Page 9 - Florida Sentinel 9-1-17

Somewhere Over The Rainbow Genesis 8:20-22; 9:8-17
Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20, 21).
When the flood subsided, Noah, whose name means “comfort,” built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed burnt of- ferings to the Lord. The burnt offering was for atonement of sins. It was not a thank offer- ing. While Noah and his fam- ily were grateful for God’s providence in the flood, this offering indicates a conscious- ness that Noah’s family was not without sin.
The Lord smelled the pleas- ing aroma, which includes the idea of accepting Noah’s offer- ing, and made a promise that he repeated four times in our printed text (Genesis 8:21— twice; 9:11, 15). “Never again” is the refrain of our text.
Never again will the Lord curse the ground (see Gene- sis 3:17b, 18). Never again will God destroy all the living creatures. Never again will God use a huge flood to judge the world for its wickedness.
Two promises were made as a result of God’s desire never again to destroy the world with a flood.
First, God promised to allow creation to continue in spite of the cataclysmic changes made by the flood. Seasons, temper- ature, and day and night will continue as long as the earth endures (Genesis 8:22).
Second, God established his covenant with Noah, his fam- ily, and all of creation (9:8- 11). While God’s covenant to save the world through Jesus will get narrowed to one fam- ily (12:1-3), at this point in the biblical narrative this promise is worldwide, which it later will become again (Revelation 21:1-4).
Always Remember Genesis 9:12-17
There is not only the covenant, but there is also the sign of the covenant. The He- brew word for “sign” means distinguishing mark, banner, omen, token, or proof. God would give a banner of his
love to Noah, to all of creation, and to the generations (habi- tations or ages) to come.
That sign would be a rain- bow.
The Hebrew word means something “bent,” as in a lit- eral bow used with arrows. Note that the rainbow was a sign for God—not creation.
We get to see its beauty and remember God’s promise. However, the rainbow was for God to remember his prom- ise.
How can a God, who is om- niscient, not remember? Still, that is what the text says. The promise of the rainbow was not about local flooding which remains as a result of fallen creation groaning (Romans 8:18-22). It was a promise not to judge the world by a flood again. This promise was everlasting (perpetual, contin- ual).
“Somewhere over the rain- bow” lays not a pot of gold, but a God who never fails to keep his end of the covenant.
The God of the Bible is a covenant-making God. God makes promises to help and protect mankind. This kind of promise is called a ‘covenant’.
The lessons during Septem- ber will concern some of these covenants (the rainbow, cir- cumcision, the Sabbath, and the Spirit-filled heart).
The Hebrew word for covenant appears 284 times in the Old Testament and can be translated covenant, league, alliance, pledge, or treaty. It can refer to agree- ments between a king and his subjects, between a husband and his wife in a marriage, be- tween friends, and between God and his creation.
In this lesson it refers to the
promise God made to Noah and his family during the flood narrative of Genesis 6- 9.
Never Again Genesis 8:20-22; 9:8-11
Once sin reared its ugly head in Genesis 3 it did not take long for things in the world to go south. God was grieved in his heart that the people chose sin and death in- stead of a relationship with him (Genesis 6:5, 6; see Ephesians 4:30).
God judged the world with a flood.
The water destroyed the world (Genesis 7:11, 12), but it also floated the ark, which saved Noah and his family (Genesis 6:8; 7:5;
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