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Genesis: The Rainbow Covenant
November 18, 2017

Last week we saw the first glimpse of their new world for Noah and his family after the flood.

After nearly a year aboard the ark, Noah and his family had recently left the ark. It was at this time that God blessed Noah and his sons as they would be the ones to re-populate the earth. For food, God provided animals and plants; and only required that an animal be slaughtered before being eaten. God reminded everyone of the sanctity of life and that murder would not be tolerated.

Genesis 9:1-7
So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.  And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man. And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it."

God established a rainbow covenant with Noah and his family. To this day the rainbow is a sign of the agreement made between Noah, Noah's family, and God that a worldwide flood would never again occur.

Genesis 9:8-17 
Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: "And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Noah and his sons got to work, and after a good harvest, Noah got drunk off the new wine and was found by his son Ham to be naked who immediately shared the details with his two other brothers. It was the two other brothers who sought dignity for their father and covered Noah. From this we can learn a vital life lesson. A small-minded person will make fun of other people when they are least likely to defend themselves. It is a person of class and dignity who bestows dignity on another, even when dignity isn't fully deserved.

Genesis 9:18-29
Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness. So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren." And he said: "Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant." And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

After the flood, Noah lived an additional three hundred fifty years, and then he died.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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