Genesis 9:1

Genesis 9;1 says, And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.  God blessed Noah and His sons.  That is the best that we can ever hope for, that we will be blessed by God.  For this to happen, we, like Noah must obey God and have a personal relationship with Him.  Verse two states, 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.  There was to be a change in the relationship between people and the other animals.  The other animals were to start to fear people.  People and animals had lived in harmony until this time.  Verse three proclaims, Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.  Noah was told that all animals could be used for food, just as all green herbs could be.  Later, under the Law, some restrictions would be placed on what animals could be eaten, and even later, under grace through Christ, those restrictions would be removed.  In all three cases though, God said that the animals were for food.  When someone says that Christians should not eat meat because it is against God's will, they do not know what God's word teaches.  Verse four adds, But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.  There was the restriction of not eating the blood of animals, which was seen as the life force.  Verse five declares, 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.  We are not to just needlessly kill animals or other people, and Matthew Henry says this is a warning against killing ourself.  Verse six says, Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.  This is a warning against murder and not against killing in wars or under the judicial system, nor does it apply to a death in an accident.  It refers to murder, as Cain murdered Abel.  Verse seven states, And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.  God once again called on people to multiply and abundantly repopulate the earth.  God wants people to be numerous, but He also wants them to be obedient to Him.  Verse eight declares, And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,  God didn't just speak to Noah, but He also spoke to Noah's sons.  God speaks to us each individually today, but the question is whether we will listen to Him or not.  Verse nine adds, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;  God was once again establishing a covenant with mankind.  When God establishes a covenant with us, we do not get to change the terms of the covenant.  Verse ten continues, 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.  God's covenant with people would cover all of His creation.  Verse eleven concludes, 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.  God promised Noah and his sons that the earth would never again be destroyed by water, and that promise remains today.