly, they were given the identical responsibility conferred originally upon Adam. "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Genesis 1:28; 9:1; KJV).
The first recorded covenant that God made with the world of His creation, was a covenant including every creature in whose nostrils was the breath of life. God informed Noah and his sons that He would establish His covenant with them and their descendants, and with the birds, cattle, and every beast of the earth, that had come out of the ark. The fact that God included all these in a covenant should give us deep concern about endangered species.
The terms of the covenant were plainly announced: "'I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth'" (Genesis 9:11; RSV). The duration of the covenant was fixed for "all future generations." Thus it was designated "an everlasting covenant" (Genesis 9:16).
The Hebrew word for "everlasting" is olam. It is one of several terms signifying duration. In its origin it signified veiling or concealing from sight. Gradually it came to mean that which extended beyond one's vision, and finally developed the connotation of "age-lasting." To determine the extent of the duration one must study the limitations that appear in the context. In this instance they are clearly given. The covenant is to stand while the earth remains, or while the descendants of Noah in all future generations remain upon the earth.
A visible sign of the covenant was given, which would be observable for its duration. God said, "I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth" (Genesis 9:13). God nowhere says that the bow is to bring to man's remembrance that a flood will never again destroy the earth. Instead, God said, "'When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant'" (Genesis 9:14, 15; RSV). Thus the bow is not so much a reminder to us of the agreement as it is a sign of God's covenant faithfulness. As such a symbol we may expect it to recur in any circumstances where the divine fidelity is to be displayed. For this reason, the rainbow is used in conjunction with the throne of God (Cp. Revelation 4:3).
Inasmuch as this is the initial or first covenant God made with man, we should study it carefully for any indication of the manner of God's dealings on a covenant basis. We can readily see that He arranged no preceding consultation with man as to the content or terms of the covenant. The proposal was not, therefore, an outgrowth of reasoning between the divine and human minds. The covenant was an arrangement conceived by God alone, in His infinite and infallible mind. It was revealed or disclosed to man. This is important, since we tend to think of a covenant as growing out of mutual arbitration.
History is a record of the footprints of God in the life of humanity. The two most outstanding events of divine interposition in the affairs of the world were the flood and the incarnation. Of such transcendent significance was the first that it stands as a constant rebuke to those skeptics who deny the possibility of a termination of the present world order, based upon a false assumption of continuity in the natural realm since creation (2 Peter 3:3, 4). The second made such an impact that it changed the calendar. It was as if time stood still, then resumed with a new meaning.
In the flood God demonstrated His wrath; in the coming of Jesus He manifested His love. "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness" (Romans 11:22; KJV). The first event was a visitation of destruction; the second, of salvation. The one was to terminate life; the other that it might be granted more abundantly.
Both covenants were given through a comforter. The first was given through Noah, whose name means "comforter" (Genesis 5:29). The second was given through the Holy Spirit as a Comforter from the Father. Because of the original covenant we need never fear the destruction of all flesh by water; because of the last we need never fear the second death. The covenant with Noah resulted in a rainbow spanning the clouds of the heavens; the covenant of grace has its rainbow round about the throne of Him who will come in the clouds of Heaven. The God of the universe is revealed as a covenant-making God.
Our relationship with God must be on the basis of a covenant. As finite creatures seeking to please Him, we must investigate and become aware of the implications growing out of this fact.