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Chapter IX. Part II · Commentary on Genesis, Sin, and the Flood

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Section twenty nine off Commentary on Genesis, Volume two Luther On Sin and the
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Flood by Martin Luther, translated by John Nicholaslinker, Conrad Brunod Godis, and
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others. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by Jelliane Henry,
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Chapter nine, Part two, The Law against taking life, God's covenant
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with Noah the Rainbow A The Law against taking life Verse six A. Who
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shedeth Man's blood by man, shall his blood be shed? Thirty two.
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Here the carelessness of the Latin translator deserves reproof, for he omitted the very
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necessary expression by man. The difference between the time before and that after the
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flood is thus brought out. When Kine had murdered his brother Abel, God
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revered human blood so highly that he threatened to visit sevenfold punishment upon any one
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who should kill Kane. He would not have the slayer of man put to
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death even by due process of law. And though Adam punished the sin of
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his son severely by casting him out, he did not dare to pronounce sentence
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of death upon him thirty three. But here Jehovah establishes a new law requiring
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the murderer be put to death by man, a law unprecedented because heretofore God
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had reserved all judgment to himself. When he saw that the world was growing
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worse and worse, he finally enforced punishment against a wicked world by the flood.
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Here, however, God bestows a share of his authority upon man,
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giving him the power of life and death, that thus he may be the
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avenger of bloodshed. Whosoever takes man's life without due warrant im God's subjects not
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only to his own judgment, but also to the sword of man. Though
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God may use man as his instrument in punishing, he is himself still the
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avenger. Were it not for the device in command, then it would be
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no more lawful now to slay a murderer than it was before the flood thirty
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four. This is the source from which spring all civil laws and the laws
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of nations. If God grants man the power of life and death, he
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certainly also grants power in matters of lesser importance, power over property, family,
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wife, children, servants, and fields. God wills that these things
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shall be under the control of certain men who are to punish the guilty.
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Five. We must remember well that between the power of God and of men.
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There is this difference. God has the power to slay us when the
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world cannot even accuse us. When before it we are innocent, Sin is
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born with us. We are all guilty before God. Men have no authority
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to slay except where guilt is apparent and crime is proven. Hence, courts
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have been established and a definite method of proceeding instituted for the purpose of in
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estigating and proving the crime before the sentence of death is passed thirty six Eat.
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Then this passage it establishes civil authority as God's institution, with power not
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only of life and death, but jurisdiction in matters where life is not involved.
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Magistrates are to punish the disobedience of children, theft, adultery, perjury,
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all sins which are forbidden in the second table. He who grants jurisdiction
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over the life of man at the same time grants judgment over lesser matters thirty
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seven. The importance of this text and its claim to attention consists in the
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fact that it records the establishment of civil authority by God with the sword as
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insignia of power, for the purpose that license may be curved, and anger
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and other sins inhibited from growing beyond all bounds. Had God not granted this
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power to man, what kind of lives, I ask you, would we
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lead? He foresaw that wickedness would ever flourish, and established this external remedy
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to prevent the indefinite spread of license. By this safeguard, God protects life
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and property as by offence and a wall thirty eight. We find here no
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less a proof of God's great love toward man than his promise that the flood
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shall never again rage, and his promise that flesh may be eaten for the
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sustenance of human life verse six p. For in the image of God made
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he man thirty nine. This is the powerful reason why God does not wish
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men to be killed by private arbitrament. Man is a noble creature who,
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unlike other living beings, has been fashioned according to the image of God.
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While it is true that he has lost this image through sin, as we
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have seen above, it is capable of being restored through the Word and the
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Holy Spirit. This image. God desires us to revere in each other,
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who forbids us to shed blood by the exercise of sheer force. But he
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who refuses to respect the image of God in man and gives way to anger
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and provocation those worst counselors of all, as someone has called them. His
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life is surrendered to civil authorities in forfeit by God, in that God commands
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that also his blood shall be shed forty Thus the subject under consideration teaches the
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establishment of civil authority in the world, which did not exist before the flood.
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Kin and Lammach, and this is a case in point, were not
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slain, though the Holy Patriarchs were the arbiters judges of public action. But
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in this scripture, they who have the word are commanded to use it against
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those who have shed blood forty one. Thus the problem is here solved that
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worries Plato and all sages. They concluded that it is impossible to administer a
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government without injustice because all men occupy the same level of dignity and position.
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Why did Caesar rule the world? Why did others obey him? Since he
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was only human like themselves, no better, no stronger, and liable to
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die as soon as themselves. He was subject to the same conditions as all
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men. Hence it seems to be tyranny for him, who was quite similar
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to other men to usurp rulership among men. If he is like other men,
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it is the highest wrong and injustice to ignore this similarity and to foist
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his rule by force upon others. Forty two. This is the conclusion at
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which reason arrives, and it cannot entertain any view to the contrary. But
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we having the word, can see that we must oppose to such reasoning the
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command of God, the author of this order of things. Accordingly, it
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is for us to render obedience to the divine order and to endure it,
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so that to our other sins. This may not be added that we are
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disobedient to the will of God at the very point where we derive benefit.
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In so many ways, to sum up, this passage permits the slaughter of
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animals for religious and personal use, but it emphatically forbids the taking of man's
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life. Because man is made in the image of God. Those who violate
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his command he gives into the hands of the authorities to be slain verse seven.
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And you be ye fruitful and multiply bring forth abundantly in the earth,
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and multiply thereinto the slaughter of animals, having been granted not only for sacrifice,
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but also for food, and the killing of human beings having been forbidden,
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we are given the reason why God regards the shedding of human blood with
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so much aversion. He desires mankind to multiply on the earth, but the
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slaughter of men lays the earth waste and produces a wilderness. We see this
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in case of war. God did not create the earth without purpose. He
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intended it to be inhabited, as by a chapter forty five, verse eighteen.
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He makes it fruitful by rain and sunshine for man's benefit. Therefore,
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he is displeased with those who remove from the earth its inhabitants. His will
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is life and not death, Sam thirty, verse five forty five. These
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and similar sayings of the prophets are based upon promises like we find here.
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But God commands man to multiply Plainly, He is more inclined to give life
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and to do good than to be angry and to kill. If it were
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otherwise, why should he forbid the taking of human life? Why should pestilence
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be off rare occurrence? Pestilence and general epidemics occur scarce once in ten years.
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Men are born, animals grow, and crops without end are growing.
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Continually forty six. All these facts go to show that God loves not death
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but life. He created man, not that he should die, but that
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he should live. But through the envy of the evil did death enter the
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world. And quote Wisdom chapter two, verse twenty four. But even after
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the fall, the blessings which remain are so guardied as to render the conclusion
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inevitable that God loves life rather than death. It is well for us to
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ponder these matters very often. Thus, as Solomon has truly said, Jehovah
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shall be to us a fountain of blessings. Proverbs chapter eighteen, verse twenty
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two. B God's covenant with Noah verses eight to eleven. And God spake
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unto Noah and its sons with him, saying, and I behold, I
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establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you, and with
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every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and
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every beast of the earth with you, and of all that go out of
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the ark, even every beast of the earth. And I will establish my
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covenant with you. Neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the
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water of the flood, neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy
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the earth forty seven. Previously, we at various times explained this massing of
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words when the Holy Spirit is products there is a cause for it. Let
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us therefore consider what fear, dread, and peril Noah and his family endured,
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and it will be easily understood why it was necessary for God to say
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and to emphasize the same things with such frequency. Forty eight. When in
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addition, it is remembered that the covenant here spoken of does not pretend to
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man alone, but embraces every living soul, we recognize that the promise does
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not relate to the seed, but merely to this bodily life enjoyed by man
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in common with the beasts. This God will not destroy by another flood Verses
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twelve to sixteen. And God said, this is the token of the covenant
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which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you,
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for the perpetual generations. I do set my bow in the cloud,
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and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
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And it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the earth,
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that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember
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my covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh,
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And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
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And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it
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that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all
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flesh that is upon the earth forty nine. The term perpetual generations deserves particular
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notice. It embraces not only man and beast at that time, but all
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their offspring down to the end of the world. Well, learn another thing
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from this passage. God usually confirms his promise with an outward sign. In
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the third chapter above, we read of the coats of skin with which He
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covered the nakedness of the first parents as token of his protection and guardianship.
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Some offer the following apt allegorical explanation, as the skin of the dead sheep
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keeps warm our body, so Christ, having died, keeps us warm by
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his spirit and will on the last day raise us up and give us life.
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Others say that the skins were selected as a sign of mortality, but
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this seems unnecessary. All our life reminds us of mortality. More expedient was
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a token of life, suggesting the blessing and favor of God. The office
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of such tokens is to console, not to terrify. So was the sign
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of the rainbow given a supplement of the promise fifty one. In Chapter eight,
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verses twenty one and twenty two, God says in his heart that he
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repents of that terrible punishment and promises that he will not repeat it, because
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the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. If he should desire
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to so punish evil, there would be need of a flood every day.
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Here he again sends forth his word to mankind, through an angel or possibly
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through the mouth of Noah, promising that no flood shall hereafter come upon the
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earth. That the promise is repeated so often is evidence of God's endeavor in
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loving kindness to remove man's fear of punishment and to set before him a hope
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of blessing and utmost mercy fifty two. Such consolation Noah and his loved ones
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required. One who has been humbled by God cannot forget the wound, and
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the pain chastening is longer remembered than blessing. Boys are a case in point.
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The Tender Mother having justice, her child with the rod endeavors to calm
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him with toys and other allurements. Yet the memory of pain lingers, and
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the child cannot restrain frequent size and bitter sobs. Much more difficult for the
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conscience to accept solace after having felt the wrath of God and the fear of
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death. So firmly fixed are these in the mind that the soul trembles and
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fears in spite of gifts and consolations offered fifty three. So God here shows
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his good will in manifold ways and feels singular joy in pouring forth mercy.
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He is like a mother who pets and caresses her boy until he at last
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begins to forget his tears and to smile into his mother's face. Fifty four.
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Hence, figures are employed and words are masked, and the subject is
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presented in a clearer and clearer light. In order to adapt the consolation to
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the needs of the wretched people, who for an entire year had been witnesses
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of the immeasurable wrath of God. They could not be delivered from fear and
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terror by an occasional word. There was need of repeating the promise with much
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exposition to draw their tears and to soften their grief. Though they were saints,
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they were flesh, even as we are. Fifty five. Likewise,
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we in our day need this consolation at all times, when the elements rage,
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we may be secure in the thought that the fountains of heaven and the
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wells of the deep are closed up by the word of God. The rainbow
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shows itself to this day for the purpose of symbolizing that henceforth there shall never
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be another general flood. And this promise requires on our part the faith that
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we trust God in his mercy, will never bring another great flood upon us
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See the Rainbow fifty six. They further dispute whether the natural causes in the
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rainbow signify this. It is well known that philosophers, especially Aristotle in his
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book on Meteors, use all sorts of arguments on the color of the rainbow,
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on the character of the clouds where it is produced, and on its
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curvature. Quite appropriately, the resemblance is noted between a mirror, which reflects
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an image, and the moist and arched cloud, which catches the rays of
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the sun and by reflection produces the rainbow. Reason sees in such phenomena what
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appears to it most probable, But it does not discover the truth everywhere that
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is not in the power of the creature, but of the Creator alone.
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As for me, I have never given to any book less credence than to
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that on Meteors, the basic principle of which is the assumption that natural causes
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explain everything. Fifty seven. Some declare the rainbow to be a forerunner of
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a storm lasting three days, which I am ready to admit. But this
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much is certain, that it signifies that there will never be another flood.
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However, it derives this signification not from any natural causes, but only from
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the Word of God. Its meaning is such only because God orders and declares
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it to be so through his word. Circumcision was a token n the seed
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of Abraham were the people of God. Yet circumcision did not have this meaning
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in itself, but only through the Word, which was joined with it.
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Again, the clothing of skin signified life and safety, not because they contained
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this guarantee by nature, but because God had promised it. So the significance
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of the rainbow that the flood shall not return is not based upon the word
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of God. Fifty eight I do not altogether ignore theories along the lines of
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natural law concerning these matters, but since they are not substantiated, I placed
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little trust in them. The reasoning of Aristotle regarding the humid and hollow cloud
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as the cause of the rainbow is not reliable. Such clouds may exist without
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producing a rainbow. Again, according to the greater or lesser density of the
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medium, the bow may appear wider or narrower. I have seen here at
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Wittenberg a circular rainbow forming a complete not simply an arch terminating on the surface
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of the earth, as rainbows generally appear, Why then, do rainbows assume
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different forms at different times. A philosopher, I suppose, will think of
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some reason for he will consider it a disgrace not to be able to assign
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a reason for all things. But indeed he will never persuade me to believe
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that he speaks the truth. Fifty nine. The only consistent and incontrovertible view
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to take is that all these phenomena are either works of God or of evil
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spirits. I have no doubt that the dancing goats, stars, the flying
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serpents, fiery lances, and the like are produced by evil spirits, which
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thus gamble in the air, either to terrify or to deceive men. The
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flames which appear on board of ships were thought by the heathen to be castor
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on polyts. Sometimes the image of a moon appears above the ears of horses.
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It is certain that all these things are due to the antics of evil
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spirits in the air, though Aristotle believes them to be luminous air. Just
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as he also declares that a comet is shining vapor sixty to me, it
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appears that we shall move with greater security and certainty when arguing from cause to
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effect. We conclude that the comet blazes when it pleases God as a sign
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of calamity, just as the rainbow glows when it pleases God as a sign
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of mercy. Who can compute all the causes which produce the appearance of the
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rainbow in such diversity of beautiful color, and in the form of an arch
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of perfect coverature. The arrangement of the clouds alone surely does not produce this
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perfection. Hence, it is by the will and the promise of God,
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and fulfilling his pleasure, that the rainbow is a sign to man and beast,
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that they will nevermore, at any time be a flood sixty one.
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In recognition of this token, we ought to give thanks to God. As
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often as the rainbow appears, it proclaims to the world with a loud voice,
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as it were, the story of the wrath of God, which once
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destroyed the world by a flood. And it proclaims solace for us, so
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that we may conclude that God is propitious to us henceforth and will never again
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visit upon us so fearful a punishment. It teaches both the love and the
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fear of God, the highest virtues of which philosophy knows nothing. Philosophy only
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disputes about material and formal causes. It does not know the final cause of
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this most beautiful creation, but theology does explain it sixty two. In this
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connection, also, the question has received much attention whether the rainbow existed from
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the beginning, and in this controversy much force has been displayed. Since it
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has written above Chapter two, verse twenty three, that God created heaven and
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earth in six days and then rested from all his works. Some conclude that
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the rainbow existed from the beginning, Otherwise it would follow that creation extended beyond
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those six days, What, however, occurred in Noah's time? Is this
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that the rainbow created in the beginning, was selected by God and made through
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a new word a fixed symbol, having existed hitherto without special significance. To
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support this view, they even quote the word of Solomon that quote there is
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no new thing under the sun end quote Ecclesiastes, chapter one, verse nine.
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On this they base their argument that after those six days, no new
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thing has been created sixty three. My opinion is quite the contrary, that
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the rainbow never had existed before, it was then and there created. Thus,
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the quotes of skin with which God clothed the first parents certainly were not
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created in those six days, but after Man's fall, Hence they were a
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new creation. The statement that God rested must not be interpreted to mean that
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he created nothing thereafter. For Christ says, quote my father worketh even until
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now, and I work end quote John chapter five, verse seventeen, sixty
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four. Solemn's statement that there is no new thing under the sun has given
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much trouble to the learned. But is it not apparent that it refers not
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to the works of God but to original sin, meaning that The same reasoning
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powers Adam had after the fall are found in man to day, the same
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debates concerning morals, vices, virtues, the nurture of the body, and
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the transaction of business. As the comic poet has it, speaking of another
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matter, quote, nothing is said that has not been said before end quote.
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Really, within this fhere of man's activity and effort, there is nothing
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new. The same words, thoughts, designs, the same emotions, griefs
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of infections and incidents exist now which always existed. Consequently, it is quite
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inappropriate in consequence to apply this aphorism to God and his works sixty five.
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Therefore, I believe that the rainbow was a new creation, not seen in
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the world before that time. It was established to remind the world of the
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bygone wrath, traces of which are still seen in the rainbow, and to
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give assurance of the mercy of God. It is a record or picture in
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which both the bygone wrath and the present mercy are revealed. Sixty six.
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There is also a difference of opinion as to the colors of the rainbow.
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Some say there are four colors, the fiery, the bright yellow, the
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green, and the color of water or blue. But I think there are
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only two, those of fire and water. The fiery color is above,
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unless the rainbow is seen reversed. Then, as in a mirror, at
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which is above, is seen below, where the hues of fire and water
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meat or blend yellow results sixty seven. The colors have been thus arranged by
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God for a definite purpose. The blue should be a reminder of bygone wrath,
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the fiery color a picture to us of the future judgment. While the
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interior or blue portion is restricted, the outer and fiery color is without bounds.
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Thus, the first world perished by the flood, but an end was
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set to God's wrath, A remnant was preserved, and a second world arose,
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But bounds are set to it. When God shall destroy the world by
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fire, this bodily life will never be restored. The wicked will suffer the
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everlasting punishment of death in the fire, while the saints will be raised up
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onto a new and everlasting life, which, though in the body, shall
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not be off the body, but of the spirit. Sixty eight. Let
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this sign teach us to fear God and to trust in Him, so may
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we escape the punishment of fire, even as we have escaped the punishment of
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the flood. It will be more practical to think of these things than to
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consider those philosophical arguments concerning the material cause. End of Section twenty nine