After Noah was saved through the ark, God made another covenant with him, which is recorded in Genesis 8:20—9:17.
First, this covenant was based on the shedding of the blood of burnt offerings. After Noah came out of the ark, he took of every clean animal and offered burnt offerings to God. When God smelled the fragrance, He was satisfied and made a covenant with Noah.
Second, the particular sign of this covenant was a rainbow. When it rains and a rainbow appears, we know that the sky will soon clear up because the sign of this covenant is the rainbow. Even in Revelation 4, there is still a rainbow around God as a sign, indicating that the universe exists today because God has kept this covenant with His might.
Third, God promised not to curse the ground again. God did not say that He would remove the curse from the ground but that He would not add to the curse on the ground.
Fourth, God promised that mankind and every living thing would never again be destroyed. Even though Noah and his family were saved and came out of the ark, they probably could not have slept very peacefully at night without such a covenant. They would have been concerned that if they did something wrong they might provoke God into sending another flood. So God made a covenant with Noah, guaranteeing that the earth would not be cursed again and that mankind and all living things would not be destroyed again by a flood. Whenever there is a heavy rain and a rainbow suddenly appears, we know that we are safe. This is a sign of God’s covenant.
Fifth, God promised that all of the seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night would maintain their cycles without ceasing (8:22). God guaranteed that the order in the universe would be properly maintained unceasingly. This covenant ensures the existence of the universe and the growth of every living thing. If the earth were a little closer to the sun, all living things on earth would be burned to death; if the earth were a little farther from the sun, the earth would become a great freezer, and everything would freeze to death. The temperature on the earth today is so suitable because of this covenant.
Sixth, God reiterated that man should be fruitful and multiply. He still wanted man to be fruitful and multiply on the earth as Adam had done before the fall.
Seventh, God again gave man authority to rule over every creature in heaven, on the land, and in the sea. In this covenant God still ordained man as the head over all things.
Eighth, God ordained that the food for man’s living would no longer be limited to plants but would also include animals, and also that man could eat meat, because man needed to be redeemed. Man cannot live before God if he eats only vegetables; he must eat meat. Eating vegetables means that man relies only on his own works; eating meat means that man relies on the shedding of blood for his redemption. In order to live before God, man must eat meat; there must be the killing of the animal and the shedding of its blood.
Ninth, God gave man the authority to rule over others. God said, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, / By man shall his blood be shed” (9:6). This means that people would have authority to rule over and punish lawless, murderous persons. From this time forth, God gave man authority to rule over others. Some Bible readers say that another age—the age of human government—began at this point because man had the authority to rule over others.
Tenth, God ordained that Noah’s three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—would become the ancestors of the three races of humankind on the earth. Shem, in particular, had a relationship with Jehovah God, because God was called Jehovah, the God of Shem (v. 26). Shem would become the people of central Asia; Abraham and the children of Israel were all descendants of Shem, the people of God. Second, Ham’s son would be a servant of servants (v. 25). The descendants of Ham particularly refer to the people in the region of Africa. Third, Japheth would be enlarged and dwell in the tents of Shem (v. 27). Japheth was the forefather of the Europeans; his descendants were especially prosperous. The Caucasian people have been enlarged and have spread everywhere because this is God’s ordination.
This is the covenant God made with man after the flood destroyed the world and Noah came out of the ark to live a new life in a new land. In this covenant, God made arrangements concerning the order of the universe, the position of man on the earth, and the living that man should have before Him. To this day these regulations remain and continue to operate.
In this covenant, the Lord Jesus also has a particular position. The burnt offerings signify the Lord Jesus. God was able to enact this covenant with the new human race because in His eyes He saw His Son Christ as the burnt offering. This made it possible for God to accept man and to keep the universe in which man exists. To this day order in the universe is kept, seeds and plants grow, man continues to live on the earth, and the natural laws on the earth are maintained because the Lord Jesus shed His blood before God as a burnt offering for our acceptance by God.