"6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man. 7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it." 8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 "And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." ~ Genesis 9:6-11
Today, we return to our study of Genesis 9 where the outline is: The survival of Noah in v.1-17, The sin of Noah in v.18-23, and, the sons of Noah in v.24-29. In today's passage we see that God is reestablishing the post flood earth. Although the flood wiped out everything on the earth, there was one thing that it didn't wipe out; the sinfulness of man. But, given the fact that God remade the world after the flood with all of its original elements and rhythms and blessings still in place, despite the persisting sinfulness of man, is a sign of God’s grace.
In v.6 of today's passage we read, "Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man."
As God put the fear of man in the animals, He had to put the fear of God into man. Here, we see the beginning of human government. God, in this passage, gave to man the mandate and the authority to oversee the culture and the society with power and with authority. Here, we are given by God the foundation for capital punishment. Since man was created in God’s image, the man who takes another man's life, his life will be required of him. Capital punishment was established by God after man's rebellion and it has always been in order to deter man from such violence.
In Numbers 35:33 we learn that atonement can’t be made for the land which is polluted by bloodshed except by the blood of him who shed it. This also is applicable to the unborn. Those who herald abortion actively work against God in order to terminate the life in the womb created in His image. If someone commits murder, the Bible doesn’t ask us to look at his childhood and determine what made him do it. It doesn’t ask us to look at his social standing or whether he was drunk or on pain medicines. God is clear that a murderer is to be put to death.
In v.7 of today's passage we read, "And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it."
Abortion would be the very thing that goes against being fruitful and multiplying and filling the earth. I find it most interesting that those who say "no" to capital punishment are the very same ones who say "yes" to abortion. God says children are a blessing from Him. Here, God repeats His mandate to Noah to "be fruitful and multiply." How pleased He must be when His creation returns that love to Him in praise, worship, and adoration. Children are a blessing and a heritage from the Lord and we bring Him honor when we get married, have children, and bring them up in the nurture and the knowledge of the Lord.
In v.8-11 of today's passage we read, "8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 'And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.'"
God established a covenant which is the basis of any relationship. It is only on the basis of a covenant where God makes promises that the infinite and holy God can have a relationship with finite and yet wicked man. In the Bible, there are two kinds of covenants; a conditional covenant and an unconditional covenant. An unconditional is where God makes a promise or gives a declaration, saying, "I'm going to do this, period." A conditional covenant is when God has His part and man has his part. God says, "You keep these conditions and if you keep them, then I will do this or that." To Adam and Eve God gave the Edenic covenant. This was a conditional covenant. Man occupying the Garden of Eden, the Edenic covenant which was a conditional covenant. God told Adam and Eve to manage the Garden but they broke their side of the condition.
The Noahic covenant was an unconditional covenant whereby God promised that He would never again destroy the earth by a flood. By promising to never flood the earth again, God was pledging that humans will be preserved on the earth until the end of history. Earthquakes, hurricanes, climate change, pandemics, wars, fires, or freezes won’t destroy the earth. The earth will be preserved against all cataclysmic events until the end. This covenant doesn’t guarantee universal salvation, but it does guarantee universal preservation of the earth until the end.
God has kept this promise. There have been many local floods since that time but never a universal one, never again a universal destructive flood. The reason for this promise was to show man that God had changed his method of judgment. It is not that there will not come a judgment of humanity again, God is clear in 2 Peter 3 that the next time the destruction will come by fire. And, with that word through the Apostle Peter, God promised that His judgment will come.
The judgement of God upon sin has already been mitigated on the behalf of all who are willing enough to believe in the goodness and the promises of God. In John 3:16-18, the Lord Jesus told Nicodemus, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
