Monthly Archives: September 2023

Session 020: Genesis 6:9 – 8:22: Noah and the Flood: Overview and Western Perspective

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This week we will start our study of Noah and the flood. We will be covering Genesis 6:9 through 8:22. Our next session will be an overview of the entire story and a look at it from our normal Western theological perspectives. We are also going to make note of the inconsistancies and holes in the story by asking questions.

  • Genesis 6:9 through 8:22

    Text from The Bible Gatewaystarting with Chapter 6

    Genesis 6

  • Scripture Audio:

    Presented as dramatizations from The Bible Gateway

    Genesis 6 Audio
    Genesis 7 Audio
    Genesis 8 Audio

  • Suggested Study Resources

    The following four resources should be helpful. Of course feel free to chase down any study rabbit holes that you want to chase. This is your deep dive in the Word.

  • 9 Things You Should Know

    First, a short article from The Gospel Coalition that lists 9 things that you should pick out of the story. Make a note of the chiasm that they outline. As we have discussed before, these chiasms point to the particular point of the story that the original authors thought was important.

    Article Link

  • God’s Spirit-Flood Narrative

    This second resource is a podcast from The Bible Project. It focuses on God’s Spirit in the flood narrative. While not Jewish in nature, they do bring up some strong Jewish perspectives through this podcast

    Podcast Link

  • If God Remembers, Does He Forget?

    If we believe the chiasm in this story, then the most interesting point is that God remembers. This is an article from The Bible Project that asks he question, “If God remembers, does he also forget?”

    Article Link:

  • Article from The Guardian

    This last resource is not from a Christian perspective. It does offer several perspectives found in our society that I think it is important to be aware of. I found it to be an enjoyable read.

    Article Link:

  • EXTRA CREDIT ARTICLES:

    We are back to having extra credit. These are resources that we probably won’t spend any time discussion in our next session, but if you are wanting to get deeper into the study of this text, these should be valuable.

    Catholic Catechism

    This link points to the Catholic Catechism that mentions Noah and the Flood directly. For non-Catholics, it may be valuable.

    Link

    Noah and the Flood in the Septuagint

    A good article that outlines the issues of translating between Hebrew, Greek and other languages where the nuance of the language is lost. Discusses some concerns in the Noah story that are often glossed over in theological contexts.

    Article Link:

    The Theology of the Flood Narrative: Literary Structure, Biblical Allusion and Divine Characterisation

    An interesting academic article on the Theology of the Noah story that mixes theological, literary and Interpretive concepts together.
    Article Link:

The Flood story is one of those stories where even kids often go … Huh? As Christians, we tend to gloss over the incongruities, and questions that arise from this text. In other cases, we try to explain away these issues. Often, to hilarious result for those outside of the Christian community.

Since we will be spending additonal weeks looking at this story in the Bible the main thing you should do this week is look at it with a critical eye.

  • What things seem incongruent or inconsistant?
  • What holes are there in the story that don’t seem to have an answer for you.
  • What things in the story would make a 6 year old go … Huh?

Write them down. These are the things we want to ponder over the next few weeks. With one of the main questions being; does it matter?

Session 019: Genesis 6:1-8: What the Jews believed about Nephilim

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This session will be unique. Since we do not have much explanation in the Bible to help us understand what knowledge the Jewish people had for the Nephilim for example, we are going to look at a source external to scripture to understand a little better what the Jewish people thought. We will look at part of the Book of Enoch. We will also look at what it takes to be canon in scripture and why The Book of Enoch is not considered canon.

  • What Are the Apocryphal Books and Do They Belong in the Bible?

    While the Book of Enoch is Apochryphal, it is not part of the Apocrypha. Nonetheless, it is good to understand what constitutes Apochryphal writing and why it is not considered canon. The following web article is short and to the point. It does a good job of identifying why Apocryphal texts are not canon without going into circular logic.

    Link to article

  • The Book of Enoch: Scripture, Heresy, or What? by Brian Godawa

    The following is an academic article that is readable. You won’t need a doctorate to understand it. It does a good job of explaining a good portion of the history of the book but does a very thorough job of showing where The Book of Enoch had what appears to be a strong influence on portions of the New Testament. While all of the arguments are anecdotal, they are well-documented and very convincing.

    Link to article

  • Arguments against The Book of Enoch being canon.

    “Why is ‘The Book of Enoch’ not canon?” One of the best answers to that question that I have found was found on a Q&A site. I have pulled out the appropriate answers (with what attribution is available) and placed them in a PDF on our website. I thought that two of the answers in the thread were exceptionally well written.

    PDF Document

  • The Book of Enoch

    Let’s look at the actual Book of Enoch. Here are links to three free versions of it and a free audio version. There are of course versions that you can access if you are willing to pay for them. You can search for them on your own. We want “I Enoch” and not “2 Enoch” or “3 Enoch”.

    For our discussion this next session, it is not necessary to read the entire Book of Enoch, however, you can if you would like. it is suggested that you read chapters 1 – 11 and 20.

    • The first book version found is at a site called book-ofenoch.com. You can read one chapter at a time by clicking on the links for each chapter listed at the bottom of the web page. [NOTE: It is suggested that you skip the lengthy introduction]. You can download a PDF version which appears to be a copy of an actual book printed a few minutes ago (1883) at Book of Enoch PDF. There are also versions formatted as an ebook in EPUB and Kindle formats. This book is believed to be from the original Ethiopian translated text and uses the chapter and verse identifications that most scholars reference.
    • The second book version found is a recent translation that is much easier to read, however, the chapter and verse identifications do not follow the convention for some reason. This makes us a little reticent to use it. This version can be found as The Complete Book of Enoch: Standard English Version. [NOTE: Since the chapter numbers are different read chapters 1-4 and 7 … we think]
    • The last book version found is interesting because the creator of this website has placed Biblical references within the text in the Book of Enoch. We have not spent any time proving that the listed scripture references bear any correlation or not. As an exercise, we found it compelling. This website is located at The Book of Enoch
    • If you would rather listen, there is a free version at Librivox. Chapters 1-11 can be downloaded from this link.
      Chapters 20-25 can be downloaded from this link.
This is a restatement about the four deep issues that need to be understood in this passage from Genesis 6.

  1. Who were the sons of God and the daughters of man?
  2. What is meant by the number of days being 120 years?
  3. Who were the Nephilim?
  4. The Lord’s response to the wickedness He witnessed.

After reading the Book of Enoch and understanding more about the Jewish view of things, how does this change your answers about Genesis 6 that we looked at last week.

  • What do you think of the differing views of the sons of God between Christianity and Judism?
  • Why was Noah considered to be less sinful (or even sinless) compared to others even though he descended from Adam and Eve?
  • Why do you think that Christians link the 120 years to the age limit of human life? Is this correct?
  • Which of the options for understanding the sons of God do you lean towards and why? Is this understanding crutial to your walk?
  • Which of the options for understanding the Nephilim do you lean towards and why? Is this understanding crutial to your walk?
  • Have you ever had to destroy something that you created? Why? How did you feel?
  • Why do you think that God chose the path that he did for cleansing the Earth? Were there other options?
  • Why do you think that God singled Noah and his family out. Don’t answer generically. Be specific. Would you line up?

Session 018: Genesis 6:1-8: Wickedness in the World

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The first 8 verses of Genesis chapter 6 are probably one of the most confusing and difficult verses in the Bible for Christians. While only eight verses long, there are four deep issues that need to be understood.

1) Who were the sons of God and the daughters of man?
2) What is meant by the number of days being 120 years?
3) Who were the Nephilim?
4) The Lord’s response to the wickedness He witnessed.

  • Scripture Text:

    Text from The Bible Gateway (Only cover first 8 verses).

    Genesis 6:1-8

  • Scripture Audio:

    Presented as dramatizations from The Bible Gateway (only need to cover first 8 verses).

    Genesis 6 Audio

  • Traditional interpretations of Chapter 6 (only need to cover the first 8 verses)

    These two articles are rather traditional (but somewhat disagreeing) interpretations of Chapter 6. From the Blue Letter Bible web site.

    Article Link: MAN’S WICKEDNESS; GOD CALLS NOAH: David Guzik:
    Article Link: The First Book of Moses, Called Genesis: Robert Jamieson

  • Bereshit (Genesis) – Chapter 6

    A Jewish Interpretation of the passage (be sure to click on the “Show Rashi’s Commentary” and you only need to cover the first 8 verses)

    Article Link:

  • Who Are the Sons of God in Genesis 6?

    A look at two different interpretations for the sons of God.

    Article Link:

  • The Nephilim in the Bible: 4 Origin Theories

    A look at four theories on who the Nephilim represent.

    Article Link:

  • EXTRA CREDIT ARTICLES:

    A few extra credit resources. These resources wont be a direct part of the class discussion, but may prove helpful as you start looking into your own rabbit holes of study.

    Nephilim: TRUE STORY of Giants, Goliath And His Brothers

    This is an hour long YouTube video that covers that sons of God, the Nephilim as well as other references to giants in the Bible such as Sampson.

    YouTube video:

This is a restatement about the four deep issues that need to be understood in this passage

  1. Who were the sons of God and the daughters of man?
  2. What is meant by the number of days being 120 years?
  3. Who were the Nephilim?
  4. The Lord’s response to the wickedness He witnessed.

Other points to consider and contemplate onyour own.

  • What do you tink of the differing views of the sons of God between Christianity and Judism?
  • Why was Noah considered to be less sinful (or even sinless) compared to others even though he descended from Adam and Eve?
  • Why do you think that Christians link the 120 years to the age limit of human life? Is this correct?
  • Which of the options for understanding the sons of God do you lean towards and why? Is this understanding crutial to your walk?
  • Which of the options for understanding the Nephilim do you lean towards and why? Is this understanding crutial to your walk?
  • Have you ever had to destroy something that you created? Why? How did you feel?
  • Why do you think that God chose the path that he did for cleansing the Earth? Were there other options?
  • Why do you think that God singled Noah and his family out. Don’t answer generically. Be specific. Would you line up?