Gen 8:21-9:3

21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

Rashi

I will never again . . . neither will I ever again—He repeated the words to denote an oath. That is what is written (Isa 54:9): “That I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth,” and we do not find an oath concerning this matter except in this statement, in which he repeated his words, and this repetition denotes that it is an oath.

From his youth—From the time that he the embryo shakes himself to emerge from his mother’s womb, the evil inclination is placed in him.

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

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown

While the earth remains—The consummation, as intimated in 2Pe 3:7, does not frustrate a promise which held good only during the continuance of that system. There will be no flood between this and that day, when the earth therein shall be burnt up (Chalmers).

The seed that God provides is powerful (Seedtime & Harvest: The Sustainable Breakthrough You Need Is in the Seed)

The seed may appear small and insignificant, but it has the power to endure every season. In spite of the tough external conditions it is exposed to, the seed will not lose its ability to grow and multiply. In the same way, if we are good stewards of the seed God gives us today, then it represents a season of harvest. We may be coming from a challenging situation, just like Noah. But we have the assurance that God will continually provide. It may be in the form of a seed, but we know that in his perfect time, it will bear fruit. How have you experienced the power of the seed in your life?

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. JAS 5:7

John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible

Be patient, therefore, brothers—The apostle here addresses himself to the poor who were oppressed by the rich men, and these he calls “brothers” of whom he was not ashamed; when he does not bestow this title upon the rich, though professors of the same religion: these poor brothers he advises to be patient under their sufferings, to bear them with patience.

Until the coming of the Lord—Not to destroy Jerusalem, but either at death, or at the last, judgment; when he will take vengeance on their oppressors, and deliver them from all their troubles, and put them into the possession of that kingdom, and glory, to which they are called; wherefore, in the mean while, he would have them be quiet and easy, not to murmur against God, nor seek to take vengeance on men, but leave it to God, to whom it belongs, who will judge his people.

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth—Ripe fruit, which arises from the seed he sows in the earth; and which may be called “precious,” because useful both to man and beast; see (Deu 33:14-16) and between this, and the sowing of the seed, is a considerable time, during which the farmer waits; and this may be an instruction in the present case.

Being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains—The Jews had seldom rains any more than twice a year; the early, or former rain, was shortly after the Feast of Booths, in October, when the seed was sown in the earth; and if it did not rain, they prayed for it, on the third or seventh day of the month; and the latter rain was in March, just before harvest; and to this distinction the passage refers.

GEN 9

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible

And God blessed Noah and his sons—With temporal blessings, not spiritual ones; for though some of them were blessed with such, yet not all, particularly Ham.

And said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”—Depopulated by the flood: this is a renewal of the blessing on Adam, a power and faculty of propagating his species, which was as necessary now as then, since there were so few of the human race left in the world; and the renewal of this grant was the rather necessary, if, as has been observed, Noah and his sons were restrained from cohabiting with their wives while in the ark: but though these words are not an express command for the propagation of their species, yet more than a bare permission, at least they are a direction and instruction to it, and even carry in them a promise of fruitfulness, that they should multiply and increase, which was very needful at this time.

2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.

John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible

The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth—This is a renewal, at least in part, of the grant of dominion to Adam over all the creatures; these obeyed him cheerfully, and from love, but sinning, he in a good measure lost his power over them, they rebelled against him; but now though the charter of power over them is renewed, they do not serve man freely, but are in dread of him, and flee from him; some are more easily brought into subjection to him, and even the fiercest and wildest of them may be tamed by him; and this power over them was the more easily retrieved in all probability by Noah and his sons, from the inhabitation of the creatures with them for so long a time in the ark.

And upon every bird of the heavens, and upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea—As appears by fowls flying away, by beasts and creeping things getting off as fast as they can, and by fish swimming away at the sight of men.

Into your hand they are delivered—As the lords and proprietors of them, for their use and service, and particularly for what follows, see Psa 8:6-8 where there is an enumeration of the creatures subject to men.

3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.”

There is seed to sow (Seedtime & Harvest: The Sustainable Breakthrough You Need Is in the Seed)

The green plants God created have the ability to produce seeds and, therefore, multiply. But the seeds will not multiply on their own. They have to be planted in the right soil and receive nourishment. Planting a seed involves cultivating the soil and providing whatever it needs to grow. It also means trusting that God will make it grow and bring about a harvest. Because farmers know the importance of sowing, they choose the best seeds to sow, with the belief that the best seeds will produce the best harvest in the future. What does Pro 3:9-10 tell us about using all that God gives us in a way that honors him?

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth

and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible

Honor the Lord with your wealth—Or, “out of your wealth”; for as it should be a man’s own that he gives, and not another’s, and therefore called “your wealth”; or, as the Septuagint version, “out of your just labours,” what is righteously and lawfully gotten, and not by fraud and oppression; so it is only a part of it, and not all, that is required; what in proportion to his wealth can be prudently spared, and is sufficient and suitable to the call in foresight. A man’s “wealth” is his riches; his “money,” as the Targum; which, in comparison of heavenly things, indeed have no wealth in them: yet these are worldly wealth, and of account; and as with these God has honoured men, they should honor him with them again, by giving to the poor, especially his poor saints; for as an oppressing of them is a reproaching of him, so having mercy on them is honouring him (Pro 14:31); and especially by contributing to the support of his worship, the keeping up the interest and credit of religion, and for the spread of the gospel; and chiefly by communicating to the ministers of it, giving them the “double honor” which is due to them, and which, when given them, the Lord takes as done to himself, as an honouring him (1Ti 5:17).

And with the firstfruits of all your produce—Or, “out of the chief of all your produce”; God must have the best, and in the first place. The allusion is either to the maintenance of the priests and Levites under the law, and the manner of doing it; which, among other things, was out of the annual produce of the earth, and the firstfruits of it; and may respect the comfortable support of gospel ministers under the present dispensation; see 1Co 9:13-14; or to the firstfruits of every kind offered to the Lord, and to the feast kept sacred to him at the ingathering the fruits of the earth (Lev 23:10, 17, 39); and even among the nations formerly were something of the same kind. Aristotle says the ancient sacrifices and assemblies were instituted as firstfruits, after the gathering of the fruits, at which time especially they ceased from working.

10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,

and your vats will be bursting with wine. PRO 3:9-10

John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible

Then your barns will be filled with plenty—With plenty of corn; so that there will be a sufficient provision of bread for the eater for the ensuing year, and of seed for the sower when the time of sowing returns; so far should they be, it suggests, from being losers by honouring the Lord with their substance, that they should be gainers by it; instead of having less, should have abundantly more.

And your vats will be bursting with wine—Not that they should really be bursting for then the wine would be spilled, which would be a loss; but that they should be so full, that they should be ready to be bursting or run over: and so the Targum, and the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, “and your vats will overflow with wine.” As the former clause denotes plenty of eatables, so this of drinkables; and both fulness of all sorts of provisions, promised to the liberal man; and may be an emblem of the large provisions of grace and glory, which the Lord has made for and bestows upon such that honour him.

God’s promise is that seedtime and harvest will not cease (Gen 8:22). This is God’s way for his provision to continue until the end of time. The seed represents God’s provision for us and we are to faithfully steward this by storing and using it according to God’s principles and for the purpose of honoring him.