The content below was developed by Doug Reynolds who has requested that it be placed here for others to use in teaching the word of God.
The content is constructed in ten different parts or sections. Each section consists of one lesson.
Genesis – The Book of Beginnings
Part 11 – Chapter 3:14-24
The Sentence and The Solution
In chapter 3, we see the fall of man. As we look at chapter
three, we will use five “S”s to aid our memory: Setup, Sin,
Shame, Sentence, and Salvation Solution. In verses 14 – 24, we
will look at the sentence given to man and woman. Also, we
will see God’s first promise of a Messiah, and the first sacrifice
for sin.
Verse 14:
God punishes the serpent. The serpent we see in Eden is very
different than serpents and other animals we know today. Can
you describe the physical sentence given the serpent?
From a philosophical standpoint, what makes this punishment so
unusual?
Verse 15:
This is the first mention in scripture of a promised messiah.
God talks directly to Satan in this verse. What does enmity
between Satan and the woman, and between their seeds, mean?
Notice that the enmity is between Satan and the woman’s seed,
or descendants. Why wasn’t there enmity between Satan and
man, and between their seeds pronounced?
God declares that the woman’s seed shall bruise Satan’s (not
Satan’s seed) head. What does this mean?
God also declares that Satan shall bruise the heel of the
woman’s descendant. What does this mean?
Verse 16:
The sentence given to the woman is threefold. Can you identify
the three parts of the sentence?
1) Pain and sorrow in child birth
2) Her desire is contrary to her husband
3) Her husband shall rule over her
What does this verse tell you (hint – think about the opposite of
the sentence)?
Verses 17-19:
This verse tells of man’s sentence. Man’s sentence is twofold,
and applies to all, not just the male of the species.
1) The earth is cursed because of the action of man
2) Man (and woman) will physically die
Verse 20:
Woman is named. Do you think that Adam and Eve had
children before the Fall? Remember, from this point on,
scripture is God’s revelation through His covenant people; Israel
first, and then the gentiles.
Verse 21:
God provides clothing. Man cannot approach God in his
present, sinful, state. God must provide a covering. In this
verse we see part of the solution for sin: sacrifice, or a death to
atone for sin. In order to provide the skins God made Adam and
Eve, God sacrificed innocent animals. The covering provided by
God here is not just a physical covering. It is a covering for sin.
Verses 22-24:
These are amazing verses. Read them and describe what is
happening.
What does “one of us” mean in Verse 21?
What would happen if Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Life?
Why did God send Adam and Eve from the Garden?
Look at Verse 24 very carefully. What do the Cherubim remind
you of?
Think of the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. The
Cherubim there were covering the mercy seat. What was placed
on the mercy seat?
The blood on the mercy seat enabled God to commune with man
because of the blood, or the sacrifice.
The image of the way back to the Garden of Eden is an image of
the mercy seat. The Cherubim and the sword of fire pointed
toward the blood of the sacrifice that God made to pay for Adam
and Eve’s sin. Each time Adam and Eve looked back at what
they had lost, they saw the blood of the sacrifice and were
reminded of the price of sin: death.
The image we are left with at the end of Chapter 3 doesn’t imply
that man can never go back to a place of communion with God.
It shows us how we must return to God: as sinners, redeemed, or
paid for, by the sacrifice of Jesus.
Part XII – Chapter 4 The First Family
In Chapter 4, we meet the first family. Adam and Eve produce two
children, both boys, named Cain (first born) and Abel (the younger
brother).
Verses 1-2:
Cain and Abel may or may not have been the first children born to
Adam and Eve. They are, however, the first recorded. We are
given a lot of information in these verses. We see the record of their
birth, and we see what they grew up to be. Cain was a farmer, and
Abel became a shepherd.
Verses 3-5:
These verses deal with two offerings, one acceptable to God, and
one that was not acceptable to God. What made the difference
between the two; we do not know for sure. I personally believe that
evidence that Abel brought the acceptable offering is found in verse
- In verse 4, the offering of Abel is described as “firstlings.” No
mention is made of the “first” fruit in reference to Cain’s offering.
Some suspect that the difference is in the motive in which the
offering was given. I suspect that is true. Please refer to Hebrews
11:4 for reference to this viewpoint.
Further evidence may be given by Cain’s attitude when his offering
was not accepted by God.
Remember that this was a very different time for man on the earth.
Can you name what was different based on the verses and what you
know is to come in scripture?
Verses 6-7:
God gives a warning to Cain. What does God know about Cain?
What does God warn Cain about?
Verse 8:
This verse tells of the first death (murder) of a human. Try to
imagine the feelings of Adam. Eve, and Cain, when confronted with
the first dead body of a human they had ever seen.
Verse 9:
God knows all. What was Cain trying to accomplish given his
response to God’s question? At this point, God still communicated
in some very physical way with man, even though man had
separated himself from God’s physical presence. Also remember
that the law had not yet been given, so there was no law that forbade
murder.
Verses 10-12:
This is Cain’s curse. Because of his sin, Cain would no longer be
able to farm. He would become a nomad, wandering from place to
place with no home.
Verses 13-14:
These are interesting verses. Read them and describe what is
happening.
What do you think of Cain’s statement to God that the penalty is
more than he can bear? Do you see any repentance or remorse in
this response?
Is Cain really hid from God? If so, then Cain begins to establish the
first Godless nation. We will touch on this theme more in future
studies regarding the origins of various people groups on the earth.
Who exactly is the “who” that Cain refers to here? If Cain and Abel
were Adam and Eve’s only children, who were the others Cain
refers to?
Verse 15:
Whether or not Cain deserved it, God does an interesting thing in
this verse: He protects a murderer. God pronounces a curse on
anyone who would harm Cain out of revenge for the murder of
Abel. God also provides some type of mark upon Cain that will
protect him from others by reminding them of God’s curse. Only
speculation exists to describe the “mark” given Cain. Would you
like to speculate?
Verse 16:
Cain moves to a land called Nod, East of Eden. No one knows for
sure where this place was. Would you agree that many of us, from
time to time, move to the land of Nod when we are out of God’s
will?
Verses 17-24:
This is the lineage of Cain. This is the majority of the information
we are given about what happens to Cain’s descendents after
moving to Nod. It is interesting to note that Lamech is the first
bigamist. It is also interesting to think about Lamech’s statement to
his wives concerning his attitude toward the value of human life and
toward God’s curse to Cain’s avengers.
Verses 25-26:
The next son born to Adam and Eve is Seth. Through his seed, man
began again to call upon the name of the Lord. It is through Seth
that we begin to trace the lineage to Christ.
Part XIII – Chapter 5 – A Stroll Through the Cemetery
In Chapter 5, we see the lineage of Seth through Noah. Some call this
the most depressing chapter in scripture; a stroll through the cemetery.
Rather than discuss this chapter verse by verse, we will look only at
the main themes: the sentence for sin and the results of faith.
The sentence for sin is clearly death, both spiritually and physically.
Everyone mentioned in this chapter dies, except one, and he is the
subject of the theme of faith. Each has a recorded birth date and a
recorded death, except one.
The theme of faith is most clearly represented by Enoch. Enoch
“walked with God” and did not experience a physical death. God took
him to be with him. I think it would be a mistake to try to interpret this
passage any other way than simply that Enoch was alive on this earth
one moment, and absent from the earth and present with God the next.
Was the walk Enoch had with God a physical or a spiritual walk? In
other words, was it a walk with God like Adam and Eve once
enjoyed?
Scholars also point out that Enoch’s translation is symbolic of the
rapture of the church prior to the Great Tribulation.
In this chapter we see that Adam lived 930 years, and we see that
Methuselah lived 969 years. Clearly, the condition of the earth after
Eden was still such that extremely long life spans were supported. Sin
had not corrupted man or the earth at this time to the point we see
today. Though life spans are longer today than 100 years ago, most of
the added longevity is attributable to advances in medical science
rather than physical and spiritual cleansing of the earth. Do you agree
with this statement?
The interpretation of Methuselah’s name is very revealing. It is
widely interpreted to mean, “sending forth” or “when he is dead, it
shall be sent.” What does this mean? If you believe that the
generations reported in chapter 5 are complete, and that none are
skipped, then you can see that the life spans of Adam and Methuselah
span the entire time from the creation of the earth until The Flood.
Now you can see the significance of the meaning of Methuselah’s
name.
We simply do not know for sure if the generations listed in chapter 5
are complete or not. Please review the recording of the lineage of
Christ in Matthew 1. What is different about the generations listed
there? As best as I can determine, there are 11 generations from Noah
(through Shem) to Abraham.
The differences in the generations listed in Genesis 5 and Matthew 1
may give us some insight into the completeness of the lineage Genesis 5. Since ages are given of the fathers at the time of the birth of the
sons, this seems to indicate to me that the lineage is complete, at least
in terms of contiguous years. Seen this way, there were 1,656 years
from Adam and Eve’s sin to The Flood.
We must be careful not to try to date the age of the earth by scriptural
genealogy. In many cases, such as Matthew 1, we know it is not
complete. We also do not know for sure how many years Adam lived
before he sinned.
Part XIV – Chapter 6: 1 – 13: Evil Everywhere, Judgment, Noah, and the Ark
In Chapter 6, we see the results of a world turned away from
God. We will meet Noah, perhaps the greatest example of faith
in scripture. And, we will discuss the preparation of the ark.
Please continue to remember that the earth was a very different
place at this time than it is today.
Verses 1 – 4:
Who are the sons of God? As you ponder this, consider the
following:
Many prominent scholars view the sons of God mentioned here
as fallen angels.
While there are many references to sons of God (or children of
God) in scripture, these refer to men and women who are
redeemed by the blood of Christ. I have been unable to find a
reference that relates this title to angels.
Some scholars believe these sons of God to be men of the Godly
line of Seth. In this view, they married women from the line of
men, of Cain.
Whoever the sons of God were, the results of the union(s)
between them and the daughters of men were evil, and led to the
judgment of God.
Verse 3 is very interesting because of God’s statement. God
says that His Spirit shall not always strive with man. What do
you think God is saying here? Could it be that God is
withdrawing the working of the Holy Spirit because man is so
far gone?
Consider the following:
Through the lives of Adam and Methuselah, whose lives
spanned the time from the Garden to the Flood, Enoch, and
Noah, God’s spirit worked through the preaching and the lives
of these men. However, evil men did not respond. II Peter 2:
1– 5.
As we discussed in chapter 1, God may have destroyed the
world once before because of the evil and sin in it, prior to the
formation of the earth for inhabitance by man.
Lastly, remember that in Revelation, during the last half of the
Tribulation especially, God chooses to let evil run unrestrained.
In verse 4 we have mention of giants. There is much debate
about these giants. Are they the result of the union between the
sons of God (also mentioned here again) and the daughters of
men, or were they in existence before then?
Much has been misinterpreted about the 120 years declared by
God in verse 3. This not a universal shortening of all life spans
to 120 years. This is the amount of time from God’s decision to
pass judgment upon the earth until the judgment (the Flood)
occurred. This is also the amount of time it took Noah to build
the ark. Nowhere in scripture is there set a definitive life span
for any man.
The King James Version and other translations differ on this
verse. In other translations, the giants are called Nephilim. The
King James Version also separates the giants from the mighty
men of old and of renown, who seem to have been born from the
sons of God and the daughters of men. Other translations (NIV,
for example) link the two so as to say that the Nephilim were the
result of this union.
Verse 5:
How evil was man at this time?
Verses 6 – 7:
How did the evil make God feel? How did God react?
Verses 8 – 10:
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. What does this mean?
Why did Noah have this grace?
Simply put, Noah walked with God. The Bible says that Noah
was just and perfect. Does this mean he was without sin?
No man is without sin. Noah, in contrast to the evil around him,
sought God, not his own pleasures.
Verses 11 – 13:
Again we see the corrupt condition of man, and what he had
done to the earth and its creatures. God informs Noah of the
coming judgment. Can you imagine how Noah must have felt to
learn that God intended to destroy every living animal and man
that walked upon the earth, as well as much of the formation of
the earth as Noah knew it?
Part XV – Chapter 6: 14 – 22: The Ark, The Promise, and The Faith
In Chapter 6, we see the results of a world turned away from
God. We will meet Noah, perhaps the greatest example of faith
in scripture. And, we will discuss the preparation of the ark.
Please continue to remember that the earth was a very different
place at this time than it is today.
Verses 14 – 16:
What’s a cubit? A cubit is approximately equal to 1.5 feet in our
measurement system. This would make the ark approximately
450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.
The ark had three decks, a single door on the side, a roof that
covered the entire vessel, and a window 18 inches high all
around the top of the boat apparently just under the roof. What
do you make of the single door?
The ark was made from gopher wood. This has been translated
to mean a wood similar to either cypress or redwood. These
types of wood are very resistant to water and rot.
The ark was to be sealed with pitch inside and out for
waterproofing.
Remember that the ark needed only to stay afloat. It did not
have to navigate.
The ark took Noah and his sons 120 years to build. Remember
that each plank had to be hewn from trees by hand. This was probably accomplished by either chopping or sawing, with non-
mechanical tools. However, building the ark wasn’t the only
work Noah had to do during these 120 years. He also preached
about God’s coming judgment, and he and his sons raised and
stored crops in preparation for the flood so the animals and his
family could survive.
Verse 17:
How hard would this have been to understand? Up until the
Flood, rain had not fallen upon the earth. The earth was watered
by dew and by underground and above ground streams. The
coming judgment would wipe from the face of the earth every
living creature.
Verse 18:
The announcement of the covenant with Noah shows that God
fully planned the events of the Flood and made preparation for
life to start over. The Flood was not happenstance, nor was the
survival of Noah, his family, and the animal species.
Verses 19 – 21:
Noah was to prepare for two of every living “sort.” The
meaning of “sort” here is not clearly understood. It was God’s
intent to save two of every living sort. This could mean as few
as 700 different types of animals, or as many as ~35,000. Either
way, the ark would have been able to house them.
Also interesting is that the animals come to Noah (Verse 20) to
keep them alive. Noah did not have to travel to gather them.
This tells us something about the land masses in the time of
Noah. Apparently, these animals could journey over land to
Noah. Also, this shows God’s intent for man to have dominion
over all the animals. Where did the animals go when there was
danger?
Verse 22:
Noah’s obedience is complete. Let’s ponder a few minutes on
the faith Noah exhibited, and what he accomplished because of
that faith.
Please read Hebrews 11:7. Noah expressed his faith in hard
labor for 120 years. If you were asked to work for 120 years to
build a boat in the desert for a flood that no one had ever seen
before, how would you react?
Andrew Murray writes that “obedience is indispensable, the first
token of integrity.” In service to God, would you agree with this
statement?
Perhaps better said by Amy Carmichael, faith is not “trusting
God when we understand His ways” – there is no need for faith
then. Faith, as exhibited by Noah, is trusting God when nothing
is explained or understood.