Genesis 1: God

This lesson is compatible with the "Creation, Adam, and Cain" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 1

Have you ever thought about who created God?

Was God born?

What was God like before there were any planets?  Did God even exist before the planets?!

The Bible tells us the answers to these questions!

Where can we find the verse in the Bible that tells us God created everything?

Genesis 1:1!

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

This verse tells us that God was before the planets.

So, who created God?  Was he born?

We will look in the book of Psalms for the answer.  Psalm 90:2 says “ Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”

Before the earth was made, God was God.  From the beginning of time until the end of time, God is God.  This means no one created Him.  He was not born.

Many times when we read Genesis 1:1, we think of only God the Father who made the universe.  Did you know that God the Son (Jesus), and God the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) created the universe as well?  They were all three there!

What do we call all three persons of God?  [The Trinity!]  Let’s look at this triangle.  In each orange cirlcle we see one of the persons of God.  All three persons are God (look at the yellow circle).  God the Father is God.  God the Holy Spirit is God.  God the Son is God.  Is God the Father the same as God the Son?  No!  Look at the blue lines.  God the Father is not Jesus, God the Son.  Jesus is not God the Holy Spirit.  But all three are God.  This is the Trinity.

All three were before the plants, the sun, the stars.  All three were there for the creation of Earth!

Let’s look at Genesis again.  We can see God the Father is in creation.  God the Holy Spirit was there, too!  Genesis 1:2 says so!  When God made the earth, it was a big blob, without mountains or earth.  It was covered in water.  “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”  This is talking about the Holy Spirit!  He was there creating the Earth with God the Father!

What about Jesus?  Jesus hadn’t come to earth to be born in Bethlehem yet.  He wasn’t born of the virgin Mary, yet.  Behtlehem didn’t exist!  Mary wouldn’t be born for a couple of thousand years yet!  So where was Jesus, the Son of God?

Let’s look in the New Testament.  John 1, verses 1 through 3.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”  Here, the Bible uses a different name for Jesus.  It calls Jesus the “Word”.  Verse 14 of the same chapter tells us that this “Word” is Jesus.  “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”  Jesus would later be made flesh and blood when he came to be born as a baby.  But in the beginning, he existed with God, because He is also God.

Let’s look at John 1:3 again.  All things were made by Jesus.  Jesus was with God the Father creating everything, the same as God the Holy Spirit.

So was God born?  If so, who was God’s mother?

The Bible tells us that God was NOT born, or created.

Isaiah 44:6 says “… I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”

God was the first and only God.  No other God created Him.  He was not born, because there was no one before Him.  The same is true of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  Remember that all three persons are God.

Many people believe that Mary (the virgin God used to send Jesus into the world as a baby) was God’s wife because she was Jesus’ mother when he was born.  This is not true.  God was never married to anyone.  Not even Mary.  God decided to use Mary, a regular person, and a sinner like everyone else, to bring Jesus to earth in skin and bones.  To pay for our sins, Jesus had to be both God, and man.  He became a baby so that he could have our same skin and bones, and blood flowing through his body.  Why did he need skin, bone, and blood like a man?  He had to shed his blood on the cross!  Just like the sacrifices of lambs in the Old Testament, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.  Jesus gave his perfect blood on the cross so that we could have forgiveness of sins.  That is why he left his home in heaven to be born as a baby.  Jesus created everything, including Adam and Eve!  Jesus the creator decided to become a part of creation when he became a baby (man)!  He knew all along it would mean a horrible, painful, and sad death on the cross.  What a wonderful thing to do for us!  I’m glad he died on the cross for my sins, and rose again (proving he is God!)

So, let’s answer our questions.

Was God before or after the planets? 

Who made God?

Who made Jesus?

Who made the Holy Spirit?

Who was there to create the earth?

Did Jesus exist before he was born in Bethlehem of the virgin Mary?  Where?

Sometimes it is hard to understand how God could have no beginning.  It’s is hard to imagine God not being created, or born long, long ago.  It is very hard to imagine.  But the Bible says it is true.  Who wrote the Bible?  God!  I believe the Bible, so I believe what it says about God.  I’m glad we have the Bible to answer some of our questions.  We might never really understand everything until we get to heaven!  But in the meantime, we can ask God to help us believe His Word, and everything it says about Him.  Let’s pray right now and ask Him to help us.

Genesis 2: Days 1-4

This lesson is compatible with the "Creation, Adam, and Cain" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 1:1-19

Darkness.  Black all around.  Imagine if there were no light.  Anywhere. 

And quietness.  Not a single sound.  No birds singing.  No crickets chirping.  I don’t think I would like that.  That is how the earth was when God created it.  The Bible says God took 7 of our days to create the Earth and the Universe.  He could have done it all at once, but He chose to use 7 days.

God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit were all there from the beginning of time.  And even BEFORE the beginning of time.  God is the one who created time! 

God began creation by forming heaven (outer space) and earth.  But it was all dark.  There was no land on earth.  Everything was covered in water.  The Bible says the Holy Spirit moved over the face of the waters. 

God spoke one sentence: “Let there be light!”  With this one simple sentence, BAM!  I like to imagine there was a loud clap of thunder that could be heard galaxies away.  Light shone bright all around the earth.  There was no sun yet.  Just light. 

God looked at the light and said, “It is good.”  I imagine he was speaking to God the Holy Spirit, and Jesus.  They must all have agreed with him.  Light is very good.  And beautiful! 

God then divided the light from the darkness.  The light he called Day, and the dark he called…? (Night!)  That first night, which began in darkness, and the first morning (light) was the first day.  God began the day at night!  We begin our days at the sunrise, but some people…the Jews, still consider the beginning of night to be the beginning of the day.  Their holidays always begin at the evening, instead of the morning sunrise. 

The next day, God spoke again.  He said “Let there be space in between the waters.  Let there be water above the space, and water beneath the space.”  I imagine water drops began to form, and float in the air as it began to make a big space in the middle of itself.  The oceans settled down to their place on the earth, and the clouds floated to their place in the sky.  The atmosphere, or air that we breathe was formed!  God looked at the atmosphere and called it heaven.  This is not the heaven that God lives in.  It is what we call the sky, where we can fly kites now days. 

That second evening, and the next morning were the second day.

The next day, God said “Let the waters under the sky move to one place, and let dry land appear.”  I imagine the oceans began to swish back and forth.  Waves began to form, and the ocean made way for the dry land to form.  The dry land was probably all in one place, instead of all spread out like it is today.  It was one BIG piece of dry ground. There was no green grass, or flowers.  No trees.  Just many colors of clay and dirt.  I imagine light sand was by the ocean, brown dirt was next to the sand, and dark red clay was in the middle.  God called the dry land “Earth”, and the waters “Seas”, and that is what we still call them today!  God looked at the Holy Spirit and Jesus.  “It is good.”  They all agreed.  It was beautiful, even though it was simple.  Dark blue oceans that got lighter the closer they were to the land.  Light land that got darker the farther away from the ocean it was.  So many beautiful colors.

Then God said something else.  “Let there be grass in the earth.  And herbs, and flowers.  Let there also be trees that grow fruit.  Each tree will have a different fruit.”

I imagine the earth started to creak and hum.  The trees began to stretch out from the earth, groaning as they grew bigger and bigger.  They reached high into the sky!  Some of their trunks were big enough to drive a car through!  (Even though there were no cars yet.)

The grass began to pop as it sprung up through the dirt.  The flowers began to sleepily rise up, waking up as they grew taller, and finally opening their bright petals.  There were flowers of every color!  And fruit began to appear on the trees as they grew taller.  The smell of peaches filled the air.  And pears!  Watermelon vines began to creep out from the ground, with the watermelons growing from pea-sized to full-grown.  Bigger than your head!   

God looked at the Holy Spirt and Jesus once again.  They all agreed.  It was good.  So much beauty all around.  This was all on the third day.

The next evening, God said “Let there be lights in outer space to divide day from night.”  I imagine a loud grumble was heard, getting louder and louder as the sun began to flame hot and bright.  The moon appeared above the earth.  Stars began to appear one by one.  They filled the black space like Christmas lights, shining brightly, making the colors of the solar system visible all across the big, black space.   “The lights will be to mark the seasons of the year, and to keep track of the days and years.”  To this day scientists look at the stars in the sky and can tell us when the first day of summer and winter are each year.  Our calendar is based on when the earth moves around the sun!  God made no mistakes in creating the sun, moon, and stars!

He also made no mistake in creating the grass, flowers, and trees before he created the sun!

God wanted us to know he only took 6 days to create everything.  Some people say God created the earth over millions of years.  If God created the plants first, could they have lasted a million years without the sun?  No!  They couldn’t even last 1 year!  Plants need sun to live and grow.  God made the plants first, so that we would know it was only one day until he made the sun, moon, and stars.  God does nothing by accident!  He told each star where to go, and even named them all!  Psalm 147:4 says “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.” 

No one has ever been able to count the stars.  There are just so many of them.  God knows the exact number, though.  He created them!  At the end of that day, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit agreed once more.  It was good.  The milky way was good.  The galaxies of stars and planets scattered out over the wide, wide space were beautiful.  More beautiful than words can describe.  God’s own creation would one day show man how powerful, good, and wonderful God is!

That evening and morning were the fourth day.

Do you believe God created outer space?  The Bible tells us so.  Many people will try to tell you that it all started with a big bang, and God doesn’t exist.  But the sun, moon, stars, plants, mountains, and ocean all tell us that everything was very carefully formed.  The sun is exactly where it should be.  It is not too close to earth so that we burn up, or too far away so that we freeze like ice pops!  The many, many colors of flowers would be impossible without God to design them.  God made a wonderful world!  Do you believe this?  Let us pray now and ask God to help us always believe His word that tells us He is the creator, even if the rest of the world denies it. 

Genesis 3: Days 5-7

This lesson is compatible with the "Creation, Adam, and Cain" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 1

The earth was filled with the smell of bright red roses that were growing tall.  The wind was rustling through the leaves of the trees.  The grass was bright green with colored flowers sticking up here and there.  The sun was just going down across the big, wide ocean.  The fifth day was beginning!  If you remember, God began the first day in the evening.  The Jews still celebrate their holy days beginning in the evening instead of the morning! 

God was about to do something wonderful!  “Let the waters be filled with moving creatures.  And let the sky be filled with flying creatures!”

I imagine a rumbling sound started in the deeps of the ocean.  The waves started splashing up and down.  A giant whale swam in the big waves.  Then, a swarm of tiny fish began swirling around the whale.  A couple of dolphins jumped up out of the water, higher and higher with each jump!  The sound of tiny feet scurrying across the sand was heard for the first time.  A crab had come up out of the ocean to check out the sand!  Clown fish were darting around the seaweed and the sea amoebas.  They didn’t feel any fear when a family of sharks swam right past them.  Those sharks didn’t eat meat yet!  All of the sea creatures got along, and no one attacked anyone else. 

In the air, birds began trying out their wings!  A big eagle began circling around the tallest tree, trying to decide which branch to land on.  An owl began hooting.  The first hoot ever!  The air was filled with the sounds of birds singing and chirping.  Red birds and blue birds were chasing each other through the sky in play.  Zipping by as fast as they could.  A bright parrot was sitting on the ground after his first flight.  Yellow, orange, green, and black feathers covered his body.  The parrot began to make many sounds as he sang!

The earth was bustling with activity.  The sounds of the birds singing in the air, and whales echoing in the ocean all reached up to heaven.  God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit heard every beautiful sound.  All of those sounds were saying one thing: “God is great!  God is worthy of all praise!  God is the Creator!” 

All of God’s creation was showing how GREAT God is.  God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit (all of them God, all of them different persons of the Trinity).  They all created the universe, and they are all wonderful! 

God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all looked at the birds and fish and agreed: “It is good.”  Then God spoke to the fish and the birds.  “Be fruitful and increase in number.  Fill the ocean and let birds fill the sky.”  That was the fifth day of creation.

The next evening, God spoke again.  “Let living animals be on the earth.  Each animal of its own kind.” 

When God spoke this, the sound of a roaring lion filled the air. 

An elephant showed up by the beach and filled it’s trunk with water to spray itself.

A cheetah ran past at lightning speed, while a giant brontosaurus stomped over to the forest for a snack of leaves.

Roaches flitted past the brontosaurus and made their way to the hippos.

All kinds of animals were appearing!  Cows and horses, zeebras and monkeys!  Hamsters, cats, deer, and lizards!  Animals of all sizes and shapes.  The lions and the sheep were grazing in the same field, and no animal had fear of any other animals.  The mice didn’t even feel fear for the giant dinosaurs!  They all ate vegetables, instead of meat, so there was no reason to fear.

The earth sounded like a giant zoo with all of the birds singing and animals making their own sounds.  Imagine how beautiful it must have been!

God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit once again saw that everything was good.  God the Father said “Let’s make man in our image, similar to us.”  God didn’t mean that man would be God, but that man would be able to talk and think, and that he would have a body, spirit, and soul.  Animals don’t have souls that live forever like we do.  We have souls that will either go to heaven or hell when we die.  To go to heaven, we must receive Jesus as the Son of God who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again 3 days later.  Animals can’t receive Jesus because they have no soul.  But we can receive Jesus!

So God made man different than animals.  Man is special to God.  We can have a relationship with Him.  God continued speaking: “Let man be in higher in importance than all of the fish, birds, and animals.”  God made Adam and Eve on day 6, and blessed them and said “Have many children, and fill the earth.  Look!  I have given you all the plants to eat.  Fruits and vegetables.  I have also given fruits and vegetables for all of the animals to eat.”

God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit once again looked at the earth.  How beautiful it all was!  How perfect were the animals, and Adam and Eve!  They all agreed that it was all VERY GOOD!  So, that evening and the next morning were the 6th day.

The seventh day, the Bible tells us that God finished creation, and He rested.  God did not NEED to rest.  He never gets tired.  He never sleeps, because He does not need sleep.

But God gave us an example.  We are to put aside one day out of the week to rest, and to spend with Him!  Sunday is our day of rest!  We should make God the most important part of our day of rest.  Really, God should be the most important in all of our days!  But Sunday is a special time just for Him.  We should go to church to hear more about Him.  We should sing songs about Him.  We should talk to Him, and let Him talk to us!  (Praying and reading the Bible.)

I hope you put God first always!  He created us, and He loves us!  He made us special with a soul, and wants to have a relationship with us.

Let’s pray and ask God to help us want a relationship with Him.

Genesis 4: Adam and Eve

This lesson is compatible with the "Creation, Adam, and Cain" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 2:1-25

God spoke, and the stars flashed into place.  Some were super giant suns, and some were small but bright.  Planets appeared of all sized and colors.  Some were small, some had rings, some had moons in orbit.  The vast expanse of space had been filled with God’s creation.  God took special care when creating Earth.  He put plenty of water on the planet.  He made sure the air was fresh and clean.  He made the grass to grow, and flowers to bloom.  This was the planet God would showcase His greatest creation.  God stooped down to the ground and began to mold something out of the clay.  It began to take shape, and within seconds the detail was amazing!  God bent over and breathed His own breath into it.  In that instant, it was man!  God named him Adam.  In Hebrew, Adam means “to be red”.  Adam had the color of the red clay God formed Him from. 

Adam was amazing!  He had lungs that first came to life when God breathed His breath into him.  Now they were filled with the clean, fresh air God had put on Earth.  Adam had a heart that pumped blood through tiny tubes (we call them arteries and veins) so that his body could make good use of that fresh, clear air.  Imagine the first time Adam breathed in through his nose.  What do you think he smelled?  Flowers, elephants, the salt air on the beach?  He had eyes that could see all the vivid colors around him.  What a sight to behold, the first time he opened His eyes!

Fruit, animals, waterfalls, birds flying…so much to see!  Not to mention God!  At this time, God walked on the Earth with Adam.  God, who was bigger than the universe He created, walked with man on Earth!  He must have loved man very much!  God brought the animals to Adam and asked him what he would call them.  God, the creator, let His creation name the animals!  So, one by one, Adam gave them all their names.  Hippopotamus.  Alligator.  Gazelle.  On and on they came, and Adam had a name for everyone!  After a while, Adam must have noticed something.  Each animal had a pair.  A male and female.  Every one of them!  But he didn’t have a pair. 

God knew that Adam, too, needed a companion.  God said He would make a helper for Adam, that would be different than Adam.  He didn’t make another Adam, because that is not what Adam needed.  God made Adam to fall asleep.  Then, the Bible tells us that God then took one of Adam’s ribs bones.  He took one of the bones close to Adam’s heart.  I guess you could say God performed the first surgery!  He took the rib bone, and then formed the first woman out of it.  Her name was Eve.  Why do you think God formed Eve out of a rib that was close to Adam’s heart?  God intended for Adam to love Eve.  She was his helper, and they were alike, but different.  God didn’t want Adam to think that Eve was above him, or below him…Worse than him, or better than him.  God loved BOTH Adam and Eve, and thought they were BOTH very special.  They were different in many ways, and alike in some ways.  God made them both to complement each other and help each other.  They were to love one another.  The same is true today of us!  Man and woman, boy and girl.  God thinks each one is special, and very valuable.  No one is better than the other.  Each one is different, but that is because man and woman can help each other in ways the other one needs.  God knew exactly what He was doing when he made Adam and Eve.  God never intended for one to abuse the other.  Man should never abuse a woman, or think he is better than her, and woman should never abuse a man and think she is better than him.  We are all God’s creation.  We are all very loved by Him.  Isn’t God WONDERFUL?! 

Adam and Eve became the first family on earth.  And God made a special garden for them to live in.  Just imagine, God had already created a beautiful Earth, full of plants and animals.  Now, He decided to make a garden that was even MORE special for Adam and Eve!  It was called the Garden of Eden.  In that garden, God put every kind of fruit that was good to eat.  The tastiest and best fruits were in abundance!  I imagine the flowers there had the brightest colors, and the best scents.  The animals could come and go as they pleased.  And Adam and Eve made their home there.  God gave them one rule.  They could eat any fruit in the garden, except one.  The fruit off of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Any other fruit was just fine for them to eat, but God wanted to protect them from what would happen if they ate of that fruit.

Adam and Eve were the perfect married couple.  They never yelled at each other.  They never got annoyed with each other.  They didn’t use bad language.  Adam and Eve were never angry or sad.  And the best of all, God came to visit them in the garden.  God came to earth to walk in the garden of Eden and spend time with Adam and Eve, and He did it more than once!  We don’t know exactly how many times God came to spend time with them, but I believe He was with them each day in the evening. 

Imagine what it would be like to walk with God.  The one who made everything!  What do you think it would be like?  (Allow answers.) What would you talk about?  (Allow a few answers.)

Adam and Eve were not scared to walk and talk with God.  They looked forward to it!  They knew God loved them and wanted to spend time with them.  And there was nothing to come between them and God.  There was no sin yet.  They hadn’t done, said, or thought anything that went against God’s laws.  So, they could talk freely with God, and be with Him without any worries.

God didn’t make Adam and Eve walk and talk with Him, either.  They did it because they wanted to.  I’m sure they asked God lots of questions, because they wanted to know more about Him.  They saw how wonderful God was, and they told Him so!  When I think about how it was then, I sometimes feel jealous!  How great was it to talk to God in a garden that was paradise!  All kinds of animals nearby, and no fear of being eaten by a lion or dinosaur!

Isn’t God good to make all of the animals, plants, fish, birds, and finally, people on a little planet called Earth?  And He had a relationship with Adam and Eve!

He wants a relationship with you, too!  God doesn’t walk on this earth anymore, as we will learn about next week.  But H DOES want a relationship with you!  He speaks to us now through the Bible, and we speak to Him through prayer.  If you want to know more about how to have a relationship with God, talk to me after class.  I will be happy to help you.

Let’s pray now and thank God for His great love for us, His creation.

Genesis 5: The First Sin

This lesson is compatible with the "Creation, Adam, and Cain" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 2:8-25; 3:1-7 (Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:11-19)

It was the perfect day for a walk through the garden.  The sun was shining, but it wasn’t too hot.  The smell of fruit was drifting through the air.  The juiciest, sweetest fruit was all around.  And the flowers were bright colors, making the atmosphere cheerful. 

Eve was looking around at God’s wonderful creation.  She passed by a family of bunnies eating carrots fresh from the ground.  She passed by the river that was crystal clear and paused to watch a group of bright yellow fish playing tag as they darted in and out of the river grass.  Eve walked on deeper into the garden and passed by the tallest trees you’ve ever seen.  There was a bird perched on a branch near the pathway.  It sang a beautiful song that filled the air.  His feathers were bright orange, green, yellow, and red.  Eve kept walking until she got to the middle of the garden.  There, she found the trees with the most special fruit.  The fruit there were on the most beautiful trees, and they tasted the best.  Fruit was all around Eve.  She could eat as much as she wanted.  Eve got to the most beautiful trees of all and stopped to look at them.  The tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Two very special trees!  Eve remembered Adam’s words.  God told us we can eat any fruit we want, except from one tree.  We can’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, or we will die.  Those were God’s only instructions about the food they could eat.  And there was so much fruit to choose from, it didn’t matter to them that they couldn’t eat that one fruit.  They hadn’t even been in the garden long enough to sample every fruit or vegetable yet!  So Eve stood there, just admiring how beautiful those two trees were. 

“Mmmm…what beautiful fruit!”  Eve turned around to find a snake talking to her.  She didn’t seem surprised at all to find an animal talking!  Perhaps in those days, when everything was perfect, humans could understand all the animal sounds as words.  Just like another language.  The Bible doesn’t tell us how they could talk to each other, but we know it happened because it is recorded in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. 

Eve wasn’t scared of the snake, either, like most people are today.  The snake was actually very beautiful!  It didn’t slither around on it’s belly, either.  It was probably standing as tall as Eve.

All the snakes were like that in the beginning.  They ate plants, just like every other animal did.  No animal ate another animal at that time.  Paradise as God intended it to be.

This snake was very different than any of the other snakes, though.  This snake was being used by someone else.

Before Adam and Eve were created, God created angles and what the Bible calls “heavenly hosts”, or creatures in heaven.  Some people who study the Bible think they were created at the same time of the 7 days of creation.  Probably by day 3.  One of God’s creations was called Lucifer, or Satan.  The Bible tells us that he was created to be perfect, like everything else.  God had said each day of creation that “it is good.”  So Satan was still a good angel in heaven.  He was an angel of light, and is called a cherub in the Bible.  The cherub angles are guardian angels, or protector angels.  They protect the presence of God.  We will learn more about this in a minute.  But Satan was very close to God, serving Him in heaven.  Sometime after the seventh day of creation, Satan decided He didn’t want to serve God anymore.  He wanted to be served and adored.  Satan became prideful, and tried to be like God.  Satan forgot he was created by God, and no creation can become God.  God is not created!  He is the Creator!    So God cast Satan out of heaven, and the angels that sinned and wanted to serve Satan instead of God.  Did God know some of his angels would rebel against Him before he made them?  Yes!  But God had a plan from the beginning of time.

Now, Eve was in the garden of Eden, and Satan wanted to destroy Adam and Eve’s relationship with God.  So he entered into the serpent that day, and spoke with Eve.

“Mmmmm…look at that nice, big, juicy fruit!  Didn’t God say you could eat off of EVERY tree in the garden?”

Eve answered, “We can eat of the trees in the garden, but of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, we can’t eat it.  God said we can’t eat it, or even TOUCH it!  If we do, we will die.”

Had God said they couldn’t touch it?  No!  Either Adam or Eve had stretched the truth of what God had said.  We shouldn’t ever add to God’s word, or leave anything out, either.

Satan knew just how to trap Eve.  “You won’t die!”

This was partly true…Eve wouldn’t die just by touching the fruit.

“God knows that the day you eat of the fruit, you will be just like Him!  He doesn’t want anyone to be like Him, knowing what is good and evil.”  Satan tried to make God sound selfish.  Like God wanted to keep knowledge all to himself.  But God gave the instructions not to eat of the tree because He knew it would affect Adam and Eve in a very bad way.  Satan is still the same today.  He wants us to doubt God’s word.  He wants us to think God doesn’t really love us.  But we have proof that God really DOES love us…that proof is Jesus Christ!

Eve didn’t remember the wonderful days she and Adam had walking and talking with God in that moment.  She was only thinking about what the serpent had said to her.  She looked long and hard at that fruit.  Each moment that passed, the fruit seemed to smell more delicious.  The tree was even more beautiful.  Those flowers growing among the fruit were brighter and brighter by the minute.  Ever walked up to the tree, slowing down with each step…closer and closer until she was right in front of it.  She slowly put her finger out and reached for the fruit.  I imagine she was tense, wondering if she would really die by touching it.  Her finger got closer and closer.  She closed her eyes and made one final move toward the fruit.  She was touching it!   She was still alive!  Maybe what God had said wasn’t true after all…maybe God really didn’t want them to have knowledge.  Eve pulled the piece of fruit off of the tree.  She wondered what it would taste like as she examined it.  She had made it this far, and lived!  Should she take a bite?  Would she die if she did?

She decided to go ahead and take a small bite. 

“I’m still alive!”  Eve shouted.  Adam was nearby, and Eve spoke to him.

“Look Adam!”  I’m still alive!  You have to taste this fruit.”  Perhaps Adam saw and heard the whole conversation with the serpent.  He didn’t stop Eve, or tell her to believe God instead of the snake, but instead, decided to eat the fruit as well. 

When Adam had taken one bite, they both immediately know what they had done was wrong.  Now they both knew good and evil.  They had the knowledge of both.  A panic overcame them.  They had a feeling they had never experienced before.  Fear!  And shame.  They were no longer happy, but sad.  So many new emotions rushed into their brains.  And they scrambled around in a panic!  Why did they panic?  Was it because they were about to die?

Next week, we will find out why!

Let’s pray right now, and ask us to believe His word over everyone else.  Sometimes our teachers at school will tell us the Bible is just a fairytale.  Sometimes our friends and schoolmates will make fun of us, or tell us God doesn’t really love us.  The Bible tells us the God DOES love us, and that His words are always true.

God can help us to believe Him.  Let’s pray.

Genesis 6: The Curse

This lesson is compatible with the "Creation, Adam, and Cain" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 4:1-7

“Quick!  Eve we have to hide!” said Adam.  “We need to hide before He gets here!”  Adam and Eve were scared of God for the first time since they’d existed.  They used to wait excitedly for God each evening when He came to the garden to walk with them.  They loved being around God.  It was the absolute best part of their day.  Now they were cowering in some bushes, hoping God wouldn’t notice what they had just done.

If you remember from last week, the serpent spoke to Eve and told her that God didn’t want her to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil so that He could have all the knowledge.  “God doesn’t want anyone to be as smart as He is” said the serpent.  Who was really speaking?  Satan!  He was using the serpent to put doubts in Eve’s mind.  Eve took a bite of the fruit and gave it to Adam because she didn’t die right away after eating it.  Adam also made a choice to eat the fruit.  Was that a good choice or a bad choice?  Why? (God told them not to.)  God knew something would happen to Adam and Eve that would make them suffer.  And they would die. 

Adam and Eve didn’t die right away, physically.  Neither one of them died and had to be buried for many years.  In fact, Adam lived for 930 years before he died and was buried!  But Adam and Eve suffered a different kind of death.  Death in the Bible means “separation”.  When we die physically, our souls are separated from our bodies.  But when Adam and Eve ate the fruit they died spiritually.  That means they could no longer be with God like they used to.  They would never enjoy God’s presence without fear and shame again, until they got to heaven. Their souls were no longer without sin.  And sin is what separates us all from God. 

So, Adam and Eve went to the trees and bushes and began to take leaves and put them in a pile.  “We have to make something to cover our bodies!  We are naked.  We can’t let God see us like this” said Adam.  God had created Adam and Eve without clothes, because there was no sin, and they didn’t need to feel ashamed of their nakedness.  But now, sin made them realize they needed to be covered before God.  They weren’t just trying to cover their nakedness.  They were trying to cover their shame.  They took the leaves and sewed them together to make aprons to wear.  Then, they heard God coming into the garden.

“Quick!  Hide!” said Eve.  So, they hid among the bushes.

God knew exactly where they were, and what had happened.  But God said “Adam, where are you?”

Adam felt so scared he could barely breathe, but he knew he must answer God.  “I am hiding because I heard you coming in the garden, and I knew I was naked.”

God asked “Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten of the tree that I commanded you not to eat?”

“Eve, who you made, gave me the fruit and I ate it.”  Adam was trying to blame Eve, and he even tried to blame God!  He reminded God that He had made Eve to be his companion, and that, since she “made him eat”, God was partly to blame!  Was God in any way to blame for Adam’s sin?  NO WAY!  Adam knew the commandment, and he chose to break it.  Our sins are our choice.

God then asked Eve “What have you done?”  “The snake tricked me! So, I ate the fruit.”

Eve was now trying to blame the snake for her sin.  But really, Eve was the one who made the choice to eat the fruit.  She and Adam both knew the commandment.  But they felt guilty and didn’t like this new feeling.  It wasn’t a good feeling.  They thought if they blamed someone else the guilt would go away.  Did the guilt go away?  No!  Of course not.  Should we blame others when we sin?  “My brother was SOOOO annoying!  So, he made me hit him!” we might say to our parents.  But really, it is our own choice how we act towards our brother.  Even when he is being annoying.  The Bible says we are to love everyone else more than ourselves.  Even if they are annoying!

God looked at Adam, Eve, and the snake.  He was very sad.  He must have felt heartbroken.  Adam and Eve broke His one commandment, and things were going to change between them.

Sin always separates us from God.  It always comes in the way with good fellowship with Him. 

God began with the snake.  “Because you have done this, you will be cursed above all animals.  You will crawl on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life.”  God was speaking to the animal because it was used by Satan.  “I will put hatred between you and the woman, and between all your descendants and her descendants.  Man will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”  Now God was speaking to Satan.  God was making a promise to Satan.  One day, a man was going to conquer Satan and his power, and Satan would hurt the man…for a time.  Do you know who the man was?  Jesus!  Jesus would be hurt by Satan, when He died on the cross for our sins.  But Jesus would conquer Satan by paying the price for our sins.  From the very beginning, God promised that Jesus would come to die for us!  Isn’t that wonderful?!

To Eve God said “You listened to the snake and broke my commandment.  Now, you will give birth to children with much pain.  You will want to be the leader of the house, but your husband will be the leader.”

To Adam, God said “Because you listened to your wife and broke my commandment, you will have to work very hard to eat, and provide food for your family.  The ground will be cursed, and will grow weeds and thorns, and you will sweat from all the hard work trying to plant fruits and vegetables.

Then, God sent Adam and Eve out of the perfect garden of Eden.  This was part of their separation from God.  God placed angels called cherubim outside of the garden to make sure no man or woman ever entered there again.  He also made a sword made of flames to stand guard as well.  This also symbolized the spiritual death of Adam and Eve.  They could no longer physically walk with God.  They had to go to God the way HE told them to.  Not the way they wanted to.  Just like today…we must go to God through Jesus.

And because Adam and Eve sinned, we were all born into sin.  We are all born with souls that are separated from God.

God did one more thing for Adam and Eve.  He killed an animal (the first physical death on earth) and made clothes from the animal skins.  I’m sure they watched as God did this.  They saw that sin is a very serious thing with God.  It always takes blood to cover sins.

 

That means we can’t enter into heaven as we are…with our sins uncovered.  We can’t do good works to become clean and go to heaven.  That is why Jesus, God the Son, came to earth as a baby sever thousand years after He created Adam and Eve.  God does not want to be separated from us.  So, Jesus came to die on the cross to pay for our sins.  We could never pay for our sins.  We couldn’t even pay for just the bad thoughts we have!  Jesus took the body of a human, so He could be God and man at the same time.  That way He would live a life never sinning.  Then, He could shed His perfect blood for our imperfect lives.  He can wash our sins away and make us like new.  Jesus can cover our guilt before God.  When we accept Jesus as God the Son who died on the cross, God makes our souls alive!  No more separation from Him.  We can go straight to Him in prayer to talk, and we can understand His Word with the help of the Holy Spirit!

Let’s pray right now and thank God for His promise to send Jesus from the beginning.  Let’s thank God that Jesus can cover our sins if we accept Him.

Genesis 7: The First Family

This lesson is compatible with the "Creation, Adam, and Cain" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 3-4:3

“I sure do miss those bright purple and yellow flowers in the Garden of Eden!” Eve was remembering how big and beautiful the Garden of Eden was.  “I miss the smell of the orange-colored pears!  Those smelled the best!” said Adam.  There was a sadness in both of their voices.  Things used to be so perfect!  They never argued about anything, and they had a life of excitement just exploring the garden and watching all of the many, many animals. 

Now, things were different.  When I read the story in the Bible, I imagine that things went like this: Adam and Eve had probably just had their first fight earlier that morning.  Eve ended up crying, and Adam had stormed off after yelling.   Adam had never yelled before that.  He didn’t like how he felt afterwards.  He knew he had hurt Eve’s feelings.  And Eve had only cried once before…when she stood before God hearing about how she and Adam could never go to the garden and walk with God again.  Eve hated crying then, and she hated it even more now!  This time she didn’t just cry from sadness.  She cried because she was also very mad at Adam.  This new emotion made both of their stomachs feel like they were being squeezed and twisted tight.

A little later in the day, Adam experienced something new again.  “OUCH!” he cried out.  He had just pricked is finger on a big thorn.  “What is THIS THING?!  When did that grow around the roses?”  Adam wanted to pick some roses to give to Eve, so he could show her how sorry he was for yelling at her.  As he reached into the roses to pick the biggest one he felt a sharp stab in his thumb.  When he pulled his finger out he saw a bright red spot on the tip of his thumb.  “What is this?!  BLOOD!” Adam gasped.  He felt pain in his finger.  Another new feeling.  And he didn’t like it one bit!  Eve had been feeling pain, also.  She had a baby growing inside of her.  God had told her that because of sin, she was going to have babies in pain, and Adam was going to grow things only with hard work and dealing with weeds and thorns.  The worst of it all was their spiritual deaths.  Because they sinned, they were now separated from God. [2.8] They kept thinking about how God killed the animal to make them clothes.  God takes sin so very seriously.

Adam and Eve eventually got used to all the new emotions and troubles.  Eve gave birth to their first child.  The first child ever!  Eve named him Cain and said, “I have gotten a son from God!”  Then she delivered Abel.  Adam and Eve assuredly taught Cain and Abel all about God when they were very small children. The told them how God created everything.  Ever living creature, every plant, every type of vegetable and fruit.  At nighttime they looked up into the sky as a family.  Adam told them that God made each one of those planets and stars.  “God even knows the name of EACH one!” said Eve.  Cain and Abel listened to the stories their mom and dad told about walking with God, and how everything used to be so perfect.  They also told Cain and Abel how they broke God’s only law.  “Oh, how I wish I had listened to God, and not doubted Him!” said Eve.  She told the boys how the snake spoke to her and told her they wouldn’t really die if they ate the fruit.  “God just doesn’t want you to be as smart as He is!” that old serpent said.  “But boys, God was telling the truth.  We ate, and now your father and I are separated from God.  We definitely died that day.  We died spiritually.”  Adam continued: “And now we must sacrifice innocent animals to cover our sin, as God has taught us. But one day God has promised that He will send someone perfect to cover the sins of everyone!”  They didn’t know who it would be that could cover their sins, or even what year it would happen, but they trusted God.  He promised.  He would do it.

So, Cain and Abel grew a little taller and smarter each year. They were there as their parents made a blood sacrifice every now and then to cover their family’s sins.  They sure needed it!  Cain and Abel tried to obey their parents, but there were times they disobeyed.  The boys fought at home, as well.  “Mom!  Abel is looking at me!  Make him stop!”  “Dad!  Cain put his garden rake on MY side of the room!  Tell him to move it!”  Adam and Eve sinned as well, fighting and sometimes yelling at the kids in frustration.  And they all spent way more time thinking about themselves that they spent loving God.  So, they sure needed to make those blood sacrifices.

 Cain grew up taking care of gardens like his father.  He put lots of fruit and vegetables on the dinner table for his family.  Cain must have been very proud each harvest when he picked large pumpkins and delicious corn.  He had baskets full of fruit and vegetables from his very own garden.  He probably didn’t enjoy pulling weeds and trimming away thorns, though.  These were things that God said would happen because of the sin of Adam and Eve.

Abel grew up taking care of animals.  He was a shepherd.  Abel must have loved animals very much.  He was with the sheep and goats every day from before dawn until the evening.  Whenever a sheep wandered off from the rest of the herd Abel went to go find it.  He took care of any sheep that were sick or hurt.  This is something else that happened because of sin.  Now people and animals can get sick and die. 

Cain and Abel got better at their jobs each year.  They were finally young men.  They knew God had given instructions on what to do about sin and wanted to bring God a sacrifice.  They built themselves altars as they had seen Adam do.  They searched for nice, flat stones to stack on top of each other.  When they had finished, they brought their own sacrifices to God.  I think it was probably the first sacrifice either one of them had made on their own.  They excitedly prepared their things for the sacrifice and were filled with anticipation.  God would see the sacrifices, and surely, He would be happy with them!

You have to come back next week to see if God is happy with the sacrifices.

Let’s pray and thank God that we don’t have to make any more sacrifices for our sins.  Jesus was the perfect and last sacrifice for sin anyone ever needs!

 

Genesis 8: The Acceptable Sacrifice

This lesson is compatible with the "Creation, Adam, and Cain" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 4:1-7

The day had come.  Cain and Abel woke up early in the morning.  They were especially excited about this day.  “This will be my very first sacrifice to God!  He will be so pleased with it” thought Cain.  “I have been waiting for this day since watching mom and dad make the sacrifice to cover our sins.   Now I will make a sacrifice of my own for God!” Abel thought. 

Cain worked very hard every day in his garden and among the fruit trees.  He took special care that the weeds didn’t choke out the tomatoes.  He kept the birds from eating all of the best fruits.  His harvest was especially good that year.  And he just knew God would be happy with all of his hard work.  He knew God would see the special care he had taken with it all.  So, Cain took from the very best of his best fruits and vegetables.  The fruit smelled especially sweet and juicy.  He gathered a big basket full of everything and made his way to the altar he had so carefully made.  He remembered the hard word he had looking for the flat stones, and then digging them out of the dirt.  He had to bring the heavy stones from all over to make a pile to stack up.  He arrived at his altar and began to prepare the sacrifice.

Over by the sheep gate that Abel had built to keep the sheep safe at night, Abel was looking over all of his sheep.  They looked good this year.  Many of the sheep had had babies, and his flock was growing bigger each year.  He took much care looking over the flock.  He was looking for the best sheep he had.  He wanted a sheep that had no sickness, no cuts, no insect bites.  He wanted the best for God.  When he found the perfect sheep, he took it with him as he walked to the altar.  I’m sure his heart must have felt like it was being squeezed by a rubber band the closer that he got to his altar.  He had taken such good care of this sheep.  He knew it by name.  He cared very much for it.  When he got to the altar, he knew it was time to prepare the sacrifice.

Cain had his fruit and vegetables all laid out in a beautiful arrangement on the altar.  The colors of the fruits were just right.  The vegetables were laid nicely in the center.  Everything was fresh and bright. 

Abel began to prepare his sacrifice.  How it must have hurt his heart as he killed that perfect lamb that he cared for so much.  He might have even shed a tear.  I know I would have!   He placed that sheep on his altar, and the blood began to flow down onto the stones.  Abel felt so sorry that his sin was the reason that his innocent sheep had to die.  He felt so sorry that he sinned against God, and broke God’s rules, just as his parents had done.  He knew that God took sin very seriously.  That’s why the blood sacrifice was necessary.   Abel wanted forgiveness for his sins.

Cain wanted to please God, too.  He knew without his sins being forgiven he would never go to heaven.  That’s why he brought his best fruit and vegetables to the altar. 

The Bible tells us that God saw both offerings.  And of course, God sees and knows everything!  God saw Abel’s offering, and was very pleased with it.  He accepted it.  Abel came to God wanting his sins covered.  He knew the only way to have fellowship with God was to have his sins covered.  He very much wanted to have fellowship with God, just as his parents had in the garden!  And now he could have that fellowship!  Because of the blood sacrifice, his sins were covered, and he was forgiven.  God was satisfied!

God looked at Cain’s sacrifice too.  It was the best of the best!  Cain worked so hard to grow them and bring them to God.  But God did not accept it. 

Cain became sad, and angry!  What was wrong with HIS sacrifice?!?  He had worked harder than Abel by pulling weeds and cutting away thorns.  He was always getting pricked by those thorns.  Surely his work was harder than Abel’s.  He was bending over half of the day, his back aching, sweat dripping down his face as he pulled stubborn weeds from the dirt. He was constantly moving rocks out of the soil, so they wouldn’t get in the way of the roots.  Heavy rocks!  All Abel did was walk around with some little sheep all day, singing and talking to himself!  What a joke!  “And God accepted ABEL’S sacrifice?!  Ha!  That’s nothing!  Mine should be the one accepted!” thought Cain.  God knew exactly what Cain was thinking.  He spoke with Cain that day.  “Why are you angry?  If you do what is right, you will be accepted.” 

God didn’t accept Cain’s sacrifice because it was not a blood sacrifice.  Cain didn’t have faith that what God taught Adam and Eve about a blood covering was true.  Cain thought he could make just ANY sacrifice and God would be happy.  Cain had truly worked hard.  But it’s not hard work that covers sin.  Cain might have been very sincere in his sacrifice…he brought the very best he had.  But doing our best is not enough to cover sins.  Only blood can cover sins. 

Now God was giving Cain another chance to make the right sacrifice.  He told Cain that if he made the right sacrifice, God would accept it.  He also told Cain that if he didn’t make the right sacrifice, he would sin, and become a servant of sin. He would become trapped in sin, like a fly in a spider’s web.  But Cain was still angry.  He thought he deserved to be accepted.  He wanted to go to God his own way, instead of God’s way.  Cain spent the day mumbling under his breath.  He was so angry with Abel.  “If Abel was accepted, I should be too!  It just isn’t fair!  Abel is always the favorite of everybody, but he’s not so special!”

Cain just got angrier and angrier.  He spoke to Abel and probably said some pretty mean things to him.  While the two brothers were out in the field, Cain did something terrible.  He killed his brother Abel.  He had become the very first murderer.  What God had said was true.  Now Cain was a servant to sin.  He let his anger take over, and he killed his own brother, who was innocent.  Abel didn’t do anything to provoke Cain, that we know of.  But Cain hated him for being accepted with God. 

Couldn’t Cain have been accepted with God?  Of course!  We all have that opportunity!  The Bible says that we must go to God HIS way, though.  But God will only accept one sacrifice.   In those days, it was an animal like a lamb or cow.  But thankfully, we don’t have to make blood sacrifices anymore.  Jesus was the final, perfect blood sacrifice!  He died on the cross for our sins and rose again the third day!  Only faith in Jesus will make us accepted with God.  Church membership won’t make us accepted.  Money won’t make us accepted.  Charity work won’t make us accepted.  Only faith in Jesus, who is the perfect Lamb of God!

Cain’s story also shows us that it doesn’t matter who are our parents and families.  Their faith in Jesus will not be able to make us accepted with God.  Abel’s faith did not make Cain accepted.  We must accept Jesus ourselves! 

If you have never trusted that only Jesus can wash away your sins, you can do so today.

(Invitation)

Let’s thank God for providing a perfect Lamb, who is Jesus, to die for our sins.

Genesis 9: The Man Who Didn't Die

This lesson is compatible with the "Enoch, Noah, and Babel" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 5:18-24; Hebrews 11:5-6

Cain was feeling angry.  He always seemed to be angry lately.  First, his brother’s sacrifice was accepted by God, and now he was punished by God for killing Abel!  God had spoken to him after he killed Abel.  “Where is your brother?” God asked.  (We know God already knew what happened, but God was giving Cain a chance to tell the truth and ask forgiveness.)

Cain angrily replied “I don’t know where he is!  Am I in charge of him?  How should I know?”

Cain was speaking with God, the one who created the mountains, and hung the stars in space!  And Cain lied to him!  And what’s more, Cain was speaking without reverence.  That means he didn’t have any respect for God.  We must always have reverence for God.  He made us.  He is perfect.  We are sinners!  God deserves every bit of our respect!

God had given Cain a chance to tell the truth, but Cain lied, saying he didn’t know where Abel was.  God knew, though.  God said, “I hear the blood of your brother cry out to me from the ground.”  God was saying he knew exactly what happened, and where it happened.  “Now, Cain, you are cursed just as the Earth is cursed.  When you try to plant vegetables, nothing will grow.  You won’t be able to plant fruits, either.  You will be a fugitive, a man without a home.”

Cain said “God, this punishment is too much to bear!  I will be a fugitive, and have no home, and I will not have your protection, so anyone who finds me will kill me!”  Cain wanted God to protect him, but he did not want a relationship with God.   We are often guilty of the same thing.  We want things from God, but we don’t want to spend time with Him.

“I will put a mark on you, and anyone who kills you will be punished seven times more than you have been punished.” Said God. 

Isn’t God GOOD?!  Even though Cain didn’t deserve any mercy, God was still merciful to him.  He made a way for Cain to be protected from his family, who might have killed him for murdering Abel.  He was still giving Cain a chance to do right.  I personally don’t think Cain ever did right, and obeyed God in making the correct sacrifice.  The Bible doesn’t mention it.  So, if that is true, Cain did not get to go to heaven when he died.  How very sad, to know God, but not to serve and love Him.  How sad do you think it made God?  I think it made Him very sad.  God loves each one of us so very much and wants a relationship with all of us.  That is exactly why Jesus, God the Son, came to die for our sins.  When we accept Him, we can have a relationship with God.  And it is WONDERFUL!

Cain moved to a different place that his parents and had children of his own.

Adam and Even had another son, after the death of Abel.  His name was Seth!  Eve called him Seth because she said God gave her a son to replace Abel.  I’m sure Adam and Eve hoped Seth would love God, as Abel had loved God.

When Seth was born, Adam was 130 years old!  After Seth was born, Adam and Eve had many more sons and daughters.  He lived to be 930 years old!  How many children do you think he and Eve could have in that time?  LOTS!  We don’t know exactly how many kids they had, but it was a lot.  By the time some kids were grown up, there was a new baby on the way! 

Seth had kids of his own, too!  Many of them.  He had a son named Enos, and Enos had a son named Cainan.  Cainan had a son named Mahalaleel, who had a son named Jared.  Jared had a son named Enoch.

Enoch learned about God from his family.  He might have heard his father Jared speak about God.  He might have heard his great grandfather, Mahalaleel speak about God, because he was still alive.  He might have even heard his great, great grandfather, Cainan speak about God.  In fact, his great, great, great grandfather Enos, and his great, great, great, great grandfather tell Adam and Eve’s story.  In fact, he could have even heard Adam himself talk about how God created everything, and how God sent he and Eve away from the garden because of their sin!  Adam was still alive when Enoch was born and was growing up.  Adam was 687 years old when Enoch had his own first child, Methuselah!

I can imagine the day Methuselah was born.  “Enoch, you must tell Methuselah all about the way God made everything.  Teach him how much God love him.  Teach him how we are sinners, but that God will send someone to save us some day.”  Adam might have said.

So, Enoch did just that.  He taught his children about God.  He prayed to God.  He made the correct sacrifices to God for his sins.  Can anyone remember what the correct sacrifice was?  An animal with blood.  Without the spilling of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.  Enoch had faith that God was going to send someone someday to shed their blood for our sins. It wouldn’t happen for thousands of years, but God would keep His promise.  Who was the promised one?  Jesus!

The Bible doesn’t tell us much about the life of Enoch, other than the fact that he had Methuselah when he was 65 years old, and then he had more sons and daughters.  Enoch lived to be 365-year-old.  That wasn’t very old for that time.  Remember how old Adam was when he died?  Over 900!  Enoch was very special, though.  Enoch didn’t die!  God had a special purpose for Enoch.  God took Enoch to heaven to live with Him there.  Enoch didn’t die!  Everyone else died back then.  And everyone else dies today.  But God took Enoch to heaven.  The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:5 that Enoch pleased God.  He made God happy.  Any everyone on earth knew that Enoch lived a life that pleased God.  Not many people were praying to God anymore.  They didn’t have any respect for Him.  They had stopped making sacrifices for their sins.  But Enoch prayed.  He sacrificed.  He pleased God by having faith that Jesus would one day die for him.  Enoch pleased God.

Last week we learned a verse “But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently see him.”

The verse just before this one in the Bible says, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”  Now add “But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently see him.”

We know that to please God, we must have faith in God.  We must believe God exists, and we must believe God sent His Son to die for our sins.  When we believe and accept Jesus, God rewards us with forgiveness of sins!  We don’t deserve it, but God rewards us with it anyway.

Have you ever gotten a reward for playing a sport, even though your team didn’t win?  Or did you get a certificate in school, even though you know you didn’t really deserve it?  This is exactly like forgiveness of sins.  We don’t deserve it.  We won’t ever deserve it.  No matter how good we think we are.  We are still sinners.  And sin separates us from God.  But God gives us forgiveness anyway.  Not because we deserve it, but because we have faith in Jesus!

This is so wonderful of God!  This is such a beautiful thing!  I’m so glad we can have the reward of forgiveness of sins.  Let’s pray and thank God for such a great gift!

Genesis 10: The Boat-Building Preacher

This lesson is compatible with the "Enoch, Noah, and Babel" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 6:1-22; Hebrews 11:7, 2 Peter 2:5

“Where’s Enoch?  I haven’t seen him in his garden lately. Did he die?”asked Enoch’s neighbor.  “Haven’t you heard?  God took him up to heaven!” said his other neighbor.  Do you remember why God took Enoch to heaven?  (allow answers)

Not too long after God took Enoch to heaven, a boy was born.  It was Enoch’s great-grandson!

Enoch had a son named Methuselah.  Methuselah is famous as the man who lived the longest.  He lived to be 969 years old!  Methuselah had a son named Lamech, who had a son named Noah.  You might have heard of him before!

Noah learned all about his family, including Adam and Seth.  He might have heard Adam’s grandson Enos [not the same man as Enoch…he was Enoch’s great-great grandfather] talk about them.  Enos was still alive when Noah was growing up.  I’m sure he heard all about how Adam and Eve lived in such a beautiful paradise, but then had to leave because they sinned.  I imagine Enos talking with Noah as a young boy and saying: “My dad Seth, and my grandpa Adam always told me how sorry Adam was when he could no longer walk with God.  That’s what our sin does, Noah.  It separates us from God.  We need to ask God to forgive us, and we need a sacrifice of blood to cover our sins.  Cain tried to give God a sacrifice that wasn’t blood, but God didn’t accept it.  It has to be blood.”

Noah learned about God, and how God made a promise to send someone to die for their sins someday.  Noah chose to believe in God.  He grew up to be a man and had 3 boys.  Their names were Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Noah taught his 3 boys about God, too.  It was hard for them sometimes.  They might have gone to a school where no one else wanted to hear about God.  Perhaps their neighbors didn’t want to play with them, because they talked about God too much.  I am not sure if those things really happened, but I do know one thing.  No one else cared about God.  They were all very wicked and mean.  They were very violent, too.  There were always fights breaking out at the marketplace.  “I’m not paying that much for this bread!”  shouted someone in the crowd.  “You pay, or you don’t get anything!” the baker shouted back.  “Give me that blanket!  I saw it first!” shouted a woman.  “No!  It’s mine!  I got it first!” shouted another woman.  People were always angry and mean.  No one showed love to anyone else.  And the men who used to love God decided to marry women who didn’t love God.  The Bible tells us not to do this.  If a woman who loves God marries a man who doesn’t love God do you think she will find it easy to go to pray and read her Bible?  Will it be easy for her to go to church whenever she wants to?  No!  The same is true if a man loves God but marries a woman who doesn’t love God.  Pretty soon they will forget about how they love God.  They will stop going to church and reading their Bible.  They will stop teaching their children how much God loves us all. 

The Bible tells us that when Noah was alive, people were so bad that it made God sad.  The Bible says God was sighing over the sin of man.  He was grieving because of the sin of everyone.  He was so sad about all of the sin that men were doing that it was like we feel when someone we love dies.  Did you know that our sins break God’s heart?  Every little sin we do.  The mean thoughts we have about our family…the bad words we say…the grumpy thoughts we have.  They all break God’s heart!

The whole world in Noah’s day broke God’s heart with their sins.  Their thoughts were only bad all the time.  God looked at the world and said, “I will destroy everyone, because I cannot stand the sin.”  God is holy, which means He can’t sin, and He can’t stand sin. 

Even Noah and his family were sinners.  But the Bible tells us there was one difference between Noah and everyone else.  Noah had faith in God, that God would send someone to die for his sins.  Noah was not perfect.  His family was not perfect.  They were sinners also.  But Noah received grace from God because of his faith.  Grace means a blessing or a forgiveness that is not deserved.  My sins are forgiven, not because I am good enough to get forgiveness.  I am forgiven because I have faith in Jesus!

Noah got grace from God because of his faith in God.

God spoke to Noah.  “I will destroy everyone because of their sin and all of the terrible violence.  I will send a flood of water, and everyone will die.  You must make a boat.  You and your family will get in the boat, and you will be safe.  This is a promise to you.  You, your wife, your 3 sons and their wives will all be saved from the flood.  And you must put two of each unclean animal in the boat, and 7 of each clean animal.  They will be safe also.”  (A clean animal is an animal that could be used as a sacrifice, like sheep, cows, and birds.)  God told this to Noah, and he told Noah to gather enough food for the animals and for his family.  God also told Noah exactly how to build the boat.  We call it an ark.  The ark was a long, tall rectangle shape, big enough to fit all the animals on it. 

Noah believed God and began to build the ark.  He and his sons worked hard every day cutting down trees and making smooth planks to build with.  How long do you think it took Noah to build such a gigantic boat?  Some people think it took around 40 years!  We don’t know exactly, but it was a long time! 

We do know that while Noah was building the ark, he was telling people about what was going to happen.  “God is going to destroy everyone and everything!  Ask God to forgive you!  You can be saved it you have faith in God!”  For years, Noah’s friends and family heard this.  His neighbors came often to hear him.  “Let’s go listen to crazy Noah!  God’s going to kill us!  Hahaha!  It didn’t happen yesterday.  Will it be today?  God will send water falling from the sky! Haha!  Crazy old Noah.”  They all thought Noah was strange.  Water had never fallen from the sky before.  It had never rained!  God had made the earth special at creation.  There was a mist cloud every morning that watered the ground.  The mist came in from the rivers and lakes…like fog does.  So, no one believed Noah when he said it was going to rain, and water was going to cover everything.  They thought he was a crazy old man.  No one wanted to ask God for forgiveness.  So, Noah and his sons kept building.  They also planted vegetables.  They had to store up enough food for the animals and themselves.  They had to save enough to last them many months.  They might have even saved enough for a full year! 

I image people from all around heard about “crazy Noah and his 3 sons”.  I’m sure even Noah’s wife and his son’s wives helped out with the building and food saving.  “Let’s go see the crazy 8 of Noah’s family!” they said.  “Hey Noah!  Save me a space with the rhinos!  Hahaha!”  they mocked. 

Noah kept believing in God, though.  He kept working, and praying, and teaching his family about God’s love.  He kept offering blood sacrifices for his sins.

Finally, the day came for them to put the animals on the ark.  We will have to find out if they all fit next week!

Let’s pray now, and ask God to help us love Him, and believe Him, even when our friends or family make fun of us.  When it’s hard to believe God, we can ask for His help to keep believing in Him and His Son, Jesus.  The Holy Spirit will help us.

Genesis 11: The Flood

This lesson is compatible with the "Enoch, Noah, and Babel" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 6:1-22; Hebrews 11:7, 1 Peter 3:20, 2 Peter 2:5

 “Dad how are we going to get all of these animals to come to the ark?!  And once we get them here, where will we put them all?”  I’m sure at least one of Noah’s three sons asked him this question.  God created many animals in the beginning.  Some of there were tiny, and some were gigantic! 

God had it all in control.  He told Noah exactly how big to make the ark.  That was one BIG boat!  In fact, the dimensions of the ark were the same as the dimensions of our modern cargo ships! (Visual: Extra 1)

The ark was all built and made water-proof for the waters that God was going to send.  Now it was time to put the animals on the ark.

Noah answered his son’s question.  “God will bring the animals nearby, and we will take two of each kind of unclean animal.  Two pigs, two elephants, two dinosaurs, etc.  We will take 7 of all of the clean animals.  Those are the animals we can make sacrifices with.  Seven sheep, goats, oxen, doves, etc.”

So, Noah, his wife, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives began the long process of putting the animals on the ark.

They had already built the ark, and that meant that they had finished the animal cages on each of the three floors of the ark.  They built wooden cages to keep the animals in order, and to help keep the ark clean of animal dung.  It also helped them get the right food to the right animals!

“Dad, how are we going to fit all of the different types of elephants on the ark?  There are several different kinds!  Some are hair, some are bald, and some are smaller than the others” asked Ham.

“Son, God told us to put two of each KIND of animal, not two of each one!”  That meant that God wanted Noah to put ONLY two elephants on the ark.  Those two elephants had the DNA inside of them for all of the other styles of elephants we see today.  From those two elephants came all of our modern elephants, like the African Elephant and the Asian Elephant.  The Wooly Mammoth also came from them!  Noah didn’t have to have two African Elephants, two Asian Elephants, and two Wooly Mammoths.  He only had to have two elephants, and all of their children would become the many types of elephants today.  God put all of the DNA in the animals of creation to make the different kinds of species we have today.  The dogs God created at the beginning had all of the DNA to make Labrador Retrievers, Pit Bulls, and Chihuahuas!  So how many dogs did Noah and his family have to put on the ark?  ONLY TWO! 

Noah and his family filled the ark with all of the unclean animals first.  I’m sure they chose the young animals, especially for the big ones like dinosaurs, elephants, and giraffes.  That way they wouldn’t take up as much space.  Then they added the clean animals.  Seven cows and seven sheep.  Why do you think God wanted them to take seven?  (Allow answers.)

God told them to take seven of them so that they could continue to make sacrifices for their sins.  If they only had two cows, they would have had to wait a year for them to have babies.  If they sacrificed a cow before they could have babies, there would be no more cows!

Finally, the day came that the ark was all done, and filled with the animals and food.  They had their lists of food for the animals and had double-checked to make sure there was enough for everybody.  Their kitchen was stocked with their own food, and the water troughs were waiting to be filled.  They knew God was going to send plenty of rain, so all they had to do was wait.

Noah had preached and preached about God, but still no one on earth seemed interested.

“Crazy old Noah is STILL at it!  Someone should lock him up in the crazy bin already!”

The day came, though, when God spoke to Noah once again.  “Noah, you and your family can enter the ark.  I will close the door and seal it tight.  I promise you that you will be saved from the flood that will destroy everyone else.  God showed grace to Noah.  Not because Noah deserved it as a sinner.  But Noah put his faith in God and was saved from the coming flood.

Was Noah right to trust in God’s promise?  Does God ever lie?  No!  Numbers 23: 19 says “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

Noah trusted in the promise of God to Adam and Eve, that he would send someone to die for our sins.  He had never met Jesus and didn’t know if he ever would while he was living on earth, but he trusted God.  We can trust God also!  We know who Jesus is, even though Noah never knew his name (but still trusted God’s promise).  We today can believe also, as it says in Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”

God promised Jesus would die for us even before he made the world!  ISN’T THAT WONDERFUL?!  Noah and his family would see that wonderful love of God soon, also, when God closed and sealed the door.

When Noah, Mrs. Noah, and their three sons and three daughters-in-law entered the ark, God shut the door behind him.  Now they just had to wait. “Go in the ark, and after seven more days I will send the waters to flood the earth” God had said.  So, Noah and his family settled in, and got comfortable.  I imagine that they had fixed their rooms up with comfortable pillows and nice scarves and blankets to hand on the walls.  They weren’t exactly sure how long they would be in the ark after the rain came, and they wanted their new home to be nice.  Perhaps they even brought some live plants with them in small pots.  Maybe roses and lavender to help make their rooms smell nice. 
Outside, they heard the people from the nearby town.  “Noaaah…crazy Noah!  He went in his boat to play!  Let us in!  We want to visit the loony bin boat!”  “Hurry and open the door before the water falls from the sky!”  They laughed at Noah and his family.  They still refused to put their trust in God.  They wanted to live the way that made them happy.  They wanted to have fun.  They didn’t want to take their time to think about God.

On the eight day, though, God sent storm clouds.  That morning, as the townspeople looked up to the sky and saw the dark sight.  There were gray clouds coming towards them.  And as the clouds got nearer, they got darker.  The heard a rumbling and crash!  It was so loud it hurt their ears!  Thunder!!!   Panic began to set in.  If it had ever rained before, it wasn’t ever like THIS!  The rain came rushing down, soaking everyone within the first few minutes.  They all ran for cover.  Today was not going to be a nice day, they thought.  Next week, we will find out exactly how bad it was!

Let’s pray now, and thank God for keeping His promises, especially His promise to send Jesus to pay for our sins.

Genesis 12: In The Boat

This lesson is compatible with the "Enoch, Noah, and Babel" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 7:1-24; Hebrews 11:7, 1 Peter 3:20, 2 Peter 2:5

"Wow! I've never seen clouds like that before! Look how dark they are! They are almost black! We better hurry home!" Grandpa took his two grandchildren home from the market. They started walking faster as they weren't sure about this storm. It looked bad. Very bad.

"Leave the plow there and lead the horses to the stable, son!" The woman yelled at her son in the cornfields.

“Dad, Mom says you should get off the roof! She doesn't like clouds that come in so fast. ”Her daughter yelled at her father that she had been fixing the roof.

In the city, people started running in a panic once the thunder started to rumble. It was so strong that houses shook with every thunder! There was lighting all over the sky. It looked like a fireworks show.

Then the raindrops began to fall. They were huge drops!

Soon, the ground began to shake. Tremors!

Some people must have remembered Noah at this point. "Come on! Let's go to the boat with Noah! We will be safer there than in our little houses! Run!!!

The neighbors were already there, banging on the door. "OPEN UP! Let us in!" Some shouted.

"I promise to make a sacrifice to God if you let me in!" Someone else yelled.

"PLEASE! YOU CAN'T LEAVE US HERE!" Said a neighbor.

Someone else yelled in anger, "You're supposed to be a good person! A good person would never leave us here to die! You are a horrible hypocrite!"

God had given all those people many, many opportunities. He had been very patient with them. He sent Noah to preach to them, but they had always denied God. The Bible calls God "just." That means He is sinless and fair in his judgement of people. Would it be fair to let a murderer stay out of jail? No. He would have a chance to kill someone else. God would not be a just God if he never punished sin. Not only is he just, and he punishes sin, but he is full of grace, and he forgives sins because God the Son took the punishment for us!

 Now, it was too late for the people in our story. They had chance after chance, and still refused to obey God and put their faith in him.

The Bible says that God opened the fountains of the deep. There are places under the ground with large water holes. This means that all that water would rush to the surface of the earth. The Bible also says that the windows of heaven were opened. Many scientists who believe that the Bible thinks that there was a layer of water above the sky, between the earth and space ... something like an umbrella that protects the earth from the harmful rays of the sun. They believe that God opened this pocket above the sky, and all the water fell to the ground.

So now there was a torrent of water coming from the sky, and from the earth, all at the same time. There has never been a rush of water like this before or after! People rushing home never made it. The water came in like a fast river. Those who could swim must have tried to reach tall trees and rocks. But the water kept rising. Soon it was over the trees completely. The tallest building had people on the upper floors and roofs that looked out over the new sea of ​​water. It kept rising, too. They saw Noah's ark in the distance. "Oh, how I wish I had listened to Noah ..." I imagine some thought.

"We'll be fine. The water will drop soon. There's no way it can keep raining ..." thought the others. They still stubbornly refused to acknowledge that what Noah had said was true. “God will send a flood! Ask for forgiveness for your sins! Make the right sacrifice of the blood of a lamb! God will forgive you! You can be saved from the flood! "Those words might have echoed in their memories, but they just didn't want to believe it. They wanted to continue living the way THEY thought was good and fun. What they didn't know was that when we accept God and the forgiveness of sins through of Jesus, we can have an even better life! We can have a peace, joy and hope that those who reject God will never have.

Soon, the water covered the tallest buildings and the last swimmers battled the waves. Soon, they were all gone. The animals had also been covered by the waters. Some of the sea creatures had survived, but God said that everything that lived on dry land would be destroyed. All that was left was Noah and his family.

I imagine that on the ark that day, there was a silence among Noah's family. What great sadness they must have felt. The people they had seen at the market each week were gone. Aunts, uncles, and cousins ​​were gone. They too had rejected God. Noah's brothers and sisters had even rejected God. He must have been so heartbroken. I'm sure Noah begged them to accept God and ask for forgiveness. But they refused. "We're tired of hearing about God!" Don't talk about Him anymore, or we won't invite you to the family reunion next year! "They may have said.

As much as we want to, we cannot make people accept God. I can't get any of you to put your faith in Jesus. I can't make you accept Him, as much as I want you to. It is your own decision. And our moms, dads, grandparents, and brothers and sisters also have to make their own decision.

What can we do if they reject God? (allow responses)

We can pray! And we must tell them about God and how much He loves them. We should tell them all about Jesus, and how he paid for our sins on the cross, and how he rose again three days later. In the end, they must decide. But in the meantime, keep praying.

Noah and his family were safe in the boat, and soon the days turned into weeks. The Bible says that it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. That's more than a month! Would you like to be stuck in your house for more than a month, with rain all day and all night?

I don't think Noah and his family cared too much. They were very busy! Someone had to cook meals for the family, and several of them had to feed the animals every day. Imagine how long it took to feed 3 floors of animals! Some of them also had to clean the cages. There was no time to think of anything else. But I imagine they surely thanked God when they were doing his chores. God had given them grace and forgiven their sins because they put their faith in him. They made the blood sacrifices, and God saved them. Maybe they sang songs about how good God is. Then the rain stopped. "Look, my dear! The sun is shining!!! Oh, how good those rays feel on my face!" Mrs. Noah said to her husband. She had opened the window to see what was happening outside the ark. If I was there, I think I might have had a party that day!

Outside the ark, the waters were as far as the eye could see. In fact, they were covering the highest mountains! Not a bit of land could be seen. Every now and then a fish would jump out of the water. Some of the sea creatures had survived, as they did not live on dry land. Today, fossils of sea creatures have been found in the mountains! Some people think this is very strange, but when we read the Bible and the story of Noah, it is not that strange, is it? God sent the flood to cover even the mountains, which means that the sea creatures were very high up.

Aside from the animals on the ark, the sea creatures that survived the rush of waters were the only living things on the planet.

Noah and his family just had to wait for the waters to go down again and for the ark to fall on dry land.

"Noah, I've marked today's box on the wall. We've been on this boat for 150 since the rain stopped. That means it's day 197! It hasn't been that bad. I'm keeping busy, that's for sure! "Noah's wife said.

That is more than 6 months! For 6 months they took care of the animals, cleaned up the mess and made sure everything went well. They could have had a written record of everything that happened to Adam and Eve, and a book full of their family tree. I'm sure they spent time praying to God and thanking Him for keeping them safe. You must have wondered every day when God would send the One who would pay for all sins. They certainly had enough time to think about how good God is! Imagine being in a boat full of animals from now until the end of May!

Next week, we'll see how much longer they had to wait before putting their feet on dry land.

Right now, we are going to pray and ask God to help us choose it. He can help us have faith in him, even in life's sad and difficult times. We will also ask God to help our friends and family who have not put their faith in Jesus to accept him before it is too late.

Genesis 13: Dry Land!

This lesson is compatible with the "Enoch, Noah, and Babel" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture Reference: Genesis 8-9:19; Hebrews 11:7, 1 Peter 3:20, 2 Peter 2:5

“Noah, I’ve checked off today’s square on the wall.  We have been on this boat for 150 days since the rain stopped.  That means we are on day 197!  It’s not been too bad.  I’m keeping busy, that’s for sure!” said Noah’s wife.

That is over 6 months!  For 6 months they took care of the animals, and cleaned up the messes, and made sure everything was going smoothly. 

The rain had stopped after the first 40 days, but the earth was still covered in water.  The highest mountains were even covered!  All Noah and his family could do was wait.  And work.

“Dad!  I looked out the window today and saw the top of a mountain!!!  It wasn’t much land, but there it was, sticking up out of the middle of all the water!” said Shem.

“What day are we on now, boys?” asked Noah.

Japheth replied: “It’s been 224 days now.”

“It won’t be long now, and I’ll send a raven out to see if he finds any more dry land.” Said Noah.

Noah waited 40 mores days (just over a month), and he let a raven go out the window.  He knew if there was enough dry land, the bird wouldn’t come back.  The raven kept coming back every day to rest, and perhaps find food if he couldn’t catch any fish to eat. 

“I’m so ready to get off of this boat!” said Ham.

It had been easy to trust God before the flood came.  Noah didn’t have any problems obeying God to build the ark and to preach.  He was sometimes sad because people refused God.  But He trusted God.  Now, I imagine it must have been hard to keep waiting on God.  “Noah, God said He would keep us safe, but when is He going to let us off of this BOAT?!” asked Mrs. Noah.

They didn’t know how long they were going to be on the ark, and the days kept passing, and the water was all around them.  They couldn’t feel the water going down, and it was hard to see very much, as any windows were very small to keep water from coming in the ark.  All they could do was to trust God.  Does God break His promises?  NO!  But even when we know this, it is hard to wait on Him.  When we are going through a hard time in our lives, we sometimes think God has forgotten about us, or doesn’t care.  I imagine Noah and all of his family members struggled with this.  “God forgot about us, and doesn’t love us anymore!” said Ham’s wife.  “We must trust God, and wait for His timing!” replied Japheth’s wife.

Seven days after Noah sent out the raven, he sent out a dove.  Everyone waited for news to see if the dove came back, or found enough dry land to live.  Later that day, it came back.  Noah took the dove and brought him back in the ark to eat and rest.

One week later, he sent the dove out again.  Again, they all waited for news.

Shem’s heart sank when he saw the dove flying back to the ark.  That meant they had to wait even more on the boat.  He started back down to his work of cleaning the elephant cage, but stopped halfway there.  He heard someone yelling.  He paused to try to understand what they were saying.  “It’s Dad!” he thought.  He listened carefully…. ”It found a leaf!!!  An olive leaf!!!  It found a tree with leaves growing on it!  The plants are beginning to grow again!!!”

There was shouting on the ark that day.  Everyone was so excited!  They had no idea if there were any plants above water, and now they were growing again!  That meant that it wouldn’t be too long before they would find dry land.

One week later, Noah sent the dove out again, and this time it didn’t come back.  It had found enough dry land to live! 

After one more month, Noah took the top off of part of the ark.  They all stepped out into the sunshine and took a deep breath.  When they looked down, there was dry land everywhere!  The waters had gone down off of the mountains.  The ark was now sitting on Mount Arrarat. 

The family all agreed.  They had never been so happy to see a mountain. 

They stayed on the ark until God told them to leave, waiting for the mud to dry up.  I’m sure the ground was very soft for a while, and they would have had a hard time walking in the mud.

After one more month, God told them they could leave the ark.  It had been a whole year that they were on the ark!  I’m sure they rushed down to the door, and ran down the ramp to the dry ground.  Oh, how nice the green grass must have felt on their toes!  The flowers smelled so nice!  I like to imagine they were jumping and running around, even though they were grownups. They weren’t cooped up in the boat anymore!

Now they had the job of letting all of the animals off of the ark.  Those animals must have been happy themselves!  I imagine the Elephants found a nice patch of dirt to roll around in.  The lions must have started off running as fast as they could, using up all of that energy they saved on the ark!  The birds flew around to every tree, looking for the best fruits.

Noah and his family were so thankful that God had kept His promise, that Noah built an altar, and made a sacrifice to God of every clean animal.

God saw it, and the Bible says it smelled sweet to Him.  When Noah obeyed God by making a blood sacrifice, it was like a nicer perfume to God.  He was happy.  He made another promise that day.  “I will never again destroy the earth by a flood.”

God blessed Noah and his sons.  He told them to go to all the earth and populate it.  God wanted them to fill all of the earth.  He also said “Now, all animals are for your food.  But don’t eat the blood of animals.  And don’t kill anyone.  If a man kills another man, he will be put to death by men.”  God was telling Noah and his family to take care of one another.  If they didn’t obey, and killed one another, they would also be killed by law.  God wants us to respect the life of human beings. 

God said one more thing: “I will send a rainbow in the sky when it rains, and it is the sign of my promise to never again flood the whole earth.”  As Noah and his family looked up, they all gasped in amazement.  In the sky was the prettiest thing they had ever seen.  A bow of colors!  The first rainbow!  Every time it rained, Noah and his family remembered God’s promise.  He would never again send a flood to destroy the whole earth.  We see God’s promise, too!  Have you ever seen a rainbow?  Isn’t it beautiful?!  God said He would send the rainbow for every generation to see, and remember His promise.  God is good to keep His promises.

And He kept the most important promise of all!  Long before the flood, He promised to send Jesus to die for our sins, and Jesus did just that!  We can have forgiveness of sins when we accept Jesus, and our prayers can be like a sweet smell to God when we pray to Him!

Just like Noah’s sacrifice and obedience was a sweet smell to God.  Isn’t that neat?!

Let’s pray and thank Him.

Genesis 14: The Tower of Rebellion

This lesson is compatible with the "Enoch, Noah, and Babel" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Bible References: Genesis 8-9:19; Hebrews 11:7, 1 Peter 3:20, 2 Peter 2:5

“Go spread out to all of the earth and have many children and grandchildren.  Fill the earth!” God told Noah and his family when then came off of the ark.   “The animals will also go out and fill all of the earth!”

God wanted the earth to be filled with his beautiful creatures, and more importantly, people!  God loves His creation very much.  But God told Noah and his family to spread out in the earth.  He wanted families living all over, not just in one place.  God knew that people are sinners, and before the flood, there was nothing to stop people from being as wicked as imaginable.  God told them to spread out so that wickedness would not be so fast to grow among people. 

We tend to spread our bad attitudes, don’t we?  Think about someone you know who complains.  Do they hang out with people who are always happy and thankful, or do they hang out with other complainers.  What about bullies?  They hang out with other bullies!  That is because bad attitudes and mean spirits are contagious!  Kind of like the flu!  When you are around someone who is always yelling at you, it is natural to want to yell back at them, isn’t it?  Jesus told his followers to love people who were unkind to them, though.  It’s not easy to do, but those who have accepted Jesus have the Holy Spirit to help them! 

On the days of Noah’s sons, Jesus had not come to earth yet, and the Holy Spirit had not been given as a helper, yet.  He helped those who obeyed God on special occasions, like the men who wrote down God’s words…what we call the Bible.  But God knew that man would become just as wicked as before the flood if they were all together in one group.

So, after the flood, Shem, Ham, and Japheth had many children with their own wives.  They must have told their children about what the earth was like before the flood, and what the animals used to be like.  “Before the flood, the animals were more peaceful.  They weren’t scared of us, either!  But now things have changed.  They don’t just eat plants anymore.  I saw a lion eat a lamb the other day!  It was horrible!  I had to look away!”

They told their children and grandchildren what it was like to live on a boat for a year.  They had to have mentioned how God shut the door and kept them safe, just as He promised.  They also taught their children how to make sacrifices to God for their sins.  After a while, Shem, Ham, and Japheth had grandchildren!  And some of them began to have children!  We don’t know how long it took, but people began to forget about God, again.  Many of them stopped making sacrifices for their sins.  They didn’t think they were that bad.  “I don’t really need a sacrifice.  I’m a pretty good person!” Many of them stopped teaching their children about God, and how He created everything.  They forgot about God’s promise to send someone to die for the sins of the world.  They knew God had told Shem, Ham, and Japheth to spread out to all the earth, but they liked living together as one big family.  Soon, they began to hate the idea of living apart.

“With all of us together, we can do ANYTHING!  We will be such a great nation!  People years and years from now will talk about how great we were!  We will be in the history books for our great inventions and accomplishments!”

They decided to stay together, even though it meant disobeying God’s command.  Soon, someone came up with an idea.  “Hey!  Let’s build a great tower in our own honor!  It will reach to the sky!”  They loved this idea!  “Oh!  I want to study the stars and figure out how they got there!” said someone in the crowd.  “Oh!  I want to design the tower!  I will put statues of each one of us, so people many years from now will see the greatness of our intelligence and strength!” said someone else.  “Oh!  I will fill the tower with books about how we have become so great!” said someone else.  I often wonder if there was someone in the crowd who stood up and said “Wait a minute!  Isn’t God the One who is great?  He put the stars in the sky!  He forgives our sins when we come to Him the right way…through the blood sacrifice!  He deserves to be remembered, not us!  We must obey Him and fill the earth!  He knows what’s best for us.”

The Bible doesn’t say if anyone stood up to say these things, but even if they did, no one listened.  The Bible tells us that they started working on their plans.  They built big mud ovens for put bricks in to harden.  They wanted very hard bricks, so the tower could reach the stars.  They put together pully systems to help lift the heavy bricks, and they probably used some animals like elephants and horses to help pull them along.  Brick by brick, they built a tower.  The organization of the people was impressive!  Soon, the tower would be built, and they would be so proud of themselves!

God hadn’t forgotten about the big family.  He knows everything and knew exactly what they were thinking.  He knew they didn’t want to make sacrifices for their sins, because they thought they were good enough.  He knew they didn’t want to obey His command to fill the earth, but instead make a name for themselves.  God still loved them, though.  The Bible says He came down to see the tower.  He spoke to the Son and the Holy Spirit.  “Look how they are all speaking one language.  They will soon be just as wicked as the people were before the flood.  Any wicked thing they think of, they will find a way to do it.  Let us confuse their language, so they can’t understand each other when they speak.”

God wanted to slow down the spread of wickedness, so it wouldn’t be like before the flood.

So, God gave the families new languages!  The one who was giving directions on where to unload the bricks began speaking in Chinese!  The unloaders began to speak in French.  “What did the director say?!” A father asked his son, as they began unloading the bricks in the wrong place.  “I have no idea!  He must be sick!” replied the son.

The woman in charge of decorating the tower began giving directions in Spanish to the people bringing in pots of flowers.  “She sounds weird!  What’s going on?” said one worker to another in English.  “Everyone has lost their minds!” yelled the other worker in Portuguese. 

Soon, there was chaos everywhere!  No one could understand the other workers.  I think husbands and wives, and mothers and fathers could understand their children, but the Bible doesn’t really say this.  It sure would be hard for people to get married and have kids if at least a few of them didn’t speak the same language, though! 

The construction on the tower came to a screeching halt.  Since no one could understand one another, I imagine they began getting into fights!  It was so frustrating for them, that families decided they had to move away to someplace where they could start fresh and speak just their own language.  The families moved all around the world looking for a new place to settle.  Now, we have different countries where different languages are spoken, because long ago God gave the earth new languages to speak.  Now that the people were scattered, it would take much longer for wickedness to spread.  Everyone was still a sinner, but it was harder to make plans to do bad things in groups.  Bullies couldn’t get together and make fun of others if they couldn’t understand one another!  God had seen His plan of filling the earth come to pass, even though the people rebelled against Him.  God is certainly more powerful than any of us!  If He wants something to happen, do you think we can stop Him?  No! 

I for one, am very glad!  God wants us to have forgiveness of sins, and to live our lives to show HIS glory, not our own glory.  And because He is more powerful, no one can take the forgiveness of sins away from me that I have in Jesus who died for my sins!  I can’t even take that forgiveness away from myself!  I am not powerful enough to make Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross go away.  No sin I do can make Jesus’ sacrifice not work.  He died for all sins!  ALL of them!   If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you can rest in the fact that God is more powerful than anyone and anything, and the forgiveness of sins you have will never go away!

God is SO GOOD!  And He deserves to get the glory, not us. 

When we are tempted to think we deserve recognition, and we don’t want to obey God, we must ask God for help.  The Bible says we are to throw down the thoughts in our minds that say we deserve glory and recognition.  Jesus, God the Son, deserves glory! 

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” 2 Corinthians 10:5.  The Holy Spirit can help us obey God, and not lift ourselves up in our own minds, thinking we are great.

Let’s thank God for His greatness and His goodness and ask for help in obeying God’s word.