Today, I am reading and commenting on  Genesis 8-11.

After the flood, God promised twice that He would never again destroy all living creatures because of mankind.  Further, He emphatically states that as long as the earth endures, the seasons will continue.  In fact, God entered into a covenant with Noah, his descendants, and all living things about this.  God gave the rainbow as a sign of this covenant which He entered into with all living things.  This is one of two passages in Genesis which inform our understanding of how we should treat the earth.  The first such passage is Genesis 1:26, where God gives mankind dominion over all creatures on earth.  Elsewhere God tells us that the earth, and all that is upon it, belongs to Him.  So, those passages tell us that we have the right to change the earth in ways which make our lives better.  On the other hand, we must also care for the earth so that we do not damage it, just as we have a responsibility to not damage property belonging to others which they allow us to use.  So, we should care for this earth and not make a mess of it.  However,  we should never allow others to convince us that a catastrophe awaits if we fail to take some course of action.  I firmly believe that God’s promise in today’s passage means that He will not allow mankind to destroy the earth, or even to make it uninhabitable for mankind.  That is not a license to do as we please.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.