a common thing, but must be poured out before the Lord, 2 Sam. 23. 16, either upon his altar, or upon his earth. But now that the great and true sacrifice is offered, the obligation of the law ceases with the reason of it.
2. Man must not take away his own life, v. 5, Your blood of your lives will I require. Our lives are not so our own, as that we may quit them at our own pleasure, but they are God's, and we must resign them at his pleasure; if we any way hasten our own deaths, we are accountable to God for it.
3. The beasts must not be suffered to hurt the life of man; at the hand of every beast will I require it. To show how tender God was of the life of man, though he had lately made such destruction of lives, he will have the beast put to death, that kills a man. This was confirmed by the law of Moses, Exod. 21. 28, and I think it would not be unsafe to observe it still. Thus God showed his hatred of the sin of murder, that men might hate it the more, and not only punish, but prevent it. And see Job 5. 23.
4. Wilful murderers must be put to death. This is the sin which is here designed to be restrained by the terror of punishment. (1.) God will punish murderers. At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man; that is, "I will avenge the blood of the murdered upon the murderer," 2 Chron. 24. 22. When God requires the life of a man at the hand of him that took it away unjustly, the murderer cannot render that, and therefore must render his own in lieu of it, which is the only way left of making restitution. Note, The righteous God will certainly make inquisition for blood, though men cannot, or do not. One time or other, in this world or in the next, he will both discover concealed murders, which are hidden from man's eye, and punish avowed and justified murders, which are too great for man's hand. (2.) The magistrate must punish murderers, v. 6, Whoso sheddeth man's blood, whether upon a sudden provocation, or having premeditated it, (for rash anger is heart-murder as well as malice prepense. Matt. 5. 21, 22.) by man shall his blood be shed, that is, by the magistrate, or whoever is appointed or allowed to be the avenger of blood. There are those who are ministers of God for this purpose, to be a protection to the innocent, by being a terror to the malicious and evil-doers, and they must not bear the sword in vain, Rom, 13. 14. Before the flood, as it should seem by the story of Cain, God took the punishment of murder into his own hands; but now he committed this judgment to men, to masters of families at first, and afterwards, to the heads of countries, who ought to be faithful to the trust reposed in them. Note, Wilful murder ought always to be punished with death. It is a sin which the Lord would not pardon in a Prince, 2 Kings, 24. 3, 4, and which therefore a Prince should not pardon in a Subject. To this law there is a reason annexed; for in the image of God made he man at first: man is a creature dear to his Creator, and therefore ought to be so to us; God put honour upon him, let us not then put contempt upon him. Such remains of God's image are still even upon fallen man, as that he who unjustly kills a man, defaces the image of God, and does dishonour to him. When God allowed men to kill their beasts, yet he forbade them to kill their slaves; for these are of a much more noble and excellent nature, not only God's creatures, but his image. Jam. 3. 9. All men have something of the image of God upon them; but magistrates have, besides, the image of his power, and the saints the image of his holiness, and therefore those who shed the blood of princes or saints, incur a double guilt.
8. And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9. And I, behold, I, establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you: 10. And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth: 11. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Here is,
I. The general establishment of God's covenant with this new world, and the extent of that covenant, v. 9, 10. Where observe, 1. That God is graciously pleased to deal with man in the way of a covenant; wherein God greatly magnifies his condescending favour, and greatly encourages man's duty and obedience, as a reasonable and gainful service. 2. That all God's covenants with man are of his own making, I, behold, I. It is thus expressed, both to raise our admiration, ("Behold, and wonder, that though God be high, yet he has this respect to man,") and to confirm our assurances of the validity of the covenant. "Behold, and see, I make it; I that am faithful, and able to make it good." 3. That God's covenants are established firmer than the pillars of heaven, or the foundations of the earth, and cannot be disannulled. 4. That God's covenants are made with the covenanters and with their seed; the promise is to them and their children. 5. That those may be taken into covenant with God, and receive the benefits of it, who yet are not capable of restipulating, or giving their own consent. For this covenant is made with every living creature, every beast of the earth.
II. The particular intention of this covenant; it was designed to secure the world from another deluge, v. 11, There shall not any more be a flood. God had drowned the world once, and, still it is as filthy and provoking as ever, and God foresaw the wickedness of it, and yet promised he would never drown it any more; for he deals not with us according to our sins. It is owing to God's goodness and faithfulness, not to any reformation of the world, that it has not often been deluged, and that it is not deluged now. As the old world was ruined, to be a monument of justice, so this world remains to this day, a monument of mercy, according to the oath of God, that the waters of Noah should no more return to cover the earth, Isa. 54. 9. This promise of God keeps the sea and clouds in their decreed place, and sets them gates and bars; hitherto they shall come, Job 38. 10, 11. If the sea should flow but for a few days, as it does twice every day for a few hours, what desolation would it make! And how destructive would the clouds be, if such showers as we have sometimes seen, were continued long! But God, by flowing seas, and sweeping rains, shows what he could do in wrath; and yet, by preserving the earth from being deluged between both, shows what he can do in mercy, and will do in truth. Let us give him the glory of his mercy in promising, and truth in performimg. This promise does not hinder, 1. But that God may bring other wasting judgments upon mankind; for though he has here bound himself not to use this arrow any more, yet he has other arrows in his quiver. 2. Not but that he may destroy particular places and countries by the inundations of the sea or rivers. 3. Nor will the destruction of the world at the last day by fire, be any breach of his promise. Sin that drowned the old world, will burn this.
12. And God said. This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and
