And God said, This is the sign of the covenant that I set between me and you and every living soul that is with you, for everlasting generations
God has just brought Noah's family out of the ark into a world washed by judgment. Now He speaks a promise, not a command, and He gives that promise a visible sign. Notice who the promise covers: not Noah alone, but every living creature, and not one lifetime, but all generations to come.
The Widest Covenant in Scripture
The verse sits at a hinge in the chapter. The opening verses gave Noah a new order for life on earth, and then God turned from ruling to pledging.
In Genesis 9:8-11 God establishes His covenant with mankind and with every creature set under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made, and it still stands on a merciful pledge that cannot fail. Neither of these applied to the world before the flood. In the verses that follow (12-17) God kindly gives a sign or token of His covenant with the earth. Of a covenant with Noah we first hear in Genesis 6:18.
Founded on a Sacrifice
Noah had offered a burnt offering. God's pledge follows on that.
God makes a covenant with Noah and with the creation, and as the witness of it He gives the rainbow… God gave this covenant to the earth right after the sacrifice of Noah, which is a picture of the sacrifice of Christ.
Nothing Asked of Man
The verse sets no terms for Noah to keep. God says what He will do.
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 wording of God's promise clearly implies that mankind had never seen a rainbow before.
Why a Sign at All
A sign answers a fear. Survivors of a flood have every reason to dread the next dark sky. The sign God chose meets that dread: it cannot appear without the very cloud that frightens them.
So the goodness of God pledged in the bow He set in the cloud brings immense comfort. As a rule you do not see the bow unless there is rain. You see it only when the sun shines bright at your back from the opposite quarter of the sky. So no sign could be more fitting. The rain might awaken fears; the glorious bow was fitted to calm them. This was God's own way of assuring man of His unfailing covenant.
Commentators differ on whether the rainbow itself was new. Hole reads the wording as proof that no one had seen one before. The Bible Treasury holds that Scripture leaves the question open, and that God may have taken a familiar sight and given it a new and merciful meaning.
The Bow Set Where God Can See It
God sets the sign in the sky, above human reach. The following verses say He will look at it and remember.
The Lord God makes a covenant with Noah and with all the creatures around him. He will keep the earth safe from a second flood. As a token of this, He hangs the bow in the cloud, up there under His own eye, that He may look on it, and so remember His promise… The cloud might threaten, and swell itself with water; the bow should control it. The cloud might frown; the bow should smile… And God set the creation on sure conditions, not on conditions that could fail.
Every Living Creature Included
The verse names animals alongside people. That reach traces back to the altar Noah built.
Because of the sacrifice, God established His covenant with Noah, his sons, their descendants after them, and every living thing that was with them… The earth and all connected with it shared in the benefits of the sacrifice. As far as the consequences of man's sin had reached on earth, so far the blessed results of the burnt offering would be felt… The earth as well as man had a share in the covenant, and the creature will one day rejoice in the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.
The Same Bow, Later in Scripture
The rainbow does not stay in Genesis.
The bow God set in the cloud long ago, with its many colours and varied beauty, is the token of His covenant with the earth (Gen. 9:9-17)… It is God's object lesson for the human race. It is a public sign hung out in the heavens, so that all may see and learn that God is good. The last mention of the rainbow shows it over the head of the Lord as He claims the earth in power (Rev. 10:1).
Summary
- Cause. The covenant follows Noah's burnt offering, a picture of the sacrifice of Christ. The earth's blessing rests on that sacrifice.
- Gift. God adds a sign to His word: not a duty for man, but a promise of God that depends on no faithfulness of the creature.
- Fitness. The bow only appears with the cloud, so the very thing that stirs fear now carries the assurance that calms it.
- Reach. The pledge covers Noah, his descendants, and every living creature. It is the widest covenant God has made, and it still stands.
- Result. God set the bow where He Himself looks at it. It appears again in Revelation, over the One who claims the earth.