Prelude to the promisein two events in history

1. We see God who judges /punishes the people (the flood) because of evil, while also saving some (people in the Ark). Genesis 6 – 9.

2. God “forces” the people to fulfill his purpose to subdue and fill the whole earth. Genesis 11.

The stories mention and illustrate the sinful nature of people and Gods action in grace and purpose.

First we go back to what we have read and discussed last week.

In Genesis chapter 2 we have read the detailed account of the‘crown on God’s creation’. What was that?

* the creation of the first human, he was called . . .Adam

the knowledge of good and evildie

God planted a garden and brought Adam there withinstructions. God said: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , for when you eat of it you will surely . . . ”

Deceived by the devil, a fallen angel, in the

form of a . . . . . . . . . . . . ., Eve and Adam ate the fruit of the tree from which they shouldn’t eat. Through that act of disobedience to God (not the eating of the fruit itself) . . . and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . came into the world.

serpent/snake

sin death (Rom. 6:23)

All people inherited a sinful nature

Romans 6:23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in (or through) Christ Jesus our Lord.因 为 罪 的 工 价 乃 是 死 ；惟 有 神 的 恩 赐 ，在 我 们 的 主 基 督 耶 稣 里 ，乃 是 永 生 。

Today we discuss two major events in the book of Genesis in which the sinful nature of people is demonstrated:

1. The Flood and the Ark of Noah

2. The Tower of Babel and the Beginning of the Nations

This long part of Scripture is found in Genesis 6:5 through Genesis 9:17. It’s too long to read it all together, but we will read the central parts.

This short part of Scripture is found in Genesis 11:1-8.

The Flood and the Ark of NoahLet us read Gen. 6:5-11

At the creation, God saw each day that ‘it was good’, but now5 The 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.11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.

In Genesis 6:6 we read that ‘God was grieved’ and ‘his heart was filled with pain’. Why was that?

5 耶 和 华 见 人 在 地 上 罪 恶 很 大 ，终 日 所 思 想 的 尽 都 是 ，11 世 界 在 神 面 前 败 坏 ，地 上 满 了 强 暴 。Let us read the rest of Genesis 6 A short online movie

in Chinesein English

To answer we need to understand God’s character/attributes

1. God is HOLY2. God is JUST3. God is LOVE4. God is FULL of MERCY

In Him is no wrong; He cannot tolerate sinHe must righteously punish sinHe loves all; He hates sin; He loves sinnersHe forgives, He saves.He is faithful to His creation

FLOOD

Ark of Noah

So after reading chapter 6 and after seeing the movie we may think a while about this event. We may ask: Why did God send the flood?

Is it not loveless, cruel, hateful, unnecessary?

Why did God choose Noah to build the Ark?

Genesis 6:9

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

All those outside the ark died.

This indicates that Noah had faith in God. When it says that Noah was blameless, it does not mean that he was perfect or sinless; only that Noah followed God’s ways and lived in relationship to God because of his faith.

挪 亚 是 个 义 人 ，在 当 时 的 世 代 是 个 完 全 人 。挪 亚 与 神 同 行 。

After all the water of the flood had dried up, God said to Noah that he, his family and all animals should come out of the Ark and so they did. (Genesis 8:16-19).

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done. 20 挪亚给耶和华筑了一座祭坛，拿各样洁净的牲畜和飞禽，献在祭坛上作为燔祭。 21 耶和华闻了那馨香的气味，就心里说：“我必不再因人的缘故咒诅这地 # 因为人从小时开始心中所想的都是邪恶的；我也必不再照着我作过的，击杀各样的活物。

This promise was the content of the covenant that God madewith Noah and his sons, described in Genesis 9.

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my . . . . . . . ..in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.” (Gen. 9:12-15)

rainbow

This shows God’s character, as stated by prophet Ezekiel (33:11): “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.”

主 耶 和 华 说 ：我 指 着 我 的 永 生 起 誓 ，我 断 不 喜 悦 恶 人 死 亡 ，惟 喜 悦 恶 人 转 离 所 行 的 道 而 活 。

2. The tower of Babel and the Beginning of the Nations

In Genesis 10:1-32 we see that all the people of the world are descendants of Noah and his family.

The New Testament states (Acts 17:26-27).From one man he (God) made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live, SO THAT they would seek him and perhaps reach out to Him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 他 从 一 本 （ 有 古 卷 作 血 脉 ） 造 出 万 族 的 人 ，住 在 全 地 上 ， 并 且 预 先 定 准 他 们 的 年 限 和 所 住 的 疆 界，要他们寻求　神，或者可以摸索而找到他。其实他离我们各人不远

Let us read Genesis 11: 1-8 to see what the people had learned…

Genesis 11:1-81 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

Had man changed after the flood? Did they now try to obey God? See Genesis 11:4

We see that they went explicitly against Gods command to cover the whole earth and they knew it (“otherwise we will be scattered…”). In stead of trusting God to care for them when they would explore the earth, they wanted to stay together in one big city.And they wanted a huge tower. It sounds like pride and maybe it was a way to defy/challenge God.

What did God do to the people? Review Genesis 11:5-8

God came down and confused the language and forced them to stop their building plan and to spread over the earth. This was the beginning of the nations with different languages.

Do you think that God went along with all people groups when He scattered them over the whole earth?

Or do you think that He forgot some people groups?

Let’s look at some Chinese characters to find God’shand in one of our languages.

In Genesis 10:1-32 we see that all the people of the world are descendants of Noah and his family.

What does this character mean 禁 (jin) ? forbidThe character is composed of trees 木木 and divine sign 示Could this Chinese character 禁 have it’s origin in the Bible wherethe forbidden tree in Genesis 3 is explained?

After eating from that tree, Adam and Eve were sent away and locked out of the garden, which was very difficult for them.What does this character mean 困 (kun) ? difficultyThe character is composed of boundary 囗 (guo) and tree 木 (mu)Could this Chinese character 困 have it’s origin from the Bible where God forbids people to have access to the tree in Genesis 3?

Remember that God ‘spoke’ and it came into ‘existing’ in His creation?

What does this character mean 造 (zao) ? make, createThe character is composed of speak 告 (gao) and walking 辶 (zou)Could this Chinese character 造 have it’s origin in the Bible whereGod spoke and walking animals and humans were created (Genesis 1)?

Lesson: We cannot save ourselves. We can only be saved when we take God’s provision for salvation. Through whom?

Through Jesus, the Son of God.

How many people were on the Ark, according to Genesis 8:16? “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.”“ 你要从方舟出来，你和你的妻子、儿子， 以及儿媳都要和你一同出来。”