Blogging the Bible. Genesis 9:1-7
Noah
and his family where he Adams and Eves of the post-Flood world. God even commissioned them with the same
blessing and purpose He’d bestowed on the original pair in Eden.
So God blessed
Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth.
(Genesis 9:1)
But
God went ever farther. Prior to the
Flood people had been just one of many species trying to gather and grow enough
vegetation to survive. An intelligent
and spiritually conscious species made in the image of God. But just one of many. In fact, if you look at the story of the Fall
from a slightly different perspective and consider that scripture called the
Edenic serpent
“more
cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God” (Gen. 3:1), and factor in the implications that the snake
was smarter than the people, well then, even allegorically speaking, though
humans were NOT at the top of the food chain. Uniquely made in the image of
God, yes. But not the species to be
voted most likely to succeed in the nearly prehistoric landscape.
After
the Flood, that changed. Mankind became
an apex predator.
And the fear of
you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of
the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving
thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as
the green herbs. (Genesis 9:2,3)
Mankind
became THE apex predator. The tippy top
of the global food chain.
But
with great power comes great responsibility.
Look
at how sin and crime were addressed before the Flood. Adam and Eve didn’t judge Cain. God did.
Lamech wasn’t worried about the community punishing for killing a young
man. He expected the same treatment as
Cain. In the antecedent sins the Flood
nobody seemed to do anything about everybody doing the worst possible things
they could do. If these instances were typical, then God had been the direct
and only administrator of justice.
Post-Flood, the Lord delegated that task.
Whoever sheds
man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made
man.
(Genesis 9:6)
People
must carry out justice among people. The
blessing of dominion over the natural world comes with the responsibility to
maintain justice in human society.
And
justice isn’t optional. In verse 5, God requires justice for and from every man.
Genesis
9 declares the death penalty for murder.
The passage doesn’t talk explicitly discuss any other crimes. Does that mean that it's O.K. to lie, or to steal, or to violate someone's civil rights? Of course it
doesn’t. The call to justice for the
worst crime necessarily assumes righteous adjudication of all “lesser”
offenses. It takes more than executions
to create a just community. But whatever
it takes, as the species God placed at the top of the food chain, it is our
responsibility to make sure that justice --- actual justice --- is done.
Whether
we like it or not.
As
Jesus said: For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and
to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. --- Luke
12: 48
---Anderson
T. Graves II is a writer, community organizer and
consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.
Rev.
Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in
Fairfield, Alabama; executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth
Networking Organization (SAYNO); and
director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human
Development (NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
You
can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and
clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.
Support
by check or money order may be mailed to
Miles
Chapel CME Church
P
O Box 132
Fairfield,
Al 35064
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