The Covenant with Noah in Genesis 9

God made a covenant with Noah and thus with all of humanity in Genesis 9, but so often we do not observe that this covenant was also made with the animals. We need to respect the animals as co-venanters with us. In this modern age wherein humanity has caused so much destruction to the environment and the animal realm, it is good for us to focus upon the message of these texts. Also, in this covenant people are given permission to eat animals. This concession to human need does not give us the privilege to kill animals without restraint, as we too often have done. Other laws in the First Testament designed to protect animals tells us that even in that ancient world when no ecological crisis existed, people still understood the need to steward and protect animal life.