“And God blessed Noe and his sons. And he said to them: ’Increase and multiply, and fill the earth. And let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the earth, and upon all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the earth: all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your hand. And every thing that moveth and liveth shall be meat for you: even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you: saving that flesh with blood you shall not eat. For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every beast, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and of his brother, will I require the life of man Whosoever shall shed man’s blood, his blood shall be shed: for man was made to the image of God. But increase you and multiply, and go upon the earth, and fill it.’”
God then renews the implicit covenantal relationship that He had with Adam, and makes an explicit covenant with Noah, blessing Noah and his children with fecundity, for barrenness was seen as a curse, but having visible expressions of the fruit of love is a tremendous grace: “As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken. Blessed is the man that hath filled his desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate” (Psalm 126:4-5). Fear and dread falls upon the animals of the earth, because man is not supposed to be subject to them: “Rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and tall living creatures that move upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28), but where this was in harmony in Eden, because of the violence of man displayed from the Fall to the flood this covenant reaches down to man’s present state, that he may not despair of walking with God: “The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient and plenteous in mercy” (Psalm 144:8). Harmony with God, which yields harmony with oneself, others, and nature, is not supposed to bring down one’s affairs with the rest of creation, but rather elevating them to a more sublime place: “Love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). The diet of plants and fruits is then supplanted with meat, as long as it is drained of blood, which is considered the life of the creature: “If any man whosoever of the house of Israel, and of the strangers that sojourn among them, eat blood, I will set my face against his soul, and will cut him off from among his people: because the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:10-11), and where pagan religions would drink animal blood to gain their power, man’s power is in his heart and the strength of his love, which cannot be given by an animal, whereas to drink the Precious Blood of Christ is to receive His life, His everything, into oneself, like a heart that is feeble receiving strength from the heart and blood of another: “And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: ‘Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins’” (Matthew 26:27-28). All life is beautiful and a gift, and the Lord here is giving exhortations to protect the dignity of life, which is seen in the commandment against murder, for when animals kill, this is purely out of instinct, but for a man to kill is a willful action against a member of the family of the human race, a movement against the fraternal bond of personhood: “Loving one another with the love of brotherhood” (Romans 12:10). However, even in the gross absence of love, with the coldness of murder being set upon the heart, God institutes a precept of fear to keep one from slaying his brother, that his blood will be requited, with this being a look into the resurrection, that those who commit grave acts against love would find themselves given the fruits of their actions: “What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth to me from the earth. Now, therefore, cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand” (Genesis 4:11) in this life, in the life to come, or both. However, because one murder could often lead to nasty feuds that left many dead, the observation of proportion was instituted, that justice may be done without running over into malice: “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Exodus 21:24), which keeps violence from spilling over from one man’s act against love becoming a familial or societal break in the bond of love. The commandment to love gives life, physical in the case of married couples, and spiritual in the case of all, not to take away, and thus it is reiterated after the prohibition to murder that Noah and his children were to fill the earth, and while life is the beautiful flower that comes from love, love in turn is its honey that makes it sweet and worth living.