Noahic Covenant
THE NOAHIC COVENANT
This universal covenant was announced prior to the flood (Gen. 6:18) but was only established after the waters had subsided (Gen. 8:20–9:17). The initial introduction of the covenant simply highlights God’s plan to preserve Noah and the others in the ark (Gen. 6:18). God’s covenant with Noah reaffirms his original plans made with Adam, temporarily disrupted by judgment. Additional commands (9:4–6) emphasize the value of human life, in particular, further underlining the primary rationale for this covenant: preserving life on earth without further divine interruption. Let’s look at the key scriptures and then detail the participants and provisions of the Noahic Covenant.
Scripture: Genesis 9:1-17
“So God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast, I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man.
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 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.”
12 And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
The Participants in the Covenant
This covenant was made between God and Noah. Like Adam, Noah stood as the representative for the entire human race. As a result of the flood, not only is all humanity descended from Adam, but also from Noah. Found in Genesis 9:11, “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.” This covenant included a sign of God’s faithfulness to keep it—the rainbow. The Noahic covenant is an unconditional or unilateral covenant. Responsibility to fulfill the covenant lies entirely upon one party, rather than both parties in the agreement. In this case, the only responsible party is God. God’s promise in the Noahic covenant is sealed with the sign of the rainbow (Genesis 9:8-17).
The Provisions of the Covenant
First: man was to repopulate the earth (vv. l,7). Except for eight people, the entire human race was destroyed by the Flood. Man had vastly increased in numbers, but the wickedness of man was great in the earth (Gen. 6:5). So, God brought universal judgment upon the earth. After the Flood, the earth was essentially barren again. Only eight people remained to re-populate the entire earth. just as with the Edenic Covenant, man was again commissioned to repopulate the earth, but the command to subdue the earth is not repeated. With man’s fall, he lost his authority and Satan usurped it. Thus Satan is the prince of this world (Jn.12:31) and the god of this world (II Cor. 4:4). Satan has authority over all the kingdoms of this world and can offer them to whoever he wants to (Lk. 4:6). This is what he did to Eve, the seed of woman, and she gave in to the temptation. He also tempted Jesus with the same in the wilderness (Mt. 4:1-10) however, Jesus turned it down. He will offer it someday to the seed of Satan, the Antichrist, who will accept it (Rev. 13:1-3).
Second: the fear of man was put into animals and man was to dominate them (v. 2). While man had lost authority over the earth, he was still to dominate and have authority over the animal kingdom. For this reason, the fear of man was placed in animals. This fear was a means of self-preservation due to the next provision.
Third: man’s diet was to consist of both every moving thing and the green herb (v. 3). Previously, his diet had been vegetarian, but now all animals were included. No limitations whatsoever are given in the passage, thus all animals were fit for food.
Fourth: man was forbidden to eat blood (v. 4). All creature life, both man and animal, is blood sustained. Blood is the symbol of life, and the shedding of blood is the symbol of death. Because blood is the symbol of life, God commanded that it not be eaten or drank.
Fifth: capital punishment became a part of the human culture for the first time in Vv. 5-6. When Cain killed Abel, Cain was not executed because capital punishment had not yet been instituted. The provision for capital punishment came with the Noahic Covenant and all murderers were to be executed.
Sixth: the promise of the covenant is that humanity would never again be destroyed by a worldwide flood (Vv. 8-11). While there would be local floods that would destroy portions of humanity, never again would there be a worldwide flood. In the future, there will be a passing away and destruction of earth’s present system, but it will not be by means of a universal flood. This shows that the Noahic Flood was universal, not local.
Seventh: the symbol of the covenant was the rainbow {vv. l 2-17). Not every covenant came with a sign or symbol, but this one did. This was the first time in human history that the rainbow ever appeared. Rain did not exist before the worldwide flood and the earth was watered by a mist that came daily upon the vegetation. Rainbows come in conjunction with rain. So, for the first time, the rainbow appeared, and God’s promise that humanity will not be destroyed by a flood again should come to remembrance every time a rainbow is seen.
The Status of the Covenant
The Noahic Covenant became the basis for the Dispensation of Human Government. Although this dispensation has been superseded, the unconditional Noahic Covenant is still very much in effect. The judgments of the Tribulation against the Gentiles will come because of violations of the Noahic Covenant. According to Isaiah 24:5-6, the judgment comes because humanity has violated the everlasting covenant, a name given to the Noahic Covenant in Genesis 9: l6. For that reason, the prophet used the image of the Noahic Flood, the windows on high and foundations of the earth in Isaiah 24: 18. But next time, God will destroy the masses of humanity by fire.
Next time we will look at the Abrahamic Covenant.
