She Was Very Fair

Genesis 12:11-19

And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.

And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

The Beginning of the Promise: Get Out

Genesis 11:31-12:5

And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

Lot started out going with Abram.

Now Nothing Will Be Restrained From Them

Genesis 11:1-9

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now no thing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

The Nations Divided

Genesis 10:15-32

Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.

And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.

These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.

Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.

And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.

And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.

And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.

These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

The Mighty Hunter Before the Lord

Genesis 10:8-9

Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

The Origin of Nations

Genesis 10:1-5

Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 

• And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. 
  
• And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
  

By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

My Bow in the Cloud

Genesis 9:13

I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

God has a covenant with his creation.

The Blood, The Life

Genesis 9:4

But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

God doesn't wait until Leviticus to tell us this.

Swarm the Earth

Genesis 9:1

God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Three times, God tells us to reproduce.

Again!

Genesis 9:7

And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

Swarm the earth!!

No warnings about overpopulation here!

No Additional Curse

Genesis 8:20-22

And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

While the earth remaineth,

• seedtime and harvest, and 
  
• cold and heat, and 
  
• summer and winter, and 
  
• day and night 
  

shall not cease.

No amount of global warming will disrupt seasons.

The Waters Weave

Genesis 7:24-8:1

And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged

And thus began the Ice Age.

7918: A primitive root; to weave (that is, lay ) a trap; figuratively (through the idea of secreting ) to allay (passions; physically abate a flood).

Every Living Substance

Genesis 7:4

For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

Genesis 7:23

And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

God kept His promise.  He does that.

The Waters Prevailed

Genesis 7:17-20

And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

Five times does it say the waters prevailed!

Actually, it says the waters multiplied and became strong, and then reiterates both of those by saying they happened exceedingly, or a lot!

Today we would say exponentially!

It wasn't just a lot of water. It was now the sea with whole new characteristics as they had never seen before.

600-2-17

Genesis 7:11

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Some observations:

• Noah knew his birthday.
  
• Noah numbered his days.
  
• Noah knew the exact date the flood began.
  

This is a very precise account.

The fountains of the great deep broke up before the windows of heaven were opened.  Perhaps one caused the other.

Keep Seed Alive

Genesis 7:1-3

And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

In addition to his promise to destroy, God also promises here to rebuild.

The First Covenant Promised

Genesis 6:18

But with thee will I establish my covenant

1285: From 1262 (in the sense of cutting (like 1254)); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh).

1262: A primitive root; to select; also (as denominative from 1250) to feed; also (as equivalent to 1305) to render clear (Ec 3:18).

1254: A primitive root; (absolutely) to create; (qualified) to cut down (a wood), select, feed (as formative processes).


In looking at the origin of this word covenant, it almost seems to foreshadow the marriage supper of the Lamb!

Destroyed with the Earth

Genesis 6:11-13

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Grace Before Righteousness

Genesis 6:8

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Genesis 7:1

And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

Noah found grace before Noah was found righteous.

God did not save Noah because Noah was righteous.

God found Noah righteous because God had given him grace.

Only Evil Continually

Genesis 6:5

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Only: leanness
Evil: breaking to pieces
Continually: heat (of the day)

Every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was lean evil all day long.

Being evil in a lean manner implies an exclusive focus intent on efficiently being nothing but evil.

This is the prelude to the deluge.

120 Years Max

Genesis 6:3

And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

Comfort Concerning Work

Genesis 5:28-29

And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.

God Took Him

Genesis 5:22-23

And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 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.

When God Kneels

Genesis 5:2

Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

1288: A primitive root; to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit); also (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as treason).

Accosting God

Genesis 4:26

And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.

About that word 'call,' the lexicon says 7121 is "rather identical with 7122 through the idea of accosting a person met."

Why then?

Possible reasons:

• God had stopped appearing on the earth (as he did to Adam and Cain).
• The first grandchild was born.
  
• The housing, music and metal industries were established.
• The first man, Adam, died (of natural causes).
  
• or simply, it was God's timing for no other reason than that (it was anyway).
• or something else I'm missing.

Disruptions in our relationships can drive us closer to God. 

Allow them to in your life, too!

Genesis 5:1-11

This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.

And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.

Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.

Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan. After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.

During the lifetime of Enosh:

• The first man died (of natural causes).
• Cainan was born.
• God took Enoch.

The Metal Industry is Born

Genesis 4:22

And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron.

Every craftsman! This is a man who knew his trade.

The Music Industry is Born

Genesis 4:21

His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute.

Music runs in the family!

The Housing Industry is Born

Genesis 4:20

And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.

Farmers, the people outdoors, were the first to live indoors.

Interesting.

Settling Among the Unsettled

Genesis 4:16

Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.

Two choices:

1. The presence of the LORD
2. The land of wandering

The Strength of the Ground

Genesis 4:12

“When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you.

God had given man the strength of the ground. When Cain in disobedience insisted on offering that strength to God as a sacrifice, and then sinned in defiance, God took away that strength.

Sometimes our best is an abomination to God.

Our identity is not to be wrapped up in what we do best. God does not want our best. God wants us. Our identity is solely in Him.

The Voice of His Blood

Genesis 4:10

And He said, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.

Cain was a tiller of the ground, and now that same ground is crying out against him.

To think that our sin will not affect the rest of our lives is a grave mistake.