Contemplative Bible Reading

Genesis 9:5-7 (New Living Translation)

5 “And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. 6 If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. 7 Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.”

As far as I know, this is the first pronouncement from God against murder. It extends beyond mankind into the animal kingdom. If an animal kills a person, the animal must die. Whoa! How many folks would accept that one today? Nevertheless, there it is.

If a person murders another, that person must be put to death, and the death will come from human hands. That is one of the reasons we don’t want a person to murder another: if you murder someone else I must kill you. I don’t want to kill you, but here it is. Please behave so I don’t have to kill you.

And why? What is the reason? Because of all life created by God, mankind was created in God’s image. God treasures the life that is in His image. God won’t tolerate the destruction of what is in His image.

Again, that may not be popular in some circles today, but there it is. We are in God’s image, and God takes that seriously.