BGCT: DSM: Old Testament Text: Lecture 8: The Fall of Man

Index/Table of Contents
Old Testament and New Testament
Credits and Copyright

PENTATEUCH

LECTURE 7

THE FALL OF MAN - (GEN. 2:4-11:26)

Students will be able to

1. identify five events which are covered in this passage.

2. discuss the nature of sin as described in this passage.

3. discuss why God chose to use a destructive flood to bring about His ultimate plan.

Content of Lecture

I. Creation (1:1-2:3) (Covered in previous lecture.)

II. The Account (Toledoth) 1 of Heavens and Earth (Gen. 2:4-4:26)

A. Creation of Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:4-2:25)

1. God creates Adam from the dust of the ground. Man becomes a living being. The dust may represent the physical nature of man while the breath of God may represent the spiritual nature of man. Adam literally means "man" in Hebrew. The word translated "living being" or "soul" in verse 7 is the Hebrew word "nephesh" which refers to everything that makes up a man: his total being.

2. Garden of Eden created as the home for Adam and Eve. "Eden" literally means "delight" or "enchantment" or "pleasure." Although we can locate some of the rivers and areas mentioned in the description of Eden, it is impossible to say for sure where its precise location would be today.

3. Prohibition against eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

4. Creation of female to be a complement to the male. (DQ#2)

B. Temptation and Fall of Man (Gen. 3:1-3:24)

1. The Fall (Gen. 3:1-3:6)

Although the serpent was obviously demonic, there is no indication that he was Satan. Serpent appeals to Eve at the point of pride - our inner desire to be God. This theme repeats itself throughout human history. (DQ#3)

2. The Results of the Fall (Gen. 3:7-8)

a. Separation from God

b. Separation from ourselves (a divided heart)

c. Separation from other human beings (clothing is an indication of the mistrust which resulted from sin)

d. Separation from creation (broken, fallen nature resulted which separated them from the beauty of original creation.)

3. God's Response to Man's Fall (Gen. 3:9)

God seeks to arouse a realization of sin ("Where are you?"). God initiates conviction. This is a demonstration of God's grace toward man.

4. Man's Attempt to Escape Responsibility (Gen. 3:10-3:13)

No acceptance of personal responsibility. God is ultimately blamed, i.e. "This woman you put here with me..."

5. Judgment on the Man and Woman (Gen. 3:14-24)

"He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" -- Many see this as a Messianic prophecy telling of the overcoming of evil through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (TN#4)

Conclusions: God's grace can be seen:

1) in the fact that although childbirth will be painful, through it humanity will continue.

2) in that man can find fulfillment in his labor. (TN#5)

3) in that physical death could have been immediate. (DQ#6)

C. Cain and Abel (Gen. 4:1-4:24)

1. Cain and Abel are born as the firsts sons of Adam and Eve.

2. Cain kills Abel and receives God's punishment: banishment from his land and God's presence.

III. The Written Account (Toledoth) of Adam's Line (Gen. 5:1-6:8)

The genealogy of the descendants of Adam from Seth to Noah. In 6:1-8, we find the continued and increased sinfulness of man.

IV. The Account (Toledoth) of Noah (Gen. 6:9-9:29)

Purpose of the flood: Continual unrepentant heart of mankind leads God to bring judgment. The flood also demonstrates God's grace in that Noah and his family are spared. (TN#7) (DQ#8)

V. The Account (Toledoth) of Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Gen. 10:1-11:9)

The only major event in this section is the Tower of Babel (TN#9) experience. This story demonstrates man's desire to ascend to the heavens and make a name for himself God's punishment for this united effort to reach the heavens was the confusion of their language which forced them to scatter to different points across the earth.

VI. The Account (Toledoth) of Shem (Gen. 11:10-11:26) (TN#10)

These verses tell of the generations between Shem and Terah, the father of Abram (Abraham).

Assignment

Read text material covering background of the patriarchs. Who were the four patriarchs and their wives?

Discussion Questions:

#2 Is a male or female incomplete without the other? Why or why not? How does one reconcile singleness?

#3 How are Adam and Eve's sins similar to all mankind's sins?

#6 In what sense did Adam and Eve die as a result of their sin?

#8 What are some of the lessons which the "flood account" teaches? Possible answers:

a. God will ultimately judge sin.

b. People are invited to escape.

c. Noah and his family were responsive to God, but not perfect (Note Noah's drunkenness and cruse on Canaan, Gen. 9:25-27).

d. There seems to be a close connection between moral and physical forces in our world.

Teacher's Notes:

#1 Genesis is organized by its editor or author (probably Moses) into eleven sections or "toledoths". Toledoth literally means "account." These toledoths, with the exception of the first, center around individuals. (Summarized from A Survey of the Old Testament, Hill and Walton.)

#4 This view suggests the Messiah (the seed of the woman") will deal a fatal blow to evil ("crush your head") while the worst that evil can do is "strike his heel," causing damage, but not destruction.

#5 Work is not the penalty for sin. Before the "Fall," Adam was responsible for tending or caring for the garden; after sin, the harmonious relationship was disrupted and "toil" was required to accomplish that which previously had been less arduous.

#7 Differences between the Mesopotamia view of the flood (found in the Atra-Hasis Epic and the Epic of Gilgamesh) and the Genesis account:

a. In the Mesopotamia account, the gods were not going to spare anyone - only an act of betrayal by one of the gods led to people being spared.

b. In the Mesopotamia version, society was saved through artisans and craftsmen who were spared. In the Genesis view, society was pronounced evil and destroyed.

c. The Mesopotamian version presents a polytheistic view while the Genesis account presents a monotheistic viewpoint (From A Survey of the Old Testament, Hill and Walton, 96.)

#9 The Tower of Babel was probably a ziggurat: a stepped building, usually capped by a temple. These were made popular by the Babylonians. (From Holman Bible Dictionary, 1441.)

#10 Shem's descendants, the Semites, became the people living in Southwestern Asia, originally including Babylonians, Assyrians, Canaanites and Phoenicians, although the term semitic came to refer primarily to Jews and Arabs.

Resources:

Butler, Trent C., Ed. . Holman Bible Publishers, 1991.

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