Today we're finishing the section regarding the covenant God made with Noah. This covenant also includes the animals.
"Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 'I now establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you---the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you---every living creature on earth. I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." (Genesis 9:8-11) It's not just during Noah's lifetime that God will refrain from bringing a worldwide flood. The promise is for all of Noah's descendants as well. I love it that the Lord speaks both to man and the animals when He makes this promise. The animal kingdom need never fear another catastrophe like the great flood.
Because we are frail mortal beings, sometimes it's hard for us to hold onto a spoken promise. We need proof. We need some sort of token that the promise is going to be kept. God, because He knows how weak we are, provides this token of proof. "And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life." (Genesis 9:12-15) God doesn't want people and animals cowering in fear every time a cloud appears or every time a drop of rain falls. He wants people and animals to go about their business on the earth in spite of storm clouds and rain. The rainbow is to remind the world's inhabitants that even though rain may fall, it's not going to turn into a global flood.
The Lord is so faithful to us in our weakness. He repeats the same theme several times in our passage today because He knows that we have a tendency to doubt what we've heard. There are times in life when we know for certain that God has told us to make a particular decision, but then difficulties arise in our path and we begin to doubt whether we heard God correctly. Sometimes God makes us a promise about something that will come to pass in our lives, but as time goes on and we don't yet see the promise coming true, we begin to wonder if instead of hearing from the Lord we just heard the own wishful thoughts of our minds. The Lord knows we need something concrete to hold onto, so in our chapter today He repeats His promise several times. "'Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all the living creatures of every kind on the earth.' So God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant I have established between Me and all life on the earth.'" (Genesis 9:16-17)
God says the rainbow will make Him "remember" the covenant. I think He says this, not because God is in danger of forgetting the covenant, but because man fears God will forget the covenant. God isn't going to forget anything and He's not going to break any of His promises. But man thinks with a human mind, and man knows that his fellow humans often forget or break promises. Sometimes we're guilty of thinking God's mind works like human minds do, but that isn't the case. God doesn't go back on His word. God doesn't forget His promises and fail to keep them. "God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?" (Numbers 23:19)
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