Week 29, Day 4: The Covenant
Today’s Reading: Genesis 9:1-28
Some thoughts from the reading…
Noah and his sons are to now go forth and be fruitful and multiply. The Lord repeats some principles to them before they set out. Man is to be master over all the creatures of the earth. The animals will fear man and be food for him. God also reminds Noah that they are not to eat the animal with its life (its blood). It has been pointed out before that it is impossible to remove every drop of blood from meat. I do not believe this prohibition prohibits eating meat that might have a few drops of blood in it, but rather the that blood is to be drained from the body (Lev 17:13, Acts 15:20).
Here we have the first reference to the blood being refered to as the “life” of the animal. This concept is an important one and will be restated under the law of Moses. Long before man understood the workings of the body and the function for blood, Noah was told that the “life” is in the blood.
We can see here that God gave Noah instructions for how to be pleasing to Him and what He expected from them.
Another principle stated is to not shed man’s blood. Killing another person is prohibited because they have been made in the image of God. Man is not just another animal who just happens to have evolved further along. Rather, man was created with a uniqueness. This quality makes him different and deserves a level of respect from all mankind. It is unfortunate and sad that much of our society no longer values human life or considers the taking of a life as evil. Today it is called a “woman’s choice” to destroy her child. On the other hand we see that the destruction of eagle eggs is a federal offense punishable by severe penalties. Why would destroying an eagle’s egg, an unborn eagle, be so bad if it is nothing more than just a growth and not really a living thing? Because people recognize what will become of that eagle egg and therefore protect such things very aggressively, more so than they do the baby that has been made in the image of God. How sad!
Chapter 9 is where God gives a sign of the covenant between God, man and every creature that He will not destroy the earth again with flooding. The sign is the rainbow. Each time we see the rainbow let it be a remider to us that God keeps His promises. He has kept this promise for over 4,000 years now and will continue to be true to all the things He has promised us.
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