1. Exposition of Genesis 1-11 The Flood Part VI Gen 9:1-17

2. The Chiasm of the Flood Account a Genealogical note: Noah & his three sons 6:9-10 b God sees that all the earth is ruined 6:11-12 c God’s instructions to Noah 6:13-22 d They enter the ark 7:1-9 e Flood begins, ark is closed 7:10-16 f Waters rise 7:17-20 CLIMAX: All life on land dies; God remembers Noah and those with him 7:21-8:1a f’ Waters recede 8:1b-5 e’ Flood ends, ark’s window is opened 8:6-14 d’ They exit the ark 8:15-22 c’ God’s instructions to Noah 9:1-7 b’ God promises to never again ruin the earth 9:8-17 a’ Genealogical note: Noah & his three sons 9:18-19

3. God’s Blessing on Noah and His Sons (Gen 9:1-7) Like Adam and Eve before them (1:28), Noah and his sons are blessed by God and commanded to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” The rest of the creature kingdom will fear man, for they all come under his dominion. –Again, man was given dominion from the beginning, but it seems now that the creature world has a heightened sense of this. –Note that those “less likely” to fear are mentioned first. There is now a significant change in man’s diet: –Originally it was the plants of the field. –Now “every moving thing that lives” shall be food for man, just as the green plants were in the beginning. –There is a prohibition of eating an animal in its own blood, for blood is the “principle of life” for animate beings.

4. God’s Blessing on Noah and His Sons (Gen 9:1-7) The Lord goes on to say that man’s blood especially requires (used 3 times in this verse) a reckoning: –from a beast, i.e. that part of the animal kingdom that could kill a man (e.g., Exod 21:28-29). –from a fellow man, who is a brother (like Cain). “Whoever sheds the blood of a man, by man shall his blood be shed” is in essence a judicial statute. –The basis for capital punishment is man’s being made in the image of God. God’s justice requires that whoever takes another’s life forfeits his own. –Capital punishment is affirmed in the NT (Acts 25:10-11; Rom 13:3-4). The command to Noah is repeated, emphasizing Noah’s duty and closing out the paragraph.

5. God’s Promise to Fulfill and Extend His Covenant (Gen 9:8-11) The previous paragraph emphasized Noah’s part; now the Lord addresses what He will do. He establishes His covenant with Noah, his descendants (which is all mankind), and all the creatures of the earth (cf. Isa 54:9,10). –This is the first covenant between God and man in scripture and was anticipated in Gen 6:18. Its essence is that the world will never again be destroyed by water. –Thus man and animal can live in a certain measure of security, carrying out the commission that God has given them to multiply and cover the earth.

6. The Sign of the Covenant Gen 9:12-17 V. 12 introduces the sign of the covenant – a symbolic, repeatable reminder (appearing after rain) of God’s covenant commitment to never again destroy the world by flood. –Some of the subsequent biblical covenants will also have signs: Abrahamic = circumcision Mosaic = sabbath V. 13 establishes the sign of the covenant as beginning now; vv. 14-15 guarantee that this sign will continue into the future.

7. The Sign of the Covenant Gen 9:12-17 V. 16 describes the Lord’s commitment as an everlasting covenant (Hebrew ~l'A[ tyrIB.) between Himself and “every living creature of all flesh.” –Subsequent covenants with Abraham and his descendants that are also described as everlasting include the Abrahamic (Gen 17:7), Priestly (Num 25:10- 13), Davidic (2 Sam 23:5), New (Jer 32:40)...and the Mosaic (Exod 31:16; Isa 24:4-5)! V. 17 restates and summarizes God’s covenant commitment to all living creatures.

8. Next Week: The Flood Part VII Gen 9:18-29