old testament LIBERTY HOME ACCELERATED LEARNING PROGRAM Unit 1 Creation Stage Creation Week: Origin of All Things
Notes of Explanation & Abbreviations 1. Page one of each lesson is the lesson overview or the lesson at a glance. It serves as a planner. 2. Theological Key this activity is to reinforce important theological truths. 3. Memory Work This is an optional activity. You may require your students to complete the memory work or at least one of the verses for a grade. 5. Q: This signifies a question to pose to the class. 6. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the These Scripture quotations are inserted for your convenience and don t necessarily need to be read aloud at this point. Most of these lessons contain more material than can be presented in the time allotted. You can then select what you want to emphasize or clarify. 7. Quiz: The students have completed a quiz in the workbook. Ask them the quiz questions to reinforce their understanding of the material. 8. Establish readiness. This is the settling the class down and get them ready to learn phase of the class session. 9. This is your Institute and you can seek the LORD and do what is best for your students regarding assignments, memorization, and quizzes or exams. 2
Opening (10 Minutes) CREATION STAGE THE CREATION WEEK: ORIGIN OF ALL THINGS Promptly establish readiness for teaching-learning. Greeting & Opening prayer Take attendance - Grade book Theological Key - Ask the question and one student may reply with the answer. Memory verse - Have volunteers quote a verse Quiz - Read orally. Theological Key Q: How did God create man? A: God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures. Memory Work 1 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Gen. 1:26 Memory Work 2 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Gen. 1:27 Teaching (35 Minutes) Present lesson goals and objectives Course Goal: To conduct a survey of Genesis through Second Samuel concerning the nation Israel in covenant relation to the one True and Living God. Lesson Goal: To establish God s purposes in creation of all things based on the Genesis re-cord. Instructional Objectives: 1. To understand the events of the creation week in chronological order. 2. To describe the marriage of Adam and Eve. 3. To describe the fall of man 4. To explain the martyrdom of Abel. 5. To provide a summary of the life and ministry of Enoch. 3
Class Session Unit 1 I. Opening Remarks If the student of the Bible would attempt to understand the 1,189 chapters of the Bible, he or she must grasp the foundational elements of the first eleven chapters of Genesis. These eleven chapters set the stage for God s ongoing plan of redemption of the human race through the Creator Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. These eleven chapters include the creation of all things, the corruption all things, the condemnation of all things and the confusion of all things. II. Discussion & Application A. Overview of the book of Genesis (Theme: The Greatness of God) 1. Chapters 1-11 present four great events in the pre-historic era: a. The creation of all things b. The fall of man c. The universal flood d. The tower of Babel 2. Chapters 12-50 present four heroes of Israel: a. Abraham b. Isaac c. Jacob d. Joseph These important individuals are known as patriarchs, that is, the male head of a family or a clan. In the the term specifically refers to the key figures in the Genesis narrative, Abraham (Gen. 12-24), Isaac (Gen. 25-36), Jacob (Gen. 25-36), and Joseph (Gen. 37-50) who are considered the progenitors and pioneers of covenant faith. B. The creation of all things The account of God s act of creation is recorded in the first two chapters of Genesis, the book of beginnings. The crisp, authoritative narrative reveals that God existed before creation and that He created the natural universe from nothing. The New Testament testifies to this: Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear (are invisible). (Heb. 11:3) The world the universe is not the product of blind chance, of eons of trial and error by struggling organisms bent on the survival of the fittest but the product of a Creator with a plan for the ages for His glory and our good. The God of Genesis 1 is in complete control from starting point recorded in Genesis 1:1-2 to end point recorded in Revelation 22. And at the creative center of His plan and work is you and me! C. The wonders of Genesis 1:1-2 D. The creation week Each day of creative work on God s part is presented in a loose pattern of five elements. (1) The divine pronouncement God said; (2) the fiat generation, or effortless accomplishment let it be; (3) the divine report and it was so; (4) the divine appraisal it was good; and (5) the time span involved morning came and evening. Also a number is assigned to each specific day in order. 4
Comment: There are five basic views on God s creative work schedule. The day-age theory. The days in Genesis are viewed as long eons of time. In support of this theory it is argued that (1) God does not measure time as man does (2 Pet 3:8; Ps 90:4); (2) the word day is used in a figurative way in the creation narrative (Gen 2:4); and (3) The earth itself reveals that long aeons have passed between the appearance of the various forms of life. The revelatory day theory. The days in Genesis were ordinary days on Mt. Sinai in which God revealed the fact of divine creation to Moses. This theory has difficulty explaining Exodus 20:11. The framework theory. The days in Genesis are but a literary device. The author has chosen to organize his material in a topical pattern. The succession of days reveals nothing about the actual sequence in which the present order took shape. The symmetry between the first three and the last three days is offered as evidence that they are merely a literary device. The ordinary day view. Advocates point out that the word day is defined in 1:5 as the period from sunrise to sunset. The term day (yom) in the singular appears some 1,150 in the. In over ninety percent of these occurrences the word has its ordinary meaning. When a numeral is used with yom it always means an ordinary day. The phrase evening and morning also is thought to support this position. Finally, Exodus 20:11 is viewed as Moses own commentary on Genesis 1. The creative intervention view. At strategic points in the natural development of the earth the Creator intervened. Thus the days were ordinary days, but between these creative interventions long eons of time may have elapsed. James E. Smith, The Pentateuch. College Press Publishing Co., Joplin, MO. Chapter 3. 1. Day One: The creation of light (Read Gen. 1:1-5) And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. a. The divine pronouncement And God said; b. The fiat generation (or effortless accomplishment) Let there be light; c. The divine report and there was light; d. The divine appraisal And God saw the light, that it was good; e. The time span 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the eveninga and the morning were the first day. Comment: Notice that God s Word and God s power are inseparable. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. (Jn. 11:43) 2. Day Two: The creation of space and water (Read Gen. 1:6-8) And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. a. The divine pronouncement And God said; b. The fiat generation (or effortless accomplishment) Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 5
c. The divine report And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. d. The divine appraisal none is given until day three. Some commentators think these events should thus be combined into one. We disagree. e. The time span And the evening and the morning were the second day. Q: The firmament is. a. The earth s surface b. `The water vapor canopy over the earth c. The expanse of sky between earth and outer space. A: The answer is c this expanse includes the atmospheric heavens around the earth. Comment: Verses 6 to 8 show God s creative power is again on display as He separates or divides the waters through creation of a firmament. 3. Day three: The creation of plant life (Gen. 1:9-13) Land and seas appear. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grassc, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. a. The divine pronouncement And God said; b. The fiat generation (or effortless accomplishment) Let the waters under the heaven... c. The divine report And God called the dry land earth... d. The divine appraisal and God saw that it was good. e. The time span And the evening and the morning were the third day. Comment 1: Note the three natural divisions of the plant kingdom: grasses, herbs and trees. Their purposes: to provide a source of food for all living creatures, to beautify the planet and for use in sheltering man. Comment 2: God now fills the earth with living things, first is luxuriant vegetation, bountiful fruit trees and delicate flora. Thus, at God s audible command the land sprang forth with beauty and abundance. 4. Day Four: The creation of the sun, moon and stars (Gen. 1:14-19) And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. a. The divine pronouncement And God said, b. The fiat generation (or effortless accomplishment) Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night;... 6
c. The divine report And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. d. The divine appraisal and God saw that it was good. e. The time span And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Comment 1: These luminaries serve purposes: to distinguish between days and nights, to signal the seasonal changes and providing man with a calendar. Comment 2: On day four God, with equal ease propels the luminaries of the sky, sun, moon and stars into the vast reaches of space. 5. Day Five: The creation of fish and fowl (Gen. 1:20-23) And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. a. The divine pronouncement And God said, b. The fiat generation (or effortless accomplishment) Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth... c. The divine report And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth,.. d. The divine appraisal and God saw that it was good. e. The time span And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. Comment: On day five God continues to fill the earth with forms of life. This day sees the appearance of creatures inhabiting the waters of the deep and the lofty skies. Note: Cattle likely denotes domestic animals while beasts of the earth concerns large carnivores like bears or tigers; herbivores includes the likes of the elephant and remember the massive mastodon and dinosaurs. Creeping things include insects, bats and rats and worms. 6. Day Six: The creation of land animals and man. (Gen. 1:24-31) And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God 7
saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. a. The divine pronouncement And God said, b. The fiat generation (or effortless accomplishment) Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind. Let us make man in our image, after our likeness c. The divine report And God made the beasts of the earth d. The divine appraisal and God saw that it was good. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. e. The time span And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Comment: On day six the Creator-God continues to fill the earth with goodness with animal life and climaxing His creative work with the bringing forth of human beings. 7. Day Seven: God rests from His work schedule. (Gen. 2:1-3) Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Comment 1: God continues to work until the work is finished! a. There is rest in the land. Seven is the number of perfection and is well suited to the conclusion of God s creative work. b. God blessed the seventh day. c. God sanctified the seventh day. He made it holy, separated from the other days for a special purpose. It pointed to a perfect creation and a work well done. Comment 2: The seventh day is God s Sabbath or ceasing, which the word means literally. It is a day set aside to Himself to commemorate the finished work of a perfect creation. Later on God would introduce this day and concept to Israel as an element of His covenant with them (Exod. 20:8-11). E. The marriage of Adam and Eve 1. (Gen. 2:7) Notice man s link with the ground: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground. Please notice next man s link with heaven:...and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. 2. LORD God. Jehovah Elohim. The God who is brought forth we who are His. God has shared His life with man. 3. (Gen. 2:8-17) The Garden of Eden a perfect home in a perfect world a. Its location: Eastward (vv. 10-14) The garden was situated eastward in respect to the location of the author. Wherever its location, it is a well-watered place. (2:8, 10 14) b. Its purpose: To provide a home an abode for Adam. Adam is to cultivate and care for this beautiful paradise. As for being in a paradise with all provided for him, man was and is meant to work not loaf about on a bed of ease. He is to keep it or guard it. What enemy would threaten the perfect and peaceful land? c. God s commands are man s responsibilities in the world 8
(1) Be fruitful (1:28) (2) Multiply (1:28) (3) Replenish (1:28) (4) Subdue (1:28) (5) Rule over (1:28; 2:15) (6) God gives man His first law. Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (2:16-17) d. (2:18-25) The creation of woman (1) An exception to the rule of very good existed. Adam had no mate. (1:31; 2:18) (2) Woman was needed because man is not whole without her. (3) Woman was needed to counter man s loneliness. (4) Woman was needed to help man fulfill all the commands of God. (5) Woman was needed to form a marriage which would become a type of the church. F. The fall of man (The corruption of all things) 1. (3:1-6) Something terribly wrong happens to God s perfect creation. It suffers an invasion. a. (3:1) The nature of the serpent The serpent s original nature is a mystery to us. It was as crafty as it was beautiful. It became Satan s tool for temptation. b. The nature of Satan. His nature we do know. He is a murderer and a liar. He was a murderer from the very beginning and the father of lies as told us by Jesus and recorded in John 8:44. c. The goal of Satan: To get Adam, the federal head of the human race to worship him. But to do that Satan would have to have man made in his image, something that would happen all too soon. d. The strategy of Satan: deception. Deception is an all encompassing word actually for all his devious activities because he deceives through use of lies. His temptations are clever deceptions. But, Satan has no power to make us sin. He merely influences man through his crafty deceits. Man, ultimately is responsible for his own actions. e. The temptation account (1) God permitted this temptation in order for Adam to exercise his own will and truly choose to obey God on his own volition. (2) Satan zeroed in on Eve first because he believed she would be the easier target (1 Tim. 2:14). (3) First, God s spoken Word is simply questioned (3:1) which is a tactic designed to raise doubt in the mind of Eve. (4) Next, God s Word is brazenly contradicted (3:4), which is an outright denial of its accuracy. (5) Finally, God s Word is distorted. Satan speaks a half-truth maligning the person and work of God (3:5). (6) The Fall. From Gen. 3:1-5 we see that Satan fed Eve a three course meal of lies. 9
(a) He appealed to her appetite (lust of the flesh) (b) He appealed to her emotions (lust of the eyes) (c) He appealed to her intellect (pride of life) Read 3:6-7, 10, 12; 1 Jn. 2:16, time permitting. (7) What happened? (a) Sin began in disbelief. (b) The tempted ones doubted God s Word, thereby swallowing Satan s lies. (c) They disobeyed the first law of God and they failed and fell. 2. (3:7-24) Result of Adam s sin a. Immediate effects upon man (1) Man is corrupted through and through (2) Adam and Eve realized they were not right with God (3:7) (3) Shame and guilt came to them (3:7) (4) A negative fear of the LORD overwhelmed them (3:8) (5) Excuse-making of the new fallen nature (3:9-13) b. Long-term effects on man (1) Physical death for human beings which is the separation of body and soul (Heb. 9:27) (2) Spiritual death for human beings which is the separation of human life (spirit) from God s life (eternal spirit) (See Eph. 2:1) (3) Second death for some humans which is everlasting separation from God forever (Rev. 20:14-15) c. Corruption of nature (3:17-19; Rom. 8:19-22) (1) (3:18) Thorns and thistles evidence desolation on earth (Prov. 24:31; Isa. 5:6) The ground became uncooperative and yielded forth its fruit only after backbreaking labor. (2) (3:19) Part of the curse upon man was the hard labor now required to survive in a hostile environment. The safe, secure, lush garden paradise is gone. This severe struggle is a constant reminder of sin s penalty. (3) All of nature reveals the effects of sin entering its realm. (a) Barren deserts point to the emptiness that sin brings to our lives in place of the fullness that God has for us. (b) Decay, weeds, hail, pain, sorrow, sickness and death all point to God s judgment and wrath against sin. (4) (3:14) Condemnation of the serpent. The beautiful, clever animal which obviously walked or stood erect must now crawl upon its belly, eating the dust of the earth, a despised beast to many. An appropriate symbol for Satan. (5) (3:15) Curse upon Satan. Satan s curse is eternal whereas this passage which is theologically known as Protoevangel or first gospel, indicates the possibility of restoration for man. 3. (3:20-24) Salvation: God redeems man from his own failure by a fourfold act of grace. 10
a. (3:8-9) God sought them out for restoration. b. (3:21) God clothed Adam and Eve in an acceptable manner which was coverings made from the skins of animals. Innocent life was taken so they might be properly covered. c. (3:15) God promised them a Savior. d. (3:23-24) God removed Adam and Eve from the garden, lest they partake of the tree of life and live forever in a dying body. G. (Gen. 4:1-5) The martyrdom of Abel For whatever reason God has allowed Satan to penetrate His perfect universe and pollute it with all manner of foulness and sin. Satan continues to oppose the purposes of God especially in the area concerning mankind. The story of Cain and Abel clearly portrays the vicious influence of Satan upon the human race. 1. This is the story of two sons, two professions, two worshipers and two destinies. 2. The contrast: Abel brought a proper offering, a testimony of obedience and was looked upon with favor by the LORD. Cain brought an improper offering, a testimony of disobedience which brought God s disapproval. 3. The key element concerning the proper sacrifice was the blood of the innocent animal offering. In God s economy of grace the death of an innocent animal points to the worshiper s own sins and that death is deserved (separation from God). But, the death of the innocent animal also points to the truth that God provides a substitute death that the guilty one might live. In the fullness of time God would provide an acceptable substitute for the sins of all mankind Himself. 4. (4:6-7) God s pursuing love a. God gives Cain a second chance: If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? b. God in love warns Cain of following a willful and unreasoning heart: and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. If Cain rejected God s gracious act of love then the door to sin would be opened so to speak and Cain would be devoured by sin, pictured as a ferocious beast lurking outside the door. c. Cain foolishly intensified his rebellion against God and reaped the whirlwind of judgment for it. Cain murdered his brother Abel. d. (4:12) God rendered judgment against Cain, making the ground refuse to produce for him and then driving him from the presence of the LORD. H. Genealogies In contrast to the descendants of Cain outlined in Gen. 4:16-24, Genesis 4:25-5:32 presents the line of Seth through which will come the promised seed. God has not forgotten His promise to provide a Redeemer! I. Birth of Noah We have seen the failure of Cain and the subsequent advance of sin in the world. We have witnessed God s hatred of sin and the actions He took to deal with it. The move of sin becomes a chain reaction associated with the explosion of human births upon the earth. Wickedness becomes universal in scope. Yet one man, Noah, found grace in the eyes of Jehovah. ~End~ 11
Review (5 Minutes) Q & A 1. Name the four great events of Genesis 1-11. Creation of all things, Fall of man, Universal flood, Tower of Babel 2. Name the four heroes of Genesis 12-50. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph 3. God s power and God s Word are. Inseparable 4. On day seven of God s creative work week is a day of inactivity. The work has been completed and the land is at rest. Is this rest a portend of things to come? Yes. The rest we have in Christ Jesus. 5. Describe the nature of Satan. Murderer and liar, father of lies 6. Sin began in. Disbelief 7. What are the long-term effects of man s fall into sin? Physical death, spiritual death, second death Closing Challenge Make personal applications God created the universe by virtue of His sovereignty. He sustains His creation by virtue of His providence. All God does, whether in creating the universe or directing in the affairs of men, it is good. Man is the crowning glory of God s creation. The power and sovereignty of all-mighty God involved in creating the universe is involved in your very life! God is more concerned with your good than in the creation of the material universe. You are more important to God than galaxies of stars and worlds full of animate life. The bottom line of God s creative power is manifested in us His own image! And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: (Col. 3:10) God works in our lives in spite of our sins, seeking our confession of sin and repentance that He might restore us to fellowship with Himself. God s love is a pursuing love that never gives up on us. He is the lover of our souls! Close in prayer. 12