Life, Death, and a Promise – Genesis 9:1-28
Bethel Baptist Church David Rising
Genesis 9:1-28 April 5, 2026 Sunday PM (Easter)
Life, Death & a Promise
The flood is over. Noah and his family have exited the ark and have worshipped God as they made their sacrifices to God. God was pleased, and promised never again to curse the ground for man’s sake.
God promised that as long as the earth remained there would a perpetual flow between seasons, days and night. Life would ebb and flow as God so ordained, even though mankind still would possess and corrupt the earth due to the wickedness in his heart.
God has been longsuffering with humanity ever since this time, and we sometimes wonder how much longer the Lord will wait until He begins once again to judge. Until then we thank Him for His grace and patience.
Our study tonight will observe what took place right after the flood. Pray.
1. Life and Death (9:1-7)
9:1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
God tells these men the same thing God told Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28. God blessed them and told them also to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. KJV says “replenish” the earth. It is the same Hebrew word in both places (מָלֵא), so “replenish” is the same word as “fill”.
It is as if creation is starting all over again with Noah and his sons at the top. God is giving humanity another opportunity.
In Genesis 1:28 God also says “and subdue it” (earth) and “have dominion” over the animals. We see the same essential command in the lengthened instruction next, in verses 2ff:
2 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.
This sounds a little different than the command to have dominion. This appears to be a case where mankind will have dominion by virtue of man’s presence on the earth. It is not stated here as a command per se but rather of what will be. God has given animals into the hand of mankind.
Did you ever wonder where insects fit into all of this? Did some fleas ride in the ark on some of the animals? They must have.
Humanity here in the family of Noah is seen as a benevolent despot, responsible for the proper management of the animal world. This post-flood world also now includes the provision of food that results from shedding blood. Perhaps eating animals was granted pre-flood, but now it is clearly stated:
3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.
Living things that move are food for humanity. All things, even the vegetable world, are given to mankind for use. Thus, according to this verse, it is permissible to have a roast beef sandwich provided you are not allergic to any of the ingredients.
In other words, as far as I understand this verse, it is OK to kill animals and eat them. God knows very well how to make another.
Some vegetarians avoid meat for their own health reasons, but I don’t think the bible teaches that it is sinful to eat meat. On the contrary, it sounds like something clearly allowed. Indeed, as we look forward to the sacrifices, it is clear that animals do not have the same level as humans, as we will see in the rest of this passage tonight.
Yes, eat meat, but notice God’s footnote to this:
4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
Meat may be eaten, but not also with its blood. The obvious reality for those who are going to eat meat is that the animal normally should be killed first. This involves the shedding of blood which represents the taking of life.
Death must occur in order for this meat to be food that is eaten to sustain life. This is behind the provision for food – that mankind, human life, could be sustained. “Sustainability” also has to include humanity, not just the resources of the planet.
This principle of life for life is a theme that runs throughout the bible.
It always amazes me what kinds of movements or actions the world demands when they take God and His Word out of the equation. Of course, humans can be very cruel and sin has blinded so many that they are terribly cruel to animals. But killing an animal to eat it as part of the food for the sustaining of life is not ungodly. One only has to look at the Levitical system of sacrifice and offering to see that God required the death of animals, some which was food for the priests. The taking of animal life on the altar was considered a soothing aroma to God in 8:21.
While God allows the eating of meat, He prohibits eating the flesh with its life still circulating with its blood. In the Mosaic Law, we see the requirement of draining the blood from slain animals (Deuteronomy 12:24).
Why? Is it that blood is bad for you to eat? I think it is simply because blood represented life. Essentially, they were not to eat the life of the animal.
Having been introduced to the idea of blood, we now see it has significance beyond animals. Look at verse 5:
5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.”
Verse 5 shows the seriousness that God places upon the improper taking of one’s life. Notice the NKJV translates the
words (אֶת־דִּמְכֶ֤ם לְנַפְשֹֽׁתֵיכֶם֙) as ‘lifeblood’. KJV translates it as “your blood of your lives”. This is not about animals but about the blood of “your” lives – humanity. Human life.
We see a contrast here between animals and humans. This is a distinction that you and I know is being blurred in our day. Genesis 1 already showed us this difference as animals were not created in the image and likeness of God. Only humans were created as such, and now we see the consequences for one who would take the life of another.
If someone takes the lifeblood of another human, God will “require” (KJV) or “demand” blood. One for one. This reckoning, as the NKJV adds for clarity, is noted in verse 6: blood for blood.
Verse 5 says that if man’s blood is shed, if a human life is taken by animal or by the hand of another human, blood will be required. The last sentence makes it clear: From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
What we see here is God’s high priority on the gift of life. Anyone or anything that would play God and remove that life breath, that life blood, is met here with God’s justice.
The general rule here is simply life for life, whether it is animal or human. Of course, there are more details to this law as God grants more revelation, but this is the baseline.
What is most interesting is that even in our day, even as wickedness seems to prevail at every level and it would seem that human life is cheapened in some instances, still there is a high focus when the potential for loss of human life is in view.
Why does the news over loss of human life always become the most important stories? I think it is still that within humanity God has put within us the priority of human life. It grieves us when we hear of the loss of human life, be it in a storm or a shooting or in accidents.
Verse 6 ties this principle not to some emotional feeling we might have when someone is killed, but to the very essence of humanity.
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.
We are made by God in His image. God’s words here to Noah take us back to God’s words to Adam. Animals were not said to be made in God’s image and likeness, but mankind was.
Animals are important, but they are not as important as humans.
In some ways, we as humans – each of us – reflect our Creator. We have intellect, but limited. We have desires, though tainted by sin. We think, communicate, act, are creative, but in all these ways imperfectly when compared to our Creator.
How it is that we reflect God is always the long discussion but one worth having. I always find it intriguing that the text does not explain it here. It simply affirms the dignity of man in light of our perfect template in God. Psalm 8 is another text that shows the majesty of God and the dignity of humanity.
It is interesting the language of verse 5 – ‘every man’s brother’ which refers to the idea of one another, the other person, anyone. But it is also a reminder of the first illustration of how this was broken, in the account of Cain killing his brother, Abel.
Verses 6-7 are poetic and emphasizes man as both victim as well as avenging agency (Matthews). Capital punishment is certainly a severe punishment, but so was murder.
Verse 6 is the text that forms the basis for the idea of an eye for an eye, the lex talionis, as it is sometimes known as. That is just Latin for ‘law retaliation’.
The basis for this one-for-one retribution is rooted in the image of God. All of mankind bears the image of God. Each of us. As evil and as wicked as mankind can be, still each one has this characteristic and as such is not to be murdered.
We see this principle also in Exodus 20 as one of the 10 commandments.
There are, of course, exceptions to this basic principle as we see later in the Mosaic Law.
In accordance with the principle of lex talionis, Israelite law recognizes, as did ancient law in general, that particular circumstances, such as involuntary manslaughter (Exod 21:20–21; Deut 19; Num 35), mitigate the consequences of lesser degrees of homicide.[1]
Mosaic law emulated this Noahic provision by protecting human life: “You shall not murder” (Exod 20:13). Hebrew rāṣaḥ (“murder”) is commonly used for premeditated killing, and death by execution is prescribed for those who transgress this prohibition (e.g., Exod 21:12–14; Num 35:16–32). This high premium placed on human life is indicated elsewhere in the Torah … animals who kill men are executed in the same way as the human murderer is punished—by stoning (Exod 21:28–32). The value of human life is extended even to the unborn child, who in the case of injury merits reparations (Exod 21:22–25).[2]
If we were to do a full study on capital punishment, we would then look at NT passages such as Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2.
The second half of the poem looks not at death, but at life. Notice again verse 7:
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.”
As for you, Noah – you focus on life. The Lord repeats his directive to Noah and his sons – be fruitful and multiply. Have children. Fill the earth. Noah heard this and would have heartily agreed because he could see a very empty earth.
God’s instruction to Noah comes so that he understands that life on earth can only be sustained if life is respected and protected. If every other son was like Cain, the world would hardly have been filled as violence would have wiped everyone out.
We see here that the book of Genesis establishes some very basic truths that we as Christians have as foundational principles for our worldview, how we understand what is right and wrong. These are issues that come to the surface during political times and they are important. You may have friends who want to debate capital punishment and abortion – life-related issues, as well as gender and economics. Genesis 9 is an important passage to note as we defend life within a context of God instructing Noah.
2. A Promise: God’s Covenant with Noah (9:8-17)
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
God takes the initiative and tells Noah that He is making a covenant with Noah and His family. God had spoken to Noah in a similar way – about establishing a covenant – back before the flood.
In 6:18 God established His covenant with Noah. God told Noah that he and his family would need to get in the ark, along with the appropriate animals, and that God would rescue them. He did. God always keeps His promises.
Here God’s covenant is with Noah, his descendants, and every living creature – everything that exits from the ark. We don’t often think of God making a promise to the animal world, but here He clearly does. They were also devastated in the flood, but they would be protected here along with Noah and his offspring.
This covenant was that God would never again exterminate all living flesh by a cataclysmic flood. God would never do that again.
The world has experienced some devastating floods since the days of Noah, but none has ever been as bad as that one. And, of course, it could not be matched because God promised not to do it again.
A covenant, as we can tell by the context here and previous, is a promise that is made that is certain. We may use the word promise or agreement or contract. They all convey the same basic idea.
The word ‘covenant’ is a key term in scripture as it is the backbone of all that we see from Genesis to Revelation. As we mentioned, we saw the word previously in 6:18, but here in chapter 9 it is repeated 7 times.
Never again will there be a world-wide flood to destroy all flesh. How do we know this is true?
12 And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
In a marriage, a sign or token of the promise is the ring. Later we will see in scripture that covenants were often established in blood. This will be noted in particular with Abraham.
God’s sign here is the rainbow. It is God’s symbol between Himself and earth (13). It is written here in a way that says whenever God sees the rainbow in the sky, He will remember His promise never to use water in that same way.
Sure, we will see it and recall this promise, but also know that God is looking at it as well and it is a sign for Him to keep His Word, which of course He will.
Rainbows have come to symbolize many things throughout history. Norse mythology has used it. The Irish leprechaun’s secret hiding place for his pot of gold is said to be at the end of the rainbow. You can never get there, of course, because the rainbow is an optical effect that cannot be approached. Since the 1970s, it has come to symbolize gay pride and the LGBT movement. And so forth.
Symbols like this can be coopted by humanity, but the original meaning of the rainbow was God’s sign to humans. It said that even though humanity would still be wicked, God yet will not wipe them out with a flood. That is what I think of when I see the rainbow.
It is interesting that the rainbow is only seen in our skies when there is rain – the very instrument that God used to destroy. Now rain is needed to be present with light to show God’s symbol.
We can explain that scientifically with the spectrum of light with ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet), the sequence of colors in the rainbow shown in sequence of decreasing wavelengths (red 650nm, violet 400 nm – nanometre). And yet, ultimately, it is God’s sign of this covenant.
Next time you see a rainbow in any context, remember it should remind you of God’s grace and mercy even in the face of ongoing wickedness.
God’s promise remains, and we can be encouraged by that.
Now, as we noted at the outset, we will see the last record here of Noah’s life. It is a bit of a sad one as Noah is seen as all too human.
But notice first the record of Noah’s family:
3. Noah’s family (9:18-19)
18 Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
We had already been told of Noah’s three sons and their names, but what is new here is the lineage of Ham. He was the father of Canaan. We are not told here why we are told this, but we are to know this for some reason, but remember Moses is writing this long after the events happened.
God used these three sons to populate the earth. What a task that would be as you considered the fact that there were no others. These two verses set us up for the problem in the last part of the chapter:
4. Problem (9:20-29)
And so you are Noah. How do you begin to get the earth back into shape? Notice we learn of Noah’s work now:
20 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted vineyard.
This is not surprising as the earth needed to be developed so that it could produce. And so he has a vineyard that, eventually, would produce fruit:
21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
Verse 20 began simple enough, but then it all goes downhill. Already?
We surely wish at times that there was much more human goodness in all of us, as the liberals tell us continually, but even in scripture – even with the man Noah who walked with God, whom God found favor in His eyes, the man and whose family God rescued – now we that sin has emerged yet again.
Here is Noah, drunk, and in an embarrassing situation. This is Noah? This is not the part of the story that we feature in VBS programs.
Noah gives to us a perfect illustration of the potential problem of drinking alcohol. Noah finds himself out of control and in a situation that is quite awkward. This is an example of what can go wrong when one gets involved with any mind-altering substance, including alcohol.
There is Noah in a bad way, at the mercy of the conduct of others.
Now the story hinges on the unstated point: it is not to condemn Noah’s situation, as bad as it was, but to condemn a son for doing the wrong thing in an awkward situation. How do you handle a situation like this when your father is in a very awkward situation?
Verse 22 tells us how Ham responded. He is listed in the genealogy of verse 18 as the second of three, the middle child. Moses records for us again the fact that Ham is the father of Canaan.
Ham responds to his dad’s embarrassing situation unlike the other two brothers. The text simply says that he “saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.” In contrast, when his brothers Shem and Japheth went inside, they went out of their way to cover their dad so they could not and did not see his nakedness. Then intentionally looked away.
Not so with Ham. He saw and then told. He did nothing to cover or protect.
We don’t have a lot of material here to detail this out, but there is certainly a contrast to their actions. When we come to verse 24 Moses says that Ham had done something to Noah. It would appear that what he did was not do anything, but rather going outside and telling his brothers.
Some also make a lot of the mention here that Ham saw his father, as if he did not recognize the inappropriateness of viewing his father like this. Why after all was Noah unclothed? Theories abound, but the text merely tells us the basics.
Some try to tie together the idea of ‘uncovering the nakedness of one’s father’ to that prohibition in Leviticus 18 & 20 as a euphemism for committing fornication with a relative. But again, we are forcing the interpretation here since the text really does not elaborate.
It is best simply to see that Ham saw his dad like this, and instead of doing the honorable and decent thing by covering him up, he left him there and went out and told his two brothers. It’s like abandoning someone in need to pass by and mention it to someone else. The implication could be that Ham never intended for anything to be done to cover up the situation.
Dad finally sobers up and reacts in verse 24:
24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. 25 Then he said:
“Cursed be Canaan;
A servant of servants
He shall be to his brethren.”
26 And he said:
“Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem,
And may Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth,
And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be his servant.”
We are still left without a clear picture of what happened, and also how Noah had discovered what Ham had done to him as he regained his mind from the wine.
We are hard-pressed to squeeze additional meaning from the phrase “had done to him” other than what we see here. Ham had spread the word to his two brothers, while Seth and Japheth had acted decently and with respect to cover their father.
As a result of their actions, Noah curses one and blessed the others.
First, Noah issues a curse but notice it is not specifically for Ham but for Canaan, Ham’s son. Now we know why the text twice has told us that Ham is the father of Canaan.
This curse is that Ham’s son, Canaan, and presumably his line then, would be a servant, one who would be in a lower position to serve another.
The question at the outset here is whether this is Noah wishing this to take place, as in a prayer, or does Noah have some kind of authority to declare this to be? I think it is best to see it as the first, as a desire or wish. Verses 26 & 27 repeat this as a prayer to God, so this is likely the best way to view this.
We might ask: why is Ham’s son cursed and not Ham? Why is the grandson bearing the brunt of the curse from grandpa? This question has led to a number of answers. We do know that in scripture that because of the sin of Adam, all humanity bears the consequences, so being guilty of someone else’s sin is nothing new. It just does not seem fair to us.
Whatever the theological reason in God’s mind, we know from the text here that Ham’s son, Canaan, is cursed.
Second, we see that his two brothers, Shem and Japheth, are mentioned in a blessing, verses 26-27.
26 And he said:
“Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem,
And may Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth,
And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be his servant.”
But notice, as we look at the text, that the blessing is actually made to the LORD, the God of Shem and of Japheth, not directly on the brothers. Ham refused to do what was right, and so he is cursed. Shem and Japheth did what they should have done, and as a result their LORD is blessed.
I suppose we could say that the blessing for Shem was the curse – that Canaan would be his servant.
The blessing for Japheth is that God would enlarge him. What does that mean?
In Gen. 10:2–4 and 1 Chr. 1:5–7 Japheth has seven sons and seven grandsons, and he appears as the ancestor of sundry peoples to the west and north of Israel in the Anatolian and Aegean areas. They are people largely, but not exclusively, of Indo-European stock. As a generalization we may say that the Japhethites are the Gentiles. Some scholars draw the circle a bit more tightly and identify the sons of Japheth with the Sea Peoples, specifically the thalassocratic Philistines [sea power Philistines]. Japheth has been connected with Greek Iapetos, a Titan and son of Uranos, and the father of mankind among the Philistines.[3]
This is best seen as a prophetic statement about the future that is associated with Ham’s son Canaan.
Canaan is to be a servant, a slave, to Japheth … [This verse depicts] a prophetic, futuristic view of relationships between Israel (and the Sea Peoples) and the Canaanites. In effect it outlines future history, when Israel conquered Canaan and the Sea Peoples were carving out their own niche in Canaanite-held lands.[4]
Some church and university leaders within our own history used these verses about Canaan to defend their position on slavery for blacks, who are said to have descended from Ham. That line of thought has been corrected over and over by many bible teachers. Here is an example from Will Varner (“Canaan and the Curse”) from http://sharperiron.org/article/from-archives-canaan-and-curse
Whatever the reason God through Noah prophetically cursed Canaan, it is important to notice that not all of Ham’s descendants were placed under a curse of servitude and bondage (the phrase “servant of servants” describes the most severe slavery imaginable!) From Genesis 10:6 we learn that Ham had three other sons: Cush, Mizraim and Put. In Genesis 10:7-14 their sons are listed and we do know where they settled. Cush refers to Ethiopia; Mizraim refers to Egypt; and Put refers to North Africa/Libya. Thus, three of Ham’s sons and their descendants settled in Africa.
Their brother Canaan’s descendants, however, did not settle in Africa, but in the land to which they gave their father’s name—the land of Canaan! It was this land that God later promised to Abraham, a descendant of Shem (Gen. 12:5-7;15:18-21). Later, Joshua conquered this land and placed the Canaanites under forced slave labor (Josh. 9:23). Even later, Solomon followed the same practice by enslaving the surviving Canaanites in his day (1 Kings 9:20-21). Thus, the prophetic curse of slavery was literally fulfilled on the Canaanites. The curse, therefore, applies to no ethnic group in existence today. The mistaken idea that Ham’s African descendants are cursed is a myth too often repeated even to this day!
And so that is the record of Noah. We wish we had more details of other events, but Moses by the direction of the Holy Spirit included these that we might understand these important events in history.
28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
Noah lives 950 years and he dies. Adam lived 930 years. Methuselah lived 969. Jared lived 962 years. After the flood, tracing the age of death from Seth to Jacob, the average lifespan was 311 years. From Adam to Noah, the average age was 858 years of age. Clearly, lifespans were shorter after the flood.
Next week we will look at chapter 10 and see where the family of Noah led in the chapter that can be displayed by a map with nations spread over the map.
Take home applications:
1. The rainbow first and foremost illustrates God’s grace in the face of the wickedness of mankind. In spite of the ongoing wickedness of mankind, God will never destroy the earth with flood. At the same time, remember that though it will not be a flood, eventually it will be with fire. Until then, may we pray for wisdom in knowing how to address this fallen world with the gospel of Christ – their only hope of avoiding the judgment that is yet to come.
2. In the account of Noah’s awkward situation and Ham’s wrong actions, we see here the long-range effect of sin. May we be ever vigilant to do what is right each time and avoid the long-term consequences that can come with wrong actions. Ham had no idea how far-reaching the consequences of his sin would lead, and may that be a reminder to us also of the nature of sin. As many have said before, sin will always take you farther than you want to go.
3. As always, this text gives us yet another opportunity to thank God for His abundant grace. Even though we fail, God never fails. Even though we sin, God forgives us through Christ. Even though God knows we will still sin, He yet forgives us and grants to us His blessing every single day. May He be praised by the attitude and actions of our lives.