Thankfully, God is faithful to Noah, Noah’s family, and all the animals on the ark to bring them through the judgment of the Flood to dry ground. Still, the Flood sets a frightening precedent. What happens the next time a storm rolls over the earth? Do human beings need to keep an ark at the ready for extreme storms on the chance that God may again wipe out the earth? Will the human race advance in fits and starts, expanding for a time only to be decimated the next time their iniquity rises to a certain point? Also, what exactly is the criteria that God expects from the world? As human societies grow, what should their cultures and laws look like?

These are all real questions that linger after the Flood, and, if God simply dismisses Noah, his family, and the animals to start new lives without any further guidance, then it will only be a matter of time before God sends another Flood. Instead, God not only promises not to send another Flood to destroy the world, but he also swears a covenant with all creation as a testament of his faithfulness to that promise. From the outset, we should understand something very important about this covenant: its terms are still in effect to this day. Therefore, we should consider it carefully as we understand God’s relationship to creation as a whole, as well as God’s requirements for societies in the world.