Plymothian

Yesterday we saw how Lot was an obstacle to God blessing Abram with land.  God removed the obstacle.  Today we see another potential obstacle to the blessing.  By reading the text as it stands, we might think that Abram believed he had achieved the blessing by sleeping with Hagar.  We might also believe that Abram continued in that way of thinking for thirteen years.  However, God’s messenger turns up at Abram’s door to tell him and Sarai directly that they will both be involved in God fulfilling the promise of the birth of a great nation.

Genesis 16:1 – 18:15

 ¹ Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; ² so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
      Abram agreed to what Sarai said. ³ So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. ⁴ He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
      When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

 ⁶ “Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

 ⁷ The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. ⁸ And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
      “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

 ⁹ Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” ¹⁰ The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.”

 ¹¹ The angel of the LORD also said to her:
       “You are now with child
       and you will have a son.
       You shall name him Ishmael, <SUP class=footnote value='[a]’>[a]
       for the LORD has heard of your misery.

 ¹² He will be a wild donkey of a man;
       his hand will be against everyone
       and everyone’s hand against him,
       and he will live in hostility
       toward <SUP class=footnote value='[b]’>[b] all his brothers.”

 ¹³ She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen <SUP class=footnote value='[c]’>[c] the One who sees me.” ¹⁴ That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi <SUP class=footnote value='[d]’>[d] ; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

 ¹⁵ So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

 ¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty <SUP class=footnote value='[e]’>[e] ; walk before me and be blameless. ² I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

 ³ Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ⁴ “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. ⁵ No longer will you be called Abram <SUP class=footnote value='[f]’>[f] ; your name will be Abraham, <SUP class=footnote value='[g]’>[g] for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

 ⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. ¹⁰ This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. ¹³ Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

 ¹⁵ God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

 ¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

 ¹⁹ Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. <SUP class=footnote value='[h]’>[h] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. ²¹ But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” ²² When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

 ²³ On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. ²⁴ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, ²⁵ and his son Ishmael was thirteen; ²⁶ Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. ²⁷ And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him. 

 ¹ The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. ² Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

 ³ He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, <SUP class=footnote value='[i]’>[i] do not pass your servant by. ⁴ Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. ⁵ Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”
      “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”

 ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs <SUP class=footnote value='[j]’>[j] of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread.”

 ⁷ Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. ⁸ He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

 ⁹ “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
      “There, in the tent,” he said.

 ¹⁰ Then the LORD <SUP class=footnote value='[k]’>[k] said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
      Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master <SUP class=footnote value='[l]’>[l] is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

 ¹³ Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the LORD ? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.”

 ¹⁵ Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
      But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Questions

1. What is the presenting problem?
2. What is Hagar’s solution?
3. What is the resulting conflict?
4. How does God resolve the conflict?
5. What does this tell us about the nature of God?

Going Deeper

Observation

• To whom does Sarai attribute the cause of her having no children?
• What happened to Hagar’s attitude when she became pregnant?
• Who found Hagar and sent her back to her mistress?
• What was the name of Hagar’s son?
• What was to be the sign of the covenant between Abraham and God?

Interpretation

• What was the local custom for married women who bore no children?
• How would Hagar view her relationship with the gods after she becomes pregnant?
• Who is ‘The Angel of the LORD’?
• How extensively was circumcision practiced before Abraham?
• was Sarah not present when the angel visited Abraham because it was her time of the month?  Did it come upon her suddenly when the angel arrived (This is the view of the NIV Application Commentary)?

Application

• Are children still a blessing from God?
• Are barren couples cursed?
• Would an increase in faith on the part of a barren couple lead to pregnancy?
• How has God handled an honest mistake in the past to bring blessing on everyone concerned?
• How would you deal with one of life’s blessings that you greatly desire (marriage, children, financial security) being withheld from you?

The faith that Abram has is ‘taking God at his word and acting upon it.’  When God speaks and commands him to act the text shows no delay in Abram’s compliance.  We would like to have God give us direct instruction as we make decisions.  However, Abram may have heard God directly but Abram did not have a whole book to consult like we do.  The Bible conveys God’s desire for how we live and make decisions.  Are you taking in God’s word daily and acting upon it?

Genesis 13 -15

¹ So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. ² Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

 ³ From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier ⁴ and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.

 ⁵ Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. ⁷ And quarreling arose between Abram’s herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

 ⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

 ¹⁰ Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: ¹² Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. ¹³ Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

 ¹⁴ The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. ¹⁵ All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring <SUP class=footnote value='[a]’>[a] forever. ¹⁶ I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. ¹⁷ Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

 ¹⁸ So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD. 

 ¹ At this time Amraphel king of Shinar, <SUP class=footnote value='[b]’>[b] Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim ² went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³ All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea <SUP class=footnote value='[c]’>[c] ). ⁴ For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

 ⁵ In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim ⁶ and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. ⁷ Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

 ⁸ Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. ¹¹ The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. ¹² They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

 ¹³ One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother <SUP class=footnote value='[d]’>[d] of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

 ¹⁷ After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

 ¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem <SUP class=footnote value='[e]’>[e] brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, ¹⁹ and he blessed Abram, saying,
       “Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
       Creator <SUP class=footnote value='[f]’>[f] of heaven and earth.

 ²⁰ And blessed be <SUP class=footnote value='[g]’>[g] God Most High,
       who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
      Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

 ²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”

 ²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath ²³ that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”  

 ¹ After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
       “Do not be afraid, Abram.
       I am your shield, <SUP class=footnote value='[h]’>[h]
       your very great reward. <SUP class=footnote value='[i]’>[i] ”

 ² But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit <SUP class=footnote value='[j]’>[j] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

 ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

 ⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

 ⁷ He also said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

 ⁸ But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

 ⁹ So the LORD said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

 ¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹ Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

 ¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³ Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

 ¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river <SUP class=footnote value='[k]’>[k] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰

Questions

1. What happened concerning Abram and Lot’s workers?
2. How was this resolved?
3. How was God’s promise of land threatened by Lot’s presence?
4. How does God remove obstacles to his promises in the Bible?
5. How does God remove obstacles when you live by faith?

Going Deeper

Observation

• What places does Abram visit?
• What does God say to Abram concerning the location of Abram’s future land?
• How does God reassure Abram?
• How does God speak concerning the number of descendants?
• How long will Abram’s descendents stay away from the land God has given them?

Interpretation

• Can you find the places in the passage on a map?
• How can you enhance your understanding of biblical geography?
• What would the audience reading this already know about Sodom and Gomorrah?
• How and why would Abram rescue lot with 300 or so men?
• What is the deal with the pot and torch?

Application

• Moody is preparing a trip to Israel this Spring/Summer.  Will you visit Israel one day?
• What promises in the Bible are on your mind at the moment?
• How can you walk in faith that God has made promises to you and can keep them?
• If God makes a promises over a 400 year period, how long should you give God to work out his plan in your life?
• Do you have a “God said it.  I do it.  That settles it!” attitude?  Is that healthy?

Abram comes from Ur.  It probably isn’t the Ur that the archaeologists have found in southern Mesopotamia.  It’s probably one in north-central Mesopotamia, but that does not make Abram’s journey any less remarkable.  He left his people;  He left his family; he left what he knew; and he ventured out into the unknown.  All he had was a promise from God that his barren wife of advanced years would go with him and they would found a nation.  Abram’s faith is remarkable, but he is a man like us and does some really questionable things.  What is God calling you toward?

Genesis 11:27 – 12:20

 ²⁷ This is the account of Terah.
      Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. ²⁸ While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.

 ³¹ Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.

 ³² Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.  

 ¹ The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.

 ² “I will make you into a great nation
       and I will bless you;
       I will make your name great,
       and you will be a blessing.

 ³ I will bless those who bless you,
       and whoever curses you I will curse;
       and all peoples on earth
       will be blessed through you.”

 ⁴ So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. ⁵ He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

 ⁶ Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring <SUP class=footnote value='[a]’>[a] I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

 ⁸ From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. ⁹ Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

 ¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. ¹¹ As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

 ¹⁴ When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. ¹⁵ And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. ¹⁶ He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

 ¹⁷ But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” ²⁰ Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Questions

1. Did you read this passage thoughtfully?  If not, read it again.
2. Whose account is this?
3. What is the command to action the the LORD gives Abram?
4. What is Abram’s response?
5. What is your response to the life God has called you to live?

Going Deeper

Observation

• What will God make of Abram?
• What word is repeated in various forms in God’s poetic speech?
• Who went with Abram?
• What caused Abram to build an altar?
• What was the Egyptians reaction to Sarai?

Interpretation

• Who are the children of Abram?
• How has Israel been a blessing?
• Where is Shechem?
• What does Bethel mean?
• How could the Egyptians find an old woman so attractive?

Application

• As Abram’s child through faith, do you exhibit the kind of faith Abram had?  Give an example.
• Is Israel still a blessing to the world?  What about Jewish people as a race?
• Does geography have significance in God’s plans?  What about the future?
• How do you manage your family in a crisis?
• How has God cared for you when you are a numbskull?

What was the deal with the Tower of Babel?  In Chicago they have tonnes of skyscrapers and God hasn’t come down and destroyed the economy here because of pride, greed, or corruption.  No, wait …

Actually it is quite different.  The Tower of Babel is a Ziggurat, a centre for religious worship.  Mankind transitions in the story here from having a view of God the is transcendant to building a home and a stairway for God that brings him down to their level.  Mankind ceases to be remade in the image of God, but remakes God in the image of man.  In many ways we have created a God in our image who satisfies us.  Is your God beholden to you, or are you beholden to him?

Genesis 10:1 – 11:26

 ¹These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

 ²<SUP class=xref value='(A)’>(A) The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴The sons of Javan: Elishah,<SUP class=xref value='(B)’>(B) Tarshish,<SUP class=xref value='(C)’>(C) Kittim, and Dodanim. ⁵From these<SUP class=xref value='(D)’>(D) the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.

 ⁶<SUP class=xref value='(E)’>(E) The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. ⁷The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. ⁸Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.<SUP class=footnote value='[a]’>[a] ⁹He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” ¹⁰The beginning of his kingdom was<SUP class=xref value='(F)’>(F) Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in<SUP class=xref value='(G)’>(G) the land of Shinar. ¹¹From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and ¹²Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. ¹³<SUP class=xref value='(H)’>(H) Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹⁴Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom<SUP class=footnote value='[b]’>[b] the Philistines came), and<SUP class=xref value='(I)’>(I) Caphtorim.

 ¹⁵<SUP class=xref value='(J)’>(J) Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, ¹⁶and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, ¹⁷the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, ¹⁸the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. ¹⁹And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ²⁰These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

 ²¹To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. ²²The<SUP class=xref value='(K)’>(K) sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. ²³The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ²⁴Arpachshad fathered<SUP class=xref value='(L)’>(L) Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. ²⁵<SUP class=xref value='(M)’>(M) To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg,<SUP class=footnote value='[c]’>[c] for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹<SUP class=xref value='(N)’>(N) Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. ³¹These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

 ³²These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations,<SUP class=xref value='(O)’>(O) and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

 ¹Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. ²And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in<SUP class=xref value='(A)’>(A) the land of Shinar and settled there. ³And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone,<SUP class=xref value='(B)’>(B) and bitumen for mortar. ⁴Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower<SUP class=xref value='(C)’>(C) with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵And<SUP class=xref value='(D)’>(D) the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. ⁶And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. ⁷Come,<SUP class=xref value='(E)’>(E) let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So<SUP class=xref value='(F)’>(F) the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ⁹Therefore its name was called<SUP class=xref value='(G)’>(G) Babel, because there the LORD confused<SUP class=footnote value='[a]’>[a] the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

 ¹⁰<SUP class=xref value='(H)’>(H) These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. ¹¹And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

 ¹²When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. ¹³And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

 ¹⁴When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. ¹⁵And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

 ¹⁶When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. ¹⁷And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

 ¹⁸When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. ¹⁹And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

 ²⁰When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. ²¹And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

 ²²When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. ²³And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

 ²⁴When<SUP class=xref value='(I)’>(I) Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. ²⁵And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

 ²⁶When<SUP class=xref value='(J)’>(J) Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Questions

1. Whose accounts are these?
2. Who grew to be a mighty warrior?
3. What did people build?
4. Who is superintending this process?
5. Do you see God at work in the unfolding of history and current events?

Going Deeper

Observation

• What was said about Nimrod?
• What towns are mentioned as the borders of the Canaanite clans?
• What spread out from these people over the earth after the flood?
• What did the people learn to make?
• What is God’s solution to the Tower of Babel?

Interpretation

• Which King of the area of southern Mesopotamia and beyond fits the description of Nimrod?
• Why do some of the children mentioned have names associated with nations and places?
• How would a common language be helpful?
• How do new inventions, like bricks, tend to lead to pride?
• Why did the people scatter?

Application

• Is there a hero in your life that you want to be like?  What great qualities set him/her apart?
• Do you know your heritage?  Is it important to pass on information about how God has worked in your family?
• Is it wrong to have a common language?  Should a nation have one language?  Should we attempt to be a polyglot?
• How has technology led to apostacy and distance from God?
• How do churches and religions reinvent God and make him other than he is?

As I was growing up I wrestled with the death penalty.  I thought that it was barbaric and that no Chriistian could rightly support it.  I thought that there is really no redemption through killing a person who has killed another.  How can viloence be a solution to violence?  Isn’t killing a person for killing making you just as bad as they are?  Couldn’t you win a person who is imprisoned for life, but saving someone after you’ve executed them is a little hard.  I see things differently now because I have a concept of punishment that I did not have before.  Punishment need not be remedial, it must fit the crime.  What do you think?

9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

7 And you, [1] be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in it.”

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. [2]

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. [3] 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

26 He also said,

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

Questions

1. What did God say when he blessed Noah?
2. What will God demand an accounting for?
3. What did God set in the clouds?
4. How much of Noah’s covenant do you think is applicable today?
5. When should punishment fit the crime?  When should grace prevail?

Going Deeper

Observation

• What will the relationship between man and animals look like?
• What can mankind eat?
• How must meat be prepared?
• What will never happen again?
• What did Ham see?

Interpretation

• Is it sinful to be a meat eater?
• How does draining the blood effect the meat?
• If there are to be no God-given global disasters, can there be a man-made one?
• Can God send local disasters?
• What exactly was Ham’s crime that warranted such a response?

Application

• How might a vegetarian argue that God’s design for mankind is vegetarianism?  How might that be countered?
• If the death penalty is mandated by God, how do we deal with people who are innocently killed by the judicial system?
• How are we to be fruitful, increase in number, and fill the earth?  Isn’t it full already?
• Can a person curse another and have it come true?  Under what circumstances?
• Are certain people groups living a cursed existence?  How would you counter those who say the descendants of Ham are racially inferior?

The story of Noah is one of the most abused stories in Toyland.  We have reinvented it so that it is a story of a floating zoo.  If you read the account it is no children’s story.  The wickedness that fills the earth leads to God issuing a decree to ‘balance the ledger’.  The pursuit of sin has its consequences.  How is one man saved?  What sets Noah apart?  Compared with those around him he is righteous.  God then chooses to show Noah and his family mercy.  He leads them into a new life of grace.  Are you inside the boat?  Do you have compassion for those outside?  You might do better than to send them a raven when it’s too late.

^{Genesis 5}

³² After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Genesis 6

The Flood

 ¹ When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. ³ Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with <SUP class=footnote value='[a]’>[a] man forever, for he is mortal <SUP class=footnote value='[b]’>[b] ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

 ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

 ⁵ The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. ⁶ The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. ⁷ So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

 ⁹ This is the account of Noah.
      Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. ¹⁰ Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

 ¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. ¹² God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. ¹³ So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. ¹⁴ So make yourself an ark of cypress <SUP class=footnote value='[c]’>[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. ¹⁵ This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. <SUP class=footnote value='[d]’>[d] ¹⁶ Make a roof for it and finish <SUP class=footnote value='[e]’>[e] the ark to within 18 inches <SUP class=footnote value='[f]’>[f] of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. ¹⁷ I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰ Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

 ²² Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Genesis 7

 ¹ The LORD then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. ² Take with you seven <SUP class=footnote value='[g]’>[g] of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, ³ and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. ⁴ Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”

 ⁵ And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

 ⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. ⁷ And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸ Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, ⁹ male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.

 ¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. ¹² And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

 ¹³ On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. ¹⁴ They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. ¹⁵ Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. ¹⁶ The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.

 ¹⁷ For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. ¹⁹ They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. ²⁰ The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. <SUP class=footnote value='[h]’>[h] , <SUP class=footnote value='[i]’>[i] ²¹ Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. ²² Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. ²³ Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

 ²⁴ The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 8

 ¹ But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. ² Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. ³ The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, ⁴ and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

 ⁶ After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark ⁷ and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. ⁹ But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. ¹⁰ He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. ¹¹ When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. ¹² He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

 ¹³ By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

 ¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. ¹⁷ Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it.”

 ¹⁸ So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. ¹⁹ All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

 ²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. ²¹ The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though <SUP class=footnote value='[j]’>[j] every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

 ²² “As long as the earth endures,
       seedtime and harvest,
       cold and heat,
       summer and winter,
       day and night
       will never cease.”

Questions

1. What did the Lord see?
2. What did the LORD decide to do?
3. How many days did the water flood the earth?
4. What did God say to Noah after the earth was dry?
5. How does God deal with the wickedness that is on the earth today?

Going Deeper

Observation

• Whose account is this?
• What are the dimensions of the ark?
• What will God establish with Noah?
• How many of each clean animal did Noah bring?
• What does the LORD say after he smells the pleasing aroma?

Interpretation

• What is this story about?
• Why is Noah such a flat character in the story?
• How are there clean animals without any system of sacrifice?
• Was this flood, local, regional, all the known world, or global?  What does the text demand?
• How is God’s grace evident?

Application

• How does today’s world compare in wickedness to Noah’s world?
• How is God acting with judgement and mercy today?
• Are floods and droughts acts of God?
• Who does God save today and why?
• How does God maintain time, agriculture, and weather in our time?

Who on earth were the Nephilim?  When I read of them I think of the Titans in Greek mythology.  They seem like demigods who perform heroic deeds and smile a pearly-white smile.  They have intrigued me since I was a youngster.  Are the sons of God the line of Seth and the daughters of men the line of Cain?  I don’t think so.  Did fallen angels confirm their fallen nature by copulating with humans?  I don’t know.  I think that it is most likely that sons of God is a royal designation and daughters of men refers to common stock.  It’s just a guess from reading an NIV commentary.  However, it would show how sin has progressed from individual, to family, to society at large.  Sounds like something needs flooding.
 
Genesis 6: 1-4
 
 ¹ When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. ³ Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with ^[a] man forever, for he is mortal ^[b] ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
 ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
 
Questions:

1. What happened to the number of men?
2. What were born to them?
3. Which ones did the sons of God marry?
4. Are the Nephilim a result of marriages between sons of God and daughters of men or just existant at the same time?
5. If the sons of God are rulers, how do they corrupt society?  How do we do the same?

Going Deeper
 
Go on line and research:

• Nephilim
• right of the first night

How does research develop your thinking?

I sometimes get a fish tank full of clear water at a camp and put it up in front of the campers.  I take a little ink and drop it into the clear water.  The campers can then see how the ink spreads and fills all the water.  This is what we read about the spread of sin in these passages.  Although people may live long, their lives still end in death.  Although people may create all kinds of technological marvels, they still kill and are consumed with envy and rage.  Do you see in your life both forces for good and for evil?  How can you escape the pattern of sin and death as Enoch did?

Genesis 4

¹⁷ Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. ¹⁸ To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

 ¹⁹ Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. ²² Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of <SUP class=footnote value='[a]’>[a] bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

 ²³ Lamech said to his wives,
       “Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
       wives of Lamech, hear my words.
       I have killed <SUP class=footnote value='[b]’>[b] a man for wounding me,
       a young man for injuring me.

 ²⁴ If Cain is avenged seven times,
       then Lamech seventy-seven times.”

 ²⁵ Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, <SUP class=footnote value='[c]’>[c] saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” ²⁶ Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.
      At that time men began to call on <SUP class=footnote value='[d]’>[d] the name of the LORD.

Genesis 5

From Adam to Noah

 ¹ This is the written account of Adam’s line.
      When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. ² He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them “man. <SUP class=footnote value='[e]’>[e] ”

 ³ When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. ⁴ After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁵ Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.

 ⁶ When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father <SUP class=footnote value='[f]’>[f] of Enosh. ⁷ And after he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁸ Altogether, Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.

 ⁹ When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰ And after he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹ Altogether, Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.

 ¹² When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³ And after he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ Altogether, Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died.

 ¹⁵ When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. ¹⁶ And after he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ Altogether, Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died.

 ¹⁸ When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹ And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰ Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.

 ²¹ When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. ²² And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

 ²⁵ When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. ²⁶ And after he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷ Altogether, Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.

 ²⁸ When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. ²⁹ He named him Noah <SUP class=footnote value='[g]’>[g] and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed.” ³⁰ After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹ Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.

 ³² After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Questions:

1. Which two sons of Adam are the focus here?
2. What terrible act does the seventh descendent of Enoch commit?
3. How does the seventh descendent of Seth live?
4. What is the repeated line describing the fate of mankind?
5. How do you reconcile the good and the evil in the world?

Going Deeper

Observation

• What did Cain name after his son?
• What two things did Jabal and Jubal create?
• What did people begin to do when Enosh was born?
• Why was Enoch no more?
• How many years did Lamech live?

Interpretation

• Where were the world’s first cities located according to archaeologists?
• Although archaeology finds examples of herding and music as far back as the fouth millenium B.C. why mightn’t that help us with the text?
• How did people ‘call on the LORD’?  What does that mean?
• Where did Enoch go?
• Are the numbers in the genealogies literural or figurative?

Application

• Are you a better Christian if you believe the numbers to be literal or figurative?  Why do Christians judge each other over these things?
• How do you use archaeology to help you understand the Bible?  Do you know historical context?  Could you?
• How can people call on the LORD and still descend in depravity to the point where God is grieved he created them?  Have we grown closer or further from God in the west in the last 100 years?
• Are you ‘walking with God’?
• How could you walk through this day ‘with God’?

Sin keeps spreading.  One act of disobedience in the garden affects the whole family.  Now two brothers are in conflict.  One brother is envious.  He doesn’t deal with the envy and the envy leads him to kill.  He could have turned back from the envy.  God gave him opportunity, but he refused to take responsibility.  The first step to repentance is accepting responsibility.  If we blame, if we whine, if we sidestep we lose the chance to come back from the abyss. All that is left for us is the land East of Eden.  The barren land of the curse we now carry.  Are you able to turn back from the abyss, or are you falling?

Genesis 4: 1-16

Cain and Abel

 ¹ Adam <SUP class=footnote value='[a]’>[a] lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. <SUP class=footnote value='[b]’>[b] She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth <SUP class=footnote value='[c]’>[c] a man.” ² Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
      Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. ³ In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. ⁴ But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

 ⁶ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

 ⁸ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” <SUP class=footnote value='[d]’>[d] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

 ⁹ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
      “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

 ¹⁰ The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. ¹¹ Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

 ¹³ Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear. ¹⁴ Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

 ¹⁵ But the LORD said to him, “Not so <SUP class=footnote value='[e]’>[e] ; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. ¹⁶ So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, <SUP class=footnote value='[f]’>[f] east of Eden.

Questions

1. What are the occupations of Cain and Abel?
2. What do each of them bring to God as a sacrifice?
3. What is waiting for Cain if he does not do what is right?
4. What does Cain say to avoid God’s accusations?
5. How have you moved past a point of no return?  Was there a way back?

Going Deeper

Observation

• How are the quantities of qualities of the brothers’ offerings described?
• What was Cain’s reaction to God not acepting his sacrifice?
• What will happen if Cain does right?
• What does sin desire?
• What will be hidden from Cain if he is driven out?

Interpretation

• Is it the quality of the sacrifice or the LORD’s acceptence that is emphasized?
• How does God show grace and compassion to Cain before and after the murder?
• Did Abel die and go to heaven?
• If sin is pictured as a demon crouching at your front door, how do you react?
• Where is the land of Nod?

Application

• What portion of your possessions do you give to God?
• How has God tried to prevent you from making a ruinous decision?
• How has God shown grace in spite of your poor judgment?
• What way back for you is there from the consequences of your poor choices?
• How do you blame God for your own shortcomings?

It is such a relief that sin no longer exists.  At least it doesn’t exist for the majority.  Every now and then sin will rear its head on a dessert menu, but that is about all.  Evil also is a religious term that we do not need.  When Bush created an ‘Axis of Evil’ it was just another sign that he was out of touch.  Of course, we can still make mistakes as results of poor choices, but that doesn’t really constitute anything warranting the name ‘sin’ or ‘evil’.  Without sin in view, we don’t really need salvation from anything.  The good news has been repackaged so that it adds to our already acceptable lives.  Without sin we should all feel a lot better about ourselves and that is wonderful … isn’t it?

Genesis 3: 8-24

 ⁸And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool<SUP class=footnote value='[a]’>[a] of the day, and the man and his wife<SUP class=xref value='(A)’>(A) hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”<SUP class=footnote value='[b]’>[b] ¹⁰And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid,<SUP class=xref value='(B)’>(B) because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹²The man said,<SUP class=xref value='(C)’>(C) “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said,<SUP class=xref value='(D)’>(D) “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

 ¹⁴The LORD God said to the serpent,

   “Because you have done this,
   cursed are you above all livestock
   and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
   and<SUP class=xref value='(E)’>(E) dust you shall eat
   all the days of your life.
¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman,
   and between your offspring<SUP class=footnote value='[c]’>[c] and<SUP class=xref value='(F)’>(F) her offspring;
<SUP class=xref value='(G)’>(G) he shall bruise your head,
   and you shall bruise his heel.”

 ¹⁶To the woman he said,

   “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
   <SUP class=xref value='(H)’>(H) in pain you shall bring forth children.
<SUP class=xref value='(I)’>(I) Your desire shall be for<SUP class=footnote value='[d]’>[d] your husband,
   and he shall<SUP class=xref value='(J)’>(J) rule over you.”

 ¹⁷And to Adam he said,

   “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
   and have eaten of the tree
<SUP class=xref value='(K)’>(K) of which I commanded you,
   ‘You shall not eat of it,’
<SUP class=xref value='(L)’>(L) cursed is the ground because of you;
   <SUP class=xref value='(M)’>(M) in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
¹⁸thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
   and you shall eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹By the sweat of your face
   you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
   for out of it you were taken;
<SUP class=xref value='(N)’>(N) for you are dust,
   and<SUP class=xref value='(O)’>(O) to dust you shall return.”

 ²⁰The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.<SUP class=footnote value='[e]’>[e] ²¹And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

 ²²Then the LORD God said,<SUP class=xref value='(P)’>(P) “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand<SUP class=xref value='(Q)’>(Q) and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” ²³therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden<SUP class=xref value='(R)’>(R) to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the<SUP class=xref value='(S)’>(S) cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Questions:

1. What did the man and his wife hear?
2. How does the man answer the question, “Have you eaten from teh tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
3. How does the woman respond when asked, “What is this you have done?”
4. What does God do for Adam and his wife in verse 21?
5. How has general sin, natural sin, and personal sin affected you?  How has God been gracious?

Going Deeper

Observation

• What was God doing in the garden in the cool of the day?
• What was God’s first question?
• What two things are cursed?
• What action describes the relationship between the serpent’s offspring and the woman’s?
• What will increase for the woman?

Interpretation

• Did God take a daily stroll in human form with the first humans?
• Why would an omniscient God ask, “Where are you?”
• Why are the ground and serpent cursed and the man and woman shown grace?
• If crush and strike come from the same root, how does this challenge the popular interpretation that Genesis 3:15 foreshadows Christ’s death on the cross?
• If the childbearing pains are mainly emotional, what is your view of the woman’s plight?

Application

• Do you walk with God in a conversational fellowship?
• If God asks, “Where are you?”  what is your reply?
• Who have you blamed?  Why?  What does it achieve?
• When you suffer do you become blind to God’s grace?
• How can women still generally be ruled by men because of their strong desire for family?