Genesis 9:16 - Exposition

The covenant renewed.

I. THE AUTHOR OF THE COVENANT . God. This is evident from the nature of the case. In ordinary language a covenant signifies "a mutual contract between two (or more) parties"; cf. Genesis 21:27 (Abraham and Abimelech); Joshua 24:25 (Joshua and Israel); 1 Samuel 18:3 (Jonathan and David); 1 Kings 20:34 (Ahab and Benhadad);' com prehending a promise made by the one to the other, accompanied with a condition, upon the performance of which the accepter becomes entitled to the fulfillment of the promise" (Dick's 'Theol. Lect.,' 45.). Applied, however, to those transactions between God and man which took their rise subsequent to the fall, a covenant is an arrangement or disposition originated by God under which certain free and gracious promises are made over to man, which promises are ratified by sacrifice and impose certain obligations on their recipients, while they are usually connected with institutions illustrative of their nature. But, taking either definition of the term, it is obvious that the initial move-merit in any such transaction must belong to God; and with special emphasis does God claim to be the sole Author of the covenant established with Noah and his descendants ( 1 Kings 20:9 , 1 Kings 20:11 , 1 Kings 20:12 , 1 Kings 20:17 ).

II. THE PARTIES TO THE COVENANT , i.e. the persons interested in the covenant; viz; Noah and his posterity. But Noah and his sons at that time were—

1. The heads of the race . Hence the covenant may be said to have possessed a worldwide aspect. Because of their connection with Noah the entire family of man had an interest in its provisions.

2. The fathers of the Church . As believers Noah and his family had been saved; and with them, in the character of believers, the covenant was made. Hence it had also a special outlook to the Church, for whom it had a blessing quite distinct from that which it conferred upon the world as such.

III. THE SUBSTANCE OF THE COVENANT . Calling it so frequently as he does "my covenant" ( Genesis 6:18 ; Genesis 7:9 , Genesis 7:11 ), the Author of it seems desirous to connect it in our thoughts with that old covenant which, more than sixteen centuries earlier, he had established with mankind immediately after the fall. Now that covenant was in substance an arrangement, disposition, proposal, or promise of mercy and salvation; and that has been the essential element in every covenant that God has made with man. So to speak, God's covenant is just another name for his formal conveyance to mankind sinners of the free gift of Christ and his salvation.

IV. THE FORM OF THE COVENANT . While in every age essentially the same, the form of the covenant has been changing with the changing eras of human history. When we speak of a change of dispensation, the thing meant is a change upon the outward form or mode of representing the covenant—a dispensation being a Divine arrangement for communicating blessing. In prediluvian times the form which the covenant assumed was the promise of the woman's seed. From the Deluge onwards it was a promise of forbearance—" Neither shall all flesh he cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there he any more a flood to destroy the earth." In the patriarchal era it became the promise of a son "in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed" ( Genesis 12:3 ; Genesis 18:18 ; Genesis 22:18 ). Under the Mosaic dispensation the promise of a prophet like unto Moses ( Deuteronomy 18:15 ); during the monarchy the promise of a king to sit upon David's throne ( 2 Samuel 7:12 ); in the time of Isaiah the promise of a suffering servant of the Lord ( Isaiah 42:1-25 ; Isaiah 53:1-12 .); in the fullness of the times it assumed its permanent form, viz; that of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ as the woman's seed, as Abraham's child, as David's son, as Jehovah's servant.

V. THE SEAL OF THE COVENANT . Covenant transactions under the old or Levitical dispensation were invariably accompanied with the offering up of sacrificial victims, as a public attestation of the binding character of the arrangement. The covenant which God made with Noah had also its sacrificial seal.

1. The meritorious sacrifice . The propitiatory offering of the Lord Jesus Christ, on the sole ground of which he is well pleased with and mercifully disposed towards the race of sinful man.

2. The typical sacrifice . The offering of Noah upon Ararat after emerging from the ark.

VI. THE SIGN OF THE COVENANT . The rainbow, which was—

1. A universal sign . The covenant having been made with the entire family of man, it was in a manner requisite that the sign should be one which was patent to the race; not limited and local and national, like circumcision, afterwards given to the Hebrews or Abrahamidae, but universal, ubiquitous, cosmopolitan; and such was the rainbow. This was a first mark of kindness on the part of God towards the family which he had taken into covenant with himself.

2. An attractive sign. Such as could not fail to arrest the g of those whose special interest it was to behold it. Nothing is more remarkable than the quickness with which it attracts the eye, and the pleasurable feelings which its sight enkindles. In its selection, then, to be a sign and symbol of his covenant, instead of something in itself repulsive or even indifferent, we can detect another proof of kindness on the part of God.

3. A seasonable sign. At the very moment, as it were, when nature's elements are threatening another deluge, the signal of heaven's clemency is hung out upon the watery sky to rebuke the fears of men. Another token of special kindness on the part of God.

4. A suggestive sign—suggestive of the covenant of grace. Possibly this was the chief reason why the rainbow was selected as the sign of the covenant; a further display of kindness on the part of God.

VII. THE PERPETUITY OF THE COVENANT .

1. To eternity (verse 16). In so far as it was a spiritual covenant with the believing Church, it was designed to be unto, as it had actually been from, everlasting.

2. For perpetual generations (verse 12). In so far as it was a providential covenant with the race, it was designed to continue to the end of time.

Lessons : —

1. The exceeding riches of Divine grace in dealing with men by way of a covenant.

2. The exceeding faithfulness of God in adhering to his covenant, notwithstanding man's sinfulness and provocation.

3. The exceeding hopefulness of man's position in being placed beneath a covenant of mercy.