Our Hunger and God’s Supply

Author Wendell Berry writes about agriculture, culture, and the decline of American farming. When people ask what to do in these areas, he replies, “Eat responsibly.” Humans are created to be more than consumers.

After the judgment of the Flood, humanity was granted a new beginning, and with it came new instructions. Noah and his family had been saved by God from destruction. Their task now was to complete the original mandate to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth (see Gen. 1:28). Vastly outnumbered by the creatures that had come with them in the ark, God promised to confirm humanity’s dominion over creation by placing them at the top of the food chain (vv. 2–3).

As in the Garden of Eden, however, a limitation was set, specifically a prohibition regarding blood. Every animal that lived and moved was to serve as food, but only after the blood had been removed. In addition, Noah and his family were given a corresponding prohibition about the shedding of human blood (v. 6).

More is implied in these mandates than simply that murder is bad. These commands foreshadow the importance that blood would eventually play in God’s plan of redemption. As this plan unfolded, these same stipulations were encoded in the Law of Moses, which required “nearly everything” to be cleansed with blood (Heb. 9:2).

Ultimately, these new rules set the stage for the one and only sacrifice that has the power to deal with the sin that grips all mankind. At the right time God provided the perfect sacrifice for sin, and it was a sacrifice of blood—not the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats, which could not really take away sins (Heb. 10:4), but the blood of Jesus Christ.

Pray with Us

Moody’s trustees ask for your prayers for divine leading and direction in every decision about the future of MBI’s ministries. May God’s name be glorified through radio waves, in printed materials, Moody conferences, and in every classroom.

BY Dr. John Koessler

John Koessler is Professor Emeritus of Applied Theology and Church Ministries at Moody Bible Institute. John authors the “Practical Theology” column for Today in the Word of which he is also a contributing writer and theological editor. An award-winning author, John’s newest title is When God is Silent: Let the Bible Teach You to Pray (Kirkdale). Prior to joining the Moody faculty, he served as a pastor of Valley Chapel in Green Valley, Illinois, for nine years. He and his wife, Jane, now enjoy living in a lakeside town in Michigan.