Bible in a Year… Day 8 (Genesis 4-7)

Week 2 begins!

Today’s notes…

Genesis 4:3-8 (NIV)
³In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. ⁴But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, ⁵but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

⁶Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

⁸Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Sin is an UGLY thing, no doubt about it.

Genesis 5:3-31 (NIV)
³When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. ⁴After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁵Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.

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²⁸When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. ²⁹He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed.” ³⁰After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.

The ages to which some of the first men lived has always been interesting to me. They’re presented matter of factly, as if it was really no big deal for someone to live 900 years. Answers in Genesis presents several ideas as to how this was possible.

Interesting stuff to ponder, whether we’ll ever have an answer or not.

Genesis 6:1-3 (NIV)
¹When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, ²the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. ³Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

Of course, we see God numbering man’s days to 120 years just after we get the long genealogy of 800-900 year old men.

Genesis 6:4 (NIV)
⁴The Nephilim were on the earth in those days — and also afterward — when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

In both Genesis 6:2 and 6:4 we get the reference to “sons of God”. In Genesis 6:4, we get a reference to Nephilim.

From what I’ve read in my study Bible and other resources, it’s just not crystal clear what was meant by this. Anyone have a more definitive answer?

Genesis 6:5-8 (NIV)
⁵The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. ⁶The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. ⁷So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved that I have made them.” ⁸But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

I find it extremely hard to imagine an earth filled entirely with evil, with the exception of one man and his family. I’m not sure I want to be able to imagine that either, though.

Genesis 6:13-21 (NIV)
¹³So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. ¹⁴So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. ¹⁵This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. ¹⁶Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. ¹⁷I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. ¹⁸But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark — you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

I don’t know about you, but my response to God if I were Noah?

“You want me to do WHAT?!?”

Genesis 7:5 (NIV)
⁵And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

Given what God had commanded him to do, I think we can hold Noah up as THE model for putting faith in action!