Although Noah’s household of eight persons came out of the ark, they must still have been fearful, not knowing whether God would again destroy the earth and man and all living creatures upon it by the waters of a flood, whether God would again allow them to encounter such a terrible catastrophe. Although they were saved, they were still afraid in their hearts. Hence, God came to make a covenant with them. He spoke to Noah and his sons, saying, “I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you...neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth” (Gen. 9:8-11). In this covenant God said repeatedly that there would not be a flood anymore in order to take away Noah and his family’s fear, that they might hold on to the word of the covenant and have peace because of the covenant.
God set the rainbow in the cloud as a token of the covenant which He made with man (Gen. 9:12-17). The rainbow signifies God’s faithfulness. God’s faithfulness remains forever, for He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13). Moreover, God Himself is faithfulness (1 Cor. 1:9; 1 John 1:9). Once He has spoken, He keeps His word. He must be faithful to His word, and His covenant is His word, even His word spoken with an oath. Hence, God used the rainbow as a sign of His faithfulness in keeping the covenant. Whenever a cloud covers the earth, the rainbow is seen in the cloud. God’s faithfulness is the guarantee that God will keep His covenant and that a flood will no more come to destroy man. At the time spoken of in Revelation when God will judge the earth with its inhabitants, there will still be a rainbow around the throne (Rev. 4:3), indicating that when He will execute His judgment upon the earth, He will still remember the covenant He made with Noah and will not judge mankind again with a flood nor destroy all mankind, but will keep some to be the nations on the earth to fulfill His purpose for His glory (Rev. 21:24, 26).
God’s making a covenant with the man who was saved through water resulted in the earth being preserved and the blessing being brought to the earth. Genesis 8:22 mentions eight items of the blessing, including seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night. The seedtime is the time of sowing the seed; the harvest is the reaping. The seedtime is the beginning, and the harvest is the consummation, the maturity. In the process there is the need of cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night in order that the crop may grow and man’s life be maintained. The perpetual cycle of seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night is God’s guarantee that the order of the universe will continue to be maintained by the different cycles in regularity without end. This covenant guarantees the preservation of the earth and the growth of all kinds of living things. Thus, man may multiply endlessly and replenish the earth to fulfill God’s eternal purpose.
Although God was faithful to keep His covenant and bestowed His love on man according to His covenant, man abused the fourth item of the covenant, misused the God-given authority to form nations, exalted himself to oppose God, fell into idolatry, and was scattered abroad by God upon the face of all the earth.
Although God gave man the authority to rule over others, He did not intend for man to form nations; His intention was that there might be peace among men. However, man misused this authority to form nations on the earth. The forming of nations was the work of Satan. Satan caused man to misuse the God-given authority to form nations on the earth. The most well-known was that of Nimrod. As a mighty one on the earth (Gen. 10:8), Nimrod was the first to be a king, or the first to form a kingdom. The first kingdom in human history was probably the kingdom of Babel formed by Nimrod (Gen. 10:10). He began to misuse the God-given authority to make himself the king, to rule over others, and to form a kingdom.
Human government was of God’s authorization. However, Satan caused man to misuse the God-given authority to form nations and instigated man to rebel against God with the nations. Man rose up to exalt himself in opposition to God, even falling into an open rebellion against God, that is, the whole human race rebelling collectively against God’s right and authority. Before the incident at Babel, there were only individuals opposing God on the earth; men had not reached the extent of organized rebellion. It was at Babel that men began to organize themselves and to join themselves together to rebel against God. They made bricks with the earth by human labor (Gen. 11:3); they built a city to have a man-made, godless life; and, even more, they intended to build a tower that would reach into heaven in order to make themselves a name and to reject, to deny, God’s name. Man had exalted himself to oppose God to such an extent.
Man not only exalted himself to oppose God but also fell into idolatry. According to evidence found by archeologists and historians, when the city and the tower of Babel were constructed, every brick bore the name of an idol, indicating that the whole human race was worshipping idols. When Terah, the father of Abraham, dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees (Gen. 11:31), he also served idols (Josh. 24:2). In that age, no one paid attention to God, and no one cared for His interest. The whole human race was completely captured by Satan and fell into idolatry.
This fall of man forced God Himself to come out to execute the judgment. In dealing with the prior group of people, the Adamic race, God judged them by the flood; in dealing with this group of people, the descendants of Noah, God Himself came to the earth to judge them directly. God confounded their language that they might not understand one another’s speech and thus would be unable to form an alliance; moreover, He scattered them abroad upon the face of all the earth (Gen. 10:5, 8-11, 20, 31-32; 11:4, 8-9). At this point, man had fallen to the uttermost so that even God could not do anything to recover the fallen race. Eventually, God was forced to give up the descendants of Noah, the created race of Adam.
After God judged the corrupt generation by the flood and saved Noah’s family of eight out of that generation, He made a covenant with Noah, which was the third covenant He made with man. This covenant was made based upon the covenant which God made with Noah before the judgment of the flood. It was also based upon the sweet smell which issued from the burnt offerings presented on the altar built by man in taking God’s way of redemption. The contents of the covenant include the following items: man would be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth, have dominion over all living creatures, and be allowed to eat animals for food but not to eat blood; and God would give man the authority over others to maintain the existence and order of the human race, promise to destroy the earth by a flood no more, and use the rainbow as a sign of His faithfulness in keeping the covenant. The result was that the earth was preserved, that all living things were able to grow, and that man was able to multiply endlessly and fill the face of the earth. However, man abused the God-given authority to form nations, exalted himself to oppose God, fell into idolatry, and was scattered abroad by God upon the face of the earth. Eventually, God was forced to give up the descendants of Noah, the created race of Adam.