Note: As a Sunday school leader I take my role of educating our youth about Jesus very seriously. As such, I feel it necessary to dig deeper into the stories I have known throughout my life to really have a strong background and grasp on the stories, concepts, and possible life applications that can be drawn. Therefore, the following is my own quest for that knowledge prepared for you in “Bible study” form. I encourage you to learn and grow as much as you feel called to in order that you might not only feel prepared to teach and share with our children, but that you may also be filled and renewed in your study of God’s Word. This is not meant to be an exhaustive of the text, but notes to help provide context and background for leaders.
Objectives:
• Provide leaders with a historical context for understanding.
• Provide leaders with a Biblical context for reaching and teaching.
• Provide a theological basis for the concepts to be taught to the children.
• Serve as a renewal and time of reflection to strengthen leaders to serve.
Scripture: Genesis 6-9
Memory Verse for this rotation: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”—Psalm 124:8
Concepts to be learned by children:
* God’s power over all creation is amazing.
* God makes and keeps promises.
* God communicates with people.
* God desires for us to e kind, obedient, and faithful.
* God takes care of all creation.
Historical/Theological/Biblical Contexts
Authorship, Date, & Background on the book of Genesis:
Genesis is the first book of the Pentateuch (the first five books in the O.T.; also known as the Law or the books of Moses). The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew O.T., ca. 150 BC) translators use the first work in 1.1, meaning “in the beginning”. Everything in Genesis predates the time of Moses, to whom the authorship of the Pentateuch has been attributed. This implies that he secured his information from extant written materials, by oral transmission, by revelation from God, or a combination of these. The source of his knowledge does not matter materially so long as we remember that in the use of the materials the Holy Spirit enabled him to record what is true.
No verse in the Pentateuch names Moses directly as the author, but there are internal evidences favoring the Mosaic authorship as well as statements in the N.T. b Jesus and others which lead to this conclusion. In the Pentateuch itself Moses was instructed by God to write down certain information. In addition, other books in the O.T. speak of “the law of Moses” or “the book of Moses”. Moreover, the N.T. refers again and again to the Law of Moses in one form or another.
Many modern scholars have vigorously rejected the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. Most of them accept the JEPD theory. But this Documentary Hypothesis of Wellhausen, the best known of these viewpoints, has been challenged by other modern scholars as well as by evangelical scholars. The latter generally hold to the Mosaic authorship of the first five books of the Bible, with certain exceptions. The account of Moses’ death, for example, was probably added by a later writer. And possibly later minor name changes may have been inserted to clarify for readers what they might not otherwise have known. For example, in 14.14 the name of a city is given as Dan, whereas in Judges 18.29 it says that the city named Dan “was formerly Laish.”
Characteristics and Content:
The book of Genesis sets the scene for the entire Bible. Without it, the reader would not know some of the most important happenings in the history of the world. Genesis tells us about the creation of the entire universe, including humankind, the beginning of sin in the human race, the provision of God for redemption, the selection of one man through whose descendant’s salvation would be made possible, the person and nature of God, as well as the fact of divine judgment and human responsibility. The first two chapters of Genesis speak of generation; chs. 3-11 deal with degeneration; chs. 12-50 have to do with regeneration.
Genesis is remarkably compact, encompassing long periods of time in a few sentences. It is written in a fascinating style which commands the interest of young and old alike. It is largely biographical, describing significant individuals who are essential parts of the story of redemption. From its earliest pages it points the way to salvation through the, as yet unidentified, descendant of Abraham, Jesus Christ, God’s Son and our redeemer. In the fall of Adam, the judgment of God on sin may be seen; in the flood, the retributive justice of God; in the choice of Abraham as the man through whom Messiah shall com, God’s sovereign election.
Genesis recounts how the twelve patriarchs, from whom all of Israel would someday come, were fathered by Jacob, the grandson of Abraham and the son of Isaac. Despite sin and human error, the divine will is being worked out in the events which take place. The book tells us about some of the peopled of God who are unselfish, heroic, and faithful. Others are guilty of trickery, deception, fraud, and unfaithfulness. The characters are pictured as they really are, not as we wish they might have been. Perhaps most important of all, Genesis reveals that God chose to make himself known to the human race. Without that self-revelation, the true knowledge of God would be impossible to attain. It is the story of God reaching down to sinful people, not of sinful people reaching up to God.
Structure
I. The generations of the heavens and the earth (1.1-4.26)
II. The descendants of Adam (5.1-6.8)
III. The descendants of Noah (6.9-9.29)
IV. The descendants of the sons of Noah (10.1-11.9)
V. The descendants of Shem (11.10-26)
VI. The descendants of Terah (11.27-25.11)
VII. The descendants of Ishmael (25.12-18)
VIII. The descendants of Isaac (25.19-35.29)
IX. The descendants of Esau (36.1-43)
X. The descendants of Jacob (37.1-50.26)
Text Study
Phrases/Ideas for Thought and Reflection (using NRSV)/Questions to Consider:
Chapter 6:1-4
Sons of God. The “sons of God” may mean God’s created, supernatural beings, who were not longer godly in character (6:3). Some commentators believe, however, that this expression refers to the “godly line” of Seth and that “daughters of humans” (v. 4) refer to women from the line of Cain. Most likely the phrase refers to those descendants of Seth who trusted in the Lord, but whose children inter-married with women descended from Cain. Those marriages were not with angels then, but between godly and ungodly human families. Angels neither marry nor are given in marriage (Mt 22:30), so that this verse hardly applies to them. On the other hand, Peter speaks of angels who sinned (2 Pet. 2:4), apparently referring to the book of Enoch (20:2) where “sons of God” are interpreted as “angels”. Nephilim are strong, violent, tyrannous men of great wickedness. It may be well that the explanation of these verses has been lost to us.
Chapter 6:9
Three expressions characterize the life of Noah: 1) He was righteous (i.e., he was redeemed and the righteousness of God was imputed to him); 2) He was blameless; and 3) he “walked with God”. He is the prototype of the kind of people Christians out to be in this generation.
Chapter 6:13
God said to Noah. God revealed to Noah what his intentions were in advance of the happening. The scriptures do not tell us how God did this. God used different methods to make his will known; he was not limited to a single method of revelation.
Chapter 6:9-18. Noah & the Ark
The Ark was about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had three decks, divided into compartments, with a window course around the top. There was 15 feet between each of the three stories. It must have been very much the same size and proportion as ocean ships of today. Living on the banks of a great river, boat building was one of man’s earliest accomplishments. Cuneiform tablets indicate that at the dawn of history the inhabitants of Babylonia engaged in river traffic. Noah’s home, according to Babylonian tradition, was at Fara, on the Euphrates, about 70 miles from the site of the Garden of Eden. As such boatbuilding and river traffic must have been familiar to Noah from childhood. The ark is representative of Christ, who is the place of refuge for sinners who wish to be saved from the wrath to come (see 1 Pet 3:20-21). God announces to Noah that he will make a covenant with him, but eh details of that covenant are not made known until chapter 9.
Chapter 6:19 to 7:5 The Animals
In 6:19-21 and 7:2 it is explained the Seven pairs of clean animals, but only one pair of each of the others, were to betaken into the Ark. Some have calculated that there was room in the Ark for 7000 species of animals.
It was a gigantic task to build the Ark, gather the animals, and store the necessary food. Noah and his three sons could not have done it alone. Being grandson of Methuselah, and great grandson of Enoch, he may, as the Babylonian tradition says, have been a City-King; and may have employed thousands of men in the work. And he may have been the best part of 120 years doing it (6:3), and was undoubtedly the subject of unceasing ridicule, but undaunted in his Faith (II Peter 2:5; Hebrews 11:7).
Chapter 6:22
Noah was obedient and did precisely what God told him to do. In 7:1 we are told: “I have seen that you alone are righteous before me.” His righteousness was vindicated by his walk of life, fulfilling what James writes in his epistle (see Jas 2): we are saved by faith alone; yet saving faith is never alone; it is always accompanied by good works.
Chapter 7:6 to 8:19 The Flood
“Fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of the heaven were opened” (7:11). The Euphrates Valley might almost be called ht Isthmus of the Eastern Hemisphere, where the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean approach each other. The Armenian Mountain country is almost like an island system, with the Caspian and Black Seas on the north, the Mediterranean on the west, and the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean on the south. A cataclysmic subsidence of the region would case the waters to pour in from these seas, as rain poured down from above.
Chapter 7:8
of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean. God had not yet told people which animals were good for food and which were not. Up to this point humans may not have eaten animal flesh (cr. 9:2-4). Some Christians are vegetarians, though Scripture does not speak clearly on this issue.
Extent of the Flood
“All the high mountains that were under the whole heavens were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth” (7:19-21). This, doubtless, is the very language in which Shem related, or wrote, the story of the Flood to his children and grandchildren. He told it as he saw it. Are we to interpret his language according to his own geography? Or present day geography? The whole race, except Noah and his family, were destroyed. To destroy the race it was necessary for the Flood to cover only so much of the earth as was inhabited. Accepting the Bible account as it is, there had been only TEN generations from Adam, the first Man. How could ONE family, in TEN generations, with primitive modes of the travel populate the whole earth? Most likely the race had not spread far outside the Euphrates basin.
In short, there are three differing views that have emerged about the extent of the flood:
1. not all land was covered, and not all life died
2. not all land was covered, but all life died
3. all land was covered, and all life died.
Though the last view is disliked especially by many modern scholars, there is a universal tradition about the flood among all peoples of the world. Recent evidence of a gigantic catyclysm in all parts of the world clearly suggests a universal flood.
Time in the Ark
Noah went into the Ark 7 days before it began to rain (7:4, 10). It began to rain on the 17th day of the 2nd month of Noah’s 600th year (7:11). Rained 40 days (7:12). Waters prevailed 150 days (7:24;8:3). Ark rested 17th day of 7th month (8:4). Removed Ark’s Covering 1st day of 1st month of Noah’s 601st year (8:13). Went out of ark on 27th day of 2nd month (8:14-19). In the Ark 1 year 17 days: 5 months floating, 7 months on mountain.
Mount Ararat
After floating some 500 miles or more from where it had started, the Ark rested on a peak in the mountains of Armenia, called Ararat, about 200 miles north of Nineveh, Mt. Ararat is 17,000 ft. high. At its foot is a city called Naxuana, or Nakhichevan, which claims the tomb of Noah. The name means, “Here Noah settled.”
Chapter 8:7
the raven…went to and fro. The raven apparently lighted from time to time upon carcasses of dead animals floating on the water. The dove, which Noah next dispatched, would not alight on such floating carrion and this was a good indication of the water level.
Chapter 8:20
Clean animal….clean bird, i.e., ritually approved by God. Noah offered burnt offerings. Animal sacrifices were already known as a means for obtaining atonement and forgiveness (4:4).
Chapter 8:20-9:17 The Rainbow
It may be that the Flood produced a clarified air that made the Rainbow clearly visible. And God designated as the sign of his covenant with mankind that there would not be another Flood. (9:8-17). The earth’s next destruction will be by Fire (II Peter 3:7).
Chapter 9:1
Following the flood, God made a covenant with Noah. The agreement specified:
1. there would always be the season of the year with planting and harvest. 8:22
2. Noah and his family would replenish the earth (9:1)
3. law and government were to be reinstituted (9:1-6)
4. meat, except for the blood, and vegetables were to be given to humans for food (9:3,4)
5. there would never again be a universal flood. (9:15)
God sealed the covenant with the rainbow.
Chapter 9:13
the covenant between me and the earth. God made a covenant with Noah, but he also made a covenant with the earth. God the creator is interested in his inanimate creation as well as in the human race. He determined to preserve the earth from the effects of the flood. Redemption was accomplished for the cosmos, as well as for people. God’s people should be careful about the way they use the earth on which they depend of sustenance.
Chapter 9:16
covenant between God and every living creature. Here God speaks of his covenant with all living creatures. God is concerned about everything he created. Birds and animals are included in this everlasting covenant. Humans should have a concern for all life, human and non-human, because all life comes as a gift from the Creator.
Chapter 9:16-17
God’s covenants are always two-way streets. In them God obligates himself when he makes promises to humans. Thus the Noahic covenant included a promise from God that never again would life be destroyed by a universal flood. The seal of this was the rainbow.
Chapter 9:25
The Canaanites came from Canaan, who was the son of Ham, against whom Noah pronounced a curse. Noah’s curse was fulfilled when the Canaanites were overcome by the descendants of Shem and later by the Persians, Greeks, and Romans. Seven nations of people came form Canaan; they were idolatrous, superstitious, and abominably wicked. Abraham roamed their land, and to him was the promise made to inherit Canaan. Centuries went by before Abraham’s descendants occupied the land. When they entered their inheritance God commanded them 1) make no agreements with the Canaanites and show no mercy toward them (Deut. 7:2); 2) no to worship but to destroy their idols (Ex 23:24; Deut 7:5, 25); 3) not to follow their customs (Lev. 18:26, 27): 4) not to fear them (Deut 7:17, 18; 31:7). When Israel sinned, God permitted a remnant to remain in Canaan for chastisement (Num 33:55: Judges 2:3, 21, 22; 3:1-4; 4:2).
Chapter 9:18-28 Noah’s Prophecy
Descendants of Ham to be servant races; Shemites to preserve the knowledge of the True God; Japhetic races to have largest portion of world, and to supplant Semitic races as teachers of God. It was fulfilled with Israelites took Canaan, Greeks took Sidon, and Rome conquered Carthage; and ever since Japhetic races have dominated the world, and have been converted to the God Shem, while Semitic races have occupied a place of comparative insignificance; and HAmitic races a place of servitude. An amazing forecast!
Reported Discover of Noah’s Ark
It has been announced in a number of publications that certain Russian aviators, just prior to the Bolshevik Revolution, claimed to have seen the hulk of a gigantic ship high up in the inaccessible glacier fastness of Mt. Ararat; and that they reported their find to the Russian Government. Just then the Czarist Gov. was overthrown by the atheistic Bolsheviks, and these reports were never made public.
Babylonian Tradition of the Flood
Archives of the Temple of Marduk, in Babylon, as related by Berosus, 300 BC contained this story: Xisuthros, a king, was warned by one of the gods to build a ship, and take into it all his friends and relatives and all different kinds of animals, with the necessary food. Whereupon he built an immense ship, which was stranded in Armenia. Upon subsidence of the Flood, he sent out birds; the third time, they returned not. He came out, built an altar, and sacrificed.
Other Traditions
Egyptians, Greeks, Hindu, Chinese, English, Polynesians, Mexicans, Peruvians, American Indians, and Greenlanders all have stories/legends that state there being a boat, a flood, and the saving of selected individuals.
Copies of text from The Bible Handbook are attached regarding archaeological notes and findings that relate to the Flood.
Closing Prayer
Lord, you’ve told us that while on this earth we will know only in part and understand only in part, but in the end we will see all and be like you in our understanding. God we pray that you will fill us as completely as needed to share this information with our youth. We ask that you would fill us with what you want taught and how we can best relate to our youth. We also ask that you would help us to live out what we are teaching in our daily lives. Finally, Father, we thank you for our youth. We pray that they and their parents would find their way to Sunday school each week so that they can grow in the fulfillment of your plan for them. We pray that they would take the lessons learned and always apply them to the lives they are living for you.
We ask this all in your name, amen.
WORKSHOP SUMMARIES
How We are Sharing the Good News with Hope Kids
Opening Songs/Prayers/Activities: Students will have the opportunity sing songs
Enforcing the ideas of the scripture, take part in enrichment activities regarding the story, and pray and praise as a group. Offerings will be taken, Birthdays recognized, and memory verse introduced and rehearsed. They will also receive their Sunday school dollars at this time in the morning.
Woods (Drama): students will use pantomime (action and expression without an words) to interpret the story.
Ocean (Science): Younger Students: Considering how the rain came down, yet the boat did not sink; buoyancy. Older Students: will take the laws of buoyancy to create their own ‘ark’.
Arcade (Games): play a trivia game reviewing the points of the story. This is where they will also practice finding scripture.
Creation (Arts & Crafts): students will create their own rainbow crayons and consider the importance of keeping promises, the way God keeps His.
Theater (Movies): students will view and discuss a film about the story.
REFERENCES/RESOURCES:
Halley, Dr. Henry H. Halley’s Bible Handbook. Twenty-Fourth Edition, Copyright 1965 by Halley’s Bible Handbook, Inc. Zondervan Publishing House 1415 Lake Dr. S.E. Grand Rapids, Michigan 49606.
NRSV Harper Study Bible. Copyright 1991 by Zondervan Corporation
“Noah and the Flood”—Workshop Leader’s Bible Study” by Kirk of Kildaire Education Team. http://www.kirkofkildaire.org/quest/FQlessons/NoahRevisedWorkshopLeadersBibleStudy.htm. Printed 8/9/2008
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