Genesis (1-19)

Understand the Context (Genesis 1:1-2:3)

When looking at any piece of literature, decisions made about any part of the material can be applied to all other parts. The Bible is probably one of the most credible pieces of literature in the world, yet many will pick and choose which parts of the Bible to accept and which parts to reject. As stated, any decision made for any part of the literature can be applied to all. Example, how can we be fully assured of our salvation in Christ if we reject the creation story or the end times material (Genesis and Revelation)?  

In the specific case for this study, God inspired Moses to write the Creation Story the way we read it today (2 Tim 3:16). Moses clearly believed what he wrote was what God offered for us to hear and to call authoritative. Moses and John agree that “God created the heavens and the earth” is a true statement (Gen 1:1-2, John 1:3). In Genesis, the Bible states that it was accomplished by God while in John, it says it was done by Jesus Christ. This is only a contradiction if you believe Jesus was not God. We will look closer at the Hebrew word used here for God (Elohim) in the focal study below.

Here we see that God is used Moses to create a new nation of free and blessed people out of a group of idol-worshipping, pagan slaves. The first order of business was that the people must reject all forms of idol worship in favor of worshipping only Jehovah. But, even as I wrote that requirement, I cringed because throughout the Old Testament, God’s people rejected Him in favor of worshipping gods like Ashtoreth, Baal, Chemosh, Dagon, Ra, Isis, Horus, Anubis, Marduk and Milcom. They even built physical idols of these gods just outside the gates of Jerusalem and eventually in the Temple of the Living God. It was a constant struggle and eventually resulted in Israel and Judah being taken captive by foreign nations in 722 BC by Assyria and 586 BC by Babylon, respectively.  

The false gods had to be replaced by the one true God just as all of the mythical stories of the creation must be replaced by the facts of the actual creation. God established a monotheistic form of worship to be honored and followed by all His people. It was the Law and we shall see it fully implemented in Exodus 20. Genesis 1 establishes the creation to have been done by God in six days while Genesis 2:1-3 establishes the Sabbath day of rest to eternally celebrate the six days of work God did and even His day of rest after it was completed. Our focal passages follow. 

The Beginning (Genesis 1:1-5)  

Moses documents the teaching of the Lord in the simplicity of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” The statement is all-encompassing and is intended to be a statement of fact about the beginnings of all things associated with the earth. I state it that way because God had no beginning and has no end. The Hebrew word Elohim is used here as a plural noun taken from the word Eloah which was also a plural noun taken from a singular word El. Simply spoken, it means that word Elohim captures the entire thrust of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in a single, plural noun. This is a key part of understanding God and establishes the fact that all three of the members of the Trinity existed from the beginning of time, they had no beginning and were not created nor do either of them have an end – they are eternal beings. 

Verse 2 makes it clear that the earth was without form, void of any substance and had nothing but darkness across its waters. Further, the Spirit of God hoovered above the waters of the whole planet. (Recall one of the characteristics of God as being omnipresent, i.e., God is everywhere at all times.)  

Verse 3 introduces the idea of “light.” Verse 2 told us that there was nothing but darkness across the world and here, we see that God created light to overcome the darkness. Note that verse 4 starts with the words, “And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” It means that God saw that this element of creation, met the need He intended. This will be a standard form for each element of the creation across the next five days.

The last thing God does on the first day is to add nomenclature to the created things. Verse 5 says that God called the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” And therefore, this was the evening and the morning of the first day. Some would say, together, they established the first 24-hour day. Note that there is no mention of how long a day was. The spin of the earth through one revolution establishes the 24 hours, and God has not yet mentioned any celestial bodies this far.

The Image Bearers (Genesis 1:26-31)

In verse 26, Moses turns to God’s work of creating human life. In the ensuing verses, we read of the work God did to create a separation between waters above and below (vs. 6).  He created a space to separate those waters and called it the sky (vss. 7-8). He caused the waters on the earth to flow together into specific places to let the ground appear between them. He called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas” (vss. 9-10).  Then God produced all kinds of vegetation (plants and tress) that reproduced themselves through their seeds (vss. 11-13). On the fourth day, He allowed two great lights to appear (the sun and the moon).  The largest dominated the day and the smaller dominated the nights. They became signs to divide the times into seasons, days and years (vss. 14-19). On the fifth day, He created birds, fish all kinds of animals and directed them to be fruitful and multiply across the earth (vss. 20-25).  

For humankind, He specifies He created them in His own image, that is He created them to be like Him (vs, 26). They would exercise dominion over the fish of the seas, birds of the air, livestock, wild animals and small animals. As God created them in His own image, He also created them male and female (vs. 27). In verse 28, He directs them to be fruitful and multiply to replenish the earth after their own kind.  

Verse 29 shows some of God’s concern some of the details for these newly created humans. He says the herbs, fruits, vegetables, etc. would be the food for the humans. In verse 30, God specifies further that the wild animals, birds of the sky and the small animals would be eating fruits and vegetable as well. So, none of the humans or the animals were created to be carnivorous. That is, none of the creation was made to eat the meat of another. So, that ended the sixth day and God said it was very good; better than the good of the other five days, this was very good. It was almost as if God was summarizing that every step of the creation process may have been good, but this final creation of mankind in His image or likeness was the crowning glory of the creation and it stands alone as being “very good.”  

Understand the Context (Genesis 2:4-25)

In the organization of the Book of Genesis, the first verse of each transitional segment is begun by a verse like “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created” (Gen 2:4a). So, for the sett of Scripture we are examining, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.” He uses such introductions at 5:1 as He records the family of Adam’s heritage, in 6:9 as He traces the families Noah, in 11:10 of the sons of Noah (Ham, Shem and Japheth), in 11:27 of Terah (the father of Abram), in 25:12 of the families of Ishmael, in 36:1 of Esau and in 37:2 of the families of Jacob (later named Israel by the Lord). So, we have the entire record of families from Adam through Israel in the Book of Genesis.  

It is important as we read the record Moses wrote, to recall the context of his writings. Each of the five Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) was written after the event of the exodus from Egypt and the slavery thereof. Therefore, the first audience of hearers of these words were that massive group of people who Moses delivered out of slavery and into God’s Promised Land for them. They establish the race of God’s chosen people as described by God, through Moses, to provide a history for the people who had no history for the last 300 to 400 years. As the Book of Beginnings, Genesis establishes that history, and thereby, provides a context for Israel. They could find meaning for their existence in the personal touch of the Creator as He made them and established a close relationship with them.  

As we move through the creation of each element as God created it, the unmistakable importance of Israel is revealed and provides the identity for God’s people. The task of Moses was to document all that God did for Israel, so they could be assured of their absolute identity and importance to all civilization. At the end of chapter 2, we find God writing the last sentence of His creation by discovering that the Creation was good, but it was not good that man was alone. 

Placed (Genesis 2:7-9)

So now, we approach the sixth day of creation which will be the crowning touch of God for all humankind. In fact, this is where God creates man, himself. Notice that like the heavens and the earth, there was nothing from which to start construction of man. So, God formed man out of the dust of the ground that only He created. Later, when humankind fell from the Garden because of sin, God would say, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen 3:19). But when He formed him, he remained a lifeless piece of flesh with no attributes other than mere existence. 

It was then that God breathed life into the nostrils of the man, and he became a living soul.  The piece of fashioned dust became a living, breathing, thinking and contributing being. While the physical being is somewhat temporary, the living soul is future eternal.  

Verse 8 tells us that God took the physical being within which the living soul is housed and places him within the Garden of Eden which God had prepared. He had caused growth from the ground of every tree that is good to see and is good for food (vs. 9). In that Garden is also the two trees mentioned in Scriptures for the welfare of humankind. The Tree of Life provides life, including eternal life, to all that live. The second tree is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is that tree of which the Lord forbade humankind to partake. The fruit of that tree allows humankind to understand good and evil. Of that knowledge, God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:22). God had created humankind in innocence, but the serpent tempted them to eat of the tree and they were no longer innocent. The Lord cautions in that same verse that humankind must be prevented from eating of the tree of life because they would live forever. He says in Genesis 3:22, “Now, lest he (humankind) reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever,” denial of that access must be assured. At the Fall, God dispatched cherubim to guard that tree.  

Employed (Genesis 2:15-17)

Notice that God did not create humankind with an idea of leisure being the substance of all life. Verse 15 tells us that God took man and placed him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. While this is only one sentence in the Scripture, it is immense in information content. Specifically, dressing and keeping the garden meant that humankind was completely responsible for the care of all the grounds to ascertain that the chemical preparation for planting of new crops has been done. This includes work like clearing, tilling, watering, fertilizing, weeding, trimming and plowing again. The expertise with which the ground is kept is directly proportional to the quality of the produce coming through it. The eye of the keeper must be geared to the intended product rather than the work it will take to get it.  

 Once the ground is properly prepared, the keeper can plant the crop to receive its increase. How the keeper tended the field drives the selection of certain kinds of crops that could be planted there. The crop for planting must be selected to match how the field was prepared. Consideration of the pH of the field must be known because some crops grow better in an acid field while others work best in alkaline fields. Some fields need heavy nitrogen content while others can grow anywhere. Several rounds of trimming, pruning or weeding must be done during the growing season to get the best harvest. 

The Lord does not have an overwhelming set of rules for working in the garden, but those He mentions are intended to be absolute rather than notional. The keeper is free to consume any other food from the garden as it comes available. There is one tree the keeper cannot consider for food; that is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Violation of the rule of not eating of that tree is death. This is more likely spiritual death than physical death because, in the cases of Adam and Eve, they were forever separated from the Garden and God as soon as they violated the prohibition of their tree.  The penalty for eating of that tree is clear, “For in the day that thou eateth thereof thou shalt surely die.” Violation of that ordinance is capital.  

Alone (Genesis 2:18-20)

Here is the beginning for all of us who call ourselves Human Behavioralists, or students of what makes people do the things they do. Verse 18 reports, “And the Lord God said, ‘it is not good that the man should be alone’.” First, let us remind ourselves of Whom was speaking; Moses reports it was the “Lord God” who made this assessment. From last week, we know that the Hebrew word for God is Elohim. He is the triune God that is plural but is One. He is One being who choses to reveal Himself in three ways: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each is fully God and in each “the fullness of the Godhead is fully present” (Col 2:9). But frequently, throughout the Old Testament, the writers refer to “The Lord God” for “The Lord our God.” The word “Lord” is a noun which serves in the role of an adjective to specify the word “God.” It is the Hebrew word Ye ho vah or Jehovah. So, the speaking of God’s name from here is “Jehovah our Elohim” or “Jehovah Elohim.”  Jehovah is the self-existent One (singular) who needs no further statement or explanation. He is “all there is.” 

Jehovah Elohim said, “It is not good that the man (Adam) should be alone” (vs. 18). When Adam (and later Eve) is alone, he is incomplete, not finished, not whole. That truth is the beginning of understanding why some people appear to be partially missing or absent. The Lord states here that He will “make a help meet for him” and then leaves the topic for a few lines. 

Instead, He summarizes the creation thus far. He says, “It was out of the ground (dust) that the Lord God had formed every living animal and bird and brough them to Adam to see what he would name them” (vs. 19a). God appropriated the naming authority to Adam by saying that “whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof (vs. 19b). Verse 20 wraps back around by saying that while Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field, there remained Adam with no help meet identified for him.  So, when God created humankind, beginning with Adam, there was something He immediately saw that drives human existence even unto this day; “It is not good that the man should be alone.” 

Understand the Context (Genesis 3:1-24)

Genesis 3 includes the Fall of Humankind. Considering the rest of the Bible talks of God’s grace, the coming Messiah and His sacrifice for the sin of humankind, one could say that had humankind not fallen in Chapter 3, there would not have been a necessity for that sacrifice, humans would have remained innocent, and would have never left the Garden. But our God is omniscient and eternal. He knows all things and He is not bounded by time. So, God knew as He created humankind with free will, that it would be necessary to rescue them from the exercise of that free will. Hence, God always knew there would be a need for a Savior, and that Savior was a part of His triune nature from the beginning of time. The balance of committed sin and the rescue of humankind from that sin is found throughout the Scriptures, but Paul captured the entrance of sin well as he said “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom 5:12).

Sin was not only introduced through temptation in the Garden, but it was also fully demonstrated as Adam’s son, Cain murdered Able, as man’s lust drove Lamech to introduce polygamy, as Noah revealed his nakedness to his sons after he passed out from over-consumption of alcohol, as the king of Babel built a tower to heaven, as the depravity of Sodom and Gomorrah was paraded before God’s eyes. Recall that God came to a frustrating conclusion once as as documented in Genesis 6:7, “And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” 

But God’s own grace overcame the penalty of sin as again Paul wrote. “19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 5:19-21). So, let us look at how that fall took place. 

Temped (Genesis 3:1-5)

Moses describes how that fall took place by first describing the agent of the temptation, and thus, setting the scene for the temptation of humankind by Satan and his demons for all times until they find their ends in the Lake of Fire (Rev 19:20 & 20:10). Moses says, “the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made” (vs. 1a.). “Subtile” is the Hebrew word aruwn meaning crafty, deceptive or convincing. He begins his deception by talking with the woman to restate what God had said. He says to Eve, “Hath God said, ‘Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” (vs. 1b). Satan frequently begins his temptation by stating a partial truth that we already know. Here, he quotes the first part of what God said to Adam but leaves out the limiting sentence forbidding the eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen 2:16-17). Eve restates that truth in verse 2 but adds the limiting truth in verse 3 which she knows is true, “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ‘Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” So, not only did Eve know the complete truth of what God said well enough to quote it to Satan, but she also knew and understood the gravity of the punishment for disobedience to God’s command.   

But this is Satan’s standard, that is, he takes God’s words and tells you what God really meant to say. Here, Satan says that God did not mean that you would really die. Rather, he says, “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like Him, knowing both good and evil” (vs. 5). Satan’s implication is that if Eve will eat of this fruit, she will be more like the God she loves so dearly. He will open your eyes in such a way that you will see what He sees and share in the knowledge and wisdom that only God now knows. It is like he is asking Eve, “Wouldn’t you like to be more like God?” Satan’s sales pitch is always made to sound like it is something that will make you better or draw you closer to God. Will Eve fall for it, literally? 

Fallen (Genesis 3:6-7)

As with the short-term results of yielding to many temptations, the woman found the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was good for food. She found it pleasing to the eyes and giving of a new sense of wisdom. So, the next step with yielding to temptation was common to what Eve did.  She had to share her new-found blessings with another. Adam was certainly the first one on her mind, so she shared her newly discovered “forbidden fruit” with her husband, and he also yielded to the temptation and ate of the fruit of the tree as well.  

Satan has nothing new to offer when it comes to temptation of God’s people. John tells us in 1 John 2:16, exactly what Satan’s ways are, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” He is so absolutely dedicated to these ways of tempting humankind that he used them to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. We know from Scripture that Jesus fasted for forty days. He was weakened and hungry (Matt 4:2, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2). In His weakened state, Satan offered to solve His hunger by suggesting that if He is really the Son of God, He should turn the stones beneath Him in loafs of bread to eat (Matt 4:3). This would solve His lust of the flesh.  

Jesus refused and Satan took Him to the pinnacle of the Temple and said, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, ‘He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.’ 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’” (Matt 4:6-7). Jesus’ response comes from Deuteronomy 6:16 which points to Moses’ failure which prevented him the privilege of leading Israel into the promised land (Moses struck the rock for water instead of speaking to it as the Lord directed). Likewise, the supernatural gifts God gives us in the Holy Spirit are not for demonstration of our power or glory but to be used for ministry to others. Jesus could not “demonstrate“ His protection from God. That protection was given to “keep Him is His ways” (Psa 91:11-12). So, Satan’s attempt to exploit Jesus’ pride of life failed as well.  

Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and said, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matt 4:9). This effort to tempt Jesus through His lust of the eyes failed as Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:13-14 & 10:20. I like the simplicity of Exodus 20:3, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

But Adam and Eve wanted to have the only thing God forbade them in the Garden. They gave into their pride of life to be more like God (according to Satan). Instead, they found their eyes of innocence were opened to eyes of shame as, for the first time, they were aware they were naked. As God walked in the cool of the next day, He asked the question, “Adam, where art thou?” They hid themselves because they knew they were naked before God (Gen 3:8-10). 

Understand the Context (Luke 2:1-15)

During the Christmas Season, all Christians tend to pause from their normal ways of doing things to make time to celebrate the most significant birth that has ever taken place, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Hebrew Messiah and Greek Christ. This birth was so important because it fulfilled the prophesies of the Old Testament that God would send a Savior to the earth to release Israel from from bondage and save multitudes from the punishment for their sin. There are roughly 550 prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Messiah and about 350 of them were fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus Christ. The remaining prophesies will be fulfilled in the Second Coming of Christ when He returns for His people and sets up an everlasting Kingdom comprised of all those who are believers in Jesus as described in Romans 10:9-10. 

The timing of the birth of Christ was known and understood by most Jewish scholars of that day. For example, when the wise men of the east came to King Herod telling him of their following the great star, he asked the scholars assigned to him and they responded that He was to have been born two years earlier in the town of Bethlehem as prophesied in the Scriptures (Mic 5:2). Daniel’s prophesies place the date of the Messiah’s recognition as 483 years after the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem after Israel’s captivity in Babylon and Persia (Dan 9:25 & Neh 2:6). Of course, Herod tried to murder the Christ by decreeing that all male babies of 2 years old or younger would be killed by his soldiers (called the Slaughter of the Innocents).  

An angel had come to warn Joseph and Mary of this plan and they left immediately for Egypt where they would stay until after the death of Herod. Matthew 2:23 documents this nearly impossible set of details concerning the prophesies that Jesus would be a Nazarene, who was born in Bethlehem and coming out of Egypt. Jesus fulfilled all these prophesies of His ancestry, birth, life, death and resurrection during His first coming to earth. The remaining prophesies will be fulfilled in His Rapture of the Saints or His Second Coming. 

The Location (Luke 2:1-5)

God frequently uses secular people, even monarchs to accomplish His will and the birth of Jesus was no exception. In order for Jesus to be born at just the right time to fulfill all the Scripture related to that birth, Caesar Augustus was used to arrogantly degree a tax requiring all Israelis to return to the birth homes of their fathers to respond to the tax (vs. 1). Luke also tells us that it was specifically during the time that Cyrenius was the Governor of Syria (vs. 2). 

So, as all people went out to comply with this tax, Joseph, a carpenter in Nazareth and his espoused wife must leave Nazareth of Galilee for Bethlehem of Judea. It is interesting that God can use anyone He wishes to cause ancient prophesies to be literally fulfilled. Here, He is causing the Micah 5:2 prophecy regarding the city of Christ’s birth to be fulfilled through required taxation by a Roman Ceasar. And He caused it to happen so that Jesus would do the Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem exactly 173,880 days after Artaxerxes released Nehemiah with direction to rebuild Jerusalem (Dan 9:25 & Neh 2:6). When Mary and Joseph arrived at Bethlehem, Mary was already at full term. 

The Birth (Luke 2:6-7)

Verse 6 finishes the description of timing of Mary’s pregnancy by saying that “the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. It was necessary for Luke to specify that Jesus was her firstborn son in order to fulfill the prophecy that Jesus was born of a virgin (Isa 7:14). The rest of that prophesy says that Mary would name the Child Immanuel meaning God with us. The Hebrew Joshua and the Greek Jesus have common meanings. 

Notice that the Lord of Lords and King of Kings comes into this world in a barn because the thousands of people returning to Bethlehem for the required taxing left no rooms to rent anywhere. Further, Mary did not bring a fur coat or fancy infant clothing for the little Boy. Rather, He was wrapped in strips of cloth referred to as swaddling clothes.  

Continuing the scene of this most important birth of all history, there was no cradle or tiny bed with fitted sheets for “God-with-us” to lay His little head. Rather, Jesus would be resting on a bed of hay inside a manger. The manger was placed in this barn to hold the hay for the barn animals to eat. I suppose there may even had been some animal animosity toward Jesus for taking some of their hay from them. After all, it was their home this needy family came to occupy that night. There were no votes cast to see if there was agreement to sharing their space. It was a clear and simple forced invasion of their home. All the available rooms in the city and its suburbs were taken. People came from all over Israel and beyond to be taxed in their birth city. The need for rooms strongly outpaced the supply. There was simply “No room in the inn.” 

Understand the Context (Genesis 4:1-15) 

Adam and Eve already experienced the pain sin causes. They were once in the presence of God every minute of every day. Then, they disobeyed the only sin there was in those days. They ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They were created in innocence. They were naked but had no knowledge of that nakedness. But once they sinned, they experienced the new awareness and knew they were naked. They used fig leaves to cover their nakedness but when the Lord walked in the garden in the cool of the evening, they hid themselves from God. The penalty for their sin was spiritual death. They still had physical life, but experiencing that life of closeness with God was gone. Paul calls it the wages of sin, and it is also the pain of being apart from God. 

Now, Adam and Eve get to experience the mistakes of sin again. This time, it is through their sons, Cain and Able. Able experienced the joy of acceptance when he offered a blood sacrifice to the Lord. Cain’s offering was not a blood offering. But instead of repenting to God, he doubled down on sin by hating his brother for being acceptable before God. He decided to overcome his shame by multiplying his sin.  

Rivalry (Genesis 4:1-7)

Adam and Eve conceived two children; both were boys. The elder was Cain. He worked in the fields and became a tiller of the ground (vs. 1). Abel, on the other hand, became a keeper of the sheep (vs. 2). When it came time to give offerings to the Lord, Cain brought the fruits of the ground while Abel offered the first fruit of the sheep he tended (vs. 3). Abel’s blood offering was accepted by God (vs. 4) while Cain’s offering of vegetables was rejected. Cain’s displeasure in God rejecting his offering was obvious (vs. 5). The Lord even asked him why he was so down; if he offered acceptable offerings would the Lord not rejoice in him as well? (vs. 6). Correcting the offering will result in joy for the giver and pleasure in the Lord (vs. 7). 

This is a very early study on the character of sin. First, there is no way that a sinner can charge God as the cause of sin. God was explicit with Adam and Eve regarding the denial of access to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17). God expects a blood offering. While Cain raised vegetables, he could have bought a sheep from Able with some of his crops. God would accepted that offering and honored Cain for it, but instead, Cain decided it was Able’s fault that God did not honor his offering. That behavior did not work for Cain and it will not work for us either. 

Sentenced (Genesis 4:8-12)

Verse 8 shows us the characters of Cain and Able. Cain decided in his own heart to give the Lord a sacrifice that was less than God desired. Able gave the Lord a blood offering like God required from the beginning. When Cain saw his brother in the fields, his anger over God rejecting his offering while accepting Able’s was still severe. While their meeting started as just talking (vs. 8a), it escalated into Cain attacking his brother and killing him (vs. 8b). Verse 9 shows the appearance of the Lord asking Cain where his brother was.  Cain not only lied to the Lord saying he did not know where Able was, he then asked the Lord if He thought he was his brother’s keeper. Then the Lord asked Cain what he had done (vs. 10a). The Lord said Cain’s brother’s blood cries out to Him from the ground (vs. 10b).  

So, the Lord announces a sentence for what Cain has done; He says Cain is cursed of the earth because it opened its mouth for Cain’s brother’s blood from Cain’s hand (vs. 11). So, from now on, when Cain sows in the soil, the ground will not give Cain any of its strength. Further, Cain shall be treated as a fugitive and vagabond no matter where on the earth he goes (vs. 12).  

So now, Cain begins to get the idea of the consequences of sin. No matter where he goes or how far away he will travel to escape the knowledge of his brother’s death, those around him will react in anger that Cain hast taken the life of his brother. His life is cursed of God. 

Understand the Context (Genesis 6:8-7:24)

There are three records of “generations” in early Genesis which document the most important aspects of the creation narratives. The first begins at Genesis 2:4 and specifies “the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.” The second begins at Genesis 5:1 and documents “the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him.” And the third is the section currently under study beginning at Genesis 6:9, “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” This is the righteous branch of God beginning with the creation, continuing through Adam, then Seth and through Noah. Humans were added to the creation on the sixth day. Adam was the first created and introduced sin against God into humankind. Adam and Eve were casted out of the garden and separated from God. Cain was Adam’s second son and killed Abel, his first son.  This was the second generation of sin. Noah was descended of Seth and built the ark at God’s direction to rescue humankind from the sinful world again.

So, God proved repeatedly that sin separated humankind from Him (Rom 6:23a). The line of those who introduced disappointment to God were Adam, Cain and Noah: these are the each introduced sin into a cleansed world. They proved that sin was universal just as certainly as God proved the judgement of sin was equally universal and sin would not go unpunished. 

The certainty of judgement introduced (or bridged to} “The Chosen” of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The building of the bridge required the building of the Ark (Gen 6:1-19), God’s command for Noah and his sons to enter it (Gen 7:1) and the required obedience to all God commanded. God’s requirement of the seven pairs of clean animals sacrifice and food after the flood was evidence of God’s salvation through the ark. Genesis 9:3 announces the clear symbol of Noah’s salvation and the new beginning as planned by God. But we know sin continued soon through Noah and Ham. 

Judgement Announced (Genesis 6:13-17)

As I read through the Bible, it seems that many of the people I meet there are really slow learners. God made it very clear from the beginning that He would not tolerate sin for long. While He demonstrated exceptional patience, He promised to judge sin and He did so. Just a few verses before our focus here, God said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them” (Gen 6:7). He created man for fellowship with Him, but that closeness was impossible because of man’s sin. In fact, God was so frustrated with man’s level of sin, He stated that He was sorry He ever made him. In verse 13, He continues to say that He has seen “the end of all flesh before Him.” He has decided to start over by destroying humankind, the animals and the earth. Earlier, God said He found a man who was just and perfect in his generations and Noah walked with God (vs. 9). 

In verse 14, God reveals His plan to Noah. First, He wants him to build an ark, a very large boat, to carry those He intended to rescue from destruction He planned as judgement for the rest of the earth. It would be made of the strongest wood, gopher wood, and would be sealed with tar on both the inside and the outside of the boat. The measure of length God used for building the ark was the cubit.  It was the measure of length from a man’s elbow to his fingertip. In those days, it would have been about 18 inches.  The dimensions of the boat would be 300 cubits or 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. (In comparison, the Titanic was 850 x 92 x 64.) He wanted a window, 18 inches tall around the ark just below the roof and the ark was to have three levels of floors (decks). It would have one large door in the side of the boat to allow all the animals God called into the ark to enter. 

When the ark was completed, God would cause a flood to destroy all beings on earth. Everything that is on the earth and in the earth would die. This was the method God would use to cleanse sin from the earth and begin His creation again. Adam and his wife and his three sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth, and their wives shall be allowed in the ark.   

Rescue Promised (Genesis 6:18-22)

God advises Noah that it would be with him that He would establish His covenant; and that Noah and his wife, and his three sons and their wives would come aboard the ark before the rain for the flood began (vs. 18). He also told Noah to take of all living things, two of each kind shall Noah bring into the ark. Noah will have to select a male and a female of every kind to bring into the ark with him (vs. 19). He also told Noah to bring fowls after their kind, cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every sort of shall come to Noah, in order to keep them alive (vs. 20). Verse 21 is frequently missed in the quick read of these verses, but it makes provision for the food the crew would eat during the flood and after the water subsided. Moses concludes this passage with the words that Noah did everything the Lord told him to do, the way God told him to do them.

It is interesting that James B. Irwin, one of the astronauts aboard the Apollo 15 trip to the moon and one of twelve men to walk on the moon, claimed to see a discoloration on earth from space that he believed to be the site of the remains of Noah’s ark. He spent years after retiring from the astronaut corps speaking of what he saw and leading teams of researchers to Mount Ararat in Turkey to find the place he saw from space. He was hindered by the political and religious beliefs of the area, and never had the freedom to search the areas he felt he saw the ark, but he continued to search until shortly before his death on August 8, 1991. The Apollo 15 flight took place in July and August of 1971. Irwin called it a religious experience because of what he saw.

Jim Irwin attended the First Southern Baptist Church of Colorado Springs, Colorado during the times of his speaking engagements and trips to Turkey. I was on the ministerial staff of that church while he was there and had opportunities to discuss his experiences. He firmly believed what he saw to be truth and spent a great deal of his time and fortune trying to get sufficient tangible evidence to verify it. We had several discussions about what it would mean to believers and unbelievers if he found or did not find the evidence for which he searched.  

Understand the Context (Genesis 8:1-22)

Few could argue that Chapters 1-7 offered any positive information on the performance of humankind after the greatness of God’s creative acts. There was only one commandment given them at the creation of Adam and Eve, that was, they were forbidden access and consumption of fruit of one tree in the garden – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen 2:9, 17). But, as we have learned through millennia of experience with human behavior: the one thing we will desire most is the one thing we have been forbidden, and that is how sin entered into the world. But there was much more in those first few chapters. After God accepted Able’s blood sacrifice but rejected Cain’s vegetable offering, Cain murdered Able (Gen 4:8). Genesis 4:17 begins the list of dastardly deeds of the dependents of Cain followed shortly by the documentation of total wickedness of all humanity (Gen 4:17 – 6:7). Moses documents God’s summary comment as “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth.  Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them” (Gen 6:7).  

So, Chapter 8 documents the operation of God’s condemnation of the world through a global flood designed to end the lives of every living being whether human, animal, fish or fowl. But verse 6:18 says that God confirmed His covenant with Noah saying that he and his wife and his three sons and their three wives will enter into the protection of the Ark (Gen 6:19). God sent forth the waters below and above the earth to converge on the surface of the earth to a level of 23 feet above the highest trees on the highest mountains in the land. 

The close of Chapter 8 places the flood and its massive waters behind. God tells Moses to document the parallels between His creation of the earth and the end of the flood by water. In the beginning, God’s Spirit hovered over the waters as He directed its separation from the dry earth. In the end, the winds blew over the waters to once again reveal the earth from under the waters.  

Wait (Genesis 8:10-14)

After 150 days, the waters from below the earth and from above stopped and their levels began to lower. It was exactly five months (30 days multiplied 5 times) when the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat. In two and a half months more, other mountain peaks appeared, and in another 40 days Noah opened the window of the ark and sent out a raven and a dove to search for dry land. The dove returned to the boat after finding none. The dove was sent out after another seven days and it returned to the boat at evening with a leaf of an olive tree in its mouth signifying the abated waters (Gen 8:10-11). Noah waited still another seven days and sent the dove out another time (vs. 12). This time the dove did not return. 

So, verse 13a tells us that when Noah was 601 years old, in the first month and the first day of that year, the waters of the flood were dried up from the earth. Noah then took the covering off the top of the boat and looked around the area (vs. 13b). He saw the land was nearly dry, but he waited still another 2 months and 27 days. 

Noah had developed quite an art of waiting during his many years of constructing the ark. There were thousands who ridiculed him and taunted him for his folly of building a boat too big to move in a place too far from natural water to ever float. It was impossible, according to them, for that boat to ever reach enough water to get off the ground. Noah was the man God called to the mission of building such a thing. His three sons and the four wives were where God caused them to be, but Noah was the motivating force who caused the ark to be there. He waited as he built, having faith that someday, he would see the rain in the dessert coming down so fast that fear would enter the hearts of those who once taunted him for his folly. 

But now, the waiting was different. There were no naysayers remaining. The taunting ended months ago. Now, Noah’s family waited together in confidence that the water would reseed, and they would once again place their feet on dry ground. Yes, Noah was well schooled in waiting. 

Exit (Genesis 8:15-19)

Verse 15 announces that day they had been waiting for. God spoke to Noah and told him it was time to disembark from the boat. The cruise was completed, and all the people and living things on the face of the planet were directed by God to leave the ark behind. The boys were no doubt grateful that there would be no more of cleaning of the bottom of that ship. Even its gargantuan structure must have been dwarfed by its immense cargo. Soon it would be an echo chamber; much like it was as Noah thought back over its months and years of construction. The words of verse 16 saying, “Go forth” were so well anticipated that those of verse 17 were hardly needed at all. God used verse 16 to direct Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives to disembark, but verse 17 follows immediately to remind the people to care for the animals aboard the ark. They would need help to find and walk or slither down the ramp to begin new lives. Somehow, it would not be necessary to voice the command of verse 17 saying that they should be fruitful and multiply upon the earth. Their natural drives, desires and instincts would handle that.

So, Noah and his family led them out of the ark together (vs. 18). The birds, animals and creeping things followed in pairs. Somehow, they must have known that the only one on earth that looked like them would be their life-long companions. Their new mission was to be fruitful and multiply to replenish the earth. I can imagine the flies, mosquitos, spiders, gnats and other pests to society had no trouble multiplying without the command to do so.  There have always been more of them than we needed. Many of the living creatures immediately headed for where they might find the kind of food they needed. God probably caused protection to fall upon all of the animals so that none of them would be eaten by another. 

Of course, the first issue after food for survival would be to find shelter. God certainly had sufficient power to protect all of them until they could protect themselves once again. Most likely, He would have to put some kind of stay on the carnivores species so, they did not eat one another before they began to multiply. Recall verse 6:21 said Noah was to take food to feed everyone. 

Understand the Context (Genesis 9:1-29)  

Moses records five talks God had with Noah. In Genesis 6:13-21, God told Noah how the world was full of violence everywhere He looked. He told Noah He had to build the Arc and gave him the details of what that would look like. God also told Noah that the entire population of the world would be eliminated save Noah’s family and the creatures aboard the Ark. The second talk God had with Noah was to instruct him on exactly how many of each creature to select for the ark. He told Noah there were only seven days left before He would cause rain to fall for 40 days and nights to flood the entire world, emphasizing again that the inhabitants of the earth would all be destroyed by the flood except those in the Ark. Third, God told Noah to leave the Ark after the waters of the flood subsided (Gen 8:15-17). Fourth, after God smelled the savor of Noah’s sacrifices to Him, He established a new covenant with Noah that included removal of the curse on the ground placed on humankind because of the sin of Adam and Eve, a promise to never again destroy the earth with water, and that normal events would be restored in the same cycles as before (Gen 8:21-22). And fifth, God explained the relational norms between humankind and the rest of the creation, new emphasis on the blood as the blood of life, punishment for any who spilled that blood (human or beast), that the meat of the non-human creature would be food for humankind in addition to the produce of the ground and trees, and the establishment of the rainbow as the visible reminder of the covenant that God has made with humankind.

Verses 9:18-28 document how sin once again entered into the world. They say that Noah became a husbandman (farmer and vine keeper) and planted a vineyard (vs. 19). He became drunk on the wine of his vineyard and uncovered himself within his tent (vs. 21). Ham looked upon the nakedness of his father and told his brothers (vs. 22). Shem and Japheth took a garment into Noah’s tent to cover him without looking on their father (vs. 23). Noah blessed Shem and Japheth and cursed Canaan, the son of Ham, to be the servant of the others, forever (vss. 24-27). Noah lived 350 years after the flood and died at 950 years (vss. 28-29). 

The Blessing (Genesis 9:1-4)

The study for this session begins with God’s blessing on Noah and his sons and directs them to be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth (Gen 9:1). This blessing seems to be God’s promise to help the four couples multiply by blessing their fertility in order to refill the earth. Judging by the population problems of today, I think God’s blessing worked. 

Instead of humankind and the creatures living together in the confined environment of the Ark, they would be returning to the separate environments which necessitated God causing some changes in thought processes. Mentioned here, God causes the animals to feel “fear and dread” of humankind. Verse 2 directs that fear into the animals, birds and fish and delivers the creatures into the hands of humankind. So, in the post-flood era, control and management of the non-human kingdom is made the responsibility of humankind. 

Verse 3 takes another step away from the pre-flood world in that God blesses the consumption of meat saying, “every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.”  This blessing is best interpreted as telling us we can consume meat; not that we can consume anything that moves. Deuteronomy 28:2 advises, “And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.” Leviticus 11 provides a full list of things that move that we are forbidden to eat. Since both Deuteronomy and Leviticus were written by the same author yet at later dates, they should be considered as filters for the more general instruction of Genesis. That is, the rules against the foods in Leviticus 11 still hold, and we are still forbidden to eat things like alligator, raccoons, horses, tigers, seagulls, bats, owls, and most insects. Verse 4 reminds us that we can never eat the blood of the meat.  Here, Moses says, “But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it” (Gen 9:4, NLT). The blood is considered the life of the creature, and therefore, if the blood is still in the meat, eating it is considered eating the lifeblood of the creature. Some will not eat meat that is cooked rare or medium rare because they feel it is disobedience to this command.  

The Warning (Genesis 9:5-7)  

Here are some very strong messages from the Lord concerning the spilling of blood and the accountability for any person or beast that takes the life of a human. Verse 5 starts with the general idea that the Lord will require the blood and the life of any beast at whose hand, or any person at whose hand, or any man’s brother at whose hand the life of another human being is taken. The Lord is clear in saying that anyone or anything that takes the life of a person must pay with his or her life. Verse 6 repeats and emphasizes that anyone who sheds the blood of a person will have his or her blood shed by a person (executioner). The additional statement Moses adds is that man is made in God’s image. The suggestion is simply that we should all respect the lives of one another out of respect for our common Creator. God put humankind on the earth and only He should take it. This certainly consistent with other teachings in the Scriptures. Exodus 20:13 lists “Thu shalt not kill” as one of the Ten Commandments of God, and is even made stronger by Jesus when He says, “21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matt 5:21-22). Note that this is a much stronger punishment than Cain received when he committed the first murder in the Scriptures. His punishment was to be physically separated from God and God’s people. Under these commandments, Cain would have been executed.

Now Moses switches to address those who do not commit murder. To those, verse 7a states, “be ye fruitful, and multiply.” The purposeful contrast is to show that rather than decreasing the numbers of humans on earth, we should instead be contributing to the advancement of the race by multiplying its numbers instead of decreasing its numbers. Verse 7b adds that we must “bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.” The emphasis is that Noah and his sons and their wives have the responsibility to replenish or repopulate the earth, so go do that work. 

Understand the Context (Genesis 10:1-11:26)

Some people think the many genealogies in the Bible are just plain boring, but the information they reveal are extremely important. For example, consider the two genealogies given for Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Even in the superficial of readings, it is clear they are not the same. Many scholars give Matthew’s listing as that of Joseph because he was the one with the legal concern for tax collecting purposes, while Luke’s listing is Mary’s linage because Luke was a physician and was more concerned about the realities of birth than the legalities of whom pays the taxes. But there is a pattern introduced regarding linage listings beginning in Chapter 4 of Genesis that goes all the way through the Book. In Genesis 4, Moses lists the linage of Cain, Adam’s son who killed his brother Able before shifting to Cain’s younger and spiritual righteous brother, Seth. In Chapter 10, Moses lists the linage of both Ham and Japheth before listing that of Shem which shows the direct linage to Abraham, David and God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. In Genesis 25, we will see Moses listing the linage of Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Sarah’s maid, rather than addressing Isaac, Abraham’s promised son by his wife, Sarah. And finally, Moses list the linage of Esau, Isaac’s son who sold his birthright before listing the linage of Jacob, the righteous son who would be renamed Israel by God. The twelve sons of Jacob would become the twelve tribes of Israel in the very near future. 

In Genesis 11, Moses describes how arrogant a person might become when serving as a king with the natural, almost god-like authority over his subjects. Nimrod, the King of Babylonia decided he wanted to build the greatest city in the world. His people had developed a technique of brick making that allowed them to build greater buildings than other countries. So, they decided to build a mighty tower to accompany their great city. The tower would be so great its height would have it reach into the heavens. God was offended by the plan and brought a curse upon Nimrod and his subjects making them speak in various new languages preventing them from communicating with each other and frustrating the building the Tower of Babel.

As Genesis 11 also shares Noah’s son, Shem’s linage, it reveals the truth of significantly decreasing longevity of life for each of those descendants. We have talked earlier about the impacts of the water above the earth being used as part of the flood. The filtering of the sun was certainly less effective after the flood than before. Moses penned Psalms 90 as verse ten says, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” It is a long slide from Noah’s life of 950 years and his grandfather Methuselah who died at 969 years.  

United (Genesis 11:1-4)

Moses documents the status of personal communication at the time of Genesis 11 as being united through a single language (vs. 1). Very different than the times we live in today. I recall as a young Air Force man; I was assigned to the Philippine Islands during the Viet Nam War. While their national language was English, everyday life nearly required a speaking knowledge of Tagalog, their native language. The problem was that there were 47 different dialects of Tagalog that prevented much unity across the islands. 

Here, as time passed, the population began to migrate farther West from Mount Ararat (vs. 2).  They found themselves in the plain of Shinar (later Babylon) and settled there. The people began experimenting with the bricks the used for building and learned that a higher temperature to cure the brick and the absence of straw would result in a much stronger building material. They coupled that with a shift from standard mortar to a tar-based mortar to reduce shifting as the buildings aged.

So, they discussed what they believed was the greatness of their land, they decided to exploit the advances in brickmaking they enjoyed by constructing a greater building and accompanying tower reaching higher than ever before (vss. 3-4). They would use the superior bricks and mortar to build the tower so high that it would reach into the heavens. They planned to use the reputation and fame gained from these endeavors to finally settle in one place and have a city of their own. They hoped it would end their continual movement farther away from Mount Ararat toward the West. 

Reviewed (Genesis 11:5-7)

Verse 5 tells us that the Lord came to see the city and the tower that the children of the city’s men were building. Now, this wording is more figurative than actual. We all know that God is omni present, omniscient and omnipotent. He does not require a trip in order to see what they have achieved.  He is already there with them. He does not need to go see what they are doing to better understand it.  He already understands and has all power to see what impact their creations and ideas are having on their daily living. So. Moses is writing more like a man would describe what was needed in man’s terms rather than what was needed by God. 

As the Lord pondered the results of their tight unity, He was impressed with their scientific accomplishments but was also deeply troubled that they had lost their awareness of where they had come from. Their unity and resulting accomplishments had become threats to the place of God in every person’s life. In their thought that they might reach heaven, they were forgetting their need to reach for God spiritually rather than physically. They could never reach heaven because of their great skills or knowledge. They needed to reach for God with their hearts. There was nothing left to cause them to “seek the Lord while He might be found” for once they began to seek after Him, they would find Him not very far from them (Acts 17:27).  Sometimes God has to restrain His people from major achievements and pride in those achievements that they might be driven back to why they were created; that is, to have fellowship with their Creator (vs. 6). 

Verse 7 documents God’s action to interrupt the status quo by introducing a problem that might remind them that there is a God that created them, and they need to remember Him by spending less time celebrating their personal greatness and more time in worship and prayer. The people had forgotten that there was something out there that was greater than they were, and they needed to increase their focus on knowing Him and learning how to communicate with Him. So, God took away their reliance on their common language and introduced several new languages that would break down the city-wide greatness and unity and get their attention for Himself. 

Understand the Context (Genesis 12:1-14:24)  

Now, we find ourselves at a major pivot point in the history provided by Moses in the Book of Genesis. To reach this point in history, Chapters 1-11 covered 2,000 years of time. The remaining chapters of Genesis, 12-50, will cover only 350 years. With the extreme slowdown in time covered also comes a major change in focus. Earlier, we dealt with events of global importance: the Creation, introduction of sin into the world, Adam and Eve (and all humanity) being banned from the physical presence with God in the Garden, the first murder as Cain killed Abel, a global flood annihilating all humankind, animals, fish and birds except those on the Ark, the linguistic unity of humankind replaced linguistic diversity because of their arrogant thought of reaching God’s heaven through their personal efforts.

But now, we introduce the family of God. The first member is one who “believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness” (Gen 15:6). The action brought salvation by God’s grace through human faith (Eph 2:8-9). We move into this relationship as God ordains the man Abram and promises through his son (Isaac) a blessing upon nations too many to number. Isaac’s son, Jacob would be renamed Israel by God and his 12 sons would become the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel. Through the Tribe of Judah would come King David and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Messiah and Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, the Savior of all humankind. 

Chapters 12-14 introduces God’s covenant with Abram and how his name is changed to Abraham, the father of many nations, and his wife’s name is changed from Sarai to Sarah, the mother of nations (Gen 17:5, 15). Abraham’s life shows him as a common man who deceives a pharaoh into believing Sarah is his sister instead of wife. We also meet the king and priest named Melchizedek who blesses the greater, Abraham, with his tithes. Then we see the dimensions of the future Promised Land of Canaan. While God promised Abraham the land from the Nile to the Euphrates Rivers and the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, Israel disobeyed and her regret persists. 

Move (Genesis 12:1-5a)  

The lineage of Noah’s son, Shem is documented in Genesis 11:10-26 ending with Terah living seventy years and begetting Abram, Nahor and Haran. Verse 11:31 documents the movement of Terah family out of Ur the Chaldees and into the land of Canaan. There we also learn that Lot is the son of Haran and Nahor’s wife, Milcah, is Haran’s daughter. So, Lot is Abram’s nephew, and his brother’s wife, Milcah is also his niece. But no such explanation for Sarai. In Genesis 12, Abram tells of how she was his half-sister and wife, but the explanations are missing. In verse 12:1, Moses documents God’s call Abram out of Ur of Chaldees to Canaan separate from his father. There he promises to make Abram great and the father of a great nation (vs. 2). It is also in that verse that God promises, “2b and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” The significance of God’s promise to bless others as they bless Israel is frequently quoted to this day. But verse 3 also holds the truth that God promises that all the families of earth shall be blessed through him. While many separate the world into either members of the chosen race or pagans, the Bible frequently makes it clear that God’s promises are to the entire world through the chosen people. See the frequent use of “strangers among us” as referring to non-Jewish families brought into the race formally through the ceremony of the Mikvah pool and that process looks exactly like Baptism through Immersion to this day. This is how God’s promises to Abram blesses all the families of earth.

So, at age 75, Abram and Lot departed out of Haran (vs. 4). Haran was a town about 300 miles northeast of Israel but was also the name of Abram’s brother and father of Lot. They journeyed to Canaan with all the belongings that had including all their children and household members they amassed while in Haran. Canaan was a country more than a city and Chapter 12 continues to mention the many cities in Canaan they visited. The key thought here is that Abram was called of God and he responded heartedly. There is a model here for us to consider about God’s callings.

Separate (Genesis 13:11-13)

God blessed Abram and Lot so greatly that the land on which they chose to live became too small to support both of them. God frequently opens the doors of heaven to flood blessings upon those who love Him, and this was no exception. The earlier part of Genesis 13 documents their great wealth in sliver, gold and livestock. They agreed that they would have to separate and looked to the east and west for solutions (13:5-7). 

Lot looked toward the fertile valleys and cities of the east, and with his uncle’s permission, he chose to move his tents to the area near the city of Sodom (vs. 11). Abram, on the hand, moved farther west in Canaan. While the land was much less fertile, he had much more acreage and the peace of not having to share the land with another very successful herdsman. 

Moses, our writer, plants the seed in verse 13 that there will be a horribly negative influence of gross sin with which Lot, et al, must counter on a daily basis. The level of evil is summed, “But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the Lord” (Gen 13:13). Notice the words “extremely” and “constantly” in this sentence (Gen 13:13, NLT). They are replaced by the single word “exceedingly” in the KJV and uses the Hebrew word mehode. The definition of this word uses words like “vehemently; by implication, wholly, speedily, etc. (often with other words as an intensive or superlative; especially when repeated):—diligently, especially, exceeding(-ly), louder and louder, might(-ily, -y), (so) much, quickly, (so) sore, utterly” (Microsoft Bible Explorer). When we look ahead just five chapters to 18, we see the three heavenly visitor (the Lord and two others) visiting Abraham to inform him that they have come to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the constant uproar of prayer to Him regarding the evil of the city (18:20). Abraham bargains with the Lord against punishing the righteous and the evil of the city together and the Lord reveals that if He had found even ten righteous men within the city, He would have saved the city for the sake of that ten (18:32). I would think that when the angels evacuated Lot and his family, the total number of righteous in the city was exhausted.

Understand the Context (Genesis 15:1-16:16)

Many of us can identify with Abram’s impatience in this situation. God had talked with Abram 10 years earlier that he would be a great nation. He said that he would have offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky, the sand on the seashore or the particles of dust on the ground. Abram was 75 years old then nevertheless, who among us would not believe God no matter how impossible the feat seemed to be. But now, Abram is 10 years older and approaching 86 years old. He has been living in his body and had personal knowledge that fathering a baby at his age was questionable, at best. Likewise, Sarai had personal knowledge of her body and knew she had completed menopause at least three decades earlier. While she was ten years younger than Abram, she knew her body had lost the capability to procreate years earlier. Why, it would take a miracle for them to have a son at this stage in life!  But is that not what we are talking about here?

There were still a couple ways to help God make this happen. Jewish custom allowed for a man with no heir to adopt a trusted servant as his heir. Or Sarai could allow one of her best servants to serve as a surrogate mother for her child. After all, if Sarai owned the servant, she certainly owned anything that came from the servant. But neither of these alternatives was acceptable to the Lord as we enter Chapter 15. God insisted that the child would be from the bowels of Abram and Sarai, and that is how this feat would take place. 

To show how serious He was about this promise, God used an old ritual of dividing the parts of a sacrificed animal into two rows and walking between them as a symbol. The ritual implied that the promise maker would suffer the same fate as the animals used if he failed to keep the promise. As Sarai decided to help God keep His promise, she used Hagar, her handmaiden, to surrogate for her and deliver Ishmael.  Everything in her life turned to trash. She blamed Abram for the whole thing, Hagar lost all respect for her, Hagar and Ishmael would eventfully be driven off and her relationship with Abram was never the same. “Helping” God keep promises can be disastrous. 

Believed (Genesis 15:1-6)  

So, here is the Scripture where God and Abram meet again to discuss Abram’s heir to God’s promises. In verse 15:1, God’s word came to Abram saying, “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Verses 15:2-3 lay out how Abram plans to implement God’s plan to address the problem of his missing offspring.  Abram assumed that after the ensuing ten years, it was now certain that he would not have a natural child as an heir. Therefore, he would use the Hebrew custom which allowed a man with no heir to adopt a trusted servant as that heir. In this case, Eliezer, Abram’s house steward could be that heir.  After all, Abram reminds the Lord in verse 3, “Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.”

But once again, the word of the Lord comes out strong and powerful to assure Abram that this is not the solution He will accept (vs. 4). Rather, says the Lord, “he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.”  Notice the total lack of ambiguity in God’s words, “he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.” And God, once again, takes Abram out to show him the stars and ask him to number them, for this shall be the number of his heirs which shall come from him in the generations to come. God continues, “if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be” (vs. 5b). 

Abram’s response and God’s blessing on it sets up the whole thought of Paul’s statement, “8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8-9). So, the great absolution from the just punishment for all our sin comes to us by way of our faith in God driven by His grace in presenting us with such a limitless and undeserved gift! The words of verse 15:6 sums the whole idea, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Abram’s change from telling God how he would take care of fulfilling His promise, to fully believing what God said and would do is a full display of Abram’s repentance and acceptance of God’s plan. Paul says, “If ye believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved” (Rom 10:9). 

Impatient (Genesis 16:1-4)

So, the march toward doing God’s business for Him continues onward. Sarai is still looking at God’s promises to Abram as if it is her responsibility to help God keep His commitments. We just left Abram as he finally accepted what God said as the final word, but now we have Sarai going down the same path. Recall that she is 10 years Abram’s junior but is still beyond 75 years old at this point. She knows how many decades it has been since she showed signs of reproductive functioning of her body. But she also knows how dearly Abram wanted God’s promise of a son to be fulfilled. She remembers that Hebrew custom allows for her to use a slave as a surrogate for having a child for her husband, so she approaches Abram with the proposal. Verse 16:1 introduces the name of the chosen maid as Hagar, the Egyptian handmaiden given to Sarai as she left Egypt after Abram claimed she was his sister instead of his wife. Sarai suggests to Abram that they use Hagar to produce Abram’s son and fulfill God’s promise. The second half of verse 16:2 says that Abram “hearkened” to her voice (Hebrew: shawmah that is to listen with consent). So, Sarai took Hagar to her husband after they had lived in Canaan for 10 years. Recall that Abram was 75 when he left his family home so is now 85 years old. 

After Sarai gave Hagar to her husband, she conceived, and as soon as that conception took place, Hagar developed contempt for her mistress. Regardless of what Hebrew custom dictated was proper and allowable, human nature cannot be trumped. Sexual relations between a man and a woman was designed by God to be the highest form of intimacy two people can share. Participating in this relationship will cause and maintain a strong bond between the parties. Sarai gave Hagar to act like Abram’s wife and now, from Hagar’s view, she wanted to keep her new mate and expel Sarai. The Bible says, “her mistress was despised in her eyes” (Gen 16:4). Further, Abram will always recall that he shared his marital bed with another woman. It is a shame for them that did not consult with the Lord before they allowed this breach to be considered.

Understand the Context (Genesis 17:1-18:15)

So, we are now at 24 years after God gave Abram the promise of making him a great nation and that He would bless those who blessed them and curse them who cursed them (Gen 12:2). We have already seen Abram try to help God by offering up Eliezer of Damascus, his servant as the heir he did not have and later, offering up Ishmael, his son by Sarai’s handmaiden, Hagar. Of course, Sarai had a large role in making Ishmael an option (Gen 16:1-6). We saw Hagar run away from Sarai because of her harsh treatment and God telling her to go back and submit to her owner.  

In this study, we will see God appear to Abram in the form of a man, but not as a man as in the case of God being in Jesus of Nazareth. This manifestation of God is called a theophany. That is, God appeared in the form of a man but not as a man. The message God delivered was to restate the covenant already given to Abram but to make it permanent. That means it is as powerful today as it was when it was first given in 1800 BC. So, the words of Moses, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness” are just as fresh for us as they were for Abram (Gen 15:6). They provided authority for Paul to say, “8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8-9). God graciously decided that all the charges against us for our sins would be totally forgiven through faith that Jesus paid the price for them by His death.  And approved by God by raising Him from the dead. Paul says briefly that there is now no remaining condemnation against us, who believe in Jesus Christ (Rom 8:1). And that is the good news!  

The smaller changes we will see in this week’s study are name changes for Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah. For Abram, that is from the “exalted father” to the “father of many nations.” That is immense in terms of the reinforcing God’s covenant. For Sarai, the change is more of language application from Ur to Canaan dialects. We will also see God’s awesome grace applied to Abram’s prayer for Ishmael’s greatness. God graciously gives Abram what he asked. 

Covenant (Genesis 17:1-8)

Now, Moses reminds us that Abram is 99 years old, and the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the Almighty God (Hebrew: El Shaddai); walk before Me, and be thou perfect” (vs. 17:1).  This is the identification step where the Lord establishes His expectation for Abram and His identity in terms of power and authority to make the covenant He is about to make with Abram. God briefly identifies the covenant in verse 2 by saying it is established between Abram and Himself and He will multiply Abram above measure. Abram’s response is to show proper humility before the Lord and as he simply fell on his face; the deepest bow possible. From that level, God addresses Abram to tell him of the remainder of the covenant (vs. 3). God begins by restating the previous words of His covenant that He will make the covenant with Abram, and it identifies Abram as the father of many nations (vs. 4). This statement is gravely important because it does not exclude people as much as includes them. The covenant is made with Abram but as he will reach many nations.  

Verse 5 marks a full identification of Abram with the covenant as God changes his name to match his identity under this new covenant. The name Abram means “exalted father,” but his new name of Abraham means the “father of many nations” and God documents that it was He who made Abram what he is.  God adds that He will make Abraham “exceedingly fruitful,” make many nations out of him and have kings come out of him, as well (vs. 6).

The character of this covenant is that it will be made between God and Abraham and continue into Abraham’s seed after him (vs. 7). The duration of the covenant will be everlasting, that is, it will have no end. God makes sure Abraham understands that not only is He establishing an everlasting covenant with him but that He will always be their God. This is a statement of personal commitment from the Creator of the universe to Abraham and his seed after him. And, it is almost like God is saying, “Oh, one more thing.” Here God identifies the land where this covenant people will live and possess. It is where he is currently a stranger, but it is called Canaan, and it will be an everlasting possession. That is, from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River, forever. 

Sign (Genesis 17:9-10)

Here, God sets His expectation of Abraham and all of those who follow after him. God commands that Abraham keep His covenant and see to it that it is kept throughout all his generations through his seed. Just to make sure we do not misinterpret this statement; God is not saying that only those physically birthed from the seed of Abraham’s body will enjoy this covenant with God. Rather, He is stating that, consistently with Abraham’s new name, “father of many nations,” that all his family and heirs plus all those who believe and accept that covenant after him throughout all generations will have God’s covenant with them as well. Every time God speaks this covenant, and even with the new name He gave Abram, God includes “many and all nations.” This does not diminish the idea of the Jews being a chosen race; instead, it opens the floodgates for anyone, anywhere to move into the Abrahamic Covenant by following the tenets of the covenant.  

Next, God establishes a mark of that covenant. Note that the mark of the covenant is not the blessing of the covenant, rather, it is a sign that one has entered into that covenant. For Abraham and all the current members of the Hebrew faith in that day, they were directed to be circumcised immediately. Later, we will read that Moses is instructed that the male child was to be circumcised on the eight day after his birth (Gen 17:12). 

Look at it as we look at a baby christening in the Christian faith. The christening is a decision made by the parents and minister for the child. The child has no personal part of the act. As a matter of fact, if we look at the Jewish custom of Mikvah, the washing or cleansing ceremony for that faith, we find that the conversion of the “stranger among us” into the Chosen Race is administered only after the convert has already converted his or her life to Judaism including obedience to the Law and circumcision. Then the convert can enter the pool.  Rabbi will lay the convert back into the water signifying his death and burial as a Gentile, and then raise the convert out of the water signifying his new birth as a Jew. The Mikvah ceremony is a picture of what the convert agrees has happened inside him. Christian Baptism is the same; one only enters the baptistry after he or she has been converted and accepted Christ as Savior and Lord. Any earlier timing makes the baptism an effective as any other bath. The correct timing establishes the baptism as the first act of obedience for the new Christian and a public confession of that truth. Likewise, circumcision has no spiritual value until the child choses to follow Jehovah and the associated laws given to Moses. 

Understand the Context (Genesis 18:16-19:38)

The focal verses for this study point toward Genesis 18:16 as the starting point, but the introduction of the three men visiting Abraham goes back to Genesis 18:1. The identities of these men are extremely important to the interpretation of why they were visiting Abraham and what authority they had for doing so. Verse 1 clearly states that this visit was headed by the appearance of “The LORD” (KJV). The Hebrew word for the KJV rendering of the word LORD is Y’hovah or Jehovah. Abraham addresses Him as Hebrew Adonay which is a singular masculine noun reserved only for the highest deity. In either case, both Moses (author) and Abraham (subject) recognize the spokesman of the three visitors to be God, Himself. The identities for the other two “men” is addressed at verse 19:1 as “two angels” or Hebrew malak (deputy or messenger of God). Now that we know who these visitors are, let us look at why they came. 

Verses 18:1-8 shows that they came for fellowship with Abraham and Sarah. Note also that Jehovah and His two angels consumed food while they were there. (Some people asked me if we will eat in Heaven.) Verses 18:9-15 shows they came to deliver the news to Abraham and Sarah that Sarah was going to have a baby she would name Isaac (vs. 17:19). Abraham (99) and Sarah (89) are well stricken with age, and Sarah laughs when the message comes that she will have a child within the year. She later denies she laughed (vs. 15). Second, the “men” came to tell Abraham that they have heard the cry of Sodom-Gomorrah and their severe sin.  

Third, the angels departed from Abraham’s camp to destroy Sodom-Gomorrah and left Abraham and Jehovah talking. Abraham enters a discussion with God over whether He will destroy the righteous with the unrighteous (vs. 18:23). Abraham decreases the number of righteous found there to a point of only 10 righteous, where only Lot’s family could be included (vs. 18:31).  

In Chapter 19, we find the angels visiting Lot before they destroy the city. The description of the behavior of the towns people and what they want to do with the angels of God fully documents their level of depravity and God’s justice in sending the angels to destroy them. I would caution too great the judgment we direct at the inhabitants of Sodom-Gomorrah as we watch our own country moving toward the very same levels of allowable personal depravity! 

As the Angels destroy Sodom-Gomorrah and Lot escapes to the village of Zoar, we see his wife looking back at what she used to have and being turned into a pillar of salt. Then we see Lot’s two daughters behaving the way their city behaved as they decide to get their father intoxicated and commit incest with him. The two sons born of that sin were the fathers of Moab and Ammon. Ruth was a Moabitess (Ruth 1:4). 

Urgency (Genesis 19:12-17)

Genesis 19:12-17 continues with the visit of the two angels to Lot’s residence at Sodom-Gomorrah. Our discussion picks up the next day, before sunrise, but after the angels dealt with the mob in the street. As the mob began to attack the door to Lot’s home, one of the angels caused the mob members to be blinded.  The ensuing frustration caused them to change their minds about the attack on Lot and the angels (vs. 11). Now, the angels are following up on the conversation the Lord had with Abraham regarding the destruction of the righteous with the wicked. The angels asked Lot to fetch any of his relatives who are in the city so those who are righteous could be evacuated with them (vs. 18:23).  Lot started by warning the two men who were going to marry his daughters (vs. 19:14a). But his sons-in-law (evidently betrothed but not yet married) mocked him and refused to depart with him (vs. 14b). 

The Lord’s reasoning was sound, that is, that a righteous person would have no desire to stay in Sodom-Gomorrah. The environment would be totally foreign and repulsive to one who loved Jehovah. Of course, that line of thought would force questions concerning Lot’s walk with God. His sitting at the gate, multiple delays in leaving the city, treatment of his daughters and desire to escape to another city rather than the mountains would all seem opposite to behaviors a person with a God-centered life would do. 

Verse 15 states that when the morning came, the angels told Lot to take his wife and two daughters because they were the only ones who were willing to leave the city with him. The angel warned Lot that time was short unless they wanted to be consumed with the rest of the city. Nevertheless, it seemed like Lot was delaying even after the angels specific warning. But the delays were not for important issues like making sure they had any necessary legal papers, or a change of clothes or food for the next day. Rather, they seemed like frivolous delays just to occupy time. Almost like Lot had some hesitation about turning his back on Sodom-Gomorrah. The angels evidently felt the same way, so they grabbed the hands of Lot, his wife and his two daughters and forcibly pulled them out of the city as quickly as possible (vs. 16). Once Lot and his family were safely outside the city, the angels told him to get away to the safety of the mountains, so they would not be consumed with destruction of the city. As we will see on the next slide, Lot continues to delay. He must not have understood. 

Bargaining (Genesis 19:18-22)

Lot begins to bargain with the angels. He obviously did not understand the urgency of getting as far away from the city as quickly as possible. He implores them to let him go to the local village rather than the mountains. He is afraid that he will be overtaken by evil and die if forced to go to the mountains.  He says there is a small city that is nearby. Lot seems to think that the fact it is small makes a difference in his case to go there rather than the mountains (vs. 20). He is so convinced of this that he says his soul will be able to live if he is allowed to escape there. It may be that Lot is so used to living in the city that he is afraid he cannot survive outside that kind of environment. Notice in verse 21 that the angels must modify their plans for destroying the little city if they allow Lot to escape there. Nevertheless, the angel says, "See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.”  

The angels had physically pulled Lot and his family outside the gate of the city (vs. 16), and it appears that they are still in the same place as Lot insists on more conversation and more delay. This seems to be a perfect illustration of what “just doesn’t get it” really means. The angels have agreed to his terms, and now, they want him to hurry because they cannot do anything to the city until Lot and his family are safely out of range (vs. 22). Recall that when the angels first came to Sodom-Gomorrah, they found Lot “sitting at the gate” (Gen 19:1). Historically, this meant Lot was trusted by the leadership of the city to control entry into the city. He was not just a citizen of the city; he had risen to the leadership of the city. Also consider the depth to which his personal morality (not to mention his godly beginnings) had sunk in order to live there, tolerate the behaviors demonstrated by the mob and even offer his two daughters in exchange for the safety of the angels. This is a man who has left his Jewish history far behind. 

There is no information on what personal belongings the family was allowed to take with them.  Given that the angels pulled them by their hands, they obviously were not carrying much. For most people, this would be a clue of a “hasty departure.” Why Lot’s delays now?