Chapter 2: Beginnings Stories of God’s Creation and Promises

Stories of the Origins First part of Genesis (means beginning) is a prehistory of Israel. Various versions of the stories told first by storytellers and folksingers. Scripture writers recorded them around the time of the Babylonian Exile.

A. Creation: Original Goodness 1. Many other ancient groups had a pessimistic view of the world— polytheistic vision that their gods were self-serving, violent and destructive; humans were created to be their slaves. 2. Ancient Jews believed in a wonderful world created by their one, true God. *Read GN 1:1-31; 2:1-4

a. God is good and life is good. 3. Jews held a love for life and the world: a. God is good and life is good. b. Inherent dignity and worth of each human being because we are created in God’s image and likeness. c. We are meant to be caretakers not destroyers of Creation. 4. The Sabbath: a gift of rest—a custom the Jews brought with them into Exile. Genesis writer included it in the Creation story to remind them they were God’s People.

5. Is it Science? a. Creation account meant to convey religious truth (God is source of all goodness) not scientific fact. b. We believe that there is no contradiction between the biblical story and the theory of evolution.

2. The Fall/Original Sin = the sin of trying to be equal to God. B. Adam and Eve: Sin Enters the World 1. Second of the Creation accounts. Each account contributes some valuable religious truth. *Read GN 2:4-25; 3:1-24 2. The Fall/Original Sin = the sin of trying to be equal to God.

C. Sin’s Spread: Cain and Abel 3. Human freedom and suffering— our gift of freedom allows us to choose the good or evil—therefore injustice/suffering in the world is a result of our choices not God’s doing. C. Sin’s Spread: Cain and Abel 1. Sin spreads in the world—first murder over jealousy and anger. *Read GN 4:1-16

D. More Sin and a Promise: Noah and the Flood 1. Noah finds favor with God— commanded to build the ark and save creation. 2. God’s first Covenant with Noah *Read GN chaps. 6-8; 9:1-17

4. The rainbow: A sign of promise 3. God’s word saves us—religious truth is whoever hears and obeys God’s word will be saved and whoever does not, will be lost. 4. The rainbow: A sign of promise A sign of God’s love for every creature on earth; a promise that never again will the world be destroyed by a flood.

E. An Arrogant World: The Tower of Babel 1. Humans again presume to be equal with God on a national scale: they try to build a tower with its top in the heavens so they can “make a name for themselves.” * Read GN 11:1-9 2. God is appalled by their arrogance and stops them by confusing their language and dispersing the peoples.

3. Religious truth is shown how sin. has affected even the behavior of 3. Religious truth is shown how sin has affected even the behavior of the nations to seek glory in power, might, wealth, superiority, and dominance without a thought for God. 4. First 11 chapters of Genesis tell about God’s purpose for the world and how we humans sin by arrogantly choosing to try to be God’s equal.