And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
After the flood God blessed Noah and his family following His acceptance of Noah's worship on an altar built after the flood. That worship was burnt offerings of every clean beast and clean fowl. It expressed faith in Christ the great sacrifice and gratitude for wonderful preservation. The blessing teaches all who would live on the earth that the first act after every manifestation of God's mercy and love should be grateful thanks and humble worship.
The verse renews the command given to Adam, directing Noah's descendants to spread and disperse throughout the earth to replenish and fill it and subdue it. This was to be done by scattering abroad in colonies rather than remaining united in one body. The builders of Babel on the plain of Shinar directly opposed, refused and disobeyed this direction by choosing to remain united in one place and in one body instead of scattering. They chose to establish a kingdom and monarchy for their own purposes that would embrace the whole earth.
The Babel decision meant building a city with a tower of stupendous height to prevent scattering and to keep the community united. The city was to be made the metropolis of a universal empire whose glory would command the admiration and homage of the world and render the founders illustrious. The heaven-reaching tower was to stand as a monument of their own power and wisdom perpetuating their fame to the latest generations.
The verse marks the renewed increase of the human family after the Flood, and as people multiplied they forgot God, corrupted their ways, and grew increasingly intemperate. It marks the re-peopling of the earth after the waters of the flood blotted out the long-lived antediluvian race, and with them perished the knowledge they had used only for evil to glorify self. At this new beginning the Lord trusted His wisdom to men more sparingly than before the flood, giving them only the ability they would need in carrying out His great plan. Men still gain knowledge of how to devise from the Lord by studying the formation and habits of different animals, learning from the use they make of their bodies and the weapons provided them how to make apparatus for every kind of work.
After the flood God blessed Noah and his family following His acceptance of Noah's worship on an altar built after the flood. That worship was burnt offerings of every clean beast and clean fowl. It expressed faith in Christ the great sacrifice and gratitude for wonderful preservation. The blessing teaches all who would live on the earth that the first act after every manifestation of God's mercy and love should be grateful thanks and humble worship.
The verse renews the command given to Adam, directing Noah's descendants to spread and disperse throughout the earth to replenish and fill it and subdue it. This was to be done by scattering abroad in colonies rather than remaining united in one body. The builders of Babel on the plain of Shinar directly opposed, refused and disobeyed this direction by choosing to remain united in one place and in one body instead of scattering. They chose to establish a kingdom and monarchy for their own purposes that would embrace the whole earth.
The Babel decision meant building a city with a tower of stupendous height to prevent scattering and to keep the community united. The city was to be made the metropolis of a universal empire whose glory would command the admiration and homage of the world and render the founders illustrious. The heaven-reaching tower was to stand as a monument of their own power and wisdom perpetuating their fame to the latest generations.
The verse marks the renewed increase of the human family after the Flood, and as people multiplied they forgot God, corrupted their ways, and grew increasingly intemperate. It marks the re-peopling of the earth after the waters of the flood blotted out the long-lived antediluvian race, and with them perished the knowledge they had used only for evil to glorify self. At this new beginning the Lord trusted His wisdom to men more sparingly than before the flood, giving them only the ability they would need in carrying out His great plan. Men still gain knowledge of how to devise from the Lord by studying the formation and habits of different animals, learning from the use they make of their bodies and the weapons provided them how to make apparatus for every kind of work.