The flood story comes to its conclusion in Genesis 9. This conclusion reiterates what we said right at the beginning about a key theme of the entire book of Genesis, namely that there is a constant interplay between promise and call (see 101 introduction video). The promise of God’s “never again” (see yesterday’s post) is emphasized again in 9:8-17. God’s irreversible commitment comes in the form of a covenant with God’s entire creation (Noah, his descendants, and every living creature). To again highlight the core message of how this covenant comes about throughout chapter 8 and 9 (in the words of Walter Brueggemann), “What has changed is not anything about humankind or creation or waters or floods. What has changed is God. God has made a decision about the grief and trouble of his own heart.” That is the basis of God’s covenant with us. The evil that we find in the world is not rooted in God’s anger or rejection. God does not engage us in some scheme of retribution. Instead, the grieving heart of God leads to God’s unqualified grace of forever committing himself to His creation regardless the existence of evil and sin. The rainbow of chapter 9 is a physical sign of nature to remind us about this fact that becomes our only security and hope in this life.
However, as soon as the promise of God appears, the call of God is not far away. We find that in the first 7 verses of chapter 9. God’s promise of “never again” is accompanied by God’s call of “be fruitful” (9:1, 7). These first 7 verses is a reminder that despite creation’s inability to respond to God’s commitment (which was the reason for the flood in the first place), the mandate and responsibility to be faithful to God’s commandment has not changed throughout the flood or because of God’s promise of “never again”. Rooted in the fact that God created us in the image of God (9:6), post-flood humanity still has the vocation of being responsible for God’s creation. Entrusted yet again with this responsibility, chapter 9 emphasizes the nature of this responsibility to bring the other creatures to fullness. “I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man” (9:5). When God makes His promise, which is the good news to us, He simultaneously calls us back into action to take care of His creation (fellow human beings, fellow creatures, and the rest of creation).
Genesis Journal 