Saturday, December 21, 2019

Genesis 9:8-12 -- On Creatures and Covenants

"And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:"
Genesis 9:8-12


I like the idea here that the covenant extended to beasts as well as people.  Come to think of it, a lot more beasts were saved than people at the time of the flood, and they probably had a really hard time living in a boat for so long.  I think of God opening the mouth of Balaam's ass, and she asks him "What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?" (Numbers 22:28).  I wonder what other animals would say if God opened their mouths.

Today, in addition to trying to be a little better each day so that God sees that we are making progress and doesn't want to flood us all out, let's also remember that we're not the only ones on the earth, and treat others with kindness (including animals).  If they are worthy of a covenant with God, then they are likely worthy of our respect as well.

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