Chronological Life Application Study Bible

Transcription

1 LEBANON N SYRIA Mediteanean 12 BASHAN 13 PLAINS OF MOAB Jeusalem ISRAEL 10 Dead Aad 3 Baal-zephon Rameses MOAB 9 Pithom Kadesh 1 ve Nile Ri Elim 4 5 Rephidim 7 50 Mi. 50 Mi Chonological Life Application Study Bible Caspian TURKEY at LEBANON Mediteanean Shechem 3 Bethel ISRAEL 4 EGYPT Riv e IRAN IRAQ Hebon Beesheba U of the Chaldeans JORDAN 1 Nile Rive 7 5 es N ive is R Haan Eu ph Tig 2 SYRIA SAUDI ARABIA Red AD a ( AD 14 37) Pesian Gulf Mi Km. 45 Claudius Caesa ( AD 41 54) Gaius Caligula Caesa ( AD 37 41) Antipas divoces Aetas s daughte and maies Heodias, his bothe Heod Philip s wife AD 3 Aetas attacks and defeats Heod Antipas Pontius Pilate as goveno of Judea ( AD 2 3) Caiaphas as high piest ( AD 18 3) about AD 2 John the Baptist begins his ministy about AD 27 Jesus begins his ministy Heod Agippa I ( AD 37 44) AD 44 Agippa dies about AD 29 John the Baptist is impisoned, then beheaded fom violent illness Passove, about AD 30 Jesus death and esuection CLASB Booklet 4c.5 x bleed JORDAN WILDERNESS OF SIN EGYPT 0 EDOM WILDERNESS OF PARAN Maah GOSHEN Mount Sinai 2 MIDIAN SAUDI ARABIA Red

2 Intoducing the Chonological Life Application Study Bible The Bible is the stoy of God s inteaction with his ceation. It is a stoy that occus ove time, in many places, and though many events. It includes the lives and lessons leaned by a wide vaiety of people and in a wide vaiety of cultues. It s often easy to lose sight of all this when ou pimay way of looking at the Bible is a bit hee and a bit thee. The Chonological Life Application Study Bible offes a unique pespective. Combining the poven esouces of the Life Application Study Bible with a unique chonological aangement, the Chonological Life Application Study Bible offes an unpecedented window into God s stoy yesteday and today. The following pages ae a sneak peak at what you ae going to find; thee s a whole lot moe to come. In-text featues section Intoductions: These section intoductions will help you undestand the context fo the given time peiods. They combine fesh witing, mateial fom the Life Application Study Bible (LASB) book intoductions, and timelines fom the NLT Study Bible (NLTSB) section intoductions, along with newly ceated maps. The following outline will be used: 1. Beginnings (ceation 2100 BC) 2. God s Chosen Family () 3. Bith of Isael ( BC) 4. Possessing the Land ( BC) 5. United Monachy (). Splinteed Nation () 7. Exile () 8. Retun & Diaspoa () 9. Jesus Chist ( BC AD 30) 10. The Chuch () Each biblical time peiod will get its own uniquely coloed teatment on the page edges to give a visual eminde of whee each time peiod falls. This colo scheme will appea in the expanded timeline in the font matte as well. (See pages 4-7 and 30-45) unning Outline: This textual outline will combine the unning outline of the LASB with a chonological outline and sub-heads to maximize contextual undestanding, especially cucial given that the eade will be moving back and foth though vaious books, often in apid succession. tansition notes: These bief notes, connected to the fist- and second-level headings in the unning outline, ae tansitional statements to aid the eade in undestanding the continuity and flow of the text. These notes will be used to signify the stat of a book, a change in time o place, o a shift in naative flow (fo example, when a pophet and histoical book intesect). (See page 9) unning timeline. This will be incopoated into the page spead in the oute magin. Makes will be given fo majo events in the Bible and the exta-biblical wold, giving pespective and context fo when the Bible events happened in elation to events in wold histoy. (See page 22) nlt textual notes Commentay notes: The study notes fom the LASB will be used and will only be modified if necessay in elation to the chonological Bible outline and updated scholaship. People Pofiles: The LASB pesonality pofiles will be incopoated at appoximately the same points whee they occu in the LASB. (See page 8) Chats, Maps, Diagams, Photos: We will include the LASB chats and maps in an updated fullcolo fomat. Additionally, we will include photos, whee appopiate, fo geate contextual undestanding and to highlight impotant passages. These images will sometimes offe glimpses at histoical atifacts o atwok elated to a passage, and at othe times will offe contempoay applications fo the veses illustated. (See pages, 20-21) achaeological notes: These notes will lagely be adapted fom the Tyndale Bible Dictionay and will have an application focus wheneve possible. This featue also incopoates a Bible life and times appoach and includes photos of geogaphic locations in ode to futhe facilitate undestanding and application fo the contempoay eade. (See page 11) newly Commissioned atwok: This Bible will include a band new set of full-colo, detailed illustations of the Tabenacle, the Temple, the city of Jeusalem, and moe. (Not shown) font Matte (to come) use s Guide: Histoical and Liteay Context + Application why the CLASB is unique and useful fo you Bible study. expanded timeline: The existing timeline in the LASB will be expanded and efomatted to include contextual and event aticles, photos, and book intoductions, showing context fo the people and events of the Bible. This outline will situate the events of the Bible in the boade context of wold events. Aticles will highlight cultues and pactices that ae connected to biblical events. Chonological suvey of the Bible: This featue will be split into two sections, and will incopoate mateials fom the individual Bible books. One section will cove the OT and will be positioned just pio to Genesis. The second will cove the NT and will occu just pio to the Gospels. Intoduction to the new Living tanslation BaCk Matte (to come) Maste Index: This topical index will be modified fom the LASB maste index to include the additional items that appea in the CLASB. Dictionay/Concodance Calenda featue: This featue connects ou moden calenda to dates in the Bible wheneve appopiate o possible. Colo Map Inset (fo back): A 1-page colo map set will be included to help put all the impotant places in the Bible in thei geogaphical context. Euphate SYRIA LEBANON editeanean Shechem 3 IR Bethel ISRAEL 4 Hebon EGYPT Beesheba 5 7 JORDAN SAU 2 Haan

3 Books Dates Fom: Undated To: 2100 BC Themes Genesis Ceation Sin Redemption Beginnings Evey stoy has a beginning. The Bible begins with God. At the vey beginning of this stoy, God ceated the univese and put eveything in ode, foming all of the planets, stas, and galaxies and setting them in motion. On eath, he ceated abundant vaieties of living ceatues. And he made the cown of his ceation in his own image, his vice-egents: humans. Ceation isn t the only beginning ecoded in the Bible, though. Thee is also the moe tagic stoy of the beginning of sin and death. Adam and Eve, the humans whom God placed ove his ceation, chose to disobey him and shatteed its pefection. This tagedy soon led to othes, such as Cain mudeing his bothe Abel in a jealous age. And ultimately, sin became so ampant and pevasive that God decided to begin once again. He chose Noah, the only ighteous man left on eath, to be the patiach of a fesh beginning fo humanity. But even Noah was vulneable to sin, and his descendants showed that the sin poblem was still vey eal and in need of a solution. How would God continue his escue plan fo humanity? Would he need to begin again afte the towe of Babel? People & Cultue Adam and Eve. God ceated Adam and Eve and placed them in the Gaden of Eden to ule on his behalf. They woked had at cultivating the gound and managing the affais of the Gaden, and they enjoyed communion with God thee. But they chose to disobey God s one command, and though them sin enteed the wold. They wee banished fom the Gaden, and thei fellowship with God was boken. But God immediately set into motion his plan to bing humanity back into fellowship with him this is the stoy of the entie Bible. Noah. By the time of Noah, sin and wickedness wee so ampant that God was actually soy he had eve ceated humans (Gen :7). But Noah was a ighteous man, and God chose to save him fom the destuction that was planned fo the est of humanity. Noah and his family became a new beginning fo humanity. Language and Cultue. Afte Noah s sons populated the eath again, thee was a unified language and cultue thoughout the wold. But this unity led to pide and a sense that humans didn t need God. As a esult, God caused them to be divided by diffeent languages and to be scatteed aound the wold. Diffeent cultues began to emege fom the diffeent language goups and egions. Adam and Eve in the Gaden of Eden, by Wenzel Pete 4000 BC 3500 BC 3000 BC 2500 BC 2000 BC TIMELINE CREATION (undated) EGYPT GREAT FLOOD (undated) PREDYNASTIC PERIOD ( BC) MESOPOTAMIA CANAAN ARCHAIC PERIOD/ DYNASTIES 1 2 ( BC) EARLY BRONZE AGE ( BC) Settlement of Asshu, aound 2800 BC SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION (about 3000~1950 BC) Sagon I ( BC) OLD KINGDOM/ DYNASTIES 3 8 ( BC) 230 BC Geat Pyamids built at Giza FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD/ DYNASTIES 9 10 ( BC) MIDDLE BRONZE AGE ( BC) 21 BC Abam is bon 2091 BC Abam moves to Canaan MIDDLE KINGDOM/ DYNASTIES ( BC) 4 5

4 MAP 1 Gaden of Eden God placed Adam and Eve in the Gaden of Eden when he made them in his image. The Bible doesn t tell us exactly whee Eden was located, except fo a few clues that ae difficult to deciphe in Genesis 2: Mountains of Aaat Noah s boat came to est on the mountains of Aaat, in moden-day Tukey (Gen 8:4). Fom hee his sons and thei descendants spead out to build new nations. 3 Babel The towe of Babel was built in the fetile aea between the Tigis and Euphates Rives, in modenday Iaq. MOUNTAINS OF ARARAT 2 TURKEY 1 Caspian EDEN? Haan at N SYRIA LEBANON Mediteanean es Riv IRAN And God saw that the light was good. Then he sepaated the light fom the dakness. Genesis 1:4 IRAQ Babel ISRAEL 3 1 EDEN? JORDAN Nile Rive EGYPT e ive is R ph Tig Eu SAUDI ARABIA Pesian Gulf 0 Red Megathemes Beginnings. Hee we find the beginnings of the univese, the eath, humanity, sin, and God s plan of salvation. Genesis teaches us that the eath is well-made and good; people ae special to God and unique; God ceates and sustains all life; and God deals with sin swiftly and with justice Mi Km. Books in this Section Sin. When people choose to disobey God s plan fo living, they ae choosing to sin. And sin uins people s lives. Genesis shows that living God s way can be ewading and makes life fulfilling. Pomises. God has pomised to help and potect his people. He made a covenant with Noah that he would neve again destoy the eath with a flood and gave a wondeful sign fo us to emembe his pomise: the ainbow. God always keeps his pomises. Genesis Autho: Moses Audience: The people of Isael Pupose: To ecod God s ceation of the wold and his desie to have people woship him Date witten: Appoximately b.c. Whee witten: In the wildeness duing Isael s wan- deings, somewhee in the Sinai Peninsula CLASB Booklet 4c.5 x bleed

5 BC BC A. The Beginning of Ceation We sometimes wonde how ou wold came to be. But hee we find the answe. God ceated the eath and eveything in it, and made humans like himself. Although we may not undestand the complexity of just how he did it, it is clea that God did ceate all life. This shows not only God s authoity ove humanity, but his deep love fo all ceation. The Account of Ceation GENESIS 1:1 2:4a In the beginning God ceated the heavens and the eath.* 2 The eath was fomless and empty, and dakness coveed the deep wates. And the Spiit of God was hoveing ove the suface of the wates. 3 Then God said, Let thee be light, and thee was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then Gen 1:1 The simple statement God ceated the heavens and the eath is one of the most challenging concepts confonting the moden mind. The vast galaxy we live in is spinning at the incedible speed of 490,000 miles pe hou. But even at this beakneck speed, ou galaxy still needs 200 million yeas to make one otation. And thee ae ove one billion othe galaxies just like ous in the univese. Some scientists say that the numbe of stas in ceation is equal to all the gains of sand on all the beaches of the wold. Yet this complex sea of spinning stas functions with emakable ode and efficiency. To say that the univese just happened o evolved equies moe faith than to believe that God is behind these amazing statistics. God tuly did ceate a wondeful univese. God did not need to ceate the univese; he chose to ceate it. Why? God is love, and love is best expessed towad something o someone else so God ceated the wold and people as an expession of his love. We should avoid educing God s ceation to meely scientific tems. Remembe that God ceated the univese because of love. Gen 1:1ff The ceation stoy teaches us much about God and ouselves. Fist, we lean about God: (1) He is ceative; (2) as the Ceato, he is distinct fom his ceation; (3) he is etenal and in contol of the wold. We also lean about ouselves: (1) Since God chose to ceate us, we ae valuable in his eyes; (2) we ae moe impotant than the animals. (See Gen 1:28 fo moe on ou ole in the ceated ode.) Gen 1:1ff Just how did God ceate the eath? This is still a subject of geat debate. Some say that with a sudden explosion, the univese appeaed. Othes say God stated the pocess and then the univese evolved ove billions of yeas. Almost evey ancient eligion has its own stoy to explain how the eath came to be. And almost evey scientist has an opinion on the oigin of the univese. But only the Bible shows one supeme God ceating the eath out of his geat love and giving all people a special place in it. We may neve know exactly how God ceated 8 the eath, but the Bible tells us that God did ceate it. That fact alone gives woth and dignity to all people. Gen 1:2 Who ceated God? To ask that question is to assume thee was anothe ceato befoe God. At some time, howeve, we ae foced to stop asking that question and ealize that thee has to be something that has always existed. God is that infinite Being who has always been and who was ceated by no one. This is difficult to undestand because finite minds cannot compehend the infinite. Fo example, we can ty to think of the highest numbe, but we can t do it. Likewise, we must not limit the infinite God by ou finite undestanding. Gen 1:2 The statement the eath was fomless and empty povides the setting fo the ceation naative that follows. Duing he sepaated the light fom the dakness. 5 God called the light day and the dakness night. And evening passed and moning came, making the fist day. Then God said, Let thee be a space between the wates, to sepaate the wates of the heavens fom the wates of the eath. 7 And that is what happened. God made this space to sepaate Gn 1:1 O In the beginning when God ceated the heavens and the eath,... O When God began to ceate the heavens and the eath,... ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE The Bible does not discuss the subject of evolution, but its woldview assumes God ceated the wold. The biblical view of ceation is not in conflict with science; athe, it is in conflict with any woldview that stats without a ceato. Equally committed and sincee Chistians have stuggled with the subject of beginnings and come to diffeing conclusions. This is to be expected because the evidence is vey old and quite fagmented, due to the avages of the ages. Polaizations and black-and-white thinking should be avoided. Students of the Bible must be caeful not to make the Bible say what it doesn t say, and students of science must not make science say what it doesn t say. The most impotant aspect of the continuing discussion is not the pocess of ceation, but the oigin of ceation. The wold is not a poduct of blind chance and pobability; God ceated it. The Bible not only tells us that the wold was ceated by God, but moe impotantly, it tells us who this God is. It eveals God s pesonality, his chaacte, and his plan fo his ceation. It also eveals God s deepest desie to elate to and fellowship with the people he ceated. God took the ultimate step towad fellowship with us though his histoic visit to this planet in the peson of his Son, Jesus Chist. We can know in a vey pesonal way this God who ceated the univese. The book of Genesis begins with God ceated the heavens and the eath. The heavens and the eath ae hee. We ae hee. God ceated all that we see and expeience. Hee we begin the most exciting and fulfilling jouney imaginable. the second and thid days of ceation, God gave fom to the univese; duing days fou though six, God filled the eath with living beings. The dakness was dispelled on the fist day, when God ceated light. Gen 1:2 The image of the Spiit of God hoveing ove the suface of the wate is simila to a mothe bid caing fo and potecting its young (see Deut 32:11-12; Isa 31:5). God s Spiit was actively involved in the ceation of the wold (see Job 33:4; Ps 104:30). God s cae and potection ae still active. Gen 1:3 2:7 How long did it take God to ceate the wold? Thee ae two basic views about the days of ceation: (1) Each day was a liteal 24-hou peiod; (2) each day epesents an indefinite peiod of time (even millions of yeas). the wates of the eath fom the wates of the heavens. 8 God called the space sky. And evening passed and moning came, making the second day. 9 Then God said, Let the wates beneath the sky flow togethe into one place, so dy gound may appea. And that is what happened. 10 God called the dy gound land and the wates seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, Let the land spout with vegetation evey sot of seed-beaing plant, and tees that gow seedbeaing fuit. These seeds will then poduce the kinds of plants and tees fom which they came. And that is what happened. 12 The land poduced vegetation all sots of seed-beaing plants, and tees with seed-beaing fuit. Thei seeds poduced plants and tees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And evening passed and moning came, making the thid day. 14 Then God said, Let lights appea in the sky to sepaate the day fom the night. Let them be signs to mak the seasons, days, and yeas. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the eath. And that is what happened. 1 God made two geat lights the lage one to goven the day, and the The Bible does not say how long these days wee. The eal question, howeve, is not how long God took, but how he did it. God ceated the eath in an odely fashion (he did not make plants befoe light), and he ceated men and women as unique beings capable of communication with him. No othe pat of ceation can claim that emakable pivilege. It is not impotant how long it took God to ceate the wold, whethe a few days o a few billion yeas, but that he ceated it just the way he wanted it. Gen 1: The space between the wates was a sepaation between the sea and the mists of the skies. smalle one to goven the night. He also made the stas. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the eath, 18 to goven the day and night, and to sepaate the light fom the dakness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And evening passed and moning came, making the fouth day. 20 Then God said, Let the wates swam with fish and othe life. Let the skies be filled with bids of evey kind. 21 So God ceated geat sea ceatues and evey living thing that scuies and swams in the wate, and evey sot of bid each poducing offsping of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, Be fuitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the bids multiply on the eath. 23 And evening passed and moning came, making the fifth day. 24 Then God said, Let the eath poduce evey sot of animal, each poducing offsping of the same kind livestock, small animals that scuy along the gound, and wild animals. And that is what happened. 25 God made all sots of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to poduce offsping of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Gen 1:25 God saw that his wok was good. People sometimes feel guilty fo feeling good about an accomplishment. This need not be so. Just as God felt good about his wok, we can be pleased with ou wok when it is well-done. Howeve, we should not feel good about ou wok if God would not be pleased with it. What ae you doing that pleases both you and God? Animals Animals ae mentioned thoughout the Bible fom Genesis to Revelation. Animals figued into many impotant biblical events, including the Ceation, the fall of man, the Flood, the ten plagues in Egypt, and the life of Jesus Chist. The people of both the Old and New Testaments lived close to the land and wee well acquainted with vaious animals, which explains why the Sciptue wites and Jesus himself fequently used animals as object lessons. Pesent-day biologists classify animals based on intenal and extenal stuctues, but in the ceation account animals ae classified by habitat. Thus, Genesis 1 speaks of wate and ai animals (Gen 1:20-21); cattle o domesticated animals that is, animals that live with humans (Gen 1:24); animals that scuy along the gound (Gen 1:24); and wild animals (Gen 1:24). When God made animals, they became living souls (having nephesh the Hebew wod tanslated life in Gen 1:20, 30). The same wod is used in Genesis 2:7 to descibe the human being God made; that is, the man became a living soul (nephesh). Both animals and humans ae nephesh that is, they ae living souls. Human beings ae diffeent fom animals in the sense that we have spiit (uach) and we bea the image of God (Gen 1:27).

6 BC BC GENESIS 1:1 2:4a (cont.) 2 Then God said, Let us make human beings* in ou image, to be like us. They will eign ove the fish in the sea, the bids in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the eath, and the small animals that scuy along the gound. 27 So God ceated human beings* in his own image. Gn 1:2 O man; Hebew eads adam. Gn 1:27 O the man; Hebew eads ha-adam. In the image of God he ceated them; male and female he ceated them. 28 Then God blessed them and said, Be fuitful and multiply. Fill the eath and goven it. Reign ove the fish in the sea, the bids in the sky, and all the animals that scuy along the gound. 29 Then God said, Look! I have given you evey seed-beaing plant thoughout the eath and all the fuit tees fo you food. 30 And I have given evey geen plant as food fo all the wild animals, the bids in the sky, and the small animals that scuy along the gound eveything that has life. And that is what happened. 31 Then God looked ove all he had made, and he saw that it was vey good! And evening passed and moning came, making the sixth day. Gn 2:2 O ceased; also in 2:3. 2:1So the ceation of the heavens and the eath and eveything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his wok of ceation, so he ested* fom all his wok. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declaed it holy, because it was the day when he ested fom all his wok of ceation. 4 This is the account of the ceation of the heavens and the eath. ADAM We can hadly imagine what it must have been like to be the fist and only peson on eath. Adam had to lean to be human on his own. Fotunately, God didn t let him stuggle too long befoe pesenting him with an ideal companion and mate, Eve. Theis was a complete, innocent, and open oneness, without a hint of shame. One of Adam s fist convesations with his delightful new companion must have been about the ules of the gaden. They had complete feedom in the gaden, with the esponsibility to tend and cae fo it. But one tee was off-limits, the tee of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam would have told Eve all about this. She knew that the tee s fuit was not to be eaten. Howeve, she decided to eat the fobidden fuit. Then she offeed some to Adam, and he didn t pause to conside the consequences. He went ahead and ate. In that moment of ebellion something lage, beautiful, and fee was shatteed... God s pefect ceation. Adam was sepaated fom God by his desie to act on his own. The effect on a plate-glass window is the same whethe a pebble o a boulde is huled at it the thousands of fagments can neve be egatheed. In the case of Adam s sin, howeve, God aleady had a plan in motion to ovecome the effects of the ebellion. The entie Bible is the stoy of how that plan unfolds, ultimately leading to God s own visit to eath though his Son, Jesus Chist. Jesus sinless life and death made it possible fo God to offe fogiveness to all. Ou own acts of ebellion both lage and small pove that we ae descendants of Adam. Only by asking fogiveness of Jesus Chist can we become childen of God. Stengths and accomplishments Weaknesses and mistakes Lessons fom his life Vital statistics Key veses Fist zoologist named the animals Fist landscape achitect, placed in the gaden to cae fo it Fathe of the human ace Fist peson made in the image of God, and the fist human to shae an intimate pesonal elationship with God Avoided esponsibility and blamed othes; chose to hide athe than to confont; made excuses athe than admitting the tuth Geatest mistake: togethe with Eve, bought sin into the wold As Adam s descendants, we all eflect the image of God God wants people who, though fee to do wong, choose instead to love him We should not blame othes fo ou faults We cannot hide fom God Whee: Gaden of Eden Occupation: Caetake, gadene, fame Relatives: Wife: Eve. Sons: Cain, Abel, Seth. Numeous othe childen. The only man who neve had an eathly mothe o fathe. It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fuit, and I ate it (Gen 3:12). Just as eveyone dies because we all belong to Adam, eveyone who belongs to Chist will be given new life (1 Co 15:22). Adam s stoy is told in Genesis 1:2 5:5. He is also mentioned in Luke 3:38; Romans 5:14; 1 Cointhians 15:22, 45; 1 Timothy 2: Gen 1:2 Why does God use the plual fom, Let us make human beings in ou image? One view says this is a efeence to the Tinity God the Fathe, Jesus Chist his Son, and the Holy Spiit all of whom ae God. Anothe view is that the plual woding is used to denote majesty; kings taditionally used the plual fom in speaking of themselves. The gamma doesn t decide the matte fo us, but in eithe case it is God who ceated humans in his image, and God has evealed himself to us as a Tinity clealy though the whole of the Sciptues. Gen 1:2 In what ways ae we made in God s image? God obviously did not ceate us exactly like himself because God has no physical body. Instead, we ae a eflection of God s gloy. Some feel that the image of God can be found in one o moe of the uniquely human capacities fo eason, ceativity, speech, o self-detemination. Moe likely, the image of God is something that descibes ou entie being as humans, not just one aspect. God made humans to be in a special elationship with him and to eign ove ceation as his ambassados and administatos on eath. We ought to eflect his chaacte in ou love, patience, fogiveness, kindness, and faithfulness. Knowing that we ae made in God s image povides a solid basis fo self-woth. Human woth is not based on possessions, achievements, physical attactiveness, o public acclaim. Instead, it is based on being made in God s image. Because we bea God s image, we can feel positive about ouselves. Citicizing o downgading ouselves is citicizing what God has made and the abilities he has given us. Knowing that you ae a peson of woth helps you love God, know him pesonally, and make a valuable contibution to those aound you. Gen 1:27 God made both man and woman in his image. Neithe one is made moe in the image of God than the othe. Fom the beginning the Bible places both man and woman at the pinnacle of God s ceation. Neithe gende is exalted ove the othe no depeciated. Gen 1:28 To eign ove something is to have absolute authoity and contol ove it. God has ultimate ule ove the eath, and he execises his authoity with loving cae. When God delegated some of his authoity to the human ace, he expected us to take esponsibility fo the envionment and the othe ceatues that shae ou planet. We must not be caeless B. The Beginning of Humanity Leaning about ou ancestos often helps us unde stand ouselves. The stoies of Adam and Eve in the Gaden, followed by the tagic stoy of thei two sons Cain and Abel, explain the sin and suffeing in ou wold and help us to live ou lives in eliance on God and his pomises. 1. ADAM AND EVE Adam and Eve, ou fist ancestos, wee the climax of God s ceation the vey eason God made the wold. But they didn t always live the way God intended. Though thei mistakes, we can lean impotant lessons about the way God wants us to live. Adam and Eve teach us much about the natue of sin and its consequences. The Man and Woman in the Gaden GENESIS 2:4b-25 When the Lod God made the eath and the heavens, 5 neithe wild plants no gains wee gowing on the eath. Fo the Lod God had not yet sent ain to wate the eath, and thee wee no people to cultivate Gn 2: O mist. DAYS OF CREATION Fist Day Second Day Thid Day Fouth Day Fifth Day Sixth Day Seventh Day Light (so thee was light and dakness) Sky and wate (wates sepaated) Land and seas (wates gatheed); vegetation Sun, moon, and stas (to goven the day and the night and to mak seasons, days, and yeas) Fish and bids (to fill the wates and the sky) Animals (to fill the eath) Man and woman (to cae fo the eath and to commune with God) God ested and declaed all he had made to be vey good and wasteful as we fulfill this chage. God was caeful how he made this eath. We must not be caeless about how we take cae of it. Gen 1:31 God saw that all he had ceated was excellent in evey way. You ae pat of God s ceation, and he is pleased with how he made you. If at times you feel wothless, emembe that God made you fo a good eason. You ae valuable to him. Gen 2:2-3 We live in an action-oiented wold! Thee always seems to be something to do and no time to est. Yet God demonstated that est is appopiate and ight. If God himself ested fom his wok, we should not be supised that we also need est. Jesus demonstated this pinciple when he and his disciples left in a boat to get away fom the cowds (see Mak :31-32). Ou times of est efesh us fo times of sevice. Gen 2:3 That God blessed the seventh day means that he set it apat fo holy use. The Ten Commandments emphasize this distinction by commanding the obsevance of the Sabbath (Exod 20:8-11). Gen 2:7 Fom the dust of the gound implies that thee is nothing fancy about the the soil. Instead, spings* came up fom the gound and wateed all the land. 7 Then the Lod God fomed the man fom the dust of the gound. He beathed the beath of life into the man s nostils, and the man became a living peson. 8 Then the Lod God planted a gaden in Eden in chemical elements making up ou bodies. The body is a lifeless shell until God bings it to life with his beath of life. When God emoves his life-giving beath, ou bodies once again etun to dust. Ou life and woth, theefoe, come fom God s Spiit. Many boast of thei achievements and abilities as though they wee the oiginatos of thei own stengths. Othes feel wothless because thei abilities do not stand out. In eality, ou woth comes not fom ou achievements but fom the God of the univese, who chooses to give us the mysteious and miaculous gift of life. Value life, as he does. Gen 2:9, 1-17 Wee the tee of life and the tee of the knowledge of good and evil eal tees? Two views ae often expessed: (1) The tees wee eal, but symbolic. Etenal life with God was pictued as eating fom the tee of life. (2) The tees wee eal, possessing special popeties. By eating the fuit fom the tee of life, Adam and Eve could have had etenal life, enjoying a pemanent elationship as God s childen. In eithe case, Adam and Eve s sin sepaated them fom the tee of life and thus kept them fom obtaining etenal life. Inteestingly, the tee of life again appeas in a desciption in Revelation 22 of people enjoying etenal life with God

7 BC BC GENESIS 2:4b-25 (cont.) the east, and thee he placed the man he had made. 9 The Lod God made all sots of tees gow up fom the gound tees that wee beautiful and that poduced delicious fuit. In the middle of the gaden he placed the tee of life and the tee of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A ive flowed fom the land of Eden, wateing the gaden and then dividing into fou banches. 11 The fist banch, called the Pi shon, flowed aound the entie land of Hav i lah, whee gold is found. 12 The gold of that land is exceptionally pue; aomatic esin and onyx stone ae also found thee. 13 The second banch, called the Gihon, flowed aound the entie land of Cush. 14 The thid banch, called the Ti gis, flowed east of the land of As shu. The fouth banch is called the Eu pha tes. 15 The Lod God placed the man in the Gaden of Eden to tend and watch ove it. 1 But the Lod God waned him, You may feely eat the fuit of evey tee Gn 2:19 O Adam, and so thoughout the chapte. Gen 2:15-17 God gave Adam esponsibility fo the gaden and told him not to eat fom the tee of the knowledge of good and evil. Rathe than physically peventing him fom eating, God gave Adam a choice and, thus, the possibility of choosing wongly. God still gives us choices, and we, too, often choose wongly. These wong choices may cause us pain, but they can help us lean and gow and make bette choices in the futue. Living with the consequences of ou choices teaches us to think and choose moe caefully. Gen 2:1-17 Why would God place a tee in the gaden and then fobid Adam to eat fom it? God wanted Adam to obey, but God gave Adam the feedom to choose. Without choice, Adam would have been like a pisone, and his obedience would have been hollow. The two tees povided an execise in choice with ewads fo choosing to obey and sad consequences fo choosing to disobey. When you ae faced with a choice, always choose to obey God. Gen 2:18-24 God s ceative wok was not complete until he made woman. He could have made he fom the dust of the gound, as he had made man. But God chose to make he fom the man s flesh and bone. In so doing, he illustated fo us that in maiage man and woman symbolically ae united into one. This is a mystical union of the couple s heats and lives. Thoughout the Bible, God teats this special patneship seiously. If you ae maied o planning to be maied, ae you willing to keep the commitment that makes the two of you one? The goal in maiage should be moe than fiendship; it should be oneness. Gen 2:21-23 God foms and equips men and women fo vaious tasks, but all these tasks lead to the same goal honoing God. Thee is no oom fo thinking that one gende is supeio to the othe. Gn 2:21 O took a pat of the man s side. Gen 2:24 God gave maiage as a gift to Adam and Eve. They wee ceated pefect fo each othe. Maiage was not just fo convenience, no was it bought about by any paticula cultue. It was instituted by God and has thee basic aspects: (1) The man leaves his paents and, in a public act, pomises himself to his wife; (2) the man and woman ae joined togethe by taking esponsibility fo each othe s welfae and by loving each othe above all othes; (3) the two ae united into one in the intimacy and commitment of sexual union that is eseved fo maiage. Stong maiages include all thee of these aspects. Gen 2:25 Have you eve noticed how a little child can un naked though a oom full of stanges without embaassment? He is not awae of his nakedness, just as Adam and Eve wee not embaassed in thei innocence. But afte Adam and Eve sinned, shame and awkwadness followed, ceating baies in the gaden 17 except the tee of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fuit, you ae sue to die. 18 Then the Lod God said, It is not good fo the man to be alone. I will make a helpe who is just ight fo him. 19 So the Lod God fomed fom the gound all the wild animals and all the bids of the sky. He bought them to the man* to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name fo each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the bids of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still thee was no helpe just ight fo him. 21 So the Lod God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lod God took out one of the man s ibs* and closed up the opening. 22 Then the Lod God made a woman fom the ib, and he bought he to the man. 23 At last! the man exclaimed. This one is bone fom my bone, and flesh fom my flesh! She will be called woman, because she was taken fom man. WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT MARRIAGE Gen 2:18-24 Gen 24:58-0 Pov 5:18 Song 4:9-10 Mal 2:14-15 Matt 5:32 Matt 19: Rom 7:2-3 Eph 5:21-33 Eph 5:23-32 Heb 13:4 Maiage is God s idea Commitment is essential to a successful maiage Maiag e holds times of geat joy Romance is impotant Maiage ceates the best envionment fo aising childen Unfaithfulness beaks the bond of tust, the foundation of all elationships Maiage is pemanent Only death should dissolve maiage Maiage is based on the pincipled pactice of love, not on feelings Maiage is a living symbol of Chist and the chuch Maiage is good and honoable between themselves and God. We often expeience these same baies in maiage. Ideally a husband and wife have no baies, feeling no embaassment in exposing themselves to each othe o to God. But like Adam and Eve we put on fig leaves (baies) because we have aeas we don t want ou spouse, o God, to know about (Gen 3:7). Then we hide, just as Adam and Eve hid fom God. In maiage, lack of spiitual, emotional, and intellectual intimacy usually pecedes a beakdown of physical intimacy. In the same way, when we fail to expose ou secet thoughts to God, we beak ou lines of communication with him. Gen 3:1 Disguised as a shewd sepent, Satan came to tempt Eve. At one time, Satan had been a gloious angel. But in pide, he ebelled against God and was cast out of heaven. As a ceated being, Satan has definite limitations. Although he is tying to tempt eveyone away fom God, he will not be the 24 This explains why a man leaves his fathe and mothe and is joined to his wife, and the two ae united into one. 25 Now the man and his wife wee both naked, but they felt no shame. The Man and Woman Sin GENESIS 3:1-19 The sepent was the shewdest of all the wild animals the Lod God had made. One day he asked the woman, Did God eal ly say you must not eat the fuit fom any of the tees in the gaden? final victo. In Genesis 3:14-15, God pomises that Satan will be cushed by one of the woman s offsping, the Messiah. Gen 3:1- Why does Satan tempt us? Temptation is Satan s invitation to give in to his kind of life and give up on God s kind of life. Satan tempted Eve and succeeded in getting he to sin. Eve since then, he s been busy tying to get people to sin. He even tempted Jesus (Matt 4:1-11), but Jesus did not sin! How could Eve have esisted temptation? By following the same guidelines we can follow. Fist, we must ealize that being tempted is not a sin. We have not sinned until we give in to the temptation. Second, to esist temptation, we must pay fo stength to esist, un fom it (sometimes liteally), and say no when confonted with what we know is wong. James 1:12 tells of the blessings and ewads fo those who don t give in when tempted. Gen 3:1- The sepent, Satan, tempted Eve by getting he to doubt God s goodness. He implied that God was stict, stingy, and selfish fo not wanting Eve to shae his knowledge of good and evil. Satan made Eve foget all that God had given he and, instead, focus on what God had fobidden. We fall into touble, too, when we dwell on what God fobids athe than on the countless blessings and pomises God has given us. The next time you ae feeling soy fo youself because of what you don t have, conside all that you do have and thank God. Then you doubts won t lead you into sin. Gen 3:5 Adam and Eve got what they wanted: an intimate knowledge of both good and evil. But they got it by disobeying God, and the esults wee disastous. Sometimes we have the illusion that feedom is doing anything we want. But God says that tue feedom comes fom obedience and knowing what not to do. The estictions he gives us ae fo ou good, helping us avoid evil. We have the feedom to walk in font of a speeding ca, but we don t need to be hit to ealize it would be foolish to do so. Don t listen to Satan s temptations. You don t have to do evil to gain moe expeience and lean moe about life. Gen 3:5 Satan used a sincee motive to tempt Eve: You will be like God. It wasn t wong of Eve to want to be like God. To become moe like God is humanity s highest goal. It is what we ae supposed to do. But Satan misled Eve concening the ight way to accomplish this goal. He told he that she could become moe like God by defying God s authoity, by taking God s place and deciding fo heself what was best fo he life. In effect, he told he to become he own god. To become like God is not the same as tying to become God. Rathe, it is to eflect his chaacteistics and to ecognize his authoity ove ou lives. Like Eve, we often have a wothy goal but ty to achieve it the wong way. We act like a political candidate who pays off an election judge to be voted into office; seving the people is no longe his highest goal. Self-exaltation leads to ebellion against God. As soon as we begin to leave God out of ou plans, we ae placing ouselves above him. This is exactly what Satan wants us to do. Gen 3: Satan tied to make Eve think that sin is good, pleasant, and desiable. A knowledge of both good and evil seemed hamless to he. People usually choose wong things because they have become convinced that those things ae good, at least fo themselves. Ou sins do not always appea ugly to us, and 2 Of couse we may eat fuit fom the tees in the gaden, the woman eplied. 3 It s only the fuit fom the tee in the middle of the gaden that we ae not allowed to eat. God said, You must not eat it o even touch it; if you do, you will die. 4 You won t die! the sepent eplied to the woman. 5 God knows that you eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil. The woman was convinced. She saw that the tee was beautiful and its fuit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give he. So she took Ceation Stoies Seveal ancient civilizations wote down thei own accounts of how the wold was ceated. The best known of these exta-biblical ceation myths is a Babylonian adaptation of the Sumeian stoy called Enuma Elish. The gods Tiamat and Apsu existed fom the beginning, but afte othe gods wee bon Apsu tied to do away with them. One of the gods, Ea, killed Apsu; then Tiamat was heself killed by Ea s son Maduk, the god of Babylon in whose hono the poem was composed. Maduk used the two halves of Tiamat s body to ceate the foundation fo both heaven and eath. He then set in ode the stas, sun, and moon. Lastly, to fee the gods fom menial tasks, with Ea s help he ceated mankind fom clay mingled with the blood of Kingu, the ebel god who had led Tiamat s foces. Othe ceation stoies ae found in Babylonian ecods. The Epic of Atahasis descibes the ceation of man as a solution to elieve the gods of the wok of cultivating the land. In contast to these stoies fom the suounding cultues, Isael s ceation stoy shows that God is completely in contol. He is not one of many gods, and his ceation of humanity was not a matte of convenience but an act of love. God ceated humans to ule his ceation and have elationship with him, not simply to do the had wok that he didn t want to do. the pleasant sins ae the hadest to avoid. So pepae youself fo the attactive temptations that may come you way. We cannot always pevent temptation, but thee is always a way of escape (1 Co 10:13). Use God s Wod and God s people to help you stand against it. Gen 3:-7 Notice what Eve did: She looked, she took, she ate, and she gave. The battle is often lost at the fist look. Temptation often begins by simply seeing something you want. Ae you stuggling with temptation because you have not leaned that looking is the fist step towad sin? You would win ove temptation moe often if you followed Paul s advice to un fom those things that poduce evil thoughts (2 Tim 2:22). Gen 3:-7 One of the ealities of sin is that its effects spead. Afte Eve sinned, she involved Adam in he wongdoing. When we do something wong, often we ty to elieve ou guilt by involving someone else. Like toxic waste spilled into a ive, sin swiftly speads. Recognize and confess you sin to God befoe you ae tempted to pollute those aound you

8 BC BC GENESIS 3:1-19 (cont.) some of the fuit and ate it. Then she gave some to he husband, who was with he, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment thei eyes wee opened, and they suddenly felt shame at thei nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves togethe to cove themselves. 8 When the cool evening beezes wee blowing, the man* and his wife head the Lod God walking about in the gaden. So they hid fom the Lod God among the tees. 9 Then the Lod God called to the man, Whee ae you? Gn 3:8 O Adam, and so thoughout the chapte. Gen 3:7-8 Afte sinning, Adam and Eve felt guilt and embaassment ove thei nakedness. Thei guilty feelings made them ty to hide fom God. A guilty conscience is a waning signal God has placed inside of you that goes off when you ve done wong. The wost step you can take is to ty to stifle o eliminate those guilty feelings without eliminating the cause. That would be like using a painkille but not teating the disease that is causing the pain. Be glad those guilty feelings ae thee. They make you awae of you sin so you can ask God s fogiveness and then coect you wongdoing. Gen 3:8 The thought of two humans coveed with fig leaves tying to hide fom the all-seeing, all-knowing God is humoous. How could they be so silly as to think they could actually hide? Yet we do the same, acting as though God doesn t know what we e doing. Have the couage to shae all you do and think with him. And don t ty to hide it can t be done. Honesty will stengthen you elationship with God. Gen 3:8-9 These veses show God s desie to have fellowship with us. They also show why we ae afaid to have fellowship with him. Adam and Eve hid fom God when they head him appoaching. God wanted to be with them, but because of thei sin, they wee afaid to show themselves. Sin had boken thei close elationship with God, just as it has boken ous. But Jesus Chist, God s Son, opens the way fo us to enew ou fellowship with him. God longs to be with us. He actively offes us his unconditional love. Ou natual esponse is fea because we feel we can t live up to his standads. But undestanding that he loves us, egadless of ou faults, can help emove that dead. Gen 3:11-13 Adam and Eve failed to heed God s waning ecoded in Genesis 2:1-17. They did not undestand the easons fo his command, so they chose to act in anothe way that looked bette to them. All of God s commands ae fo ou own good, but we may not always undestand the easons behind them. People who tust God will obey because God asks them to, whethe o not they undestand why God commands it. Gen 3:11-13 When God asked Adam about his sin, Adam blamed Eve. Then Eve blamed the sepent. How easy it is to excuse ou sins by blaming someone else o ou cicumstances. But God knows 10 He eplied, I head you walking in the gaden, so I hid. I was afaid because I was naked. 11 Who told you that you wee naked? the Lod God asked. Have you eaten fom the tee whose fuit I commanded you not to eat? 12 The man eplied, It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fuit, and I ate it. 13 Then the Lod God asked the woman, What have you done? The sepent deceived me, she eplied. That s why I ate it. EVE We know vey little about Eve, yet she is the mothe of us all. She was the final piece in the inticate and amazing puzzle of God s ceation. Adam now had anothe human being with whom to fellowship someone equally made in God s image. Hee was someone alike enough fo companionship, yet diffeent enough fo elationship. Togethe they wee geate than eithe could have been alone. Satan appoached Eve in the Gaden of Eden, whee she and Adam lived. He questioned he contentment. How could she be happy when she was not allowed to eat fom one of the fuit tees? Satan helped Eve shift he focus fom all that God had done and given to the one thing he had withheld. And Eve was willing to accept Satan s viewpoint without checking with God. Sound familia? How often is ou attention dawn fom all that is ous to the little that isn t? We get that I ve got to have it feeling. Eve was typical of us all, and we consistently show we ae he descendants by epeating he mistakes. Ou desies, like Eve s, can be quite easily manipulated. They ae not the best basis fo actions. We need to keep God cental in ou decision-making pocess. His Wod, the Bible, is ou guidebook in decision making. Stengths and accomplishments Weaknesses and mistakes Lessons fom he life Vital statistics Key vese Fist wife and mothe Fist female. As such she shaed a special elationship with God, had coesponsibility with Adam ove ceation, and displayed cetain chaacteistics of God Allowed he contentment to be undemined by Satan Acted impulsively without talking eithe to God o to he mate Not only sinned, but shaed he sin with Adam When confonted, blamed othes Women bea the image of God fully The necessay ingedients fo a stong maiage ae commitment to each othe, companionship with each othe, complete oneness, absence of shame (Gen 2:24-25) The basic human tendency to sin goes back to the beginning of the human ace Whee: Gaden of Eden Occupation: Wife, companion, co-manage of Eden Relatives: Husband: Adam. Sons: Cain, Abel, Seth. Numeous othe childen. At last! the man exclaimed. This one is bone fom my bone, and flesh fom my flesh! She will be called woman, because she was taken fom man (Gen 2:23). Eve s stoy is told in Genesis 2:18 4:2. He death is not mentioned in Sciptue. the tuth, and he holds each of us esponsible fo what we do (see Gen 3:14-19). Admit you wong attitudes and actions to God. Don t ty to get away with sin by placing blame. 14 Then the Lod God said to the sepent, Because you have done this, you ae cused moe than all animals, domestic and wild. You will cawl on you belly, goveling in the dust as long as you live. 15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between you offsping and he offsping. He will stike* you head, and you will stike his heel. 1 Then he said to the woman, I will shapen the pain of you pegnancy, and in pain you will give bith. And you will desie to contol you husband, but he will ule ove you.* 17 And to the man he said, Since you listened to you wife and ate fom the tee whose fuit I commanded you not to eat, the gound is cused because of you. All you life you will stuggle to scatch a living fom it. SATAN S PLAN AGAINST US Doubt Discouagement Divesion Defeat Delay Gen 3:14ff Adam and Eve chose thei couse of action (disobedience), and then God chose his. As a holy God, he could only espond in a way consistent with his pefect moal natue. He could not allow sin to go unchecked; he had to punish it. If the consequences of Adam and Eve s sin seem exteme, emembe that thei sin set in motion the wold s tendency towad disobeying God. That is why we sin today. Evey human being eve bon, with the exception of Jesus, has inheited the sinful natue of Adam and Eve (Rom 5:12-21). Adam and Eve s punishment eflects how seiously God views sin of any kind. Gen 3:14-19 Adam and Eve leaned by painful expeience that because God is holy and hates sin, he must punish sinnes. The est of the book of Genesis ecounts painful stoies of lives uined as a esult of the Fall. Makes you question God s Wod and his goodness Makes you look at you poblems athe than at God Makes the wong things seem attactive so that you will want them moe than the ight things Makes you feel like a failue so that you don t even ty Makes you put off doing something so that it neve gets done Disobedience is sin, and it beaks ou fellowship with God. But fotunately, God is willing to fogive us and to estoe ou elationship with him when we admit ou sin. Gen 3:15 Satan is ou enemy. He will do anything he can to get us to follow his evil, deadly path. The phase you will stike his heel efes to Satan s epeated attempts to defeat Chist duing his life on eath. He will stike you head foeshadows Satan s defeat when Chist ose fom the dead. A stike on the heel is not deadly, but a blow to the head is. Aleady God was evealing his plan to defeat Satan and offe salvation to the wold though his Son, Jesus Chist. Gen 3:17-19 Adam and Eve s disobedience and fall fom God s gacious pesence affected all ceation, including the envionment. Yeas ago people thought nothing of polluting steams and ives with chemical 18 It will gow thons and thistles fo you, though you will eat of its gains. 19 By the sweat of you bow will you have food to eat until you etun to the gound fom which you wee made. Fo you wee made fom dust, and to dust you will etun. Pa a dise Lost: God s Judgment GENESIS 3:20-24 Then the man Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mothe of all who live.* 21 And the Lod God made clothing fom animal skins fo Adam and his wife. 22 Then the Lod God said, Look, the human beings* have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they each out, take fuit fom the tee of life, and eat it? Then they will live foeve! 23 So the Lod God banished them fom the Gaden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the gound fom which he had been made. 24 Afte sending them out, the Lod God stationed mighty cheubim to the east of the Gaden of Eden. And he placed a flaming swod that flashed back and foth to guad the way to the tee of life. Gn 3:15 O buise; also in 3:15b. Gn 3:1 O And though you will have desie fo you husband, / he will ule ove you. Gn 3:20 Eve sounds like a Hebew tem that means to give life. Gn 3:22 O the man; Hebew eads ha-adam. waste and gabage. The amount dumped seemed so insignificant, so small compaed to these lage wate souces. Now we know that just two o thee pats pe million of cetain chemicals can damage human health. Sin in ou lives is simila to pollution in steams. Even small amounts ae deadly, and the consequences each fa beyond ouselves. Gen 3:22-24 Life in the Gaden of Eden was pefect, and if Adam and Eve had obeyed God, they could have lived thee foeve. But afte disobeying, Adam and Eve no longe deseved paadise, and God told them to leave. If they had continued to live in the gaden and eat fom the tee of life, they would have lived foeve. But etenal life in a state of sin would mean foeve tying to hide fom God. Like Adam and Eve, all of us have sinned and ae sepaated fom fellowship with God. But we do not have to stay sepaated. And God is also pepaing a new eath as an etenal paadise fo his people (see Rev 21 22). Gen 3:24 This is how Adam and Eve boke thei elationship with God: (1) They became convinced thei way was bette than God s and acted on that choice; (2) they became self-conscious and hid; and (3) they tied to excuse and defend themselves. To build a elationship with God we must evese those steps: (1) We must dop ou excuses and self-defenses; (2) we must stop tying to hide fom God; (3) we must become convinced that God s way is bette than ou way

9 BC BC 2. CAIN AND ABEL The tagic stoy of Cain and Abel shows how damatically sin had affected humanity. Less than a geneation afte being banished fom the Gaden of Eden, jealousy leads to mude. Cain Mudes Abel GENESIS 4:1-1 Now Adam* had sexual elations with his wife, Eve, and she became pegnant. When she gave bith to Cain, she said, With the Lod s help, I have poduced* a man! 2 Late she gave bith to his bothe and named him Abel. When they gew up, Abel became a shephed, while Cain cultivated the gound. 3 When it was time fo the havest, Cain pe sent ed some of his cops as a gift to the Lod. 4 Abel also bought a gift the best Gn 4:1a O the man; also in 4:25. ABEL Abel was the second child bon into the wold, but the fist one to obey God. All we know about this man is that his paents wee Adam and Eve, he was a shephed, he pesented pleasing offeings to God, and his life was ended at the hands of his jealous olde bothe, Cain. The Bible doesn t tell us why God liked Abel s gift and disliked Cain s, but both Cain and Abel knew what God expected. Only Abel obeyed. Thoughout histoy, Abel is emembeed fo his obedience and faith (Heb 11:4), and he is called ighteous (Matt 23:35). The Bible is filled with God s geneal guidelines and expectations fo ou lives. It is also filled with moe specific diections. Like Abel, we must obey egadless of the cost and tust God to make things ight. Stengths and accomplishments Lessons fom his life Vital statistics Key vese Gen 4:1 Sexual union means oneness and total knowledge of the othe peson. Sexual intecouse is the most intimate of acts, sealing a social, physical, and spiitual elationship. That is why God has eseved it fo maiage alone. Gen 4:2 No longe was eveything povided fo Adam and Eve as it had been in the Gaden of Eden, whee thei daily tasks wee efeshing and delightful. Now they had to stuggle against the elements in ode to povide food, clothing, and shelte fo themselves and thei family. Cain became a fame, while Abel became Mentioned in the Hall of Faith in Hebews 11 Fist shephed Fist maty fo tuth (Matt 23:35) God heas those who come to him God ecognizes the innocent peson and soone o late punishes the guilty Whee: Just outside of Eden Occupation: Shephed Relatives: Paents: Adam and Eve. Bothe: Cain. It was by faith that Abel bought a moe acceptable offeing to God than Cain did. Abel s offeing gave evidence that he was a ighteous man, and God showed his appoval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith (Heb 11:4). Abel s stoy is told in Genesis 4:1-8. He is also mentioned in Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51; Hebews 11:4; 12:24. a shephed. In pats of the Middle East today, these ancient occupations ae still pacticed much as they wee in Cain and Abel s time. Gen 4:3-5 The Bible doesn t say why God did not accept Cain s gift. Pehaps Cain s attitude was impope, o pehaps his gift was not up to God s standads. Povebs 21:27 says, The sacifice of an evil peson is detestable, especially when it is offeed with wong motives. God evaluates both ou motives and the quality of what we offe him. When we give to God and othes, we should have a joyful heat of the fistbon lambs fom his flock. The Lod accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain vey angy, and he looked dejected. Why ae you so angy? the Lod asked Cain. Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is ight. But if you efuse to do what is ight, then watch out! Sin is couching at the doo, eage to contol you. But you must subdue it and be its maste. 8 One day Cain suggested to his bothe, Let s go out Gn 4:1b O I have acquied. Cain sounds like a Hebew tem that can mean poduce o acquie. because of what we ae able to give. We should not woy about how much we ae giving up, fo all things ae God s in the fist place. Instead, we should joyfully give to God ou best in time, money, possessions, and talents. Gen 4:-7 How do you eact when someone suggests you have done something wong? Do you move to coect the mistake o deny that you need to coect it? Afte Cain s gift was ejected, God gave him the chance to ight his wong and ty again. God even encouaged him to do this! But Cain efused, and the est of his life is a statling example of what happens to those who efuse to admit thei mistakes. The next time someone suggests you ae wong, take an honest look at youself and choose God s way instead of Cain s. Gen 4:7 Fo Cain to subdue the sin that was waiting to attack and destoy him, he would have to give up his jealous ange so that sin would not find a foothold in his life. Sin is still waiting to attack and destoy us today. Like Cain, we will be victims of sin if we do not maste it. But we cannot maste sin in ou own stength. Instead, we must tun to God to eceive faith fo ouselves and tun to othe believes to eceive encouagement and stength. The Holy Spiit will help us maste sin. This will be a lifelong battle, but it will be ove when we ae face to face with Chist. Gen 4:8-10 This is the fist mude taking a life by shedding human blood. Blood epesents life (Lev 17:10-14). If blood is emoved fom a living ceatue, it will die. Because God ceated human life in his image, only God should take life away. Gen 4:8-10 Adam and Eve s disobedience bought sin into the human ace. They may have thought thei sin eating a piece of fuit wasn t vey bad, but notice how quickly thei sinful natue developed in thei childen. Simple disobedience quickly degeneated into outight mude. Adam and Eve acted only against God, but Cain acted against both God and othe people. A small into the fields. * And while they wee in the field, Cain attacked his bothe, Abel, and killed him. 9 Aftewad the Lod asked Cain, Whee is you bothe? Whee is Abel? I don t know, Cain esponded. Am I my bothe s guadian? 10 But the Lod said, What have you done? Listen! You bothe s blood cies out to me fom the gound! 11 Now you ae cused and banished fom the gound, which has swallowed you bothe s blood. 12 No longe will the gound yield good cops fo you, no matte how had you wok! Fom now on you will be a homeless wandee on the eath. 13 Cain eplied to the Lod, My punishment* is too geat fo me to bea! 14 You have banished me fom the land and fom you pesence; you have made me a homeless wandee. Anyone who finds me will kill me! sin has a way of gowing out of contol. Let God help you with you little sins befoe they tun into tagedies. Gen 4:11-15 Cain was seveely punished fo this mude. God judges all sins and punishes appopiately, not out of vengeance, but because he desies to coect us and estoe ou fellowship with him. When you e coected, don t esent it. Instead, enew you fellowship with God. Gen 4:14 We have head about only fou people so fa Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel. Two questions aise: Why was Cain woied about being killed by othes, and whee did he get his wife (see Gen 4:17)? Adam and Eve had numeous childen; they had been told to fill the eath (Gen 1:28). Cain s guilt and fea ove killing his bothe was heavy, and he pobably feaed epecussions fom his family. If he was capable of mude, so wee they. The wife Cain chose may have been one of his sistes o a niece. The human ace was still genetically pue, and thee was no fea of side effects fom maying elatives. Gen 4:15 The expession sevenfold punishment means that the peson s punishment would be complete, thoough, and much wose than that eceived by Cain fo his sin. Gen 4:19-2 Unfotunately, when left to themselves, people tend to get wose instead of bette. This shot summay of Lamech s family shows us the vaiety of talent and ability God gives humans. It also pesents the continuous development of sin as time passes. Anothe killing occued, pesumably in self-defense. Violence was on the ise. Two distinct goups wee emeging: those who showed indiffeence to sin and evil, and those who woshiped the Lod the descendants of Seth (Gen 4:2). Seth would take Abel s place as leade of a line of God s faithful people. 15 The Lod eplied, No, fo I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you. Then the Lod put a mak on Cain to wan anyone who might ty to kill him. 1 So Cain left the Lod s pesence and settled in the land of Nod,* east of Eden. The Descendants of Cain GENESIS 4:17-24 Cain had sexual elations with his wife, and she became pegnant and gave bith to Enoch. Then Cain founded a city, which he named Enoch, afte his son. 18 Enoch had a son named Iad. Iad became the fathe of* Me hu ja el. Me hu ja el became the fathe of Me thu sha el. Me thu sha el became the fathe of La mech. 19 La mech maied two women. The fist was named Adah, and the second was Zil lah. 20 Adah gave bith to Gn 4:8 As in Samaitan Pentateuch, Geek and Syiac vesions, and Latin Vulgate; Masoetic Text lacks Let s go out into the fields. Gn 4:13 O My sin. Gn 4:1 Nod means wandeing. Gn 4:18 O the ancesto of, and so thoughout the vese. CAIN In spite of paents effots and woies, conflicts between childen in a family seem inevitable. Sibling elationships allow both competition and coopeation. In most cases, the mixtue of loving and fighting eventually ceates a stong bond between bothes and sistes. But fo Cain, the conflict and jealousy ovecame whateve love he had fo Abel. And while we don t know many details of this fist child s life, his stoy can still teach us. Cain was angy. Fuious. Both he and his bothe Abel had given offeings to God, and his had been ejected. Cain s eaction gives us a clue that his attitude was pobably wong fom the stat. Cain had a choice to make. He could coect his attitude about his offeing to God, o he could take his ange out on his bothe. His decision is a clea eminde of how often we ae awae of opposite choices, yet choose the wong one. We may not be choosing to mude, but we ae still intentionally choosing what we shouldn t. The feelings motivating ou behavio can t always be changed by simple thought-powe. But hee we can begin to expeience God s willingness to help. Asking fo his help to do what is ight can pevent us fom setting into motion actions that we will late eget. Stengths and accomplishments Weaknesses and mistakes Lessons fom his life Vital statistics Key vese Fist human child Fist to follow in fathe s pofession, faming When disappointed, eacted in ange Took the negative option even when a positive possibility was offeed Was the fist mudee Ange is not necessaily a sin, but actions motivated by ange can be sinful. Ange should be the enegy behind good action, not evil action What we offe to God must be fom the heat the best we ae and have The consequences of sin may last a lifetime Whee: Nea Eden Occupation: Fame, then wandee Relatives: Paents: Adam and Eve. Bothes: Abel, Seth, and othes not mentioned by name. You will be accepted if you do what is ight. But if you efuse to do what is ight, then watch out! Sin is couching at the doo, eage to contol you. But you must subdue it and be its maste (Gen 4:7). Cain s stoy is told in Genesis 4:1-17. He is also mentioned in Hebews 11:4; 1 John 3:12; Jude 1:

10 BC BC GENESIS 4:17-24 (cont.) Ja bal, who was the fist of those who aise livestock and live in tents. 21 His bothe s name was Ju bal, the fist of all who play the hap and flute. 22 La mech s othe wife, Zil lah, gave bith to a son named Tu balcain. He became an expet in foging tools of bonze and ion. Tu bal-cain had a siste named Na a mah. 23 One day La mech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, hea my voice; listen to me, you wives of Lamech. I have killed a man who attacked me, a young man who wounded me. Gn 4:25 Seth pobably means ganted ; the name may also mean appointed. Gen 5:1ff The Bible contains seveal lists of ancestos, called genealogies. They ae not intended to be exhaustive and may include only famous people o the heads of families. He became the fathe of could efe not just to a son, but also to a moe distant descendant. Why ae genealogies included in the Bible? The Hebew people passed on thei beliefs though oal tadition. Fo many yeas in many places, witing was pimitive o nonexistent. Stoies wee told to childen who passed them on to thei childen. Genealogies gave a skeletal outline that helped people emembe the stoies. Fo centuies these genealogies wee added to and passed down fom family to family. Even moe impotant than peseving family tadition, genealogies wee included to confim the Bible s pomise that the coming Messiah, Jesus Chist, would be bon into the line of Abaham. Genealogies point out that people ae impotant to God as individuals. Theefoe, God efes to people by name, mentioning thei life span and descendants. The next time you feel ovewhelmed in a vast cowd, emembe that the focus of God s attention and love is on the individual on you! 24 If someone who kills Cain is punished seven times, then the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times! The Bith of Seth GENESIS 4:25-2 Adam had sexual elations with his wife again, and she gave bith to anothe son. She named him Seth,* fo she said, God has ganted me anothe son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed. 2 When Seth gew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time people fist began to woship the Lod by name. 3. ADAM S DESCENDANTS Beginning with Adam and Eve, humanity gew to become independent families and tibes. Fom Adam to Noah GENESIS 5:1-32 This is the witten account of the descendants of Adam. When God ceated human beings,* he made them to be like himself. 2 He ceated them male and female, and he blessed them and called them human. 3 When Adam was 130 yeas old, he became the fathe of a son who was just like him in his vey image. He named his son Seth. 4 Afte the bith of Seth, Adam lived anothe 800 yeas, and he had othe sons and daughtes. 5 Adam lived 930 yeas, and then he died. When Seth was 105 yeas old, he became the fathe of* Enosh. 7 Afte the bith of* Enosh, Seth lived anothe 807 yeas, and he had othe sons and daughtes. 8 Seth lived 912 yeas, and then he died. 9 When Enosh was 90 yeas old, he became the fathe of Kenan. 10 Afte the bith of Kenan, Enosh lived anothe 815 yeas, and he had othe sons and daughtes. 11 Enosh lived 905 yeas, and then he died. 12 When Kenan was 70 yeas old, he became the fathe of Mahalalel. 13 Afte the bith of Mahalalel, Kenan lived anothe 840 yeas, and he had othe sons and daughtes. 14 Kenan lived 910 yeas, and then he died. 15 When Mahalalel was 5 yeas old, he became the fathe of Jaed. 1 Afte the bith of Jaed, Mahalalel lived anothe 830 yeas, and he had othe sons and daughtes. 17 Mahalalel lived 895 yeas, and then he died. 18 When Jaed was 12 yeas old, he became the fathe of Enoch. 19 Afte the bith of Enoch, Jaed lived anothe 800 yeas, and he had othe sons and daughtes. 20 Jaed lived 92 yeas, and then he died. 21 When Enoch was 5 yeas old, he became the fathe of Methuselah. 22 Afte the bith of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God fo anothe 300 yeas, and he had othe sons and daughtes. 23 Enoch lived 35 yeas, 24 walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeaed, because God took him. 25 When Methuselah was 187 yeas old, he became the fathe of Lamech. 2 Afte the bith of Lamech, Methuselah lived anothe 782 yeas, and he had othe sons and daughtes. 27 Methuselah lived 99 yeas, and then he died. Gn 5:1 O man; Hebew eads adam; similaly in 5:2. Gn 5: O the ancesto of; also in 5:9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25. Gn 5:7 O the bith of this ancesto of; also in 5:10, 13, 1, 19, 22, 2. Gen 5:3-5 All human beings ae elated, going back to Adam and Eve. All people fom a family that shaes one flesh and blood. Remembe this when pejudice entes you mind o hated invades you feelings. Each peson is a valuable and unique ceation of God. Gen 5:25-27 How did these people live so long? Some believe that the ages listed hee wee lengths of family dynasties athe than ages of individual men. Those who think these wee actual ages offe thee explanations: (1) The human ace was moe 28 When Lamech was 182 yeas old, he became the fathe of a son. 29 Lamech named his son Noah, fo he said, May he bing us elief* fom ou wok and the painful labo of faming this gound that the Lod has cused. 30 Afte the Gn 5:29 Noah sounds like a Hebew tem that can mean elief o comfot. genetically pue in this ealy time peiod with less disease to shoten life spans; (2) no ain had yet fallen on the eath, and the expanse of the wates of the heavens (Gen 1:7) kept out hamful cosmic ays and shielded people fom envionmental factos that hasten aging; (3) God gave people longe lives so they would have time to fill the eath (Gen 1:28). Gen :1-4 Some people have thought that the sons of God wee fallen angels. But the sons of God wee pobably not angels because angels do not may o epoduce (Matt 22:30; Mak 12:25). Some scholas believe this phase efes to the descendants of Seth who intemaied with Cain s evil descendants. This would have weakened the good influence of the faithful and inceased moal depavity in the wold, esulting in an explosion of evil. Gen :3 Thei nomal lifespan will be no moe than 120 yeas has been intepeted by some commentatos to mean that God was allowing the people of Noah s day 120 yeas to change thei sinful ways. God shows his geat patience with us as well (2 Pet 3:8-9). He is giving us time to quit living ou way and begin living his way, the way he shows us in his Wod. While 120 yeas may seem like a long time, eventually the time an out, and the floodwates swept acoss the eath. You time also may be unning out (2 Pet 3:10-14). Tun to God to fogive you sins. You don t know how much time God will give you to tun to him, and once that time comes thee will be no moe oppotunities. Gen :4 These giant Nephilites wee people pobably nine o ten feet tall. This same Hebew tem was used to name a tall ace of people in Numbes 13:33. Goliath, who was nine feet tall, appeas in 1 Samuel 17. The giants used thei physical advantage to oppess the people aound them. Gen :-7 Does this mean that God egetted ceating humanity? Was he admitting he bith of Noah, Lamech lived anothe 595 yeas, and he had othe sons and daughtes. 31 Lamech lived 777 yeas, and then he died. 32 By the time Noah was 500 yeas old, he was the fathe of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. C. A New Beginning fo Humanity Eath was no longe the pefect paadise that God had intended. It is fightening to see how quickly all of humanity fogot about God. Incedibly, in all the wold, only one man and his fam i ly still woshiped God. That man was Noah. Because of his faithfulness and obedience, God saved him and his fam i ly fom a vast flood that destoyed evey othe human being on eath. This section shows us how God hates sin and judges those who enjoy it. 1. THE FLOOD The Flood was God s judgment of the wold s pevasive sin, cleansing his ceation and ceating a new beginning with Noah and his family. A Wold Gone Wong GENESIS :1-8 Then the people began to multiply on the eath, and daughtes wee bon to them. 2 The sons of God saw the beautiful women* and took any they wanted as thei wives. 3 Then the Lod said, My Spiit will not put up with* humans fo such a long time, fo they ae only motal flesh. In the futue, thei nomal lifespan will be no moe than 120 yeas. 4 In those days, and fo some time afte, giant Nephilites lived on the eath, fo wheneve the sons of God had intecouse with women, they gave bith to childen who became the heoes and famous waios of ancient times. 5 The Lod obseved the extent of human wickedness on the eath, and he saw that evey thing they thought o imagined was consistently and totally evil. Gn :2 Hebew daughtes of men; also in :4. Gn :3 Geek vesion eads will not emain in. So the Lod was soy he had eve made them and put them on the eath. It boke his heat. 7 And the Lod said, I will wipe this human ace I have ceated fom the face of the eath. Yes, and I will destoy evey living thing all the people, the lage animals, the small animals that scuy along the gound, and even the bids of the sky. I am soy I eve made them. 8 But Noah found favo with the Lod. The Stoy of Noah GENESIS :9-22 This is the account of Noah and his fam i ly. Noah was a ighteous man, the only blameless peson living on eath at the time, and he walked in close fellow ship with God. 10 Noah was the fathe of thee sons: Shem, Ham, and Ja pheth. 11 Now God saw that the eath had become coupt made a mistake? No, God does not change his mind (1 Sam 15:29). Instead, he was expessing soow fo what the people had done to themselves, as a paent might expess soow ove a ebellious child. God was soy that the people chose sin and death instead of a elationship with him. Gen :-8 The people s sin gieved God. Ou sins beak God s heat as much as sin did in Noah s day. Noah, howeve, pleased God, although he was fa fom pefect. We can follow Noah s example and find favo with the LORD in spite of the sin that suounds us. Gen :9 Saying that Noah was ighteous and blameless does not mean that he neve sinned (the Bible ecods one of his sins in Gen 9:20ff). Rathe, it means that Noah wholeheatedly loved and obeyed God. Fo a lifetime he walked step by step in faith as a living example to his geneation. Like Noah, we live in a wold filled with evil. Ae we influencing othes o being influenced by them? 18 19

11 BC BC GENESIS :9-22 (cont.) and was filled with violence. 12 God obseved all this couption in the wold, fo evey one on eath was coupt. 13 So God said to Noah, I have decided to destoy all living ceatues, fo they have filled the eath with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the eath! 14 Build a lage boat* fom cypess wood* and wate poof it with ta, inside and out. Then constuct decks and stalls thoughout its inteio. 15 Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.* 1 Leave an 18-inch opening* below the oof all the way aound the boat. Put the doo on the side, and build thee decks inside the boat lowe, middle, and uppe. 17 Look! I am about to cove the eath with a flood that will destoy evey living thing that beathes. Evey thing on eath will die. 18 But I will confim my cov enant with you. So ente the boat you and you wife and you sons and thei wives. 19 Bing a pai of evey kind of animal a male and a female into the boat with you to keep them alive duing the flood. 20 Pais of evey kind of bid, and evey kind of animal, and evey kind of small animal that scuies along the gound, will come to you to be kept alive. 21 And be sue to take on boad enough food fo you fam i ly and fo all the animals. 22 So Noah did evey thing exactly as God had commanded him. The Flood Coves the Eath GENESIS 7:1-24 When evey thing was eady, the Lod said to Noah, Go into the boat with all you fam i ly, fo among all the people of the eath, I can see that you alone ae ighteous. 2 Take with you seven pais male and female of each animal I have appoved fo eating and fo sacifice,* and take one pai of each of the othes. 3 Also take seven pais of evey kind of bid. Thee must be a male and a female in each pai to ensue that all life will suvive on the eath afte the flood. 4 Seven days fom now I will make the ains pou down on the eath. And it will ain fo foty days and foty nights, until I have wiped fom the eath all the living things I have ceated. 5 So Noah did evey thing as the Lod commanded him. Noah was 00 yeas old when the flood coveed the eath. 7 He went on boad the boat to escape the flood he and his wife and his sons and thei wives. 8 With them wee all the vaious kinds of animals those appoved fo eating and fo sacifice and those that wee not along with all the bids and the small animals that scuy along the gound. 9 They enteed the boat in pais, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 Afte seven days, the wates of the flood came and coveed the eath. Gn :14a Taditionally endeed an ak. Gn :14b O gophe wood. Gn :15 Hebew 300 cubits [138 metes] long, 50 cubits [23 metes] wide, and 30 cubits [13.8 metes] high. Gn :1 Hebew an opening of 1 cubit [4 centimetes]. Gn 7:2 Hebew of each clean animal; similaly in 7:8. Epic of Gilgamesh The Bible isn t the only ancient document that tells about a geat flood with a lone suviving family and pais of animals on boad; in fact, thee ae seveal flood stoies fom many diffeent cultues that have stikingly simila details to Noah s stoy in Genesis. A Sumeian stoy called Eidu Genesis tells how king Ziusuda was waned that the gods had deceed a deluge to destoy mankind and was told to build a geat boat in which to escape. An Akkadian stoy called the Atahasis Epic descibes a flood sent by the gods to destoy humanity afte ealie attempts to contol them had failed. The pious Atahasis was waned by the ceato god Ea to build a boat and escape with his family, teasue, and animals. The most famous of these flood stoies is the Babylonian Stoy of the Flood, which is pictued on tablet 11 of the longe Epic of Gilgamesh. This stoy, focused on the heo Gilgamesh, tells of the boat coming to est on a mountain and the dispatch in succession of a dove, a swallow, and a aven the occupants of the boat disembaking when the aven did not etun. The fact that all of these diffeent cultues tace thei lineage back to a geat heo who suvived a geat flood in a boat filled with animals, and who left only afte sending bids out fom the top of a mountain, is inteesting confimation of the claim in Genesis 9 that thee was indeed a geat flood in ancient times. Gen :15 The boat Noah built was no canoe! Pictue youself building a boat the length of one and a half football fields and as high as a fou-stoy building. The boat was exactly six times longe than it was wide the same atio used by moden shipbuildes. This huge boat was pobably built miles fom any body of wate, but Noah was motivated by God s pomises and obeyed his commands. Gen :18 When God said, I will confim my covenant, he was making a pomise. This is a familia theme in Sciptue God making covenants with his people. How eassuing it is to know God s covenant is established with us. He is still ou salvation, and we ae kept safe though ou elationship with him. (Fo moe on covenants, see Gen 9:8-17; 12:1-3; 15:17-21.) Gen :22 Noah got ight to wok when God told him to build the huge boat. Othe people must have been waned by Noah about the coming disaste (2 Pet 2:5), but appaently they did not expect it to happen. Things haven t changed much. Each day thousands of people ae waned of God s inevitable judgment, yet most of them don t eally believe it will happen. Don t expect people to welcome o accept you message of God s coming judgment on sin. Those who don t believe in God will deny his judgment and ty to get you to deny God as well. But 11 When Noah was 00 yeas old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the undegound wates eupted fom the eath, and the ain fell in mighty toents fom the sky. 12 The ain continued to fall fo foty days and foty nights. 13 That vey day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons Shem, Ham, and Ja pheth and thei wives. 14 With them in the boat wee pais of evey kind of animal domestic and wild, lage and small along with bids of evey kind. 15 Two by two they came into the boat, epesenting evey living thing that beathes. 1 A male and female of each kind enteed, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lod closed the doo behind them. 17 Fo foty days the flood wates gew deepe, coveing the gound and lifting the boat high above the eath. 18 As the wates ose highe and highe above the gound, the boat floated safely on the suface. 19 Finally, the wate coveed even the highest mountains on the eath, 20 ising moe than twenty-two feet* above the highest peaks. 21 All the Gn 7:20 Hebew 15 cubits [.9 metes]. Gn 8:4 Hebew on the seventeenth day of the seventh month; see 7:11. NOAH The stoy of Noah s life involves not one but two geat and tagic floods. The wold in Noah s day was flooded with evil. The numbe of those who emembeed the God of ceation, pefection, and love had dwindled to one. Only Noah still woshiped God. God s esponse to the sevee situation was a 120-yea-long last chance, duing which he had Noah build a gaphic illustation of the message of his life. Nothing like a huge boat on dy land to make a point! Fo Noah, obedience meant a long-tem commitment to a poject. Many of us have touble sticking to any poject, whethe o not it is diected by God. It is inteesting that the length of Noah s obedience was geate than the life span of people today. The only compaable long-tem poject is ou vey lives. But pehaps this is one geat challenge Noah s life gives us to live, in acceptance of God s gace, an entie lifetime of obedience and gatitude. Stengths and accomplishments Weakness and mistake Lessons fom his life Vital statistics Key vese Only followe of God left in his geneation Second fathe of the human ace Man of patience, consistency, and obedience Got dunk and embaassed himself in font of his sons God is faithful to those who obey him God does not always potect us fom touble, but caes fo us in spite of touble Obedience is a long-tem commitment We may be faithful, but ou sinful natue always tavels with us Whee: We e not told how fa fom the Gaden of Eden people had settled Occupation: Fame, shipbuilde, peache Relatives: Gandfathe: Methuselah. Fathe: Lamech. Sons: Ham, Shem, and Japheth. So Noah did eveything exactly as God had commanded him (Gen :22). Noah s stoy is told in Genesis 5:28 10:32. He is also mentioned in Isaiah 54:9; Ezekiel 14:14, 20; Matthew 24:37-38; Luke 3:3; 17:2-27; Hebews 11:7; 1 Pete 3:20; 2 Pete 2:5. living things on eath died bids, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scuy along the gound, and all the people. 22 Eveything that beathed and lived on dy land died. 23 God wiped out evey living thing on the eath people, livestock, small animals that scuy along the gound, and the bids of the sky. All wee destoyed. The only people who suvived wee Noah and those with him in the boat. 24 And the flood wates coveed the eath fo 150 days. The Flood Recedes GENESIS 8:1-22 But God emembeed Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow acoss the eath, and the flood wates began to ecede. 2 The undegound wates stopped flowing, and the toential ains fom the sky wee stopped. 3 So the flood wates gadually eceded fom the eath. Afte 150 days, 4 exactly five months fom the time the flood began,* the boat came to est on emembe God s pomise to Noah to keep him safe. This can inspie you to tust God fo deliveance in the judgment that is sue to come. Gen 7:1ff Pais of evey animal joined Noah in the boat; seven pais wee taken of those animals used fo sacifice. It has been estimated that almost 45,000 animals could have fit into the boat. Gen 7:1 Many have wondeed how this animal-kingdom oundup happened. Did Noah and his sons spend yeas collecting all the animals? But the Ceation, along with Noah, was doing just as God had commanded. Thee seemed to be no poblem gatheing the animals God took cae of the details of that job while Noah was doing his pat by building the boat. Often we do just the opposite of Noah. We woy about details ove which we have no contol, while neglecting specific aeas (such as attitudes, elationships, esponsibilities) that ae unde ou contol. Like Noah, concentate on what God has given you to do, and leave the est to God. Gen 7:17-24 Was the Flood a local event, o did it cove the entie eath? A univesal flood was cetainly possible. Enough wate exists in the oceans to cove all dy land (the eath began that way; see Gen 1:9-10). Aftewad God pomised neve again to destoy the eath with a flood. Thus, this flood must have eithe coveed the entie eath o destoyed all the inhabitants of the eath. Remembe, God s eason fo sending the Flood was to destoy all the eath s wickedness. It would have taken a majo flood to accomplish this

12 BEGINNINGS BC GENESIS 8:1-22 (cont.) the mountains of Aaat. 5Two and a half months late,* as the wates continued to go down, othe mountain peaks became visible. Afte anothe foty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the boat 7and eleased a aven. The bid flew back and foth until the floodwates on the eath had died up. 8He also eleased a dove to see if the wate had eceded and it could find dy gound. 9But the dove could find no place to land because the wate still coveed the gound. So it etuned to the boat, and Noah held out his hand and dew the dove back inside. 10Afte waiting anothe seven days, Noah eleased the dove again. 11This time the dove etuned to him in the evening with a fesh olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew that the floodwates wee almost gone. 12He waited anothe seven days and then eleased the dove again. This time it did not come back. 13Noah was now 01 yeas old. On the fist day of the new yea, ten and a half months afte the flood began,* the floodwates had almost died up fom the eath. Noah lifted back the coveing of the boat BC and saw that the suface of the gound was dying. Two moe months went by,* and at last the eath was dy! 15Then God said to Noah, 1 Leave the boat, all of you you and you wife, and you sons and thei wives. 17Release all the animals the bids, the livestock, and the small animals that scuy along the gound so they can be fuitful and multiply thoughout the eath. 18So Noah, his wife, and his sons and thei wives left the boat. 19And all of the lage and small animals and bids came out of the boat, pai by pai. 20Then Noah built an alta to the Lod, and thee he sacificed as bunt offeings the animals and bids that had been appoved fo that pupose.* 21And the Lod was pleased with the aoma of the sacifice and said to himself, I will neve again cuse the gound because of the human ace, even though eveything they think o imagine is bent towad evil fom childhood. I will neve again destoy all living things. 22As long as the eath emains, thee will be planting and havest, cold and heat, summe and winte, day and night. 14 Gn 8:5 Hebew On the fist day of the tenth month; see 7:11 and note on 8:4. Gn 8:13 Hebew On the fist day of the fist month; see 7:11. seventh day of the second month aived; see note on 8:13. Gn 8:20 Hebew evey clean animal and evey clean bid. Gn 8:14 Hebew The twenty- Afte the destuction of the Flood, God enewed his covenant with humanity though Noah and his family, pomising neve again to submit the eath to judgment though a catastophic flood. All of the nations of eath descend fom Noah and his sons. God Confims His Covenant that scuy along the gound, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fea and teo. I have placed Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, them in you powe. 3I have given them to you fo food, Be fuitful and multiply. Fill the eath. 2All the animals just as I have given you gain and vegetables. 4But you of the eath, all the bids of the sky, all the small animals must neve eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it. GENESIS 9:1-17 MOUNTAINS OF ARARAT Caspian i Tig s R p ive u E J Jeusalem h Mediteanean a te Rive s Nile 0 Red 5 And I will equie the blood of anyone who takes anothe peson s life. If a wild animal kills a peson, it must die. And anyone who mudes a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that peson s life will also be taken by human hands. Fo God made human beings* in his own image. 7Now be fuitful and multiply, and epopulate the eath. 8Then God told Noah and his sons, 9 I heeby confim my covenant with you and you descendants, 10and with all the animals that wee on the boat with you the bids, the livestock, and all the wild animals evey living ceatue on eath. 11Yes, I am confiming my covenant with you. Neve again will floodwates kill all living ceatues; neve again will a flood destoy the eath. 12Then God said, I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living ceatues, fo all geneations to come. 13I have placed my ainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the eath. 14When I send clouds ove the eath, the ainbow will appea in the clouds, 15and I will emembe my cov enant with you and with all living ceatues. Neve again will the floodwates destoy all life. 1When I see the ainbow in the clouds, I will emembe the etenal covenant between God and evey living ceatue on eath. Then God said to Noah, Yes, this ainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confiming with all the ceatues on eath. 17 Noah s Sons GENESIS 9:18 10:1 The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with thei fathe wee Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the fathe of Canaan.) 19Fom these thee sons of Noah came all the people who now populate the eath. 20Afte the flood, Noah began to cultivate the gound, and he planted a vineyad. 21One day he dank some wine he had made, and he became dunk and lay naked inside his tent. 22Ham, the fathe of Canaan, saw that his fathe was naked and went outside and told his bothes. 23Then Shem and Japheth took a obe, held it ove thei shouldes, and backed into the tent to cove thei fathe. As they did this, they looked the othe way so they would not see him naked. 24When Noah woke up fom his stupo, he leaned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. 25Then he cused Canaan, the son of Ham: May Canaan be cused! May he be the lowest of sevants to his elatives. Gn 9: O man; Hebew eads ha-adam. 2. REPOPULATING THE EARTH N Rive 100 Mi Km. Pesian MOUNTAINS OF ARARAT Noah s boat touched land in the mountains of Aaat, located in moden-day Tukey. Thee it ested fo almost eight months befoe Noah, his family, and the animals stepped onto dy land. Gen 8:-1 Occasionally Noah would send a bid out to test the eath and see if it was dy. But Noah didn t get out of the boat until God told him to. He was waiting fo God s timing. God knew that even though the wate was gone, the eath was not dy enough fo Noah and his family to ventue out. What patience Noah showed, especially afte spending an entie yea inside his boat! We, like Noah, must tust God to give us patience duing those difficult times when we must wait. Gen 8:21-22 Countless times thoughout the Bible we see God showing his love and patience towad men and women in ode to save them. Although he ealizes that thei heats ae evil, he continues to each out to them. When we sin o fall away fom God, we suely deseve to be destoyed by his judgment. But God has pomised neve again to destoy eveything on eath until the judgment day when Chist etuns to destoy evil foeve. Now evey change of season is a eminde of his pomise. Gen 9:5 God will equie each peson to account fo his o he actions. We cannot ham o kill anothe human being without answeing to God. A penalty must be paid. Justice will be seved. Gen 9:5- Hee God explains why mude is so wong: To kill a peson is to kill one made in God s image. Because all human beings ae made in God s image, all people possess the qualities that distinguish them fom animals: moality, eason, ceativity, and selfwoth. When we inteact with othes, we ae inteacting with beings made by God, beings to whom God offes etenal life. God wants us to ecognize his image in all people. Gen 9:8-17 Noah stepped out of the boat onto an eath devoid of human life. But God gave him a eassuing pomise. This covenant had thee pats: (1) Neve again will a flood do such destuction; ( 2) as long as the eath emains, the seasons will always come as expected; (3) a ainbow will be visible when it ains as a sign to all that God will keep his pomises. The eath s ode and seasons ae still peseved, and ainbows still emind us of God s faithfulness to his wod. Gen 9:20-27 Noah, the geat heo of faith, got dunk a poo example of godliness to his sons. Pehaps this stoy is included to show us that even godly people can sin and When I see the ainbow in the clouds, I will emembe the etenal covenant between God and evey living ceatue on eath. Genesis 9:1 22 CLASB Booklet 4c.5 x bleed that thei bad choice affects thei families. Although the ungodly people had all been killed, the possibility of evil still existed in the heats of Noah and his family. Ham s mocking attitude evealed a sevee lack of espect fo his fathe and fo God. Gen 9:25 This vese has been wongfully used to suppot acial pejudice and even slavey. But Noah s cuse wasn t diected towad any paticula ace; athe, it was diected at the Canaanite nation a nation God knew would become wicked. The cuse was fulfilled when the Isaelites enteed the Pomised Land and dove the Canaanites out (see the book of Joshua).

13 BC GENESIS 9:18 10:1 (cont.) 2 Then Noah said, 27 May the Lod, the God of Shem, be blessed, and may Canaan be his sevant! May God expand the teitoy of Japheth! May Japheth shae the pospeity of Shem,* and may Canaan be his sevant. Noah lived anothe 350 yeas afte the geat flood. 29He lived 950 yeas, and then he died :1 This is the account of the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the thee sons of Noah. Many childen wee bon to them afte the geat flood. Descendants of Japheth GENESIS 10:2-5 The descendants of Japheth wee Gome, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tias. 3The descendants of Gome wee Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togamah. 4The descendants of Javan wee Elishah, Tashish, Kittim, and Rodanim.* 5Thei descendants became the seafaing peoples that spead out to vaious lands, each identified by its own language, clan, and national identity BC Descendants of Ham GENESIS 10:-20 Geat Pyamid of Egypt constucted The descendants of Ham wee Cush, Mizaim, Put, and Canaan. 7The descendants of Cush wee Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah wee Sheba and Dedan. 8Cush was also the ancesto of Nimod, who was the fist heoic waio on eath. 9Since he was the geatest hunte in the wold,* his name became povebial. People would say, This man is like Nimod, the geatest hunte in the wold. 10He built his kingdom in the land of Babylonia,* with the cities of Babylon, BC Eech, Akkad, and Calneh. 11Fom thee he expanded his teitoy to Assyia,* building the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth-i, Calah, 12and Resen (the geat city located between Nineveh and Calah). 13Mizaim was the ancesto of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14Pathusites, Casluhites, and the Caphtoites, fom whom the Philistines came.* 15Canaan s oldest son was Sidon, the ancesto of the Sidonians. Canaan was also the ancesto of the Hittites,* 1Jebusites, Amoites, Gigashites, 17Hivites, Akites, Sinites, 18Avadites, Zemaites, and Hamathites. The Canaanite clans eventually spead out, 19and the teitoy of Canaan extended fom Sidon in the noth to Gea and Gaza in the south, and east as fa as Sodom, Gomoah, Admah, and Zeboiim, nea Lasha. 20These wee the descendants of Ham, identified by clan, language, teitoy, and national identity. Descendants of Shem GENESIS 10:21-31 Sons wee also bon to Shem, the olde bothe of Japheth.* Shem was the ancesto of all the descendants of Ebe. 22The descendants of Shem wee Elam, Asshu, Aphaxad, Lud, and Aam. 23The descendants of Aam wee Uz, Hul, Gethe, and Mash. 24Aphaxad was the fathe of Shelah,* and Shelah was the fathe of Ebe. 25Ebe had two sons. The fist was named Peleg (which means division ), fo duing his lifetime the people of the wold wee divided into diffeent language goups. His bothe s name was Joktan. 2Joktan was the ancesto of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazamaveth, Jeah, 27Hadoam, Uzal, Diklah, 28Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29Ophi, Havilah, and 21 BIBLE NATIONS DESCENDED FROM NOAH S SONS Shem s descendants wee called Semites. Abaham, David, and Jesus descended fom Shem. Ham s descendants settled in Canaan, Egypt, and the est of Afica. Japheth s descendants settled fo the most pat in Euope and Asia Mino. Shem Ham Japheth Hebews Chaldeans Assyians Pesians Aameans (Syians) Canaanites Egyptians Philistines Hittites Amoites Geeks Thacians Scythians Jobab. All these wee descendants of Joktan. 30The teitoy they occupied extended fom Mesha all the way to Sepha in the easten mountains. 31These wee the descendants of Shem, identified by clan, language, teitoy, and national identity. Conclusion GENESIS 10:32 These ae the clans that descended fom Noah s sons, aanged by nation accoding to thei lines of descent. All the nations of the eath descended fom these clans afte the geat flood. 3. SCATTERING THE PEOPLE People continued to ebel against God, but thei effots wee thwated by the confusion of thei languages. This maks the beginning of diffeent languages and cultues as the people scatteed all ove the wold and began to develop thei own customs. The Towe of Babel languages. Then they won t be able to undestand each othe. 8In that way, the Lod scatteed them all ove the wold, and they stopped building the city. 9That is why the city was called Babel,* because that is whee the Lod confused the people with diffeent languages. In this way he scatteed them all ove the wold. GENESIS 11:1-9 At one time all the people of the wold spoke the same language and used the same wods. 2As the people migated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia* and settled thee. 3They began saying to each othe, Let s make bicks and haden them with fie. (In this egion bicks wee used instead of stone, and ta was used fo mota.) Fom Shem to Abam 4Then they said, Come, let s build a geat city fo ouselves with a towe that eaches into the sky. This will GENESIS 11:10-2 make us famous and keep us fom being scatteed all This is the account of Shem s family. ove the wold. Two yeas afte the geat flood, when Shem 5But the Lod came down to look at the city was 100 yeas old, he became the fathe of* and the towe the people wee building. Look! Aphaxad. 11Afte the bith of* Aphaxad, Shem he said. The people ae united, and they all speak lived anothe 500 yeas and had othe sons and daughtes. the same language. Afte this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible fo them! 7Come, let s 12When Aphaxad was 35 yeas old, he became the fathe of Shelah. 13Afte the bith of Shelah, go down and confuse the people with diffeent Gn 11:2 Hebew Shina. Gn 11:9 O Babylon. Babel sounds like a Hebew tem that means confusion. 22, 24. Gn 11:11 O the bith of this ancesto of; also in 11:13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25. Gen 11:3 The bick used to build this towe was man-made and not as had as stone. Gen 11:3-4 The towe of Babel was most likely a zigguat, a common stuctue in Babylonia at this time. Most often built as temples, zigguats looked like pyamids with steps o amps leading up the sides. Zigguats stood as high as 300 feet and wee often just as wide; thus they wee the focal point of the city. The people in this stoy built thei towe as a monument to thei own geatness, something fo the whole wold to see. Gen 11:4 The towe of Babel was a geat human achievement, a wonde of the wold. But it was a monument to the people themselves athe than to God. We may build monuments to ouselves (expensive clothes, big house, fancy ca, impotant job) to call attention to ou achievements. These may not be wong in themselves, but when we use them to give ouselves identity and selfwoth, they take God s place in ou lives. We ae fee to develop in many aeas, but we ae not fee to think we have eplaced God. What towes have you built in you life? Gen 11:10-27 Hee, and in Genesis 10:22-31, appeas a list of Shem s descen- Gn 11:10 O the ancesto of; also in 11:12, 14, 1, 18, 20, Caspian Eup h is Tig Gen 10:8-9 Who was Nimod? Not much is known about him except that he was a heoic waio. But people with geat gifts can become poud, and that is pobably what happened to Nimod. Some conside him the founde of the geat, godless Babylonian Empie. tes a Gn 9:27 Hebew May he live in the tents of Shem. Gn 10:4 As in some Hebew manuscipts and Geek vesion (see also 1 Ch 1:7); most Hebew manuscipts ead Dodanim. Gn 10:9 Hebew a geat hunte befoe the LORD ; also in 10:9b. Gn 10:10 Hebew Shina. Gn 10:11 O Fom that land Assyia went out. Gn 10:14 Hebew Casluhites, fom whom the Philistines came, and Caphtoites. Compae Je 47:4; Amos 9:7. Gn 10:15 Hebew ancesto of Heth. Gn 10:21 O Shem, whose olde bothe was Japheth. Gn 10:24 Geek vesion eads Aphaxad was the fathe of Cainan, Cainan was the fathe of Shelah. Compae Luke 3:3. N Mediteanean R J Jeusalem Babel e Rive Nile BEGINNINGS 0 Red 100 Mi Km. THE TOWER OF BABEL The plain between the Tigis and Euphates ives offeed a pefect location fo the city and towe that eaches into the sky (Gen 11:4). dants, who wee blessed (Gen 9:2). Because of that blessing, fom Shem s line came Abam and the entie Jewish nation, which would eventually conque the land of Canaan in the days of Joshua CLASB Booklet 4c.5 x bleed

14 BC BC GENESIS 11:10-2 (cont.) Aphaxad lived anothe 403 yeas and had othe sons and daughtes.* 14 When Shelah was 30 yeas old, he became the fathe of Ebe. 15 Afte the bith of Ebe, Shelah lived anothe 403 yeas and had othe sons and daughtes. 1 When Ebe was 34 yeas old, he became the fathe of Peleg. 17 Afte the bith of Peleg, Ebe lived anothe 430 yeas and had othe sons and daughtes. 18 When Peleg was 30 yeas old, he became the fathe of Reu. 19 Afte the bith of Reu, Peleg lived anothe 209 yeas and had othe sons and daughtes. 20 When Reu was 32 yeas old, he became the fathe of Seug. 21 Afte the bith of Seug, Reu lived anothe 207 yeas and had othe sons and daughtes. 22 When Seug was 30 yeas old, he became the fathe of Naho. 23 Afte the bith of Naho, Seug lived anothe 200 yeas and had othe sons and daughtes. 24 When Naho was 29 yeas old, he became the Gen 11:27-28 Abam gew up in U of the Chaldeans, an impotant city in the ancient wold. Achaeologists have discoveed evidence of a flouishing civilization thee in Abam s day. The city caied on an extensive tade with its neighbos and had a vast libay. Gowing up in U, Abam was pobably well educated. Gen 11:31 Teah left U to go to Canaan but settled in Haan instead. Why did he stop halfway? It may have been his health, the climate, o even fea. But this did not change Abam s calling ( the LORD had said to Abam, Gen 12:1). He had espect fo his fathe s leadeship, but when Teah died, Abam moved on to Canaan. God s will may fathe of Teah. 25 Afte the bith of Teah, Naho lived anothe 119 yeas and had othe sons and daughtes. 2 Afte Teah was 70 yeas old, he became the fathe of Abam, Naho, and Haan. The Family of Te ah GENESIS 11:27-32 This is the account of Te ah s fam i l y. Te ah was the fathe of Abam, Na ho, and Ha an; and Ha an was the fathe of Lot. 28 But Ha an died in U of the Chal deans, the land of his bith, while his fathe, Te ah, was still living. 29 Meanwhile, Abam and Na ho both maied. The name of Abam s wife was Sa ai, and the name of Na ho s wife was Milcah. (Milcah and he siste Iscah wee daughtes of Na ho s bothe Ha an.) 30 But Sa ai was unable to become pegnant and had no childen. 31 One day Teah took his son Abam, his daughtein- law Sa ai (his son Abam s wife), and his gandson Lot (his son Ha an s child) and moved away fom U of the Chal deans. He was headed fo the land of Ca naan, but they stopped at Ha an and settled thee. 32 Te ah lived fo 205 yeas* and died while still in Ha an. Gn 11:12-13 Geek vesion eads 12 When Aphaxad was 135 yeas old, he became the fathe of Cainan. 13 Afte the bith of Cainan, Aphaxad lived anothe 430 yeas and had othe sons and daughtes, and then he died. When Cainan was 130 yeas old, he became the fathe of Shelah. Afte the bith of Shelah, Cainan lived anothe 330 yeas and had othe sons and daughtes, and then he died. Compae Luke 3:35-3. Gn 11:32 Some ancient vesions ead 145 yeas; compae 11:2 and 12:4. come in stages. Just as the time in Haan was a tansition peiod fo Abam, so God may give us tansition peiods and times of waiting to help us depend on him and tust his timing. If we patiently do his will duing the tansition times, we will be bette pepaed to seve him as we should when he calls us. Zigguat A zigguat was simila to the step pyamid of Egypt and was used fo woship. Zigguats wee often built in the majo cities of ancient Mesopotamia. The towe of Babel (Gen 11:1-9) is thought to have been a paticulaly pominent zigguat. It was widely believed that deities dwelt above, in high places. Theefoe, woship was moe appopiate on hills o mountains. Thee ae no hills in Mesopotamia, so the people thee built zigguats to povide high places to woship. Like the pyamids of Egypt, these temple towes wee squae. Instead of having sloping sides, thee was a succession of teaces, each smalle than the one below. Access to each level was by staiways o amps. The shine o alta was at the top, whee the piests would officiate at sacifices, incantations, and payes. The towe of Babel, howeve, was built as a monument to the geatness of the people who wee building it athe than to woship God. It is easy to tun something that is supposed to be about God into a celebation of ouselves. How can we ensue that we ae tuly woshiping God athe than doing geat things fo ou own gloy? NAMES OF GOD Name of God Meaning Refeence Significance Elohim God Genesis 1:1; Numbes 23:19; Psalm 19:1 Yahweh The LORD Genesis 2:4; Exodus :2, 3 El Elyon God Most High Genesis 14:17-20; Numbes 24:1; Psalm 7:17; Isaiah 14:13, 14 Refes to God s powe and might. He is the only supeme and tue God. The pope name of the divine peson. He is above all gods; nothing in life is moe saced. El Roi God Who Sees Genesis 1:13 God ovesees all ceation and the affais of people. El Shaddai God Almighty Genesis 17:1; Psalm 91:1 God is all-poweful. Yahweh Yieh The LORD Will Povide Genesis 22:13, 14 God will povide ou eal needs. Yahweh Nissi The LORD Is My Banne Exodus 17:15 We should emembe God fo helping us. Adonai Lod Genesis 18:27 God alone is the head ove all. Yahweh Elohe Yisael LORD God of Isael Judges 5:3; Psalm 59:5; Isaiah 17:; Zephaniah 2:9 He is the God of the nation. Yahweh Shalom The LORD Is Peace Judges :24 God gives us peace so we need not fea. Qedosh Yisael Holy One of Isael Isaiah 1:4 God is moally pefect. Yahweh Sabaoth LORD of Hosts (Hosts s efes to amies but also to all the heavenly powes.) 1 Samuel 1:3; Isaiah :1-3 God is ou savio and potecto. El Olam The Evelasting God Isaiah 40:28-31 God is etenal. He will neve die. Yahweh Tsidkenu The LORD Ou Righteousness Jeemiah 23:; 33:1 God is ou standad fo ight behavio. He alone can make us ighteous. Yahweh Shammah The LORD Is Thee Ezekiel 48:35 God is always pesent with us. Attiq Yomin Ancient of Days Daniel 7:9, 13 God is the ultimate authoity. He will one day judge all nations. 2 27

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