Story 3 - Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-26)

Relationships between siblings allow both competition and cooperation. The harmony of working together in love, and working out our differences with patience creates a strong bond between brothers and sisters. The story of two brothers, Cain and Abel, is the account of the first murder of man. God seeks out Cain to explain what he must do to be accepted of God. If we listen to God, we can avoid the jealous pride that could lead to the terrible consequences of our sinful actions.

Adam and Eve knew they had done wrong when they disobeyed the Lord. God had sent them away from the beautiful Garden of Eden. No longer were they able to walk and talk with God face to face. However, they did have the privilege to speak to the Lord through prayer. Life in their new surroundings was also harder than it was in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve now had to work in the fields to grow the food for them to eat.

God still loved Adam and Eve. He blessed them with a baby boy whom they named Cain. Later, God gave them another little boy whom they named Abel.

Cain and his brother Abel grew up like other little boys. Their parents taught them about God and taught them to love and respect Him. As the boys grew up together, they began to have an interest in different things. Abel liked to care for the animals and became a shepherd. Cain liked to plant and grow crops.

Cain and Abel were commanded to make offerings to the Lord. These offerings, or sacrifices would be offered on an altar built of stone or earth. On top of the altar, they would place wood. Then, they would lay their offering on top of the wood and kill it as a sacrifice. Then, they set fire to the wood, and the offering was burned.

One day, as God had commanded, Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep as an offering. He killed and burned it on the altar as a gift or sacrifice to the Lord. God saw that Abel was sincere and obedient. He was pleased with his offering. Cain brought some of the crops he had harvested and gave these as an offering to the Lord. God was not pleased with Cain's offering. This made Cain very angry and his face was downcast.

God did not reject Cain even though his offering was unacceptable. He asked Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?" God warned Cain about the dangerous path he was following. He said, "Do not let sin take over your life. You must overcome it."

The words God spoke made Cain even angrier. Again, the Lord warned Cain that his anger would lead to great sin. However, Cain would not listen to God's counsel. Because God was pleased with Abel and his offerings, Cain's jealousy for Abel, and all of his flocks, grew,

Later, when the brothers were alone in the field, Cain attacked Abel and killed him. God was watching and knew what Cain had done. He asked Cain, "Where is your brother, Abel?"

"I do not know," Cain replied. "Am I my brothers keeper?"

God answered, "What have you done? Your brother's blood is calling to Me from the ground. You have sinned and must be punished." As part of Cain's punishment God told him, "If you try to grow crops, the soil will not produce. You will wander the land with no place to call home."

Cain said, "This is more punishment than I can bear. Whoever finds me will kill me as I wander from place to place."

Even though God had to punish Cain for his sin, He would still love and care for him. God replied, "I will place a mark on you. This will protect you, and people will know that they are not to do you harm."

Then, the Lord placed a mark on Cain so that anyone who found him would know not to kill him. Cain left the place where he had spoken to the Lord and settled into a land called Nod. This land was east of Eden. Here, Cain began to have a family separate from Adam.

Even after this tragedy with Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve had another son. They named him Seth. Adam said, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." As Seth grew older, he began to worship the Lord. He married and had children. Soon, many people lived on the earth.

NOTE: Cain was the first murderer in the history of man (Genesis 4:8). Murder is the taking of life by shedding human blood. If blood is removed from a living creature, it will die (Leviticus 17:10-14). Because God created life, only God should take life away.

Abel's offering to God was a more excellent sacrifice than Cain's because Abel was "righteous". His heart was right with God while Cain's was not (Hebrews 11:4).

Is Thy Heart Right With God?

"You will be accepted if you respond in the right way.

Story 2 - The Forbidden Fruit (Genesis 3:1-24)

Satan was an angel who rebelled against God and was thrown out of heaven. Through attractive temptations, Satan lures us into following his kind of life and doing sinful things. Satan tempted Eve, and succeeded in getting her to sin. No one on earth is exempt from Satan’s temptations. He even tempted Jesus (Matthew 4:11), but Jesus did not sin. Being tempted is not a sin. We do not sin until we act on the temptation. God gives us blessings and rewards us when we resist temptation.

The shrewdest of the wild creatures that God had created was the serpent. One day, the serpent came to Eve and asked, "Did not God say you could eat of all the fruit in the garden?"

Eve answered, "We may eat the fruit of every tree except one. God told us that we may not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If we do, we will die."

"You will not die," hissed the serpent. "God knows that if you eat fruit from this tree, you will become as wise as He, knowing everything, both good and evil. This is why He has forbidden you to eat it."

Eve looked at the delicious fruit again. It looked so good. How she wanted so much to be wise like God! She reached out her hand and took the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She ate it. It was very delicious. So, she gave some of it to her husband, Adam, to eat. He ate it, too.

After eating the forbidden fruit, their eyes were opened, and they realized they were naked. They also knew that they had disobeyed God. How afraid they were! Because they felt shame at their nakedness, they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Toward the evening, Adam and Eve heard the Lord God walking in the garden. Since they were ashamed, they hid themselves among the trees. Soon, God called to Adam, "Where are you?"

Adam replied, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so, I hid."

"Who told you that you were naked?" God asked. "Have you eaten the fruit from the tree I commanded you not to eat?"

"Yes," Adam answered, and quickly he added, "But it was Eve who gave me the fruit to eat."

God turned to Eve and asked, "What is this that you have done?"

She replied, "The serpent tempted me, and I ate it."

To the serpent, God said, "Because you have done this, you will be singled out from all the wild animals of the earth. You will crawl on your belly in the dust for as long as you live. This will be your punishment. In addition, from now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

God was sorry that Adam and Eve had chosen not to obey Him. Because they had sinned, they could no longer be with Him. God knew they had to be punished for their disobedience.

To Eve, God said, "Because you have disobeyed Me, you shall have pain and suffering as you have children." Then to Adam, God said, "Since you listened to your wife and have disobeyed Me, I have placed a curse on the ground. All during your life, you will struggle to make a living from it. The land will grow thorns and thistles, but you will be able to eat its grains. However, now you will have to sweat to produce food until your dying day. Then, you will return to the ground from which you came. You were created from dust, and to the dust you will return."

God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and for Eve, his wife. Then, He sent them out of the beautiful garden. They now had to make a home for themselves. At the gate of the garden, God placed a mighty angel with a flaming sword. This angel prevented Adam and Eve from returning to the Garden of Eden and eating the fruit of the tree of life.

NOTE:

To sin is to go against God's will, either by omitting to do what God's law requires or by doing what it forbids. The transgression can occur in thought (I John 3:15), word (Matthew 5:22), or deed (Romans 1:32). Mankind was created without sin, but sin entered into the human experience when Adam and Eve violated the command of God and ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:16). Since Adam was the head of the whole human race, his sin affected all future generations (Romans 5:12-21). No person is free from sin (Romans 3:23), but God promised in Genesis 3:15 that He will send a Saviour which is Christ Jesus who will save us from our sins. It is only Jesus that can redeem us from our sin and give us the power to go and sin no more if we can confess and renounce our sins. May God Bless You!!

Story 4 - Noah’s Ark (Genesis 6:1-22; 7:1-24; 8:1-22;9:1-29)

In the days of Noah, the world was filled with evil. Noah, his wife, and three of his sons were the only people left on earth that remembered God’s creation, His perfection, and His love. God directed Noah to begin a project (which lasted 120 years) of building an ark (a giant boat) on dry land. The story of Noah’s Ark teaches us the importance of obedience to God, and reminds us of His promise to man each time we see a beautiful rainbow in the sky.

There were ten generations from Adam until Noah. In those days, people lived to be very old. For example, Adam was 930 years old when he died.

Enoch was Noah's great-grandfather. He was a righteous man who tried to obey the Lord. In everything he did, he honored God. He walked with God, talked with God, and listened when God spoke to him. Everything that Enoch did pleased the Lord. As a result, Enoch did not die. When he became old, God took him to heaven.

Enoch had a son named Methuselah. He lived longer than any other man, 969 years. As time passed, the earth became more populated with people. Many of these people did not love God. Their hearts were evil and they did wicked things. These people became more and more sinful. They did not try to please God. This made the Lord sad, because He had not made man to be evil and sinful. God was sorry that He had created man. As God looked down at the wickedness on earth, He said, "I will cause a great flood to cover the earth and destroy all living things, man and animal alike."

God looked favorably upon Noah. Even though the world was wicked, Noah tried to do what was right. He loved God and taught his children to love and honor the one true God. Three of his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth followed Noah's teachings and did what was right. This pleased the Lord.

God told Noah about His plan to destroy the world. He promised that Noah and his three righteous sons would not be destroyed with the wicked people.

"Build an ark," God said. "I am going to bring a great flood that will cover the world. Everything on earth will perish. Bring a pair of every kind of animal - a male and a female - into the ark with you to keep them alive during the flood. Pairs of every kind of bird and animal, both large and small will come to you to be kept alive. Do not forget to take enough food for your family and for all the animals."

God told Noah how large to make the ark. Noah trusted God and believed His words. At once, Noah began to build the ark. For the next 120 years, Noah and his three sons worked to build this huge boat on dry land.

The people in Noah's day thought he was crazy! They did not believe in God, and they were evil in every way. "Look at that crazy Noah building this ridiculous boat on dry land," they laughed. "Where is the water for the boat?" they mocked.

In addition to building the ark, Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Again and again, Noah warned the people, "God is going to destroy this earth. You must repent. Turn away from your sins or you will be destroyed in the flood." However, no one listened. Nobody believed the things that Noah preached.

When everything was ready, God told Noah to take his wife, sons, and their wives into the ark. Then God caused two of every kind of animal, bird, and creeping thing to go into the ark. Seven pair of each kind of clean animal like sheep and oxen, and seven pair of birds also came into the ark. When all the animals were inside the ark, God shut the door.

Several days passed, and the rain began to fall. Great sheets of water poured down from the clouds. God opened the floodgates of heaven and the springs of the deep. All the rivers were raging and the streams overflowed their banks. People abandoned their homes and rushed to the hills to find dry ground. The people and animals scurried everywhere, trying to find refuge and shelter. Still, even more rain pelted the ground. The waters on earth rose higher and higher. The people, who had heard Noah preach, finally realized that he had spoken the truth, but it was too late. They could not board the ark because the door was tightly shut.

The rain continued to pour down for forty days and forty nights. Only Noah and his family were safe. The waters lifted the ark off the ground, and it began to float. For five long months, it floated. All the mountaintops were covered with water. All living creatures, which were not in the ark, were destroyed. After the earth was destroyed by the flood, the Lord sent a great wind and the waters began to dry up. God also closed the springs of the deep and the floodgates of heaven.

After many days, the depth of the water went down. The ark finally rested on the top of a tall mountain. Noah waited forty more days. Then, he opened a window and let out a raven. The bird had strong wings and flew back and forth until the waters had gone down. After waiting several more days, Noah sent out a dove. Because water still covered the earth, it could not find a place to land. So, it returned to the ark. Seven days later, Noah sent the dove out again. When the dove returned to him in the evening, she had a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. Noah saw this branch and knew the earth was becoming green and beautiful once again. One week later, Noah again sent out the dove. She flew away and did not return. This was a sign that they would soon be able to leave the ark.

Noah, his family, and the animals had been aboard the ark for more than a year. How happy Noah must have been when God said, "It is time to come out of the ark, for you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out all of the animals with you. Let them go so that they can multiply and increase their numbers on the earth."

Noah obeyed and opened the great wooden door to the ark. When he looked out the open door, he saw a beautiful new earth. Noah and his family stepped out on dry ground. All of the animals, the birds, and the creeping things came out, too.

Noah was very thankful that God had allowed him and his family to be spared from the great flood. He built an altar and made an offering to God. This pleased the Lord and He accepted Noah's offering.

God made a promise to Noah. He said, "Never again will I send another flood to destroy every living creature. As long as the earth remains, there will be a summer and a winter, a seedtime and a harvest time, a day and a night. I have placed a rainbow in the sky. When I send rains over the earth, the rainbow will be a reminder to everyone of My promise."

Then God placed a beautifully colored rainbow in the sky. Whenever this sign, we are reminded of God's promise to us, His children, that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood

"So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him." Genesis 6:22