Monday, April 13, 2020

God's Covenant with mankind and all Flesh (Gen. 9:8-17)



SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04/12/2006

My Worship Time                              Focus:  God’s covenant with all man, & all flesh

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 9:8-17

            Message of the verses:  “8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 ‘Now behold, I Myself do 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 comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.  11 ‘I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.’
12 God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14  ‘It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will 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; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.  16 ‘When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon 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.’
           
            In this long section it can be seen that God made a covenant with Noah, his sons, and all the future generation that would come from this family, which is all of the people that are on this earth or have been from the time this covenant was made.  God distinguishes between man, the birds, the cattle, and every beast on the earth with Noah.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that this scene can be seen in the book of Revelations when John was lifted up to heaven he saw four living creatures, one from each category that God mentions here, and John also saw a rainbow that went around the throne of God, and the rainbow is the sign of this covenant that God had made here in Genes 9. 
           
            One of the few times that I have not agreed with Dr. Wiersbe is in this section, where he believe that Noah had seen a rainbow before, but I don’t think he saw one until the end of the storm that came upon the earth, for I do not believe that it rained before that time when God flooded the entire earth as a judgment against all men with the exception of Noah and his family.  It is possible that God may have spoken to Noah about a rainbow before, but I don’t believe he saw one until after the storm.
           
            This covenant that God made with Noah, his family, and the animals is a covenant in which man does not have to do anything for it to be fulfilled, all one has to do is look at the sky whenever it rains and there is always a rainbow some place where the sun and the rain can be seen at the same time, for that is what causes a rainbow, the water coming down while the light of the sun show the many colors that are hidden in the water before the sunshine reveals it.
           
            God promises that it will not only be the people who will see the rainbow and remember His covenant, but that God will also see the rainbow and remember His covenant He has made.
           
            There are three people who saw rainbows that are recorded in the Scriptures, Noah saw the rainbow after the storm, Ezekiel saw the rainbow during a storm, and John saw a rainbow before the storm.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The Lord Jesus Christ has at times been compared to the sun that is in the sky, for all of the planets in our solar system go around the sun, for the sun is the center of it.  As I think about how a rainbow works and I think about the Lord Jesus Christ who, because of His death on the cross, and because of His burial, and resurrection has saved many people from their sins and so when the Son’s Light filters through His new people there is beautiful things that can be seen in their lives, things that would not be able to be seen with the power or the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Word of God has been refreshment to my soul as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to trust the Lord through this storm that I am going through, even though we did not receive good news from Monday’s trial, I am still looking for the rainbow to be seen when this storm is over.  Trust the Lord to direct my path and to continue to teach me contentment, and to give me the grace that I need to go through this day.

Memory verse for the week:  Philippians 2:14-15

14.  Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15.  so that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,   

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