Genesis 404
Lesson Eight

Gen 9:8  And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 
Gen 9:9  And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 
Gen 9:10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. 
Gen 9:11  And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 
Gen 9:12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 
Gen 9:13  I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 
Gen 9:14  And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 
Gen 9:15  And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 
Gen 9:16  And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 
Gen 9:17  And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

A Covenant is a promise or undertaking resting on certain conditions, with a sign or token attached to it. It can have conditions set on both parties, or just one of the party involved. The bow in the cloud, the Lord’s Supper, and the wedding ring are signs and seals of their respective covenants. Never witness a rainbow without remembering that as God hath sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so He will not withdraw His kindness. See Isa_54:9.

This particular covenant, one that rest on what God will do, and nothing else, is made between Noah and all of his offspring (including you and I), AND all the animals.  This last part is very interesting because it shows communication between God and the animal kingdom as well. You can't make a covenant without both parties understanding and agreeing to it.  So, somehow, in some very real way, animals are aware of God, and are just as much in fellowship with Him as humans are.      

Now, this covenant is very specific. It very simply states that God will not destroy all life, or the whole earth by water again.  Notice two things.  First He states, "neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood". He doesn't promise that people will not die from drowning, but that "ALL FLESH" shall not be killed by means of water, and, secondly, "neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth". This last statement by God promises that He will not destroy the earth again by flood. God will destroy the whole earth again, as previously noted, but not by water. This covenant of God rest solely on His Word, with no action made on our part. Also note that this covenant is for "perpetual generations".  This covenant will never end.  

Then, God seals His new covenant with mankind (and the animal kingdom), by placing a rainbow in the sky. This seal can still be seen today, and still stands today.

In closing this portion of our study, I do want to mention that there are seven different covenants found in the Bible.

Adamic Covenant

The Adamic Covenant can be thought of in two parts: the Edenic Covenant (innocence) and the Adamic Covenant (grace). The Edenic Covenant is found in Genesis 1:26-30; 2:16-17. The details of this covenant include the following:

Mankind (male and female) created in God’s image.
Mankind’s dominion (rule) over the animal kingdom.
Divine directive for mankind to reproduce and inhabit the entire Earth.
Mankind to be vegetarian (eating of meat established in the Noahic covenant: Genesis 9:3).
Eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil forbidden (with death as the stated penalty).

Noahic Covenant

The Noahic Covenant, found in Genesis 9:8-17, is the promise that God made to Noah and his descendants after the flood which destroyed the world. The Noahic Covenant has several distinguishing features. First, it is an unconditional covenant. Second, it was made to Noah and all his descendants as well as “every living creature” and the earth in general (Genesis 9:8-10). Third, it was sealed with a sign, the rainbow.

Abrahamic Covenant

(Genesis 12:1-3, 6-7; 13:14-17; 15; 17:1-14; 22:15-18). In this covenant, God promised many things to Abraham. He personally promised that He would make Abraham’s name great (Genesis 12:2), that Abraham would have numerous physical descendants (Genesis 13:16), and that he would be the father of a multitude of nations (Genesis 17:4-5). God also made promises regarding a nation called Israel. In fact, the geographical boundaries of the Abrahamic Covenant are laid out on more than one occasion in the book of Genesis (12:7; 13:14-15; 15:18-21). Another provision in the Abrahamic Covenant is that the families of the world will be blessed through the physical line of Abraham (Genesis 12:3; 22:18). This is a reference to the Messiah, who would come from the line of Abraham.

Palestinian Covenant

The Palestinian Covenant, or Land Covenant, amplifies the land aspect that was detailed in the Abrahamic Covenant. According to the terms of this covenant, if the people disobeyed, God would cause them to be scattered around the world (Deuteronomy 30:3-4), but He would eventually restore the nation (verse 5). When the nation is restored, then they will obey Him perfectly (verse 8), and God will cause them to prosper (verse 9).

Mosaic Covenant

The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant that either brought God’s direct blessing for obedience or God’s direct cursing for disobedience upon the nation of Israel. Part of the Mosaic Covenant was the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the rest of the Law, which contained over 600 commands—roughly 300 positive and 300 negative. The history books of the Old Testament (Joshua–Esther) detail how Israel succeeded at obeying the Law or how Israel failed miserably at obeying the Law. Deuteronomy 11:26-28 details the blessing/cursing motif.

Davidic Covenant

(2 Samuel 7:8-16). The Davidic Covenant amplifies the “seed” aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant. The promises to David in this passage are significant. God promised that David’s lineage would last forever and that his kingdom would never pass away permanently (verse 16). Obviously, the Davidic throne has not been in place at all times. There will be a time, however, when someone from the line of David will again sit on the throne and rule as king. This future king is Jesus (Luke 1:32-33).

New Covenant

The New Covenant is a covenant made first with the nation of Israel and, ultimately, with all mankind. In the New Covenant, God promises to forgive sin, and there will be a universal knowledge of the Lord. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17) and create a new covenant between God and His people. Now that we are under the New Covenant, both Jews and Gentiles can be free from the penalty of the Law. We are now given the opportunity to receive salvation as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9).

When studying the different covenants, it is important to understand who is making the covenant, what are the terms of the covenant, and how long does the covenant last.