The God Who Remembers

The God Who Remembers
>>>>> Read Genesis 8:1 - 9:16 <<<<<

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. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. . . I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind . . . Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant. . . .Gen. 9:11, 13, 15, 16

How many times do we see a rainbow in the sky and say, “God put that there to remind us that He will never again destroy the earth with a flood?” However, that is not exactly why God put it there. We are studying the Bible to know God and His ways – the Spirit of God recorded very specific events, using carefully chosen words, in order to communicate all that is necessary for us to know and understand God. It is important that we keep all that in mind as we read; paying particular attention not only to individual words, but also to the order of events. God has written a revelation of Himself in this book – the flood and the rainbow in these chapters are incidental to God’s primary purpose.

God told Noah about the ark, and why he was to build it, in chapter 6. He also said, “I will establish My covenant with you…” (vs 8). By faith, Noah entered into the ark; then the floodgates of the sky were released, and earth opened up to allow the fountains of the deep to pour forth. Noah and his family were kept safe as judgment and destruction overtook the whole earth – in fact, they were more than safe – they were remembered by God. They were kept close to His heart: “God remembered Noah and all the animals . . . that were with him in the ark” (Gen. 8:1).

The first thing Noah did when he left the ark was to build an altar to the Lord. This is the first altar mentioned in the Bible. Sacrifices have been mentioned, but we have not been told about altars. I believe this adds the element of worship to Noah’s sacrifice. After Noah built the altar, we never hear of the ark again, for Noah did not worship the ark; he placed his faith in the God of the ark. We have heard of men searching for Noah’s ark, because they want to worship artifacts; but worship belongs exclusively to God – and He does not allow men to find such artifacts. In coming chapters, we will read about many altars, as worship becomes more a part of the lives of God’s people.

Noah offered God one of every clean animal and every clean bird. God’s reaction is noteworthy: “[God] smelled the soothing aroma,”– His broken heart was soothed by Noah’s worship. So pleased was God, that He said to Himself “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood (8:21). This is amazing! God has one faithful man – one man whose confidence and trust in Him leads to worship – and God’s reaction is: “I will never again destroy every living thing as I have done.” Furthermore, the cleansing waters of judgment had made no change in the character of man's heart; his heart is still evil (Jn 3:6 tells us "that which is born of the flesh is flesh”), yet God still says, “Be fruitful and multiply.”

God does not expect anything good to come out of man; nevertheless, He has set Noah on new ground. The blood of Noah’s sacrifices became the foundation of another promise from God. For the first time, God makes a covenant with man (see the verses quoted following the title). He mentioned this covenant in chapter 6 – now that Noah has acted in faith and responded in worship, God reveals the details of the covenant and seals it with a sign. He will put a bow [literal translation] into the sky so that He (God) will see it and remember the covenant.

Don’t miss this – God is characterizing Himself as the One who remembers – but what is it that He remembers? He remembers mercy and He remembers His covenant with Noah. “I will see the rainbow and remember the covenant between me and you and all living creatures.” He does not say to us “remember,” any more than He says it to the other living creatures. Instead, He is saying something about Himself: He is saying that He is a God who remembers, and He will remember this covenant forever.

God is a God who delights in mercy – not in judgment. In His mercy He will not count upon the memory or actions of man; He makes it clear that He knows what man is, but He will have mercy and accept man’s worship in any case. The whole story of Noah, with his 120 years of preaching salvation, and the very visible work on the ark of salvation, reminds us of 2Peter 3 where we are told that He is not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance. This is the heart of God.

I will never again look at a rainbow and think ‘no more worldwide floods;’ instead I’ll reflect on God as He remembers His covenant with Noah – a covenant made because one man believed God and acted in faith. That rainbow connects us with God’s mercy and love as it has gone out to His people for 4000 years. We can point to a rainbow and say to our children, “God is remembering how much He loves the people He created on earth.” LJ 7/09