Today's passage of Scripture is Deuteronomy 20:4 which reads: "For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you."

Today's words from a theologian are from Austin Farrer. He said: "Christ does not save us by acting a parable of divine love; he acts the parable of divine love by saving us. That is the Christian faith."

Our first topic for today is titled "What Are the Implications of the Bible Being the Word of God? (Part 6)" from the book, "Understanding Theology in 15 Minutes a Day" by Dr. Daryl Aaron.

Not only is the Bible sufficient for what we are to know and do, but it is also understandable to the average reader. The theological term for this is perspicuity (which is not very clear, although that is exactly what the word means!). Psalm 19:7 says, “The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” Psalm 119:130 declares, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” It’s encouraging that graduate training in Hebrew, Greek, and theology are not necessary to comprehend the Bible.

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Our second topic for today is titled "Theology of the Noahic Era (Part 2)" from "The Moody Handbook of Theology" by Dr. Paul Enns.

THE NOAHIC COVENANT

The first act of Noah following the flood was to build an altar and worship the Lord. This is the first account in the Old Testament of worshiping the Lord through a blood sacrifice on an altar. The burnt offerings would later be revealed as dedicatory offerings.

Having earlier announced His covenant, God established it with Noah following the flood. The Noahic covenant establishes principles whereby man is to rule over God's kingdom on earth. (1) God made provision for the transmission of the human race. Man was commanded to fill the earth because the population was down to eight persons. The command to subdue the earth is no longer present; that was forfeited through sin. (2) Fear of man was placed in the animals. Animals had voluntarily subjected to man previously, but because man would now become carnivorous, God placed the fear of man in animals for their protection and preservation. (3) Provision for sustaining human life. Man no longer must be a vegetarian; he was now given meat to eat. Blood, however, was not to be eaten because it represented life. (4) Provision for protecting human life. As the administrator of God's kingdom, Noah was to guard the sanctity of human life. God placed a value on human life to the extent that whoever killed another man would have to forfeit his own life. God viewed murder as an assault on His person because man is made in the image of God. This is a consistent teaching of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Vengeance was not to be taken personally as a blood avenger, but it was to be taken through constituted governmental authority. (5) God promised never again to send a flood that would destroy all humanity.

Noah mediated God's covenant to all humanity. It is also an unconditional covenant inasmuch as no conditions are attached to the covenant. God indicated it was something He would do.

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