NOAH & THE ARK: Genesis 6:5-8:22

DAY 3: NOAH & THE ARK

LINK: Genesis 6:5-8:22 
(Remember to use an age-appropriate Bible since this is a long passage for young children) 
Here is an audio of me telling the story in a summary form: FLOOD (you can download it by right-clicking and clicking on "save link as")

Symbol: Boat/Ark

Play a game called "Name the Animal." One person imitates an animal and the rest of the family tries to guess what animal it is.  

For deeper discussion: Talk about the character of Noah, a blameless man who "walked with God" (Genesis 6:9) even when everyone around Him was corrupt. He obeyed God by doing all that God commanded (Genesis 6:22) even when others did not understand why he was building an ark. 

For older kids, you might want to consider the movie Evan Almighty. Screen it first before you let your kids watch it though. 

BBC BACKGROUND from Genesis 5 & 6

Genesis 5 is all about the genealogy of Adam's son, Seth. Seth means "compensation" in Hebrew. He was certainly compensation for Adam and Eve after their murderous first son, Cain, was banished as a vagrant wanderer to Nod (Nod means "wandering" in Hebrew, by the way).

What is striking in this genealogy is the contrast down the line between the line of Cain and the line of Seth. Seth is the line that is referred to as those who "call on the name of the Lord" going down the line to the seventh son of Adam, Enoch, who "walked with God" and "the Lord took Him up." His cousin of the same seventh generation in Cain's line was Lamech (4:19-24) who killed a man and a boy. What a contrast between the godly and the ungodly.

Just as Abel is lauded in Hebrews 11, so is Enoch in verse 5: 

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death, AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP, for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

(Note that capital letters in the New American Standard Bible mean that it is an Old Testament quote.)

This line follows all the way to Noah who we meet up close in Genesis 6 where he is, like Enoch, one who "walked with God."

Mankind had become so corrupt to the point where "every inclination of the heart was evil." They were so wicked that God was "grieved in His heart." 

YET, in the midst of all of this, there is Noah, who found favor in the eyes of the Lord. He was a righteous man, blameless among all those corrupt and wicked people. He walked with God! (Somehow that phrase in the midst of this passage just makes me stop in the midst of the grief and say, "Ahhhhhhhhh, there is hope.") When God told Noah that He was going to destroy the earth and he needed to build an ark, Noah did everything just as God had commanded him. He believed. He had faith. So much faith that God wanted to make a covenant with him.

Noah is also in the Hebrews 11 "Hall of Faith" behind Abel and Enoch, "By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."

Thank God for Noah.

The Scarlet Thread of Redemption

Who says that genealogies in the Bible have to be boring? Luke 3 traces Jesus' genealogy all the way back to Adam, and Noah is right on the way!

REFLECTION

In the midst of the darkness, there is light in a man named Noah who found favor in the eyes of the LORD by walking with Him. I want to be like Noah. I want to walk with God in everything I do and say! I want to walk by faith and, in reverence, pour out my life and do everything He says. It means going a different path than the ungodly ones of the world though. Hebrews even says, "he condemned the world," and I need to reflect more on that.

APPLICATION

Noah walked with God with his whole heart. He did everything the Lord commanded him to do even when it probably seemed ridiculous to the people around him. Are you willing to walk with God like that? 

My "I WILL" statement for that week was to do all that He told me to do (even if it sounded ridiculous), and what a week it was! 

One example, God told me to forward an email about family relational harmony to a friend. I did not know why. She wrote back to tell me that she was having a big conflict with her teenage son. 

Then God told me, "Tell her to call you if she needs to talk more." I do not usually push myself on people like that. It was enough for me to forward the email. (I do not like to come across as preachy.) But my commitment was to do "all the Lord commanded me to do" that week. So, I forwarded it.

A few minutes later, she called me. After I listened to her pour out her heart for about 30 minutes, God said, "Do listening prayer with her. I have some things to say to her." So, I launched right into it. An hour later, God had healed her of a deep emotional wound from the past. It was not easy, and even in the midst of the listening, I wanted to stop because her pain was so great as God did spiritual surgery on her soul, but I continued to do "all that He commanded" me to do.

I am so glad that I did "all that the Lord commanded" me!

Please join me in making this new year one in which you walk like Noah who did "all that the Lord commanded"!

PRAYER

Lord, we know that Your eyes move to and fro throughout the whole earth that You may strongly support those whose heart is completely Yours. (2 Chronicles 16:9). Lord, make us people of faith like Noah! I want to do everything as You have commanded, even if it means being alone in building something like an ark. Thank You for this example of a person of faith, Lord. Amen.

BBC BACKGROUND from Genesis 7 & 8

Noah's  Rainbow Chagall Museum, originally uploaded by baabuzz.

The artist, Marc Chagall, was commissioned to illustrate the whole Old Testament. If you ever get an opportunity to go to the Art Institute of Chicago, his American Windows are beautiful.

Noah was a man who walked with God. Genesis 6 concluded with the Scripture saying that "Noah did everything just as God commanded him" in the construction of the ark. We learned he was a man commended for his faith in the Hebrews 11 "Hall of Faith."

This is the first time clean and unclean animals are mentioned. These terms will become very common throughout the Old Testament, especially in Leviticus. Note there is a calling for more clean pairs of animals than unclean ones, apparently for sacrifice at a later time.

This is the first mention of forty days and forty nights; a period of time that will become quite significant throughout Scripture (e.g., Moses on the mountain, the temptation of Christ).

Here is a question you may have been asked or are asking yourself:

Did the flood really happen and was it really worldwide?

In a nutshell, I will give four supports:

1) Genesis said that it happened and that it was worldwide

Verse 7:20 says that "all high mountains under the entire heavens were covered . . . to a depth of more than twenty feet." This indicates that it was a worldwide flood.

The Hebrew word mabbul and the Greek word kataklusmos are used solely in connection with the Noahic flood. The ordinary Hebrew and Greek words for a local flood are not used here.

Scripture certainly supports a worldwide flood. Words like "mankind," "all the people of the earth," "every living creature," "all the high mountains," "everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils," "every living thing on the face of the earth," and "all life" found in Genesis 6-9 surely indicates that it happened worldwide and it wiped out everybody.

2) Other Scriptures Support

Isaiah 54:9 says, "To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth." Jesus supported it in Matt. 24:36-39. Peter indicates it in 2 Peter 3:3-7, "the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water."

3) Science Admits It (sort of)

Scientists do admit a historical flood based on geological evidence (sea fossils on top of mountain tops). They do not acknowledge it was at Noah's time.

4) Anthropology Implies It

There are flood sagas found almost universally in various cultures. None is more widespread than the story about a flood and a boat. There are over 270 flood stories. The Babylonians have one in the story of Gilgamesh where the man comparable to Noah is named Utnapishtim, ". . . the Sumerians had Ziusudra, the Greeks had Deucalion, the Hinus had Manu, the Chinese had Fah-he (Fuhi), the Hawaiians had Nu-u . . . etc." (Holman Old Testament Commentary). That is pretty amazing and would indicate that it was the same flood as the one in Genesis.

There is so much more we could talk about: the size of a cubit, how fossils form (the abundance of fossils in the fossil record seems to indicate rapid depositing of the earth's sediment), the capacity of the boat, dinosaurs in an ark, etc. I have several articles written by Dr. Kurt Wise that are really mind-blowing if that is your thing, and I encourage you to check out Answers in Genesis, and do your own study.

All that aside, how do these chapters speak to you personally?

REFLECTION (written in 2008)

We had a deluge of rain last night; it was so loud that I could not sleep. At about 3 a.m., I started giggling, and I said to God, "Are You trying to help me understand what it must have been like for Noah. YOU CREATIVE CREATOR, YOU!!!!!" 

I quickly got up and said, "Well, if you are going to keep me up by the endless rain racket, I might as well get up and pray and meditate on that passage again!" (God is so great!) 

I just imagined myself in the ark with all the animals with their noises and smells, the constant "splatter, splatter, splatter," the confined space with close relatives (OH, NOT THAT!). I came to have more and more of an appreciation of Noah's faith in the midst of the uncertainty and waiting in that ark. I don't know if I could have handled it. Yet, Noah believed God in faith:

"And without faith it impossible to please Him, 
for He who comes to God must believe that He is, 
and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." 
(Hebrews 11:6)

We will see time and time again throughout Genesis, faith, front and center, in the Patriarchs who are yet to come. It is SO exciting!

One more thing: I got to thinking about that camp song that I used to sing right after I became a believer:

God said to Noah 
There's gonna'  be a floody, floody 
God said to Noah 
There's gonna' be a floody, floody 
Get those children out of the muddy, muddy 
Children of the Lord!

What they did not tell me back then is that God did not tell Noah to get those children out of the "muddy, muddy." Only eight people: Noah, Shem, Ham, Jepheth and their wives were saved from this worldwide deluge. This is heartbreaking. All the rest of humanity was wiped out. I have to believe in the sovereignty of God on that one, but I do not look at this story and sing the "happy" camp song anymore. I consider those around me who are sinking today without the Lord.

APPLICATION

Your application might take many different forms from my own: risking being different from the people around you in order to obey God, relying on God's promise when the "rain" of your life is making you consider "jumping ship," or maybe opening your eyes to see those sinking all around you and throwing out a "life ring" by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

As I was meditating last night, I spied a prayer bulletin for a part of the world that we used to live in. I wept as I read through it, and I was renewed in my determination to pray in faith for these people and to take steps toward going on a journey there this summer. (Update: We did go!)

PRAYER

Lord, give us faith and belief in the goodness of Your plan and promises. We know that it is impossible to please You without faith. Thank You that Your Word and the stories of people like Noah help us to believe You are (We will get to God being I am a little later in the Old Testament.) and that You are a rewarder of those who seek You (Hebrews 11:6). Help us to seek You!

Also, please give us eyes to see the world through Your eyes, to see the end of man apart from You, and give us hearts that break as Your heart breaks for them. Give us the courage to act in faith on that account too. Amen

THE FALL: Genesis 3

DAY 2: THE FALL 

                        

LINK: Genesis 3    

Here is an audio of me telling the story: FALL 

                         

Symbol: Apple & Snake

Discuss the difference between the Garden of Eden and today’s world.

How has sin changed the world? 

Where is God’s 1st promise of a Savior from sin? (Genesis 3:15) 

Did God keep this promise?

BBC BACKGROUND from Genesis 3

Sin Enters the Scene

"This chapter is the pivot on which the whole Bible turns." 

Griffith Thomas

I do agree. A careful study of this chapter is absolutely foundational. We cannot even possibly grasp its importance as the foundation of biblical revelation. 

In Genesis 1 and 2, there are three major characters: God and His "king and queen," Adam and Eve. They have a perfect unbroken fellowship. They were provided for in every way. Their provider God was a good God. That has been made abundantly clear. He gave them responsibility ("Be fruitful and multiply fill the earth and subdue it" and name the animals), and He gave them each other. There was no loneliness in that garden. Their relationship was good. He gave them absolutely no reason to doubt His goodness; yet . . .

In Genesis 3, we see a new character on the scene: a crafty serpent. Revelation 20:2 indicates that this serpent is Satan. How did he get there? Read Ezekiel 28. He was once an angel who was expelled from heaven.

Essentially, this crafty guy tried to make a liar out of God, convincing Eve that God had another motive for not having Adam and Eve eat that forbidden fruit. Of course, it was a lie. Satan is good at deception, and God is just plain good. We know that He is from Genesis 1 and 2, right?

Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable to make one wise. Compare that with this verse:

For all that is in the world, 
the lust of the flesh (good for food) and
the lust of the eyes (pleasing to the eye) and 
the boastful pride of life (desirable to make wise - be like God), 
is not from the Father, but is from the world. 
(1 John 2:16)

So, she eats it. Adam eats it. I have heard it said that Eve was deceived, and Adam knew what was right and just plain disobeyed, but I don't think it matters. It resulted in just one thing: their perfect, free-flowing relationship with God was broken. Their eyes were opened, and they knew they were naked and tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. They hid from God because they were afraid. Then, Adam blamed Eve. 

Then the curses: the serpent must crawl on his belly, the woman has pain in childbirth and her "desire" (in Hebrew, the root means "to overflow onto") will be for her husband and he will rule over her, the man must toil in his work. They are banished from that beautiful perfect garden. Worst of all is the spiritual death that occurs. There is SEPARATION. It kills me.

There is a song by Ginny Owens that asks the question, "Who are you listening to?" Adam and Eve listened to the wrong voice and they made the wrong choice.

If they had chosen the Word of the Lord, they would have had life and order. Because they chose the Word of a serpent, they had chaos and death

So, who are you listening to?

Despite this dismal scene, there is a ray of hope.

January 2, 2013

The Scarlet Thread of Redemption 

Even before the man and woman were cursed, God gave a promise in the curse of the serpent in Genesis 3:15:

"I will put enmity

between you and the woman

and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,

and you will strike his heel."

This verse is called the protoevangelium which means "first gospel" in Greek. It is the first promise of the Messiah. The seed God talked about was Jesus Christ. He talked about it even before the first curse was given to Adam and Eve. 

There is no lapse of time between the fall of the human race, and the promise that there will be a victory over what has happened, a restoration of the destruction. Adam and Eve are given hope immediately, and are given another statement by God to believe. (Christianity is Jewish, p.35)

Also, God makes the clothes of skin even after they already had made fig leaf garments to cover themselves (3:21). He is a God of compassion and provision. He provided them clothing, but a creature had to die and shed blood to cover them (Hebrews 9:22, Leviticus 17:11 ). This foreshadows the substitutionary sacrificial system (the death of an innocent substitute to "cover" the effects of sin) that we will study in Leviticus, but it also points toward Jesus as the substitute to cover our sin.

God is good all the time, isn't He?

REFLECTION

I struggled with typing up this reflection all day yesterday. I had to sleep on it. I suppose it is because I am a pretty positive person, and Genesis 3 seems so negative and sad. Also, I am a relational person, and it just rips my heart out to see the relationship between God and man severed in this way. I was in agony yesterday. I had to make it personal and look at MY sin for what it is; a separation in relationship with my loving and holy God. That was very "hard but good" to do.

Sometimes when I dialogue with people about Jesus (usually after I have studied Genesis and other key Old Testament passages that point to Him), I take a piece of paper and fold it over and draw a tree in a garden over the fold with an unbroken line going from God to man. There was nothin' but an authentic, loving relationship in that garden.

When I talk about Genesis 3, I pull the paper to full length, and instead of this unbroken line from God to man, there is an enormous gulf that spreads across the page. God is on one side, and man is on the other. I draw sin down the middle of the gulf and circle the "I" in sin. "sIn" is doing what "I" want to do rather than what God wants me to do (because it is best for me). 

At that moment, I am painfully aware that there is NOTHING I can do to bridge that deep chasm that exists between me and God.

Oh, shoot. Even as I type, I weep over this. The relationship is broken. It says in Romans that we were even "enemies."

Yet, even in the darkest moment in that garden, there was a LIGHT of hope in the protoevangelium (first Gospel) of Genesis 3:15! That is the promise I cling to in this dark hour in the garden. The descendant of the woman (Jesus) will crush the head of Satan! Jesus is the bridge over the chasm that covers the sin (I draw it so the middle "S" in Jesus intersects with the "S" in Sin) and makes a way for restoration! (1 Peter 3:18). Praise be to God for His infinite Gift.

Jesus to the rescue! YAY! 

Parenthetically, when I became a follower, there was a mural on the wall with a little kid looking across a deep chasm with Jesus being the bridge. So I really identify with this illustration. 

APPLICATION

Possible "I WILL" statements for this chapter might be: 

I will memorize Genesis 3:15 - the protoevangelium.

I will meditate on the words to "The Beginning" by Michael Card

In the beginning was the Beginning

In Him it all began

All that they had was God and the garden

The woman and the man

Before Creation learned to groan

The stars would dance and sing

Each moment was new, every feeling was fresh

For the creature, King and Queen (this describes Genesis 1&2)

But deep in the heart of the beautiful garden

Forbidden fruit was found

And they were deceived, disobeyed and were driven

From that holy ground

But beside the tree of disobedience

The tree of life did grow (the hope of Jesus)

The gift of its fruit an eternal beginning

But they would never know (Genesis 3)

CHORUS

The Beginning will make all things new

New life belongs to Him

He hands us each new moment saying

My child, begin again

My child, begin again

You're free to start again

This very moment is filled with His power

That we might start anew

To break us away from the past and the future

He does what He must do

And so the Alpha brings to us this moment to commence

To live in the freedom of total forgiveness (1 John 1:9)

With reckless confidence

With reckless confidence (Hebrews 4:16)

(As I have written this, this song has come into my mind over and over because it communicates the drama and sadness of the separation but the hope of the Gospel and of "new beginnings" every day because of Jesus.)

PRAYER

Even in the darkness of that garden, You gave us hope in the promised seed. Thank You that through Jesus' blood, we have a way back to You. Help us to be mindful to confess our sin to You so that there will not be anything separating us. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

CREATION: Genesis 1 & 2

DAY  1: CREATION  

LINK: Genesis 1 & 2 

Here is an (unpolished) audio of me telling the story (right-click and "save link as" if you want to download it): CREATION.

Symbol: Globe

Weather permitting; take a walk to admire God’s creation and talk about how He created everything. Thank Him for His creativity and care. If the weather is not permitting, look at pictures! As an after-dinner discussion, talk about how God created each ingredient of the meal. Again, thank Him for His creativity and for caring for you.  

BBC BACKGROUND from Genesis 1 and Genesis 2

Book of GENESIS

I want you to note that 1/3 of the Old Testament readings in the Jesse Tree come from the book of Genesis. It is one of the most important books for any believer to read and digest because it is the book of the beginning of God's relationship with man. It is FOUNDATIONAL to the understanding of all other books in the Bible.

This background does not get into all the creation science research. I did an excellent six-week Precept study just in Genesis 1 & 2. The appendix is filled with articles regarding this that I highly recommend for deeper study (http://www.precept.org/). Also, http://www.answersingenesis.org/ is an excellent source of information regarding the science behind creation.

Genesis 1

What keywords did you observe? We see that God . . .

Created (from the Hebrew word "bara" which is used only of God's activity. It is the initiation of an object that was "out of nothing." No one but God can do that!)

Was moving

Said

Saw

Separated

Called

Made

Placed

Blessed

Completed

Rested

Sanctified

God is a God of the "action verb"! I have gone through Genesis 1 with many non-believing seekers of God, and it is always fun to go through each day of creation and pick out these words! It astounds me that God can just say, "Let there be light" and out of nothing, there was light. He speaks the word and creation comes forth. Pause and think about it.

I will often point out how Jesus fits into the Old Testament and refer to it as The Scarlet Thread of Redemption. One cannot help but cross-reference the creation account with John 1:1-3, 14:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And Colossians 1:15-17:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Genesis 1:26-27 is the plural sense of the name of God, Elohim, "Let US make man in our image." It suggests that there is plurality in the Godhead.

So exciting!

Genesis 2 

This is an amplification of what already went on in Genesis 1 when God created the heavens and the earth and its inhabitants. Notice that in Genesis 1:26-27 He created man and woman “in His image.” He did not do that with any other creature on earth; just us. So, a whole other chapter is devoted to the amplification of those people that He made!

REFLECTION

Every time I read this chapter, I marvel at God's care reflected in every step of the creation process. He is a God who, as my old campus leader, Dennis Blevins, would say, ". . . made the sky before He made the birds." In other words, He has a design and He provides. He planned every step and made provision for every living thing in the order that He created. It tells me that He created me and has provided for my every need ahead of time. That is so comforting.

APPLICATION

Great are the works of the LORD;

They are STUDIED (sought out) by all who delight in them.

Splendid and majestic is His work,

And His righteousness endures forever.

He has made His wonders to be remembered;

The LORD is gracious and compassionate.

Psalm 111:2-4

The way I applied this first chapter of Genesis was to "study" and "remember" His works of creation. I was staying at my girlfriend's house, and I had her dog at my feet, and I marveled at his paws, his fur, etc. I looked and saw this beautiful creature that God had made. Then, I took that big black lab for a walk and marveled at the beautifully bare trees against a clear crisp blue winter sky. I gave glory to Him as I saw the people walking through the campus that He had created. It was a walk of praise.

I have learned to praise Him through creation by taking a picture a day for 365 days. I did this from 2007-2009 and 2011-2012.  It has made me open my eyes and see God and His creation daily.  It is so much fun. Here is a link to the last one I did: Carol 365 2012. Reviewing this post makes me want to do it for this new year!

Update 2023 - After a ten-year hiatus, I went through Project365 again. It is so much easier now with phones that take pictures and go directly online. I used to spend hours uploading when I started this back in 2007. But it really does help you to see God in all things. Here it is Project365 2022.

It is simple to give GLORY to God by wondering at His works all around you today. Give it a try and let us know about it! Or let us know other ways you applied this passage.

PRAYER

Oh LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens! (Psalm 8:1) . . .O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. (Isaiah 37:16)

Lord, thank You for the beauty of this day. All around me, I see the beautiful things you have created and I give you praise and worship for being the God of all creation. Open our eyes wide so we might see YOU all around us! Amen.