IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

God's Covenant of Life

Date: Jan. 17, 2015

Passage

Genesis 9:1-17  (ESV)

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

  “Whoever sheds the blood of man,
    by man shall his blood be shed,
  for God made man in his own image.

And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And 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: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 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. 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.” 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.”

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 9:11

I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

First, be fruitful and increase in number (1-3). The flood had wiped out mankind and land animals from the face of the earth. Only Noah and those with him on the ark remained. However, God wanted to see life flourish again on earth through Noah. God blessed Noah and his sons to be fruitful and increase in number. Mankind would again rule over creation but it now be based on fear and dread. The animals, together with the green plants, were given as food.

Second, life is valuable (4-17). Man was accountable for the wanton shedding of blood, especially shedding the blood of another person. A person's life is valuable because he is made in God's image. God taught this to Noah and his descendants by making murder punishable by death. Then God established a covenant with Noah, his sons and all living creatures. He promised to never again destroy all life with a flood. The rainbow was a sign of this everlasting covenant. God has been faithful to this promise.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for valuing life, including mine. Thank you for your faithfulness to your promises.

One Word: God values life

Daily Bread

Worthy is Jesus the Lamb

Revelation 5:1-14

Key Verse: 5:12

saying with a loud voice,

  “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
  to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
  and honor and glory and blessing!”

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