God of Creation - Session 10

These are my notes from Jen Wilkin and her teaching on Session 10 from Genesis titled "Dispersion & Descendants."

In this session, we looked at the Table of Nations.  Jen helped us to make sense of why these names are in chapter 10 and the way they are listed.

Jen said that using the maps in our Bibles is something we need to familarize ourselves with.  We don't understand them from the ancient times, but we need to develop these ancient map skills.

In Genesis chapter 10, we worked through the Table of Nations.  We also looked back at the prophetic curse that was spoken by Noah over Ham, Shem and Japheth.  After this, we moved through the story of the Tower of Babel.

The Tower of Babel is placed after the Table of Nations.  This to our thinking seems backwards.  The Tower of Babel study explains what the Table of Nations came to be.  The Table of Nations describes a dispersal of people into different regions, but then the Tower of Babel comes back and says this is how they all got dispersed to those regions.

Notice in the Table of Nations it does not say "and he died."  This list is looking forward and pointing towards things that are to come.

Genesis 10:1
The first part of this verse we have seen before, but it introduces a new part of the text with the descendants of Noah.

Genesis 10:2-5
The first grouping we get next are the sons of Japheth.  See how these names tie into some modern places we are familiar with.  Do any of these names help us?  They were in the Indo-European part of the ancient map region.

Scholars can identify that all Indo-European languages have a common ancestor dating to the stone age.

"Madai" traces to the Medes.
"Javan" traces to the Ionians or Greeks.
"Tubal" and "Meshech" correspond to the two rivers in Russia which are Tobol and Moskva.  The city of Tobol on the Tobol river.
The city of Moscow on the Moskva river.
"Tiras" traces back to the Etruscans.

Genesis 10:3
"Gomer" relates to the area of Germany.  "Togarmah" - the Armenians and Turkey are linked to that name.

Genesis 10:4
"Tarshish" - this is where Jonah flees to.  Considered to be in modern day Spain.  There's a city in Spain known as "Tartessos".
"Kittim" is the island of Cypress.  "Dodanim" also translated "Rodanim" and believed to be tied to Rhodes and the Rhone river.
It's fascinating how we can see some clues of how these ancient names still endure into modern times.

Genesis 10:6-9
We will come back to this.  You can see the rhythm was interrupted with an explanation.

Genesis 10:10-14
You've read a lot of these names and probably thought "I don't know who any of these names are."  But then we see "philistines" and we need to be aware that we are reading a list of the enemies of the nation of Israel throughout history.  Verse 6 gives us also a clear reference that we can pick up on regarding the enemies of Israel.

What Moses is doing here is signaling his original audience that this is about to go somewhere where you are going to meet a lot of scary people, and this is why they're scary - because they are descended from Ham's line.

Back to verse 8
In verse 8, it speaks of Nimrod a "mighty man."  Remember in Genesis 6:4 that passage that discussed the mighty men of old, the nephilim, giants?  Basically, there were righteous that married with the unrighteous and there was an unholy offspring.  These are the giants who later appear in the narrative of the spies.  Apparently, Nimrod is one of those first evil offspring of these unholy unions.

Back to verse 9
In verse 9, we read he's a hunter (Nimrod).  Well, that's nice, you may think; but his name means "we shall rebel." He's a mighty man, which can be translated as a giant but also a tyrant.

We find in verse 10 more about him.  The first place he sets up camp is in Babel.  Babel will become Babylon in the plain of Shinar.

If you're familiar with the story of the nation of Israel, it runs like this:
1450 - Exodus from Egypt
1400 - Conquest of Canaan after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness
930 BC - Northern and Southern kingdoms split.  Israel in the North.  Judah in the South.
721 BC - Northern kingdom falls to the kingdom of Assyria.

Genesis 10:11
Look at the next place Nimrod goes after Babel: Assyria, Nineva and built on from there.   587 BC guess who the Southern kingdom Judah falls to?  Babylon.

These are the major enemies of Israel.  Babylon in the Bible is an arc-type of disobedience, pride and rebellion.

Genesis 10:15
We find out about Canaan's line.  Remember what we saw in the previous lesson?  This is the line that is cursed by Noah in his prophesy.

Genesis 10:15-18a
These catchy words in verses 16-18 occur 19 other times in the OT accounts.  It's the most familiar list of the enemies of Israel as they go in to take over the land of Canaan.

Canaan's descendants are sort of on the top most wanted list of those who come against Israel.  Jebusites are in the city is Jerusalem all up until 2 Samuel 5 where the city is at last captured by David.  For a very long period of time the most sacred city is inhabited by the most wicked tribe.

Genesis 10:19-20
"Sodom" and Gomorrah".  These come later in the book of Genesis.  In verse 20, these are the people who settled in the African, canaan region.  She asked us to read Leviticus 18 and see some of the things God is forbidding people to do as they enter into the promised land.  A pretty shocking list.  Why is God thinking that any of His people would ever engage in these activities?  We know why.  Because this is exactly what is going on in the land of Canaan.  The land to which they, the Israelites, are going and often in the land from where they have come.

Genesis 10:21
We see the line of Shem.  Notice the linguistic connection to the semmites - the line of promise.  This is the Jewish nation coming through this line. "Eber" root name for the term "Hebrew".

Genesis 10:25
We have a break in the rhythm in this verse.  What does this mean "for in his days the earth was divided?"  It's a time reference for the listeners.  Think about the story that is coming next: the Tower of Babel, at which time the world is divided.  The sons of Shem settle in the middleeast - Persia area.

On the ancient map, you can see how it was an organized re-telling, giving geographical reference points for the audience Moses is writing to.

Genesis 10:32
You can hear in this verse an echo of be fruitful and multiply language.  This list is made up of 70 names of people, regions or clans.  Do you think that was an accident?  We've already seen a geneology of a line that had 7 names.  Then a geneology of Seth with 10 names going back to Adam.  Here in the Tower of Nations we see 70 names in which 7 and 10 signify completeness.

This is not an exhaustive list.  Moses is making a point, telling a story in a particular way.  He wants us to know what is going on when Noah speaks his prophetic word over his sons.

Looking back at Genesis 9 let's look at what Noah said.  Verse 25 is effectively fulfilled when Joshua leads Israel into the promised land.  Canaan becomes a servant to the children of Israel.  In verse 26 do you notice that when he speaks the blessing he doesn't say "blessed be Shem?"  He says "blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem." This signifies that Shem's line is the righteous line by whom the name of the Lord will be held high.  In verse 27 it's very clear here as well that Canaan will be a servant.

What about Japheth? Shem is the line of promise, which means that Japheth's descendants and Canaan's descendants are not Hebrews.  Canaan's descendants are pagans.  

Who are Japheth's descendants?  Verse 27 is essentially saying "may God enlarge Japheth and may it be as if he were an honored guest enjoying all the wealth of Shem."  Japheth is to be invited into the tents of Shem and be treated as though he is family.  Think back on the map in your homework.  Japheth's descendants all settled in that Indo-European region.  If you were to overlay that map with a map of the world at the time of the writing of the gosepl of Acts, this was when the gospel was preached first to the Jew and then preached to the Gentile.  It is preached to the descendants of Japheth.  This is our story.

Genesis 11:1-3a
They are in that whole region where Babylon will be.  "Come, let us make bricks."  This is familar speech.  The way God spoke in the creation account when He creates human beings.

Genesis 11:3b-4
They keep saying "Come, let us" - do what we want.  Human beings here taking counsel with one another or in the manner that God takes counsel with Himself in the original creation account.

What do they want to do?  A building project: make a city, make a tower, make a name for themselves.  They were willing to make their own bricks - determined.

Notice "let us make a name for ourselves."  The Hebrew word for "name" is Shem.  God is jealous for His name and His glory, but humans are now wanting to make their name great.

"With its top in the heavens" - NIV translation "a tower that reaches to the heavens."  Tower really does not describe it here, but it's actually a ziggerut.  This looked like a pyrimad and had stair steps up the side, less of a tower and more of a stairway to heaven.

Remember in Isaiah 14:13-16 it says "I will ascend to the heavens" description of lucifer's words?  That's what we see playing out here.  The city is a representation of self-sufficiency and wrong motives.

Genesis 11:5
God came down to see.

Genesis 11:6a
They are way too able to get together and collaborate - look what's happened to sin - Adam and Eve individual act, but now a growing sophistication of sin - figuring out ways to sin together.

Genesis 11:6b-9
"Come, let us go down."  God re-establishes Himself as creator God and the one with the right to rule. Dispersing them is a gracious act of God.

"Babel" in Babylon means "gate of God" but in Hebrew it means "confusion." God ensures by confusing their language and dispersing them they will do what He's told them to do - to be fruitful and multiply.  God's plans will not be thwarted.

What partner story do we see?  Pentecost.  Acts 2:1-13.  Many different languages and the people need to hear one message.  God sends His spirit down on His sons and daughters and they merge speaking in the tongues of the known world to all who need to hear it.

For Us
We love to build "cities".  We love to build "towers."  We are called to not build our own habitations (I Peter 2:5).

The Last Creation Act
Revelation 21:1-7.  Notice: God's final word is to us "make all things new" and "it is done." 

Jen ends praying the words of the elders as they cast their crowns before the throne in Revelation 4:11.

Genesis: Session 9 "God's Covenant with Noah"

In this session, Jen uses the first 4 minutes to give an introduction to the reason for the flood.  She says that sometimes we question why God had to do this.  I didn't take notes on this part.

Jen begins by saying Noah not only has to come to terms with the massive destruction that has taken place, but also the loss of extended family which is very personal.

She asks that we think of a news coverage of a major disaster.  Think of Noah now - who walks out and sees massive destruction.  There are only 7 now who can help him restart humanity.

Genesis 8:20-22
He walks out of the ark and in verse 20 is his first act - worship.  The 7th day of waiting to come out of the ark.  This correlates also with the day of Sabbath.  He takes up the true work of worship.

Interestingly, he offers a sin offering.  What's the significance of that?  He atones for his personal sin.  What does Noah know?  That all of the time the ark carried him and his family through this flood, there was still a desire for sin, Jen says.

We see in these verses also declarations of what God will never do again:

never curse the ground
never again strike down every living creature 

Genesis 9:1-2
It's clear language here pointing back to the creation narrative.

Genesis 9:3
Jen says here that something interesting happens.  Do you remember back in the creation account how everyone was a vegetarian?  Well, all of a sudden God is saying you are going to have animals and plants for your food now.

Genesis 9:4-7
God will now be specific about this.  As will be the case for the rest of scripture, she says we will see great care given to any discussion of blood.

What is going on here?  Why would God now say the animals are yours for food?  In the first creation, no blood was shed.  In the re-creation now they must shed blood for survival.

She says it seems God is heightening the understanding that in order for humans to live, blood must be shed.

In verse 4, Jen begins to discuss the Jewish dietary laws.  It's required that all of the blood must be drained out in order for the animal to be eaten. 

Why would God be concerned with this?

Look at Leviticus 17:14 "For the life of every creature is its blood; its blood is its life.

Remember that this original audience here is the Israelites who read this.  They understood exactly what this meant.  They're heading into Canaan.  Do you know what the Canaanites practice was?  They would drink the blood of a wild animal to acquire its life force to make them stronger, more fertile and for spiritual amplification.

A detestable practice to the God of Israel.

In verse 6 we see that it ties back to that we are image bearers and makes human life sacred.

What's being given here, Jen says, is a proto-typical government.  A law code that precedes the greater law code that's given much later.  It's a way for Noah to begin to govern in this new post-flood era.

Look what it's intended to do:  Whoever kills someone, will be put to death.  That's tough language.  What it's doing though is preventing the spread of sin.  It will also prevent over-punishment.

Do you remember Lamech?  What did he do?  A guy made him mad so he killed him and bragged about it.  This gives a way to govern which combines mercy and judgment and makes sure that the penalty fits the crime and does not exceed it, Jen says.

Genesis 9:8-17
The word covenant is repeated in this section seven times.

Why over and over does God mention the word covenant? Because if you are Noah, the first time you see a dark cloud on the horizon, you're going to lose it and think "does the covenant still stand?"

God's covenant with Noah is unilateral.  He establishes it, and establishes it on His terms.  This covenant with Noah is eternal.  It will endure according to His character for whatever period He determines.  God's covenant is also gracious.

Not only is the covenant gracious, but God is gracious to repeat over and over again to Noah that His covenant stands.

God doesn't just tell Noah that the covenant will stand though.  He says there will be a sign associated with the covenant - a rainbow.

Question About The Rainbow
The question Jen asked is why a rainbow and what two elements have to combine in order for a rainbow to form?  Light and a rainstorm are the combination for a rainbow.

How Jesus Refers to Himself
Think about how Jesus refers to Himself in the NT.  In John 8:12 He says "I am the light of the world."  Jen states "when we think about God or think about Christ, we think about Him in general terms.  It's when we endure a "rainstorm", a time of trial, that all that beauty that is tied up in that light begins to be refracted for us (just like the refractory light that makes a rainbow).

We then begin to see the blue of His holiness, the purple of His sovreignty, the gold of His royalty, and the green of His eternality.  We begin to understand the red of His mercy."  We see Him in a deeper, richer, broader way than we would otherwise.

I Have Set My Bow
We can miss the fact that when He says "I have set my bow in the cloud" it's intended to make us think of a weapon (instead of the familiar thought of a rainbow).  The idea here is that God is laying down arms, acting in peace towards Noah and his family.

A Reminder
This sign of the rainbow will be seen to remind Noah "never again, never again."  This story is just a shadow of a much bigger story that is yet to happen.  Because on a day, Jen says, several thousand years to come, there would be another flood of wrath, and it would be poured out not on all humanity but on Jesus Christ on the cross.

Because this flood of God's wrath was poured out on Him it is diverted from us.  So anytime you look at the cross, you can remember "never again, never again.  It is finished."

Genesis 9:18-19
We've already seen these names Shem, Ham and Japheth mentioned earlier.  Perk up your ears anytime you see the word Canaan (Ham was his father).  He mentions also the disperson here.  We will see more about this in session 10.

Genesis 9:20-27
There's a lot to untangle in these verses.  Noah is going to be caught in a state of undress and treated disrespectfully.  He then wakes up and starts prophesying.  This is not just ranting but a prophetic word that he speaks.  It's interesting to note in verse 21 that when he drank of the wine and became drunk, that this is actually the first mention of wine in scripture and immediately related to drunkeness.  This is not a favorable picture painted here.

Notice also that when scripture says he planted a vineyard, that this term vineyard is translated elsewhere as garden.  Pay attention to what's going on here.

Notice the fruit of the garden is going to lead him into sin and a fall.  This sin is going to expose his nakedness.  His nakedness is going to be covered by another.  Not only that, but the father's sin is going to lead to sin in his own son Ham, which will result in a curse on posterity.

There is a repetition happening.  We have a second fall narrative.

So here is Noah drunk, naked and lying in his tent.  Ham comes in.  What is implied in the text?  Ham mocks his father.  How does Shem and Japheth respond?  They very carefully and respectfully try to restore Noah's dignity.  

Don't miss this:  the reason that Ham sins is because Noah sinned.  This is how sin works.  It doesn't just affect you but affects others.  Remember the pattern we already discussed in previous sessions regarding sin?

• I see it
• I want it
• I take it
• I share it

Here's why Ham's behavior is so reprehensible:  he celebrates the sin of a righteous man.

We do this as well.  Jen asked us to think about a church leader who falls because of sin.  We sometimes will say "I knew it.  I saw that coming."  We tend to celebrate this righteous person falling.  Why?  Because we don't want to feel judged by their righteousness, so the second we see a chink in the armor, it validates all our own insecurities.

Noah speaks this curse in verse 25 to Canaan not to Ham.  Why?  A father shamed by his son pronounces a curse that will cause a father to be shamed by his son - a bit of irony here.

"Canaan" is in the prophecy three times (verses 25, 26 and 27).  What's happening here?  Canaan's descendants are whom Moses is preparing Israel to subdue as they go into the promised land.  What is being established here is a right to the land.  He is reassuring his original audience through the way he sets up the narrative.

In this curse we can see mercy.  He does not curse all of Ham's line only part of it.

Genesis 9:28-29

We reach the end of the first geneology.

Think About This

We have no record of the last 350 years of Noah's life.  What the text seems to imply here is that though there are many worthy things of comment in the first 600 years of his life, that in the last third, there wasn't much to say.

For Us

We are called to a long obedience in Christ - moving in the same direction, forward.

• we shouldn't coast
• we shouldn't lay off of obedience
• As we age, we should continue in obedience, continue in righteous living

The Question To Ask

Will I continue to do those things that constitute righteousness?  "The longer we grow in holiness, there is more continuity in what we say and what we do."

In hearing this story of the flood, Jen states her prayer is that we would have ever-shrinking hypocrisy and that we would not live in fear of the wrath of God as the unbeliever must.

There will be storm clouds, she says, that will gather on our horizon.  There will be rain that will fall in our lives, but we never need look on that and say "is God judging me?"  Because no judgment remains for the children of God.

Closing

Song of Solomon 8:7a "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it."

Next: Session 10 "Disperson and Descent"

 

Steadfast Love: Session 5 "Storm"

Session 5 has a bit more note taking than Session 4.  She focuses on Psalm 107:23-32 in this session.

Some might be dreading this part of Psalm 107 about the storm. 

Maybe you haven't been through a storm yet and can't image what that would look like.  Maybe you're thinking:

 "Would I still love the Lord in it? What would it cost me?"

Maybe you're feeling anxious about the season of a storm in your life.

Others may be in the middle of a storm right now and thinking "I just need some encouragement.  I need to know I'm not alone in this."  

Maybe you're just wanting a fresh word from the Lord from scripture.

The thing about storms is that we don't have any control about when it hits or how it hits us.

The men on the ship in scripture were working men on the ship.  Their job was hazardous to say the least.  Out of nowhere a storm hits.  

The same with us.  We're going along in our life and out of nowhere, unexpectedly a storm comes.

We need to realize that life doesn't always go according to our plans.

We'll come to the place in our storms where we will want to find our hope in His steadfast love.

Lauren then tells several stories of her storms of miscarriages and her husband Matt's brain tumor and surgery.  She encourages us that the grace for our storms will be there.

God will be the stability in that moment.

Look at Isaiah 33:5-6:

God is supremely esteemed.  His center holds.  Zion brims over with all that is just and right.  God keeps your days stable and secure - salvation, wisdom, and knowledge in surplus, and best of all, Zion's treasure, Fear-of-God. (the Message)

For those who are in the storm: He will be your stability in it.

For those who are afraid, anxious about the storm that is coming: Take heart that He will be with you in it.

We live in a fallen world and storms will come.

For Lauren, the Lord sovreignly was in the storm of Matt's illness and brought healing through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

Lauren said it wasn't her counting on his healing that kept her through it, but counting on the Lord being present in the middle of it.

Her challenge for us this week is that no matter what storm it is or where we are in the storm, or anxious about one coming, that we would find all the ways that He is present.

Our storms, many times, will pluck up any other anchor we are holding onto for our stability.  He will put in us deeper anchors through our storms - the anchor of His steadfast love.

He is the Lord of our storms.  

Maybe the outcome isn't healing.  

Maybe the outcome isn't what we had expected, but we still have a hope to cling to.  

We have an anchor of stability in Jesus Christ.

We have hope in His steadfast love.

Steadfast Love: Session 4 "Folly"

This particular session is quite short with the note taking on Psalm 107:17-22. This session focuses in on "Folly".  

What is folly?  

Basically it's when we choose to do things the way we want.  It's as if we say "I know what's best for my life."

Look at Proverbs 3:5-12.  The Message version says:  

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's th eone who will keep you on track.  Don't assume that you know it all.  Run to God!  Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!  Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best.  Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.  But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline; don't sulk under His loving correction.  It's the child He loves that God corrects; a Father's delight is behind all this."

As we dive in to where our folly lies, consider that He is a loving Father.

Lauren asks us to be willing to be humbled by seeing the places where we've been foolish.  She encourages us that we are not alone and that when our folly is exposed, it's the first step in getting healthy.

When our foolishness and folly is exposed, we will also receive the steadfast love of the Lord that is everlasting.

Next: Steadfast Love - Storm

Genesis Session 8: The Flood

Again, these are my notes from session 8 with Jen Wilkin for Genesis.  Please use with your small group or just individually for study.  

We are looking at the story of Noah in the context of what has come before.  Jen says, never read a story in the Bible independent of what has come before and what is going to come after.

If we believe something like this happened, we should expect that it's recorded not just by one culture but by several cultures. There are literally hundreds of recorded tales, Jen says, about a flood that happened.  These stories have been gathered by scholars and analyzed.  There's a lot of debate out there of whether the flood was global or local, she says.

The only way the flood stays in orthodox belief is to say it was regional; it wiped out all human kind except the 8 people preserved. Why? Because the whole point of the story is that God is cleansing the earth of all its wicked inhabitants.  Because of the doctrine of original sin that says we're all born with a bent towards sin, it makes sense, Jen says, that even if the flood was regional, all human kind not on the ark would have had to be swept away.

Original Sin
Because Adam messed up, we have to walk around from our earliest days wanting to commit sin.  The God of the universe orchestrated this original sin and made Adam our representative.  One of the most difficult pieces of coming to terms with the flood narrative, says Jen, is that it's only a temporary solution.

Genesis 6:1-10
Notice that the text is mentioning Shem, Ham and Japheth.  This should raise our awareness and look for those names to occur again.

What do we see here?

• Noah was a righteous man
• He's the great-great-grandson of Enoch who walked with God
• And Noah also walked with God following in the line of his ancestors

Noah is dwelling in a time when wickedness is pervasive.  The NT refers to him as a preacher of righteousness.  He will be given a task of building the ark which will be difficult because of the era he is living in of wickedness.

Genesis 6:11-13

Notice the word "corrupt" used three times.  Notice how blame has been established:

• The people have corrupted the earth
• Violence because of the people

He says in verse 13, He will destroy both them and the earth.  The root word for destroy  is corrupt.

Genesis 6:14-22

When you hear verse 22, does it sound familiar to you?  What Moses will do when he writes his narrative throughout Genesis, is he employs the same patterns of language, Jen says.  Why is this? Because he wants his listeners to be able to remember, so he's giving them listening and memory tools.

Look at verse 13:  "God said."  Look at verse 22: "Noah did."  Do you feel the rhythm of the creation account here?  But rather than God being the one who accomplishes the work, Noah is brought in as a partner to the process.  This is a good picture of our sanctification.  In the process of sanctification by the power of the Holy Spirit, we work through grace-driven effort to grow in holiness.  We see that here in a typology that it's God who gives the command to create and Noah carries it out.

God has specifics.  He has an exact plan.  He wants Noah to know what it is and be able to carry it out.  God tells Noah exactly what's going to happen.

In verse 18, a word is introduced in the Bible for the first time: covenant.  The first mention of God making a promise with humans.  It's not the first time we've seen the concept though.  We saw a covenant implied back in the garden after the first sin - when God slays the animals and clothes Adam and Eve and promises the seed will come from the woman.

They were to bring two of every kind, male and female.  This too is an echo of the creation narrative of Adam and Eve to symbolize the completeness of the pair.  

We need to know how Noah heard this command.  Where does Noah live?  In the desert.  This command is: 

• ludicrous (what if Noah fails?)
• laborious (100 years)
• protracted (lasting a long time)
• expensive (great financial sacrifice)

But "Noah did this."

Genesis 7:1-5

We see here again "God said" and "It was so" - Noah did. Notice 7 pairs of animals clean and a pair of unclean (we will see why in the next session).

Genesis 7:6-10

He spends 7 days waiting for rain (the first period of time).  The next interval is 40 days and nights of rain.

Genesis 7:11-12

In these verses, it's just as God had said in the previous verses.

Genesis 7:13-16

First we have this litany which feels like to us a needless repetition.  But what is it?  It's "God said" and "Noah did", and it happened just as God said.  We then have this statement "and the Lord shut him in."  Think about this: 7 days of waiting before the Lord shut the door.  He shuts the door.  Why?  Because their safety will rely wholly on Him.

We see three things regarding this:

1) we see the perfect security that is found being in the ark.  Look at Revelation 3:7b .... "what He opens no one can shut and what He shuts no one can open."  Noah's ark corresponds to the NT regarding baptism (I Peter 3:20-22).  Just as Noah and his family are sealed in the ark and pass through waters of death and raised to life on the other side of the flood, so also we are buried with Christ, pass through death and are raised to life as He is raised from the dead.  The door being shut and sealed corresponds to us being sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).

2) God's grace.  We see that God is slow and waits.  When all of the preparations have taken place, and nothing else left to be done, the last thing that happens is the door is closed.  Up to that point, the door of salvation remained open to anyone who would come.  Noah preached for about 120 years about the coming judgment.

3) There is an end to grace.  A word of warning here.  The most significant parellel here is John 10:9 "I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved."  So we as believers in Christ, sealed with the Holy Spirit can know that we will, as well, persevere and be safe in Him.

Genesis 7:17-24

The third time interval in the flood account - 150 days the waters prevailed.

Genesis 8:1-5

"God remembered Noah."  What we take from this phrase and where we see it elsewhere in the scriptures is that God remembered His promise to Noah.  It was time to bring it to pass.  God sent a wind over the earth and the waters receded.  The word for wind is Ruach.  Do you remember that from Genesis 1?  The Spirit hovering over the waters.  What do we see here again?  We see Ruach hovering over the waters.  We see the earth in the flood has been returned to its primordial state.  This is a de-creation narrative.  The earth is now the way it was in Gensis chapter 1 when the Spirit hovered waiting for the sign from God to speak and have light come in play, to separate the waters from the waters, and the waters from the dry land.  We're going to see the same things happen now.  We begin to see dry land separate from water in verse 5.

Genesis 8:6-7

The seas are returning to their proper boundaries and the dry land is now emerging.  He sends out a raven.

Genesis 8:8-9

Forty days the waters are receding and a dove is sent out.  Now we will have 7 days waiting for the waters to recede and the dove returns.

Genesis 8:10-12

The symbol for peace is the dove with the olive branch because God's covenant is being made with Noah.  When the dove does not return, Noah knows there is enough dry ground that they now can leave the ark.  This last period of 7 days when the dove does not return, is a total of 6 different increments of time.  Why do you suppose that is?  Because in the creation account of Genesis chapter 1, we had 6 intervals of time to describe creation.  So now what would correspond to the 7th day, the day of Sabbath.  What happens?

Genesis 8:13-17

This correlates with Genesis 1:24 (read this).

Genesis 8:18-19

God said and it was so, like the creation account.  Now here we have Noah and his family and all the animals to go forth and fulfill the cultural mandate again.

Notice that Noah doesn't walk out of the ark for himself; God called him.  Does this remind you of any NT story?  Lazerus (John 11).  Jesus walks up to a sealed door and calls a dead man to life.  Why doesn't Noah exit on his own?  Because it is God who speaks us into life.  This scene is a re-enactment of John 11.  Passing from death to life.  The flood marks the psyche of Israel and also all who believe.

Closing

In closing, Jen reads Psalm 29.  Our God sits enthroned above the flood.  He brings us safely through and meets us on the other side with an olive branch and a call to life.

Next: Session 9 "God's Covenant with Noah"

Genesis Session 7: Named and Known

These are my notes for session 7 of the DVD series by Jen Wilkin titled "God of Creation - Genesis."  You may use these notes for your own study or in a group study.

In our last session, we had all the high drama. 

In this chapter, we're reading lists of names.  Notice that there are two contrasting geneologies:

• The unrighteous line of Cain
• The righteous line of Seth

We have said that when a historical narrative is written by the Biblical authors, they are choosing what they are going to leave out.  So when we have a geneology of Cain that is 6 names long, that's significant.  It's the number of man.  The geneology of Seth is 10 names long, which in the scriptures, is a sign of completeness.

Every name included in the geneology is there to communicate what the text wants to tell us.

Do you know who cares about geneologies?  God.  These would have been very important lists for those who had wandered in the desert - now going into a foreign land.  They didn't have the first five of the books to carry around, so they needed to remember their roots and where they came from.  These lists were designed for them to remember and carry with them.

Something we can carry away here is that God cares about individuals.  He knows us by name.  Our names are written down in the Lamb's Book of Life.

These geneologies will also continue to show us the progression of sin and death, show us the continued faithfulness of God to accomplish the promise that He made to being the seed.

Genesis 4:17. Cain married his sister.  Notice what Cain is doing in this verse:  he's building a city.  Interesting.  What did God say was his sentence?  That he would be a wanderer.  Yet Cain, in his first act, puts down roots and builds a city.

Genesis 4:18. Lamech is 7th in the line of Adam (remember this). His name also means brought low. 

Genesis 4:19a. We learn something here as well about Lamech.  Back in Genesis 2 when God presents Eve to Adam, it says "the two shall become one flesh."  God has already made it clear that marriage is between one man and one woman.  So when Lamech takes two wives what do we know?  No concern for God's law.  Keep this in mind because elsewhere in scripture you will see heros of the faith taking multiple wives.  Because we're afraid to ask questions of the text, we sometimes assume that it's okay.  It is never okay.  God can work through this, but those family situations never look anything like you would want your home to look like.

Genesis 4:19b-22a. First, let's look at these three sons.  One is into music, one into iron working, and one into livestock.  This is the unrighteous line.  What's happening here is that art and beauty are being created; functional things being created by people who don't call on the name of the Lord.  

This is also what we see today.  Note that God is able to bring about beauty even when it comes from the hands of the wicked.

Women In The List. 
This will tell us something about the culture Cain is breeding:

Adah: pleasure, ornament or beauty

Zillah: shade, as in the covering of long luxurious hair

Naamah: loveliness

So what do we learn women are valued for in this culture?  The way they look.  When we see the way that he speaks to his wives, we learn more about the way women are esteemed in this culture.

Post Fall Poem
Genesis 4:23-24. We have now our first post-fall poem and guess what it's about?  Murder.  We moved from just committing murder and doing bold sin to now actually writing poetry to celebrate it.  Who is this song of violence addressed to?  His wives (Lamech).

Remember back in the garden when things go south, it was said her desire will be to control him, his desire will be to control her?  We see here how this is already happening.  What do you think the women in this culture used to leverage power?  

• Sexuality
• Beauty
• Attractiveness

What do men use?

• Physical strength
• Prowness

What is Lamech communicating by this poem? Since it's directed at his wives, he saying "don't mess with me."  He's singing a poem where he has administered a punishment that far exceeds the crime.  Then, he wraps it up by saying in verse 24...."if Cain's revenge is 7-fold, then Lamech's is 77 fold."  God's protection of Lamech is nothing compared to Lamech's protection of Lamech is what he's saying.

Numbers
Numbers come into play here as well.  77 fold.  Seven indicates completeness and 77 fold takes that number 7 and number 10 and combines them to say utterly complete. 

In Matthew 18:12-22, Jesus' listeners would have thought about this when He says how many times were to forgive others - "70 times 7."  This is not literal.  Seventy times 7 is completeness, completeness, completeness - forgive to the uttermost.

Lamech, 7th in line sings this song of boasting.  It is hard-hearted, cruel and self-reliant.  It objectifies and terrorizes women.  Truly the line is "brought low" in Lamech.  Between verses 24 and 25 notice the empty space there.  We will come back to this later.

The Contrasting Line of Seth

Genesis 4:25a.  Seth means appointed or set in place of.  What does this tell you?  Eve now sees Seth as a replacement for Abel whom she has lost.  She's probably hoping that Seth will be the one who will crush the head of the serpent.  Is she right?  Yes and no.

No, she's not right that Seth will be the one, but yes that it will be through the line of Seth.

Genesis 4:26. The name Enosh means frail, mortal. So a growing awareness of the fragility of life.  Verse 26b "at that time people began to call on the name of the Lord."  Hope begins to be breathed into the narrative.

Why?  Until now, God has called upon man - that's what He did in the garden, that's what He did with Cain.  He comes and inquires and tries to bring the person to repentance, but what do we see now?  As times grow dark, as the consequences of sin become more apparent, people begin to call upon the Lord.

Genesis 5:1. You will hear a phrase that occurs a total of 11 times in the book of Genesis - this is the second time: "this is the book of the generations of Adam."  We first saw the generations of the heaven and the earth in chapter two.  This is the introduction of the line of Adam through Seth.

Genesis 5:1b-3. There's an interesting shift in language in verse 3.  It doesn't say he fathered a son in the image of God, but in his "own image."  Even though Seth was born in the image of God, he also looks a whole lot like his father Adam and so do we.  The work of sanctification is for us to be restored to the image of God as born out in the person of Christ and to have Adam's image scraped off of us one sin pattern at a time.

Genesis 5:4-5. We have this introductory section to the geneology, and then were going to move through them starting with Adam and see now a rhythmic approach to how geneology is laid out.  The last time we saw a rhythmic approach was the creation narrative.

Genesis 5:6-12. "Kenan's" name in verse 10 means sorrow.  In verse 12, the name "Mahalalel" means praised.  Even in the midst of these names that are swirling toward things getting darker and worse, we see a glimpse of hope.

Genesis 5:13-15. "Jared" in verse 15 means shall come down. It sounds like there's something expectant now in this list.

Genesis 5:16-20. "Enoch's" name in verse 18 means dedicated or disciplined. Why does the author keep saying "and he died" over and over?  Because like the tolling of the bell, he calls out the lie of the serpent which is "you shall not surely die."

Genesis 5:21-22.  Now remember Enoch is #7 in this geneology.  We are intended to see him in comparison to #7 in the geneology of Cain who was Lamech.  God took Enoch.  What happened to our rhythm?  Broken.  Do you remember when we talked about the creation account that anytime a rhythm is occurring and it's broken, we should perk up our ears and ask "why is this in here and why is it different?"

Enoch lives less years (365 years).  This sounds like how many days there are in a year - another one of those numbers that signifies completeness.  Even though his life is the briefest, it is probably the most righteous life we find in the whole list.

Notice verse 22:  "after he fathered Methuselah."  Something about Methuselah's birth impacts him so he becomes someone who walks with God - with complete righteousness.  What does "and was not" mean?  Look at Hebrews 11:5b.  On the other side of the fall we have Enoch, who is so in step with God that God spares him from physical death.  Enoch's "walking buddy" was the one True God.

Jude verses 14 and 15 talks about Enoch.  Enoch didn't just walk with God but he proclaimed the impending justice of God upon a wicked generation.  It seems from these verses that Enoch thought there was a judgment to come.  It was a conclusion he reached after the birth of Methuselah.

What Do We Know About Methuselah?
Look at verse 25.  He fathered Lamech (Noah's father) and Methuselah lived longest (969 years).  Verse 28 - Noah's name means comfort and rest.

How do we make sense of what is happening in verses 25-32?

The name Methuselah means on his death it shall come.  The child born to Enoch (Methuselah) is a prophecy.

Methuselah Math
When he was 187 years old, he has Lamech.  He lived 782 years more.  Lamech is 182 years old when Noah is born.  Add 187 and 182 together - 369 years.

We know that the flood occurred (Gen. 7:6) in the 600th year of Noah's life.  So what is 600 plus 369?  969 years.  From the time Methuselah is born until he dies, and on the day of his death, or shortly thereafter, God comes with 10,000 of his holy ones, the heavens open, and it reigns down a flood of the holy justice of God.  Because of this, Enoch becomes someone who walks in righteousness.  Who else was described as walking with God? Noah.

What We Can Pull From This
The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  Methuselah ages and ages and God tarries in pouring His wrath out.  Methuselah is for us a symbol of the long-suffering nature of God.

Genesis 6:1-4. The word "nephilim" means giant. There are all these strange ideas that have been placed on this text about what is really going on.  Because we are reading this text in context, we can read with a clear-sightedness.  We've just seen two geneologies that show there is a righteous line and an unrighteous line.  So when we get to this passage in verse 2, it makes sense from a continuity point that we would read that the sons from the righteous line looked at the daughters from the unrighteous line and thought to marry them.  Would God recommend this?  No.  What do we see as they intermarry?  An unholy alliance resulting in a dangerous offspring.

What does the statement in verse 3 mean?  Possibly it means it would be 120 years until the flood would come.

Genesis 6:5. Do you hear all the absolutes?  "Every."

Genesis 6:6-8. There's an important contrast happening here.  This is an antithetical picture of God holding all that He has done in the 6 days of creation and pronouncing it "good", now looking down on creation fragmented by sin and saying "it's not good." He's going to de-create that which He created.  

Look at verse 7: "I will blot out man whom I have created."  Man was created on day six with animals and creeping things created before man.  When were the birds created?  Right before the land animals.  God is backing out of the creation narrative.  "But Noah found favor."  The Lord set His favor upon Noah.

Why does this horrify us?  Because we're not adequately horrified by the severity of sin.  We think God is harsh, but God always contends for His holiness.

White Space in Genesis 4:24-25
What would you hear in that white space if you held your Bible to your ear?  Rising water, the flood washing the unrighteous line of Cain.  It is never heard of again.

God is willing to do whatever is necessary to put sin to death.  We have the enemy of sin that fights against us.  We are called to put it to death.

Another List of Names
Why does Adam not show up in the geneology of Cain?  Luke 3 is the geneology of Jesus.  We move all the way back to Joseph's line and then move through familiar OT names (verses 32-38).  

God cares about names.  The name that He cares about more than any other is His own.

May we be those who call upon the name of the Lord.

The plan was in place stretching all the way back to Adam - a Savior would come, a deliverer would come.

Next: Session 8

Genesis Session 6: "Cain and Abel"

These are my notes from Jen Wilkins Genesis Bible study.  You are free to print out and free to share with others.

The ones before the cross, the patriarchs, would have known about this promise at the end of Chapter 3 that the seed would come through the woman.

In today's text, place yourself in the place of Adam and Eve.  They heard this prophecy spoken, and in their minds, maybe they are thinking it's a great prophecy but it won't be fulfilled for thousands of years.  We're going to see today that they had a more immediate thought for the fulfillment of the prophecy.

In Genesis 4, we find them starting a family.  What we will see in this chapter is man's sin against man not just against God.  This is a story we must examine closely because it's going to teach us something about ourselves, and the nature and progression of sin in our own lives.

Genesis 4:1 - 5a
The statement by Eve at the birth of Cain "I have obtained a man (baby boy) with the help of the Lord."  

In 1 Corinthians 11:11-12 it talks about this reciprocity that man and woman depend on one another.  In the creation account, we see Eve being taken out of the man.  We now see a man being taken out of a woman. 

J. M. Boyce, a commentary writer, says a better translation is: "I have gotten a man, even the deliverer." Do you get that?

She gives birth to a man, and what is her first thought?  "This is the one."  She places her hope on this first son of her womb.  Heartbreaking.  She has instead given birth to the first murderer.  She later gives birth to Abel meaning "a mist or a vapor" - seeing here the fleeting nature of life.

Cain is a worker of the ground.  Abel is a keeper of sheep.

Even though the fall has happened, and original sin will taint everything onward, the cultural mandate is still going forward.

Cain and Abel have some understanding that a sacrifice is required, even though that law has not been established yet, and be given in a particular way.  Abel brings what is expected since he keeps sheep.  His offering is accepted.  Cain brings the fruit of the ground since he is a worker of the ground.  Why do you think God rejected Cain's offering? Is it because Abel brought a blood sacrifice?

We know later on when we know the laws are given regarding sacrifices.  There were all kinds of sacrifices that were acceptable.  So that's probably not it.  What is it that makes a sacrifice acceptable to the Lord?

Look at Genesis 4:5 which says "but for Cain and his offering, He had no regard." God always only wants an offering that comes from a pure motive.

One of the hints we see here in the text is that Abel brings the first born of his flock, but Cain it says brought some of his fruit from the ground - doesn't say "first fruits."  It's possible Cain was holding back the best and the first for himself.  This is Cain's first offense against God - his offering.

He has made an outward show of righteousness with an inward resistance.  This is call "legalism."  What do we see happening with sin only one generation removed from Adam and Eve, a more sophisticated form of sin has already taken place.  When murder enters in, we also see that sin is getting bolder.

In Psalm 51:16-17 it describes the sacrifice God is pleased with:
A broken spirit and a contrite heart. 

Cain's Response To God Rejecting His Sacrifice
Verse 5-6 says "he was angry and his face fell." We see in verses 6 and 7 God doing what God is good doing - He's giving Cain an opportunity for repentance.  God is basically saying "Cain, you know what was required but you have chosen to do otherwise."  God in verse 7 is giving Cain the opportunity to repent and slay his anger, but Cain will slay his brother instead.  His brother's righteousness will incur his wrath.

For Us
We treat sin in our life as if it's not a big deal.  We say "I can handle this.  It's just a small sin."  But sin always grows bigger.  Sooner or later it will consume us.  So when God pricks us regarding something in our life, we should be so quick not to get angry but to repent.

Let's See What Happens
Verses 8-12 the unspeakable happens - Cain kills Abel.  What does God do?  Does He immediately strike him down?  Again, God is slow to anger and patient.  He engages Cain in dialogue once again.  But what is Cain's response?  "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"

He responds with:

• Blame shifting (like Adam and Eve)
• Evasiveness (like Adam and Eve)
• Anger
• Sarcasm

His heart is hard, but we see God:

• Pursuing Cain
• Initiating diaglogue with him
• Warning of impending danger
• Questioning Cain
• Giving him opportunity to repent
• Assigning a punishment for sin

The Punishment

Genesis 4:11-12 gives the punishment.  Even though the ground has been cursed, Cain enjoys some amount of success working the ground, but now, he will have zero success.  He will also be a fugitive and a wanderer.  How is this an appropriate punishment for someone like Cain?  Have you ever tried to grow a garden as a fugitive and a wanderer?  This is the worst punishment.

Cain's Response To His Punishment

Genesis 4:13 - this is "greater than I can bear." There is no ownership of what he's done.  Only further anger, further rejection towards God's decrees.  Further in verses 13-14 there is no repentance from Cain.

In Genesis 4:15-16, Cain settled in the land of "Nod" which means wandering. Notice it says that Cain "went away from the presence of the Lord." In contrast, Adam and Eve were driven out.

What was the Mark on Cain?  We don't know.  Why did God do it?  Three reasons are possible:

• God means it when He says "vengance is mine"
• To show God's generosity for the sinner
• To serve as a living warning to others

What was Cain's main concern?  Himself.

Hebrew 11:4 speaks of Abel.  What's interesting in this verse is that when it says "he still speaks", Abel never spoke in Genesis.  But he still continues to speak because of his faithfulness to God.  Abel is mentioned again in Hebrews 12:22-24 - "blood of Abel". What does verse 24 mean? What did the blood of Abel cry out for from the ground?  It cried out for justice.

What did the blood of Christ cry out for?  Mercy.

The cross speaks a better word.

Worship

What kind of worship are we offering?  Abel understood his offering was unto God.  Cain understood his offering was a master of his domain.  

What Can We Learn From This Story?

• God is gracious
• God is wise
• God is just
• God is gracious in the midst of His justice
• God is longsuffering

This story is instructive to us about how we should regard the nature of sin and how we should regard the grace of God.  

We should identify with Abel as a breath and a vapor. 

Look up: Psalm 39:5.  Psalm 144:4.  Isaiah 2:22.

Next: Session 7 "Named and Known"