These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. And God said to Noah, ‘I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth. Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.’ Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

God’s decision to destroy all flesh he created because they were evil and filled with violence should give us pause. Especially as we look around at our world and the amount of violence that occurs each and every day. If this passage doesn’t worry you as a person of faith, then I am not sure any amount of discourse will help.

But as much as it worries, it should also give hope. Noah, who walked with God, is being saved from certain death because he was a righteous man. Now while God took Enoch, who also walked with Him, he decides instead to save Noah and his family and all the innocent animals of the earth.

Noah is to build the ark according to the instructions that he receives from God and when the time is right Noah is to save humanity and indeed all of creation. And for doing this, for obeying God, God promises to establish his covenant with Noah.

This is the first mention in the scriptures of a covenant, let alone “the” covenant. And it comes about because God promises to do something, flood the world and destroy all creation, and Noah promises to do something for God, obey God, build an ark and save what God has created.

The covenant is a joint endeavour and it requires a balance of sorts. It is like an equation, each side must be equal. Now I don’t mean to say that humanity is equal to God. What I am inferring here is that without the equal obligations or promises a covenant cannot exist.

This is the first example of the covenant in scriptures and the recipe is simple. God will protect you and give you life if you but obey. And if you obey, then God must fulfill His obligations.

Theologically this type of thinking has many problems and it is a problem that Paul will address in his letters when he talks about faith and works. But that would be getting way ahead of ourselves I think. We are after all only in Genesis at this point. And what is of interest is the contractual nature of the covenant, the quid pro quo.

This type of legal basis for the covenant will come to dominate the Jewish tradition. This is extremely important for Christians as we will see much later in scripture. But it is best that we keep this tucked away in the back of our mind. What should be noted and filed away in the back of your mind is how a covenant is established and administered.

Two promises fulfilled; one by God, another by Noah. Obey and you shall be saved.