Faithful Grandparents By Andrew McChesney In the evening, after it was too dark to work in the maize field, the Reyneke family gathered around a large kitchen table for supper on their small farmhouse in central South Africa. Father, Mother and their seven boys and four girls ate homegrown food every evening: maize porridge along … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: A comparison between the mentality and the behavior of the people and the state of the world before the Flood and that of the people in our days is particularly instructive. To be sure, human wickedness is not a new phenomenon. Look at the parallels between their time and ours. “The sins … Continue reading –>
Read Genesis 8:21-9:1. What is the significance of God’s commitment to the preservation of life? How does God’s blessing fulfill that commitment? God’s commitment to preserve life was an act of grace; it was not a result of human merits. God decided to preserve life on earth in spite of human evil (Genesis 8:21). Genesis 8:22 reads, literally, “all … Continue reading –>
Now it is the moment when the promised covenant was to be fulfilled. “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark — you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you” (Genesis 6:18, NKJV). In contrast to the divine threat to destroy (Genesis 6:17), this covenant is the … Continue reading –>
Genesis 7:22-24 describe the overwhelming and comprehensive effect of the waters, which “destroyed all living things” (Genesis 7:23, NKJV) and “prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days” (Genesis 7:24, NKJV). It is against this background of total annihilation and hopelessness that “God remembered” (Genesis 8:1). This phrase is situated in the center of the texts covering the Flood, … Continue reading –>
The verb ‘asah, “make,” which refers to Noah’s actions, is also a keyword in the Genesis Creation account (Genesis 1:7, Genesis 1:16, Genesis 1:25-26, Genesis 1:31; Genesis 2:2). Noah’s acts of obedience to God are like God’s acts of creation. What we can take from this link is that the Flood is not just about God punishing humanity, but about God … Continue reading –>
Read Genesis 6:13-7:10. What lesson can we learn from this amazing account of early human history? Like Daniel, Noah is a prophet who predicts the end of the world. The Hebrew word for the “ark” (tevah) (Genesis 6:14) is the same rare Egyptian loanword that was used for the “ark,” in which the infant Moses was hidden, who … Continue reading –>
Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 6:13-7:10, 2 Peter 2:5-9, Genesis 7:1-24, Romans 6:1-6, Psalm 106:4, Genesis 8:1-22, Genesis 9:1-17. Memory Text: “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37, NKJV). “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every … Continue reading –>
Forgiven in Prison, Part 2 By Andrew McChesney The next Sabbath, inmate Matías greeted Dante, a 36-year-old theology student from Sagunto Adventist College, with a flurry of happy conversation at the prison in Spain. After several minutes, however, Matías abruptly changed his tone and began to fidget nervously. He spoke about his childhood and adult … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: The repeated phrase “Enoch walked with God” (Genesis 5:22, Genesis 5:24) means intimate and daily companionship with God. Enoch’s personal relationship with God was so special that “God took him” (Genesis 5:24). This last phrase is, however, unique in the genealogy of Adam and does not support the idea of an immediate afterlife in Paradise for those … Continue reading –>
