Gen 9:1-6 | KingComments | STEP | Noah is on a cleansed, renewed earth ( ). He has made an offering. On the basis of this offering God blesses Noah and his sons. To bless is to speak good of someone, to wish someone good. God assures them of His benevolence for them and of His merciful purposes with them. All the promises of God to give the good flow from His purposes of love and the counsel of His will ( ; ). Noah is given the same command as Adam to be fruitful and to fill the earth ( ). Just like Adam he also gets the rule over the animals ( ). But there is an additional element that was not there in the case of Adam, and that is that “fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea”. This is the result of sin. Another new element is that humans are given animals for food. This means a spiritual lesson: The life of man is based on feeding with the death of another ( ). Whoever believes this has eternal life ( ). Whoever is a vegetarian out of conviction, that is to say who consciously shall not eat flesh in order not to have to kill an animal, (unconsciously?) adheres to a doctrine of demons: “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, [men] who forbid marriage [and advocate] abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth” ( ). Everything is good and nothing is reprehensible of what comes from the hand of God and is given to us to feed us ( ).

‏ Genesis 9:1-6

God Blesses Noah

Noah is on a cleansed, renewed earth (Psa 104:30b). He has made an offering. On the basis of this offering God blesses Noah and his sons. To bless is to speak good of someone, to wish someone good. God assures them of His benevolence for them and of His merciful purposes with them. All the promises of God to give the good flow from His purposes of love and the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11; Jer 29:11).

Noah is given the same command as Adam to be fruitful and to fill the earth (Gen 1:28). Just like Adam he also gets the rule over the animals (Gen 1:26 ; 28). But there is an additional element that was not there in the case of Adam, and that is that “fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea”. This is the result of sin.

Another new element is that humans are given animals for food. This means a spiritual lesson: The life of man is based on feeding with the death of another (Jn 6:51b). Whoever believes this has eternal life (Jn 6:54).

Whoever is a vegetarian out of conviction, that is to say who consciously shall not eat flesh in order not to have to kill an animal, (unconsciously?) adheres to a doctrine of demons: “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, [men] who forbid marriage [and advocate] abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth” (1Tim 4:1-3). Everything is good and nothing is reprehensible of what comes from the hand of God and is given to us to feed us (1Tim 4:4).

The Blood

God elaborates on the blood. He clearly states here that blood represents life: “The life of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev 17:11) and to this He alone has the right. He never gives up that right. Therefore, the prohibition to eat blood – blood sausage is also covered by this prohibition! – still applies (Acts 15:29).

God also commands man to kill someone who kills another person. God thus predicts that violence will be committed again. He knows that man’s heart hasn’t changed, and He sees the deeds to which man will fall again. With a view to the bloodshed, God says that whoever does so, his blood must also flow through the hand of man. This also applies in case an animal kills a human being, which is later also written in the law (Exo 21:28).

With the commission and the right to retaliate bloodshed, God places something of Himself (Psa 9:12a; 2Chr 24:22) in the hands of – authorized – people (Rom 13:1). He does so because whoever offends against a human being, offends against His image bearer. He also does this to curb evil, so that no more situations develop as those that made the flood necessary: an earth filled with violence (Gen 6:11). Here we find the institution of the government, which gets the sword power (Rom 13:4). The most characteristic of government is the judgment of evil.

If murder as an affront and violation of the image of God in man is to be punished with death, it is clear that this punishment cannot be exercised by every random man. It is only permitted to those who represent God’s right and majesty on earth, which are the ones established by Him. These representatives are also meaningfully called “gods” (Psa 82:1-2 ; 6).

Now that God, because of man’s innate sinfulness, no longer threatens with a judgment of extermination, another way must be found to prevent evil. This is done through the establishment of rules and commandments, on which the government must ensure that they are maintained and where the government must punish for in case of violation.