“The Rainbow Promise”
Unit I: “The Genesis of Altars and Sacrifices”
PRINTED TEXT: Genesis 8:13-22; 9:11-13 NIV
June 8, 2025
Key Verse: “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” (Genesis 9:13 NIV):
Lesson Aim:
- Take a deep dive into the broader context that called forth Noah’s worship.
- Empathize with Noah’s feelings of need for worship.
- Identify an aspect of Noah’s worship of God and adapt it for use in your congregation.
Unifying Principle and Why this Lesson Matters: People feel grateful when they come through harrowing events. How do people express these feelings? After the great Flood, Noah built an altar on dry land and offered burnt offerings that pleased the Lord, and God never promised again to destroy the earth with a flood.
The Introduction, Lesson in Focus, and Biblical Context:
The book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible (the Torah or Pentateuch) and the Christian Old Testament. Within the book, the author of Genesis remains anonymous; however, Jewish and Christian tradition usually attributes the content to Moses. Genesis narrates the creation of the world and the early history of humanity, including the story of the patriarchs of the Jewish people. It is known as “the book of beginnings and is divided into two distinct sections: Primeval History which includes chapters 1-11, and Patriarchal History, chapters 12-50. The first section is the biblical context for this lesson and highlights multiple first including: the creation of humanity, the Fall of mankind, the Flood, God’s judgement on the world because of sin’s corruption, and what might be called a “new beginning after the removal of sin and the cleansing of the earth.
Knowing that God’s judgment is always tempered with mercy, which carries the promise of a brighter day, is essential. The biblical context of this lesson is set against the beginning of humanity’s history after Adam and Eve’s sin and subsequent separation from God. Genesis 4 tells of the consequences and escalation of sin, which became prominent after Cain murdered his brother Abel and, was banished from the family and God’s presence and was condemned to a life of wandering. Genesis 5 records humanity’s genealogical record from Adam through his son Seth to his great-grandson Noah and his sons. Regrettably, as humanity’s population grew, so did sin, so much so that God decided to cleanse the earth with a great flood, which is believed to have taken place in the Mesopotamian Valley. Even so, Noah found favor with God because of his righteousness. God charged Noah, who was described as the only righteous person alive, to build an ark to preserve life through his family and a pair of every living creature on the earth. Genesis 7 details the great Flood after Noah completed and boarded the ark. This Flood was God’s judgment of a world corrupted by humanity’s sin and rebellion against Him. Genesis, which is part of our lesson today, reveals God’s plan for a new beginning for humanity and the world He created. In Genesis 9, God sealed His promise of a new beginning with a new unconditional covenant and a visible sign, which was the rainbow, that He would perpetually honor His promise. Point to remember: God often used signs to symbolize and remind those with whom He chose to make covenants that He would keep His Word and deliver on His promise faithfully. After the Flood, when Noah, his family, and every surviving living creature came out of the ark, God made a covenant with them never again to destroy the earth with a flood. This promise, signified by the rainbow, is an everlasting promise for all humanity and every living creature. Hence, the Rainbow that appears after a thunderstorm should symbolize hope and assurance that a flood will never again destroy this earth and, most importantly, that God is faithful to His Word.
A New Beginning (Genesis 8: 13-20, NIV):
13. By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.
14. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.
15. Then God said to Noah,
16. “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.
17. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”
18. So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.
19. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.
20. Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.
God’s purpose for the Flood was to judge humanity’s widespread wickedness and provide an opportunity for renewal by salvaging a remnant of humanity and the earth’s living creatures. God chose Noah and his family for this mission because of Noah’s righteous standing before Him and faithful obedience. Thus, God preserved Noah and his family in the ark, allowing them to start anew in a recreated world. This opportunity for renewal also required a new covenant relationship between God and surviving humanity, as well as the earth. When Noah was 601 years old, he saw the ground dry on the first day of the month. His first act was to remove the covering from the ark and observe that the ground appeared dry; however, it was another two months before the earth thoroughly dried. Not included in our lesson is the biblical account of Noah sending out birds from the ark, which is found in Genesis 8:6-12. This passage describes the events that occurred after the floodwaters receded and Noah’s actions to determine if it was safe to leave the ark. The raven and dove are sent out to assess the condition of the earth post-flood. The raven’s flight back and forth indicates its survival on the receding waters, while the dove’s return with an olive leaf signifies the seas have dried up. This narrative is a testament to Noah’s faith and patience and the divine guidance that Noah followed. Noah was a man of great faith and patience, attested by his faithful obedience to remaining in the ark until God instructed him to disembark. The survivors had been in the ark for nearly a full year. We can only imagine the level of faith and confidence in God required to endure this distressing experience during their protective confinement. The Scripture’s emphasis on “first” signals a new year and the beginning of the new creation that God had accomplished through Noah’s survival. After obeying God’s instructions to leave the ark, Noah’s initial worship set the stage for this new covenant relationship and revealed that his faith in God remained strong. After stepping onto the renewed earth, Noah initially responded by building an altar and leading his family to worship God. Noah recognized the importance of prioritizing worship to ensure His presence and approval. This burnt offering of clean animals and birds meant that Noah gave himself and his family to God entirely in gratitude for His gracious protection during and upon deliverance from the Flood. Gratitude for God’s care should always lead His people to worship Him, especially after experiencing divine deliverance from frightening circumstances. Noah’s sacrifice was costly and represented giving God the best in worship. Noah’s sacrificial offering did not go unnoticed by God. Verse 21 of chapter 8 describes God’s initial response as “smelling its pleasing aroma and promising never again to curse the earth as He did through the Flood because of humanity’s unchanged nature and propensity to sin. Further, God promised that while the earth remained in its current form, nature’s natural cycles would remain unaltered and uninterrupted. Genesis 9:1-17 continues God’s direct interaction with Noah and his sons.
A New Covenant (Genesis 8: 21-22; 9: 11-13, NIV):
21. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
22. “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
Genesis 9; 11-13, NIV
11. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12. And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:
13. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
God’s purpose for the Flood was to judge humanity’s widespread wickedness and provide an opportunity for renewal by salvaging a remnant of humanity and the earth’s living creatures. In contrast to God’s former resolve to destroy the earth, this section exhibits God’s determination to preserve the second creation. Verse 21 of chapter 8 describes God’s initial response as smelling a pleasing aroma and promising never to curse the earth again. Here, Noah becomes our example to acknowledge the Lord as Creator and Savior in sacrifice and worship. In his act of worship after the Flood, Noah became the forerunner of Israel’s fathers in terms of physical ancestry and veneration of Israel’s God, Yahweh. In Verse 9:11, God initiated and established a unilateral, unconditional covenant with Noah and all living creatures after blessing them, giving His expectations regarding how they were to live in this renewed environment and the command to reproduce and repopulate it. God set the rainbow in the cloud, symbolizing His intent to never again use a universal flood to destroy the earth or all living things. Each time we see a rainbow, it should remind us that (1) God is faithful and trustworthy, (2) we never have to fear the world’s being destroyed by a global flood again, and (3) God is full of mercy and takes it upon Himself to be gracious to those who are obedient and seek to worship Him in spirit and truth. Noah’s worship was for real and from the heart. As believers, we should also develop and demonstrate a similar heart attitude so that our worship is God-centered and pleases Him by maintaining an intimate, obedient relationship with Him daily.