The Noahic Covenant: Laying the Foundation To Rebuild (Genesis 9:8–17)

On December 5th, 2022, Ronald and Carol Wilczak woke to the foreboding beep, beep, beep of their home smoke alarm. It had been only five years since the couple had finished saving, planning, building, and moving into what they described as their “dream home,” but now they helplessly watched it burn to the ground. What do they do now? Walk away or rebuild?

In the early chapters of Genesis, God watched as his “dream home” was set ablaze by sin. The damage spread quickly until “the wickedness of man was great on the earth” (6:5). What does God do now? Walk away or rebuild?

In many ways, the Bible is God’s account of how he chose the latter option, deciding to fix what was broken by humanity and repair what was burned. God will live in his dream home (Rev 21:1–4). He will not be thwarted in his plans. And the biblical covenants, starting with the one received by Noah, provide the blueprint to this restoration project and the reason for our hopeful expectation.