NOTES for Gen 9:1-29
As the sign of the covenant, such a bright and radiant phenomenon as the rainbow is chosen. A rainbow appears after rain, when everything around has been washed by water, and leaves and grass sparkle... The rainbow symbolizes the cleansing action of God's mercy. The Lord looked again at the world He had created and perhaps remembered again that all creation was very good. God promises to protect the earth from a flood. He is hardly counting on Noah's descendants being much more righteous than the generation that perished in the flood. Rather, He decides to show them greater mercy.