Effects of Sin on Mankind After the Flood

God gave mankind dominion over the earth, and modern people realize we have a responsibility for the environment.  Unfortunately we tend to focus on individual problems such as saving the whales or global warming rather than considering whether the various problems are related to something deeper.  As a result, our efforts to fix the problems often make things worse, as for example the efforts to save the Komodo dragon resulting in the extinction of thirteen thousand other species.  Efforts to stop global warming by limiting production of greenhouse gases will cost billions of dollars, bankrupting millions of people while science indicates that the efforts will produce little or no benefit.

The scriptures are very clear that man’s actions affect our environment.  As we saw in the previous post, man’s sin produced tremendous changes in the earth as a result of the flood.    These included worldwide climate change, earthquakes and volcanoes, the loss of an immense amount of genetic diversity, and the near extinction of animal life on earth.    It is crucial to note that all these things were the result of mankind’s underlying attitude toward God, rather than simply cutting too many trees or excessive hunting or producing too many greenhouse gases. 

Some of the effects were on people themselves.  Prior to the flood, lifespans of nearly a thousand years were common, but as a result of man’s sinful attitude, God limited man’s average lifespan in Genesis 6:3.  “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”  Today there are a few societies where such an age is rather common, but in most societies, they are rare, with people dying at much younger ages, largely as a result of the lifestyle and diet. 

Originally all animals including man were vegetarian.  As a result of man’s sin some became predators, with man becoming the most feared.  Genesis 9:2-4 tells of this change.  “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.  But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.”  Fear developed between most animals and mankind.  It is well known that the loss of too much blood results in death, and man was forbidden to eat the blood itself.  This is important because most diseases are carried through the body by the blood, and avoiding eating the blood would limit potential exposure. 

When Cain killed Abel, God set a mark on him warning people not to kill him.  As a result violence had become rampant in the world.  After the flood, God specified that murderers were to be executed to preven a repeat of the spread of violence.  Genesis 9:5-6 tells us, “And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.  Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”  Man was created in the image and likeness of God, and every murder indicated an attitude of rebellion and hatred toward God.  It was that very attitude which resulted in the flood and the death of the almost all living things.  If something murdered a person, they were to be executed, whether man or animal, to protect the rest of mankind.   While some insist that the fear of death will not prevent murders and crimes it is significant to not that the country with the highest percentage of armed citizens has the lowest level of violent crimes in the world while countries with the strongest prohibitions of personal gun ownership have the highest.  Apparently criminals are concerned about attacking people who might have a gun.  Statistics indicate that about seventy five percent of murders are committed by a person who has already killed at least one other person.  Simply executing them after the first one would produce a seventy five percent reduction in the murder rate even if there is no deterrent effect. 

Notice that this law was given in response to man’s sin.  Romans 5:13 says, “For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.” Without a clear statement of what is right, any effort to control or punish wrongdoing is totally subjective, depending entirely on what the person involved thinks at the moment.  Law provides a framework for consistently addressing such issues.  Later, God would give additional laws for the same reason.