God’s Blessing After Judgment — Genesis 9 Daily Word

After the flood, God promises never to curse the ground again, extending His mercy to humanity and blessing Noah’s sons with the command to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.

God’s Blessing After Judgment

[Scripture]

[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. [4] 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, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.” (Gen 9:1-7, ESV)

[Daily Word]

# God declares that He will never again curse the ground.

God chooses not to hold humanity accountable for their failure to remain focused on Him, because the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. This signifies that from this point forward, He will deal with humanity through mercy and compassion. As long as people dwell on the earth, they will not be judged by water. Yet as long as the earth remains, verse 22 tells us that seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease.

# God extends the blessing of creation to Noah’s sons as well.

This is because they, too, were workers called to carry out a new history on a new earth. In particular, God commands them to be fruitful, to multiply, and to fill the earth. This command carries three distinct meanings: first, to bear fruit according to what God has given; second, to increase in number; and third, to fill completely. In other words, if we simply follow the command God has given, we will bear fruit — and once that fruit begins to appear, a work of multiplication takes place, until at last it overflows and fills all things.

We must remember, however, that the blessing God commands has its priority in the spiritual realm. For [2] Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. (3 John 1:2, ESV) — through this verse we understand that while God’s word assures us of material rewards we can see and touch, something far more important is what God looks to confirm in us. That is, He watches to see whether the soul of His beloved is prospering, and He earnestly desires that it would. This is the very heart of God’s love toward us. Therefore, may you believe that when there is within us a perfect and pleasing fragrance that delights God, the fullness of His answer will at last overflow into every area of our lives.

# God Has Blessed Us.

God told the descendants of Adam to be fruitful, to multiply, and to fill the earth, and He commanded them to “subdue the earth and rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living creature that moves on the ground.” However, that command is now absent from this passage. The reason is found in verse 2: the fear and dread of mankind will fall upon every beast of the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that moves along the ground, and every fish of the sea.

This can be understood through Adam. While Adam was in the Garden of Eden, he lived among the animals, giving them names and dwelling alongside them in peace. There was harmony between humanity and the animal kingdom. [6] The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. [7] The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. [8] The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. (Isa 11:6-8, ESV)

# This Passage Is Not Describing the Kingdom of Heaven.

It carries only the meaning of subduing others by force. This speaks of those who once lived spiritually — because of judgment, they would no longer govern the world through spiritual power, but would dominate it through physical strength alone. God is giving a new set of principles by which humanity must live in the new earth He has made. Thus, in verse 3, every living creature shall be food for them, and in verse 4, they are commanded not to eat meat with its life, that is, its blood, still in it.

# Verse 4 Is Somewhat Unique.

Is the blood of meat found inside the meat, or outside of it? It is inside the meat. Yet the expression in verse 4 conveys the idea that the meat is within the blood — in other words, if the meat is still in the blood, that meat is in a living state. That is why God commanded not to eat it. [14] For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. (Lev 17:14, ESV) This ultimately means that consuming living blood — the blood of something still alive — might produce life, but this is not part of God’s plan. It is only when we faithfully obey what God has commanded that life is truly preserved.

Thus in verse 5, [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. (Gen 9:5-6, ESV)

The children of God follow only the Word of God, and those who follow the Word of God know how to love the lives of others. This is the life that God has given us to live by. Therefore, what we must do is to love the lives that God loves, and to watch and pray so that their souls may no longer remain in the flesh. As we do this, I pray that we would believe we are those who resemble the Lord, and that today we would be people who live for the lives of others.

The Covenant with Noah, the mercy of God, the dignity of life, the sinful nature of humanity, a new beginning

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com