MIT and LIT Study Group

Observation: The Story of Noah's Ark is not cutesy.

Many people teach Noah's Ark from a cute perspective - there are animals involved, and so it's often taught to young children using bright coloured elephants, giraffes and zebras, songs sung about it are along the lines of 'the animals went in two by two hurrah, hurrah' as though they're all off on a camping trip somewhere.

What seems often to be missed is the intensity of this situation. Grown ups often refer to this chapter and the following ones as 'the flood' - which it is, but we need to see this for what it is - the utter destruction of everything that has gone before - except for one family and the animals that God has put under their care. Everyone else died in a most horrific manner - the rain fell, and they were confused by it - streamlets gathered, and turned into rivers - the people withdrew from this water taking their herds and families with them - they'd be scared by what they feared would happen - nothing like this had ever occured before! They would search for higher ground, huddling together as the floodwater rose - this was rainwater, remember - it took time to build up - more and more people would huddle closer together, eventually, one by one they would drown until no one was left - animals would die first - sheep floating away bleating, until there was only people left eventually there would be too little land for them to stand on and people would start getting desperate - fear and selfishness would make some push others into the water to try and preserve themselves - natural swimmers would try to find more land to stand on, until they couldn't any longer and evetually give up, exhausted.

This flood was horrific. And we have to stop and think why would a good God do this? Well, the answer is given in the text - man had become so corrupt, so removed from God that God could no longer stand the sight of all this sinning. As an attempt to show them who they are supposed to be - they were designed to walk with God - He is forced to point out who He is in their lives - it is by His hand that they live or die, and yet in their arrogance, they believe that they are masters of their own destiny and can live as they please. God is forced to humble them, because they will not humble themselves.

For generations after the flood, mankind was able to look back and say 'God is BIG and He is worthy of our respect, our fear and our love - simply because He is the creator and He controls our living and our dying and our very next breath and heartbeat'. This is a hard lesson to understand if your perception of God is characterised only by His love - yes, He loves us, but we have to see Him for who He is. And that is GOD.

Observation - Genealogies

Genealogies appear throughout the Bible in several places, including Jesus' line. There are various reasons some of which are cultural - it was very important for Jews to know where they had come from in order that they were able to establish how they fitted into the tribal system. In addition to this, it was important to make sure that when young people married, that they were not too closely related - remember, much of this would have been in the context of small-village life. Additionally, there were several laws requiring that genealogies were kept in order to establish racial purity - meaning that when a young Jew wished to marry a young lady, she would have to provide proof that she was jewish going back 4 or 5 generations.

The genealogies in this chapter have been heavily disputed for many years - some believe that the ages represent certain things - 777 years for instance being in relation to God's number - 7, therefor 777 referred to a perfect life. This is a lot to read into such a small chapter, because there is nothing anywhere in the Bible that suggests that this is not an actual literal account of people and ages. And regarding the 777 thing - only on person lived a perfect life, and He died aged 33. These are reported to be the actual, genuine ages of these men. They were the founders of villages and towns and eventually whole nations. Noah's boys were the three who eventually became the great-grandfathers of all people today.

Observation 1: Attitude.

There was something about Cain that was slightly wrong - slightly off. I say this because as we read, he apparently does much the same as his brother - when Abel brings offerings to the Lord, so does Cain, but for some reason, God rejects it. Having his offering rejected by God has upset Cain a great deal and he responds by 'being downcast'.

God reacts by asking what the problem is, and then by pointing out that if Cain does what is right, then he has no reason to be in a strop. This suggests that something about Cain's offering was not right - either he was being stingy where his brother had been generous, or perhaps he had gone through the harvest picking out the fruit and veg that he didn't really feel was fit for human consumption, so it's alright, God can have that.

If this is the case, then it would explain why he gets into a sulk when God rebukes him - the immature personality type that withholds from God as though He doesn't know is also the personality type that would get angry for being pulled up on it - he's shamed and embarrased for being caught and responds by being surly. Cain takes this to ridiculous extremes by killing his brother and then hiding that from God as though God doesn't know - and then God's reaction is that of so many parents when their children lie - HOW DARE YOU LIE! The offence was bad enough, but LYING? - a lie breaks trust. Doing wrong is wrong, but lying removes trust. And it's Cain's lack of character - in withholding, failing to accept correction and lying that eventually get him exiled.

Observation 1: Adam was there.

It is important to remember that Adam was with Eve throughout the fruit-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil (don't call it an apple!) debacle. He stood by whilst the serpent talked to his wife, he allowed her to take the fruit and eat it. And after she had done so, he joined in. Arguably, Adam's first sin was not eating fruit, but it was not protecting his wife from the serpent. We know this because God confronts Adam about the situation - He calls Adam, and confronts him about hiding and being naked - God asks Adam if he had eaten of the tree, not Eve - it was Adam's responsibility to protect his family, and he failed.

For women reading this, it's also to note that Eve shouldn't have jumped in and tried to lead the family - perhaps if she had consulted her husband rather than just marching ahead, then the story would have been very different. God curses woman later for this attitude 'and your desire shall be for your husband' - specifically, this refers to the husband's position rather than any other definition.

Observation 2: God's grace

God has given the man and the woman the freedom to choose their own destinies. He has provided warnings because actions do have consequences - we just decide in the moment when we sin, that the sin in front of us is more attractive than the fear of the consequence that lies ahead.

God gives warnings 'you will die' but when it comes down to it, He doesn't kill them - He shows mercy, but because they have sinned, there are consequences, and God can no longer walk with them - for He cannot be with sin. And so God curses the man and the woman as according to their roles - provider and child-bearer and He then throws them out of the garden. But in all this, He shows grace and mercy to them - God wants us to come back to Him in love - fear because of what He could do, but love because in spite of that, he is graceful, merciful and loving toward us.

There is much, much more about this chapter that could be said than the following;-

Observation 1: The location of Eden has never been definately established - some assume that it would have been in what is now northern Iraq, where the current Euphrates and Tigris flow - but there are arguments that these rivers would have changed course after the flood. In many ways it doesn't really matter where Eden was located, except that we know it was somewhere.

Observation 2: It is not good for man to be alone. This is still true today and although in this particular instance, God is referring to Adam as a man being alone, it is also not good for women to be alone either. Alone is not the same as single - it is important for us to have good godly friends who we can spend time with. People were designed for relationships - both the girl/boy type of relationship and also just hanging out with friends. We know this because we are created in the image of God, and even God is in relationship - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Being alone is not healthy, and if you feel isolated and alone, you need to recognise this and search for help.

Note: I'm only going to make one or two observations per chapter - otherwise these posts will take up too much time. 

Hi Guys,

As we're all walking through Genesis together, we thought we could create a blog where people can come and ask questions and make comments about what you're learning. I've also plugged in a chat window so you can talk.

Have Fun!

Nick