Genesis Lesson 7
THE COVENANT OF THE RAINBOW
Genesis 8:1-11:26
Key Verse 9:11,12
“I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off
by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy
the earth.” And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am
making between me and you and every living creature with
you, a covenant for all generations to come.”
Today’s passage talks about the new world after the flood. It talks about the new physical environment (chapters 8 and 9), and the origin of race, language and nation (chapters 9 and 10). Despite the new environment and new beginning, the world was no different from the old world because of men’s sinful nature. This sinful nature began with Adam and was handed down to his descendants, and people kept opposing God and sinning. The war between God and Satan continued. However, after the flood God continued his work of redemption instead of giving up on the world. The work of God is the work of grace and mercy. Without God’s great mercy and grace there is no salvation. God’s grace is well expressed in the covenant of the rainbow.
God Remembered (8:1-22)
All men and living creatures were wiped off the face of the earth by the flood, and only Noah and those with him were left. The water flooded the earth for one hundred and fifty days. The world was covered by water and there was complete silence on the face of the earth. If we imagine the face of the earth with only the one ark floating on it we become fearful. No one knew when the water would recede and how it could recede. “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded” (8:1). God had not forgotten Noah and his family. To “remember” in the Bible is often not merely to recall people to mind but to express concern for them, to act with loving care for them. It emphasizes God’s decision to faithfully fulfill a previous commitment. When God remembers his children, he does so “with favor” (Ne 5:19; 13:31). By his grace God sent a wind over the earth for Noah and his family and animals. Psalm 104:6-9 describes the judgment by flood and how the water receded. “You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.”
Here we can think about what happened from the beginning of the flood to its end. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, the flood began (Ge 7:11). The waters flooded the earth for one hundred and fifty days (Ge 7:24). But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded (Ge 8:1-3). On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat (Ge 8:4). On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible (Ge 8:5). After forty days (this was one hundred fourteen days after the ark first came to rest on the mountains of Ararat), Noah opened the window and sent out a raven and a dove; they kept flying back and forth because there was no dry land (Ge 8:6-9). Noah waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, in its beak there was a freshly plucked olive leaf. Olives do not grow at high elevations, and the fresh leaf was a sign to Noah that the water had receded from the earth (Ge 8:10-11). Noah waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him (Ge 8:12). This meant that the water had dried up from the earth. Noah used a raven and a dove to check the condition of the land. The raven is an unclean animal and eats rotten food. Noah knew that the raven would even eat corpses on the ground if the water had dried up. But a dove is a clean bird and will not even alight on mud or the dead bodies of animals. When the dove came with a freshly plucked olive leaf, it meant that the land had been restored to the point of bearing fruit. By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth (Ge 8:13). By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was completely dry (Ge 8:14). It had been one year and ten days since the beginning of the flood. It had been a long time.
When the land was dry, God said to Noah, "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you--the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground--so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it." So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds - everything that moves on the earth - came out of the ark, one after another. Here we learn that Noah was a man of patience. Noah had been inside of the ark for more than a year. Sailors long to see the land when they have not seen it for a long time. Once the land was dry, how desperately Noah must have wanted to come out of the ark! When Noah opened the window and saw dry land, he must have wanted to burst out with a shout of joy. But Noah waited for God’s time. He knew that the land was dry, but he would not come out before God told him to. Since God had shut Noah and his family inside of the ark, they waited until God opened the door for them. Noah knew that it was best to follow God’s instructions. He followed God’s instructions from the beginning to the end. Numbers 9:18-23 shows the beautiful march of the Israelites according to God’s command, as they followed God’s lead. They followed the Lord’s command and set out when the cloud began moving and they stayed as long the cloud stayed over the tabernacle. We need patience in order to follow God’s instructions. Hebrews 10:36 says, “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Noah did not dare to move out without God’s permission. He did not want to move ahead of God. We are safe and happy when we live according to God’s word.
What was the first thing Noah did when he came out of the ark? See verse 20: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.” Noah might have worried about what to eat and what to drink, since the world had been completely devastated by the flood. But instead, as soon as he came out of the ark, he built an altar to the Lord. “Altar” is a place where we meet God and worship him. He remembered God’s abundant grace. He was thankful to God and worshipped him. He was thankful to God’s love which had saved him and his family from a dreadful judgment. He took some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on the altar. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma. This shows that the Lord took delight in his offering. Then the Lord decided in his heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man” (21). God determined not to repeat this curse because every inclination of man’s heart is evil from childhood. God realized that the judgment of a flood could not root out men’s sinful nature. Because of humanity’s extreme wickedness, God had destroyed people by means of a flood. Although righteous Noah and his family had been saved, he and his offspring were descendants of Adam and carried in their hearts the inheritance of sin. Without God’s mercy, man neither seeks good nor can he do it. There will be no more judgments by flood. But the Bible warns men of God’s judgment by fire (2Pe 3:6-13).
The expression “as long as the earth endures” shows that the earth will not endure forever. On the day of God’s judgment, heaven and earth will disappear and a new heaven and new earth will appear (Rev 21:1). As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. The flood changed many things on earth. After the flood, the ocean had become about 30% greater than previously. Before the flood the climate over the entire earth was mild tropical, because a vapor belt of water covered the whole earth. But after the flood, the vapor belt was gone, and many different climates, distributed in regions, appeared. Winds may rise, and hurricanes can appear. Mountains and valleys were formed in order to drain the water. After the flood, the earth had more extreme high and low points than before. The environment after the flood became more hostile to man. Since the vapor belt that had blocked harmful rays from the sun had vanished, man’s lifespan began to decrease rapidly.
God Established the Covenant (9:1-17)
9:1-7 is God’s blessing and warning to Noah and his sons, who began a new life on earth. Look at verses 1 and 7: "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” “As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it." God wanted Noah and his sons to be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. His blessing is the same as the blessings given to Adam before the fall (Ge 1:28). There was one command, however, that was missing from the commands given to Noah and his sons. This is the command to “subdue the earth.” Authority over the earth had originally been given to men, but they lost it due to their disobedience. However, authority over the land will be restored in Christ Jesus (Isa 9:6-7). Verse 2 shows that God gave men authority over all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea. Genesis 1:28 says, “Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” But Genesis 9:2 says, “The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands.” After the flood, men could rule over animals because all animals dreaded and feared man. When men rebelled against God and opposed God, animals rebelled against men. Men could not exercise authority over animals. In the Garden of Eden there was beautiful harmony and unity in variety between men and animals. But now there was fear and dread between men and animals. Their fear and dread makes animals avoid men rather than following them. Sometimes animals might attack men, but generally they are afraid of men and avoid them. Because of this fear and dread, even lions and tigers cannot win over men if they stare at each other. If man stares at them, they will run away. But when the kingdom of God comes, such fear will vanish and the harmony and unity of variety between men and animals will be restored (Isa 11:6-9).
Verse 3 shows that man was allowed to eat animals. Meat might have been allowed because man needed some special kind of protein from animal meat or needed to be more aggressive to survive because of the hostile environment after the flood. But blood was forbidden, because animals’ life is in their blood. Leviticus 17:11 reads, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.” God does not want man to eat blood because blood is used to make atonement for one’s life.
Verses 5 and 6 show that man should not kill other people or animals. “And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.” All life belongs to God, and therefore it should be respected. If someone kills animals or men God will demand an accounting from him and his blood will be shed (5). Men are created in God’s image, and so whoever sheds the blood of another man will be held responsible for that blood. His blood will be shed (6) in turn. If a man kills another man, he not only has sinned against that man but against God. Here the punishment for murder is entrusted to the human system of governance. By means of this human system, God wants to protect men’s lives from other men’s violence and uphold justice in human society.
Verses 8-17 describe how God established a covenant with Noah and his descendants and every living creature as a sign that there would never again be a flood to destroy the earth. The word “covenant” is bÿrit(בְּרִית) in Hebrew, which means “cutting”. This covenant, or "cutting," originated with the practice of two parties passing between them pieces of sacrificed animals they had cut in two. It was a covenant accompanied by signs, sacrifices, and a solemn oath. It sealed the relationship with promises of blessing for keeping the covenant and curses for breaking it. If the parties broke the covenant, they would be like the cut animal.
In the Bible there are many covenants. There was the covenant with Adam (Ge 2:16,17; a covenant with the entire human race); a covenant with Noah (Ge 9:8-17; also a covenant with the whole human race); a covenant with Abraham (Ge 12:1-3; 15:18-21; 17:4-8; a covenant with the chosen people); a covenant with Moses (Ex 19:5,6; a covenant of law); a covenant with David (2Sa 7:13-14; a covenant with the Messiah King) and the new covenant (Jer 31:31-34; Lk 22:20). All of these covenants are fulfilled in the new covenant. The covenant God established with Noah was a covenant with no conditions on man’s side. The covenant given to Noah was not based on man’s obedience. It was a covenant established by God based on God’s faithfulness. Therefore it cannot be changed or broken. This covenant is an eternal covenant because it will be kept until the end of the age. This covenant was a covenant for the preservation of all the human races, because it supported man’s survival and prosperity by maintaining a proper environment for men to live in. Because of God’s covenant, men can preserve their lives and prosper.
After God established the covenant with Noah, he gave the rainbow as a sign of his covenant. The rainbow is guarantees preservation of all the lives of men and living creatures. After his dreadful judgment, God gave the gift of a rainbow. Whenever it rains, men and animals may fear a punishment of flood, but when they see a rainbow after the rain, they may be free of the fear of God’s judgment. The rainbow has seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple. The colors of the rainbow are very beautiful. The beauty of the rainbow shows that God’s grace is beautiful. The rainbow reaches both heaven and earth. This means that God’s grace connects holy God and sinful men. The rainbow reveals God’s amazing love and grace because it is the sign that God does not want to destroy men -- that he loves them. It reveals God’s mercy in the midst of his dreadful judgment.
Noah’s Descendants and the Tower of Babel (9:18-11:32)
After Noah came out of the ark, he proceeded to plant a vineyard. One day he drank too much and lay uncovered inside his tent. This is an example that shows how too much drinking makes a man ugly. Drinking without proper self control can be related to man’s sexually immoral desires. The Talmud tells an interesting story. While Noah was planting his vineyard, Satan came and asked, “What are you doing?” Noah said, “I am planting vine.” Satan asked, “What kind of fruit does it produce?” Noah said, “It is a delicious fruit. Man can eat it by itself or he can make wine to make him happy.” Then Satan offered partnership with Noah and Noah agreed. Then they killed a lamb, a lion, a pig, and a monkey and shed their blood on the root of the vine. Thus, before a man drinks he is as meek as a sheep. If he drinks a little bit he becomes as strong as a lion. But if he drinks more, he becomes as greedy as a pig, and if he drinks still more he becomes as red as a monkey and dances around. The Bible does not hesitate to reveal the weaknesses even of holy men. Noah persevered 120 years of hardship and endurance and persecution, and he survived it all. But when everything was settled and comfortable and peaceful, he let his guard down and relaxed. When he drank for physical pleasure, he fell into Satan’s temptation. That is the reason why the Bible says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1Pe 5:8). Before the flood, Satan could defeat everyone except Noah and his family. Now Satan had a chance to defeat Noah and his family as well.
The word “saw” in verse 22 does not mean just merely “to look.” It means “to stare” and “to laugh” and “to ridicule.” Some people have interpreted the expression, “Ham saw his father’s nakedness” as “Ham experienced his father’s nakedness,” meaning that he violated his father’s nakedness, which implies some kind of sexual activity. Ham saw his father’s nakedness and enjoyed his lustful desires. He also exposed his father’s shame to his brothers. The word “told” in verse 22 does not mean just “to say;” it means “to say with pleasure.” Ham did not grieve over his father’s mistake, but rather enjoyed it and spoke ill of him. All of Ham’s actions show that he did not love his father, because love covers over a multitude of sins (1Pe 4:8). In this way, Ham sinned by violating his father’s authority. Ham’s character included a rebelliousness that he had harbored for a long time against his father. Ultimately this implies a rebellion against God. This rebellion is clearly referred to in the name of Ham’s descendant, Nimrod (Ge 10:8). The word “Nimrod” means “We will rebel”.
But Shem and Japheth had a different attitude. They were not happy with their father’s shame and mistake. They refused to see the nakedness of their father and thought about how to cover his weakness. Then they took a garment and laid it across their shoulders and walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness. They did not rebuke Ham in words but in action. Their action shows their respect toward their father and God.
When Noah woke up he realized what his sons had done and delivered blessings and curses upon them. "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers" (9:25). The content of the curse is not Noah’s personal curse upon Ham. It is a prophecy for the descendants of Ham, a prophecy about the descendants of Canaan, who would be Ham’s descendants. They would become most miserable slaves. The descendants of Canaan appear in Genesis 10:15-19 and Exodus 3:8. They were completely corrupt, morally and mentally. One of the tribes of Canaan was the Amorites (Ge 15:16), who sacrificed their children to Moloch. Leviticus 18:25 says that even the land was defiled because of them. Noah’s curse was not only a prophecy of the total corruption of Canaan and his descendants but also of God’s judgment against their corruption (1Ki 9:20,21).
Verses 26 and 27 are blessings. “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave." All human races have three basic obligations as God’s stewards. The first is a spiritual duty to receive God’s word and knowledge of God and preserve it and teach it to others. The second obligation is an intellectual duty, to grow in the knowledge of God and teach it to others. The third duty is a material duty, to provide for man’s material comfort. Certain material comforts are necessary for man to be able to perform his spiritual and intellectual duties. When we look at Noah’s prophecy in this way, Shem was given the spiritual duties, Japheth the intellectual ones, and Ham, the material ones. The Bible was preserved by the descendants of Shem, and the redemptive history was also handed down through the line of Shem. Jesus Christ also came through the line of Israel, descendants of Shem (Jn 4:22b). The descendants of Japheth were blessed by the faith of the descendants of Shem.
Chapter 10 lists the names of descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth. Among Ham’s descendants there was a man named “Nimrod,” which means “We will rebel” or “We will riot.” This shows that Ham’s rebellious character against God was handed down to his descendants. Verse 9 says, “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.” The expression “before the Lord” means “against the Lord.” His hunting was not of animals but men. He hunted men and established his kingdom based on violence, oppression and military power. The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar. From those lands he went on to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which are between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city (10-12). Later he was known as a god whose name was “Marduk.” Nimrod established not only a military dictatorship but also a religious system in which he figured as a god.
The incident of the Tower of Babel, in chapter 11, is a detailed explanation of what happened in chapter 10. It shows how Nimrod and his followers rebelled against God. From Noah's sons there sprang many nations, clans, and territories (10:32). At that time, the whole world had one language and a common speech (11:1). When men use same language, speech and letters, culture can easily be developed. Noah’s prophecy must have incurred deep grudges in the hearts of Ham’s descendants. The opposition and rebellion against God in the hearts of Ham’s descendants is well revealed when Cush named his son “Nimrod”. Cush was a son of Ham. Nimrod grew up and began to build The Tower of Babel in order to oppose God. His purpose was to unite people and establish a religion that could be the foundation of their unity. Nimrod and his followers were afraid of being scattered over the face of the earth and of becoming slaves of Shem and Japheth. Therefore, they rebelled against God by doing what was contrary to God’s will. When they settled on a plain of Shinar, they began to build the tower. They wanted to build themselves a city with a tower that reached to the heavens, so that they might make a name for themselves and not be scattered over the face of the earth. They intended to rebel against God by uniting the whole human race. It was an act of defiance against God’s command to fill the earth (1:28). God acknowledged that men had almost unlimited potential because they were created in his image. God realized that people could become corrupt, as the people of Noah’s time had, if he did not intervene. At the time of Noah, God’s revelation had almost been lost; therefore, God destroyed the human pride and ambition of Nimrod and his followers by confusing their languages. From that time on, people have had to struggle to learn foreign languages. No human effort to build human culture against God’s will can be successful because God will not allow it. Throughout human history, people have continued trying to build the Tower of Babel and to oppose God. But God has always destroyed it, by wars, diseases, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.
The word “Babel” means “confusion,” and from it came the name “Babylon”. Human works after the flood were concentrated in two cities, the city of Jerusalem and the city of Babylon. Jerusalem was “the city of peace,” whereas Babylon was “the city of confusion.” Jerusalem was chosen as the center of God’s revelation, and it was the center of worship for the Israelites. Isaiah 2:3 says that the word of the Lord would come from Jerusalem, and Luke 24:47 says, “And repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Acts 1:8 also says that Jesus commanded his disciples to become his witnesses, starting at Jerusalem and reaching to all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. But Babylon refers to the kingdom of Satan. Revelation 18:2 describes it as a home for demons and a haunt for every sort of evil spirit. All foreign religions originated in Babylon.
The names of Shem’s descendants are listed beginning with 11:10. God chose Abraham from the line of Shem and began his redemptive work. God did not give up on the world after the flood but kept working for man’s redemption. God preserved the world and people through the covenant with Noah and he was endlessly patient with sinners who were rebellious against him. God gave us the rainbow as the sign of the covenant in the midst of his dreadful judgment. The rainbow is a sign of God’s love and grace. Thank God for his great patience, acceptance, love and grace.