An Everlasting Covenant
Genesis 9:8-17 or 9:1, 3-6, 8-17
International Sunday School Lesson
September 22, 2013
Commentary
By
Jed Greenough
It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life
Above are just a few of the lyrics from a movie’s theme song for a movie that one of my boys had to watch over and over and over again rather like a circle in and of itself. If you hear something like that repeatedly it’s bound to be ingrained into you.
If you don’t take talking animals too seriously and not be too much of a curmudgeon when you take all the remaining lyrics in, it really is pretty true. All life is “walking” a path which is something we share even with everything on earth that has life.
In fact “all life on earth”, these are the last words from our scripture for today. I think that is rather appropriate as we look at the changes that came to all life on earth because of the flood. It was literally wiped out save for those within the ark.
God had wiped them out, if you will recall, because He regretted having creating them Genesis 6:7 but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord because of his righteousness. The rest of humanity and all living creatures had to pay the price for the wickedness that was in the heart of man.
If you consider that God made the covenant that we read about today also with every living creature and not just man you can hopefully see how “we” are all connected. I find it fascinating but it also makes me shake my head. I understand God at the same time that I don’t. Yikes!
For me it comes down to our responsibility as mankind. We are different from the animals because we alone are made in God’s image. And like He has dominion over us, we have dominion over everything else, and just as we are accountable to Him so even an animal is literally accountable when it comes to human life. It really does make sense!
So if we are all, mankind and animal alike, tied together and we as mankind are ultimately responsible it should give us the proper perspective on our place both with dominion over all living creatures but also to our responsibility to all living creatures. Liberal or conservative it doesn’t matter, as a Christian you have to be a steward for all life.
For Discussion:
1. Before the flood man was not a meat eater. Why did God change that?
2. Discuss verse 5
3. Discuss verse 6
4. Genesis 1:6 which in some translations is firmament or dome is important to understanding the newness of a rainbow.
5. Discuss our role in the earth.
6. Ask if anyone reconsiders their position in light of this scripture.
Upcoming Lessons
9-22-13 An Everlasting Covenant Genesis 9:1, 3-6, 8-17 or 9:8-17
9-29-13 God Scatters the Nations Genesis 11:1-9
10-6-13 The Promise of a Future Genesis 15:5-21 or 15:7-21
10-13-13 A Promise to Sarah Genesis 17:15-17; 18:9-15; 21:1-7
10-20-13 Blessings for Ishmael and Isaac or A Blessing for Ishmael and Isaac Genesis 21:12-14, 17-21; 26-2-5, 12, 13 or 21:13-14, 17-21; 26:2-5, 12-13
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment