Girl Read Your Bible预览

Sin doesn't stop with Adam and Eve, but it's just the beginning of the sinfulness and wickedness of man. Through Adam's one act of disobedience, sin spread to everyone (Romans 5:18). By now, Adam and Eve are out of the Garden of Eden, and they have their first two children, Cain and Abel. Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the land. When it was time for harvest and they were to present their crops as a gift to God, God accepted Abel's gift but not Cain's. Abel gave God the best of what he had to offer—the firstborn of his flock and the richest parts—whereas Cain only presented some of his crops to God. God requires our first and our best. He doesn't want our leftovers, or what we present to Him as an afterthought. In his anger and rage, Cain kills his brother Abel. Cain is then banished from the land and the Lord's presence. Sound familiar? Even in Cain's sinfulness, we see how gracious and merciful God is in the fact that He places a mark on Cain to warn anyone who may try to kill him.

In chapter 5, a shift is about to take place in the narrative as we come to the genealogy of Adam, ending with a man named Noah. Pay attention when you see genealogies; most of the time, it means the story is about to switch up, just like in this instance. Genesis is filled with lots of stories and characters that, as we continue reading, may sound more and more familiar. In chapter 6, we are introduced to Noah, who was righteous and the only blameless man on earth at the time and lived in close fellowship with God (6:9). At this point, only six chapters into the Bible, the wickedness of the world was getting out of hand and becoming increasingly corrupt and evil. What God had once called good had now become filled with sin. Genesis 6:5–6 says,"...He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart." In Genesis 6:2, the phrase"sons of God" is used. According to ancient Jewish and Christian literature, the sons of God were "fallen angels" (rebellious angels against God or demons). These sons of God took wives for themselves and produced children known as Nephilim. It's clear to see that satan tried to ruin God's plan by preventing the seed of the woman (the Messiah) mentioned in Genesis 3:15 from being fulfilled. He tried to send his angels to intermarry with human women to try to corrupt the human bloodline. But we know that even satan's greatest strategies can't compare to the plans and power of God.

Because of the wickedness of the world, God decided to completely wipe out every living creature on the earth. He spared the lives of Noah, his family, and the animals God provided him with. Noah had found favor with God, and because of his obedience and relationship with God, his family was spared as well. God instructs Noah to build an ark (boat) that will keep them safe during the flood. God was very specific in His instructions to Noah, from the type of wood he should use to the exact dimensions it should be. One thing you'll notice about God is He is very specific. The ark had to be built the exact way God commanded Noah so that it could sustain the flood and hold Noah's family and the animals. God didn't leave out any detail. This was not an ordinary boat; this ark was able to carry about 20,000 tons. Noah couldn't just wing it. He had to follow God's directions because I'm pretty sure he had never built anything like this before.