God Will Remember! Genesis 9:8-17

May the mumbling commence!

God will remember with a sign… a sign of the covenant… the rainbow.  No more universal floods!  Read from Peterson’s The Message:

            Then God spoke to Noah and his sons: “I’m setting up a covenant with you including your children who will come after you, along with everything alive around you – birds, farm animals, wild animals – that came out of the ship with you.  I’m setting up my covenant with you that never again will everything living be destroyed by floodwaters; no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth.”

            God continued, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you.  I’m putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth.  From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life.  When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last creature on Earth.”

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I’ve set up between me and everything living on the Earth.” (Genesis 9:8-17)

Now read the same passage from the NIV:

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." 

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.  Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." 

So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth." (Genesis 9:8-17)

There’s remarkable agreement between The Message and the NIV translation in this passage.  Any issues I take with this particular passage I would consider nit-picking.  For example Peterson talks of God “putting” the rainbow in the clouds rather than the “setting” in the NIV.  “Setting” has a more permanent fell to me.

The important thing is that God will remember.  It’s repeated again and again.  God will remember.  These words must have been a comfort to Noah and his family.  God will remember.  Do not live in fear of flood anymore.

That being said, I could see reason for fear as the Word of God is digested.  Right after the flood ended, God said never again will he destroy all life on earth.  Now God says: never again will I destroy all life by a flood.  Yikes!

It’s also essential to notice that all life  is included in this covenant – not just humanity.  It’s repeated again and again.  That’s important for us to remember!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out