Day 833: Why your life is precious - Genesis 9 vs 1 - 7

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it - and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. 7 And you (plural), be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in it. Genesis 9:1-7 (From the English Standard Version)

Today's verses have become a source of much controversy in our generation. There's been a growing number of people who say that eating meat is wrong, even immoral. I can understand those who hold that view because they hate the thought of animals being slaughtered, and I respect the choice of anyone who prefers a vegetarian diet. But from Scripture we see that it was God who gave mankind permission to eat meat. The only prohibition He set was that it should not be eaten with it's blood. Blood appears to represent the life of both beast and people, and was to be respected. And, in the case of people, it was to be protected. Veganism is fine for those who choose it, but ought not to be forced on society. But the shedding of a person's blood is a different matter. What did God legislate about such bloodshed? (vs 5)

Whether a person's death was caused by a beast, or by another man or woman, God required that something be done about it. When the first murder on earth took place, and people were still few, God spared the killer Cain. But He also said: “If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” When God gave commandments to Moses for Israel, one of them was “you shall not murder”. (Exodus 20:14) In the Old Testament book called Numbers, instructions were given as to investigating scenes where a death had occurred to see whether it had been accidental or intentional. If it was intentional then the death penalty was applied.

Which brings us to another point of controversy in the world today. Many countries have abolished capital punishment. Sometimes people who committed intentional murder have been released after serving a term in jail. The debate between 'pro' or 'anti' capital punishment has been fierce. Some say murderers can be rehabilitated, others say they often go on to commit further crimes of violence. But, once again, we see from Scripture that it was God who sanctioned the putting to death of someone who had intentionally taken the life of another human being.

What is the massive difference why killing a beast for food is permitted, but murdering a fellow human being is forbidden? (vs 6)

Man (which would mean all mankind, male and female) was created in God's image. Adam and Eve were totally unique from the birds, beasts and fish which God had created. They bore the image of God. Not the physical image of arms and legs, but the inward image of soul or spirit. Man was given the ability to think, invent, communicate, love and worship in a vastly superior way to the rest of living things. That's why a person's life is so special and we should never destroy it, and we should take severe action against those who do destroy lives. Remember, a big reason for the flood that destroyed the world's population in Noah's day was because they had filled the earth with violence.

So Noah and his family were told to make a new start in the world. (vs 7) God's 'reset' had taken place and they were to multiply abundantly and fill the earth. A population explosion would follow. But would the future generations value life as God had commanded? Sadly, history gives us the answer.