The term “generations,” or ​toledoth​, is actually used 10 times in the Book of Genesis to introduce key figures in salvation history, revealing the narrative plot of the history of God’s family. ·​ ​This use points to a deliberative literary framework designed to show us history from God’s perspective. The focus of that perspective is not wars, economics, or politics—it’s family. ·​  ​The literary structure of Genesis 1-11 tells us about God’s family— ·​  ​How that family is made, ·​  ​How it strays, ·​  ​How it is corrected,
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Preview ·​ ​
This week we’re moving on to the second covenant in salvation history God’s covenant with Noah. ·​  ​God renews his covenant with creation. ·​  ​We examine the literary structure of Genesis 1-11. ·​  ​See how Christ fulfills the covenants made with Adam and Noah through a New Creation.

2. Introduction ·​ ​
Recall Adam and Eve sinned, sending humanity into a downward spiral of wickedness ·​ ​How it slowly grows in understanding of God’s ways and in relationship with him. ·​  ​God still continued to offer them his mercy. ·​  ​He promised them a redeemer. The Fourth Eucharistic​ ​Prayer​ in “Even when [man] disobeyed you and lost your friendship you did not abandon him to the power of death...Again and again you offered a covenant to man” (CCC 55). ·​ ​The fulfillment of that promise— the fulfillment of God’s plan— the great and Everlasting Covenant, comes “in the fullness of time” with the coming of Christ (Gal 4:4).
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3. The Two Seeds ·​  ​
God promised the world a redeemer in Genesis 3:15. ·​  ​He also told Adam and Eve that because of their sin the history of man would be marked by an ongoing conflict between the two seeds: The seed of righteousness and The seed of wickedness ·​ ​Immediately we see that conflict between the two seeds as soon as man is expelled from Eden (Gen 3:24) in Adam and Eve’s first two sons, Cain and Abel. Genesis 4: ·​  ​Cain and Abel offer sacrifices to the Lord. ·​  ​Reveals that man has been making sacrifices to God since almost the very beginning of time as a way to offer worship. ·​  ​Preexisting practice reveals, they knew what was expected. ·​  ​They knew what kind of sacrifice they were supposed to make. ·​ ​A blood sacrifice
God accepts only Abel’s. He rejects Cain’s. Hebrews 11:4 ​“By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.” · Cain offers crops, and not the best crops ​1 John 3:11​ ​Cain’s “deeds were evil.” ·​  ​After God refuses his sacrifice, Cain becomes angry. ·​  ​God warns him to guard his heart and not allow himself to be mastered by sin. ·​  ​In effect, he tells him, “You’ve screwed up. Accept responsibility for what you’ve done. ·​  ​Repent. And do better next time.” ·​  ​But Cain defies God and kills his brother out of envy (Gen 4:8).

4. God Confronts Cain
As with Adam and Eve, God questions Cain, for the opportunity to confess and repent. ·​ ·​ ​“Where is your brother?” ​“What have you done?” Gen 4:9-10 ​Cain has nothing but excuses for God.
​Indeed, he refuses to confess and accuses God and others of injustice. Gen ·​ ​As Adam and Eve received curses and consequences Cain is cursed for the fratricide
Gen 4:10-12 ·​ 4:13-14 1.​  ​The ground will not yield fruit for him because he defiled it by fratricide 2.​  ​Life as a fugitive in the land of Nod, “​wandering​.” 3.​  ​Punishment not vengeance but love. ·​ ​Cain has to learn that there are consequences for sin and disobedience. ·​ ​He has to feel some of the pain he’s caused so that he doesn’t continue causing it. ·​ ​To continue hurting others, to continue sinning, is to distance ourselves from God. ·​ ​And that is like denying ourselves breath. Covenant curses on Cain an extreme fatherly punishment. Designed to lead hardened sinners to repentance and love.

5. Adam’s Family Divided
Adam and Eve have another son, Seth. Gen 4:17 ·​  ​Cain builds a city and names it after his son, Enoch. ·​  ​Hebrew word for “name” is ​shem,​ an expression for glory or fame. ·​  ​So, by naming the city after his son, Cain is seeking to glorify his name. Pride?? ·​ ​His descendents are a chip off the old block, wickeder and wickeder. Seven generations full flowering of wicked self-glorification in Cain’s descendent Lamech​.. ​Lamech
·​ ​Primary offense, takes two wives, violating God’s plan for the marriage covenant in creation. ·​ ​He is also violent, vengeful, and murderous. Seth on the other hand... ·​ ​Seth’s descendents are advancing God’s glory as they “call upon the name [​shem​] of the Lord.” ·​  ​Gen4:26 ·​  ​The full flowering of the righteousness of Seth’s line is also evident by the seventh generation. ·​ ​Gen 5:24 Seth’s descendent Enoch “walked with God...and God took him.” In other words, he didn’t see death (Heb 11:5). ·​ ​Gen 5:1-3, when the author tells us that just as Adam was made in God’s likeness, so Seth was made in his father’s likeness. The likeness to God in Adam has been passed down to and through Seth.

6. Mixed Marriages ·​
​Rrighteous lineage eventually polluted with Cainite intermarriage who descended from the line of Cain. “​They took to wife such of them as they chose,”​ Gen 6:2.
·​ ​Men of great pride and violence, fall away from the covenant and embrace wickedness.
·​ ​“​the men of renown​”--
literally “the men of [their own] name [​shem​]” (Gen 6:4). ·​ ​shem ​refers to the selfish pursuit of glory and fame not seeking to glorify their name God’s.

7. Saved Through Water
Cant get worse! ·​ ​“every imagination of the thoughts of [man’s] heart was only evil continually” (6:5). ·​ ​God saw “all flesh had corrupted their way” and “the earth was filled with violence” Gen 6:12 God decides, to start over. ·​  ​There is one man, however, who has not gone the way of his culture: ​Noah​. ·​  ​A righteous man who “walked with God.” he remained faithful and, raised a godly family. ·​ ​God chooses Noah and his family a righteous remnant through whom he will bring about a new beginning. ·​ ​Noah will be the mediator of this new covenant between God and creation.

8. Saved Through Water, cont. ·​ ​
God instructs Noah to build an ark to save his family and representatives of every beast and bird. ·​  ​By faith, ​“Noah did all that God commanded him”​ (Gen 6:22; see Heb 11:7). ·​  ​Building the ark bore witness to a wicked generation that God’s judgment (the flood) was coming. ·​ ​Bore witness to God’s covenant mercy.

9. A New Creation
Read Genesis 6:18 ·​ ​First occurrence of the word for “covenant”--​berith ​[beh-reet]—used in Scripture. ·​ ​But, the word used there for “establish”--​heqim ​[heh-keem]—implies renewal. ·​ ​Not just a new covenant; it is connected to the first covenant, God’s covenant with creation. Numerous parallels between the flood narrative (Gen 6-8) and the creation account(Gen 1-2) A new world emerges from the deep in both Genesis 1:2 and 7:11.

10. A New Creation, cont.
The number “seven” is prominent in both accounts ·​  ​The flood begins after seven days, / seven days of creation (Gen 2:2; 7:10). ·​  ​The Lord rests on the seventh day / ark rests on dry land in the seventh month (Gen 2:2-3; 8:4). ·​  ​Name Noah means “rest.” Interestingly, Genesis 5:29 tells us that the ·​  ​Noah sends out a bird every seven days to check for dry land (Gen 8:10-12). ·​  ​Seven pairs of every clean animal (animals acceptable for sacrifice) on the ark with him (Gen 7:2).

11. A New Creation, cont. ·​
​As the seventh day, the Sabbath, was the sign of God’s first covenant with creation, the rainbow becomes the sign of God’s renewed covenant with creation. ·​ ​God’s covenant with Noah ​points back​ to the creation covenant, but also points forward​ to future covenants— ·​  ​covenants made through acts of worship and sacrifice. ·​  ​See what Noah does once they again set foot on dry ground. Read Genesis 8:20-22.
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12. Salvation History Timeline
With Noah, one step further on salvation history timeline. ·​  ​Last week, God’s covenant with Adam as a husband. ·​  ​This week, God expands his covenant family beyond just a husband and wife by making his covenant with Noah, who is a husband, but also the head of a household.

13. A New Adam
Noah called to re-found God’s covenant family like a new Adam, Therefore, many parallels between Noah and Adam, as between the flood and creation. ·​ ​Like Adam, Noah is told to be “fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen 1:28; 9:1). ·​ ​Like Adam, Noah is given dominion over the creatures of the earth (Gen 1:28; 9:2). ·​  ​Both Adam and Noah were given a garden to inhabit (Gen 2:15; 9:20). ·​  ​And both Adam and Noah consumed fruit that exposed nakedness (Gen 3:6-7A&E / 9:21 N). This incident depicts the wickedness of the Noah’s son ​Ham​ possible implying a type of perversion seeing his father naked. Ham’s son Canaan could continue this linage of wickedness. Noah’s other sons, Shem and Japheth discretely cover their father’s nakedness distinguishing themselves from the wickedness of their brother. This also gives reason for the rift between Israel and the Canaanites. As Adam, Noah’s family divides into two camps, one committed to righteousness and one committed to wickedness.

14. The Table of Nations
Noah’s genealogy, which identifies his 70 descendents who founded the nations of the world. (Gen 10) No other ancient document portrays the entire human race as one worldwide family. Reveals God’s fatherly perspective on the world. 1.​ ​The original unity of the human family both in Adam and in Noah, as well as the pattern of human sin and divine judgment. 2.​ ​It shows God’s people—those descended through the righteous line of Noah’s son Shem—their place in the world. 3.​ ​It shows them that they are the bearers of God’s blessing to the human race.

15. One Big Broken Family (Again)
Both a righteous line and a wicked line descend from Noah. Righteous line comes forth through Noah’s firstborn son, Shem. ·​ ​It is through Shem’s descendents that God continues to build his covenant family. ·​  ​Ancient Israel traces their national origin back to Noah through Shem. ·​  ​His descendents are called Shemites, or Semites. ·​  ​Today, when we say someone is anti-Jewish, we call him an ​anti-Semite​. Hebrews? ·​ ​Now Shem became the great-grandfather of Eber, from whose name we get the word “Hebrew.” ·​ ​And it is the children of Eber, the Hebrews, who are the ancestors of the Israelites and of Jesus of Nazareth.

16. One Big Broken Family (Again), cont.
Noah’s wicked line, Descendents of Ham, Noah’s son who betrayed his father after the flood receded. ·​ ​All of ancient Israel’s enemies come from Ham’s line The Egyptians
The Canaanites The Philistines
The Assyrians
And the Babylonians
“Israel was e​ nslaved by Egypt​, ensnared by Canaan​, oppressed by the Philistines​, annihilated by Assyria​, and exiled by Babylon (Dr. Hahn sums up in ​A Father Who Keeps His Promises​ p. 90).

​17. The Tower of Babel
The conflict between the children of Ham and the children of Shem becomes evident in the story of the tower of Babel. There, Noah’s descendents bring judgment on themselves, much as Adam and Eve’s descendents did generations before. ·​ ​At Babel, Ham’s descendents begin constructing a great tower, one that will establish their name, their ​shem,​ and bring them great fame and glory (Gen 11:4). ·​ ​They do this in direct opposition to Shem’s descendents, who seek to advance the Lord’s glory and name, not their own. ·​  ​The tower they built was a pagan temple. ·​  ​Yes, they were worshiping idols (themselves, their intelligence , capabilities), ​not God​. Crafting a Cult of Paganism ·​ ​[Through this] “perversion of paganism,” an ungodly world was “united only in its perverse ambition to forge its own unity as at Babel.” ·​ ​They were committing the sins of “polytheism and the idolatry of the nation and its rulers” ·​  ​(​CCC 57​) ·​  ​God renders judgment to stop idolatry and a return to his plan for them in salvation history. ·​ ​He confuses the builders’ language, so that they won’t understand each other anymore, and scatters his wayward children across the earth. For the third time in Salvation History—11 Chapters into the Bible, Man has strayed “en-masse from God’s plan! For the Third Time in Salvation History, God MERCIFILY takes extreme measures to bring Man back into covenant relationship with him. ​

18. The Covenant with Noah
Getting people back on track is always our Father’s goal​. ·​ ​God’s covenant with Noah was far-reaching. Not for just one man and his family. ·​  ​For ALL their descendents....including us. ·​  ​After Noah’s descendents return to sin and are scattered to the four corners of the earth, God continues to extend his providential care to the nations. “The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the Gentiles until the universal proclamation of the Gospel” (​CCC 58​).

19. A Flood of Comparisons
God’s covenant with Noah, foreshadowed the everlasting universal covenant of Jesus Christ. Baptism significance ·​ ​Noah points us to the sacrament of baptism (​CCC 701​, ​CCC 1219​). Read ​1 Peter 3:20-21, RSVCE 1.​  ​The flood is a type of baptism. 2.​  ​Like the flood, baptism cleanses us and destroys sin. 3.​  ​A “new creation” was born out of the floodwaters, 4.​  ​The waters of baptism help each of us become “new creations” in Christ. 20. A Flood of Comparisons, cont. ·​ ​1 Peter comes with a warning. 1.​ ​Noah’s son Ham was saved on the ark, but later squandered that gift of salvation, betraying his father through sin and ending his days cursed rather than blessed. 2.​ ​Likewise, our baptismal graces alone won't assure us eternal life and eternal blessing. We still have free will. 3.​ ​We have to continue to cooperate with God’s plan if we want our days to end with a blessing and not a curse.

21. Literary Framework of Genesis 1-11
The structure of these first 11 chapters shows us the relationship between Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, and the rest of salvation history. The literary framework reveals that: ·​ ​Salvation history is shaped by spiritual conflict between the godly and the ungodly; ·​  ​Righteousness or wickedness travel down through family lines; ·​  ​God vindicates his family and judges those who corrupt his children.

22. Literary Framework of Genesis 1-11, cont.
Vindication Method—10 Generations Adam to Noah, there are 10 generations​. ·​  ​The wicked of the world trace their lineage back to Cain. ·​  ​judgment of flood​ on the world after 10 generations, Flood recedes, four men remain: Noah and his three sons— Shem, Japheth, and Ham. Shem receives the blessing of the firstborn. Just as there were 10 generations from Adam to Noah, -- Noah to Terah 10 generations. ·​ ​The wicked of the world trace their lineage back to Ham, through his son, Canaan. ·​ ​judgment on the Tower of Babel​ after 10 generations,
At the time of the judgment on Babel, Noah’s descendent ​Terah​ has three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Abram receives the blessing from God​.

23. Narrative Structure
To see this structure, you have to carefully make your way through the various genealogies that fill the early pages of Genesis, genealogies that at first can seem like overly burdensome, superfluous information. There is a genius to the genealogies, and a closer look at them reveals the artistry of the author of Genesis. The various stories of Genesis are connected through the use of the word for “generations​” —the Hebrew ​toledoth [​to-leh-dote].
·​ ​Genesis 2:4, RSVCE​ introduces the history of the human family by saying, “These are the generations [toledoth] of the heavens and the earth...” ·​ ​The same term advances the story through the lines of Noah and the Patriarchs: “​This is the book of the generations of Adam...”​ (​Gen 5:1, RSVCE​). ·​ ​And again, “​These are the generations of Noah...” (​ ​Gen 6:9, RSVCE​).

24. Narrative Structure, cont.
​ The term “generations,” or ​toledoth,​ is actually used 10 times in the Book of Genesis to introduce key figures in salvation history, revealing the narrative plot of the history of God’s family. ·​ ​This use points to a deliberative literary framework designed to show us history from God’s perspective. The focus of that perspective is not wars, economics, or politics—it’s family. ·​  ​The literary structure of Genesis 1-11 tells us about God’s family— ·​  ​How that family is made, ·​  ​How it strays, ·​  ​How it is corrected, ·​ ​How it slowly grows in understanding of God’s ways and in 
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