"Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 'Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; 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. 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.' 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; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 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. 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.' 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.'" -Genesis 9.8-17
After the flood God institutes the practice of covenant making. This is an unbreakable commitment, a promise that cannot be undone. God promises Noah, all of his descendants, and all animals that the world will never again be destroyed by a flood. To accompany the covenant is a sign, with the Noahic covenant the sign is the rainbow. Every time the rainbow appears in the sky, it is a reminder of God's promise. There will be rain, but it will not destroy all life on the earth.
Covenants are serious business. When a covenant was broken, usually death was the punishment. God is establishing this covenant, and He is the one who is capable of breaking it, because the only promise is that He will not flood the earth again. God makes the covenant, and He will not break it.
This is the first covenant the appears in the Bible. Some of them have conditions that man must live by, but all of them have a divine element that is the root of them. God is at work to restore His creation, and He establishes covenants with His people in the process. God, the covenant maker, is faithful to do all that He says. The final covenant is established in Christ, and it is under that promise of hope and redemption that we now live. God has been faithful to every covenant He has established, and He will be faithful to this one.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Showing posts with label Genesis 9. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genesis 9. Show all posts
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Values Life
"Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man." -Genesis 9.6
The flood is over, and the ark is empty. Noah has built an altar and made sacrifices to God, and God has promised never to destroy the earth by flood again, no matter how bad things get. He knows that from youth the intentions of the hearts of men are evil, but in spite of that, He still values human life. God puts a value on the life of humanity, and that is life itself. Whoever kills a man must be killed because life is a precious thing. Men bear the image of God, and are to be treated with dignity and respect.
God values life. Every life matters to God, and everyone who takes life will be held accountable to God for that life. I feel that I need to say this, life begins at conception, and the lives of the unborn matter to God because they are alive. The Bible says, "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139.13-14a). At the moment of conception God begins to form a baby into His image. Life is to end only when God decides it is over. God gives man the breath of life, and until He decides to take it back, life is to be treated with dignity and respect.
The unborn, the young, and the old, all matter to God, because all bear His image. Life matters because it is God given, God sustained, and God valued.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Peace be with you
The flood is over, and the ark is empty. Noah has built an altar and made sacrifices to God, and God has promised never to destroy the earth by flood again, no matter how bad things get. He knows that from youth the intentions of the hearts of men are evil, but in spite of that, He still values human life. God puts a value on the life of humanity, and that is life itself. Whoever kills a man must be killed because life is a precious thing. Men bear the image of God, and are to be treated with dignity and respect.
God values life. Every life matters to God, and everyone who takes life will be held accountable to God for that life. I feel that I need to say this, life begins at conception, and the lives of the unborn matter to God because they are alive. The Bible says, "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139.13-14a). At the moment of conception God begins to form a baby into His image. Life is to end only when God decides it is over. God gives man the breath of life, and until He decides to take it back, life is to be treated with dignity and respect.
The unborn, the young, and the old, all matter to God, because all bear His image. Life matters because it is God given, God sustained, and God valued.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Peace be with you
Friday, January 17, 2014
Finish Well
"Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent." -Genesis 9.20-21
I read Genesis 9 this morning, and I've been thinking about this most of the day. And I'm still not 100% where we're going with this yet, so let's see where we end up.
I can actually relate to Noah pretty well with this first part. The man is stuck on a boat for months with nothing to look at outside but water. He had been on land for 600 years, and suddenly it's gone. The family homestead was buried under who knows how much water. And finally when he's back on dry ground, he begins to farm and plants a vineyard. I can imagine how he felt, and how excited he was. I just want a piece of ground to begin working and planting.
I love gardening, getting to enjoy the fruit of your labor. And so I can imagine he took to it with haste and excitement. And there was nothing wrong with it. God created man and place him in a garden to tend and care for it. We've lost the garden, but in many ways we try to recreate what we lost. And I imagine Noah had a nice set up. But then things get a little out of control. He makes wine, nothing wrong there, but then he drinks a little too much and gets plastered, now we have a problem.
In his drunken state, Noah loses control. He uncovers himself in his tent, and his son sees him, which ends up bringing a curse upon him. And this is the last thing we are told about Noah. He got drunk and fell asleep in his tent naked. We have here a lesson we'll see time and again as we journey through the Bible, finish well. The story begins with a righteous and blameless man of great faith. He obeys God, even with the craziest commands. It says that he walked with God, but the last thing we hear about him is this.
And we are told at the end of the chapter, "Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood." (verse 28) We aren't told that he walked with God, but that he lived. Again, we don't know the rest of the details of those 350 years, this is all we get about his life after the flood, but I doubt this is the final thing Noah would have wanted us to know about him.
What about you? What is the last thing you want people to know about you? How do you want to finish and be remembered? Every time I think of Noah, yeah I think about the righteous man who built an ark and was saved, but I think of the drunk, naked guy too. How do you want to finish?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
I read Genesis 9 this morning, and I've been thinking about this most of the day. And I'm still not 100% where we're going with this yet, so let's see where we end up.
I can actually relate to Noah pretty well with this first part. The man is stuck on a boat for months with nothing to look at outside but water. He had been on land for 600 years, and suddenly it's gone. The family homestead was buried under who knows how much water. And finally when he's back on dry ground, he begins to farm and plants a vineyard. I can imagine how he felt, and how excited he was. I just want a piece of ground to begin working and planting.
I love gardening, getting to enjoy the fruit of your labor. And so I can imagine he took to it with haste and excitement. And there was nothing wrong with it. God created man and place him in a garden to tend and care for it. We've lost the garden, but in many ways we try to recreate what we lost. And I imagine Noah had a nice set up. But then things get a little out of control. He makes wine, nothing wrong there, but then he drinks a little too much and gets plastered, now we have a problem.
In his drunken state, Noah loses control. He uncovers himself in his tent, and his son sees him, which ends up bringing a curse upon him. And this is the last thing we are told about Noah. He got drunk and fell asleep in his tent naked. We have here a lesson we'll see time and again as we journey through the Bible, finish well. The story begins with a righteous and blameless man of great faith. He obeys God, even with the craziest commands. It says that he walked with God, but the last thing we hear about him is this.
And we are told at the end of the chapter, "Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood." (verse 28) We aren't told that he walked with God, but that he lived. Again, we don't know the rest of the details of those 350 years, this is all we get about his life after the flood, but I doubt this is the final thing Noah would have wanted us to know about him.
What about you? What is the last thing you want people to know about you? How do you want to finish and be remembered? Every time I think of Noah, yeah I think about the righteous man who built an ark and was saved, but I think of the drunk, naked guy too. How do you want to finish?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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