Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2 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.
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
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.
7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

Introductory Thoughts

God places a high value on life. His desire was for man to be fruitful and multiply and bring forth abundantly in the earth (Genesis 9:7). Unfortunately, the evil becoming ever more prevalent threatens God’s plan. Regardless of whether this threat comes from man in the case of murder or comes from a beast, God requires blood for blood (Genesis 9:6). If a beast takes the life of a man or woman, the Bible says that that beast shall be put to death (Exodus 21:28). If the owner of the beast knew the beast was a threat to life and did nothing to prevent it, even the owner would be put to death (Exodus 21:29). The same is true if one man unlawfully takes the life of another man (Exodus 21:12).

Devotional Thoughts

• (For children): God said, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). That means to murder (Matthew 19:17-18) and is done with purpose. The murderer is to be put to death (Deuteronomy 19:11-13; Numbers 35:16-21).
• (For everyone): Why is life so important to God? How does the biblical mandate of blood for blood declare God’s commitment to the preservation of life while actually taking lives?
• Many people have murdered innocent people without facing the consequences for their wickedness. How does this manifest itself among a people who are disobedient to God?

Prayer Thoughts

• Ask the Lord to instill in you a greater value on life.
• Ask God to turn the heart of our leaders toward Him.

SONG: DOES JESUS CARE?