Covenant of Human Government

Divine Covenants

Covenant of Human Government

When the flood waters receded, and Noah and his family came out of the ark, God made a new covenant with man. This covenant is called Human Government, because in it God instituted capital punishment - an indication that man would now be responsible for governing the actions of others. He indicated that animals would now fear man, and that men could eat meat. What man had learned about pleasing God in previous covenants continued; following conscience, calling on the Name of the Lord and blood sacrifice. Again God gave the command to have many children and fill the earth. God then promised never to flood the Earth again, and He set the rainbow in the sky as a sign of the covenant. Although God gave man the authority to govern others, his failure to govern successfully appeared almost at once. When a mighty ruler named Nimrod came to power, man decided to disobey God's command to disperse abroad and replenish the earth. Instead they defiantly united to construct a tower that would reach the heavens, perhaps as a center of false worship. God judged their disobedience by confusing their languages, forcing then to disperse abroad as He had instructed.

Covenant Obligations:

!Genesis 8:22 God indicates that the Earth will not last forever, but as long as it remains He will not interfere with its seasons again.Ge 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

!Genesis 9:1,7 God renews the command to have many children and fill the Earth.

!Genesis 9:2 Animals will now fear man.

!Genesis 9:3-4 Man may now eat meat but must first kill the animal and drain its blood.

!Genesis 9:5-6 God institutes the death penalty for murder, and indication that man would now be responsible for governing the actions of over others.

!Genesis 9:9-11 God promises never to flood the Earth again.

!Genesis 9:12-17 God places the rainbow in the sky as the sign of His covenant.

Man's failure ends in judgment:

!Genesis 10:8-10 Nimrod rises to power. (Some see the statement "a mighty hunter before the Lord" as meaning this man was "against the Lord." Whether this is the correct sense of the phrase or not, Nimrod certainly did lead mankind in a direction against the will of God.)

!Genesis 11:4 Men build a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens, to make a name for themselves lest they be scattered across the Earth.

!Genesis 11:5-6 God inspected the tower that men were building and recognized that with their unity and the creative ability He gave them, nothing they proposed to do would be impossible for them.

!Genesis 11:7-9 God confused the common language of man and replaced it with many different languages. This divided men and forced them to scatter over the face of the Earth. Although the Bible does not specifically state why God was displeased with man building this tower, a couple reasons are suggested by the scripture and are provided here:

1. God specifically instructed man to have many children and fill the Earth. Here man is seen building a city and tower to make a name for themselves to keep themselves from being scattered across the Earth. A direct violation of God's command.
2. Scholars have indicated that Babel was a center for false worship, and was the birthplace of astrology. Towers such as the one at Babel were build elsewhere as religious centers to study the stars. Noting the unity of man is disobeying His will, God divided and scattered them.

Back To Main Site