Starting Again

Introduction

-God created the physical universe, with humanity as His imagers who would subdue and take dominion over creation in His name. Sin was introduced into creation, which immediately brought disastrous effects. Sin so permeated humanity, that after 10 generations from initial creation God was grieved enough and regretted having made man enough that He decided to destroy all flesh with a flood except a small remnant.

-Noah, who found favor in God’s eyes, was called to build an ark that would house and protect the remnant through the judgment. God shut them up while the storm raged. After about a year those in the ark could disembark and repopulate a renewed earth. This is where we pick up the story. First, let’s look at:

1) A New Beginning

Genesis 9:1–7 ESV

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 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. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. 7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

-Noah is a second Adam. Whereas the first Adam was the first man of creation, Noah is the new man for the new world after the great judgment. From him would come all the inhabitants of the new world.

-God starts again with Noah and his sons, and with it He reiterates blessings He had given Adam and Eve, but making some changes for the new world that emerged from the flood.

-As sort of bookends in vv. 1 & 7, God tells humanity to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth again. The charge given to God’s imagers to subdue and take dominion over the earth had not changed. Even though the means and results may be different than originally intended, sin did not completely take away humanity’s purpose for existing. As one author stated it: The “blessing” of procreation and dominion conferred upon the postdiluvian world is a restatement of God’s creation promise for the human family and the creatures, but now its provision are modified in light of encroaching societal wickedness. The image of God may be marred by sin but it is not destroyed by sin. Humanity would carry on in God’s name as God’s representatives.

-In this new epoch of human history, God would need to set rules and boundaries to curb humanity’s sinful tendencies to insure the continuation of the earth until God’s plan of redemption comes to its completion. It should be noted that the blessings and commands and rules given here pre-dates the Mosaic law and is therefore universal in scope for all humanity in any era.

-Being fruitful and multiplying is a blessing. Whether by biology, adoption, or other means, children are always viewed as a blessing from God’s hand. Anything that disparages that idea (whether it is the murder of abortion or the degradation given to them by ultra-liberal-feminists) comes from the evil one. Children are to be celebrated and protected, not sneered upon or exploited. Having children who will have children and fill and multiply on the earth is valuable in the eyes of God, and therefore is valuable in our eyes. That is why this is the first command God says to Noah in this new beginning, and then is repeated again.

-And yet, in the new reality of ever-increasing sin and the judgment by flood, the relationship between humanity and creation would be different than originally intended. The relationship between mankind and and the animal kingdom would no longer be friendly and in sync with one another. First, it says that now there would be fear and dread of humanity over the beasts and birds and fish. This is the new reality in a new world. This happened partially to protect humanity from the threat of constant animal attack. Not that animals don’t attack humans, but it would not be a constant, large-scale thing that happens on a regular basis.

-This fear and dread would not eliminate the possibility of humanity domesticating animals for productivity, but it would take work and hard labor to accomplish that fact. All these thousands of years later we are the recipients of the blessings of those who had come before who put the effort into domesticating animals for our use.

-But there is another new element in the human and creature relationship. God now made the provision that humans are able to eat animals for food. Before the flood it would seem that everyone were vegetarians—the original creation order was that plants were given for food for human and animal alike. Now, animals are part of the diet. There would eventually be a distinction made between clean and unclean animals that were alright to eat for a time, but the gospels tell us that Jesus made all foods clean, so we are good with bacon and sausage and the like.

-God does set some boundaries to this allowance for eating meat. Humans were not to eat meat with blood. Blood seemed to be representative of the life force of the animal. While it is difficult to fully ascertain the meaning behind the prohibition, it does seem to indicate that even with this new allowance of eating meat, animal life was still to be respected and not treated with savagery or abuse. God alone is the giver of life and life in all its forms was to be respected.

-Hence, why God gave the next section of rules. While animal life was to be shown respect, ultimately human life is the most valuable and to be treated with the utmost care. Humans alone are made in the image of God and no one is to snuff that image out. To strike at a human is to strike at the God that they image. While human death was the reality of a sinful world, it was not up to man or beast to bring about that death. If someone were to bring about the death of a human, then they themselves would sacrifice their life for their actions. God requires a reckoning for those who would take away the life of another. Life and death are to be in the hands of God, not man or animal. God alone is sovereign over life and death, and any man or animal that overstepped this boundary was to be handled.

-This is a version of the lex talionis—the law of retaliation. The consequence for intentionally murdering an innocent human life is that you would forfeit your own life. Lex talionis insures that the punishment fits the crime, and murdering an innocent human is the most grievous of offenses.

-Some might wonder how there could be a divine directive to kill the criminal who is also in the image of God. As one author stated it:

Genesis 1–11:26 ((1) Provisions for the New World (9:1–7))

Capital punishment is not interpreted as a threat to the value of human life but rather is society’s expression of God’s wrath upon anyone who would profane the sanctity of human life. New Testament writings interpreted capital punishment as a necessary function of society, where the state is defined as the divinely designated “servant” (diakonos) that administers retribution (Rom 13:1–5; 1 Pet 2:13–14). Genesis removed personal vengeance and restricted blood feuding that led to reckless killing.

-This was the new reality in this new beginning—the reality that we are still living in and will until the return of Christ. But God did not just leave humanity to flounder on their own, for in this new reality God gave:

2) A Renewed Covenant

Genesis 9:8–17 ESV

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

-Several times through this passage God says that He is establishing his covenant with Noah and his descendants. God is making an agreement whereby He makes promises for the good of creation and mankind. God is now renewing the original covenant that He had made with creation, and is establishing additional promises in light of what He did with the flood.

-While in Genesis 6:18 God promised that He would make this covenant, here He is formally establishing the covenant and telling Noah its terms. Notice, God is saying that He is establishing the covenant. The obligations of this covenant rest solely on the Lord alone. God alone is making a commitment to this new world, and His promises are irreversible. These promises are not dependent on Noah or any human. God’s word and integrity stand behind this covenant.

-The additional promises added to any prior covenant to creation before the flood is that God would never again cut off all flesh by flood waters. God would never destroy the earth by a flood again. So, every time that there is a big storm that comes through the area, just remember this promise—God will not destroy the world by a flood. Now, we do have to keep in mind that God is not saying He would never judge the earth again. He is not saying that His righteous anger would not be put on display again. He is saying that He would not destroy the earth by flood again. That is the extent of the promise.

-To give a reminder to humanity that He would never destroy by flood again, God Himself provides a sign to the earth that would remind future generations of this particular promise. God gives the rainbow as a promise. This does not necessarily mean that rainbows never existed before this, but it does give new meaning to them if they did. When you look at the beauty of a rainbow, it reminds us that God is a God who keeps His promises. All these thousands of years later God still hasn’t destroyed the world by flood again, although we have given Him ample reason to do just that. But this covenant sign then reminds us of all the covenant promises found in Scripture, that God will keep all of those as well.

-Now, it is kind of weird and maybe ironic that those who decide to grasp onto a perverted lifestyle have chosen the rainbow as their symbol. This symbol is to remind people of God’s promises, but it ought to also remind people of the story behind those promises. God will judge sin. He won’t by flood again, but God will judge sin. The rainbow reminds us how seriously God takes sin, such that He destroyed the world because of it. And sin is still under His judgment. These folks within this lifestyle need to remember how God judged cities who grasped onto that perversion. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire because of it. And Christ went to the cross because of it.

-Don’t ever twist God’s promises in such a way so as to give excuse to sin. But, may God’s promises cause us to run to Him for mercy, which He so freely gives through Jesus Christ. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ while you still can, because He is going to return and His judgment will be much worse than a flooded earth. And if you are a Christian, praise God that He gives covenant promises and He keeps them.