God is a promise keeper.
From the very beginning, God has kept his promises. We see this clearly in the account of creation and the story of Noah. God’s promise has always been to redeem His people, and we see this from the start of Scripture. In Genesis 3:15, after humanity's fall, God speaks of the "seed of the woman" who would crush the serpent's head. This is the first promise of redemption—a promise of salvation through a future Savior. (foreshadowing Jesus)
In Genesis 9, God reaffirms this promise to Noah and his family after the flood, establishing the Noahic Covenant. God's command to Noah is clear: "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1). This command mirrors what God instructed Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28, but now it is given in the context of God's grace. The world had been cleansed by the flood, but God’s plan for humanity to multiply and fill the earth remains unchanged.
Moreover, God makes a promise never again to flood the earth (Genesis 9:11). This is a promise of mercy, a sign of God's patience and long-suffering. The rainbow, as described in Genesis 9:13-17, becomes the symbol of this covenant—a reminder that God keeps His word and will never again destroy the earth in the way He did during the flood.
But God's covenant with Noah goes even further. Not only does He promise to preserve the earth, but He also establishes a redemptive plan through Noah’s descendants. As we move into Genesis 10, we see the genealogies of Noah’s sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—each of whom becomes the father of nations. Most importantly, the line of Shem becomes the lineage of Abraham, and through Abraham’s seed, the world would ultimately be blessed through Jesus Christ (Genesis 12:3; Matthew 1:1-16).
Isn’t it amazing how God’s promise of redemption is not just for Noah, but for all of humanity? Despite the sinfulness of the world, God shows grace to Noah, sparing him and his family to repopulate the earth. But even Noah, a man chosen by God for such a special purpose, was not without flaw. After the flood, Noah’s sin is exposed when he becomes drunk and lays uncovered in his tent (Genesis 9:20-21). It’s a sobering reminder that even those God chooses and blesses are still fallible, still in need of His grace.
Yet, in the midst of Noah’s sin, God’s grace remains. God’s mercy is not revoked, and He continues to work through Noah’s line. In the same way, despite our own failures, God’s grace is available to us. Just as God showed mercy to Noah, He extends mercy to us through Jesus Christ. We are reminded that while we are still in the flesh, and still prone to sin, God's grace is sufficient. He has made provision for our salvation, and His promise to redeem us is sure.
So, as we reflect on Genesis 9-10, we see a picture of God's faithfulness to His promises—promises of mercy, grace, and redemption. And just as Noah and his family experienced God’s grace despite their imperfections, we too can live in the confidence that God's grace is always available to us. We are called to respond, not in our own strength, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, living out the grace we’ve been shown, and sharing the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ with a broken world.
Extra resources:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Noahic-covenant.html
https://www.gotquestions.org/curse-Ham-Canaan.html
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-god-chooses-to-forget
9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth. 2 All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. 3 I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. 4 But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it.