GENESIS: THE BOOK OF BEGINNINGS
Rev. Richard A. Bolland
Unit 6: The Fall of Man
I. WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN IN OUR WORLD?
A. Atheists believe that the existence of evil in the world either proves that God is not good or He is not omnipotent.
1. If a god exists, (which he doesn't), then he is condoning evil by permitting it to happen.
2. If a god exists, (which he doesn't), he has no power to correct or remove evil.
B. Other say:
1. Socialists: Evil occurs due to an inequitable distribution of wealth.
2. Humanists: Evil occurs due to children being exposed to a negative environment.
C. The only true and reasonable answer lies in the third chapter of Genesis.
II. THE CORRUPTION OF HUMANITY AND THE CREATION:
A. In Romans a simple, but eloquent statement of the condition of the world is given:
"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned..." (Rom. 5:12)
"The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by it own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but w ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." (Rom. 8:20-23)
1. Before man could bring sin into the world, he must be persuaded to do so by an agent external to himself, since there was as yet nothing within his own nature to lead him in such a direction.
2. Therefore, we must first consider the nature of the serpent who was the vehicle of this temptation.
B. The serpent was one of God's good creatures...deception was his game.
1. Remember that the angels, including Lucifer, ("Day Star" or "Bright Morning Light"), was created at some point during the creation account.
a. Since he was part of God's creation, he was good.
b. But we read in Rev. 12:7-11 about the events leading to Lucifer's rebellion:
"And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down -- that ancient serpent call the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: 'Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.'"
2. Other passages speaking of what transpired which transformed Lucifer the Archangel to Satan the evil angel are found in, but are not limited to:
a. Isaiah 14:12-15
b. Ezekiel 28:11-19
c. Luke 10:18
d. Matthew 25:41
3. It seems clear by many passages in the Scriptures, that Satan and his evil angels are powerful beings and have the ability to inhabit or possess both the bodies of people and animals, hence, the snake "speaks".
C. Satan works a masterpiece of subtle temptation:
1. As has always been true, Satan begins by casting doubt on God's Word:
"Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?
a. How many temptations leading away from the truth of the Scriptures or toward an ungodly lifestyle have begun with the same approach?
b. This question and its response has dramatically altered the course of human history.
c. Satan's purpose and goal is clear with this question: Alienate man from God.
2. Eve responds:
"We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"
a. It seems that Eve's intention was to correct the snake by pointing out that they were indeed permitted to eat fruit from the trees, it was only the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which was forbidden fruit.
b. Eve, however, expands on the divine directive in saying that they were not only forbidden to eat the fruit, they were prohibited from touching the tree.
c. In replying in this fashion, however, Eve paints God as less generous and more demanding than he is.
3. Satan takes the next step in his deception:
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
a. Satan is upping the ante: Now he contradicts the Word of God.
b. In this response, Satan casts God as being ill-intended with regard to the eating of the forbidden fruit...He is withholding something "beneficial" from Adam and Eve.
c. God, it seems, is afraid that his creatures will learn too much.
d. Here too, the nature of Satan is revealed...He is a liar and is willing to call God a liar.
e. Not only does he lie and call God a liar, Satan issues his own false promises: "You will be like God, knowing good and evil."
f. This act is simply the next logical step that comes from casting doubt on God's Word, and contradicting God's Word. Anyone who rejects the goodness of God and won't trust what He says is already setting himself up as his own "god".
4. Eve succumbs to the temptation of Satan:
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her (emphasis mine), and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of hem were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."
a. Man, prior to the fall, was a completely free moral being in that he could choose to love God or he could choose to disobey God.
b. Tragically, here we see man condemning himself and the creation to decay and death by the very exercise of that free will.
c. SINCE THE FALL, NATURAL, SINFUL MAN CANNOT CHOOSE TO LOVE GOD!!! Now his free will is seen in his natural rebellion against God and His salvation must be accomplished totally external to him.
d. Read the following passages to see the results of man's fall:
1.) Ephesians 2:1-5
2.) II Corinthians 4:1-4
3.) Romans 5:1-6
D. God announces the curse on humanity:
"And he said...Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said , "The woman you put here with me (emphasis mine), she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it." Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What have you done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." So the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, "You must not eat of it.", Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
1. People are always trying to blame others for their own sins.
2. The primary one who gets blamed is God himself.
3. The promise of a Savior is given to the serpent.
4. The punishment of pain in childbirth and the struggle for leadership between husband and wife is announced to the woman.
5. The curse of death and the new order of the now fallen creation is announced to Adam.
E. God places safe guards in the world to protect man:
1. Garments are provided to our first parents...animal skins.
2. Access to the Tree of Life is denied.
F. What are the results of the Fall?
1. Man's relationship with God is broken...an unbreachable wall of separation.
2. Man's relationship with other men is one marked by adversity and violence.
3. Man's relationship with the Creation is one now marked by struggle.
a. Animals and humans now enemies.
b. Animals now enemies with one another.
c. Creation is in turmoil...hurricanes...earthquakes...tornadoes, etc.
4. Man is now passing on his "fallenness" from generation to generation.
a. We are born unable to love God.
b. We are born in the condition of sin.
c. Our sinful condition leads us to actual sins.
E. Outside, divine intervention is the only thing that can save us!
1. Gen. 3:15 provides that external, divine intervention that humanity needs in order to return to the garden.
2. That which man cannot accomplish, God will accomplish for him.
GENESIS: THE BOOK OF BEGINNINGS
Rev. Richard A. Bolland
Unit 7: The Lost World, Genesis 4
I. THE SEED OF THE WOMAN, THE SEED OF THE MAN:
A. What constitutes being of the seed of the woman or of the serpent?
1. Immediately after the fall, we see the distinction carried out between the seed of the woman and that of the serpent.
a. Those who hear the Word of God and do not reject the grace offered in Christ constitute the "Seed of the Woman"
b. Those who continue to distort and reject God's Word and Sacraments, relying on his own personal merits to earn salvation is then effectively interposing his own will in the place of God's and is presuming to be "as god, knowing good and evil" and is therefore a part of the "serpent's seed".
2. This great twofold division of humanity is perfectly illustrated in the first two sons of Adam.
a. When Cain is born, immediately Eve expects the fulfillment of the Gen. 3:15 promise: "The seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent."
b. "Cain" means "begotten" emphasizing this hoped answer for deliverance.
c. Thereafter, a second son is born named "Abel", (meaning "vapor" or "vanity"). Seemingly by now a fuller concept of the impact of the fall had become a part of Adam and Eve's psyche and now a sense of lost hope adds to the naming of their second son.
d. Cain became a farmer while his brother Abel became a shepherd.
B. Worship was a part of life for these early inhabitants of the earth.
1. Although we do not know the exact nature or place of such worship, God had apparently established a worship ritual which included animal and grain sacrifice.
2. The event leading up to the murder of Abel, is not noted as an unusual event.
3. It seems that the offering of sacrifices to God was the normal course of events.
4. While the fall has severed the pristine relationship between man and God, God has continued to provide a format in which fallen man may be in communion with Him.
II. WHY WAS ABEL'S OFFERING ACCEPTABLE WHILE CAIN'S WAS NOT?
A. Motivation and attitude are the critical element in any form of worship.
1. Clearly, in God's sight, Cain was sinning in the bringing of his offering. (Gen. 4:6-7)
2. It seems quite possible that Abel's gift was given in an attitude of true worship and love of God, while Cain's offering was made with a grudging, "gotta do it" attitude.
3. A further problem could well be tied to the latter point - That Cain's attitude reflected a resentment that he had to give what belonged to him to God, when the truth is that God had provided everything to Cain and it all belonged to God anyway.
4. All of this is compounded in Cain's case because his response to God's rejection of his offering is anger -- not at himself, but with God!
5. Underlying all of this is the self-righteous attitude of Cain which sought to coerce God into accepting him because he did the right thing in fulfilling his religious "obligation".
B. How often have we fallen into Cain's trap of confusing use with ownership?
1. When we worship do we do so because we have to?
2. When we give do we do so because we have to take care of our share of the church budget?
3. When we give do we do so out of love for God in proportion to the gifts He gives to us, or do we give Him what is easy or convenient to give which requires no real sacrifice on our part?
4. In our worship and giving are we trying to manipulate God so that because of our "religious" actions, He has no choice but to admit us into fellowship with Him?
III. BEHOLD THE FIRST DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY!
A. For those of us whose family relationships are marked with trauma, trial anger and distance, here is the knowledge that the perfect family doesn't exist.
1. Beginning with the very first family, sin begins to take its toll in human relationships.
2. The continuing saga of family discord continues throughout the Scriptures:
a. Adam and Eve
b. Abraham and Sarah
c. Lot and his wife
d. Jacob and his sons
e. Eli and his sons
f. David and Bathsheba, etc.
B. Our only hope for functional families in this fallen world is forgiveness, knowledge of God's design for family relationships and implementation of that knowledge.
1. Functional families are centered on Christ and the final model and authority for the conduct of family life.
2. Functional families worship, pray and study together.
a. Study on such families.
b. Picture is a clear one!
3. Functional families must be places of forgiveness when wrong has been done. (Luke 15:20-24)
IV. GOD'S RESPONSE TO THE FIRST HOMICIDE. (Gen. 4:9-15)
A. First, notice what God does not do.
1. God does not execute Cain!
a. Such an act on God's part would have been absolutely just!
b. Such an act would have been consistent. (Gen. 9:6)
2. Question: Why did God spare Cain's life?
B. Second, before we answer that question, let's look at Cain's response to God's questioning of him.
1. God asks, "Where is your brother Abel?"
a. As with Adam after the fall, God's question does not indicate that God doesn't know the answer to His question, but rather is seeking what response will be forthcoming from the sinner.
b. What is our response to being "caught" in sin?
1.) Anger? With whom?
2.) Are we sorry, not because we have sinned, but because we've been caught?
3.) Did we seek out God to confess, or does the accusation of His Law force us to confess?
2. Abel responds, "I don't know", he replied, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
a. This bare-faced lie is no mark of repentance!
b. At least Adam -- after passing the blame to Eve -- acknowledged the claim of guilt and repented of his sin....Not so Cain.
c. Arrogantly, Cain even questions God's authority to question him with his, "Am I my brother's keeper?" statement.
d. Still, the Lord restrains His wrath against the sin of homicide!
3. Now, having experienced Cain's failed opportunity to repent, God speaks the Law: "The Lord said, 'What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground."
a. Abel's spilt blood is a prototype of the suffering of the faithful at the hands of the wicked.
b. Here the pattern is established, the seed of the serpent harms the seed of the woman.
c. To this very day, the pattern continues until that day when Christ will return and the cycle of violence between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent will be brought to a final conclusion.
d. Remember the words of Christ: (John 8:44)
4. Now the consequences of sin are announced by God: "Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."
a. Cain's curse is also a prototype of God's judgment of wrath which is to come at Christ's final return.
b. Ultimately, Cain's removal is a picture of the final separation which those who do not believe in Christ will experience forever in hell. It is the final removal from the presence of Almighty God.
c. It is significant that God does not destroy Cain, but permits him to go on living. (Matt. 13:24-30)
d. Here too is the first case of apostasy. (II Peter 2:21)
e. For Cain, personally, there is no preclusion that he cannot return to in in repentance and receive again, the gift of faith, but the lesson of separation from the seed of the woman is clear.
C. God graciously provides a measure of protection for Cain. (Gen. 4:13-16)
1. It seems the enormity of Cain's act of homicide is now seen by the sinner.
a. Whether this is genuine repentance or merely remorse over the seriousness of the punishment is unclear.
b. Fear also becomes a factor for Cain in that if he can now see the effects of his crime, so too can others and they may do the same to him as he did to Abel - That's what justice is all about!
2. God gives Cain a mark to serve as protection against anyone who might be seeking vengence for Abel's death.
a. We do not know the nature of that sign.
b. Whether or not it was a physical mark or some way of knowing who Cain is and that he was under God's protection is not known.
c. This mark serves both as a mark of shame for his crime and of God's mercy toward him despite his crime.
V. THE BRIEF RECORD OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD.
A. The Genesis record is the only fully reliable account of the pre-flood world.
1. Current archeology deals almost exclusively with those things that occurred during or after the flood.
2. The brief glimpses we have of the antediluvian world are intriguing indeed.
B. The population of the world prior to the flood may have been in excess of our current population.
1. Naturally, this multiplication process had to begin with Adam and Eve who lived quite extended lives as did their children and their children's children.
a. It may be assumed that the initial marriages that happened were between brothers and sisters.
b. While this may seem shocking today, it must be remembered that there were no mutant genes in the genetic systems of any of these children, so that not genetic harm could have resulted in such close marriages.
GENESIS: THE BOOK OF BEGINNINGS
Rev. Richard A. Bolland
Unit 8: The Days of Noah, Genesis 6-8
I. THE SONS OF GOD. (Gen. 6:1-4)
A. Who are the Sons of God and the Daughters of Men?
1. Some have interpreted this to mean that angels intermarried with men.
a. While this is commonplace in ancient mythologies, it is never seen in the Scriptures.
b. Mark 12:24-25, Jesus tells us that angels do not marry -- ever!
2. Since this can in no way be a marriage of human and angel, the only option and the most logical interpretation the text suggests is that believers began to marry unbelievers with the most dire of consequences.
B. The seemingly "innocent" sin of Adam and Eve had grown to its maturity in the ugliness and godlessness of the antediluvian world.
1. Not only had the population, (due to exceptionally long life-spans), increased to levels, perhaps beyond today's population -- but also the corruption of sin in humanity has done its worst.
2. Sinfulness increased not only among the children of Cain, but also among the Sethite line.
3. The greatest corruption with brought about the catastrophe of the flood is seen in Genesis 6:1-4 -- The intermarriage of the sons of God with the daughters of men.
a. Intermarriage between believers and unbelievers is always seen as tragic and sinful in the Scriptures.
b. Intermarriage between believers and unbelievers is always seen as having dire consequences.
1.) Here in Genesis 6 it is THE event which leads to the final destruction of the world.
2.) In the history of Israel, intermarriage is seen as the main factor in destroying the nation and the faith of that nation.
3.) Has anything changed in this regard?
C. The first shortening of the life span of mankind:
1. Because of the growing corruption of sin in the fallen world, the Lord God shortened the life span of those now being born to 120 years.
a. As is true today, that is not a rule without exception, but rather the general rule.
b. Later the life span is reduced even further by the Lord to 70 years.
2. All of this is a loving protection for man in that with too much time on his hands, we keep getting deeper and deeper into ourselves.
D. The Nephilim: Men of Renown.
1. This term is either equal to the sons belonging to the "daughters of men" or they are the product of the unfortunate union between the sons of God and the daughters of men.
2. In the King James Version this Hebrew term is translated "Giants", and indeed the term does include aspects of great size.
a. It seems that this particular group of Adam's/Cain's descendants grew to a very large physical stature.
b. This is nothing mystical, but is probably more the result of diet and selective interbreeding between these people.
c. The Zulu's of Africa commonly reach very tall stature.
d. Sumo wrestlers in Japan are totally unlike their normal Japanese counterparts, primarily due to diet.
e. Individuals like Goliath were seen as "giants" when, in fact, they were simply "big guys".
3. Men of renown:
a. Perhaps because of their size and strength, these men became known for their exploits.
b. Be clear that these were not men of renown in the eyes of God, but only in the eyes of men due to their prowess in hunting, war, etc.
II. THE PASSIONATE NATURE OF OUR CREATOR AND THE DEPRAVITY OF THE LOST WORLD:
A. God is frequently portrayed as distant, unconcerned and aloof in today's popular press.
1. Of course, the sinful human nature prefers it that way.
a. If God is unconcerned and disinterested, we may do as we please.
b. If God is aloof and distant, then we don't have to pay any attention to Him.
2. Look at the language of Genesis 6:5-6:
a. If this isn't a portrait of personal and painful grief of a Father over His lost children, then what is it?
b. When we sin, God is grieved as He sees us engaged in self- destructive behavior.
B. God is not, however, such an emotional mess that He discards His other attributes: justice and holiness.
1. To all who would confine God to a "God of love" only, read Genesis 6!
2. God actually regretted that He had made mankind. (v. 6)
3. And now, if God is to be God in all that He is, He must act:
4. His righteous wrath against sin demands that punishment be given...and the world-wide flood of Genesis is His logical and righteous response to unrepented sin.
5. It is no coincidence that Jesus make direct reference to this act of God in Matthew 24:3.
a. Please note that there is no hint in Jesus' words that the flood was in any way a story or myth, but an historic reality.
b. Never, in any context, is the Noahic flood ever said to be less than it was: Worldwide...Destructive of all human and animal life (except fish) not given special protection in the Ark of Noah.
C. What specifically what the antediluvian condition causing such divine grief:
1. Preoccupation with physical appetites (Luke 17:27)
2. Rapid advances in technology (Genesis 4:22)
3. Grossly materialistic attitudes and interests (Luke 17:28)
4. Uniformitarian philosophies antithetical to God's revealed will (Heb. 11:7)
5. Inordinate devotion to pleasure and comfort (Gen. 4:21)
6. No concern for God in either belief or conduct (II Peter 2:5; Jude 15)
7. Disregard for the sacredness of the marriage relation (Matthew 24:38)
8. Rejection of the inspired Word of God (I Peter 3:19)
9. Population explosion (Gen. 6:1, 11)
10. Widespread violence (Gen. 6:11, 13)
11. Corruption throughout society (Gen. 6:12)
12. Preoccupation with illicit sexual activities (Gen. 4:19, 6:2)
13. Widespread words and thoughts of blasphemy (Jude 15)
14. Organized Satanic activity (Gen. 6:1-4)
15. Promulgation of systems and movements of abnormal depravity (Gen. 6:5, 12)
D. How does our world look in each of the above categories today?
III. GOD'S MAN FOR THE TIMES: NOAH. (Gen. 6:9-22)
A. God never destroys (kills, and condemns to hell), the righteous with the wicked.
1. It is a testimony to the near total corruption of the world that only one man and his family were permitted to survive the wrath of God which was the flood.
a. Noah and family are spared the wrath of God.
b. Lot and his family are protected at the destruction of the city of Sodom.
c. In Revelation, we see those sealed, (baptized), in Christ as never having God as the source of their suffering, nor are they condemned with the unbelieving.
2. We have our comfort in this regard in a two-fold way:
a. God is never the author of evil in our lives here on this earth.
b. God will never subject us to His eternal wrath.
B. Noah is found to be a righteous man.
1. Note: Gen. 6:8, "Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord"
2. The word translated "favor" is the same word in the Hebrew for "grace".
3. Noah was righteous, not because he did not sin, but because his hope rested in God's mercy for the deliverer who was to come, the seed of the woman. (Gen. 3:15)
IV. THE ARK
A. To many modern, historical-critical interpreters of the Bible, Noah is merely a legend or myth and his ark is nothing but a story for children's coloring books.
1. The problem is not with the account, it is with those who disbelieve it because they refuse that God would act in such a way.
2. That the entire account is sober and important history is a reality check needed in our lives and in our world.
B. The vessel:
1. This is an incredible vessel of unquestionable seaworthiness.
a. It is about 450 feel in length.
b. About 75 feet wide.
c. About 45 feet high.
d. It had three levels.
2. If, as historical-critical scholars insist, the flood was merely a regional or local flood, then the ark Noah was directed to construct was far too large for the problem...and, in fact, would have been totally useless in such a flood.
a. If the flood were merely local in scope, then all they had to do was move out of the neighborhood and take the animals with them.
b. It seems that those wishing to deny the flood are either ignorant of the vast evidence for a world wide flood or have chosen to "not be confused by the facts."
3. If a world-wide flood had occurred, what would we expect to find as a result?
a. Many cultural traditions of a flood story.
b. Thousands of feed of flood-deposited sedimentary rock layers covering most of the Earth.
c. Evidence that many creatures have become extinct by means of the disaster or the events immediately following the flood.
d. Buried remains of all manner of life forms found mixed up in the sedimentary layers.
e. The discovery of so-called "higher animal" skeletons (including man) at many different levels in the flood-produced rocks.
4. Indeed, all of these things have been confirmed repeatedly over the years.
a. In 1842 coal miners in Germany came across a very surprising fossil in the coal seam they were mining.
1.) It was verified to be that of a human skull, but was dismissed as a fake at the time because it was found deep in a stratum of brown coal, estimated to be 50 million years old.
2.) More recent analysis, however, demonstrated that the skull was, in fact, genuinely buried along with the plants that make up the coal seam in which it was found.
b. How can 50 million year old coal contain remains of humankind which supposedly only go back a million years or so?
c. In 1958 a coal mine in Italy yielded a human jawbone from 600 feet deep , in the "Miocene stratum" dated by evolutionist's charts at 20 million years old.
d. During the California Gold Rush of the 1850's, there were thousands of men digging beneath presumably ancient lava flows of the Sierra Nevada mountain region.
1.) Many puzzling relics were reported including the Calaveras skull.
2.) It was found beneath several layers of volcanic rock presumed to be millions of years old and yet the skull is very modern.
3.) In 1866 a complete human skull was dug out from under a layer of volcanic basalt and experts from the State of California and Harvard College investigated and concluded the skull to be very modern, (i.e., human).
4.) The mystery that bothered them was how the human skull and artifacts got into a rock layer 12 million years old.
e. There is an interesting account of a rock collector in Utah who found some teeth that seemed to be very old.
1.) When he brought back experts and cameramen to verify the find, they wound up excavating the lower halves of two human skeletons.
2.) Every indication showed these bodies were encased at the time the rock itself was actually laid down, so the bones were taken to the University of Utah for testing and confirmation.
3.) Nothing was done; no report was issued and the rock collector was finally summoned to get his bones and take them away.
4.) Why wasn't this impressive discovery followed up? Could it be that the fact that the bones came out of a rock layer said to be 100 million years old scared off the experts who were unwilling to consider the implications of the find?
5. The capacity of the Ark:
a. Total volumetric capacity of the Ark was approximately 1,400,000cubic feet, which is equal to the volumetric capacity of 522 standard railroad, livestock boxcars.
b. 240 sheep can be transported in one stock car therefore, a total of over 125,000 sheep could have been transported on the Ark.
c. Authorities on biological taxonomy estimate that there are less than 18,000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians living in the world today.
d. It is possible to double that number with known extinct land animals and this would bring the number of animals aboard the Ark to about 75,000 allowing for the two of each species and the seven for the five extra animals in each "clean" species.
e. Since we have seen that the Ark could have carried as much as 125,000 sheep and since the average size of land animals is considerably smaller than that of a sheep, and accounting for the space needs of the larger animals, (inclusive of dinosaurs), it seems that only about 60 percent of the Ark's capacity would have been required.
f. Thus, the size of the Ark seems uniquely appropriate for the task it was designed to carry out...To preserve life after the flood.
V. THE FLOOD.
A. The Rain fell for forty days and forty nights.
1. A worldwide rain lasting 40 days and 40 nights would not be possible under present atmospheric conditions.
2. An utterly different source of moisture than now exists had to be obtained in order to carry out God's plan of destruction.
B. The water vapor barrier surrounding the atmosphere of the earth collapsed. (7:11)
1. The "waters above the firmament" contained a huge amount of moisture and this condensed to fall as rain.
2. This barrier has given the antediluvian world a uniform climate that was now about to come to an end.
C. The waters of the great deep burst forth. (7:11)
1. It seems that there were also great caverns of underground water that gushed out of the ground to assist in the flooding of the earth.
2. These are also mentioned in Proverbs 8:24 and perhaps also in Job 38:16.
D. The duration of the flood:
1. The initial rain and flooding lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. (7:14) 40
2. The flood went on for 150 days (7:24), and then began to recede. 150
3. The flood continued to recede for another 150 days. 150
4. The Ark finally came to a rest on Mt. Ararat, but the waters continued to recede for another three months or about 90 days. 90
5. The total number of days in which Noah was inside the Ark were about 430 days!
E. The extent of the flood:
1. All the high mountains of the earth were covered with at least 20 feet of water. (7:20)
2. All that had been created -- save what was aboard the Ark -- was destroyed. (7:21-23)
3. All physiographic features on the earth would have been completely destroyed or dramatically altered from their previous state.
F. What must it have been like for those few folks inside the Ark.
1. To know that every acquaintance they'd ever known was gone.
2. To know that they were completely alone in the entire world.
3. To know that human history was totally dependent on this small band for its future.
VI. THE NEW WORLD:
A. What are some of the implied physical changes after the Flood:
1. The oceans were much more extensive, since they now contained all the waters which once were "above the expanse" and the waters which were released from the subterranean reservoirs of the "great deep."
2. The land areas were much less extensive, than before the flood, with a much greater portion of its surface uninhabitable for this reason.
3. The thermal vapor blanket that had been dissipated, so that strong temperature differentials were inaugurated, leading to a gradual buildup of snow and ice in the polar latitudes, rendering much of the extreme northern and southern land surfaces also essentially uninhabitable.
4. Mountain ranges uplifted after the Flood emphasized the more rugged topography of the post diluvian continents, with many of these regions also becoming unfit for human habitation.
5. Winds and storms, rains and snows, were possible now, thus rendering the total environment less congenial to man and animals than had once been the case.
6. The environment was also more hostile because of harmful radiation from space, no longer filtered out by te vapor canopy, resulting (along with other contributing factors) in gradual reduction of human longevity after the flood.
7. Tremendous glaciers, rivers, and lakes existed for a time, with the world only gradually approaching its present state of semi-aridity.
8. Because of the tremendous physiographic and isostatic movements generated by the collapse of the subterranean caverns and the post-Flood uplifts, the crust of the earth was in a state of general instability, reflected in recurrent volcanic and seismic activity all over the world for many centuries and continuing in some degree even to the present.
9. The lands were barren of vegetation, until such time as plant life could be reestablished through the spouting of seeds and cuttings buried beneath the earth's surface.
GENESIS: THE BOOK OF BEGINNINGS
Rev. Richard A. Bolland
Unit # 9: The Rules of the New World, The Rainbow Covenant, The Sons of Noah and the Curse of Ham - Gen. 9-10
I. THE CONDITIONS OF THE NEW WORLD:
A. These are God's commands regarding human conduct in the New World:
1. "Be fruitful and increase in number..." (Gen. 9:1)
a. This, of course, refers to having many children.
b. Here again, we see a replay of God's command to Adam and Eve.
2. "...fill the earth" (Gen. 9:1)
a. As the population grows, they are to move out into the world and populate the globe.
b. This was essential if God's continuing mandate to have "dominion" over the earth, (the whole earth), was to occur.
c. As we will see ahead, this also prevents man's pride from interfering with his relationship with God.
3. There will be a new relationship between mankind and the animals. (Gen. 9:2)
a. Now there will be fear, (terror in the Hebrew), between man and the animals.
b. In a way this was a protection for man in that the animals would quickly and vastly outnumber the fledgling human race and could easily destroyed them.
c. Now animals are permissible for use as food.
d. The blood of the animals was to be used as a sacrifice to the Lord, and not as food in and of itself.
1.) This command does NOT mean that all meat must be eaten well done as the Jehovah's Witnesses suggest.
2.) It means that blood is not to be seen as food by itself and since it is that which conveys life to flesh, it is used as a sacrificial medium in worship of the living God.
4. The taking of a human life is a capital crime and is punishable by death.
a. Even as animal blood is sacred, so all the more is the lifeblood of mankind.
b If a beast kills a man, that animal is to be executed. (Ex. 21:28)
c. If a man kills a man, then the killers life is forfeited, BECAUSE he has killed that which was created in the image of God! (Gen. 9:6)
d. The Hebrew word that we translate "demand an accounting" is a judicial term and requires a judicial act -- a governmental act.
e. There has never been a Scriptural rescinding of this decree of capital punishment and it remains in force.
f. This is not a justification for the free exercise of vengeance, but is a all for justice...The punishment fits the crime! (Matthew 26:52)
g. This does not rule out an exception to the penalty because God Himself tempers justice with mercy. (David, the woman caught in adultery
B. No longer will humankind be permitted to exist in a state of anarchy as they did prior to the flood -- Now men would sit in judgment over one another.
1. This is the first indication that government is established by God.
2. The only authority which existed prior to the flood was patriarchal authority and people, accordingly, took the law into their own hands and did what seemed right in their own eyes.
3. Anarchy was not to be a part of the post-flood world.
4. It is implicitly clear that the authority to exercise judgment for a capital crime is also the authority to establish laws governing those human activities which, if unregulated, would soon lead to murder: robbery, adultery, usurpation of property boundaries, etc.
5. While no explicit form of human government is hereby ordained, human government itself is.
II. THE RAINBOW COVENANT -- Gen. 9:8-17
A. This is the second covenant that God makes with His people, with the first being the Adamic Covenant of Genesis 3:15.
1. The above commands are what God wants His people to do, but His commands are not a condition for God to keep His promise, this He does regardless of mankind's behavior.
a. First the covenant is made between God and Noah and his descendants AND with the animals that exit the Ark. (9:8-10)
b. It is a covenant between God and, "...all those that came out of the Ark with you -- every living creature on earth."
2. God's covenant is that He will never again destroy all life on earth with a flood.
3. As a visible sign that God has made this promise, He has placed a sign in the heavens to remind us of what has transpired because of the sin of mankind.
a. Here is the irony of God's sign: Most people disbelieve that the flood has occurred in the first place.
b. Most people who see the visible sign of God's covenant admire the beauty of it, but fail to see the significance of what they are seeing.
4. This Noahic Covenant is still in force to this very day and will be until Christ comes again and this world passes away.
III. NOAH AND HIS SONS: Gen. 9:18-27.
A. Noah had three sons from whom all the peoples of the earth have come.
1. Shem, Ham and Japheth are the progenitors of the human race.
a. Since all humanity came from these three sons of Noah, it is clear, therefore, that all the physical characteristics of the different nations and tribes must have been present in the genetic constitutions of these men and their wives.
b. Somehow, by the regular mechanisms of genetics -- variation, re-combination -- all the various groups of nations and tribes must have developed from this new beginning.
2. In these passages the critical importance of race are comprehended.
a. The existence of different races, nations and languages is obviously a fact of modern life and the true origin of various races and nations, and the events associated with them must be clearly understood and placed in a Biblical perspective before these issues can ever be adequately addressed and resolved.
b. The text before us unfolds the origin of races, nations and languages and offer the only hope the world has for successful dealing with these issues.
B. Noah, the vineyard and his sons:
1. Noah planted vineyards and drank too much wine.
a. Drinking wine or other alcoholic beverages is not a sinful action in and of itself, but drinking to excess is a sin.
b. Noah is seen here as a sinner -- there is no "cover up" of the flaws of Biblical heroes.
2. What is the main point of this story is not so much the sin of Noah, but the various ways in which the sons of Noah responded to the shame of their father.
a. Here is Noah, drunk to the point of passing out, buck naked, and along comes Ham.
b. It is logical to presume that Noah has been a model of moral rectitude and godliness and this failure on Noah's part is seen by Ham almost in the light of, "Look here! Mr. Righteous has blown it!"
c. Instead of respecting and honoring his father, Ham desires to expose his father to further shame by sharing his reaction to the situation with his brothers in a very negative way...This does not honor his father.
d. Shem and Japheth, however, want to respect, love and honor their father, even in this moment of shame and so move not to view his shame, but rather to cover it.
3. Noah pronounces a curse on Ham and his descendants:
a. One may, from a "modern" perspective say that Noah is overreacting in this situation, but he is not.
b. The basic model for all human relationships is the family and if we don't get it right with this most basic relationship, then all the other relationships that flow from the family are effected as well.
c. Honoring our father and mother has always been a big deal with God because so much evil flows out of such dishonoring. (Rom. 1:30)
d. Noah is not just pronouncing a curse, he is acting as a prophet for events that would transpire in the future...Prophesy always comes from God and so Noah was only saying what God compelled him to say.
C. Ham's Curse: (Genesis 9:24-25)
1. Ham's act was not only an attack on the family, but also was an act of rebellion against God and as such, was the beginning of the same actions which had finally resulted in the Flood, hence the seriousness of Ham's sin is proportionate to the seriousness of the punishment.
2. Perhaps because Noah could not bring himself to directly curse his son, or because the emphasis of the prophesy was the continuing effect on the generations following Ham, it is Ham's son Canaan against whom the prophesy is spoken.
a. It is Ham who has passed on the attitude of carnal and materialistic orientation to Canaan and his brothers, Cush, Mizraim, and Phut.
b. This curse cannot apply only to Canaan, (the father of the Canaanites, the despised enemy of Israel), because:
1.) The prophesy covers all of Noah's sons and their descendants and hence is worldwide in its scope.
2.) If the prophesy deals only with Canaan, its fulfillment was sporadic at best.
3.) Since it was the curse against Ham, it would have been inappropriate for the punishment to fall only on one of his sons and the curse marks a family just as it was against the family that Ham sinned.
3. There are today, some white supremacist groups who insist that Ham's curse is applied only to Negro people and have used this reasoning to justify their racist views and actions, but it is obvious that the curse applies to all of Ham's descendants most of whom are not black.
a. The descendants of Ham include: Sumerians, Egyptians, Ethiopians, Phoenicians, Hittites, and Canaanites, the modern African tribes and the Mongol tribes, (including the Chinese and Japanese).
b. Therefore, there is no Scriptural basis for racial discrimination.
4. The curse of Ham is to be the "Servant of Servants", (less accurate is the translation, "The lowest of the slaves").
a. A "servant" is not necessarily a "slave", the term used here is used much more often of the position of "steward" which is an honorable position as caretaker of other's possessions.
b. It has been suggested that mankind has three main types of duties to perform as God's stewards over the world:
1.) Spiritual stewardship: Receiving, preserving and teaching the knowledge of God's Word and Sacraments.
2.) Intellectual stewardship: Expanding and teaching the knowledge of God's Creation.
3.) Physical stewardship: Providing the material means for man's bodily needs and comforts, thus enabling him to fulfill his intellectual and spiritual functions more effectively.
c. These three stewardship functions may well correspond to the tripartite nature of man: spirit, soul and body.
d. To an extent, everybody has all three aspects and capacities, but normally, one characteristic dominates the others.
e. The same may be said of nations -- generally speaking and it is therefore significant that these first three progenitors of all modern nations were recognized by Noah to have characteristics representing these three emphases:
1.) Shem was primarily motivated by spiritual service.
2.) Japheth was primarily motivated by intellectual service.
3.) Ham was primarily motivated by physical service.
f. Ham, therefore, was the servant of servants in the sense that his realm of emphasis was more enabling of the other, more lofty pursuits.
1.) While the greater things belong to Ham's brothers, (and their descendants), and as such was a curse; it was also a blessing to the world that the Hamitic peoples would enable the development of the remaining peoples of the earth.
2.) Among the many ways in which the Hamitic peoples have served the nations are:
a.) They were the original explorers and settlers of nearly all parts of the world, following the dispersion of Babel.
b.) They were the first cultivators of most of the basic food staples as well as the first to domesticate most animals.
c.) They developed most of the basic types of structural forms, building tools and materials.
d.) They were the first to develop most of the usual fabrics for clothing and the various sewing and weaving devices.
e.) They discovered and invented a wide variety of medicines and surgical practices and instruments.
f.) They invented most of the concepts of basic practical mathematics, as well as surveying and navigation.
g.) The machinery of commerce and trade -- money, banks, postal systems and the like they developed.
h.) They developed paper, ink, block printing, and other accouterments of writing and communication.
3.) If one traces back far enough, he will find that practically every other basic device or system needed for many physical sustenance for convenience originated with one of the Hamitic peoples...Truly they have been the "servants" of mankind.
g. These very general and broad national and racial characteristics obviously admit of many exceptions on an individual genetic basis.
D. Shem's blessing: (Genesis 9:26)
1. Shem is the spiritually oriented son of Noah and it is implied that through his line, the messianic seed would be carried forward.
2. Shem's descendants would not be prevented from this divinely appointed seed bearing despite opposition from Ham's descendants, but -- as usual --God would use the "service" of those who intended evil for His good.
E. Japheth's blessing: (Genesis 9:27)
1. The Hebrew word rendered "extended" in the NIV is usually translated with the English words, "entice" or "persuade" or "to make open".
2. The implication of geographical expansion is questionable since one who is enticed or persuaded or made more open is one who's opinions have been altered.
3. This sense of "extended" could refer to Japheth's intellectual expansion and the fact that Japheth, (and his descendants), would "dwell in the tents of Shem is a Hebrew way of saying they will have fellowship with one another.