We shall continue with
the study of the Book of Genesis this week.
(1) As much as Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden, were men completely cut off from God’s presence? (See the account given in 4:1-16.) What then does v. 16 signify?
(2) In this segment, Genesis gives us a short genealogy of Cain’s descendants and introduces us to the fathers of certain professions. What were these professions? What does this tell us of the civilization of that time?
(3) Read vv. 23-24 together with vv. 25-26:
a. What contrast is provided by the latter to the former?
b. How does each speak to the two very different lines from Adam (who presumably lived in two different societies)?
c. What did the birth of Seth mean to Adam and Eve?
(4) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
As the author of Genesis opens with a marvelous account of creation, he sums up the Six Days of Creation with the words, “very good", as God crowns His creation with that of men and women in His own likeness and image. He has created a perfect world with beauty, goodness and love.
He has not only created a wonderful world, but human beings after His image: He would visit them, befriend them and allow them to know Him and His goodness. Yet the man and the woman chose to turn to their own way; they have not only marred the image of God in themselves, but they have brought a curse upon the entire earth. But in God’s mercy and long-suffering, He was prepared to wait for their return, and so He withheld His judgment, and “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45). (Read the genealogy of the descendants of Cain.)
In fact, his descendants did not call on the name of the Lord, as Seth’s did (Gen. 4:26), but God continued to bless and allow them to prosper. So a sophisticated civilization was born, with successful ranchers, skillful smiths of all kinds, and even musicians (Gen. 4:20-22).
But such a prosperous society was also instantly marked by polygamy and violence. Lamech took pride in both (Gen. 4:23-24). As God withheld His judgment, men continued to live long lives, and were given to merry-making without regard to God. As God raised up Seth’s line to bear witness to a very different kind of life, as exemplified by Enoch who chose to walk with God, the godless society took no notice. A sad picture ensued, as the “sons of God”, instead of exerting a positive influence on the ungodly, were themselves led astray, and their lives culminated in the destruction by the flood. Not even the descendants of Seth survived, except eight of them — the lone family of Noah.
We do live in a godless world, like that of the pre-flood era. God has also preserved His spiritual descendants of Seth, in you and me. His desire, too, is for us to turn the spiritual descendants of Cain back to Him. How well are we doing in this respect? Or, are we being led in their way instead, given to merry-making, without the thought or fear of the coming judgment?
(1) Why does Genesis preface the line of Adam with the repetition that they were made by God in His likeness?
(2) How does this line of Adam/Seth differ from that of Cain?
(3) While we do not have much information from other sources about Enoch (except for Hebrews 11:5-6 and Jude 14-15), the life of Enoch stands out as very different from the rest.
a. What did “walking with God” mean?
b. How special was he from the rest of the forefathers?
c. According to the Bible, when did this change in Enoch’s life happen? Naming of names was very important in biblical times. What might the name of his son, Methuselah (which most likely means “sent” for a purpose), signify given the fact that when he died, the flood came?
d. When Enoch decided to walk with God, did he leave his family?
e. Given all the information we can gather about Enoch, can you tell how he pleased God? Also, what reward do you think he was expecting from God? (Heb. 11:5-6)
(4) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
In the Bible, God-fearing people are described as those walking with God, walking before God, or, following Him. But I believe God’s ultimate desire is for us to walk with Him.
Many of the kings of Judah are described as having walked before the Lord, but they did not necessarily develop a friendship with God. Hezekiah even mentioned the fact that he walked before the Lord and had done what was good in the eyes of God, as he pled for healing. The healing, unfortunately led to the birth of one of the most ungodly kings in Judah. As with most of God’s people, their relationship with God was marked more by fear, than a personal friendship with God. In fact, the faith of God’s people was marked more by an outward observance of rules and regulations, than a love relationship in the Old Testament times, culminating to the pathetic spiritual state in Jesus’ time.
Of course, during the time of Jesus, the emphasis was on following Him. Many had become His disciples. Some, like Peter, gave up everything to follow Him: “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” (Matt. 19:27) Following Christ is great, but again, like Peter, one might carry a sense of obligation or even begrudgery.
But walking with God, whether exemplified by Enoch (Gen. 5:22) or by Noah (6:9), does convey a sense of friendship and goes beyond the observance of law and regulations, and beyond a sense of obligation. This is why Enoch was so pleasing to God that their intimacy ushered Enoch to continue his walk with God, not so much by dying prematurely, but by being taken away to be with God without seeing death. Noah’s walk with God pleased Him so much that He initiated the first “covenant” with mankind (Gen. 6:18).
I do not want to belittle how important it is for us to fear God by always walking before Him. I certainly understand that it is Jesus’ gracious calling that we all follow Him. But ultimately, His desire is to develop an intimate fellowship with us, and He desires that we may all grow in our intimate knowledge of Him, by walking with Him.
Indeed, this is one of the more difficult passages in the Bible to exegete. The more orthodox way (as affirmed by Luther and Calvin) is to interpret, in light of the preceding account, “sons of God” as the descendants of the Adam/Seth line while the “daughters of men” as the female descendants from the line of Cain. (The former had nothing to do with angelic beings since the flood was a judgment on human beings only.)
(1) Given the above understanding, what might the problems be with the sons of God marrying the daughters of men? (The original Hebrew highlights three major words, “saw…good…took”.)
(2) While v. 3 also lends itself to many interpretations, if we adopt the translation of some ancient texts which read, “My Spirit will not remain in man forever…”, and contrast it with the original act of creation in Genesis 2:7, what might the message be?
(3) From the account in vv. 4-5, try to describe the generation in which Noah and his sons live.
(4) How different was it from our days?
(5) Carefully reflect on v. 6. How does it depict our God?
(6) What do you think is the feeling of God in those days?
(7) Is there anything in your life that might cause God to grieve or regret?
(8) How does God’s grief (or regret) differ from human grief (regret)?
(9) Why would God grieve or regret given His foreknowledge? How then does this deepen your understanding of God’s love?
(10) If the wickedness of Noah’s time reached the point of total destruction, what about today’s?
(11) What kind of challenge did living in a time like this present to Noah and his family?
(12) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
In depicting the growing godlessness of the pre-flood era of humankind, the Bible says, “(T)he sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.” One bible scholar points out that, in the original Hebrew, what is being highlighted by this sentence are the three words, “saw…good…took”.
It reminds me of the famous tricolon spoken by Julius Caesar:
“In May of 47 B.C., after Julius Caesar had left a pregnant Cleopatra, soon to bear their son Caesarion, Caesar defeated Pharnaces of Pontus near the town of Zela. Caesar claimed he routed and captured the enemy in 4 hours. To inform the Senate of his victory, Caesar succinctly wrote, veni, vidi, vici, ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’”.
While the words of Julius Caesar, no doubt, were an expression of his arrogance over his success, he thought he was invincible — almost like a god.
The words used in Genesis, also depict men’s arrogance in that they thought they were not accountable to God. They did as they pleased.
Whether it was Julius Caesar, the people in the pre-flood era, or the people of our world today, human beings have not changed.
Like Caesar, we think we do not need to depend on God. In fact, we are our own gods, and we are masters of our own fate. Whether it is in the public arena of politics, in government, in school, in science or in the business world, we think we can solve every problem and usher in a better world without God’s help. In fact, to invoke God’s help is to be censored.
Like the pre-flood sons of God, our ultimate goal is to seek pleasure and self-fulfillment. The greatest enemy that stands in our way is God and those who follow Him. And anything that prevents people from living a “saw-good-take” life is seen as hypocritical, if not bigotry.
But the once invincible Julius Caesar died in the hands of his former friends, one of whom, Brutus, put him down with these words, “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him". Gone with him were his arrogant words, “I saw, I came, I conquered."
Gone were also these sons of God together with their unrestrained lifestyle —“saw…good…took”— as they were instantly taken away by the flood.
(1) What might being righteous and blameless “among the people of his time” imply?
(2) What might be the key to such a blameless life in the midst of such wickedness?
(3) The Bible describes three times that Noah’s time was corrupted. What does it mean?
(4) God revealed His plan of utter destruction to Noah. Was it a surprise to him? What might your response be if you were Noah? (See 2 Pet. 2:5.)
(5) What challenges did the command to build an ark present to Noah and his family? If Noah was to object, what reasonable excuses might he have?
(6) This is the first time the Bible uses the term, covenant (6:18). Using this incident of Noah, how would you define “covenant”, and how does God’s covenant differ from a human contract?
(7) What might it take for Noah to obey God?
(8) “Noah did everything just as God commanded him” (6:22). What might be the commands that God has given you today in which He desires the same obedience from you? Pause and examine yourself.
(9) What then is the essential message of today and how may you apply it in your life?
As
we reflect on Noah’s obedience to the will of God, we are amazed with his total submission. In our case, often submission is a process where God is gracious: He often allows us to struggle and to count the cost, but His
desire remains that we totally submit to Him. In the case of Noah, one man’s
submission to God’s will meant not only the continuation of mankind, but it
led to the eventual completion of God’s plan of salvation. Our submission, too,
often brings immeasurable glory to God and His kingdom. I invite you to reflect on “Submission”,
written by C. Austin Miles (1868-1946), a former pharmacist turned hymn-writer. It has touched many lives for more than half a century:
Submission
Refrain:
Not what I wish to be,
nor where I wish to go,
For who am I that I should choose my way?
The Lord shall choose for me,
‘Tis better far, I know,
So let Him bid me go or stay.
1
The path that I have trod
Has brought me nearer God
‘Though oft it led through sorrow’s gates.
Though not the way I’d choose,
In my way I might lose
The joy that yet for me awaits.2
The cross that I must bear
If I a crown would wear
Is not the cross that I would take;
But since on me ‘tis laid
I’ll take it, unafraid,
And bear it for the Master’s sake.
3
Submission to the will
Of Him who guides me still
Is surety of His love revealed;
My soul shall rise above
This world in which I move;
I conquer only where I yield.
(1) How long do you think it took Noah and his sons to build the ark?
(2) Use your imagination to think of all the things that might have gone on during this construction process. Jot them down. It will help you appreciate the obedience of Noah.
(3) Now that the ark is finished, it’s time to gather the animals into the ark. Does the Bible give us any clue as to how Noah gathered all the animals? It had to be an impossible task, especially in seven days.
(4) Why did God ask Noah to bring more pairs of clean animals into the ark? (see 8:20) Since God, somehow, had taught Noah to differentiate between the clean and unclean animals, why then would He save the unclean ones?
(5) Before the flood “suddenly” arrived, what were the people on earth doing? How did they respond to the preaching of Noah? (See Matt. 24:37-39 to read Jesus’ commentary on the event.)
(6) How similar to the days of Noah is today’s situation in the world?
(7) V. 16 describes the last act of God before the flood: “God shut him in”. In what way is Noah’s ark a symbol of God’s salvation plan through Jesus Christ?
(8) What then is the essential message of today and how may you apply it in your life?
Many questions have been raised concerning the ark. Christians in various scientific disciplines have come up with credible answers in the last few decades. The following excerpt from one of the creation websites may be of interest to you:
Preliminary calculations regarding the stability of the Ark were performed by Dr. Henry Morris (1971). Additional work by a naval architect, David Collins (1977), has built on these calculations by taking into account the adverse weather conditions which the Ark would have encountered…Collins looked at four important features of stability, in order to see whether the Ark would have been stable when subjected to upsetting forces such as wind and waves. Since the distance from the waterline to the bottom of the door was quite large in Noah’s Ark, and because it had a relatively low centre of gravity, the primary capsizing force would have been the wind. Collins found that even in 210 knot winds - three times hurricane force - the Ark was extremely stable when his four major stability features were examined… Collins concluded from his calculations that Noah’s Ark was extremely stable, more stable, in fact, than modern ships. This is primarily because in modern shipping the extra margin of stability is sacrificed for attaining a higher speed and more maneuverability…These mathematical studies show that the Biblical account of the Flood is a reasonable one, and act to confirm our faith in the veracity of the Scriptural record.
(Source: www.biblicalcreation.org.uk)
Note:
If you wish to read of more evidences concerning a worldwide flood, you can go to www.answersingenesis.org.
(1) 7:21 says, “Every living thing that moved on the earth (including all mankind) perished.” Use your imagination to picture the horror of the moment.
(2) Many have blamed that God is a cruel God. Look up Ezekiel 18:23 and 2 Peter 3:9 and see how God explains Himself.
(3) Read 7:24 and 8:1 together and try to understand why the Bible uses the word, “remembered".
(4) Have you gone through some “dark night of the soul”? How long did it last until you could finally see the light? How might 8:1 comfort you in times like this?
(5) The Bible specifically mentions where the ark rested ― the mountains of Ararat which lie between Iraq, Iran and Turkey. It is one of the most unstable regions in the political world, and is covered with snow and frequented by blizzards. Do you think God desires that the ark be found? (You may want to look up 2 Ki. 18:4 and 2 Cor. 5:7.)
(6) How long did the flood last? (Take a look at 7:11 and 8:13-14.)
(7) What might be the important lessons that Noah and his family learned? Try to reflect and list them out one by one.
(8) What should they look upon as their mission from now on?
(9) What about you? What lessons have you learned from the flood and what should you look upon as your mission from now on?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
Back in the seventies, I came across a video that details the history of the search for Noah’s Ark that spanned almost a century, from the Russian Czar’s era to modern day excursions with much more scientific methodologies.
Afterwards, such documentaries continued to surface with even more exciting discoveries aided by modern satellites and other scientific technologies.
Somehow, one thing appears to remain constant: While many of such discoveries produce very credible evidences confirming the biblical account of the ark, they face fierce critics from within and without the community of believers. Such discoveries remain, by and large, on the fringe of scientific scholarship.
I often wonder why.
I do not think it is Satan who is doing his best to discredit such discoveries, but rather God Himself. You see, faith in God remains a faith not based on sight. If by sight, we can prove that the biblical account of Noah’s Ark is true, it may convince some that the Bible is true and God is real. But such convincing may not translate into conviction of sin, which is the important basis of true faith in Jesus Christ. Further, if we can dig up a good portion of the ark, or convince the hostile Islamic authorities to make such a site into a shrine, it will only foster idol worship, not true belief in Jesus Christ.
Maybe, we should learn a lesson from Hezekiah. Instead of preserving the bronze snake that God used to heal the Israelites in the wilderness, he broke it into pieces, lest it turned into an idol that led the people away from the true worship of God. (2 Ki. 18:4)
(1) How did Noah know when to come out of the ark—based on his several attempts to scout the condition of the ground?
(2) What lesson can we learn from this?
(3) What was the first thing that Noah did when he and his family came out of the ark? Why did he do that?
(4) In what way was it a pleasing aroma to the Lord?
(5) How can we emulate Noah to make ourselves a pleasing aroma to the Lord?
(6) As God responded with His promise, why would He add, “(E)ven though” (NIV)? (8:21)
(7) V. 22 is a very beautiful poem penned by God Himself. Why should this make you thankful? Pause and give thanks to Him now.
(8) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
Genesis 6:18 is the first time the word covenant is being used in the Bible and it clearly introduces us to God who is a God of covenant and His covenant is very different from the contracts that we human beings make with one another.
In a human contract, we do have an offer and an acceptance, and there is to be a consideration to formalize it as a contract. If one side does not honor his side of the contractual obligation, the contract can be null and void. In other words, the validity of the contract depends on the fulfillment of obligations by both sides.
But God’s covenant with us is very different. First of all, He is always the initiator of His covenant. We, especially as sinners, are not in a position to initiate any covenant with Him, let alone have the ability to fulfill any obligation on our own.
Therefore, God’s covenant is never based on our worthiness or our merit. He makes His covenant with us, knowing our unworthiness, and our inability to perform our end of the bargain.
His covenant always has our blessings in mind. As He established His covenant with Noah, His desire was to provide a way out for Noah’s family, through which to continue with His plan of creation which finds its consummation in His plan of redemption. But His covenant extends beyond Noah and his family, as we find out later in Genesis 9. Noah is the representative of all mankind, and God on His own volition vows never to destroy mankind with a flood (9:11).
In God’s covenant with Noah, the obligation of mankind is implicit, and that is the offering of sacrifice to Him (Genesis 8:20). This befits the root meaning of the word covenant, which means “primarily ‘a cutting’ with reference to the custom of cutting or dividing animals in two” (CBTEL, Vol. II, 543). This need to shed blood is presupposed already in the making of the garment of skin for Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21), in that as much as throughout subsequent covenants that God renewed with men, whether with or through Noah, Abraham, Moses or David, with obligations of circumcision, keeping of Sabbath or the commandments, God knew that we would fail to honor our side of the covenant. But instead of nullifying His covenant, our God of Covenant stepped in to fulfill the part that we have failed to perform. He sent His Son to become one of us, the righteous for the unrighteous, to pay the penalty of sin that should be ours to pay through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as our guilt offering, thereby, validating the covenant on our behalf.
Therefore, “strictly speaking, such a covenant is quite unconditional, and amounts to a promise or act or mere favor on God’s part”. (Ibid, 544)
In another word, grace is the mark of God’s covenant.