Daily Devotion – February 15, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Genesis 9:8-17
9:8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,
9:9 “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you,
9:10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.
9:11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
9:12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
9:13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
9:14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,
9:15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
9:16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
9:17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
A rainbow as a sign of a covenant. A covenant between the Lord God and all humankind. Even all the animals as well.
You can’t get more inclusive than that, can you? “All flesh that is on the earth.” The good, the bad, and the ugly. The men, the women, the children. The North and South Americans, the Africans, the Europeans, the Asians, and the residents of Pacific Oceania. All the countries you have to be able to name in the trivia games: all the residents of all those countries. All of them.
God is in covenant with all of them and is reminded to keep this promise whenever water vapor forms rainbows. Anywhere. That’s a lot of reminders.
And the covenant is everlasting. With every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. Kangaroos, giraffes, jellyfish, and mice are included.
We might think of the story of the Flood as archetypal, or as a common element in every culture on the planet, or even as children’s nursery wallpaper. But just for today, let’s think of it as a big, giant story that forms the base of everything we know about the Lord our God. God is bigger and more powerful than we could imagine. God could destroy everything in a heartbeat. God has come close to doing that. And instead of completing that work, God makes a plan to save people and animals, God rebuilds the world, and God promises that God will never make that happen again. And promises it to all people and animals. Every one of them.
This is a God who loves you. Especially you. By name.
Wow.
Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being you. And thank you for making promises to everyone. Me, my goldfish, my best friend, my worst enemy, all of us. Thank you. Amen.
