THE TORAH: WEEK 2 GENESIS 1-11

Translated as ‘origin’ from the Greek word, the Book of Genesis tells us how everything began from humanity’s history to the world we know today. One could call this the ‘problem statement’ for humanity, the rest of the Bible will be answering. It reveals a dramatic prologue of God’s love for us, the tragedies of sin and the human race, and God initiating a brilliant plan to win us back from the clutches of darkness. He does this by passing down a covenant blessing through Abraham and his family, including Isaac, Jacob, and other individuals, in order to bless all the families of the earth. These descendants will become the foundation for the Nation of Israel and Jesus the Messiah who will bring salvation for all of humanity.

Key Points:

• Creation – The Book of Genesis starts when God creates the heavens, earth, and all life. He creates humans in His own Image, then rests. Everything He made is good.
• Garden of Eden – God puts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, depicting a perfect environment and relationship with God, and blesses them to rule the earth and create like He does.
• The Rebellion – God gives humans the ability to choose. A serpent tempts them to disobey God and sin contaminates humanity and creation. God prophesies redemption for humans.
• The Flood – Humans populate and become exceptionally corrupt. Heartbroken, God floods the whole earth. Noah builds an ark and is spared. God reinstates His covenant with Noah.
• Scattering of Nations – People repopulate, create Babylon, and desire a great tower to make themselves famous. God scatters and confuses them with different languages before it is built.

Talk About It:

• Have you ever felt wiped out by God?
• Who do you blame when you sin?
• What effect has the curse had on you personally?
• How is the earth different now than it was before the flood?
• Like Noah, how many times has God tried to reinstate is covenant with you and you rebelled against it?
• Why did the people want a great tower?
• What did God do to the people before the tower was built?
• What is the hardest part about learning a foreign language?
• When God tries and teaches us a lesson, is it similar to learning a foreign language, or would you rather not learn the lesson?

Keep reading through Genesis!

Helpful Resources:

The Bible Project: Genesis 1-11

The Bible Project: The Torah