A charge, a promise, the rainbow, and the sin of uncovering
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¶ And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the earth.
.2 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. .3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat [food] for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. .4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. .5 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. 6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. .7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. |
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- Be fruitful This is a repetition of the commend in chapter
1 ge0128. It marked a new
beginning. Would God's chosen ones be faithful this time? We don't have
long to find out.
3 - Every moving thing that liveth People are moving, living things. Could they now eat each other? No. See v5. So the edible living things were among a category God had already defined. To be eaten the moving thing was to be "clean" le1147. Leviticus came later but the distinction was clear to Noah because he was to take more of each clean species into the ark ge0702. The plan made provision for food until plants began to produce after the flood. So God's statement here is simply, "I have already given you food from the plant kingdom. Now you may eat from the animal kingdom." The result of this change from the ideal, however would be shorter life spans. See on ge1110. 3 - Even as the green herb The plant-based diet God had previously given is described in ge0129. People and animals continued their vegetarian diet even while in the ark ge0621. 4 - Blood People who see justification in verse 3 for eating meat tend to ignore this verse for the taste and flavor is in the blood. Also le1714. 7 - Bring forth abundantly Literally "swarm." |
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¶ And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10 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. .11 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. |
10
- And with every living creature God cares for the animals,
too. mt1029,
nu2231ff.
11 - Covenant ... flood The earth was to be populated v.1 in righteousness. And there would never again be a world flood. |
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¶ 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:
13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: .15 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. 16 And 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. 17 And 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. |
13 - Bow And when we see the rainbow, we may also remember God's promises. Joy comes with the clouds. The angel of the covenant, as Christ, comes with the book of prophecy before the preadvent judgment re1001. |
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¶ And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and
Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. .20 And Noah began to be an husbandman [gardener], and he planted a vineyard: .21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And 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. |
21 - Drunken God was dishonored. Nakedness likewise was not in God's plan ge0321. Also compare hab0215, da0108note2. |
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¶ And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had
done unto him.
25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. .27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. |
24 - What his younger son had done Canaan had looked at his naked grandfather. |
| 28 ¶ And
Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died. |
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