The Noahic Covenant, Part One
A Devotional Series from Genesis
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
7/7 Reading Portions: Joshua 9; Psalms 140-141; Jeremiah 3; Matthew 17
Genesis 9:1
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”
BLESSED
In his commentary on the Bible, Dr. John Gill states that the blessings God bestowed upon Noah and his sons were temporal blessings. He cited Ham as the reason, alluding to Ham’s sin (Gen 9:22). I don’t think this was the case. It is written,
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17
God blesses because it is in His nature to bless, and whether one is saved or not, the blessings received are common grace. Many blessings are squandered, not only by reprobates, but by the redeemed as well; the Garden of Eden proves that. The blessings Noah and his sons received were the graces of God for Noah’s sons to carry out the command to be fruitful and multiply. After the flood, humanity must begin again from six people, Noah’s sons and the wives of his sons.
While the command echoes that which the Triune God commanded Adam and his wife in the beginning (Gen 1:28), the command here does not carry the additional command of subduing the earth; as it certainly should not. In Adam’s fall, the dominion of the earth was turned over to Satan. This is why Satan, though he is a rebel and enemy of God since his deception of Eve, he has access to God, as seen in the first chapters of Job (Job 1:6; 2:1). Satan is not only the god of this world through Adam’s sin (2 Cor 4:4), but he also appropriated Adam’s privilege to God’s presence through Adam’s fall.
Yet this has been rectified and reconciled through the Lord Jesus Christ. The fruitful multiplication of mankind’s progeny must continue to bring about the promised Messiah (Gen 3:15) because Jesus has dominion over the works of the Father’s hands, as David penned in Psalm 8:6,
You have given Him dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet,
And the writer of Hebrews explains that this passage is about the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb 2:5-10).
Today’s verse is the first part of God’s covenant with Noah. By His command, Elohiym God essentially says, “That although I destroyed the world with a flood, the Messiah, the promised Seed of the woman, is still coming.”
Hallelujah! What a Savior!