Lisa Prepares to Lead Bible Study

Thursday Bible Study Begins Book of Genesis

Ed Pressey, Charles Heil, Jenny Card, Bonnie Mesinoff, Rev. Ternahan and Steve Hurst listen attentively to Bible Study teacher Lisa Evetts (not pictured) as we discuss Genesis, Chapter One concerning the creation of the World, of Man and Woman, and what separates Man from the rest of God's creatures.  Bishop Pressey offered comments regarding the moral aspects of Mosaic food laws in relation to a lively discussion concerning whether people were vegetarian or carnivores in Adam and Eve's time .

Here are the questions we talked about last week: Chapter Four:

1.  Why do you think God accepted Abel’s sacrifice but not Cain’s? How do you think Cain knew that his offering had not been accepted before God Spoke to him? (Verses 1-7, refer to Hebrews 11:4, Leviticus 9-24).

2.  Verse 15 – How does God provide for Cain? How does this fit in with I Corinthians 10:13?

3.  Verses 1-16 – What characteristics do these verses show about Cain? Was he sorry for his sin?

4.  Verses 1-10 – What two words can be used to describe Abel? (See Matthew 23:35, Hebrews 11:4 and I John 3:12)

5.  Verses 14, 17 – Besides his parents, what other persons would Cain be afraid of? Where did he get his wife?

6.  Verses 17-24 – List the advances made by Cain and his descendents

7.  Verses 17-24 – List the negative activities of Cain and his descendents. Who seems to be missing from their lives?

Genesis Chapters 5 and 6 dealt with the contrast between Seth and his descendents and Cain and his descendants?  We examined how the line of Adam, Seth and their descendants are emphasized in the following references:

a. John 3: 6-8

b. John 8:25

c. Romans 5:14

d. Romans 6:23  

We also dealt with the geneology, age and death of the patriarchs from Adam unto Noah.  We learned of the Godliness and translation of Enoch from the earth to Heaven -- he is the first example in the Bible of a man who was raised from the earth to be with God.  This is shown in verses 23-24.  "And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:  And Enoch walked with God:  and he was not; for God took him."  We also learned about the birth of Noah in the line of Seth.

Chapter 6 is one of the most interesting of the early chapters of Genesis, because it discusses what was going on among men prior to the destruction of that world by the flood.  We learned that men began to multiply across the earth and that the Lord God was displeased by them, saying in Verse 3 "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."  The questions for Chapter six are:

1.  V. 3 -- What do you think the 120 years mentioned represents?  (see I Peter 3:20)

2.  Vs. 1-12 -- Why did God decide to send the flood?

3.  Hebrews 11: 7 names Noah's outstanding characteristic that pleased God.  How does Noah demonstrate this trait in Genesis 6:7--8:1?

Upcoming questions for the discussion of Chapter 7 are as follows:

1.  Do you think the flood covered a local area or the whole earth?  Can you support your belief with Bible verses and / or archaeological evidence?

2.  How did Noah manage to collect the animals and keep them alive during the months they were in the arch?

3. Compare Genesis 7: 11-24 with Matthew 24: 36-39 and Luke 17: 26-27.  How does daily life in Noah's time and ours compare?  What important thing is missing that Christ warns us about?

Genesis 9 was discussed and the key item was the covenant that God made with Noah and his sons.  God would never again destroy the earth by water, thus securing a safe place for them to repopulate and cultivate.  The Rainbow was the special sign of the covenant. 

We talked about Noah's descendants.  We read the story of Noah's drunkeness and nakedness and how Canaan showed his brothers the body of Noah but the other brothers Japheth and Shem treated Noah respectfully, refusing to look at his body.  In consequence, knowing that Canaan had disrepectfully treated him, Noah cursed him and his descendants.  Noah prophesised that Shem and Japheth should rule over Canaan and that he and his descendants would be their lines' servants.

Chapter 10 will be discussed on Thursday, July 21st.

Chapter 11

We talked about the building of the Tower of Babel in disobedience to God.  God wanted man to spread across the earth and multiply to repopulate the new earth he had created.  Instead, man decided to settle on the Plain of Shinar and raise a tower to their own aggrandizement that they might stay in one place and be great.  God confused their language that they might separate as he had ordered.  God’s true message is the same in any language.  It wasn’t until Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was received that man had the unifying power taken away at Babylon.  According to the prophet Zephaniah, Chapter 3, verse 9, man will understand God’s true language at the end of time.

Chapter 12