Genesis 9:18-11:32: Family Problems

Warming Up to God

Does the evil in this world sometimes weigh heavily on you? Tell Jesus your frustrations and let him renew your hope in his sovereignty.

• I look out into our society and see such debauchery, blatant disrespect and public displays of sinful lifestyles.  I wonder just how long we can last before it all catches up with us. Sodom and Gomorrah seems not too far away in so many aspects. 
• And then there's the evil in my own heart. I just don't do the things I know I should, so many times.
• Lord, renew my hope in your sovereignty

Discovering the Word

Describe what happens in the brief story of Noah and his three sons (9:20-23).

• Noah goes back to work, be builds a vinyard
• He succumbsto sin and becomes drunk and exposed.
• Ham sees his father and tells his brothers. Not sure if that meant that he was making fun of his father or if he was planning much worse, but we gather that this was sinful behavior.
• Japheth and Shem walk backwards and cover Noah, so as not to see the nakedness.

What curse does Noah pronounce on Canaan (Ham's son) and his descendants (9:24-27)?

• Canaan's sons shall be slaves, Slaves to the sons of Shem and Japheth.
• Japheth and Shem will live in harmony, but Canaan shall be their servants. 

What interesting facts does chapter 10 reveal about the spread of humanity after the flood? (Note especially 10:5, 8-15)

• The people spread in their own land, not that of the world.
• The people followed Nimrod, the mighty man.
• They built great cities.

 What action do the people of Babel take, and what is their motive (11:1-9)?

• They were building a mighty tower out of brick and mortar.
• They wanted to make a name for themselves, to be famous.
• They wanted to all stay in one place .

It is amusing that the Lord must come down (11:5) to see this tower that will reach to the heavens. What is his reaction (11:5-9)?

• I never thought about the fact that the tower was no where close to God. He had to come down to see it...
• He confuses the language so that there are many language, thus, dispersing them throughout the world.

Genesis 11:10-32 traces the line from Shem to Abraham. Why do you think the author is beginning to shift from all the families of the earth to one family?

• Because Abraham is the man that he chose to make his covenant with. Abraham will be the beginning of the Jews. Abraham was righteous, God always focuses on the righteous.

 

Applying the Word

In what specific ways do families today suffer from a disrespect for parents and animosity among the children?

• If one disrespects their parents, they will disrespect others as well. People don't like to work with you if you are disrespectful.
• Fights among children are common, but once they become adults, those fights can be life altering. Grudges are much harder to break when you are not living under the same roof without mom or dad are continually reminding you of what you need to do.

How have you recently hurt someone through failure to communicate, and what steps toward healing can you take?

• I think this is an interesting question, since the whole story is about how God mad it so that they couldn't communicate...but that doesn't mean it's a bad question.
• Anyway, I fail to communicate with my husband on a daily basis it seems like. I don't know what steps to take. I am better than I used to be, I understand that Brian shouldn't necessarily "know how I'm feeling" and that I will have to tell him if I want to be understood. That has been a huge step for me. I guess I just need to be sensitive to when I do still expect him to "know how I'm feeling" and be sure to apologize and make it right.

Responding in Prayer

Ask the Father to show you one specific way you can be a minister of the gospel of Christ to your family or community.

The first word that came to my mind when I asked this question was prayer. Pray more...since I didn't even pray before this quiet time. Prayer does not come easy for me. It usually feels so useless and one sided. Lord, show me that prayer is not one sided. Bring me closer to you through your word, daily circumstances, and prayer.