JUDGMENT DECREED
GENESIS 6
5 When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time,

• They were choosing themselves over God.
• Selfish - flesh

6 the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.

• Moses is describing God with emotions – Anthro poppa-tism
• Never mentions the purpose of God’s regret:
  1) That he never should have
• 2) People were suffering because of their choices

7 Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.”

• The animals were an inevitable consequence of man’s sin.

8 Noah, however, found favor with the Lord.

• "Favor" equals grace.
• This is the first occurrence of the Hebrew word translated "grace" or "favor" in the Old Testament, though we have seen many examples of God's grace thus far.
• We can identify with Noah… because of grace.

 
GOD WARNS NOAH
Introduction: Noah's righteousness and Noah's sons (6:9-10).
 - Palistrophe – Paula’s trophy
A       God resolves to destroy the corrupt race (6:11-13).
B       Noah builds an ark according to God's instructions (6:14-22).
C       The LORD commands the remnant to enter the ark (7:1-9).
D       The flood begins (7:10-16).
E       The flood prevails 150 days and the water covers the mountains (7:17-24).
F       God remembers Noah (8:1a).
E'      The flood recedes 150 days and the mountains are visible (8:1b-5).
D'      The earth dries (8:6-14).
C'      God commands the remnant to leave the ark (8:15-19).
B'      Noah builds an altar (8:20).
A'      The LORD resolves not to destroy humankind (8:21-22).
9 These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God.

• This is the first time the important words translated "righteous" and "blameless" appear in the Bible.

10 And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth.

• The earth and animals are suffering the consequence of the fall of man. (2 weeks ago)

13 Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

• Whereas God has blessed the human family with the power of procreation to fill the earth (1:28; 9:1), these culprits have 'filled the earth' by procreating 'violence'.

14 “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.

• The term "gopher wood" is used in some translations, while others, like the NIV, translate it as "cypress wood."
• The exact identity of gopher wood is not definitively known, as the term does not appear elsewhere in the Bible and its precise meaning has been lost over time.
• Some scholars suggest it could refer to a type of wood known in the ancient world, possibly cypress, cedar, or another durable wood suitable for shipbuilding.[1]

Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. 15 This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 You are to make a roof, finishing the sides of the ark to within eighteen inches of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.

• The ark was about 450 feet long (1 1/2 American football fields),
• 75 feet wide (7 standard parking spaces),
• and 45 feet high (a typical four-story building).
• It had three decks and over 100,000 square feet of deck space.
• There were over 1 million cubic feet of space in it.
• This is a volume capacity of approximately 860 railroad boxcars.
• It had a floating capacity (its buoyancy, the total weight that it could float) of almost 14,000 gross tons.[2]

17 “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.

• Promise #1

18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives.

• Promise #2
• This is the first occurrence of the important word "covenant" (Heb. berith) in the Old Testament.
• "The Noahic covenant is closer to the royal grant known from the ancient Near East where a deity bestows a benefit or gift upon a king.
• It has its closest parallels to the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants (Gen 15; 17; 2 Sam 7), which are promissory charters made by God with the individuals and their offspring, characteristically forever.
• Unlike the Mosaic covenant, in the royal grant form of covenant God alone is under compulsion by oath to uphold his promise to the favored party."

19 You are also to bring into the ark two of all the living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive. 21 Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.” 22 And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.

• "The problem of providing food for so many creatures for somewhat more than a year is simplified by the very proper consideration that beasts are very shrewd about adapting their food supply to their needs.
• When they have no physical exercise, like brooding hens, they cut down promptly on the amount of food consumed.
• Likewise during the time of hibernating.
• A kind of winter sleep may providentially have taken possession of all inmates of the ark, materially cutting down their needs and reducing them to a very small minimum."
• "What a splendid figure this man makes, a picture of solitary goodness!
• He was the one saint of that day.
• It is possible, therefore, to be good even though we have to stand alone.
• It is possible to be right with God even amidst surrounding iniquity.
• God is the same today as He was to Noah, and we only have to choose to walk with God.
• God is already pleased with you."

 
ENTERING THE ARK
7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation.

• "It is not that Noah's works of righteousness gains him salvation, for none is cited.
• Rather, his upright character is noted to condemn his generation, which merits death."

2 You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the clean animals, and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female, 3 and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky—in order to keep offspring alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing I have made I will wipe off the face of the earth.” 5 And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him.

• Again Moses drew attention to Noah's complete obedience to what God had told him to do (cf. v. 6:22).
• Obviously this was a point that Moses wanted his readers to be sure to get.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came and water covered the earth. 7 So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the floodwaters. 8 From the animals that are clean, and from the animals that are not clean, and from the birds and every creature that crawls on the ground, 9 two of each, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, just as God had commanded him. 10 Seven days later the floodwaters came on the earth.
 
THE FLOOD
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the vast watery depths burst open, the floodgates of the sky were opened, 12 and the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

• Some interpreters have understood the opening of the "floodgates of the sky" as a breaking up of a water vapor canopy that, some theorize, covered the earth before the Flood.
• Advocates of this "canopy theory" believe it may account for longevity before the Flood.

13 On that same day Noah along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, entered the ark, along with Noah’s wife and his three sons’ wives. 14 They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, all the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, every flying creature—all the birds and every winged creature—according to their kinds. 15 Two of every creature that has the breath of life in it came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 Those that entered, male and female of every creature, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.
17 The flood continued for forty days on the earth; the water increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth. 18 The water surged and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 Then the water surged even higher on the earth, and all the high mountains under the whole sky were covered. 20 The mountains were covered as the water surged above them more than twenty feet. 21 Every creature perished—those that crawl on the earth, birds, livestock, wildlife, and those that swarm on the earth, as well as all mankind. 22 Everything with the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils—everything on dry land died. 23 He wiped out every living thing that was on the face of the earth, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark. 24 And the water surged on the earth 150 days.

• "Water seeks its own level, so if 'all the high mountains' were covered (7:19), the whole earth was under water to that extent.

Moreover, the insistence on the use of 'all' ('all mountains,' 7:19; 'all flesh,' 7:21; 'all in whose nostrils,' 7:22); 'all that was on the dry land,' 7:22); and so forth) can lead to no other view than a universal deluge, modern scientific opinion notwithstanding."

[1] www.BibleQuestions.com, “What is gopher wood?”
[2] See "Noah's Flood: Washing Away Millions of Years" DVD featuring Dr. Terry Mortenson.

THE TEMPTATION AND THE FALL
GENESIS 3
1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made.

• Adam was made ruler over the animals but in this instance became subject to the animals.

He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

• Satan is already twisting the Word of God.
• Genesis 2:16-17 - And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”[1]

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”

• We tend to distort the Word of God ourselves when we try to quote it.
• We can add more rules to it… which is legalism or
• We can make it less vague to establish our own truth.

4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman.

• There is a big difference between physical death and spiritual death.
• Death had never occurred at this point.
• Satan has always proclaimed that God would not punish sin.

5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

• God’s intent was for the welfare of Adam & Eve, but Satan insisted it was God’s welfare at their expense.

6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom.

• 1.      Eve saw that the tree was "good for food" (the lust of the flesh: the desire to do something contrary to God's will, i.e., eat the tasty fruit).
• 2.      It was "delightful to look at" (the lust of the eyes: the desire to have something apart from God's will, i.e., possess the attractive fruit).
• 3.      It was "desirable for obtaining wisdom" (the pride of life: the desire to be something apart from God's will).

So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

• Temptations are not sins until we respond by giving in to them.
• Eve was not more susceptible to sin (that is not Biblical).
• But she was also not the one who was given the command directly.
• The last person Eve talked to before succumbing to temptation was who? Satan.
• Couldn’t she have confirmed the Truth with God before she made her decision?
• What was the look they gave to each other right before the first bite?
• We don’t know what kind of fruit it was.
• The root of sin should be understood.
• The foundation of all sin lies in man's desire of self-assertion and his determination to be independent of God.

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
 - With the Fall came a tragic loss of innocence (together with resulting shame).
 - God has given us an inner judge called “conscience” that accuses when we do wrong and approves when we do right (Rom. 2:12–16).[2]
 - Non-believers have a conscience of right and wrong.
 - Believers have a Spirit to determine things of the Spirit and things of the flesh.
 
SIN’S CONSEQUENCES
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

• Did God not already know where they are?

10 And he said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
11 Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

• “Who told you that you were naked?”
• “Who is feeding you all these lies?”

12 The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

• The fact that Adam viewed God's good gift to him (Eve) as the source of his trouble, shows how far he fell (v. 12).
• He virtually accused God of causing him to fall, by giving him what he now regarded as a bad gift.

13 So the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

• The text records several effects of the Fall on Adam and Eve.
• 1.      They felt guilt and shame (v. 7)
• 2.      They tried to change these conditions by their own efforts (v. 7).
• 3.      They fled from God's presence out of fear of Him (vv. 8, 10).
• 4.      They tried to blame their sin on another rather than confessing their personal responsibility (vv. 12, 13).

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:
Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock
and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.

• As the result of man's disobedience to God, the creation suffered a curse and began to deteriorate.
• Evolution teaches that man is improving his condition through self-effort.
• Eating dust is an expression used in other ancient Near Eastern writings to describe the lowest of all forms of life.
• The snake is a natural symbol of sin. It comes spontaneously to the mind; for sin,

15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.

• Most interpreters have recognized this verse as the first biblical promise and prophecy of the provision of salvation from sin.
• The woman being Mary and Jesus being her offspring (the Messiah to come).
• Some interpreters have believed that this is the first prediction of the virgin birth of Messiah, since it is specifically the seed of "the woman" and not the man that would crush the serpent.
• Jesus will strike the head of Satan.
• Satan will strike the heel of Jesus.
• One blow leaves a bruise and the other is fatal.

16 He said to the woman:
I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children with painful effort.
Your desire will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.

•  The woman will desire to dominate the relationship with her husband.
• This is where the battle of the sexes began.

17 And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:
The ground is cursed because of you.
You will eat from it by means of painful labor
all the days of your life.

• Adam was previously working in the garden, but now he must toil in the garden… he’s gonna sweat.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.”

• A physical death is looming.

20 The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.

• This was the first animal sacrifice made.
• Blood was shed due to their sin.

22 The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.[3]

• This was an act of grace.
• Man realized they needed to be saved from the effects of their sin.

They need a Messiah… a Savior.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 2:16–17.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Basic, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub., 1998), 64.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 3:1–24.

Enter the room in darkness

• Greece Trip

 
THE CREATION
GENESIS 1
1 In the beginning

• Trinity -
• Angels? Sons of God?
• Job 38:4-7 - 4 Where were you when I established the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
• Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
• What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone 7 while the morning stars sang together

and all the sons of God shouted for joy?[1] He not only gave us personality—minds to think with, emotions to feel with, and wills for making decisions—but He also gave us an inner spiritual nature that enables us to know Him and worship Him.[2]

• John 1:1-3 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.[3]
• John 1:14 -  The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.[4]
• Colossians 1:16-17 - For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him.
• He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.[5]

God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

• Blank slide

3 Then God said, “Let there be light,”

• One flashlight

and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

• Turn on the lights

 
5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.

• Flashlight Slide
• Sistine Chapel Slide

6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.

• 2 Waters Slide

9 Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the water he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

• Earth Slide

11 Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so. 12 The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 Evening came and then morning: the third day.

• 3 Trees Slide

14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for seasons and for days and years. 15 They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night—as well as the stars. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, 18 to rule the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

• 4 Sun, Moon & Stars Slide

20 Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them: “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.

• 5 Creatures Slide

24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.

• He not only gave us personality—minds to think with, emotions to feel with, and wills for making decisions—but He also gave us an inner spiritual nature that enables us to know Him and worship Him.[6]
• To be one with God, the Father, Jesus, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

• 6 Adam and Wildlife

2 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.[7]

• God rested
• How can God be resting and yet still at work today
• Sovereignty

 
 

• Creation - Genesis 1-2:3
• - Day 1: Light/Darkness - Vanilla & Chocolate Ice Cream, Oreos, Ice Cream Sandwiches
• - Day 2: Sky & Water - Blue Gatorade or Blue Jello
• - Day 3: Dry Ground & Seed-Bearing Plants - Fruit Salad
• - Day 4: Sun, Moon & Stars - Chicken & Stars Soup - Star Food
• - Day 5: Birds & Sea Creatures - Goldfish, Shrimp, Fish Sticks
• - Day 6: Land Animals & Humans - Chick Fil-A Nuggets, Animal Crackers
• - Day 7: The Sabbath Rest - Served by adults

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Job 38:4–7.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Basic, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub., 1998), 30.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jn 1:1–3.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jn 1:14.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Col 1:16–17.
[6] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Basic, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub., 1998), 30.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 1:1–2:3.