Promises in the Book of Genesis (Chapters 6-10)

Genesis 6

The promise that the days of man will be 120 years:

6:3 “3 And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

The promise that God would destroy man, beast, creeping thing, and birds because of evil:

6:5-7; 13: ”⁵ Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”; “¹³ And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

The promise that God would destroy the earth with a flood; the promise that God would save Noah, Noah’s wife, Noah’s three sons, and their wives; and the promise that God would save some of every living thing of all flesh:

6:17-20: “17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸ But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.^”

Genesis 8

The promise that as long as the earth remains, God would not curse the ground for man’s sake; that God would not destroy every living thing; and that the seasons and day and night will not cease:

8:21-22: “²¹ And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. ²² “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”

Genesis 9

The promise that all living creatures will be given into man’s hand:

9:1-4: “¹ So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.² And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. ³Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. ⁴ But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.”

The promise that the earth would not be destroyed by a flood again:

9:8-17: “ ⁸ Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: ⁹ “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants fter you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. ¹¹ Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹² And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: ¹³ I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. ¹⁴ It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; ¹⁵ and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

 

Chapters 1-5

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*All Scripture references are taken from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

Let’s Talk About Noah

Teaching my children about God’s Word and hiding it in their hearts is one of the most important tasks I have as a parent. There are so many ways to teach and engage children so that they learn God’s Word, and I want to share a video of one way with you. The video is Ella talking to her dad about one of her favorite Bible stories right now: Noah.  We talk about something like this almost every night before Ella goes to bed, and Ella really loves to talk about these different stories and things from the Bible. Teaching children about the Bible doesn’t always require a formal lesson; rather, it can be something as simple as a conversation.

Let's Talk About Noah from Lisa on Vimeo.

Sin is Sad

Ella’s favorite Bible story right now is the story of Noah and the great flood. She loves to talk about the story every night before she goes to bed as she usually requests: “Talk about Noah!” When we discuss the reason that God brought the flood to the earth, sin (Genesis 6:5-7), Ella promptly responds: “Sin is sad.”

Sin truly is sad. It can be easy to forget the true grief that sin can and does bring into our lives. I think the devil wants us to forget that sin is sad. He wants us to think about the passing pleasure that we might have in sin or even rationalize that sin just isn’t really that bad. But it is.

Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). This has been apparent since the beginning  when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command (Genesis 3). Sin has consequences: most definitely eternal and often even within our physical lives here on earth.

I hope that as a parent I properly convey and teach the seriousness of sin to my children. I do not want to do a disservice to my children by rationalizing sin away, or deemphasizing the importance of obeying God.

Isaiah 59:1-2

“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, That it cannot save, Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.”