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Does Genesis 9 give us our first glimpse of the death penalty? As I was reading this chapter in Genesis, I reread it over and over again! Did we use this Bible passage to enforce the death penalty? Do you know? I am constantly surprised at what I read. What have you been surprised to read as we read the Bible together?
Did God gives us the death penalty?
4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
5 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.
6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Genesis 9: 4-6
We are not to interpret the Bible, but I think God is giving us the first glimpse of the ten commandments. You’ll have to deal with God if a man takes the life of another man. “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”
So, if I kill someone, then someone will kill me. If that is the case, is the person who kills me committing a sin? Or is there an appointed man to do the killing?
Highlights of Genesis 9:
- Noah and his sons get off the boat with God’s blessing
- God tells them what they can eat
- God tells them to repopulate the earth
- God tells them that a flood will never destroy the earth again
- The rainbow is God’s sign of His covenant with Noah and the Earth
- Noah curses Ham’s son to be the lowest of servants to his relatives
- Noah died at the age of 950 (that is a very very long time)
Questions on Genesis 9:
- Why did Noah flip out like that on Ham? …it almost reminded me of the scene when God is asking Adam and Eve why they ate the apples and cursed them because of it.
- Why did Ham feel the need to tell his brothers about Noah’s state of dress and cover him?
- Who enforced the “death penalty”?
Thoughts on Genesis 9:
We are truly brothers and sisters. Man was born of Adam and Eve and all were wiped out minus Noah and his family. Then from Noah’s family, the world was repopulated. Unless a new set of man was made by God that I’m not aware of … NONE of us should be offended by being called brother or sister by another human being. We are all related, distant relatives, but related nonetheless.
What were your thoughts on Genesis 9? Did you have any questions? Do you know the answers to the questions that I had?
Until then,
If you’re just tuning in, we’re on the 9th Chapter of the first book of the Bible. We’re reading one chapter at a time together. If you’d like to catch up you can go here. If you’d like to join us in reading the Bible with The Daily Walk Bible (NLT) you can purchase it on Amazon here. If you purchase The Daily Walk Bible through the link above I will receive a small percentage of the sale that will be used towards the maintenance of the website.