Two Paths and God's Covenant

Layout of bible study

Following the creation accounts we will trace the two paths that Genesis outlines, covering the stories of Cain & Abel, The Flood, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Isaac, and God’s covenants to humanity. We will look at what life living in and outside of the blessing of God looks like and begin to unpack God’s plan for redemption.

Layout of bible study

1 board per “seed”

Seed of Serpent board

What are the characteristics of the Fall

Story of Cain

Ham, Nimrod, and Babel

What can we learn about those who rebel against God?

Seed of Blessing

Noah

Abraham

What can we learn about the blessing of God & what God requires of us

Cain and Abel

What happens:

Cain and Abel make sacrifices

God is not pleased with Cain’s offering - Why?

Offering of blood, not of grain

What could Cain have done? Some suggest buying Abel’s animals

Cain gets angry

Lord gives Cain wisdom/advice & a warning

Cain goes with Abel into fields and kills him

God confronts Cain

God curses Cain

no longer able to yield harvest from the ground

Cain required to become a wanderer

Cain protests punishment

The Lord protects Cain

Cain "get sicks of wandering" and obeying God and creates a city and names it after his son

Seed of Cain 4:17-24

Sin of Cain & Sin of Lamech ()

- Lamech & polygamy - A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife becomes a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wives.

- 4:24 - Cain's revenge was from God, Lamech's revenge is from himself. Lamech will protect and avenge himself instead of God being our protector and avenger.

What does this say about the seed of the serpent?

Obeying God is tiresome

Seek to serve self’s desires over God (polygamy)

Seek to protect self through violence (instead of protect Garden)

Dominion redefined/corrupted.

Pre fall: Garden dominion was domestication of the world and cultivating garden

Post fal: Dominion is achieved through violence and self-preservation

Seed of Blessing

- Seth is born - two seeds

: Genealogy from Adam to Noah - (see geneology chart Seth - Noah, no need to expound)

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Corruption of world + Noah

God sees the great wickedness of man, every thought and intention of their hearts evil continually. - What does continual evil look like?

God regrets/is sorry?

Same word in hebrew, antithesis of seeing creation is good

Noah builds a boat

Noah/fam/animals board boat

Rains 40 days 40 nights

Rain subsides

Noah sends birds out to see if it has dried

- The Blessing of God & The Covenant of God

After Noah has sent out birds, God tells Noah it's time to leave

God blesses Noah with the original blessing/charge to Adam -

What does God tell Noah to do?

Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth

What does this tell us about the seed of the promise?

Obedience → salvation, blessing, and promise.

What does this tell us about God

God enjoys blessing

God is grieved, possibly even regrets, when he sees the corruption of mankind.

Blessings and Curses - Noah’s Descendents

What does Ham do? Scholars agree it was something sexual

Shem and Japheth - who gets the blessing?

Shem

Understanding genealogy and the curse of Ham/Canaan

Many major nations come from Ham (and evil)

Through Cush comes a man named Nimrod

Who is Nimrod

Father of many cities (babel)

Established a kingdom on earth

What did this kingdom stand for → Babel

Canaanites are the ones that the Israelites took over in Joshua primarily

Founding Sodom and Gomorrah

Ham committed sexual sins, what are these two cities known for)

Tower of Babel - Two cities

What is wrong with the Tower of Babel?

Who does this image?

Cain got tired of wandering, and settled and built cities when God commanded him to wander the earth vs fill the earth (God said to fill earth )

11:4 lest we be disbursed - disobedience to God. Found power in each other instead of obedience to God

Sought the glory of man/king (Nimrod)

Images Genesis serpent - How does serpent tempt Eve? This will make you like God.

11:4 let us make a name for ourselves

What is the end result?

God disburses his people as planned, but has to force them by dividing them through language to accomplish his purposes.

Here is the question - Why does God care that humanity fills the earth?

God is attempting to fill the earth and have man carry out his mission - be fruitful and multiply, subdue the earth, and fulfill it.

Babel is attempting to have Man focus on his own achievements, consolidation, and kingdom.

Do we serve the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Man?

- geneology up until Abram

For sake of time, we are specifically going to look at the interactions between Abram/Abraham and God.

Call of Abram 12:1-9

God Calls Abram to leave his country (wander??)

God gives a promise to bless and make him great.

Through him all the families of earth shall be blessed

Abraham obeyed v4

Curse of canaan prophesied to be fulfilled v6-7

Abram built an altar

Abram continued wandering

Summary between the covenants

Genesis continues to recount the journeys of Abram

Abram says Sarai isn’t his wife because he is afraid of dying, so sarai gets married off and other nations cursed until repentance

Lot and Abram separate

Abram rescues Lot

Abram is blessed by Melchizadek

21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me.

Abram is trusting that his riches will come from the promise of God

God’s Covenant with Abraham 15:1-19 - What is their conversation?

God assures Abram of his reward

Abram asks God, does it matter if you give me much if I don’t have an heir?

God assures Abram of his promise to a lineage, and the success in his offspring.

Abram had faith/believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness v6

The Lord makes a promise regarding the land. v7

Abram questions, how do I know? V8

Ancient Covenant ritual set up (draw out) v9-11

The Lord gives Abram details regarding his promises and how they will come to pass v12-15

The Lord explains why Abram is not going to take the land promised to him yet. v16 (sin of amorites is not yet complete)

The covenant is affirmed v17-21

What does this tell us about God?

God promised to fulfill the covenant on both sides. He will fulfill our end of the bargain as well as his.

God will assure us of his promises

We are called to have faith in God

We are allowed to ask questions and it is okay to want affirmation

Summary between the covenants

We have sarah and hagar controversy

Covenant of Circumcision (optional) 17:1-14

God appears to Abram

God says walk before him and be blameless so that we can have a covenant and be multiplied v2

Abram falls on face in reverence

God establishes covenant with abram and renames him abraham

Promises blessings and power to come from you

Promises of covenant between offspring of Abraham and God forever (everlasting)

God requires that offspring of Abraham be circumcised as sign of the covenant

Anybody not circumcised will be cut off from the covenant

(if time permits can go into how baptism is a continuation of the covenant vs disp is god works differently)

Summary between the covenants

God promises to bless son of Sarah

Angels visit Abraham to foretell of the coming of Sarah’s son.

God is going to destroy Sodom

Abraham intercedes for Sodom

God rescues Lot & destroys Sodom

Lot’s daughters get him drunk to conceive children

Abraham lies about Sarah as his wife again

Isaac Born

Hagar and Ishmael cast out and protected by God

Sacrifice of Isaac

God calls abram to take Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering

Abraham obeys

Abraham prepares altar

Isaac asks where the lamb for the offering is v7.

Abraham tells Isaac God will provide for himself a lamb

Most scholars see this as a faith in God that he will provide - as he always has

Abraham binds Isaac to alter (he must have been thinking what am I doing?!)

Angel prevents Abraham from killing Son

Ran caught in thicket/thorns

Ram sacrificed

God will surely bless Abraham v17 (surely bless remind us of anything?)

Blessing affirmed.