Genesis 17:9-14

⁹ God said further to Abraham, "Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ "This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ "And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² "And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. ¹³ "A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ "But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."

One is apt to look at this passage and say, "what in the world does this have to do with anything?" It's all about keeping a covenant. Time and time again, God had reaffirmed His promise to Abram. What had it cost Abram? So far, he had to move to a new land, which is no small task. But that wouldn't do as a symbol of the covenant for future generations, so the Israelites became a people of circumcision. Today, God doesn't ask our males to be circumcised to prove we love Him. But He still puts a mark on our lives. We are to live different than the world around us. We are not to be the same as everyone else. We, as Christians, dedicate our lives to Him.

Genesis 17:1-8

¹ Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him,

"I am God Almighty;
Walk before Me, and be blameless.
² "I will establish My covenant between Me and you,
And I will multiply you exceedingly."

³ Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

⁴ "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.
⁵ "No longer shall your name be called ¹Abram,
But your name shall be ²Abraham;
For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

⁶ "I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. ⁷ "I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. ⁸ "I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."

An encounter with God is a humbling thing. God tells Abram to walk before Him, and be blameless. Abram knew his life had not been blameless, and he had certainly forgotten God's plan and promise several times. Yet God was still going to keep His promise, and He still wanted to bless Abram. The result, Abram falls on his face, prostrate before the one and only almighty God. When we see what God intends to do in our lives, that He still wants to use these fragile, earthen vessels, it is indeed the most humbling experience. What else can we do, but fall on our face, and worship Him?

Genesis 16:7-16

⁷ Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai." ⁹ Then the angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority." ¹⁰ Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count." ¹¹ The angel of the LORD said to her further,

"Behold, you are with child,
And you will bear a son;
And you shall call his name ¹Ishmael,
Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.
¹² "He will be a wild donkey of a man,
His hand will be against everyone,
And everyone's hand will be against him;
And he will live to the east of all his brothers."

¹³ Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees"; for she said, "Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?" ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called ²Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

Shock and surprise.  God meets Hagar while she is fleeing from Abram and Sarai, and what does He tell her to do? Go back. Sometimes, God's chosen ones make mistakes; big ones. But so long as God sees fit to continue using them, we aren't the ones to rebel against their authority. God will discipline them, and He won't allow His plan to be defeated.

Genesis 16:1-6

¹ Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. ²So Sarai said to Abram, "Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. ⁴ He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight. ⁵ And Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the LORD judge between you and me." ⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight." So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.

Even after God had affirmed His promise to Abram, and had been with him through all sorts of trouble, Abram became impatient (it was taking a rather long time for them to have children). So, Sarai had an idea. Abram listened to the horrible idea, and had a child with Sarai's maid Hagar. Now, had that been God's plan, things would have been fine and dandy. But this was Abram and Sarai's plan, and things would only get worse from here. Hagar berates Sarai, and Sarai (with the blessing of Abram) then kicks Hagar out of the house. As we'll see later, this is just the beginning of bad blood between Sarai and Hagar. Lesson to learn: don't try to make God's plan happen. He'll take care of it just fine. Odds are, you'll only make matters worse when you do.

Genesis 15:12-21

¹² Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. ¹⁴ "But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. ¹⁵ "As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ "Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."

¹⁷ It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,

"To your descendants I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:

¹⁹ the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite ²⁰ and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim ²¹ and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite."

Here we see God reaffirming His promise to Abram yet again. Also, He clarifies the promise, which He often does as we journey through life. Originally, God told Abraham that all the land he could see would belong to his descendants. Now, God actually sets some boundaries and borders. When you start to feel discouraged, keep going, the picture will get clearer the closer you get.

Genesis 15:1-11

¹ After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying,

"Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great."

² Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" ³ And Abram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir." ⁴Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." ⁵ And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." ⁶ Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. ⁷ And He said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it." ⁸ He said, "O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?" ⁹ So He said to him, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon." ¹⁰ Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. ¹¹ The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

You don't have to look far in this passage to find encouragement. We serve the same God that Abram served, and He will be our shield as well. But God didn't stop there with just promises. He had already protected Abram when he went to rescue Lot, but Abram's fears were something deeper. He had no children, yet God had promised him a nation of descendants. And so God reaffirmed His promise to Abram that his descendants would be as the stars of the sky.

Genesis 14:17-24

¹⁷ Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). ¹⁸ And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. ¹⁹ He blessed him and said,

"Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
²⁰ And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand."
He gave him a tenth of all.

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself." ²² Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, `I have made Abram rich.' ²⁴ "I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share."

It's pretty amazing that Abram was willing to part with his just rewards, even when they were freely offered by those whom he had helped. He knew the promise of God was worth so much more, that he didn't need anything more than what God would give him.

Genesis 14:1-16

¹ And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, ² that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³ All these came as allies to the valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴ Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶ and the Horites in their Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness. ⁷ Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and conquered all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in Hazazon-tamar. ⁸ And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they arrayed for battle against them in the valley of Siddim, ⁹ against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar--four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country. ¹¹ Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed. ¹² They also took Lot, Abram's nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.

¹³ Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were allies with Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. ¹⁶ He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the people.

This just amazes me. All these kings come together in battle, four against five. The four have been on a rampage, and the five can't stand against them, and the tar pits claim several of them. They carry Abram's nephew, Lot, away with them, and that's where they made a mistake. Abram hears about it, and gathers his men, all 318 of them, and pursues the four kings. With 318 men. Now surely, the four kings' army must have been lessened a little bit, but you've got to think they are still a force to be reckoned with. Certainly not something to go after with 318 men. That wasn't a problem for Abram though, because he knew the hand of God was upon him, and his nephew was in danger. With 318 men, Abram defeated the four kings and rescued Lot. How's that for the power of God?

Genesis 13:8-18

⁸ So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. ⁹ "Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left." ¹⁰ Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere--this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah--like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. ¹² Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD.

¹⁴ The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; ¹⁵ for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. ¹⁶ "I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. ¹⁷ "Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you." ¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.

After Abram went back to the beginning, he was much more focused on what God had promised. Thus, when there was strife between himself and Lot, and it became necessary to separate, he didn't concern himself with which land was better. He knew that God would take care of him, no matter where he dwelt in Canaan. He resolved a very sticky situation by keeping his eyes on the promise, and not getting concerned with his own 'needs'.

Genesis 13:1-7

¹ So Abram went up from Egypt to the ¹Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.

² Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. ³ He went on his journeys from the ²Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. ⁵ Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. ⁷ And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land.

Abram made a smart move here. He had played the fool in Egypt because he forgot God's promise to him. So the logical thing to do, is to go back to the beginning. Well, not quite the very beginning, but to where he first entered the land of Canaan and set up camp. Sometimes we lose sight of the things that God has done for us and the things He has promised us. When that happens, the best thing to do, is to go back to the beginning. That's not necessarily always the point of salvation, but it is the point at which we knew for sure that God loved us and cared about us, and would do what He promised.

Genesis 12:10-20

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ It came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; ¹² and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, `This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ "Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you." ¹⁴ It came about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. ¹⁶ Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels.

¹⁷ But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. ¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ "Why did you say, `She is my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go." ²⁰ Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.

I think it is just plain human-nature to have a sense of self-preservation, but Abram forgot one critical thing. He had the promise of God almighty that He was going to make Abram into a great nation. He obviously forgot that as he was traveling to Egypt. God would have taken care of him, even in a foreign land. Instead, he made himself look like a fool in front of Pharaoh.

Genesis 12:1-9

¹ Now the LORD said to Abram,

"Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father's house,
To the land which I will show you;
² And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
³ And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

⁴ So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. ⁷ The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. ⁸ Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. ⁹Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the ¹Negev.

This is why Abram gets mentioned in the 'faith chapter'. When God asked him to pick up his things and go, he didn't question what the purpose was, he just went. He was apparently so convinced that following God was the right thing to do, that he got his nephew to come with also. When God asks us to do something, are we this obedient?

Genesis 11:10-32

¹⁰ These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; ¹¹ and Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹² Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah; ¹³ and Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Shelah, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber; ¹⁵ and Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Eber, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg; ¹⁷ and Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu; ¹⁹ and Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Reu, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁰ Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug; ²¹ and Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he became the father of Serug, and he had other sons and daughters.

²² Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor; ²³ and Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁴ Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah; ²⁵ and Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁶ Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

²⁷ Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot. ²⁸ Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹ Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. ³² The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

It has often been surmised that Terah, Abram's father, had been called by God to move to Canaan, and become the father of Israel. However, he stopped in Haran, and never made it to Canaan. For whatever reason, something kept him from fulfilling his destiny. Be careful that you are listening to the voice of God, and that you finish what He has asked you to do. If you don't, you won't have much of a legacy to leave behind.

Genesis 11:1-9

¹ Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. ² It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. ⁴ They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." ⁵ The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶ The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech." ⁸ So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called ¹Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

What was the sin that the people of Babel had committed? Was it wanting to reach heaven? Was it wanting to see God? I would hope not. Rather, it was wanting to be like God. They didn't want to build a tower to heaven to fellowship with God. They wanted to build a tower to be on the same level as God. They had become prideful (and possibly incited by the rebellious Nimrod), and decided the only way to properly express how great they were was to build a tower and ascend to heaven. God didn't create us to compete with Him, we were created to have fellowship with Him. However, when we get our eyes stuck on ourselves and how much we've accomplished, pride kicks in and makes us do some pretty foolish things. Keep your eyes focused on God, and you won't waste your time building monuments to your success. You'll be too busy building the Kingdom of God.

Genesis 10:15-32

¹⁵ Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth ¹⁶ and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite ¹⁷ and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite ¹⁸ and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad. ¹⁹ The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ²⁰ These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations.

²¹ Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born. ²²The sons of Shem were Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad and Lud and Aram. ²³ The sons of Aram were Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash. ²⁴ Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber.²⁵ Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. ²⁶ Joktan became the father of Almodad and Sheleph and Hazarmaveth and Jerah ²⁷and Hadoram and Uzal and Diklah ²⁸ and Obal and Abimael and Sheba ²⁹ and Ophir and Havilah and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰ Now their settlement extended from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the hill country of the east. ³¹ These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, according to their nations.

³² These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.

Here we are seeing the forefathers of a lot of the people groups that show up later in the Bible. Particularly the Canaanites, which apparently were so evil, that God decided to have the Israelites completely wipe them out, and take over their land. Also, we find a contemporary of Nimrod here: Peleg. It is assumed that 'the earth being divided' refers to the incident at the Tower of Babel when God confused the languages of the people building the tower. It is too bad that's all Peleg was known for is being alive during the days of division. How would you like that to be your legacy? No, you wouldn't, so don't let it be. Serve God with all your heart, and run the race He has set before you with endurance, so that you might leave behind a legacy better than Peleg's.

Genesis 10:1-14

¹ Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood.

² The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras. ³ The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah. ⁴ The sons of Javan were Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim. ⁵ From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

⁶ The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan. ⁷ The sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. ⁸ Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD." ¹⁰ The beginning of his kingdom was ¹Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ¹¹ From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, ¹² and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. ¹³ Mizraim became the father of Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim ¹⁴ and Pathrusim and Casluhim (from which came the Philistines) and Caphtorim.

Of course, Nimrod is the one who stands out here. He is said to be a mighty hunter, and then it adds 'before the Lord'. I always had thought it meant that in a good way, but after a little bit of research, it is said to imply 'in the face of the Lord', or 'in defiance of the Lord'. Being a powerful man, Nimrod became obsessed with power, and started the first kingdom, and built many cities. It is thought that he was the one who started the building of the tower of Babel. There are various other evils attached to his name by other sources. This seems a little surprising, since he was the great-grandson of Noah. One would think there would be a little more fear of God in him. Instead, he urged people to cast off that fear, and worship Nimrod the King instead. It becomes plainer, then, why we call a foolish person a 'nimrod'. Don't be a nimrod, obsessed with power and fame. Worship God, and He'll take care of the rest.

Genesis 9:18-29

¹⁸ Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. ¹⁹ These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

²⁰ Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. ²¹ He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. ²³ But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness. ²⁴ When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. ²⁵ So he said,

"Cursed be Canaan;
¹A servant of servants
He shall be to his brothers."

²⁶ He also said,

"Blessed be the LORD,
The God of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.
²⁷ "May God enlarge Japheth,
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant."

²⁸ Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. ²⁹ So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

At times, we may be tempted to think that if no one sees our sin, it's not a big deal. We cover it up, and move on. But God sees it, and sin gone unrepented will come back upon our heads. Likewise, it is common in our society (America) to not want to be a 'tattle-tale' when we have been a witness to an act of sin/crime. However, as we see in this passage, there are blessings to be had for doing the right thing. They may not be immediate, and there may even be some negative consequences for making sin known. At the end of the day, God sees it all, and rewards the just and the unjust for their action. Where will you stand on that day?

Genesis 9:8-17

⁸ Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, ⁹ "Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after 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 comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. ¹¹ "I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth." ¹² God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; ¹³ I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. ¹⁴ "It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will 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; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon 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."

Did God put the rainbow in the sky to remind Himself of the covenant He made? I think not. It was to remind Noah, and everyone after him, including me, of God's enduring faithfulness. When He makes a promise, He will bring it to pass.

Genesis 9:1-7

¹ And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. ² "The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. ³ "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. ⁴ "Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. ⁵ "Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man.

⁶ "Whoever sheds man's blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For in the image of God
He made man.
⁷ "As for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."

Every life is valuable. Even when we may look at someone and think they have no value to society, God says that they have value. On the other side, if we feel like we are hopeless, and beyond reach, God is still reaching out to His valued creation.

Genesis 8:13-22

¹³ Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up. ¹⁴ In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. ¹⁵Then God spoke to Noah, saying, ¹⁶ "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁷ "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." ¹⁸ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. ¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

²² "While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
And cold and heat,
And summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease."

Wow, what a statement. God flooded the earth because of the evil of mankind in the first place. After it is all done, He says that it won't happen again. But it isn't because Noah's descendants will do better than those before him. It is in spite of that. We see that God says, "for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth..." God knew things would eventually go back to where they were, but He already had a plan in motion for the redemption of sinners. Paul said, "all have sinned" and God certainly knew that would be the case. He chose to save and redeem us anyway.

Genesis 8:1-12

¹ But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. ² Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained; ³ and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased. ⁴ In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

⁶ Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; ⁷ and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; ⁹ but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. ¹⁰ So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. ¹¹ The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. ¹² Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.

You don't have to look far for encouragement here. "But God remembered Noah..." He never forgot Noah, and He protected Noah through the entire flood. He will never forget us either. No matter how bleak we think the future looks, God knows what is coming, and He will remember us in our 'flood'.

Genesis 7:13-24

¹³ On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, ¹⁴ they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds. ¹⁵ So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. ¹⁶ Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him.

¹⁷ Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. ¹⁸ The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. ¹⁹ The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. ²⁰ The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. ²¹ All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; ²² of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. ²³ Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. ²⁴ The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

When God does something, He does it right, and He does it completely. The floodwaters rose to cover the mountains, and then they rose another fifteen cubits. While it isn't particularly exciting to think about God destroying all flesh from the earth, it does teach us that He can be depended on. When God says He will do something, there need be no doubt. He will do it, and not just halfway. As Paul said, "He who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it."

Genesis 7:1-12

¹ Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time. ² "You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; ³ also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ "For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made." ⁵ Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him.

⁶ Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. ⁷ Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹ there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. ¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. ¹² The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

God made sure He took care of Noah and his family. The 'clean' animals were the ones good for eating, and God took special care that there should be more of those than any other animals. He took care of Noah, He'll take care of me, and He'll take care of you too.

Genesis 6:13-22

¹³ Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵ "This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred ¹cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶ "You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷ "Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. ¹⁸"But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁹ "And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰ "Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keepthem alive. ²¹ "As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them." ²² Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

It is no wonder that God chose Noah, when we read the last verse. He was willing to do everything and anything that God commanded him. How often can I say that? Wow, I think that's enough to chew on for today.

Genesis 6:1-12

¹ Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, ²that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. ³ Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵ Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ The LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

⁹ These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. ¹⁰ Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

As much as Noah's family preserved the memory of who God was, the rest of mankind was the opposite. This passage emphasizes that point several times. All mankind had become evil in their hearts. Even though Noah and his family found favor in the eyes of God, they either didn't do a very good job of influencing their neighbors, or their neighbors were just beyond hope by this time. At any rate, we know what happened next, and even though God promised he would never do it again, it is a call to action for us today. We could very easily say today that 'all flesh has corrupted their way upon the earth.' It certainly seems that way, but God has lain it upon us to try and spread the gospel. There is no plan B now, we are it.

Genesis 5:18-32

¹⁸ Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹ Then Jared lived eight hundred years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters. ²⁰ So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.

²¹ Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. ²² Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. ²³ So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

²⁵ Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamech. ²⁶ Then Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters. ²⁷ So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.

²⁸ Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son. ²⁹ Now he called his name Noah, saying, "This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed." ³⁰ Then Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters. ³¹ So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.

³² Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Now here's a real tidbit buried in a genealogy. "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." It would seem that Seth's descendants were doing pretty well in their relationships with God. So much so, that God spared Enoch from death, and just took him straight up to heaven. Enoch is one of two people in the entire Bible that never died. That's quite a legacy. Too bad that he only gets four verses in the spotlight, so that we know very little about him otherwise.

Continuing on, we find someone we know plenty about: Noah. When his father named him, he believed Noah would be a relief from all their toil. I don't know about that, but he certainly loved God, and he was also likely a good son to his parents. Lest we get caught up in the awesomeness of these folks in the Bible, remember that they were just ordinary people. Just like us. Now there's a challenge for you.

Genesis 5:1-17

¹ This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. ² He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them ¹Man in the day when they were created.

³ When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he ²became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. ⁵ So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

⁶ Seth lived one hundred and five years, and became the father of Enosh. ⁷ Then Seth lived eight hundred and seven years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters. ⁸ So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

⁹ Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰ Then Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters. ¹¹ So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

¹² Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³ Then Kenan lived eight hundred and forty years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

¹⁵ Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Jared. ¹⁶ Then Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.

I knew this day would come, but usually there's something you can learn in a geneology. This one, however, is pretty sparse. The only tidbit is the part at the beginning where it reminds us that Adam was created in the image of God. Then it tells us Adam had a son, born in his image and likeness. Interestingly, it skips Cain and Abel. Abel is understandable, since he died without children. It skips Cain presumably because he was a murderer, and his descendants don't seem to be very God-fearing people. So we have Seth, the one whose descendants had to carry on the remembrance of who God is. Given their lifespans, there was plenty of time to forget, but also plenty of time to grow closer to God and learn about Him. I cheated just a little and peaked ahead a few verses. Tomorrow we'll find out how well they did at passing down the torch.

Genesis 4:16-25

¹⁶ Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷ Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son. ¹⁸ Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech. ¹⁹Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹ His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. ²² As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives,

"Adah and Zillah,
Listen to my voice,
You wives of Lamech,
Give heed to my speech,
For I have killed a man for wounding me;
And a boy for striking me;
²⁴ If Cain is avenged sevenfold,
Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."

²⁵ Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, "God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him." ²⁶ To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD.

We don't really have much idea of the time frame here, but we are given a listing of several generations of Cain's descendants, and then we find out about the firstborn of Seth, Adam and Eve's third son. Regardless, it seems that the children of Cain did not 'call upon the name of the LORD.' It was not until Enosh was born that men returned to God. Cain, and presumably even Adam and Eve, had some issues here. Even though they had lost the intimate fellowship with God, they could still pray to him, and Abel had apparently done so, hence his sacrifice to God. But no one had until Enosh was born, likely a hundred years or more after Abel died. We (through Jesus) have the ability to come into God's presence even closer than they did. Don't wait for something great (or horrible) to happen before you pray. As it says in Thessalonians, we should always be praying. We should always be communicating with our God. Press in, and see what God will do.

Genesis 4:1-15

¹ Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD." ² Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³ So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. ⁴ Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; ⁵ but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. ⁶ Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." ⁸ Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

⁹ Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" ¹⁰ He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground. ¹¹"Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. ¹² "When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth." ¹³ Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is too great to bear! ¹⁴ "Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." ¹⁵ So the LORD said to him, "Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.

Even after Cain had done all these things, God still showed mercy to him. He wasn't willing that Cain should be killed, and so he put a mark on him to protect him from those that would seek to take his life. We are often shown great mercy by God, and our punishment never fits the crime. As it says in a VeggieTales video. He's the God of second chances. We should take advantage of that (not in a bad way), and use our second chances to do something for God.

Genesis 3:16-24

¹⁶ To the woman He said,

"I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you."

¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, `You shall not eat from it';

Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you will eat of it
All the days of your life.
¹⁸ "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you will eat the plants of the field;
¹⁹ By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread,
Till you return to the ground,
Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return."

²⁰ Now the man called his wife's name ¹Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. ²¹ The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

²² Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- ²³ therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

It is interesting here that God didn't just destroy the Garden of Eden. So where is it? I'm sure I'm not the only one to ask that, and I have a hypothesis. Please note this isn't anything like authoritative doctrine. I think it only exists in the spiritual realm now. So why was it guarded? I'll get to that in a second.

The worst part about being banned from the garden wasn't losing the fresh produce. It wasn't the curses that God put on Adam and Eve. It wasn't the hard work to get food, or the labor of child birth. It was the loss of fellowship with God. Remember, Adam and Eve talked daily with God before they sinned. They had full access to the spiritual realm, and likely could see spiritual things with their physical eyes. Later on, when Moses wanted to see God, he was only allowed to look upon the remnant of God's glory after He passed by. Imagine being blind for a hundred years, and then suddenly having your eyes opened while looking straight at the sun in all it's noonday glory. Then multiply that by some ludicrous amount, and you might have an idea what it would have been like for Moses to see the face of God.

But Adam had seen that face. He had never been blind before, until he ate the fruit. He gained the ability to see right and wrong, and lost his spiritual sight, although it may not have been immediate. It may have been a gradual thing, caused by the loss of fellowship with God. Mankind was essentially living in darkness, with never a glimpse of the sun (God). While physical sight would be enhanced and grow, the ability to see spiritual things (if not lost immediately), would lessen with each passing day. But in the meantime, and angel was sent to guard the garden, lest Adam and Eve gain immortality via the Tree of Life.

Let us never grow accustomed to the darkness of mere physical life. Let us always yearn and strive for glimpses of the light of God. One day, we'll have our sight completely restored, until then, let us press onward to the light.

Genesis 3:8-15

⁸ They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" ¹⁰ He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." ¹¹ And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" ¹² The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." ¹³ Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." ¹⁴ The LORD God said to the serpent,

"Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel."

Why are people always passing the blame? From the beginning, the very first sin, Adam, and then Eve, passes the blame, hoping their punishment will be less because it was someone else's fault. The truth of the matter is that you are responsible for your own choices (and so were they). They had no excuse for what they had done (as God knew full well). Next time you're tempted to blame someone else for your own bad choices, don't. Take the high road, and people might even thank you for it.

As an additional insight, my boss (at a former job) once told me that a supervisor is responsible for all the choices their employees make. It goes a long way, and protects those under you when you take responsibility for things that have gone wrong. Even if it isn't directly your fault, it can help smooth things out when you don't appear to be passing the buck (even when it should be, by all rights).