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by Sandy Shaw
In Genesis Chapter 9 verse 8 - God speaks once again to Noah. God desires to make a Covenant with man. This is more than a contract. It is more than two people making an agreement or a bargain. It is one party laying down conditions and the other party accepting. A Covenant is always a thing of LOVE.
How often do we see two things like this side by side in Scripture? There is this principle of Capital Punishment - and then a revelation of such caring concern and love. There are no 'ifs'. We do not read - if you do this, I will do that. When God makes a Covenant it is unlimited - because God's love is unlimited.
In verses 8 to 17 God mentions the fact that He is making a Covenant some 7 times.
Never again will I do what I have done - I will never again flood the world. Now I'll give you the sign of My Covenant - here is the seal - the sign - the ring - the token of the marriage vow I have made with you.
My Covenant ring is the RAINBOW. God decides to use the rainbow as the sign of the Promise which He has made.
We see various images of a rainbow today and usually there are only six colours. God’s perfect covenantal rainbow always has seven – it is a sign of grace and love and faithfulness.
Can you imagine how reassuring this must have been to Noah and his family? When they saw the clouds coming - they did not need to wonder - is this another catastrophe? Is this another disaster? They knew that never again would they be flooded off the face of the earth.
Not only is it a sign to man - but it is also a sign to GOD.
It is a sign of His promise - a sign of His love and mercy and grace and faithfulness.
Noah and his family would look at the rainbow when it appeared and know that God would never again destroy the world, and what is in it, by water.
There was a day when Jesus Christ said - "This is the new covenant in MY BLOOD."
The sign of the covenant for us is the precious blood of Jesus Christ - shed for us - washed - cleansed - forgiven - pardoned - on the road to being born again - and to experience peace with GOD.
Do this in remembrance of ME - renew your relationship with ME. This is how we fellowship with Jesus - and receive feeding from the Father.
Who would ever have thought of writing a covenant in blood but GOD?
The wonderful thing is that when we partake we realise that it works. He does something deep within us. He may whisper something within our heart, or He ministers to us in some very real and significant way. He revives faith - imparts strength - does something fresh or exciting - and we know it.
A man called Willie Frame sat in our Worship Service as the bread and wine were about to be served - he said, “I'm going to take this for my ulcer”. He never again needed any medication for that troublesome stomach.
We know we have been in the company of the Living God. Like the rainbow it is much more than just a sign. We see half a ring today - one day we shall see the whole ring - Revelation 4 verse 3.
“Loving God, help us to see the significance of the Covenant – help us to see the significance of every promise and prophecy in the Scriptures. You give us these because You care, and You are compassionate, and You reveal how much You care for us. Thank You for the Covenants. We Worship and Praise You, in the Name of Jesus. Amen”
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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