This is a covenant that is often overlooked when we talk about major OT promises of God.  This one that God gives Noah after the flood is over is pretty simple.  Look at what he says, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” (Gen 9:1b)  This sounds pretty familiar doesn’t it.  He repeats the commission that He gave Adam and Eve. 

If you skip on down to vs 7 God says again, “As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”  Do you think this commission was important to God?  Why does he repeat this over and over. 

Then in Vs 8 the actual covenant, “Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you–the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you–every living creature on earth.  I establish my covenant with you; Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”  Then God shows them the rainbow and says that is the reminder of His covenant with all living things. 

Why is this covenant important.  I mean sure it promises that God will not destroy the earth by a flood again.  I want you to notice one thing here.  This covenant between God and man and all living things, what was the role that the living things had to do?  What requirements did God make of them so that he would not flood the earth again?  If you are looking at the passage to see where he says, if you do… then I will never flood the earth, you will be surprised that in this passage and this covenant God puts all responsibility on himself.  He puts no requirements on the living things to prevent future floods. 

In the verses following this huge event in Noah’s life we find him in a slightly different scenario.  In chapter 9:18-29 Noah, the same guy who God looked at as the one righteous one left on earth.  Planted a vinyard, got drunk, got naked, and got angry.  Strange for the mighty man of God is it not. 

Why did God choose a guy like Noah.  Well we know that he was stubborn, the whole world told him he was crazy for building the Ark.  We know he was faithful to God, check out Gen 6:9.  We know that he worked hard; I mean to build a boat like the Ark with the tools available in that time period was an extremely long and laborious process.  But it appears that he also had blind spots, holes in that righteousness.   Do you ever wonder if God’s choices in the people that he chooses to do his work, has more to do with His work and His mission than the person’s ability represent him well?  With the exception of Jesus Christ.  There is not a human alive or has ever lived that could not be considered a disappointment and a failure.  None of us can live up to the standard of perfection that is the character of God himself.   There is a book called “Messy Spirituality” by Michael Yakonelli, I definitely recommend on this topic.  It is a great way to spend a few hours. 

Finally Chapter 11, you have the tower of babel.  This is a very important event in History that has significant bearing on our world today.  Mankind gathered together and decided that they were going to build a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that they could make a name for themselves and not be scattered across the face of the earth.  Remember what God told both Adam and Noah, to increase upon the earth, to subdue and fill the earth.  This desire that mankind was pursuing was in direct opposition to what God had commanded. 

So God confused their languages, and you have the beginning of different tribes, languages, nations.  And the people were scattered over the face of the whole earth.  Look at 11:6-7, “The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and confuse their language so that they will not understand each other.”

We are closer today to universal communication than any other time since that event.  All over the world the urbanization of people is a huge problem.  We have the ever-increasing mega-cities in the world some as large as 40-50 million people.  We have a knowledge base that grows every day, that has given us inventions like plastic, nuclear power, Atom Bombs, Space Ships, and millions of other brilliant things with both good applications and bad applications.  We are quickly approaching a time when language will no longer be the biggest barrier to global unity. 

What are the repercussions?  I have no idea.  I hope a cure for cancer; I hope a answer for global hunger; I hope solutions for many of the worlds worst problems.  But knowing the human condition, I expect that it will yield great things on one hand, and the worst things ever created on the other. 

The only hope that the world has is based in self-less people willing to spend themselves on behalf of those in need.  The world doesn’t need Christian’s who babble on television about their piety and humility.  We need God to raise up an army of self-less leaders, a generation of servant hearts that are willing to suffer, to give it all, to go the distance, to count the cost, to build the bridges of culture and be willing to live as Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”  Luke 9:23-25

I hope that you have enjoyed my rambling.  Let me know if you have any thoughts you would like to share. By the way through Gen 11 I have counted the world “earth” 53 times, and started in chapter 11 the word “nations” showed up 3 times.  I will start totaling that as well. 

Chad