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GENESIS – LESSON FOUR

 

I.  THE CHARACTER OF NOAH AND THE WORLD LEADING UP TO THE FLOOD (6:1-22)

A. The World full of evil thinking people and violence (6:1-13)

1. Sons of God (descendants of Seth, 4:26, 5:21,24 29) marry daughters of men (descendants of Cain, 4:19) producing well known mighty men of violence (Nephilim) (v.1-4).

a. “Nephilim” – comes from Hebrew word meaning “to fall”

– either denoting their fallen spiritual character or their violent action of falling on man (cf. Num. 13:33).

b. God decrees that the days of men of flesh would be 120 more years – Jehovah will not strive with man forever.   

2. The wickedness of man is great (v. 5-7)

a. Every imagination of man’s thoughts was only evil continually.   

b. Jehovah repents that he created man – grieved in His heart.  

c. Jehovah determines to destroy men whom he created from face of the ground along with beast, creeping things, and birds.  

3. Noah finds favor with God in the midst of a wicked and violent world (v. 8-13)

a. Noah was a righteous man  

b. Noah was perfect (complete, whole) in his generations

c. Noah walked with God  

d. Noah begets three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

e. Earth corrupt before God and filled with violence – all flesh corrupted their way upon the earth.  

f. God tells Noah that the end of all flesh is before Him – God will destroy all flesh, who has filled the earth with violence, along with the earth.  

B. God instructs Noah to build an ark (6:14-17, “floating box” cf. Exodus 2:3)

4. To be made of gopher wood.  

5. To Contain rooms

6. Pitched within and without with pitch.

7. Dimensions specified: 300 cubits long (450 feet - 1½ football fields); 50 cubits wide (75 feet); 30 cubits high (45 feet)  

8. Opening for light –a window – a cubit from the top.

9. A door made in the side of the ark  

10. Three stories in ark

11. God tells Noah that He will bring the flood upon earth to destroy all flesh in whom is the breath of life –                     everything in the earth shall die.

 

C. God reveals that He will establish His covenant with Noah (6:18-22)             

1. Noah, his sons, his wife, and his son’s wives to come into the ark.  

2. Noah to bring into the ark a pair (male and female) of every kind of bird cattle, creeping things – to keep them alive.  

3. Noah to take food for family and animals.  

4. Noah did according to all that God commanded him to do.  

 

QUESTIONS:  

 

1. Why did the “sons of God” take the “daughters of men”?  

  

2. Who were the “sons of God”?  

 

 3. Were the “Nephilim” giants born as a result of the sexual union between angels (sons of God  - Job. 1:6, 2:1, 38:7) and the         daughters of men?    

  

4. Why in the context of marriage and bearing offspring do you think God says,      “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever…”?  

  

5. What does God mean when He says, “yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years”?

 

6. Why did God “repent” of creating man?  

 

7. What is remarkable about Noah being perfect in his generation?  

  

8. Why was the earth corrupt?  

 

9. Did God command Noah to build an ark to escape a “local flood” or a “universal flood”?  

  

10. How does God commanding Noah to build an ark illustrate “specific” authority in contrast to “generic” authority?  

  

11. How did Noah honor God’s authority?  

  

12. How did Noah illustrate “saving faith”?