Live Long And Prosper; Again

Noah walked with God because his life was lined up with God's ways. No one can walk together except they be agreed. Two men were trying to get a piece of furniture through a doorway. After much frustration and energy was expended, the men stopped and looked at each other with a puzzled look. It was finally determined they were pulling in opposite directions. Noah walked with God. He went in God's direction.

Howdy from the Panhandle. The commentators say that verses 5 and 6 are the beginning of Civil Law. I don't know about that, but it is the first time we see anything about retribution for murder. Once that is established it is time to be about repopulating the earth.

Genesis 9:5-7

5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.

6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man,

by man shall his blood be shed;

for in the image of God

has God made man.

7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."

1. Civil Law Is Established (vv. 5-6)

In these verses we see that the shedding of human blood is sternly prohibited. "Your life blood" This is just what it sounds like; it is your blood which keeps you alive. “I will surely demand an accounting", the Lord, will find the murderer out, and exact the penalty of their crime. Even the beast that causes the death of a person will be put down. The penalty for murder here is declared-death for death. It is an instance of the law of retaliation. Anyone that deprives another of any property is bound to make it good or to suffer the like loss.

In the case of murder, man is, by the express appointment of the Lord of all, appointed the executive agent. "By man shall his blood be shed.” Here, then, is the formal institution of civil law. The judgment of death is solemnly delegated to man in vindication of human life lost.

The reason why retribution is exacted in the case of murder is also given. "For in the image of God has he made man.” Here we see on the one hand to the function of the judge, and on the other hand the claims of the violated law. Both illustrate the meaning of being created in the image of God. Mankind resembles God in that we are moral beings, able to judge right and wrong, endowed with reason and will, and capable of holding and exercising rights. Therefore, mankind is competent to rule, and on God's creation authorized to exercise a mild and moral sway over the creatures of the sea and fields. His capacity to govern even among his fellow-men is now recognized. When duly called to the office, he is declared to be at liberty to discharge the part of a ruler among his fellow-men, and is entitled on the ground of this divine arrangement to claim the obedience of those who are under his sway. He must rule in the Lord, and they must obey in the Lord.

Man can also recognize such rights of another. When, therefore, he is deprived of anything belonging to him, he is sensible of being wronged, and feels that the wrongdoer is bound to make reparation by giving back what he has taken away, or an equivalent in its place. This is the law of retribution, which is the universal principle of justice between the wrongdoer and the wrong-sufferer.

2. Noah And A New Generation (vs. 7)

Noah's family were the seed by which the world was to be repopulated. They were about to enter upon a new era in the history of human progress; and there can be little doubt that, warned by the very terrible effects of unrestrained sensuality and violence, the early post-diluvians would be distinguished generally as a pious and virtuous, consequently a vigorous and a prolific race.

Accordingly, considering the long life of the ancients who lived within 300 years after the flood i.e., until the time of Abraham-according to the Hebrew chronology, and consequently their co-existence with those that descended from them, it may be concluded that, without the help of a miraculous fertility, mankind, descended from Noah and his three sons and their wives, might, become a stupendous multitude by that arithmetical progression that would be found in their generations.