Again, there was no mention of a covenant in Gen. 1-2. What God required of Adam (fill and subdue the earth) wasn’t a covenant in the normal sense. Adam had no choice. He did not receive this by faith. This was his place in the Creation. But in Gen. 8:20-9:17 we see various aspects of a covenant. As you will notice, there are similarities, but there are also differences between this and what we see in Gen. 1-2.
· 8:20: The Noahic Covenant was established in the context of acceptable worship. This was not the case with Adam. The agreement was simply announced to Adam (Gen. 1:28; 2:8,15). Noah thanked God with what had been taken on the Ark.
· 8:21: God had two responses to Noah’s worship, and that seems to be the way Scripture states it. The NKJV says “Then the LORD said in His heart.” It can be translated “And the LORD said.” Nevertheless, two responses:
o “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” The ground was cursed in Gen. 3:17-19 when God judged Adam for his sin. The result was that farming became very hard. There were weeds and thistles and so forth. Is this saying that the curse of the ground was lifted after the flood? That flies against the rest of Scripture. Rev. 22:3 (v1-5 for context) indicates that the curse involving growing herbs and trees is not lifted until the time of the New Jerusalem. On the other hand, Noah’s father gave him the name “Noah” saying, This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed (Gen. 5:28). We need to think about this. Let me give you a few quotes, and then I will sum up my thoughts on this matter.
§ Henry Morris: God would neither curse the ground again with an additional curse to the one pronounced in Eden.
§ Matthew Henry: I will not again curse the ground, Heb. I will not add to curse the ground any more.
§ Jonathan Sarfati (The Genesis Account): Rather, while the Adamic curse continues, God promises not to impose any repeated destruction of the ground, already cursed by Adam’s sin.
§ As for me, it makes sense that God is saying “never again” in terms of the curse. The Bible indicates that the curse is still in effect. Thus, we have this answer, that there was no additional curse. It does not say He removed the previous curse. But how was there comfort for Mankind in terms of the curse on the ground as Lamech indicated? My answer, and I know that modern “creationists” and “young earth” advocates (of which I am one) tend to believe things were the same before and after the flood. I cannot help but see in the descriptions of Genesis that there were differences. For example, it sounds to me like there were no rainbows before the blood, only after. And perhaps 8:22 is also new to Creation after the flood.
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