Genesis 6-11

Genesis Chapters 6-11 (week 3)

The story of the flood and “Noah and the Ark” is a very familiar story to us and may evoke memories of being taught from a lithograph in Sunday School. It may be important to remember that, no matter how familiar, we can be confident that as we read this story we are revisiting history, and that in the account of these events we do meet God and hear His message:

            We live in a moral universe.

            Sin brings judgment, for the God behind it all cares about right and wrong.

      Yet we see that He still cares for us as well. The surging waters of judgment may swirl around you and me. But God has prepared His ark.

      Like Noah, we only have one hope to be saved. For him it was an ark. For us it           is faith in Christ, God’s son.  (paraphrased from The Teacher’s Commentary)

Your group may want to read 1 Peter 3:18-22 and meditate on this Scripture as it compares to the flood story.

It may be helpful to have your group come up with a phase to describe the theme of each chapter studies thus far as well as the section of study for tonight. It may look something like this:

Chapter 1                 It’s a personal universe.

Chapter 2                 Man is made in God’s image, or, man is valuable to God.

Chapter 3                 Sin is a tragic reality.

Chapter 4                 Sin is demonstrated in our attitudes and actions.

Chapters 6-9            It’s a moral universe, or God does judge sin

Genesis 6:1-4

Possible interpretations for the “sons of God”:

1.     Refers to the “godly” line of Seth and the “daughters of men” were the apostate line of Cain. Mixed marriages would result in wives and mothers who would exert their influence that could prove fatal to the worship of the one true God and result in moral chaos.

2.     “Sons of God” refers to a powerful group of rulers who strive for fame. May have been controlled by “fallen angels” or “demonized”. (see Ezekiel 28:11-19 and Daniel 10:13 for other examples of this). Other mythological writing from this time period offered referred to these types of great leaders as ‘offsrings of the gods themselves’.

3.     “Sons of God” refer to angelic beings. Support for this conclusion comes from the fact that the phrase “sons of God” is only used in Old Testament to refer to angels. However, this occurs in the book of Job (a very poetic book) and so a parallel conclusion is difficult to draw. Also, this view conflicts with Matt 22:30 and has no other support in the NT text. Therefore, most scholars tend to reject this view and support view 1 or 2.

Nephilim – “men of renown” (not true giants) a different Hebrew word in Old Testament is used when referring to a true giant like Goliath

The story of the flood - Genesis 6:5 - Genesis 8:19

·      (6:6) – It broke God’s heart to see the depths for which man had fallen.

·      (6:8) – “But Noah” – contrast this with the beginning phrase of Genesis chapter 8. What phrase does that remind us of in the book of Ephesians that we have been studying on Sundays?

·      (6:8) – “righteous man”, “blameless in his generation” – not perfect (Romans 3:23) but he stood out among the people of his day as following God

·      (7:8, 15) – the animals “went” into the ark with Noah (God sent them into the ark by His providence

·      (7:12) – first time that it had ever rained in Biblical history

·      (7:16) – “and the LORD shut them in” – The use of the personal name “Yahweh” here underscores God’s personal relationship with Noah. And it was God who shut the door – it was His (not Noah’s) judgment on the sinful people

·      (8:1) – “But God” – you may want to do a word study on this phrase. How often is this found in the bible and in what context. What does this teach us about God?

God’s covenant with Noah – 8:20-22, 9:9-17

God makes an unconditional everlasting covenant with Noah and his decedents – with all living creatures. Even the animals are included, making Noah a kind of new Adam. Covenants usually involve a sign – in this case a rainbow. In the case of Abraham in Genesis 17, it was circumcision.

Thoughts for study:

·      Have your group read and meditate on 2 Peter 3:3-18. How are you and I – and the group you are leading – to apply the flood story to our lives?

·      In 2 Peter 2:5, Peter calls Noah a “herald” of righteousness. Consider the witness that Noah’s faithfulness was to his generation. But they did not respond.   What implications does 2 Peter 2:5 have on how we Christians should behave towards those still “on land”? How do we witness to to others today?

Genesis 10 & 11 – Table of Nations and the Tower of Babel

·      How do the actions of Noah’s decedents in 11:2 and their statement in 11:4 conflict with God’s command in 9:1?

·      “let us” – The people in Babel are all about human independence and self-sufficiency apart from God. They have confidence in their own abilities and don’t recognize their need for God.  Is there a tendency to feel this same way in this day and age? How can we recognize a similar tendency in our own lives?

Genesis: Week One

Week 1: Genesis 1:1-2:25

Key Verse:

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:31


In the Beginning: God willing creates the universe and all within it (Genesis 1:1-2:3)

Genesis 1 introduces us to God the Creator and man, his prized creation. It also sets the scene for the ongoing relationship between Creator and creation. There are several topics of discussion that arise from Genesis 1:

- God created the heavens and the earth, an encompassing way of saying “he created everything that is created.” This sets God apart from all things that exist. God is the only thing not created by God.

- The days create a literary structure that is common to the Hebrew Old Testament known as parallelism. In the first three days, God creates the habitats, and in the last three he fills them:

Day 1 – Light and Darkness Day 4 – the Sun and Moon
Day 2 – Sky and Water Day 5 – Birds and Fish
Day 3 – Land and Plants Day 6 – Animals and Man (with plants for food)
Day 7 – rest


-There are many positions regarding whether or not God created everything in six literal, 24-hour days. The two prominent positions today are young earth creationism and old earth creationism. Old earth creationists believe that each day represents an “epoch” or “age”, which is called the day-age theory. They believe that earth is millions, perhaps billions of years old, and most who hold this position find it easier to reconcile with science than a literal 24-hour day. Some in this camp also believe in deistic evolution, the idea that God started the creation and then directed it through evolution.

Young earth creationists, on the other hand, believe that God created everything in six literal, 24-hour days. We base this theory on the literal meaning of the word day as found throughout the rest of Genesis, as well as the mentioning of “evening and morning” coupled with each day. Young earth creationists believe that God could have simply created an aged earth, since it is within his power to do so.

-In Genesis 1, we see that Man is given special significance over the rest of creation. God’s creates man to rule over the rest of creation, and He made man in His own image (Gen 1:26). God also gave specific instruction to man, to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on earth” (Gen. 1:28). After creating man, God doesn’t just look and say, “it was good,” as He did on the other five days. He says, “it was very good”.

The Prize of God’s Creation – Man and Woman (Genesis 2:4-25)

The narrative of Genesis 2:4-25 is not a separate story from chapter 1, but it is a different perspective of a part of the same story. This account provides specific details on God’s creation of man and woman.

How God created man:
God created Adam out of the dust of the ground. Once he formed him, God breathed life into his nostrils. God created Eve from the rib of Adam.

Where God created man:
Adam was placed in the garden of Eden, which is described as being in the east. Moses describes Eden as having four rivers flowing out of it, the Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates. In the garden, the Lord gave Adam trees to eat from, ground to work, and a helper suitable for him, Eve.

Why God created man:
While the rest of scripture unfolds God’s plan in regard to his relationship with man, what we see in Genesis 2 is that God created man so that he may have dominion over the land. This is described explicitly in verse 15, and it is implied when God gives man the right to name all the animals in verses 19 and 20.

We also see that woman was created to be a suitable helper for man (verse 20). Eve was brought to Adam, named by Adam, and the wife of Adam.

Up until this point, no evil has taken place. The only thing negative has been that man was alone without a suitable helper. God has given Adam a garden, a wife, a positive command (work and rule the land) as well as a negative command (do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil).

Helpful Questions:
What is your view on the six days of creation? Why?

Can Genesis 1 and 2 be reconciled with modern day science?

What is the "Image of God" that man was created in?

What type of relationship does God have with man up until this point?

What type of relationship does Adam have with Eve up until this point?