A covenant is the strongest bond between two or more parties. In a covenant, there are privileges and conditions for all the parties involved. After the Flood, the Eternal established a covenant with Noach and his descendants including all future generations. All men are the offspring of Noach so this covenant applies to all humankind.

Further on, the Eternal made several other covenants with the children of Israel. However, it is important to remember that a later covenant cannot revoke a previous one.

In the covenant with Noach there is a blessing for all mankind (9:1). The Eternal committed Himself to protect the children of Noach so there will never be a flood upon the earth again. The sign of the covenant is the rainbow.

The conditions of the covenant for Noach and his children have been decoded by the rabbis through logical deduction of this and other passages. They are known as the seven Noahide laws or laws of Noach, and they are the same number as the colours of the rainbow. These seven laws are the main rules and they are mandatory for all sons of men for all generations.

They are the following:

1. Prohibition of Idolatry.

2. Prohibition of Blasphemy.

3. Prohibition of Murder.

4. Prohibition of Fornication (illicit sexual intercourse).

5. Prohibition of Theft.

6. Prohibition of eating blood or flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive.

7. Requirement to have law courts that regulate mankind’s behaviour according to the first six laws.

The Eternal didn’t grant men permission to eat animals until after the Flood. When the Scriptures refer to clean and unclean animals before the Flood, it doesn’t mean animals that were meant to be eaten or not, but ritually clean animals that could be offered to the Eternal. In Genesis 9:3 we see that The Eternal gave Noach and his children permission to eat all kinds of animals with no distinction between clean and unclean.

Further on, when the people of Israel were set apart from the rest of the nations to become a priestly nation for the rest of the nations, He restricted the animals that they would be allowed to eat. Thus for the children of Israel there are different dietary laws compared to those for the rest of the nations. A son of Noach can eat all kinds of animals, but the children of Israel cannot eat ritually unclean animals.

Dear disciple of Yeshua: Commit yourself not only to fulfill these rules given through the covenant with Noach, but to teach them to others because they apply to all mankind. In this way you will contribute towards the betterment of the world.

May the Eternal grant you strength to be faithful,  

Ketriel