The believer is as secure as God’s promises are true. No promise of God can fail.
Genesis 9
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
8 ¶ And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
11 And I will establish my covenant with 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.
12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
18 ¶ And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
28 ¶ And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
Genesis 9:1-17 – God’s Covenant with Noah
As the human race started afresh on its career, God blessed it, as at the first. God always stands with us in a new start. The prohibition against the use of blood in food is often repeated. See Leviticus 17:11; Acts 15:29. In a very deep sense, the blood is the life. When we speak of being redeemed by the blood of Jesus, we mean that we have been saved by His sacrificed life. The blood maketh atonement for the soul. But while animal life might be used for food or sacrifice, human life was surrounded by the most solemn sanctions. A Covenant is a promise or undertaking resting on certain conditions, with a sign or token attached to it. The bow in the cloud, the Lord’s Supper, the wedding ring are signs and seals of their respective covenants. Never witness a rainbow without remembering that as God hath sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so He will not withdraw His kindness. See Isaiah 54:9. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Genesis 9:1-5 – J. Vernon McGee
Genesis 9:6-17 – J. Vernon McGee
Genesis 9:13 – My Bow in the Cloud.
A covenant is a promise or undertaking, resting on certain conditions, with a sign or token attached to it. The rainbow on the rain-cloud, the Lord’s Supper, the wedding-ring, are signs and seals of the respective covenants to which they belong. Whenever we see them we should bethink ourselves of the covenant. Whenever you see a rainbow, recall the covenant into which God has entered with thee; for as He has sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so his kindness shall not depart from thee, nor the covenant of his peace be removed. Three things are needed to make a rainbow.
A Cloud.—When man’s sin overshadowed Paradise, the bow of promise shone; and when the thunderclouds gathered about the Savior’s path, the Divine voice assured Him that as He had glorified the Divine Name by his life, He should glorify it much more by his death. When the black clouds of conviction, bereavement, soul anguish beset thee, look out for the bow: it is always there, though sufferers do not always perceive it.
Rain.—There are no rainbows unless there be falling drops to catch and unravel the sunbeams. It may be that all evil is worse in its anticipation than in its endurance; but this is certain, that the big drops of sorrow have to patter on our souls before we can realize all that God is prepared to be to us.
Sunshine.—It is only when God comes into our grief that we can see the treasures of Love and Grace which are stored for us in Him. We never know how great a blessing sorrow may be till we carry it into the light of the King’s face. It is the dark canvas on which the artist produces his most marvelous effects. —Our Daily Homily
Genesis 9:15 – The whole creation rests, as to its exemption from a second deluge, on the eternal stability of God’s covenant, of which the bow is the token; and it is happy to bear in mind, that when the bow appears, the eye of God rests upon it; and man is cast, not upon his own imperfect and most uncertain memory, but upon God’s. “I,” says God, “will remember.” How sweet to think of what God will, and what He will not, remember! He will remember His own covenant, but He will not remember His people’s sins. The cross, which ratifies the former, puts away the latter. (C.H. McIntosh)
Genesis 9:18-29 – J. Vernon McGee
Genesis 9:18-29 – Noah’s Three Sons
Noah’s sin reminds us how weak are the best of men; liable to fall, even after the most marvelous deliverances. The love of strong drink will drag a preacher of righteousness into the dust. But if our brethren sin, let us not parade or tell their faults, but cover them with the mantle of divine love. We may abhor the sin, but let us restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, remembering that we also may be tempted. See Galatians 6:1-4. —Through the Bible Day by Day