Nathaniel R. Martin

The Abrahamic Covenant: Genesis 12-17

Sermon Idea: The Abrahamic Covenant sets apart a particular people through whom God will bring the promised seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, who will fulfill all of God’s promises. 

Introduction: Although it seems we are far from Christmas, it is fast approaching. And as uncommon as it is for churches to sing Christmas hymns in the middle of the blazing heat of Summer, I nearly requested that Pastor Aaron make a special exception for today. There is one famous Christmas hymn, written by the great hymn writer Isaac Watts, that includes a verse very fitting not only for our study this morning but for the entire sermon series. 

Joy to the World is one of the most beloved Christmas hymns; no doubt, many of you could sing it from memory. Every year, as I sing that song, I am moved by verse 3. 

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make his blessings flow

Far as the curse is found

Far as the curse is found. Ever since Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, the curse has taken a prominent place in the biblical story. God curses the serpent (3:14). Although Adam and Eve are not personally cursed, they must live in a cursed world. As a result, there will be conflict between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. There will be conflict between man and woman (3:16). Adam’s sin has also brought a curse upon the ground and over creation (3:17).

The presence of sin and death marks the curse of creation in its very being, as dead bodies are buried in the ground. When Cain kills Abel, God references the curse of the ground. 

10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. (Ge 4:10-12)

The curse that sin has brought is not only to each person but to the entire creation. This is why Noah’s Father, Lamech, hopes Noah is the promised savior to come. 

29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” (Ge 5:29)

These descriptions tell us that no ordinary hero will do. No ordinary effort will suffice. If salvation is to come, it must come from one who can make his blessings flow as far as the curse is found. 

God’s covenant with Abraham is a pivotal step in the revelation of God’s redemptive plan, as it provides a direct response to these curses and offers specific promises to be fulfilled through Abraham and his descendants.  

The Abrahamic Covenant sets apart a particular people through whom God will bring the promised seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, who will fulfill all of God’s promises.

To understand this, we will examine the Abrahamic covenant through three key developments: God’s promises initiate the covenant, God’s ceremony confirms the covenant, and God’s command of circumcision expands the covenant. 

I.) God’s promises initiate the covenant (Gen. 12:1-7)

Before the Genesis account of Abraham, there were no distinct people of God. Israel was not a people or a nation, to make no mention of a kingdom. God is going to call Abraham from his country and family to create a distinct and particular people from him. 

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Ge 12:1–3)

There are three promises that God makes to Abraham at the beginning of this covenant. However, before examining them, notice that God is taking the initiative. The story of Scripture is about God’s sovereignty and redemptive grace. God calls Abraham out from his home country and chooses to make him into a great nation. Just as God extended grace to Adam and Eve with the promise of the seed of the woman, and just as Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord, so God chose and called Abraham by His grace. God is gracious, and our salvation from before eternity to the end of time is by grace and grace alone. 

Not only does God call Abraham from his country, but he also makes three promises to Abraham as he initiates this covenant. God’s promises to Abraham can be summarized as offspring, land, and blessing. 

The first promise God makes to Abraham is that he will have offspring. God’s promise to make Abraham into a “great nation” (Gen. 12:2) is the promise to give Abraham descendants. He is going to have a son, and his descendants will be numerous, beyond counting. 

If you have been with us throughout our study, the promise of offspring should recall God’s promise to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15. The first gospel promise is about offspring—the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. 

When God reiterates the promise to give Abraham offspring throughout the Old Testament, we get a clearer understanding of just how significant this promise is. 

In Genesis 17, which we’ll look at later, God’s promise of offspring is expanded. Abraham will not only become a great nation, but he will be the Father of a multitude of nations, and kings will come from him. 

I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. (Ge 17:6)

The nation that God is creating through a covenant with Abraham will become a kingdom. God will rule over his people in a kingdom established through covenant. 

In Genesis 22, God not only says that the descendants of Abraham will be as numerous as the stars in the heavens and the sand on the shore, but that Abraham’s descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. 

I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies (Ge 22:17)

Now that is interesting language! I love how Tom Schreiner ties this all together.  

“The children of Abraham would multiply and rule on the earth by defeating their enemies. The seed of the woman, in other words, would be the children of Abraham (Gen. 3:15), and they would rule over the Serpent and his offspring.”

The second promise God makes to Abraham is that Abraham’s descendants will inherit a land. God calls Abraham to go, “to the land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:2). The land that God will show Abraham is the land of Canaan, and it is promised explicitly to Abraham’s offspring in Genesis 12:7. 

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” (Ge 12:7)

Now, remember, a consequence for Adam and Eve was to be exiled from the garden. They were removed from the land where God dwelt with his people. Now, God promises to give a particular land where he will dwell with his people. 

After Israel settles in the land of Canaan, God dwells among his people in the temple, which points to and anticipates God dwelling with his people in the New Heavens and the New Earth in eternity. 

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God (Re 21:3)

Lastly, God promises to make Abraham a blessing and, through him, to bless all nations. 

 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Ge 12:1–3)

This is the ultimate purpose of God in making this covenant with Abraham. The promise of offspring and land is a specific way that God blesses the nations. It is through Abraham, this particular people, that God will bring the promised seed of the woman. Salvation to the nations is at the heart of God’s covenant with Abraham, and salvation for the nations can only be accomplished through Jesus Christ. 

The Kingdom of Israel and the covenants made with Israel are to be mere servants in bringing about the promised seed, Jesus Christ, and the new covenant he will bring. Once he comes, the Kingdom of Israel and the Old Covenant made with them find their fulfillment. 

Paul tells us that Jesus Christ is the seed of Abraham, the promised seed of the woman. 

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, (Ga 3:16)

To receive the promised blessings of God, one needs to be more than a physical descendant of Abraham. The promised blessing comes through one’s relationship to Abraham’s descendant, Jesus Christ. Through faith in Jesus, anyone from any nation may become Abraham’s offspring.

26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Ga 3:26–29)

It is essential, then, to think of God’s covenant with Abraham in two ways. It is, first and foremost, a covenant of earthly promises and blessings. It concerns a particular people in a specific place who will experience God’s blessing as they obey His covenant commands. All of Abraham’s natural offspring are in this covenant. God fulfills all of these promises: offspring, land, and earthly blessing.

Within this covenant, though, is revealed more of the gospel promise. God is going to bless the nations through his offspring. God fulfills these promises in Jesus Christ, so that Abraham will have spiritual offspring through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. 

There is, however, a significant problem. Abraham does not have a son. How is God going to fulfill his promises to Abraham when he doesn’t even have a son of his own? What confidence can Abraham have that God will keep these promises? 

This brings us to God’s ceremony that confirms the covenant in Genesis 15. Please turn in your Bibles there.

II.) God’s ceremony confirms the covenant (Gen. 15:1-21) 

The promises that God made to Abraham are formalized into a covenant through a ceremony. What prompts this ceremony is Abraham’s concern over his childlessness, so God makes a vow to fulfill all of his promises. 

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he beleved the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. (Ge 15:1–6)

Before God makes his vow, the text tells us that Abraham believes God, and it is counted to him as righteousness. Abraham is saved not because of his works or obedience, but solely through faith in God’s gospel promises. He looked forward to their fulfillment in faith, and we look back to the cross and resurrection through faith. Just as Abraham was counted righteous through faith, so we can only be righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. 

But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (Ro 4:23–25)

Friends, the way to righteousness before God cannot be found in our best days or our best works. It can only be found by casting ourselves completely in faith on Jesus Christ alone. 

Let’s return to Genesis 15. To make this covenant vow, God instructs Abraham to bring a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtle dove, and a pigeon. God then instructs Abraham to cut the heifer, goat, and ram in half and to lay the pieces parallel to one another. 

With everything prepared, the ceremony can now take place. The actions that God takes formalize and confirm the covenant made with Abraham. Let’s look at verses 17-21. 

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land (Ge 15:17–18)

To understand the significance of this, we must comprehend what the covenant ceremony represents. In this ceremony, the cut-up pieces represent the judgment that would fall on the members who broke their covenant commitment. By walking through the pieces, the person is saying, I am staking my life on my ability to keep my covenant promises, and if I break them, may I be like these cut-up pieces. 

Here is what is interesting. Abraham does not walk through these pieces. We only read that a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch pass between the pieces. This is remarkable because smoke and fire are often associated with the presence of God in the Old Testament. 

God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush (Ex. 3:2). God’s glory descends on Mount Sinai, covering it with a cloud of smoke (Ex. 19:18). And most interesting, God leads Israel through the wilderness by a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day (Ex. 13:21). 

God commits himself to these covenant promises. God stakes more than his reputation, but his very being and life on his faithfulness. The idea, of course, is that God can’t fail to keep this covenant. Not only that, but these particular promises are unconditional. God will fulfill them despite any unfaithfulness that may come from Abraham and his descendants. 

God initiates the covenant by making three promises regarding offspring, land, and blessing. The covenant is confirmed by God’s ceremony where God makes covenant commitments. 

Despite the unconditional nature of God keeping these particular promises, Abraham and his offspring will have responsibilities and covenant conditions that they are to keep. Let’s look at Genesis 17. 

III.) God’s command of circumcision expands the covenant (Gen. 17:1-14)

God calls Abraham and his offspring to obey whatever covenant commitments God commands. 

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” (Ge 17:1–2)

God’s unconditional promise to keep his covenant does not exempt Abraham and his offspring from total, blameless obedience. What are the covenant commitments that God commands? 

And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” (Ge 17:9–14)

Participation in the earthly blessing of the covenant was conditional on obeying this command to circumcise every male on the eighth day. Circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant, and it symbolizes two realities. 

First, it marks off Israel as the particular covenant people of God. Circumcision identifies one as an offspring of Abraham and a member of the covenant people, inheriting all the blessings associated with that membership.

Second, it symbolizes the threat and curse of disobeying the covenant. Listen to the language of Genesis 17:14 carefully, “Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” 

This command points forward to what God does in the heart of those who place faith in Jesus. On the cross, Jesus was cut off for us. Through faith in him, we are “circumcised without hands”—that is, born again by the Holy Spirit. 

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, (Col 2:11)

In the New Covenant, circumcision is fulfilled and is no longer binding as covenant law to define who is and is not a member of God’s covenant people. 

14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. (Ga 6:14–15)

Theological Reflections on the Abrahamic Covenant 

  1. The Abrahamic Covenant contains both unconditional and conditional elements. God’s promises to the nation are unconditional, but they are conditional at the level of the individual. Failure to be faithful to God’s covenant would result in being cut off from the land. 
  1. The Abrahamic Covenant serves as the foundation for the Old Covenant. It is a covenant first and foremost about an earthly people, land, and blessing. 
  1. The Abrahamic Covenant contains promises of the gospel, a new covenant of grace, that will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the promised seed of the woman. 
  1. The Abrahamic covenant provides a particular people and place to bring about the seed of the woman. This is Israel’s purpose, and once Christ comes, Israel and the covenants of Israel (Eph. 2:12) are fulfilled. 
Nathaniel R. Martin

The Noahic Covenant: Genesis 6-9

Sermon Idea: The Noahic Covenant is a promise to preserve creation so that God might fulfill His redemptive plan through the promised seed of the woman, Jesus Christ. 

Introduction: I have heard preachers occasionally poke fun at children’s lessons and coloring books on the flood that focus only on animals, the ark, and the rainbow, all the while overlooking God’s wrath and judgment in bringing the floodwaters against sin. That’s fine, I guess, but there is something more critical missing, and that is how God’s covenant with Noah connects with the big story of the Bible in a way that’s centered on Jesus Christ. 

One notable exception to this is Sally Lloyd-Jones’ excellent little book, The Jesus Story Book Bible. In her conclusion to the flood story, she points children to the new beginning God made with Noah, but also the greater need for Jesus, who was yet to come. 

“It was a new beginning in God’s world. It wasn’t long before everything went wrong again, but God wasn’t surprised; he knew this would happen. That’s why, before the beginning of time, he had another plan—a better plan. A plan not to destroy the world, but to rescue it—a plan to send his own Son, the Rescuer.

After God promised that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head, people began to expect and hope for the birth of this Savior. 

Eve seems to possess this hope when she says in Genesis 4:1, “I have gotten a man from the help of the Lord.” Cain proves to be anything but a savior as he kills his brother Abel. The promised deliverer is still needed. Who will he be? 

Noah’s father, Lamech, clearly is hoping for a future deliverer and wonders if his son might be it. In Genesis 5:28-29, we read, “…he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, ‘Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” (Ge 5:28-29)

Do you hear the hopeful expectation of a savior? In the early chapters of Genesis, numerous themes emerge, but two stand out prominently: the havoc that sin has brought upon creation and the hope for a deliverer. Creation is no longer a paradise but has been corrupted by sin. If paradise is going to be regained, God must fulfill his promise to bring about the savior who will crush the head of the serpent. The storyline of Scripture is more, but never less than, an eager expectation for the promised seed of the woman. 

Lamech hopes that Noah will be the one who brings relief from the work and painful toil that sin has brought. Might this be the one? 

Noah will not be the seed of the woman, but he is a type that points forward to the savior to come. Noah is a righteous man amid an evil generation. God is going to work through this one righteous man to bring about the salvation of the world. How?

God is going to bring the seed of the woman through Noah, and the covenant God makes with Noah in Genesis 9 guarantees his line will continue until the seed of the woman arrives. Even still, Noah will prove to fall short and sin just as Adam did before him. Noah is not the promised seed of the woman, but his obedience and his failure point us to the need for the savior to come, Jesus Christ. 

This morning, we aim to explore the connection between God’s covenant with Noah and God’s eternal, redemptive plan, as revealed in the Bible and centered on Jesus Christ.  

The Noahic Covenant is a promise to preserve creation so that God might fulfill His redemptive plan through the promised seed of the woman, Jesus Christ.

That is what I am to show you this morning, and I hope to achieve that with three points from these chapters: God’s judgment of wickedness is the context of the covenant, God’s new creation commission sets the terms of the covenant, and God’s preservation of creation is the promise of the covenant. 

I.) God’s judgment of wickedness is the context of the covenant 

(Genesis 6-7)

The Bible does not sugarcoat the state of creation and the wickedness of humanity after the Fall. Things have progressively gotten worse so that Noah and his family are a faithful remnant living among a wicked generation. 

Time does not allow me to discuss Genesis 6:1-4 in detail, because it’s a minefield of interpretive problems, and if we enter, we may not emerge unscathed. I do have opinions, and I’m happy to share them whenever we preach through Genesis or in private conversation. For our purposes, we only need to consider verses 5-8. 

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. (Ge 6:5–6)

This is not a description of unintentional mistakes, slip-ups, or errors. It is not a description of a small segment of the population. Humanity’s wickedness was great on the earth. The language is comprehensive and total. 

Tom Schreiner says, “Evil had become a tsunami that had swept away all goodness: ‘every intention,’ ‘only evil,’ and continually.”

The wickedness of humanity rightly evokes God’s judgment, which sets the context for God’s covenant with Noah. 

When the text says that the Lord “regretted that he had made man” and was “sorry that I have made them,” it is language that communicates God’s judgment on the wickedness of humanity in a way we can understand. It does not mean that God has made a mistake, nor that He regrets it in the same way we do. The Bible tells us that God is not like us and that he doesn’t have regret. 

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should 

change his mind (Nu 23:19)

29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” (1 Sa 15:29)

What is clear is that God declares his intent to judge the wickedness of the world, and that judgment is total except for one family.

“I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:7-8)

God, being faithful to his promise, will bring salvation through judgment. Noah has found favor in the eyes of the Lord. In other words, he has seen the grace of the Lord. God is going to bring judgment but save Noah and his family by grace, through whom he will preserve his promise to bring about the seed of the woman. 

God saves Noah by instructing him to build an ark large enough to accommodate his family and the types of animals that God instructs him to gather. 

 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. (Ge 6:12–14)

Noah obeys all the commands that God gives him. God then shuts Noah’s family in the ark, and then the rain comes. 

21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. (Ge 7:21–24)

Judgment washes over creation, but Noah’s family is saved inside the ark of God’s grace. The ark serves as a type of our salvation. Just as God’s grace saves Noah from God’s wrath while safely in the ark, we are saved from God’s wrath as we are united to Jesus Christ, the ark of our salvation. 

If you’re here this morning and you have not taken seriously the reality of God’s holiness and righteousness. If you have not reflected on the gravity of your sin and your standing before God in light of sin, you need to. 

Just as the ark was the only refuge for Noah and his family from the waters of judgment, so faith in Jesus Christ is the only refuge for sinners from the judgment to come. 

Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew that the judgment that will accompany His second coming will come rushing like the floodwaters in the time of Noah. 

38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man (Mt 24:38–39)

Are you safely abiding in the ark of our salvation, Jesus Christ, or are you at risk of being swept under the waters of judgment?

The Apostle Peter says that baptism corresponds to the ark which saved Noah and his family. Baptism does not save us by itself, but it is a pledge by all those who have been saved through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Pe 3:20–21)

The context of God’s covenant with Noah is the total judgment of wickedness that points forward to the final day of judgment. God’s salvation of Noah in the ark points forward to the salvation that is only found in Jesus Christ. 

The catastrophic and comprehensive nature of this judgment places the covenant in its proper perspective. 

II.) God’s new creation commission sets the terms of the covenant (Genesis 8:20-9:7) 

The floodwaters subside because God blows the wind over the water. Genesis 8:1 tells us that God remembered Noah. God had not forgotten or misplaced him. To say that God remembered Noah is a way of saying that God acts graciously toward Noah in faithfulness to his promise. 

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. (Ge 8:1–3)

With the waters receded, Genesis presents Noah as a New Adam of a New Creation. There are numerous connections in the text to make this point, but I want to focus on the most explicit. Noah is given the same mission that God gave to Adam. Look with me at Genesis 9:1-3. 

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. (Ge 9:1–3)

Noah and all those who come after him are to be fruitful and multiply. They exercise dominion over creation, especially animals, which, in our fallen world, will often fear human beings. There is, however, a key difference. Adam and Eve were meant to be fruitful and multiply to extend God’s garden-temple all over the world. They were to fill the earth with faithful, righteous image bearers of God. Noah cannot do this. That was lost when Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden. 

When God gives this commission to Noah, the curse of sin has already tainted all of creation and every human being. Noah is to be fruitful and multiply to bring the promised seed of the woman.

There is another element to this covenant because of the fall. To preserve life and restrain evil, God institutes human societies or governments to protect life and execute justice as a restraint for evil. 

4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. (Ge 9:4–6)

For God’s promise to be fulfilled, life is valued and protected. The purpose of government is to protect life and restrain evil that threatens life. The consequence for a crime as heinous as murder is capital punishment, reinforced and nuanced later in the Mosaic Law. 

What God institutes here in Genesis 9 is the foundation for Paul’s teaching about the God given authority of earthly governments to wield the sword of justice. 

3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. (Ro 13:3–4)

Samuel Renihan explains this connection well. 

“In the Noahic Covenant, human societies therefore have two basic and related jobs: to preserve life, and to preserve family…As a result, any society or government that corrupts the family or murders the innocent is a government in direct treason and disobedience to the God of the universe. They are abusing the sword entrusted to them by turning it on the innocent, rather than the guilty.” 

God is the God of life, and his people are to follow him in valuing the dignity of life. We follow him in speaking on behalf of vulnerable life who cannot speak for themselves, whether it be innocent life in utero, non-verbal image bearers, or even the poor and marginalized when appropriate. 

God brings salvation through judgment. Noah is the second Adam commissioned to be fruitful and multiply. Through Noah’s obedience to that command, God will preserve a holy line to fulfill His promise to provide a Savior, the promised seed of the woman.  

God’s judgment of wickedness is the context for the covenant. God’s new creation commission set the terms of the covenant. Now let’s close by reflecting on the promise of the covenant.

III.) God’s preservation of creation is the promise of the covenant (Genesis 9:8-17) 

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. (Ge 8:20–22)

This promise is reiterated in Genesis 9:11, and it is referred to as a covenant. 

 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.” (Ge 9:10–11)

The covenant that God made with Noah, which remains in force today, is to preserve the creation so that He can fulfill all His promises through the seed of the woman, Jesus Christ. This covenant is much more than a promise not to flood the earth. It is a promise to pass over sins, to be patient, to preserve creation, assuring that salvation will come through Jesus Christ. 

This means that you can trust God to keep his promises. Four out of the eight occurrences of the word “covenant” have the possessive pronoun “my” before it. 

18 But I will establish my covenant with you (Ge 6:18)

9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, (Ge 9:9)

11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, (Ge 9:11)

15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. (Ge 9:15)

This is a covenant that God binds himself to. He is obligated to keep it for the sake of his reputation. This covenant will be kept no matter Noah’s failure or those after him. It depends on God. 

A covenant sign accompanies this promise. 

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.” (Ge 9:12–17)

As many scholars have noted, there is no Hebrew word that directly translates to the English term “rainbow.” The word used here is bow, as in a weapon used in warfare. God has set His bow of wrath in the sky, pointed upward toward heaven, as a sign that promises to preserve creation and fulfill His promises in Christ. 

The Noahic Covenant is a promise to preserve creation so that God might fulfill His redemptive plan through the promised seed of the woman, Jesus Christ. 

This is the only biblical covenant that the New Covenant has not fulfilled. It remains in force today and will continue until Christ returns. On that day, God’s grace and patience will reach their end. Salvation will be completed for those in Christ, and judgment will be meted out to those in rebellion against Christ. 

God’s judgment of wickedness in the flood story reminds us of God’s holiness and justice. It reminds us to take sin seriously and reflect on the one refuge from his wrath—the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Noah obeyed God and built the ark, here is the command to repent and believe the gospel.