The One Year Chronological Study Bible - Flipbook - Page 9
Cain and Abel
Adam and Eve have children, born in their image and according to their kind— broken image
bearers of God. When the time comes to worship God, Cain offers the fruit of the ground, while
Abel sacrifices the firstborn of his flock. God looks upon Abel’s sacrifice with pleasure, but He
does not accept Cain’s offering. (Perhaps animal sacrifice— which would become central in dealing with sin among God’s people— had already become known as God’s preference for offerings; see the article “Altar People Are Altered People” on page xxx). God confronts an enraged
Cain and warns him to resist sin’s temptation. Cain, however, kills Abel; consequently, God
curses Cain. Cain and his descendants develop a world for themselves apart from the presence
of God.
God replaces Adam and Eve’s dead son with another son, Seth (see Genesis 4:25). Through
this son, the Seed who would crush the head of the serpent would come. Seth’s descendants
begin to worship the Lord by name.
The Flood
The descendants of both Cain and Seth multiply and fill the earth. Genesis 6 seems to indicate
that, over time, Seth’s male descendants notice the beauty of Cain’s female descendants and
begin to intermarry with them, filling the world with violence and corruption. God grieves over
humanity’s wickedness, so He promises to destroy the earth and all its inhabitants with a flood.
Noah, however, finds grace (or favor) with God. God instructs Noah to build a large boat with
enough space for his family, a male and female of every animal, and seven pairs of each clean
animal. Noah believes and obeys God.
All flesh on the earth— every animal and human outside the ark— dies in the flood. And
after they spend a year on the boat, Noah, his family, and all the animals are released by the Lord.
Noah’s first action is to build an altar to the Lord on which he offers clean animals as a burnt
offering. The sacrifice pleases the Lord, who says, “I will never again curse the ground because
of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood” (Genesis 8:21). Noah’s altar and offering echo both Abel’s offering and God’s sacrifice in
the Garden. Noah understands—and has now experienced firsthand—that people are guilty
sinners who deserve to die for their sins. Yet, as will be seen throughout Scripture, God accepts
the substitutionary death of an innocent animal offered in faith.
God makes a covenant with Noah that He will never again destroy the earth by flood. He
places a rainbow in the sky as a sign of His covenant and as a reminder to people of His faithfulness. Whenever God’s people see the rainbow, they can remember this story and God’s faithfulness.
The Tower of Babel
Noah’s sons and their wives begin to repopulate the earth. Their descendants, unwilling to
obey God’s command to fill the earth, stay in one place and build a huge tower called Babel. In
response, the Lord scatters the people over the face of the earth and confuses their language.
TH E CRE ATI ON ER A reveals a God who speaks: He ascribes names, assesses goodness,
gives instructions and boundaries, confronts and judges sin, and promises redemption.
The Creation Era reveals a God who acts: He provides for His image bearers, slays innocent
animals on behalf of sinful people, opens the floodgates of heaven in judgment, and scatters
people throughout the earth.
God reveals Himself as good and just, willing to redeem broken, sinful humanity.
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