The Rainbow
Genesis 9:1-17
God’s Covenant With Noah
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Like everyone else I know, I get excited when I see a rainbow in the sky. “Look! Look! A Rainbow!”
But, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a rainbow and consciously reflected that it is a sign of God’s mercy and steadfast love. Have you?
Next time I see one in the sky, I want to do better.
P.S. Note that this first giving of the law, which we read in today’s passage, includes in it the fact that every single person is equal before the law: no one’s “blood” is more or less valuable than anyone else’s.
P.P.S. Note on what’s next.
Part 2 of our reading plan begins on Monday, September 26 and consists of Genesis chapters 12-36, chapters which recount the history of the patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is the story of the formation of the family that will carry on the covenant promise—in fact, it’s all about family; or, to put it another way, the main theme of Genesis Part 2 is:
Family is How We Fight.
Readings are Monday-Friday, and there are 2 ways to read along:
1. Pick up a Genesis Daily Reading Guide at Asbury starting this weekend! Readings are given for each day, along with a brief commentary I’ve written to help you get something out of your reading. (Books will be available all around the church, including near the Guest Services Desks.)
or
2. Just hang tight and if you currently receive these posts over email, you’ll continue to receive the daily readings each morning at 4:00 AM. New subscribers can sign up here.
[Note that the daily emails and the Daily Reading Guide both contain the same content!]
