Genesis 9:12, commentary and pictures

God set the rainbow in the cloud as the token of an everlasting covenant with Noah and his family and their descendants and every living creature with them for perpetual generations, promising that all flesh will never again be cut off and the earth never again be destroyed by the waters of a flood. When He speaks of looking upon the bow and remembering the covenant, He is not suggesting He could forget, but He uses human language in condescension and compassion to help erring creatures understand His faithfulness. The bow was given to free Noah's family and later generations from terror when clouds gather and rain falls, and parents were to tell its meaning to their children so that from generation to generation it would testify of divine love and strengthen confidence in God. That mercy still holds back the destruction of the earth, so although sin has increased and God's law is despised, He does not sweep the world away by a flood, and the covenant graciously assures the continuance of seedtime and harvest. The same bow of promise encircles the throne on high as a pledge of mercy to every repentant, believing soul that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16), yet while a flood will never return, the earth will still be purified by fire, and the builders of Babel show the folly of disbelieving the promise and seeking safety by human pride instead of grateful trust.

The Covenant Sign Given

The token of the covenant is the rainbow, the beautiful bow which God himself bent and set in the cloud to be seen when he brings a cloud over the earth. It was given as the sign of his covenant with Noah, his family, and every living creature for all generations. The covenant is made between God and Noah and his family with their descendants and every living creature with them, including people and animals, for perpetual generations as an everlasting covenant. It embraces Noah, his descendants, and every living creature of all flesh upon the earth, and it stands as everlasting.

The covenant promises that all flesh will never again be cut off by the waters of a flood and the earth will never again be destroyed or overflowed by a flood. It is a gracious assurance that no future flood will destroy the earth, given to comfort those who might otherwise fear the clouds and rain. When the bow appears in the clouds spanning the sky above the land, God looks upon the bow in the cloud to remember the everlasting covenant between himself and every living creature.

When God declares that he will look upon the bow and remember the everlasting covenant, this does not mean that he ever forgets or could forget. He speaks in human language that men may better understand him, using human terms to help people understand. Such speech shows his condescension and compassion for erring creatures.

The bow was set to encourage Noah's family so they would not be terrified by gathering clouds and falling rains or live in continual dread of another flood. It was placed to keep men from constant terror and dread when clouds gather and rain falls. It was his purpose that when children of after-generations ask the meaning of the glorious arch spanning the heavens, parents would repeat the story of the Flood and tell that the Most High placed it in the clouds as assurance that the waters would never again overflow the earth. So from generation to generation it would testify of divine love to man and strengthen confidence in God, prompting later generations to ask about the Flood and learn why it came.

Mercy and Continuing Assurance

The token set in the cloud confirms mercy and goodness toward humanity after the judgment that destroyed the wicked old world, standing as evidence of divine kindness despite human wickedness. It is the promise of forbearance and love, an unalterable covenant and symbol of promise for all who believe and trust in Christ as personal Saviour. It was given to be gratefully remembered as proof of goodness.

The covenant graciously assures that seedtime and harvest will continue and that the world will never again be destroyed by a flood. That same covenant still holds back the destruction of the earth. Though the law lies prostrate and the Sabbath is trampled underfoot by rebellious people, and though iniquity could be punished by sweeping the inhabitants away by a flood as in Noah's day, this is not done because of the covenant made with Noah. This sparing proves divine benevolence has not been cut off though sin has increased in volume and prevalence since Adam and Eve, and proves love and care still flow earthward from a Lord full of compassion, mercy, and love.

The same rainbow of promise encircles the throne on high, where ministering angels wait eager to do the divine will. There it is a pledge of mercy to every repentant, believing soul and an everlasting testimony that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes should not perish but have everlasting life. It declares to the whole world that God will never forget His people in their struggle with evil. The bow in the clouds likewise gives rest and confidence in protecting arms and protecting care in the midst of wind, high waves, and danger at sea.

Rejection, Judgment, and History

The covenant pledge never again to bring a flood upon the earth was disbelieved by the dwellers on the plain of Shinar. Many of them denied the existence of God and attributed the Flood to the operation of natural causes, while others believed a supreme being had destroyed the antediluvian world and rose in rebellion against Him with hearts like Cain's. To secure safety in case of another deluge they built a tower much higher than the waters of the Flood had reached, thinking to place themselves beyond all possibility of danger. They also hoped by ascending to the region of the clouds to ascertain the cause of the Flood, and the whole undertaking was designed to exalt the pride of its projectors and to turn the minds of future generations away from God into idolatry.

The gracious covenant with Noah and all life was an act of mercy after the Flood, meant to continue through all future generations and to be gratefully remembered as proof of divine goodness. The builders of Babel refused that grateful remembrance, instead accusing God of being arbitrary and severe for expelling the first pair from Eden and destroying the world by the Flood. The Flood will not be repeated to cleanse the earth, but the earth will still be purified, this time by fire. Fires concealed in the bowels of the earth will unite with fires from heaven for that purifying, and before that burning God is gathering and binding people so that it depends wholly on each person's choice whether to be gathered with the good wheat who love and serve Him or to be bound in bundles with the wicked ready for the fires of the last day.

Genesis is words of inspiration, pronounced divine by Christ, and inseparable from the New Testament. Noah was a literal person who lived, and the Flood was a fact in history. Noah's day prefigures the present age, and the character of that generation specifies the character of the generation living prior to Christ's appearing in the clouds of heaven, since human nature uninfluenced by the Spirit of God is the same.