And God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
The flood waters had gone. The earth was fresh again. Then God spoke — not to Noah alone, but to Noah and his sons standing with him. What follows is the first covenant the Bible sets out in full. Why does God bind Himself by promise to a race He has just judged?
The word "covenant" had been used before the flood as a pledge to Noah. Here it is opened out in full.
"I will establish my covenant with you" had been God's word to Noah, before he built the ark or the waters came (Gen. 6:18). Now that the judgment is past, and the new earth is inherited, God details that covenant in full and pledges it again to His elect (Gen. 9:8-17). Every covenant we read of in Scripture is specific. Each one names its parties and states its objects plainly. There is no mistaking them.
God speaks to Noah and his sons with him. From there the circle widens further than in any other covenant.
Genesis 9:1-7 set out the blessing of God pronounced on Noah and his sons for the world that now is. From then on God allowed man to eat animal food, yet forbade him to eat blood, which belongs to God. God also put government into man's hand for the first time. Its task was to protect human life, and to vindicate God where life was taken. Now Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and every creature set under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made. It still holds under a merciful pledge that cannot fail.
Notice the direction of the speech. God speaks; Noah and his sons are not asked to agree to terms.
This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new.
The same is said of God's covenants generally, and it sets them apart from the bargains people make with each other.
The covenants made by God are of a different order. He makes His covenants from Himself, without consulting man. With Noah God made a covenant that He would not again destroy the world by a flood. As a token of that covenant He set the rainbow in the cloud (Gen. 9:8-17). This kind of covenant takes the form of an unconditional promise.
The verse names the speaker simply as God. One writer explains why no other title would fit here.
Here we may observe that it is "God" (Elohim) who blessed and who spoke; no other title would be fitting. "The LORD" (Jehovah) would have been entirely out of place. This is not an occasion for expressing a special relationship. The subject before us is of the widest character. It is the Creator who is declaring Himself the Preserver of all here below. He does so despite the imagination of man's heart being evil from his youth, which had so recently ended in the destruction of everyone on earth outside the ark. God could and would and did bless on the ground of sacrifice. That blessing was provisional, until the infinite sacrifice by which the new heavens and new earth will come in. Here God establishes His covenant with Noah and his sons on a footing that leaves aside all question of the soul or of moral considerations.
Before God spoke these words, Noah had built an altar. The order matters.
His first act on the cleansed earth was to build an altar to the LORD. There he offered burnt offerings of all the clean animals and birds. The LORD smelled a pleasing aroma. He said in His heart that He would not again curse the ground because of man. He would not again strike down every living thing as He had done. This teaches us that God carries on His providential government of the world on the ground of the pleasing aroma of Christ's sacrifice.
A family that had just watched the world drown had every reason to expect it to happen again. God speaks to that fear.
God covenants not only with Noah and his sons and with his descendants after them, but with every living creature — cattle, bird, and beast. Without such a covenant, what could guilty man expect but repeated strokes of the same judgment which had just taken them all away? Would not old sins renewed and fresh sins added provoke the same punishment? No; God's covenant with man and the earth steps in absolutely. "I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth." He will surely judge and destroy in another way, as He warns elsewhere. But it was no small comfort, when the world that now is began after the flood, that God settled their trembling hearts against a blow they naturally and rightly dreaded.
- Spoken, not negotiated — God "makes His covenants from Himself, without consulting man." Noah and his sons receive a promise, not a contract.
- Built on sacrifice — the altar came first. God's ongoing care of the world rests on the pleasing aroma of Christ's sacrifice.
- Widest reach — the promise covers Noah, his sons, their descendants and every living creature. It is "the largest covenant God ever made."
- Fear removed — the survivors could expect the flood to return. God's covenant rules that out, though He warns of judgment of another kind.
- Still standing — it is an unconditional promise, so it holds "under a merciful pledge that cannot fail."
And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
Noah has just stepped out of the ark onto an emptied earth, and God speaks first — binding Himself by promise to Noah, to his descendants, and to every creature that came out with him. The rest of the chapter answers what this promise is, who is inside it, and what holds it up.
The word translated "covenant" appears here for the first time in the Bible, and its use is never vague. God had already told Noah He would establish it before the flood came; now He spells it out.
"With you I will establish my covenant" had been God's word to Noah, before the ark was made, or the waters had come. Genesis 6:18. Now the judgment is past and the new earth is inherited. So God spells that covenant out in full, and pledges it again, to His chosen. Genesis 9:8-17. And it is here that the word "covenant" is first used. Every covenant we read about in Scripture is specific. Its parties and its purposes are clearly defined and plainly stated. There is no mistaking them.
God does the establishing. He asks nothing from Noah in return, and nothing in the arrangement waits on how Noah's descendants behave.
This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new.
Before the flood God spoke to Noah alone. Here He speaks to the sons as well, and one writer traces the change back to the sacrifices on the altar.
God had talked with Noah, because he was righteous before Him. He had often spoken to Noah, but never before to his sons. The Lord could not do this before the flood, or even before Noah and his family left the ark. Once the sacrifices were offered on the altar, He could and did do it... To the righteous one God could speak apart from a sacrifice; to others only on the ground of it. Noah had a place before Him on earth because of what he was; his sons only because of the sacrifice.
The covenant reaches past Noah's family to every creature under man, and it still stands.
Genesis 9:1-7 set out the blessing of God pronounced on Noah and his sons for the world that now is... Now Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and with every creature placed under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made, and it still stands under a merciful pledge that cannot fail.
Scripture uses more than one name for God. One writer explains which name stands behind the word "God" here, and why the other name would not fit.
Notice again that it is "Elohim" Who blessed (Genesis 9:1) and spoke (verse 8). No other title would be fitting here. "Jehovah" would have been entirely out of place. This is no occasion for expressing a special relationship. Far from it: what is before us here is as wide as it could be. It is the Creator declaring Himself the Preserver of everything here below. And He does so even though the thoughts of man's heart are evil from his youth — which had so recently ended in the destruction of everyone on earth outside the ark.
"Your offspring after you" is not a closed list. Everyone alive descends from Noah, so everyone alive stands under its terms.
The second head in this second world — the world since the flood — was Noah. But his place stood on changed terms: under a covenanted and unconditional blessing, whose full token was the rainbow God set in the cloud. Under the protection of that blessing we take our part as "his seed" and descendants. This unchanging covenant rests on the faithfulness of God. It is what secures all blessing to every living creature.
Some treat this as the first of the Bible's covenants. Others argue that, in the strict sense, Scripture has only two.
There are really only two covenants in Scripture — the old covenant and the new. Still, the word covenant is used in several places about the Lord where it only announces certain relationships. These are relationships He was pleased to enter into with man or with the creature (Genesis 9:8-17, and so on), or on which man was to approach Him — but without conditions. The context must decide the sense.
- Sacrifice first. God spoke to Noah's sons only after the sacrifice. The whole covenant stands on ground that sacrifice prepared.
- Gift, not deal. It is unconditional — a promise, resting on nothing the creature contributes.
- Widest reach. It takes in Noah, his descendants, and every living creature: the largest covenant God ever made.
- Creator's word. The speaker is God the Creator, declaring Himself the Preserver of all — not entering a special relationship with one people.
- Still standing. It rests on God's faithfulness, so it cannot fail. Every living thing shelters under it today.
and with every living soul which is with you, fowl as well as cattle, and all the animals of the earth with you, of all that has gone out of the ark -- every animal of the earth.
God's covenant after the flood is not made with Noah alone. The list of partners widens to take in the birds, the cattle and the wild animals that left the ark. Why does God name animals in a covenant at all? And what does that tell us about Him?
The reach of this promise marks it out. One writer gives both the size of this covenant and how long it lasts:
Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and with every creature set under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made. It still stands, held up by a merciful pledge that cannot fail.
The words "as many as came out of the ark" also draw a line around who is covered. One commentator points out what that line leaves out:
At this time God also announced a covenant with Noah and his sons. It included all his descendants too, as well as the birds and animals — all who had been in the ark, and therefore not the fish. The covenant was that God would not again send a flood to destroy the earth.
The name used for God here is not accidental. The promise reaches birds, cattle and the whole earth. So the fitting name is "Elohim" — God as Maker of everything — rather than "Jehovah," the name of a special relationship:
Here again we may notice that it is "Elohim" Who blessed (Gen. 9:1) and spoke (v. 8). No other name would fit. "Jehovah" would have been completely out of place. This is not an occasion for expressing a special relationship. What is before us is as wide as it could be. It is the Creator declaring Himself the Preserver of all here below.
This covenant does not stand on its own. One writer traces its whole reach — animals included — back to a sacrifice:
Because of the sacrifice, God established His covenant with Noah, his sons, their descendants after them, and every living thing that was with them — birds, cattle, beasts of the earth, all that came out of the ark. So the earth and everything tied to it shared in the benefits of the sacrifice. As far as the consequences of man's sin had reached on earth, just as far the blessed results of the burnt offering would be felt.
God asks nothing in return:
This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature.
Survivors of a flood have every reason to fear a second one. This covenant speaks straight to that fear:
Without such a covenant, what could guilty man expect but repeated blows of the same judgment that had just swept them all away? Would old sins repeated and new sins added not bring the same punishment? No. God's covenant with man and the earth stands in the way, and stands absolutely... He will judge and destroy in other ways, as He warns elsewhere. But it was no small comfort, when the present world began after the flood, that God calmed their trembling hearts about a blow they had every natural and just reason to dread.
The animals came through the water, and then into the covenant. One writer sees in that an early pledge of something larger:
We have had many pledges of this final redemption and joy of the creatures. Noah carried them, two of every kind, with himself and his household through the waters into the new world. And the same covenant that settled him and his descendants there provided just as much for them (Gen. 9:10).
That care for creatures runs through the whole Bible and ends in their release:
God never forgets His rights as Creator and Preserver. Even when our blessed Lord brought out heavenly and eternal things, He never taught us to despise the birds of the sky or the lilies of the field, or God's care in either case... And the New Testament is as clear as the Old in keeping before us the deliverance He will surely bring for the whole creation, which groans and suffers pain together until now.
- Sacrifice first. The covenant rests on a burnt offering. Its blessing reaches as far as sin's damage had reached.
- Gift, not bargain. It is a covenant of promise. It does not depend on any faithfulness of the creature.
- Widest reach. God names the birds, cattle and beasts that left the ark as partners. Commentators call it the largest covenant He ever made.
- Creator's name. God speaks here as "Elohim" — Creator and Preserver of all below. This is not the name of a special relationship.
- Result: rest. God calmed trembling hearts about a second flood. By including the creatures, He pledged the deliverance creation still groans for.
And I establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood, and henceforth there shall be no flood to destroy the earth.
After the flood, God speaks not to warn but to bind Himself: never again will water wipe out all flesh. Commentators ask what He promised, what it rests on, how far it reaches, and what it leaves out.
A survivor's natural thought is that the same blow could fall again. One writer sets the promise against that fear:
God establishes His covenant in a way that cuts off the least fear from every heart that trusted in Him. There is no more fear that a flood will destroy all flesh, and no fear that God will ever deal with the earth in that way again. Without such a covenant, what could guilty man expect but repeated strokes of the same judgment which had just taken them all away? Would not old sins renewed and fresh sins added provoke like punishment? Not so. God's covenant with man and the earth steps in and settles the matter.
Noah offered a sacrifice, and the promise followed. One writer draws out what that sacrifice means for the whole earth:
Noah's was the second recorded sacrifice, Abel's being the first. Abel's sacrifice shows the ground the believing individual stands on with God. Noah's shows the ground the earth stands on with God. Christ's atonement is the reason God can bear with the appalling mass of evil that meets His eye as He looks down from above. Patience would be impossible without the atoning sacrifice, which is always before the mind of God. So the unbeliever owes the very air he breathes to the Saviour whose name he scorns.
God asks nothing of Noah in return. One writer names what kind of agreement this is:
This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new.
Another writer traces the covenant back to the sacrifice behind it:
The sacrifice of Christ (pictured here) becomes a ground for God's dealing with the earth, not only for accepting man, as with Abel. On this a covenant is founded. God binds Himself in grace, so faith has sure ground to stand on, something it can count on.
The parties named in this covenant go well beyond Noah's family. One writer measures it against every other covenant in Scripture:
Genesis 9:1-7 set out the blessing of God pronounced on Noah and his sons for the world that now is. Now Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and every creature set under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made, and it still continues under a merciful pledge that cannot fail. We first hear of a covenant with Noah in Genesis 6:18.
Another writer notes the strange use people make of a promise God has kept:
The covenant was to the effect that God would not again send a flood to destroy the earth (vv. 10-11). Once a flood like this had happened, people would fear another. But God's word on this is absolute. Sadly, because another has not come, people deny that the first ever happened! Such is the perversity of human sinful nature!
God rules out one kind of judgment, not every kind. Another still stands, and with it a way of escape:
God has told us that just as that world was destroyed by water so this world will be destroyed by fire. The same word of God says this world is kept for the fire at the day of judgment and ruin of bad men. (See 2 Peter 3:7.) He warns men, and tells them how they may escape. (John 3:16.)
- Pledge given. God removes from every trusting heart the least fear of another flood destroying all flesh. His covenant settles it.
- Pledge grounded. Abel's sacrifice shows the ground the believer stands on. Noah's shows the ground the earth stands on. The world keeps going because of Christ's atonement.
- Pledge unconditional. This is a covenant of promise. It does not depend on the faithfulness of the creature. God binds Himself in grace, so faith has something it can count on.
- Pledge wide. God made it with mankind and every creature under man. It is the largest covenant He ever made, and it still stands.
- Pledge limited. God ruled out water, not judgment. This world is kept for fire, and God warns men how to escape.