Bible Notes

Genesis

Chapter 1: God created the world by calling the light and create everything in 6 days. On the 6
th
day he creates
humankind (own image) and on the 7
th
day he declared a Sabbath/rest day.

Chapter 2-3: God creates Adam out of dust and creates Eve out of the mans rib. He places Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden and tells to make many children and enjoy the fruits of the earth. The only thing he forbids them from
doing is to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The man and the woman were both naked and not
ashamed. A serpent persuades Eve into eating the trees forbidden fruit and says she wont suffer any consequences and
she also shares the fruit with Adam. As soon as they eat, the two are filled with shame and start sewing clothes for
themselves because of their naked selves. God finds out and curses the serpent and curses Eve and Adam. Eve will
have to suffer painful childbirth and be submissive to her husband and Adam must work the ground for food. They are
both sent out of Eden.

Chapter 4: Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel. Abel kept sheep and Cain was a farmer. Cain offers God a portion of his
crops as a sacrifice but turns angry when he finds out that God favors Abel more because of his sacrifice of the fattest
portion of his flocks. Cain murders his Abel and God banishes Cain from his home and forces him to wander in the
land east of Eden. Adam and Eve have another son, Seth.

Chapter 5-9: Generations pass and humankind becomes more evil. God wants to destroy humankind but save Noah.
God promises Noah that he will establish a covenant with Noah and his whole family and his generation to come. He
tells Noah to build an ark large enough to keep pairs of every living animal and to house his family. When Noah
finished the ark, God created a huge flood to destroy every living thing on earth and the rain falls for forty days. Noah
knew when to come out once the dove returned with an olive leaf. The earth is fertile again. God promises Noah that
the earth will be fertile for him and his family and that humankind must maintain the covenant by not eating meat with
blood still in it and killing a human that murders another human. God promises never to destroy all of life on earth
again and has the rainbow as the symbol of this promise. Noahs three sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham is the
father of Canaan. Noah runs a vineyard and gets drunk one night. Ham sees his father naked and tells his other brothers.
His other brothers cover their father without looking at him. Noah curses Hams descendants, the Canaanites, for his
blunder. Canaanites will serve under his other brothers descendants.

Chapter 10-11: More generations pass and humankind becomes corrupt again. Some men moved to Babylon and they
try to make a tower that reaches the heavens so that they could become powerful. God doesnt like their arrogance so
destroys the Tower of Babel and scatters people all across the earth so everyone has different languages. He divides
humankind into different nations.

Chapter 11-15: God wants to make a covenant with Abram, which would make him and his descendants into a great
nation. Abram has a wife named Sarai in Haran (upper Mesopotamia) and they also live with his father Terah. Abram
agrees to move as God says and he brings his wife and his nephew Lot to Canaan. Abram lives there and puts up altars
to symbolize his devotion to God. Abram had to go into Egypt and lied to the Pharaoh and said that Sarai was his sister
because he was worried that the Pharaoh would take her away because of her beauty. The pharaoh did but soon
returned him to Abram because of the plague that God ensued upon the household. The Pharaoh even gave him
everything that he had and Abram becomes wealthy. The land of Canaan was not enough to support Abram and Lot so
Lot went to reside in the plain of Jordan. Abram defeated armies that were intruding into Sodom where Lot was
currently living and with 318 men, he defeated the army and brought back all the goods and Lot to safety. The king of
Sodom is happy with Abram and the priest Melchizedek blesses Abram with bread and wine. God promises to make a
covenant with Abram and a ceremony is performed where God passes a blazing pot through pieces of sacrificed
animals to symbolize that the promise will not be broken. God believes Abrams faith in him is a form of righteousness.

Chapter 16-19: God did not bless Sarai to have children so to give her husband an heir, she told her handmaiden Hagar
to sleep with Abram. Sarai is jealous because Hagar is inferior and Hagar runs away. God comforts Hagar and says that
she will have a son who will be a wild man. Hagar comes back and gives birth to Ishmael. God speaks with Abram
again and decides to add new requirements to his covenant. He says that everyone has to get circumcised. He renames
Abram, Abraham, which means father of many children and he renames Sarai, Sarah. One day in their old age, God
came in the form of three men and said that Sarah would have a child at ninety years old. She did not believe him. The
three men travel to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy them because of their evil doings but Abraham convinces God to
not destroy the cities if a handful of good men are found in them. The men stay in Lots house. Men of the city
surround Lots house saying that they want to rape the three messengers. The messengers tell Lot to leave the city with
his family and to not look back. Lots wife looks back when they are leaving the city and she turns into a pillar of salt.
Lot resided in a cave with his two daughters and his two daughters got him drunk and had his babies so that the sons
could keep their family name going.
Chapter 20: Abraham continued his journey and told the king of Gerar, Abimelech that Sarah was his sister but Gerar
took her anyways. God came to Abimelech in a dream and said that he would do terrible things to him because Sarah
was Abrahams wife. Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham and gave him many gifts. Abraham prayed to God and he
restored Abimelechs maidservants ability to bare children.

Chapter 21-22: Sarah gives birth to Isaac and Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael away as Sarah wishes. God tests
Abrahams devotion and asks him to kill Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham brings Isaac to the mountains and Isaac asks
what animal they are going to sacrifice. Abraham says that God will provide it. As Abraham is about to sacrifice him,
an angel from God stops him. God reaffirms his covenant.

Chapter 23-24: Sarah dies and Abraham sends his servant to his relatives in Assyria to find a wife for Isaac so that the
lineage isnt fouled by Canaanite influence. The servant prays that the woman who gives him a drink from the well and
who also offers to give the camels a drink will be the correct wife for Isaac. The servant brings back Rebekah and she
comforted Isaac after his fathers death.

Chapter 25: