Genesis 9:11, commentary and pictures

God pledged in lasting covenant that floodwaters would never again cut off all living flesh and never again would a flood destroy the earth. He set the rainbow in the cloud as the token of that everlasting covenant with every living creature, so that when clouds gather He would look upon the bow and remember His pledge — speaking in human language, not as one who could forget — to free Noah's family from terror at rain and to teach their children after them why the arch spans the heavens. From generation to generation that sign confirms faith and testifies of His love, compassion, mercy and goodness to erring creatures, assuring a gracious continuance of seedtime and harvest rather than arbitrary severity. The builders on the plain of Shinar disbelieved the pledge, denying God or rebelling like Cain, and raised their tower both to climb beyond any future waters and to exalt their pride and turn posterity to idolatry. The promise bars destruction by water, not judgment itself, for this literal history prefigures the present age before Christ appears: the covenant still withholds the flood that sin deserves while the righteous are gathered, until the earth is purified by fire from beneath and from heaven.

Promise and Rainbow Sign

And I will establish my covenant means that floodwaters will never again cut off all flesh and never again will a flood destroy the earth or ruin all living creatures. The promise was graciously given to encourage Noah's family and ease their fear, so that gathering clouds and falling rain would not fill them with terror and continual dread of another flood. It established God's covenant with them and with every living creature, joined to the rainbow set in the cloud as its token between God and the earth.

When a cloud is brought over the earth the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and God will look upon it to remember the everlasting covenant with every living creature. The beautiful, variegated rainbow in the clouds, the glorious circle compassing the earth, is that token of the covenant with man, meant as evidence to all generations. When God says He will look upon the bow and remember the covenant, He speaks in human language so that men may better understand Him; it does not mean that He could forget.

The bow was purposed to instruct after-generations: when children see the arch spanning the heavens and ask its meaning and reason, parents are to repeat the story of the Flood and explain that the hands of the Most High bent the bow and placed it in the clouds as a pledge and assurance that the waters should never again overflow the earth or bring a flood of waters upon it. It was also to evidence that God destroyed the inhabitants of the earth by a flood because of their great wickedness and giving themselves up to all manner of wickedness. From generation to generation the symbol in the clouds confirms belief and establishes confidence in God, testifying of divine love to man and of His condescension and compassion for erring creatures, as a token of divine mercy and goodness showing that although He was provoked to destroy the earth, His mercy still encompasses the earth.

Rejection and Coming Fire

Genesis 9:11 belongs to inspired Genesis affirmed by Christ and inseparable from the New Testament, recording literal history of a literal Noah and a literal flood. Noah's day prefigures the present age before Christ appears in the clouds of heaven, because human nature uninfluenced by the Spirit of God is the same then as now, so the character of that generation specifies the character of this age.

The dwellers on the plain of Shinar disbelieved the covenant promise never again to bring a flood to destroy the earth. Many of them denied that God exists and said the Flood came by the operation of natural causes. Others believed a supreme being had destroyed the antediluvian world, yet their hearts rose up in rebellion against Him like that of Cain.

One reason they erected the tower was to make themselves safe in case of another deluge, by carrying it higher than the waters of the Flood had reached so they would be beyond all danger. By ascending to the region of the clouds they hoped to ascertain the cause of the Flood. They thus acted as though another flood remained a danger.

The whole undertaking was meant to exalt the pride of its builders and to turn the minds of future generations away from God and lead them into idolatry.

The promise means water will never again be used to destroy or cleanse the earth, so even a long season of steady rain must come to an end. It does not end judgment, for the coming destruction and purification of the world will instead be accomplished by fire. God has concealed fires in the bowels of the earth as weapons to purify the earth, and those fires will unite with fire from heaven, with waters concealed in the earth joining that fire.

Before that purification God is gathering and binding up those who love and serve Him, while the wicked are being bound in bundles ready for the fires of the last day. Each person decides whether to be with the good wheat or to be bound in bundles for burning.

The covenant with Noah still holds back destruction of the earth. Though sin has kept increasing in volume and prevalence since the small transgression that shut Adam and Eve out of Paradise, divine benevolence is not cut off and God's love and care still flow earthward. Though God looks on His prostrate law and His Sabbath trampled under foot by a race of rebellious subjects, and could come forth out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity and sweep them away by a flood as in Noah's day, He does not do it. He spares them because of the covenant made with Noah, showing the Lord God is full of compassion, mercy, and love.

Mercy and Continuing Blessing

The covenant never again to cut off flesh by floodwaters and never again to destroy the earth by a flood is gracious mercy to be gratefully remembered together with the mercy shown to Adam. To complain of severity in destroying the world by the Flood misreads that promise, for the covenant proves kindness and not arbitrariness. Complaining of severity in expelling Adam and Eve from Eden likewise misreads mercy there.

The rainbow covenant assures that the world will never again be destroyed by a flood and that seedtime and harvest will continue. That covenant is a gracious sign and illustration of Christ's love. It belongs to the truth entrusted to God's ancient people. It reminds that God's blessings come from Him even when people overlook them and take the glory for themselves.