God told Noah
and his sons and all the animals to go forth and multiply and replenish the
earth. God had a plan, and he wanted to give people the free will to choose to
follow him or not.
This is the way
he always does that. He doesn't want us to be forced to love him, he wants us
to choose him willingly.
He then establishes
his promise that he will never again destroy the earth with a flood. The
rainbow yes, of course, a naturally occurring thing. If you are sprinkling the
lawn with a hose in fact, and you flail it back and forth really fast, you can
see a rainbow.
So, why did God
choose this symbol? God makes it very easy for us to trust him. In fact, he act
here - out of the as at other times - without insisting that we hold up a
bargain or sales. Of course, there are times when God says he will act only if
we act in a certain way. But, this is one time when his promise exists without
any effort on our part.
This is just
like salvation. He saves us without any effort on our part. We simply must
trust Him by faith and call on Him to forgive us and save us. It is not just
had knowledge of what he has done. It must be heart's knowledge, where we trust
him with all our heart to save us.
Another thing
to notice is that this promise was extended to the animals, too. Mankind was to
have dominion over the animals and care for them. They were not as protected as
humans, because all animals were given for meat – one way of proving that
dietary laws specific to the Jewish people were never meant to extend to
Gentiles. However, God expected that people would show concern and compassion
and not abuse them.
This promise
also shows that God cares for everyone. If He is willing to extend a covenant
to them in this situation, then how much more must He love we who are created
in His image. In the same way, Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the
Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto
you.” “These things” are necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter. Jesus
had just gotten done speaking of the lilies of the valley and, more importantly
for our study, the birds of the air.
As He says
later(Matt. 10:31, Luke 12:7), we are worth more than many sparrows. No matter
how little a person has, he or she is still worth everything to God. For each
person from the greatest o the least, it’s true that if you were the only
person ever on the earth, Jesus Christ still would have come for you, God in flesh,
and taken the punishment for your sins when He died, and risen from the dead.
