Noah and the Rainbow Covenant

Genesis 6:5-9:17

 After Adam and Eve left the garden, people seemed to act more and more wickedly. God was angry at these people because they did not care about being good.

     "The whole world is full of badness. People are fighting and hurting each other," God said. "They are ruining the beautiful world I gave them."

     So God decided to send a flood of water that would cover houses, trees, mountains, animals, and people. But God saw that there was one good family in the world. The people in this family were Noah, his wife, and their children.

     God spoke to Noah. "I want you to build a big boat, called an ark." God told Noah how to make this ark. God told Noah how to make this ark. God said, "Soon I will send a flood that will cover houses, trees, mountains, animals and people. But I will make a promise to you. If you will build an ark and put animals and food for the animals on the ark, I will make sure that you and your family are safe from the flood.

     This kind of a promise between God and people is called a covenant. Noah did just what God asked him to. He made the ark of strong wood. He brought pairs of all kinds of animals and birds into the ark. Then he and his family got into the ark and shut the doors tightly so no water could get in.

     God made rain fall for forty days and nights. All the ponds and springs and lakes and rivers ran over. All the world that Noah and his wife and their family knew was covered with water. Only the people and animals in the ark were safe.

     The rain stopped, but the water stayed for half a year. Then the ark stopped floating and sat still on a mountain in Ararat.

     One day Noah opened a window. He sent our a raven, but it could not find any land and kept flying. He waited. He sent out a dove, but it could not find any land, so he put out his hand and took the dove inside. He waited another week and sent the dove out again. This time it came back with a small branch of an olive tree in its beak.

     Then Noah knew that the land was drying out. The third time he sent the dove out, it did not come back. Noah opened up the big doors of the ark. He looked outside. He saw dry land. Then God said to Noah, "Now you may take your family and leave the ark. Let all the animals inside go free.

     Then Noah built an altar to thank God. God was pleased and blessed Noah and his wife and their family and made a covenant with them: "Never again shall all the people and animals and plants be covered with water."

     And God made a rainbow in the clouds as a sign of this promise.