Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Sermon Series: “The God of Living Water”

Sermon Text: Genesis 2:4-17

Other Readings: Revelations 22:1-5 and John 2:1-11

 

1. The Hebrew word translated “account” is used nine times elsewhere in Genesis to mark main sections. Look up the following references and list the main people associated with each account – Genesis 5:1, 6:9, 10:1, 11:10, 11:27, 25:12, 36:1 (also 36:9 for emphasis), and 37:2.

 

2. The Hebrew word translate “account” is a special word that is hard to pin down with just one English word. It has the idea of succeeding generations, and one commentator prefers to translate it as “history.” How does Moses’ writing style reflect the fact that Genesis 2:4-17 is real history and not myth? List examples.

 

3. Moses calls attention to God’s careful crafting of mankind with the phrase, “The Lord God formed…” (v. 7). That phrase pictures God as if he’s a potter, carefully shaping us. When you think of parts of the human body that are carefully crafted, what comes to your mind?

 

4. Adam didn’t physically day on the day he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So, did God’s threat in 2:17 not come true? Explain.

 

5. To paraphrase a quote from Martin Luther, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil acted like a church and altar for Adam. What do you think Martin Luther meant by that?

 

6. Compare the picture of heaven given in Revelations 22:1-5 with Genesis 2:4-17. What similarities do you see?

 

 

 

1. The next accounts highlight Adam (5:1), Noah (6:9), Noah’s three sons (10:1), specifically Noah’s son Shem (11:10), Abram’s father Terah (11:27), Ishmael (25:12), Esau (36:1,9), and Jacob who was also called Israel (37:2). If you have a thumbnail sketch of each of these people, you can better navigate Old Testament history and culture.

 

2. Moses’ style is very matter-of-fact and doesn’t use embellishment that you might expect from a myth from the Greek gods, for instance. Some examples are how Moses points four historical rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates which are vitally important rivers in the Middle East.

 

3. Answers will vary; no specific answer is sought. Psalm 139:14 declares that all of our bodies are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” from our digits to our inner organs.

 

4. Physically speaking, he was as good as dead. From the moment he sinned, he gave up the immortality God created him with. Spiritually speaking, he was spiritually dead at that moment. Scripture often talks about death as a separation. Since our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:2), Adam spiritually killed himself by bringing sin into his life.

 

5. We go to a church with its altar because we care about God and his Word. Whenever Adam would go to that tree and not eat its fruit, he was showing God how much he cared about him and his Word, just as we show God reverence during worship.

 

6. A river is at the central, one that has life in it just as the one in Eden. A tree of life is also there which abundantly produces health and life to people from every nation who trust in Jesus as the Lamb of God.