XLII--GOD'S COVENANTS
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a
covenant between me and the earth.--GENESIS ix. 13.
The text says that God made a covenant with Noah, and with his seed
after him--that is, with all mankind; with us who sit here, and our
children after us, and with all human beings who will ever live upon
the face of the earth. God made a covenant with them. Now, what is
a covenant? We say that two men make a covenant with each other when
they make a bargain, an agreement; in this way: If you will do this
thing, then I will do that; but if you will not do this thing, I will
not do that. If you do not keep to our agreement, I am free of it.
If I do not do my part of the agreement, you are free. Is not that
what we call a covenant--a bargain between two parties, which, if
either party breaks it, becomes null and void, and binds neither?
Let us see whether God's covenants with man are of this kind.
Does God say to Noah: "If you and your children are righteous, I
will look upon the rainbow, and remember my covenant: but if you and
your children are unrighteous, I will not look on the rainbow, and I
will break my covenant because you have broken it?" We read no such
words; God made no conditions with Noah and his sons.
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