Reading:
And
God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth. And the fear of
you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every
fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the
fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat
for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is
the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And
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. Whoso sheddeth
man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he
man. And you, be ye fruitful, and
multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. 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 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. And 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. 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.
Commentary:
God's
blessing is always upon the Holy Christian Church, which at this time consisted
of only eight souls. They were to be
fruitful and multiply, as children are a blessing from the Lord. We notice Noah and family were free to eat
any of the animals, to shed their blood, but they were forbidden from eating or
drinking the blood. The taking of a
man's life was also forbidden, and
"Whoso sheddeth man's
blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." Government is here given the power to punish
murderers with death. Since Noah's
family had just witnessed the greatest punishment ever witnessed by mankind, God
also gives a gracious promise, namely the rainbow. Never again would He destroy the entire world
with a flood. Today the rainbow should
remind us of God's Gospel promises given through Christ. Though this world will end on the Last Day,
God's Church will be preserved just as in Noah's day. Like the ark, we too will be lifted up, saved
by water.
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