God Revealed

Genesis 6-9

Genesis Chapters 6-9 are about the Great Flood that destroys the world because sin had corrupted even the ground. Many of us know this story well and probably first heard it in Sunday school. I remember seeing animals and the Ark painted on the walls of a classroom in my childhood Church. It has all the elements of a great children’s story, a big boat and every animal going two by two into it and many days out at sea floating on the waters. For me, a huge animal lover, it sounds like a fun cruise I would pay to vacation on! Yet, some of this story can be hard to explain to a child, and even harder to understand as an adult. 

God saw that man was evil and was sorry for His creation. He decides to destroy everything He created by a flood, all animals, the earth and man. 

“God was sorry…” God is telling us about Himself in the story of Noah and the flood. God seeing what was happening on Earth and to man was sorry and decided to destroy everything that sin had ruined. Yet, Noah and his family had found favor with the Lord as Noah was the only righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth walking in close fellowship with God. God observed the violence and corruption that was everywhere on Earth, so God said to Noah, He had planned to destroy the Earth and all that had become corrupt. Noah obeyed and followed God’s plan obediently. God carries out His plan and after many long months of nothing but water, God remembers Noah and ends the flood and dries up the land. God says to Noah they can all exit the Ark and Noah builds an Altar to God, with a burning sacrifice. God is pleased with the aroma and says that He will not curse the ground because of humans even though they bend toward evil in thought and action.

Wow, God is revealing Himself in big ways, I have underlined a few. We also see a bit about Noah’s character, how he found favor with God and his relationship with God. God sees what is happening on Earth and observes all of it. He is sorry evil has ruined not just man but all creatures and even the soil to corruption. He finds favor in the fellowship He has with Noah and sees Noah as blameless and Noah stays in close fellowship with God, not turning toward evil. God tells Noah what He is about to do, He lets Noah in on His plan. Noah obeys and God does what He said He would do. God remembers Noah and ends the flood. Yet, it doesn’t end there, and God is about to reveal even more about Himself.  

God makes a Covenant with Noah. We now have a second Covenant between God and man. The first was with Adam and is called the Adamic Covenant. I’m new to the word Covenant. Not a common word used in my everyday life and up until 8 years ago I never gave the word much thought. Over the past 8 years that word has engaged my curiosity. What is a covenant? What is the importance of a Covenant between God and His people? What do covenants have to do with love? Have to do with me? I have learned that there are 7 covenants listed in the Bible. Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Palestinian, Mosaic, Davidic and New Covenant. I won't dive into all the covenants, but I will tell you it was the Abrahamic Covenant where I first saw How much God loved Abraham and me and where the word Covenant began to stand out for me.

What is a covenant and what did it mean in Noah’s time? A covenant is a legal binding agreement. A promise under oath, between two parties and if broken, damages and debts can be recovered. In Ancient Israelite times covenants were often determined by kinship, joining a tribe to an individual, like a wedding or an adoption. There are two types of covenants; the party covenants, made between equal parties and the suzerain-vassal covenants, made between a greater party called the suzerain and a lesser party called the vassal. The suzerain would provide the greater benefits, like land and protection to the vassal(s). Vassal(s), sometimes servants, would be indebted to the suzerain and a vassal could only have one suzerain often referred to as lord or master. If they dared to have another suzerain, they could be tried for treason. The vassal would also be responsible for keeping the proof of the covenant and if that proof could not be presented, the covenant could be voided by the suzerain, no longer having to provide for the vassal and the debt would be collected.

Why is this important to know? So that we can see how God views Himself. God tells Noah and his sons that the covenant is with them, their descendants, all the animals and every living creature on earth. He promises to never flood the earth or destroy everything again. To remember this covenant God gives a sign to Noah, to all living creatures and all generations to come. God gives His rainbow to Noah and says when He sends clouds over the earth, He will see the rainbow and He will be reminded of this covenant.

God who is the one with the greater power would be known as the suzerain party and Noah would be the vassal, the lesser. Noah as the lesser would be responsible for the sign and be tasked with reminding God of their agreement. All lesser parties would be responsible, that would mean the animals, the earth and Noah’s descendants would have to show God the proof of the contract to avoid ever being destroyed again. That sounds like an impossible task!

God the greater party is Thee Suzerain. Yet, God takes on the role of the vassal! God takes the lesser position and gives up His rainbow as a sign of the agreement. God then also being the greater takes the role of the Suzerain saying that when He sees His rainbow He will remember this promise and hold the terms of the Covenant. God then confirms His sign and the covenant with Noah. Sign sealed and delivered!

God tells us about Himself so that we may know Him. God sees us, observes what is happening to us, tells us His plans, is just in His ways to protect us from evil, favors our relationship with Him and is pleased when we thank and worship Him. God is willing to take the lesser role and greater role by providing His greatest protection over all the earth, over us. God does all the work for us! Do these characteristics of God remind you of someone?  

Jesus on the night that He was betrayed asked the disciples to remember Him right before He took the lesser role on the cross. As I began to scribble out my notes on this reflection and order my thoughts. I flipped through a random journal I had grabbed out of my stack of half-filled journals. It was from 2015, when I was going through a hard time in my life. As I skimmed the words, they were unrecognizable to me for the person I was, the pain I felt during that time has now become a faded memory. Jesus and the covenant He made with me on the cross is the covering between the pain of my past and the love I have today.  

When we see the rainbow may we be reminded of how God is willing to take the lesser and the greater role for us. He loves us by preparing a way so that we will not be filled with worry, all has been provided to us. May God reveal His love to you as you continue to walk in fellowship with Him.

~Nikki