◄ What Does Genesis 8:22 Mean? ►

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Genesis 8:22(KJV)

Verse of the Day

Despite the multiplication of wickedness on the earth which deeply grieved the heart of God, we read in Genesis 6: "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."

The Lord knows that every imagination and intention of man's heart is evil continuously from his youth. And even though He could have terminated His whole fallen creation in a single breath, God purposed in His heart to show grace to a man of faith who, being forewarned by God of impending judgement on a God-rejecting, unbelieving, sinful world "became an heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith."

For a whole year the flood-waters ravaged the earth, removing every living creature from off the face of the earth and halting the seasonal cycle. But in His grace, God remembered Noah and his family, for His mercy is new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.

The Lord informed both Adam and Eve of the curse that would rest on the ground and inflame man's misery. A curse which was intensified through Cain's murderous act. But the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving which Noah offered to the Lord on account of their miraculous rescue, was pleasing to God Who purposed in His heart that no more would He curse the earth, no more would He drown the earth with a global flood, and no more would He interrupt the daily and annual cycles of nature.

This was not an audible covenant that God made with Noah, for God knew that a fallen race is incapable of honouring man's side of any contract (for He knew that every imagination and intention of the heart of all men is only evil continually). NO! God purposed in His own heart that He would never again curse the ground nor destroy all living things.

The covenant the Lord made was with Himself, and He promised that while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest would never fail, cold and heat would continue their necessary function, summer would follow winter, and winter in turn would blossom into summer. He even promised that day and night themselves would not cease, and God's Word cannot be broken, for God has even placed His Word above His holy name.

And so we read that God pronounced a blessing upon Noah and his sons, and that blessing was made manifest when God sent His only begotten Son to be the sin-sacrifice for a wicked and evil race of men, who only do evil continuously.

Jesus' death on the Cross was a sweet smelling savour to the Lord, and by His blood we have been redeemed by faith, made children of God, heirs of His righteousness, and joint-heirs with Christ. And although we have an assurance that "while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease," we also have an eternal hope, an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for us in heaven.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for the joys of the seasons, the provision of seedtime and harvest, the warmth of the sun, and the refreshing rest through the cool of the night. I praise You for my creation, preservation, forgiveness, and love, and for the many precious promises that are kept for me in heaven. But most of all, I thank You for sending Jesus to die on the Cross and rise again so that He could become my Saviour, by grace through faith. In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.