Noah, the Covenant, and the Rainbow

by David Epstein

February 4, 2001

 

The Flood was an epic event, comparable to the story of Gilgamesh and great floods found in the annals of religious mythology. Yet the most interesting parts of the story of Noah come right before and after the Flood. We could discuss how God could be so vengeful to destroy the entirety of life on Earth, but the moral implications of this have already been discussed to death and are thus less interesting to me.

 

Preceding the flood, God makes a pact with Noah, to protect him, his family, and the animals he saves. It is the first covenant found in the Bible. Genesis, Chapter 6, verse 18: “But I will establish My covenant with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons wives with thee.” Since the previous verse states God’s intention to destroy life on Earth, because the world became filled with great wickedness, the covenant can be seen as a form of protection for a group of living beings that God considers to be righteous. The pact is straightforward: Noah must build the ark in accordance to God’s specifications, then round up the troops and weather the storm. In return, God will afford this chosen group protection from the “natural elements”.

 

Now, let’s take a flying leap across this epic event and settle down to the post-Flood setting. We have the great story of the dove and the raven (Chapter 8, versus 6-12). Remember the raven who was sent forth to see if the waters had receded from the earth? That raven just went back and forth, back and forth until the waters had dried up. He didn’t provide Noah with any useful information about the safety of leaving the ark. The dove, on the other hand, tried to rest upon the land, but was unable to do so because it was still flooded. Nevertheless, the dove was sent out again, and lo and behold, returns with an olive leaf in her mouth, signifying that the waters had receded. The dove proved to be the reliable harbinger of a safe return to the land.

 

Skipping over the burnt offerings to “the Lord” is very tempting (Chapter 8, verses 20-22). I just can’t understand why Noah would sacrifice some of the animals he had saved, and why “the Lord” accepted this (I don’t really understand the differences between God and the Lord, and my questions about this are too numerous and deep to go into here). Perhaps the sacrifices can be seen as a way of saying thanks to God, a token of Noah’s appreciation for saving them from the ravages of The Flood. But aren’t the sacrifices a violation of the covenant? After all, God didn’t instruct Noah to do this; it was Noah’s idea to perform the ritualistic killings. And here is the crux of the whole matter: the sacrifices became a ritual that was in its entirety the product of Noah. What is being sacrificed is a remnant of what has been saved. God must have sanctioned this as a legitimate practice, for if he disapproved, he would have let Noah know about it! (or should we say, “Noah Noah bowdit”?!).

 

Chapter 9 begins with what appears to be a pre-Mosaic set of commandments. God tells Noah to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (verse 1). In verses 3-5, he tells him that he may eat anything that moves except for his fellow man (in other words, no cannibalism allowed). He also sanctions the death penalty in verse 6: “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed ...”

 

However, it’s verses 8-17 that are the most interesting for they discuss the terms and significance of the post-Flood covenant. God tells Noah that he’s establishing a covenant with him, his family, and every living creature. God also proclaims that there will be no more destruction of life on earth, no more floods, and so forth. Verse 13: “I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth”. The rainbow is a manifestation of the covenant, a visible reminder of it. Verses 14-15: “And it shall come to pass, when I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow is seen in the cloud, that I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of the flesh.” Here, God will remember our covenant with him when he sees the rainbow. The rainbow, appearing after the deluge, whether it be flood or rain, ushers in a peaceful segue to a brighter future. The spectrum of that rainbow represents all the living beings on earth, with each color representing a different species or people on earth. In a respect, the rainbow is God’s guardianship over all living beings, the true inner-inspiration of what is called the covenant.

 

And just what did Noah do to honor the covenant? Well, he got drunk and naked. Probably was just his way of unwinding after a long, arduous, and life-threatening ordeal.