After the flood, God gave man a fresh start through Noah and his family. Man is to replenish the earth and make another go at it. God gave Noah foundational principles of good government and promised all creation that the earth would never again be destroyed by water. But tragically, by the end of the chapter, sin had already begun to corrupt the new world.

What Does It Say?

1. God told Noah, Be fruitful, _________, and ___________ the earth.
2. Man should never eat the flesh with the _______ thereof, which is the _________ thereof.
3. Noah had three sons and of them was the whole earth ______________.
4. Shem and Japheth took a garment and went backward to cover the _____________ of their father.
5. Noah blessed saying, God shall __________ Japheth, and he shall dwell in the _________ of Shem.

What Does It Mean?

1. In verse 3, man is told, “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all thing.” Compare this with Genesis 1:29-30 [29] And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. [30] And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
   See All.... What has changed about the diet of man? How has the diet of some of the animals changed? According to Genesis 9:4But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
   See All..., what is man still restricted from eating?
2. Verses 5 and 6 deal with capital punishment. The general rule is that if one man takes the life of another by murder, then he must forfeit his own life. A full biblical study of this subject will show that this principle is a cornerstone of good government. Compare Ezekiel 22:1-15 [1] Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, [2] Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations. [3] Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. [4] Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. [5] Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. [6] Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. [7] In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. [8] Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. [9] In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness. [10] In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. [11] And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. [12] In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. [13] Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. [14] Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it. [15] And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
   See All... with Leviticus 18:20-23 [20] Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her. [21] And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. [22] Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. [23] Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
   See All..., and tell what sins defile a land. What is the result of a land being defiled (see Leviticus 18:24-30 [24] Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: [25] And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. [26] Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: [27] (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) [28] That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. [29] For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. [30] Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.
   See All...; Ezekiel 36:16-19 [16] Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, [17] Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. [18] Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: [19] And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
   See All...)? How does God deal with the sin of innocent blood (see Deuteronomy 21:1-9 [1] If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: [2] Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: [3] And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; [4] And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley: [5] And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: [6] And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: [7] And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. [8] Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them. [9] So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
   See All...; 2 Kings 24:1-4 [1] In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. [2] And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets. [3] Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; [4] And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.
   See All...)? How does God feel about the freeing of murderers (see Numbers 35:31-34 [31] Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. [32] And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. [33] So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. [34] Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.
   See All...; Deuteronomy 19:10-13 [10] That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee. [11] But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities: [12] Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. [13] Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
   See All...).
3. What is the covenant made in Genesis 9? What is the token of that covenant? What do you think the significance of the token is? Find the covenant and the token of the covenant in Genesis 17:7-14 [7] And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. [8] And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. [9] And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. [10] This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. [11] And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. [12] And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. [13] He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. [14] And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
   See All....

What Does It Mean to Me?

1. God promised to never destroy the earth again by water (v.15). This must have been a precious promise to those who had just seen the earth and all that was in it destroyed in this way. Peter speaks of us being given “exceeding great and precious promises” (2Peter 1:4Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
   See All...). Which of God’s promises are the most precious to you?
2. Consider Noah’s actions in verses 20-21. At what point did the actions of Noah become sin? Explain how the sins got progressively worse and led to other sins. Can you think of other examples, in the Bible or from your own observations, of how sin starts out little but leads to greater and greater sins?