In yesterday's passage the Lord gave a law that insured humane treatment of animals that were to be used for food. Today He makes a law regarding the taking of human life.
"And for your lifeblood I shall surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind." (Genesis 9:5-6) Some scholars use this passage to justify the use of capital punishment in cases where persons have committed premeditated murder. Although I don't like to get into anything political on the blog, verses 5 and 6 could certainly be used to make a good case for the death penalty, for God says that the one who deliberately sheds human blood will have his own blood shed "by humans". He appears to be giving man the authority to judge cases and pass sentences. Later in the Bible, when the law is given, we will study the various penalties for injuring or accidentally killing a person. We will also talk about the difference between murder and justifiable homicide (self defense) and the difference between murder and the killing that occurs during war.
Why does the Lord require an accounting from someone who sheds the blood of another? Because we are each made in His image. Think of it this way: your children are made in your image. If someone took the life of your child, wouldn't you demand they be held to account for it? God feels the same way about us. We are His children, made in His image. If anyone hurts one of us, it hurts Him too. He's not going to allow wickedness to go unpunished. We have thousands of unsolved murders and unsolved disappearances on the books of police departments all across our country, but the Lord knows exactly who is responsible, and if they do not face their judgment in this life you can bet they will be sentenced in the presence of a holy Judge someday.
The Lord repeats His instructions for Noah and his family to continue the human race. "As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it." (Genesis 9:7)
People of Noah's day could be fruitful on a scale that's impossible in our times. They lived for hundreds of years and apparently remained fertile for hundreds of years. It was possible for a couple to live to see several generations of grandchildren born into the family. It's become customary in our day to take family portraits whenever several generations are still alive, such as portraits that include five generations. My co-worker was showing me a recent family portrait that contained five generations of females in her family. The photo contained her mother, herself, her daughter, her granddaughter, and her great-granddaughter. But imagine if photography had existed when the events of Genesis took place! There would have been family portraits of ten and twenty generations, maybe more.
It's difficult for us to imagine the type of population explosion that took place in the early days of man's existence on earth, but when you consider how long people lived, how long they remained fertile, and how many children each couple was capable of having, it starts to make sense. Likely there was very little, if any, infertility among the early people of earth. There seems to have been little, if any, viruses and diseases at that time. The closer man lived to the beginning of the world, the fewer health conditions he appears to have had. So within just a few generations following the great flood there would have been a sizable society on the earth.
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