fowl" before Adam, as it were, to do homage to him, and to receive from him their names, it was now said to
Noah and to his descendants, "The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth;
. . . into your hand are they delivered." Perhaps we ought also to notice in this connection that, whatever
may have been the common practice before, now for the first time the use of animal food was expressly
permitted, with the exception of the blood, and that probably for the reason afterwards mentioned in the
case of sacrifices, that the blood was the seat of life. (Leviticus 17:11, 14) Another and most important
change is marked by the solemn prohibition of murder, with this addition, that "whoso sheddeth man's
blood, by man shall his blood be shed." Such crimes were no longer to be avenged directly by God Himself,
but He delegated His authority to man. (Romans 8:1, 2) As Luther rightly says, "In these words the civil
magistracy is instituted, and the Divine right of bearing the sword." For when it is added, as a reason why
murder should be punished with death, that God made man in His own image, it seems to convey that
vengeance might not be taken by any one at his own will, but that this belonged to those who on earth
represented the authority of God, or were His delegates; whence also they are called in Psalm 82:6, "gods,"
or rather "Elohim." 23
And, as Luther rightly argues, "If God concedes to man the power over life and death, assuredly this carries
with it authority over that which is less than life, such as goods, family, wife, children, servants, and land."
Thus the words spoken by the Lord to Noah contain the warrant and authority of those who are appointed
rulers and judges over us. In later times the Jews have been wont to speak of what they called the seven
Noachic commandments, which, according to them, were binding upon all Gentile proselytes. These were a
prohibition
(1)
of idolatry,
(2)
of blasphemy,
(3)
of murder,
(4)
of incest,
(5)
of robbery and theft,
(6)
of eating blood and strangled animals, and
(7)
an injunction of obedience to magistrates. (Comp. also Acts 15:20)
In confirmation of what God had spoken, He "established" His "covenant" with Noah and his sons, and in
"token" thereof "set," or "appointed," His "bow in the cloud." It may have been so, that the rainbow was
then seen for the first time, although this does not necessarily follow from the words of Scripture. They only
tell us that henceforth the rainbow was to be a "token" or visible symbol to man of God's promise no more to
destro y all flesh by a flood, and also that He Himself would "look upon it" as such, so that He might
"remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature." The symbol of the rainbow
was therefore to be both a sign and a seal of God's promise. And we can readily understand how impressive,
whenever a storm burst upon the earth, this symbol would have appeared to those who had witnessed the
flood. In the poetical language of a German writer, "The rainbow, caused by the influence of the sun upon
the dark clouds, would show to man, that what was from heaven would penetrate that which rose from earth;
and as it spanned the gulf between heaven and earth, it would seem to proclaim peace between God and
man; while even the circumstance that it bounded the horizon would symbolize, how the covenant of mercy
extended to earth's utmost bounds."
From this scene of intercourse between Noah and God we have to pass to an event in his history, alas, of a
very different character. When Noah - with his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth - left the ark to become
an husbandman, he planted a vineyard, as Jewish legend has it, from a slip of the vine that had strayed out
of Paradise. But it may boldly be asserted that, except the forbidden fruit itself, none has brought more sin,
ruin, and desolation upon our earth. Whether Noah was unacquainted with the intoxicating property of the
vine, or neglected proper moderation, the sad spectacle is presented of the aged patriarch, so lately rescued
from the flood, not only falling a victim to drunkenness, but exposing himself in that state to the impious and
vile conduct of his son Ham. As Luther says, "Ham would not have mocked his father, when overcome with
wine, if he had not long before cast from his soul that reverence which, according to God's command,
children should cherish towards their parents." It is a relief to find the other sons of Noah, so far from