Reading Genesis 6-11 in Family Worship

At some point in these early chapters, I call attention to the literary structure of the book of Genesis. The phrase “These are the generations of…” signals a new section of the book. And as the phrase suggests, the following story is about the descendants — the generations — of the person named.

• Genesis 2:4 — These are the generations of the heavens and the earth
• Genesis 5:1 — This is the book of the generations of Adam
• Genesis 6:9 — These are the generations of Noah
• Genesis 10:1 — These are the generations of the sons of Noah
• Genesis 11:10 — These are the generations of Shem
• Genesis 11:27 — These are the generations of Terah
• Genesis 25:12 — These are the generations of Ishmael
• Genesis 25:19 — These are the generations of Isaac
• Genesis 36:1 — These are the generations of Esau
• Genesis 37:2 — These are the generations of Jacob

So, for instance, the whole story of Abraham is told under the heading “these are the generations of Terah.” The effect of this story-telling device is that the book of Genesis is constantly reinforcing the theme of the seed. “I have told you about so-and-so. Let me tell you about his children.”

Genesis 6

If you look back at chapter 5, verse 1-3, you can see how Adam having Seth in his own image and likeness parallels God’s creation of Adam in his own image and likeness. It is worth noting that chapter 4 did not speak in this way of Cain or Abel. There is something unique and important about Seth. So the sons of God (in 6:2) would appear to be the line of Seth — whereas the daughters of men are the line of Cain. In other words, the holy line is becoming corrupt. So corrupt that God decides to bring judgment on all the earth.

Why does God say that he will destroy ‘man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heaven’? After all, it was only man that sinned. Why does everything else get judged with him? The answer is simple: God had given man dominion over the earth — and so man’s sin affected the whole earth: “the earth is filled with violence through them.”

But God establishes his covenant with Noah — because Noah “found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.” (6:8-9) Noah reminds us of Enoch — who also “walked with God.” But Enoch was taken up by God. Noah will serve a different purpose. Noah will be the one through whom salvation will come to humanity.

What do our children need to understand about the Flood? Two things: first, this is what sin deserves. If God dealt with us according to strict justice, he would wipe out the earth completely. But second, when God brings judgment, he always provides a way of salvation. Noah is a picture of Jesus — the one righteous man through whom God saved the earth. That’s why 1 Peter 3 will use the Flood as a picture of baptism — the waters of judgment through which God saves us by the resurrection of Jesus.

Psalm 29, Psalm 14, PHSS 174, PHSS 180

Genesis 7-8

What happens in the flood? In the beginning God created the three realms of the heavens, the earth, and the seas. In the beginning God gave Adam and Eve the command to be fruitful and multiply — and to have dominion over the earth. But in the Flood the waters have dominion over the earth (when it says that the waters “prevailed” — that’s the same word as “dominion”). The picture in Genesis is of the creation returned to a watery chaotic state. Everything under the heavens is effectively unmade — all that is left of creation is found on the ark.

At the end of chapter 8, Noah builds an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings of every clean animal on the altar. And God said, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” (8:21) In other words, the Flood didn’t work. In chapter 6 we were told that the intention of man’s heart was only evil continually (6:5). So God got rid of all the bad people — leaving only righteous Noah and his family. And yet God says of righteous Noah and his family — “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” If God keeps destroying the earth because of man’s sin, then God will constantly have to destroy the earth. Here God teaches us that there must be another way.

And we see a hint of that way in the covenant of chapter 9.

Genesis 9

God starts by blessing Noah with an echo of his blessing to Adam: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (9:1) But the central theme of the Noahic covenant is the theme of blood: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (9:6) When you strike a man, you strike the image of God — and thus, you strike God.

And the sign of the Noahic covenant also teaches us something important about salvation. The bow in the sky points upward. Every time you see a rainbow, remember that God has promised that he will not destroy the world by Flood. God is saying, “May I be shot with my own bow before I break my promise.”

But then we hear the story of the disrespect of Ham for his father — and the curse of Canaan. Why does Canaan get cursed? Because Canaan was the guilty one. (Note verse 24 — “when he knew what his youngest son had done to him” — whose youngest son? Not Noah’s — since Ham is the middle son. Ham’s youngest son, Canaan, is the guilty one — therefore Canaan is cursed.) And this begins to prepare us for the later story of the Canaanites.

Psalm 8, PHSS 219

Genesis 10

This is where you can have some fun. Little kids particularly enjoy repeating funny-sounding names. (Honestly, you don’t have to be good at Hebrew pronunciation — these are strange-sounding names, and any way you say it, the kids will enjoy saying it after you!) But in between all the funny-sounding names, there is a story unfolding. There are 70 nations here. Humanity is multiplying — but humanity is also dividing. The table of the nations shows us how the story of the Bible connects to us. We are here in the table of the nations — as our ancestors spread out across the lands. (Isaiah will use the table of the nations to speak of God’s coming blessing upon the nations — a blessing that will be fulfilled at Pentecost!).

Genesis 11

But how did the nations get so divided? Chapter 11 explains the division of language in the Tower of Babel. Even as humanity multiplies, the problem of sin and rebellion does not diminish. Man wants to build a tower in order to make a name for themselves — so that they may not be dispersed across the face of the earth.

But because of sin, division is good for us! (Do you realize that the doctrine of total depravity played a key role in shaping our political institutions? Separation of powers is a crucial component in Christian political thought because we know that too much power in any one hand is not good.) God divided the languages of the earth in order to prevent us from uniting and destroying everything!

It is interesting to watch the generations shorten in the genealogy at the end of chapter 11. It drops abruptly in the days of Peleg (during whose days the earth was divided — as we were told in 10:25 — probably a reference to the Tower of Babel). How did they live so long? I don’t know. Numbers frequently have symbolic value in the Bible, but sometimes the exact meaning is lost. At the very least we should understand that sin and rebellion has taken its toll on humanity. Division and rebellion lead to death and misery. Lord, have mercy!

PHSS 167