Genesis 9:16 “Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
Have you ever promised an animal anything? In today’s world, where pets so often become surrogate children or spouses, I can easily imagine a conversation between a pet owner and their pet that would include a promise. “I’ll be home later, and then we can go for a walk.”
I don’t think even the most loving and devoted pet alligator would care about a promise. “I’ll give you a nice steak if you don’t eat the cat.” I think the alligator would forget all about the promise of the steak the moment the cat’s guard was down.
What I find interesting in this portion of Scripture is that God makes a promise to humanity, but also made the promise to all the land animals! The promise is to never flood the whole world again. And the LORD gives the sign of the rainbow as a reminder of that promise to both humanity and the animals.
To be honest with you, I have read this passage of Scripture dozens of times of the last forty-five years, and this is the first time this jumped out at me. I had never caught that the promise extended to the animals. God promises Noah and his descendants, and the animals.
Some might take this shift as a confirmation that all animal lives should be spared, that we should all become vegans. If God made a promise to the animals, then their status has been upgraded and we need to recognize that upgrade. Some go so far as to push for “human” rights for animals.
But there is one giant hole in this theory. Earlier in this chapter of Genesis the LORD has given “everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.” Just as the LORD gave all the plants for food, He now opens the door for people to eat meat. (I wish I had some bacon right now.)
So, the LORD includes the animals in the promise to never destroy all land creatures, including humanity, but He does not raise the status of animals to that of humans. As far as I can remember, this is the only time the LORD makes a promise, a sacred covenant with animals.
So, could my love of meat have blinded me to this covenant with the animals? Whatever the reason for my oversight, I now recognize God’s covenant extended to the animals. The animals are included in the covenant God made with Noah.
God made a sacred promise to never destroy the all the inhabitants of the earth with a flood again. So we are safe from a global flood, both us and our animal companions. But animals also have a role to play in connection to humanity’s survival. They have now become part of our diet. Good for us, not so good for them.
So next time you cut into that steak, remember that the LORD made a covenant with your meal!
The Arnold Journey 