Humanity Outside the Garden
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| Video |
Beginning with the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden, the Primeval History of Genesis lays out a series of different stories intended to show the many different ways in which humanity has turned away from God since our beginnings.
Cain and Abel (4:1-15)
“How is it that Adam and Eve’s first son turned out to be a murderer – and what does this imply about human nature?”
After Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden, they have their first children, Cain and Abel.
“Cain became a farmer and Abel a shepherd.”
One day, the brothers decided to offer a sacrifice to God.
“This is the first act of worship recorded in the Bible.”
“Cain offered God a sacrifice from his crops, and Abel offered God a sacrifice from his herds.”
“God showed a preference for Abel’s offering, and this infuriated his brother.”
“Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’”~~ Genesis 4:6-7
“So, when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’”
~~ Genesis 4:8-9
“Hearing this deceitful and arrogant answer, God sentenced Cain to leave his farmland and be wanderer on the earth.”
Before God sends Cain off to be a restless wanderer, Cain objects, saying that if anyone finds him they will kill him, implying that there were other groups of people on the earth at the time.
God tells Cain that He will place a mark on him so that no one will kill him.
God also says, “Therefore, anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance sevenfold.”
The Kenites
“Cain’s name in Hebrew is also the name of a tribe in the biblical world, the Kenites.”
“The two are spelled differently in English, but in Hebrew the spelling is the same, qayin.”
“The Kenites were a nomadic tribe that lived somewhat to the south of Israel’s settled territory.”
“They are mentioned in several places in the Bible – in the books of Genesis, Numbers, Judges, 1 Samuel, and 1 Chronicles.”
The actions of Cain represent the actions of the Kenites.
The Israelites thought of the Kenites as violent and dangerous people, just like their founder Cain.
The Kenites are also given credit for making major advancements in humanity's technology - according to Genesis they introduced the world to city-building, animal husbandry, bronze-work, iron, and musical instruments. In other words, they were the dominant power-holders of the time.
The Two Genealogies (4:16-5:32)
“Adam and Eve became parents of a third son, named Seth, who was born in the ‘likeness’ and ‘image’ of Adam.”
Genesis chapters 4 and 5 contain two separate genealogies – one listing the descendants of Cain, and the other listing the descendants of Seth.
These two genealogies are very similar to each other, indicating that they are actually two versions of the same account.
These two genealogical lists are similar in nature to the ancient Sumerian record of their ancient kings.
The Sethite line contains a list of ten generations before a Great Flood.
The Sumerian record contains a list of ten generations of kings before the time of a Great Flood.
So many sevens…
The number seven is significant to both the Cainite record and the Sethite record.
Cain’s Lamech says, “If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
Seth’s Lamech lives for 777 years.
Both Lamechs have a list of three sevens in their brief stories.
Increase in wickedness.
Lamech is apparently seventy-seven times more violent than his ancestor Cain or even the violent Kenites.
“The Sethite Genealogy contains long life spans for humanity.”
Enoch
The number 365 is not insignificant. It is indicative that Enoch walked with God every day of the year for as many years as he lived.
Enoch is also the seventh person on the Sethite list.
Methuselah
Methuselah is the son of Enoch and is recorded to have lived for 969 years, making him the oldest person in the biblical record.
A possible translation for the name “Methuselah” is “His death shall bring…” Methuselah’s death falls seven days before the Great Flood.
Lamech
The birth and death of Lamech are key in understanding the complicated series of symbolic numbers found in the Sethite Genealogy.
So how in the world do all of these numbers relate to each other and to Lamech's special death at the age of 777?
Here's how:
56 is the same as 7x7+7
84 is the same as 77+7
Also, Enoch (the seventh generation) is associated with his disappearance at age 365 (which includes one leap year). If you divide those 365 years (minus the 1 leap year) by 7 you come up with 52.
With 52 now symbolically associated with seven, you can say...
7x52+52 = 416
...which means that 416 is now also a symbol of three sets of sevens!
Wickedness in the World (6:1-8)
Sin continued to dominate humanity.
“The story of the marriage between the ‘sons of God’ and ‘daughters of men’ perhaps reflects the view of Israel that in the primeval period sin affected even the divine realm.”
“Divine beings broke the boundaries of their conduct and entered into unholy alliance with the sinful humanity.”
Creation of super-humans?
Discovery of witchcraft?
In this story, after God sees how wicked people have become, He puts a time-limit on them, saying:
“My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
This does mean that people can no longer live past the age of 120, as some have interpreted this passage to say, but rather that humankind will be wiped out at the end of a 120 year grace period by the great flood.
Noah and the Flood (6:9-8:22)
One of the oldest stories found in the Bible.Originated before Israel’s existence, in the time of the ancient Mesopotamians.
Different versions were told by the many people groups who made up the region of the Mesopotamian Valley.
Even ancient people groups as far away as China and Central America have their own versions of the Great Flood.
Evidence for the Flood?
Strong archaeological evidence exists of a great flood throughout ancient Mesopotamia dating to around 2900 B.C.
However, this flood did not cover what we would consider the whole world today, but rather what was considered to be the whole world by the people living in Mesopotamia at the time.The oldest fragments of the story of the Great Flood go back to around the beginning of the 2nd Millennium B.C.
One of the most famous of these Flood Stories was found in the ancient city of Nineveh written in Cuneiform – The Epic of Gilgamesh.
Most scholars believe that the biblical version of the story of the Great Flood used the Epic of Gilgamesh as one of its key references or sources.
Portions of the biblical version of the story are strikingly similar to the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The Story of the Flood (6:9-8:22)
In the story, God sees that the people of the earth have become extremely wicked and violent.
God decides that He is going to destroy the earth with a flood in order to wipe out all of the evil in the world.
God also sees that there is one person on the earth who is not completely wicked – Noah.God tells Noah to build an “ark,” and gives Noah specific instructions on how to accomplish this.
The ark is a large box-shaped boat, resembling a giant coffin, symbolizing death.
Before the flood comes, God sends all kinds of animals to Noah to be brought aboard the ark.
There are two of every kind of animal, one male and one female, brought aboard the ark.
There are seven pairs, however, for every “clean” animal. Clean animals were used for sacrifices.
After they all board the ark, the floods come.
Everything on the earth died – plants, animals, and people.
It rained for a full forty days before finally stopping.The text reads that the ark was adrift on the waters for 150 days before God sent “wind” and the waters began to go down.
The boat came to rest upon the top of the mountains of Ararat.
Like the Gilgamesh Epic, after the ark comes to rest on the mountaintop, Noah sends out birds to see if they will find any other land.
Noah starts with a raven, and then switches over to doves.
On the third try, the dove returns with an olive branch in its beak, indicating that life has returned to the earth.
Eventually, everybody disembarks from the ark.
Creation, Take Two: Death and Resurrection
In this story, we see the opposite of what happens in the story of creation.
In the story of creation the Spirit (or wind) of God is hovering over the waters of primordial chaos, and God enters into the picture and brings order to chaos, creating the heavens and the earth.
In the Flood story, the reversal of this takes place, with God's sustaining Spirit abandoning his creation to destruction and the creation returning to its original state of the primordial waters of chaos.
However, God does not abandon his servants forever to destruction in the ark (or coffin/box), but He sends his wind (spirit) back over the waters of chaos, causing them to recede, and He begins his creation all over again.
The story of the Flood, then, can be understood as a Creation story, or rather a story of New Creation - death and resurrection.
God’s Covenant with Noah (9:1-17)
“The narrative ends with an account of God making a covenant with Noah.”“This is the first covenant mentioned in the Bible.”
The covenant contained:
The promise that God would never again destroy the earth with a flood.
Promise of a predictable and dependable world with seasons and cycles of nature.
The blessing of Noah and his family.
Permission granted to eat meat, but without blood in it.
Establishment of the value and sacredness of human life on the basis of the fact that he made humanity in His image.
“The narrative concludes with the report that God set the rainbow as a sign of His covenant with His creation.”
Parallels in the Gilgamesh Epic and Genesis
Group Discussion: God Kills Everybody
Why does this story paint a picture of such a destructive God?
Why is sin such a big deal to God?
Is God justified in killing everybody?
What was so special about Noah? Was he really that great?
Would God really do something like that, or is this story more reflective of the gods of Israel’s neighbors?
Is the flood story symbolic of something else? If so, what? And how does it relate to us?
The Sons of Noah (9:18-10:32)
“The genealogical record in chapter 10 gives the list of nations that descended from Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”
After the Flood…
Noah plants a vineyard.Noah gets drunk.
Ham sees his dad naked (probably a nasty euphemism).
Ham spreads the word.
Shem and Japheth cover up their dad’s nakedness.
Noah wakes up and finds out what happened while he was sleeping it off.
Noah curses Ham's son Canaan and blesses Shem and Japheth.
Why does Noah curse his grandson instead of his nasty son?
Because this story is also an origins story. It is intended to show the origins of Israel's nasty neighbors - the Canaanites. Why were the Canaanites so perverted? Because the first Canaanite (Canaan) was the son of Ham, Noah's perverted son.
Shem is the ancestor of the Semitic peoples, which include many of the people of the Ancient Near East, including the Israelites.
The Tower of Babel (11:1-26)
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| A Babylonian Ziggurat |
This story explains that all of the people of the Ancient Near East used to speak the same language, but that at some point the people were separated from each other and began speaking in different languages.
This story also appears to be an ancient Hebrew indictment against the structures and practices of ancient Babylon.
Some time after the Flood, humanity moved eastward and settled down in the Plain of Shinar, or Babylonia.
Humanity began to construct large cities and towers using amazing new technology - bricks instead of stones.
Humanity was afraid of becoming scattered, so they decided to make a huge city in order to “make a name” for themselves.
This group of people united to become a superpower in the world.
The people believed that if they could build a tower tall enough, then they could break into the heavens above and become gods themselves.
God comes down to the city to investigate humanity’s big project.
God concludes that humanity needs limits, or else they will be able to achieve anything to which they put their minds.
God confuses everyone’s language so they can’t understand each other.
Construction stops and the tower becomes a joke.
The city comes to be known as Babel after this, which is similar to the Hebrew word for “confused.”
Story ends with a genealogy of the Semitic peoples, ending with Abram son of Terah.
Parallel Structure of Primeval History
Act 1:
A. Waters of Chaos at Creation
B. Blessing on humans
C. Fertility of animals
D. Fertility of humans
E. Dominion over creation
F. A garden planted with tree
G. Awareness of nakedness
H. Covering/concealment of nakedness
I. The acquisition of knowledge
J. Uttering of curses
K. Changed relational status: the man/woman
L. Population of Adam’s family
M. Trouble: Violence and corruption/Nephilim
N. Chaos: The Flood
O. Noah and his sons
Act 2:
A. Waters of Chaos at The Flood
B. Blessing on Noah and his sons
C. Fertility of animals
D. Fertility of Noah and his sons
E. Dominion over creation
F. A vineyard planted
G. Awareness of nakedness
H. Covering/concealment of nakedness
I. The acquisition of knowledge
J. Uttering of a curse
K. Changed relational status: Ham and his brothers
L. Population of Noah’s family
M. Trouble: Tower and city
N. Chaos: Language/dispersion
O. Sons of Shem/Terah/Abram
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Sources
Varughese, Alex, et al. Discovering the Old Testament. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2003.
Kugel, James L. How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture Then and Now. (Free Press: New York): 2008.
Mellish, Dr. Kevin. Lecture on Primeval History, Olivet Nazarene University, 2009.
Mellish, Dr. Kevin. Presentation on Literary Structure of The Primeval History. Presented at The Society of Biblical Literature Conference, Olivet Nazarene University, 2013.
McGovern, John J. "The waters of death." Catholic Biblical Quarterly 21, no. 3 (July 1, 1959): 350-358.
Frymer-Kensky, Tivka. “What the Babylonian Flood Stories Can and Cannot Teach Us About the Genesis Flood.” Biblical Archaeological Society Archive. (Dec 1977).
Brown, Francis; Driver, S.R.; Briggs, Charles A.The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, (Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.: Peabody, MA): 2004.
Timmons, Leonard. From Adam to Noah-The Numbers Game: Why the Genealogy Puzzles of Genesis 5 and 11 Are in the Bible. Sliding Stories, LLC, 2012
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