The post-Flood world was entirely different than the world prior to the Flood. Peter specifically states that the world prior to the Flood perished in the deluge (2 Peter 3:6). Our text indicates a number of these changes.
- In verses 2-3, God places the fear of man in the animals. Apparently, in the ante-diluvian world the animals did not fear man because God had not yet given the animals to man as food. With the different world, God saw the importance of changing man’s diet from exclusively vegetarian to allow man to also eat meat. We can only guess at the reason for the change. Did the pre-Flood world produce plants sufficient to support a healthy human diet, while the post-Flood world could not provide the same benefits? Whatever the reason, it was God’s will that man add meat to his diet. First Timothy 4:4-5 also gives man the freedom to eat both plants and animals.
- God gave one restriction to the meat-eating diet. God forbid the eating of blood or the eating of animals that had not been properly bled. The question often arises as to whether that prohibition still exists today. God did continue the prohibition under the Law of Moses (Leviticus 17:10-11) where the prohibition was given because the blood of the animal was to be used for atonement. Acts 15:19-21 is the only New Testament text that addresses the issue. In that text, James warned the Gentiles who were turning to Christ to avoid anything that had to do with the Gentile idolatry of that day: “things polluted by idols, sexual immorality, from what has been strangled, and from blood.” However, the reason James gave for avoiding these practices was given in verse 21: “For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” In other words, James wanted the Gentiles to avoid those practices because there were Jews in every city who would have been caused to “stumble” (turn away from Christ) if they saw Gentile Christians practicing things that were directly connected to idolatry and to things that they understood as foul practices under the Law of Moses. However, Paul later allowed the Corinthians to eat meat sacrificed to idols as long as no one around them expressed any vulnerability to seeing a Christian eat such meat (1 Cor. 10:27-33). Therefore, it is my judgment, especially in light of First Timothy 4:4-5, that the New Testament does not forbid eating blood. While I am not interested in such a diet, and neither are most Americans, blood is a part of the diet of many countries outside the United States.
- In verse 6, God enacts the death penalty for a murderer. Man is given the right, through whatever a government deems lawful, to put to death a murderer. This penalty is continued under the Law of Moses (Exodus 21:12) and in the New Testament (Romans 13:1-4). Those who object to the death penalty on the basis that God said, “You shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13), misunderstand the command. The command literally is, “You shall not commit murder.” In the very next chapter, God commanded that a murderer was to be put to death. Those who object to the practice are greatly mistaken in their understanding of the scripture.
• Finally, God placed a “bow” in the cloud as a promise that He would never again destroy the world by a flood of water. The word for “bow” is literally “war-bow.” God was “hanging up” His war-bow in the cloud like a gunslinger would hang up his gun. Never again would God use a Flood of water to destroy the world. However, Peter tells us that just as God destroyed the ancient world by water, one day He will destroy the heavens and earth by fire (2 Peter 3:3-12). Further, the fact that God now put the “rainbow” in the cloud would indicate that there was no rain or storms prior to the Flood. As mentioned in previous articles, this would also help explain some of the differences between the pre-Flood and post-Flood worlds.