Posted in Bible Study

Session #6 – Genesis 6-11

A Flood and a Tower

Our New Family

The Flood was a tragic year-long event which consumed the whole earth.  It is hard to imagine the state of mind and heart of Noah and his family.  It’s not like getting on a cruise ship and leaving for a trip around the world.  It’s not even comparable to being a space pioneer that is on a team that has blasted off for a trip to Mars which means even if they are completely successful, they’ll never see Earth again.  No, those eight people got on that boat and watched as their homes and friends and all of civilization, man and beast, succumbed to the rushing waters.  There is no way to adequately understand their emotions.

However, it was also just as emotional a year later when they were able disembark the boat and realize they were the only people living on the earth.   Although facing many unknowns, they also had confident hope in the God Who saved them through the flood.   Righteous Noah was listening to God and proceeded to offer a sacrifice of one of all the sacrificially clean animals (Gen. 8:20) which resulted in a pleasing offering to the Lord.  God also made a covenant promise to Noah never to do such a universal judgment of man again.  Life would soon settle into a “new normal” routine, and sooner or later, children would come:  Shem, Ham & Japheth.  Genesis 8-11 take us through this new journey, as we see God’s faithful followers continuing to obey Him, and the rest of the world still showing the impact of a sinful nature.  Our ancestors continued to populate the world, build families and populate cities, construct major buildings and small villages.  God still continued to work His plan to provide Redemption to Man, but we know from the rest of the Old Testament narrative that there is a lot of human history that occurs before the coming of the Redeemer.  Welcome to your new family!

Please pause here and open your Bible and read through Genesis 6-11 in one sitting before you continue on through this Bible Study.

Evidence for A Worldwide Flood

In the face of our modern world’s skepticism, can we still be confident that the biblical account of a worldwide flood is accurate?  Here are just a few of the proofs that substantiate a global flood:

  1. Fossils of sea creatures are found high above sea level due to the ocean waters having flooded over the continents.  For example, most of the rock layers in the walls of the Grand Canyon contain marine fossils.
  2. Rapid burial of plants and animals can only be explained by rapid flooding and receding of water.  Billions of fossils are found in extensive “graveyards” where they had to be buried rapidly on a massive scale.
  3. Rapidly deposited sediment layers spread across vast areas. On every continent, layers of sedimentary rocks are found over vast areas. Many of these can be traced all the way across continents, and even between continents.
  4. Sediment transported long distances.  Consider the example of the Coconino Sandstone, seen spectacularly in the walls of the Grand Canyon.
  5. Rapid or no erosion between strata. At the boundaries between some sedimentary layers we find evidence of only rapid erosion. In most other cases, the boundaries are flat with absolutely no evidence of any erosion, as would be expected during the Genesis Flood.
  6. Many strata laid down in rapid succession, for example the walls of the Grand Canyon show evidence that the sedimentary layers were all laid down in quick succession.

The Bible’s record is reliable, validated history — from the creation of man from the dust of the ground to the worldwide Flood to the fulfilled prophecies of the Prophets to the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ. But just reading the Bible’s historical evidence isn’t enough. The message of God’s salvation for sinful man is found throughout the biblical narrative and is also true, and God wants us to accept the gift of salvation He freely offers us.  The evidence is real. God has revealed Himself to us in His Word and in His creation (Romans 1:20).

Genesis 8, Called by God 

In Gen. 8, after God brings Noah and his family through the flood, He makes an unconditional covenant promise to protect and provide for the well-being of His faithful followers.  God confirms the blessings of creation, the truths of man being in God’s image and the importance of work.  Most memorable, He sealed the covenant by creating the rainbow.

In Gen. 12, God will make another unconditional covenant (upheld by God alone) this time with Abraham.  Both are new beginnings, both are marked by God’s promises of blessing and covenant relationship.  Both men were uniquely called by God to further His plan for mankind and His provision of Redemption.

Bible Study Journal
Use the pairs of references below to compare God’s covenants with Noah & Abraham.  Be sure to make some notes in your Journal.

        • 8:15 & 12:1
        • 8:16 & 12:1
        • 8:18 & 12:4
        • 8:20 & 12:7
        • 9:1 & 12:2
        • 9:9 & 12:7

Genesis 9, A Rainbow Covenant

God’s Covenants – Through the centuries, God has guided His administration of Man based on a series of covenantal promises that He would accomplish unconditionally, fulfillment based only on His character and works, not on man’s actions (except for one).  We will discuss covenants and dispensations further in Session #6.  Here’s the list of the covenants:

    • Adamic Covenant- Gen. 1:27-18; 2:16-17
    • Noahic Covenant – Gen. 9:8-17
    • Abrahamic Covenant – Gen. 12:1-5 – reaffirmed in Gen. 26:1-35 (Isaac), and Gen. 28:1-22 (Jacob)
    • Mosaic (Law) Covenant – Exo. 19ff; Deut. 39:30 (this is the conditional one)
    • Palestinian Covenant – Deut. 30:1-20, amplifies what God said in the Abrahamic Covenant
    • Davidic Covenant – 2 Sam. 7:8-16
    • New Covenant – Jer. 31:31-34

Gen. 8:1, 20-22 – God, remembered Noah…  After 150 days of violent storms, now he is out on dry land.  Note that animals were sacrificed right away, God led Noah to plan ahead with extra animals.  The sacrifice was a “pleasing aroma” to God – this is the first reference to such a picture – compare 2 Cor. 2:14-15.  God promised never again to curse the ground or bring universal flood.

Gen. 9:1-7, God blessed Noah – God agains commands Man to be fruitful , and declares that man is in God’s image man’s life is in the blood.

Gen. 9:8-17, Noah’s Covenant from God – no more flood, and God sealed the promise with the rainbow.  God always provides a way back to fellowship with Him.

Just to confirm and review:  Genesis 1-11 covers four major epochal events, each a major transition in Man’s history:

    • Creation
    • Fall
    • Flood
    • Babel

Genesis 10, Roots of the Nations

  • When you read through this passage, you realize that it isnt “action packed” like other parts of the Bible, but never forget 2 Tim. 3:16-17, that ALL scriptures is profitable for believers.
  • Genesis 10:24-27 is the genealogy of Noah’s descendants through his sons Shem, Ham & Japheth.  This is a different high level genealogy tracing mankind beyond the Flood.  This is the most ancient record of the roots of all nations – Jewish scholars have identified 70 nations in the list.  This account describes the geographical dispersion of large masses of people that we can still see evidenced today – Japheth went north and east of Ararat – Ham went south/southwest to Egypt/Africa – Canaan went not as far south, settled in Palestine
  • Things to learn:
    • People are quick to forget the One True God.
    • Ham was father of Canaan and Cush (Gen. 9:18; 10:6) – Cush was father of Nimrod.
    • Nimrod is an example of godlessness – three generations after the flood, he asserted himself against God and
    • He led the Babel project (Gen. 10:8-9).
    • People are quick to forget the oneness of the human race – We are all lost in sin and we all need to hear of God’s one means of salvation through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross!

Genesis 11, Tower of Babel & the Unity of Disbelief

  • One language – not a bad thing…
    • This language would have been naturally received down from Noah.  It could have promoted good understanding, godly family & community life, and pursuit of worship & the work of God, but….  Instead, it was perverted and was used to promote disobedience, unbelief, and the elevation of selfish desires.
  • Mankind determined to make a name for themselves, “religious” fervor, set their own rules.
    • God had told man to be fruitful & multiply – Gen. 9:1,7
    • They said no, they’ll build a great city and a great tower – we’ll do it “my way”
  • God’s response – Gen. 11:5-8
    • God recognizes the roots of sin and sought to rescue man from destruction.  He confronted their pride but they refused.
    • They had to be scattered in order to fulfill God’s command to fill the earth

Extra Credit:  Another Chiasm!  Genesis 11:1-9

  • Genesis 11 uses the same parallel construction, each pair is linked/reflected.  Make some notes for each verse and see if you see the relationships and points being made. 

A        All the earth had one language (Gen.11:1)
      B        there (Gen.11:2)
           C        One to another (Gen.11:3)
                D        Come, let’s make bricks (Gen.11:3)
                     E        Let’s make for ourselves (Gen.11:4)
                          F        A city and a tower
                               G        And the Lord came down to see (Gen. 11:5)
                          F’        The city and the tower (Gen. 11:5)
                      E’        that the humans built (Gen. 11:5)
                D’        Come, let’s confuse (Gen. 11:7)
           C’        everyone the language of his neighbor (Gen. 11:7)
        B’        from there (Gen. 11:8)
A’        (confused) the language of the whole earth (Gen. 11:9)

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