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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. I heard a story about three men who were arguing about which job profession was the oldest. And one was a doctor, a surgeon, who said, well, you know, the Bible talks about God carving a rib out of Adam to make Eve. So he said, my profession would be the oldest in history. A friend of his who was standing nearby was an engineer, and he said, well, you know, the Bible also says that God in six days created order out of chaos and made the world.
That, my friend, is the job of an engineer. The third guy standing by was a politician, and he smiled real big and said, ah, but who created the chaos? Politicians get their fair or unfair share of jokes, and most people today seem to have an avid dislike and distrust for human government.
We are fed up, many of us, with those who run for office and make promises and then don't fulfill them or do fulfill the promises we wish they wouldn't. But God did invent human government. And here we see in Genesis nine God establishing for the very first time the authority for man to govern himself.
That's implied in our text. There were only eight people that made it onto and out of the ark. Noah, his wife, three sons, and their corresponding wives. And life started out simple, but rules had to be established early on in order that once those eight people reach a level of many people in a society, it could function smoothly.
And we're going to see that tonight in our study. If I were to divide up the chapter into three sections, I would do it. The survival of Noah, verses one through 19. The sin of Noah, 20, 21 and 22. And then finally, the sons of Noah, 23 through 29. That's how the chapter is sort of divided up and laid out for us. But you just have to think of what it was like when they got off that ark and God made a covenant with them, how I guess basic and simple life was.
Pretty basic, not a whole lot of needs at that point. They needed a place to rest. They needed clothing.
They probably brought that on the ark. It's interesting, in the year 1900, a survey was conducted of what people believed they needed or had to have for life to be comfortable, for them to feel contented. And most people in our culture could name 72 things that they needed. 72 needs in life. 50 years later, 1950, Americans could name about 500 things they needed.
Now, I wonder what it is today, what we say we need. Well, I need my laptop and I have to have my cell phone and Wi-Fi. You got to have Wi-Fi.
How come you guys don't have Wi-Fi? But those eight people getting out of the ark had to experience life at the basics. And really, the Bible says there's really two needs that we have and 1 Timothy 6, having food and clothing with these things, we will be content. And really, that's all they had. They got out of the ark.
It was very simple. The waters abated and they're trusting now God completely in this brand new relationship. Well, there are in Chapter 9 four instructions that God gives to Noah and his sons. These four instructions about their life are the kind of instructions that would be permanent instructions. That is, all of Noah's progeny, his ancestors, or those that would come from him, all people at all times in all places have these same basic instructions by God. Number one, and that is in verse one, that the human life is to be perpetuated. Life is to be perpetuated.
Notice the command. It's very similar to that what God gave to Adam. So God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. God had said that to Adam and Eve. Now here twice in this chapter, God says the same thing.
Life is to be perpetuated. Now notice, God blessed. God loves to bless.
He loves it. God is the giver of good things and he loves to give good gifts to his children, his kids. One of those beautiful blessings of God is children. You see, children, according to God, aren't a curse.
They're a blessing. A beautiful Psalm, Psalm 127, children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is his reward. Now God said, be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. I think we've done that.
We've done a pretty good job of it, actually. Today, there are 6.7 billion people on earth. We filled it. It took from Noah's day to the year 1804 to produce 1 billion people on earth. But you can see that exponentially that thing is going to take a little bit of time to reach 2 billion. In fact, it was 1927 where we were able on earth to produce 2 billion people. 1960, 3 billion. 1975, 4 billion. 1988, 5 billion.
1999, 98, 99. And now today, 6.7 billion people. So we have been fruitful, we have multiplied and we have filled the earth.
In fact, it is becoming in some places a real problem to maintain and sustain those people that are on the earth. But having said that, let me encourage you. This world needs the kind of children that you can produce. Christian children. Those with a world view of Christ.
Truth. And so whether you have your own kids or you adopt, your influence in a young life set loose in this world is so meaningful. Fill the earth with those kind of children. Turn them loose and watch what God can do.
So that's the first instruction that life ought to be perpetuated. Now, keep that in mind because we're going to get to a story next time in chapter 11 where rather than filling the earth, they seem to congregate in one place. Instead of moving out toward different regions, they stay in one place, the land of Shinar. And there in Shinar, they congregate and they build a tower to reach heaven.
We'll talk about that next time, but that was a problem that at this time they stayed in one place. Here's the second instruction that life ought to be prolonged, not just perpetuated, but prolonged. Verse two. 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, on all of the fish of the sea. They are given to your hand or better yet, I have delivered them into your hand.
I have delivered them or I have granted or I have bestowed them to you. And he goes on, every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs, but you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Now notice in verse two, four categories. Four categories of kinds of life and four different places who is covering it all. He says every beast on the earth, every bird of the air, all that move on the earth, that's three, and all of the fish that are in the sea. So God covers all of life and basically tells mankind, you are to have dominion over all other life. Contrary to what you're fed today, that all forms of life, including human, are really all the same. You have a soul, your dog has a soul, fish have a soul, and it's all biological life, period.
No, according to God, early on it was established that yes, there's life on earth, but you are the crowning creation made in the image of God. Your dog is not made in the image of God. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, understanding Genesis is critical to understanding the rest of scripture. And in his book, You Can Understand the Book of Genesis, Skip Heitzig helps you discover the meaning and message of this foundational book. Embark on an epic journey to where it all began, so you can understand the amazing story of God's love and our redemption in Christ. You Can Understand the Book of Genesis is our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copies when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. Your cat is not made in the image of God. You and you alone are made in God's image.
Thus, in that image, you have dominion and domination over all that is on the earth. Now, we read in verse 2, The fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth. I was watching last week a National Geographic TV special, and they talked about how animals, when they come in contact with man for the most part, are afraid of man. And they cited a rhinoceros, seven tons.
Seven ton beast could take a truck, SUV, and toss it around like a toy. But basically, a rhino is shy. And when it sees a man, it will run away unless provoked. If you get in their space, if you provoke, they will attack. But it's not their nature. Their nature is to run, to be shy, to retreat. So God says the fear of you, the dread of you, shall be on every beast, et cetera, et cetera. You can see there would be a problem. In the animal kingdom, reproduction is quick.
Maturity is rapid. So animals could quickly, easily overrun the world and overpopulate in comparison to human beings. So God instilled a dread, a basic fear of mankind in the animal world. And it's a good thing because now mankind is able to hunt them, kill them, and eat them.
And so for the sake of the survival of all of those species, that would be needed. Verse 3, every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. Prior to the flood, man was a vegetarian. Chapter 1, verse 29, God declares, I've given you every herb that has seed, every plant and tree is for food for you. So prior to this, prior to this command, prior to the flood, mankind would go out and eat berries and nuts and plants, et cetera. And though God didn't give a specific prohibition against eating meat, he just said, eat the plants. Here God says, eat it all, plants and animals. Our forebears, Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, and the rest of the gang before Noah, they were vegetarians, but that's not the way we were designed. Your mouth reveals that God designed the kind of teeth that are for tearing, chewing meat. Now, some people try to equate being spiritual with your diet.
So if you're really holy, you'll be a vegetarian and you'll have strict dietary rules because that's what holy people do. And that was a huge deal when I was growing up in the 70s and before that in California. And I remember I was a brand new believer.
I was living down at the beach. I was out in the front yard enjoying a beautiful day and I looked up and I saw a guy in a white robe. With a Bible, long hair, white robe, and the sun was behind him. And so it was it was like an apparition. You know, I thought, wow, it's the Lord. That was my first thing. This is Jesus.
Wow. Until he talked. He said, are you a believer? Because I had my Bible out because I said, I am. I believe in Jesus. And I'm still looking at him like.
Would that be you? And then he said, do you eat meat? He must have seen the McDonald's wrapper next to the Bible. I said, well, I just had a Big Mac and he proceeded to give me a tongue lashing about eating meat and how ungodly I was. And God made us not to eat meat, et cetera.
He must have never read this. Where God gives the mandate to survive on the proteins, the enzymes of the animal kingdom. So now, though Cain was a farmer. And Abel was a shepherd.
Now Noah and his boys, they're going to be hunters. And they're allowed to do that. That is part of the mandate, except verse four. You shall not eat flesh with its life.
That is its blood. So God says, eat anything you want. But now here's one restriction. And it's sort of like the restriction that God gave to Adam and Eve in the garden. Remember that restriction? You can eat from any tree you want, except one. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil that's in the midst of the garden. You shall not eat for on the day that you eat, you will surely die. That was the one exception. God allows Noah.
The rest of his family to have whatever they want, except. Don't eat the blood. Why is that? Because according to this and according to other scriptures, which I'll mention in a moment, eating blood of an animal is like eating an animal alive because the life source of an animal is the blood. Now when we get to Leviticus, it's expanded a little bit. God says the life of the flesh is in the blood and with the blood you will make atonement. Atonement for your souls. So there is not just a health regulation, but some spiritual connotation attached. That just as the blood is used for atonement and speaks of life and one day your savior will shed his blood.
Blood, the source of life, is to be considered sacred. I'm amazed at what people will eat. I've traveled different parts of the world and I don't get eating worms. I just I've done it. I didn't know I was doing it. I ate a little burger. I thought cool hamburger.
It was in the Philippines. I ate it. Tasted really bad. I got sick.
Next day I found out why. Worm meat. So a Mac worm burger. Could never do that again.
Knowingly. People eat spiders, bugs. I was in China and they serve sparrow, duck feet, shark fin soup, turtle. I remember sitting at a table and there was this huge turtle shell. And I just looked at it. And then our host pulled it off and revealed these little chunks of meat. And everything that came to the table I said, what is this? And they say, this is sparrow. I go, oh, what's this?
This is turtle. Finally, and I was with Chuck Smith at the time, Chuck turned to me and goes, stop asking what it is. Just eat it. Eat what's in front of you.
Don't ask any questions. Now, over in Scotland and England, they have a delicacy called blood pudding. They take blood of an animal and they boil it with a filler until it congeals. And with that gelatin, they make a sausage called blood pudding. I could never ever I know I eat just about anything. I've never eaten that. Because even looking at it, even if it ever tempted me to look delicious.
Here it is. Don't eat blood. Now, we get to the New Testament and Jesus will tell us in Mark 7, it's not what goes into a man that defiles him. It's what comes out from his heart that defiles him. It is interesting, though, in Acts, the 15th chapter, we'll go back, Acts chapter 10, remember Peter's up on the rooftop at Joppa and he gets that vision. And in the vision, he sees all of these un-kosher animals let down in a huge linen sheet from heaven. And God speaks, Peter, get up, kill and eat. And Peter being the submissive one that he is, said, not so, Lord, I've never eaten anything unclean. When we get to the 15th chapter of Acts, the only stipulation from the law of Moses passed on to the church is this.
No blood. Remember the letter that was written to the Gentiles? Abstain from immorality, from things offered to idols, from those things that are strangled and from blood. You don't want to offend your Jewish brethren.
If you do these things, you do well. So of all the laws of Moses, it wasn't keeping the Saturday Sabbath. It was no blood. God says the life is in the blood. Don't eat that. Verse 5, for your life blood, I will demand a reckoning.
Now here's the third instruction. Life should be protected. Not just perpetuated, not just prolonged by eating animals, but life should be protected. For surely your life blood 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. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed. For in the image of God he made man. Well, up to this point, man did not have a good track record in caring for one another.
Just go back and review some of the history we've already covered. Cain murders his brother Abel. Lamech murdered a young man for injuring him. Chapter 6, violence covered the whole earth. So up to this point, man did not have a good history or track record in maintaining caring, loving relationships because they became so violent that God had to destroy the whole earth.
Here he says, whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will take you back to where it all began so you can understand all of God's Word more clearly.
Pastor Skip's book, You Can Understand the Book of Genesis, is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copies when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.
