This is the second post of a series exploring the covenant God made with all humanity, and with creation itself, through Noah after the Flood. You can read the first post here.

What God promises in His covenant with Noah is called common grace, to distinguish it from saving or effectual grace; though I do hope to show as this series concludes that common grace is necessary to God’s eternal purpose of redemption.

God makes three promises in His common grace covenant with Noah: to promote life; to preserve life; and to protect life. This post will focus on the second of these promises. God works through creation and providence to preserve life.

God Preserves Life

We live in a fallen world, one in which thorns and weeds compete with the crops we need for food (Genesis 3:17-18), and creation itself is in the bondage of corruption (Romans 8:21 NKJV). While God brought this about as a judgment on human sin, He also actively mitigates that judgement, so that both man and beast are preserved (Psalm 36:6) and we can enjoy the blessings of God and even the fruits of our labors.

The Psalmist declares beautifully how God is actively working to preserve life—and even enhance it!

He waters the hills from His upper chambers;

The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,

And vegetation for the service of man,

That he may bring forth food from the earth,

And wine that makes glad the heart of man,

Oil to make his face shine,

And bread which strengthens man’s heart …

The young lions roar after their prey,

And seek their food from God.

When the sun rises, they gather together

And lie down in their dens …

These all wait for You,

That You may give them their food in due season.

What You give them they gather in;

You open Your hand, they are filled with good.

You hide Your face, they are troubled;

You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;

And You renew the face of the earth.

Psalm 104‬:‭13‬-‭15‬, ‭21‬-‭22‬, ‭27‬-‭30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In God’s covenant with Noah, he promises that He will persevere life by three means, one negative, and two positive.

The negative is God declaring what He will not do. I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake … nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done … I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth (Genesis‬ ‭8:21; 9‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

Even though the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth (Genesis 8:21; cf. 6:5), God declares a time of patience in which He will work out His eternal purpose of redemption in time: The Lord … is patient toward us, and would have no man to perish, but would all men to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9 1599 Geneva Bible).

So the first promise in this covenant of common grace, is that God will not send a global judgement like the Flood, until the day He has appointed, when the Lord will come with fire, and his chariots like a whirlwind, that he may recompense his anger with wrath, and his indignation with the flame of fire. On that day, the Lord will judge with fire, and with his sword all flesh, and the flame of the Lord shall be many (Isaiah 66:15-16 1599 Geneva Bible).

The other two common grace promises to preserve life are positive. In these, God declares what He will do to sustain life on the earth during this time of His patience.

First, He says: While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease (Genesis‬ ‭8‬:‭22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). In other words, God promises to uphold the natural cycle of seasons, weather, and time so that mankind may be able to eat, live, and thrive.

Jesus referenced this common grace promise in the Sermon on the Mount when He said: But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭44‬-‭45‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

One way the Father loves His enemies—the evil and the unjust—is that they receive the same blessings of sun and rain to grow their crops as the good and the just. This love of the Father even for the wicked and unbelieving is not the robust love with which He loves His saints. It’s not redemptive love, wherein God says: I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you (Jeremiah‬ ‭31‬:‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). Recognizing this helps us understand why love your enemies doesn’t mean that you are required to welcome wolves with the same hospitality you would sheep.

Thus St. Paul interprets love your enemies to mean: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head (Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). Likewise, to the wicked and unbelieving who enjoy the blessings of God’s common grace, Paul says: Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God (Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). On the day of Judgment, the grace God and His people have shown to the wicked will testify against them.

So God promised to sustain life by maintaining the natural cycles of seasons, years, and times. Is this simply a matter of God letting nature take its course? I don’t believe so. St. Paul told the pagans at Lystra that God did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness (Acts‬ ‭14‬:‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). This seems to indicate a hands-on intentionality in God’s common grace provision. Likewise, Hebrews 11:3 speaks of Christ upholding all things by the word of His power (NKJV). In a fallen world, it seems as though God must actively work to sustain creation, just as He works to preserve His saints in the work of redemption.

The second positive promise God makes to preserve human life in the covenant of common grace—like the first one—has to do with food supply. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood (Genesis‬ ‭9‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

One common interpretation of this passage is that before the Flood, humans had been vegetarians. At creation, God told humans: See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food (Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). So the logic goes, after the Flood, God told people they could go ahead and eat meat as well.

However, there’s some biblical evidence that is at odds with this understanding. First, we know that Abel was a keeper of sheep, and that Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat (Genesis‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬, ‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). It makes very little sense that Abel would be keeping a flock and bringing the firstborn as a thank offering to God if he weren’t also eating from the flocks he kept. And likewise, later in Scripture, Jesus said: in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark (Matthew‬ ‭24‬:‭38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). This doesn’t sound like they were eating salads at wedding feasts.

Here’s what seems more likely God meant when He told Noah and his family, Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. Noah certainly understood the difference between clean and unclean animals. God had told Noah, matter-of-factly: You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth (Genesis‬ ‭7‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

Now, the reason for the extra clean animals was for sacrifice. What did Noah do as soon as they departed the Ark? Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar (Genesis‬ ‭8‬:‭20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). The people of God before the Flood knew which animals were clean and unclean to God, so that only those could be offered as sacrifices. Even though the intricate ritual codes for sacrifice and holiness under Moses had not yet been prescribed, it isn’t unreasonable to suppose that the people of God would’ve avoided unclean animals for food.

Now, the Flood had decimated the ecosystem. What God seems to have done here is to encourage them to go ahead and eat any animal for food—clean or unclean—so that they wouldn’t starve.

His one prohibition was: But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. There’s a few ways to understand this prohibition. One would be not to eat the food raw, like animals and savages. Another interpretation of ancient vintage is one must not eat an animal that’s still alive. This also needs to be understood in light of God’s permission to eat every moving thing that lives. By specifying that they are to eat from what lives, God is also prohibiting the scavenging of dead animals for meat. Humans ought not eat like vultures and dogs. This prohibition is made explicit in the Law of Moses (Exodus 22:31; Leviticus 22:8).

Essentially, what we’re to understand, practically speaking, is that God was instructing them to kill the animal, bleed it, and properly butcher it, before eating. What God is prohibiting here is savagery and cruelty.

I’m strongly inclined to agree with Calvin’s comments on this passage: the tendency of this prohibition is by no means obscure, namely, that God intends to accustom men to gentleness, by abstinence from the blood of animals; but, if they should become unrestrained, and daring in eating wild animals they would at length not be sparing of even human blood. This provides a strong link between what God says here, and what God says next: Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man (Genesis 9:5 NKJV). The older interpreters, like Calvin, understood—rightly I believe—that treating animal life with contempt will inevitably lead to treating human life with contempt. Even in our day, we see that psychopaths, before they rape and murder human victims, practice by first being cruel to animals.

Ultimately, what we need to focus on here is God saying: I have given you all things. What we should learn from this is what Scripture later teaches: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father (James‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). Unbelievers receive good gifts from God that sustain life, but they don’t know where those good gifts came from, nor are they thankful. But as for us, we ought to live by St. Paul’s teaching: Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

God sustains life in many ways that are not related to favorable weather, seasons, or food. Who else gives skill to doctors, surgeons, architects, and city planners? God doesn’t limit those skills merely to Christians. Indeed, the heretic Servetus made amazing discoveries about the human circulatory system. God, in common grace, distributes His good gifts even to unbelievers, for the common good of humanity. He does this to support a world in which people are able to: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth (Genesis‬ ‭9‬:‭1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).