Genesis 9:5-295And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. 6Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. 7And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. 8And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. 11And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 12And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 17And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. 18And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. 19These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. 20And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. 24And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 28And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died. (Genesis 9:5‑29)
“AND surely your blood of your lives will I require:... at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man.” vv. 5,6.
Man from the very beginning has always been responsible before God for his fellow-man and through Noah he is again charged with this responsibility. Man’s life is not to be treated lightly. He is made “in the image of God” and has an everlasting soul. Each life is in God’s hands and whoever willfully takes the life of another is to pay with his own. There is much tampering with this ordinance today, but it remains as God’s solemn word and men will be held responsible to Him for it.
“And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;... And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it.” vv. 8,9; 12-16.
When we now see a lovely rainbow as a storm nears its end, may we remember that God made the beautiful display to remind us of His promise that never again shall a flood overflow the earth, and that “while the earth remaineth, seedtime an harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:2222While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22).
We need not dwell on the failure that has increasingly marked the world since those days. God’s covenant of blessings to His creatures has not changed, but man has forgotten or ignored his part and has increasingly sought wicked and selfish ways. The result is seen in a world once more filled with violence and corruption. Judgment must therefore again fall on this scene_ not a flood of water, but a terrible burning with fire, so that even the very elements will melt away. (2 Pet, 3:10-13).
“And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:... And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.” vv. 20,28,29.
Thus ends the story of this remarkable man, but his faithful testimony remains. In Chapter 10 much detail is given of the descendants of his three sons. In the genealogies of his sons we learn that those who followed them were as follows: From Shem, the Shemitic races—the Persians, the Israelites, etc; from Ham, some of the Asians, Nimrod, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the African and Negroid races; from Japheth, the Caucasians and northern Gentile races. Thus it was literally as the Word stated: “Of them was the whole earth overspread.”
ML-12/13/1964