Genesis - Lesson 3

Lesson 3 Lesson 3
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

TEXT: Genesis 5 & 6

SEARCHING OUR MEMORIES
1. Discuss what you chose to do from last week's "Searching Our Lives" suggestions.
2. Discuss what your impressions are of our Great God and how in the midst of sin and separation you see the beginnings of the beautiful gospel story. Share your thoughts and emotions on the love and longing you see on God's part that are extended to all mankind. Feel free to incorporate other Scriptures that support your observations of Genesis 3 and 4.
SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES
1. With which son of Adam does this genealogy concern itself?
2. What did God do immediately after he created Adam and Eve?
3. In verse 2, what name did he give them?
4. In whose image and likeness was Seth? (verse 3)
5. At what point in Enoch's life did he walk with God? (verse 22)
6. What happened to Enoch?
7. What was Methuselah's relationship to Noah?
  Some scholars say that the name Methuselah means "when he is gone, judgment will come" or "when he dies, then the sending forth." This would make the naming of Methuselah by Enoch a prophetic statement about the coming destruction of the flood. Adding up the years listed in this genealogy, we find that Methuselah died in the year of the flood. We don't know if he died in the flood or just before the flood. Could it be that Methuselah watched his grandson construct the ark or perhaps even helped out a bit? We don't know, but it is interesting to think about!
8. How many years did Methuselah live?
9. What did Lamech say that Noah would do?
10. What phrase do you see repeated over and over again in chapter 5?
  (vv. 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, 31)
11. What limits did the Lord place on the years of men? (6:3)
12. In 6:5, what did the Lord see?
13. What grieved God? (6:6)
14. How is Noah described in verses 8 and 9?
15. How does the Lord characterize the state of things on earth in verses 11 and 12?
16. What did God decide to do?
17. What was the ark to be made of?
  Scholars are in disagreement about what type of wood gopher wood is or even if it exists today. It could have been a type of wood that existed in pre-flood times, or some have said that it refers to cypress or acacia wood. We don't really know.
  Some interesting stuff about the ark from bigpond.com:
  "Genesis 6:15 in the Bible tells us the Ark's dimensions were at least 135 meters long (300 cubits), 22.5 meters wide (50 cubits), and 13.5 meters high (30 cubits). That's 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high! It could have been larger because several larger-sized cubits were used. But the 45-centimeter (18-inch) cubit is long enough to show the enormous size of the Ark.
  (A cubit was the length of a man's arm from fingertips to elbow.)
  Noah's Ark was three stories high (Genesis 6:16). Its total deck area was equivalent to the area of about 20 standard college basketball courts or 36 lawn tennis courts. The world had to wait until AD 1884 before the Ark's size was exceeded, when the Italian liner Eturia was built.
  The rectangular dimensions of the Ark show an advanced design in ship-building. Its length of six times its width and 10 times its height would have made it amazingly stable on the ocean. Remember it was made more for floating than sailing, because it wasn't headed anywhere. The Ark was made to withstand a turbulent ocean voyage, not to be at a certain place at a certain time."
18. What was the covenant between Noah, Noah's family, and God? (verses 18-22)
19. 1. How many people were aboard the ark?
  2. Who were they?
20. What is said of Noah's attention to God's instructions? (verse 22)
MAKING THE CONNECTION
1. 1. What Bible characters from Genesis chapter 5 are also found in Hebrews 11?
  2. What do they all have in common, according to Chapter 11?
2. In Luke chapter 3, we find another genealogy. Which son of Noah does the lineage of Jesus come through?
3. What new information do we learn about Noah's pre-flood activities in 2 Peter 2:5?
SEARCHING THE HEART
1. Genesis 6:1-4 is interesting and confusing. What do you think it means?
2. Reread Genesis 5:1-3. Discuss in what ways we are in the image of God as well as in the image of our parents.
3. Why do you think that Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah (5:22)?
  What types of changes have you noticed in people after they have had children?
4. Putting yourself in Noah's place, what do you think were some of the physical, social, economic and spiritual obstacles that Noah was able to overcome in order to do everything "just as God commanded him"? Are any of these obstacles to our obedience today?
SEARCHING OUR LIVES (Choose one of the following to complete and discuss for next week.)
1. Think of a way that you can walk closer with God this week, and share with your group what you did.
2. Since this chapter makes the point that everyone dies, contemplate this fact and write your own obituary as you would like to be remembered.
3. Think about some people who are in your genealogy and how their lives may have affected your life. Are there any "men of renown" in your genealogy?

Lesson 4

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