for that antedates creation and points to a beginning before God created. That is, John sweeps back to that beginning when as yet there was none but God. If this statement of Genesis 1:1 is compared with creation myths as found among other nations, it will at once be seen to be far grander and more in accord with our best thoughts of the divine activity. Unbelief may say, "In the beginning matter," or "in the beginning force," but that does not satisfy the human heart as do the words of the sacred writer.

In this beginning we see the origin of all things. Genesis means "beginnings," and in this book we find the beginnings of matter, of vegetable life, of animal life, of man, of sin, of sacrifice, of material civilization, of the Covenant People, and of Redemption. Truly a wonderful book. Well has it been said that "Genesis enfolds all that the rest of the Bible unfolds." In this book we find the germ of all that is to follow. If we would know the inner significance of all that we find in Genesis we must look to Revelation.

10. Period One.—Adam to Noah. Here comes the story of the creation of man. Innocent he was at the first, but in the trial to which he is brought, man fails, and disobeys. As sinner, he now hides from the face of God, and has to be sought out by his heavenly Father. Sin created a barrier between God the Holy One and man the sinner. Then it is that God begins his work of redemption, and in Genesis 3:15 we see the first promise of that redemption that is to be fulfilled in Jesus in later days. In this period we see the first sacrifice, and in it, too, we come across the full fruitage of hatred, which culminated in murder. Man proves to be a sad failure, and the record is that God looks down from heaven to see how man is acting. "And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5). From that day to this, man when left to himself reproduces this picture, as may be seen in those lands where there is no light of the gospel of the grace of God.

The chief characters of this period are Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Enoch, who "walked with God: and he was not; for God took him," Noah and his three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11. Period Two.—This lasts from Noah to Abraham. God blots out the human race as it then existed and begins it anew. So far, all that we know of the human race lived in the Euphrates valley, and all modern research confirms the Bible statement with regard to this. It need not be maintained that the flood was universal, in the sense that it covered the whole world, as we now know it. All that is needful to believe is that the "known world" was subject to a devastating flood that caused the human race to perish, with the exception of Noah and his family. Warned by God Noah builds the ark, and embarks in it. The rains descend and the fountains of the great deep are broken up, and the land is submerged. In due time, the rains cease, and the floods dry up, and Noah sends out first a raven, which returns not. Then he sends out a dove, which comes back to the ark, not finding any resting-place. In seven days he sends out another dove, which returns bringing an olive-leaf in her mouth. The third time he sends forth a dove, which returns not. Then in due time Noah goes forth from the ark, which had rested on Mount Ararat in Armenia.

12. Now follows the beautiful story of the sacrifice that Noah offers, and the promise of God never again to send a deluge on the earth. This promise is confirmed by the symbol of the rainbow. Of course there had been rainbows before this, but this time God takes the rainbow and makes it a symbol of his mercy to sinful man.

13. The Tower of Babel.—In this period we there is a great advance in civilization, as may be seen by a careful reading of Genesis 10:1-32. Cities are built and nations are founded by the descendants of the Patriarch Noah. But the evil tendency of the human heart again shows itself, and the pride of man's achievement fills the heart of the descendants of Noah. Then comes the story of the tower of Babel, and in this we read most significantly, "And they said, Come, let us build." To this God's reply is "Come, let us confound." Man's pride is to be abased, and put to confusion. So the human race is scattered abroad and its cherished plans are broken up. For the second time, man is seen to be a failure, and there is call for another way of dealing with the race if the truth is to be preserved. This third beginning is to be found in Period Three, with which our next lesson will deal.

Test Questions

State how the Gospel of John has a sweep farther back even than Genesis 1:1.

What beginnings may we find in the book of Genesis?

How does man act toward God, as soon as he transgresses his law?

Where do we find the beginning of the story of redemption?

Give the names of the chief actors in this first period of Bible history.

Give the divine estimate of the moral condition of man before the flood.

Where does the Bible place the story of the beginnings of the human race?

Give the story of the building of the ark and of the flood.

In the second period, what may we say of civilization? How did its magnitude show itself?

Give the record of the scattering of the human race.

Was the second trial of man any more successful than the first, regarded from the religious standpoint?

Lesson 3

From Abraham to Jacob

Old Testament Division—Third Period