Memory Text: 2 Peter 3:3-4 “3Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

Sunday, November 5 Noah and the New Earth
Genesis 9:1-3 KJ21 “1 ¶ And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.”
Genesis 9:3 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN The third part concerns the means of sustaining life; man was for the first time, it would seem, allowed the use of animal food, but the grant was accompanied with one restriction.
Genesis 9:1-3 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY This grant of the animals for food fully warrants the use of them, but not the abuse of them by gluttony, still less by cruelty. We ought not to pain them needlessly whilst they live, nor when we take away their lives.
Genesis 1:28-30 KJ21 “28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." 29 ¶ And God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat"; and it was so.”

Monday, November 6 Blood and Life
Genesis 9:4-6 Holman “4 However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it. 5 I will require the life of every animal and every man for your life and your blood. I will require the life of each man’s brother for a man’s life. 6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in His image.”
Genesis 9:4 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE No blood was eaten under the law, because it pointed out the blood that was to be shed for the sin of the world; and under the Gospel it should not be eaten, because it should ever be considered as representing the blood which has been shed for the remission of sins. If the eaters of blood in general knew that it affords a very crude, almost indigestible, and unwholesome ailment, they certainly would not on these physical reasons, leaving moral considerations out of the question, be so much attached to the consumption of that from which they could expect no wholesome nutriment, and which, to render it even pleasing to the palate, requires all the skill of the cook.
Genesis 9:5-6 COMMENTARY LIFE APPLICATIONS BIBLE Here God explains why murder is so wrong: To kill a person is to kill one made in God’s image. Because all human beings are made in God’s image, all people possess the qualities that distinguish them from animals: morality, reason, creativity, and self-worth. When we interact with others, we are interacting with beings made by God, beings to whom God offers eternal life. God wants us to recognize his image in all people.
Genesis 9:6 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE The law of God and the eternal dictates of reason say, that if a man kill another, the loss of his own life is at once the highest penalty he can pay, and an equivalent for his offence as far as civil society is concerned. If the death of the murderer be the highest penalty he can pay for the murder he has committed, then the infliction of this punishment for any minor offence is injustice and cruelty; and serves only to confound the claims of justice

Tuesday, November 7 After the Deluge
Genesis 9:18-29 MKJV “18 ¶ And the sons of Noah that went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These [are] the three sons of Noah, and the whole earth was overspread from them. 20 And Noah began [to be] a husbandman. And he planted a vineyard. 21 And he drank of the wine and was drunk. And he was uncovered inside his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders. And they went backwards and covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces were backwards, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 ¶ And Noah awoke from his wine, and came to know what his younger son had done to him. 25 And he said, Cursed [be] Canaan. He shall be a servant of servants to his brothers. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. And Canaan shall be their servant. 28 ¶ And Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years. And he died.”
Genesis 9:18 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY The consequence of Noah’s sin was shame. Observe here the great evil of the sin of drunkenness. It discovers men; what infirmities they have, they betray when they are drunk; and secrets are then easily got out of them. Drunken porters keep open gates. It disgraces men, and exposes them to contempt. As it shows them, so it shames them. Men say and do that when drunken, which, when sober, they would blush to think of. Notice the care of Shem and Japheth to cover their father’s shame. There is a mantle of love to be thrown over the faults of all.
Genesis 9:21-22 COMMENTARY THE CLEAR WORD 21 One day he drank some grape juice that had been sitting for awhile, became drunk and was in his tent naked. 22 When Ham, (the father of Canaan) came into the tent and saw the condition his father was in, he thought it was funny and went and told his brothers.
Genesis 9:23 COMMENTARY JOHN WESLEY NOTES They not only would not see it themselves, but provided that no one else might see it; herein setting an example of charity, with reference to other men's sin and shame.

Wednesday, November 8 Scoffers – Past and Present
2 Peter 3:1-11 NKJV “1 ¶ Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in [both of] which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 ¶ knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of creation." 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world [that] then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth [which] are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 ¶ But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day [is] as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 ¶ Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,”
2 Peter 3:4 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN Presumptuous skepticism and lawless lust, setting nature and its so-called laws above the God of nature and revelation, and arguing from the past continuity of nature’s phenomena that there can be no future interruption to them, was the sin of the antediluvians, and shall be that of the scoffers in the last days.
Matthew 7:14 NKJV “"Because narrow [is] the gate and difficult [is] the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Thursday, November 9 The Tower of Babel
Genesis 11:1-10 NRSV “1 ¶ Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." 5 ¶ The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. 6 And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech." 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. 10 ¶ These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood;”
Genesis 11:3 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN slime—bitumen, a mineral pitch, which, when hardened, forms a strong cement, commonly used in Assyria to this day, and forming the mortar found on the burnt brick remains of antiquity.
Genesis 11:4 COMMENTARY LIFE APPLICATIONS BIBLE The tower of Babel was a great human achievement, a wonder of the world. But it was a monument to the people themselves rather than to God. We may build monuments to ourselves (expensive clothes, big house, fancy car, important job) to call attention to our achievements. These may not be wrong in themselves, but when we use them to give us identity and self-worth, they take God’s place in our lives.
Genesis 11:7 COMMENTARY THE CLEAR WORD We need to stop them lest they be lifted up with pride and forget who created them. Let’s confuse their language so that they’ll not be able to communicate with each other.
Genesis 3:22 NRSV “Then the LORD God said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"
Genesis 6:5 NIV “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.”

I was just reading about how after the flood the relationship of man and beast changed. From being man's friend, animals now became his food. It's no wonder the beasts got a fear of man instilled into them!! Probably to save their lives!

Yes, Gail, sin changes everything! I was just thinking -- mankind had been consuming meat for a long time before the flood (or at least those who had given up on God had done so, because they were consuming meat without permission), but that would indicate that there was no "inbuilt" fear before the flood.

It would be interesting to know some statistics (which are not available) regarding the difference in health/mortality before the flood, when comparing those who still obeyed God's laws, and those who had given themselves up to eating and drinking whatever they wanted! From the time of the flood the survival age of the children of God was on a downwards slide.

Beryl

From the Sabbath reading on Nov.7th After the Deluge, one gets the impression from the page that Noah is innoscent of any sin while Ham is compared to Cain and this "same spirit of depravity". But Noah was guilty of sin and Ham was guilty of adding another sin to sin from my view point. Am I wrong? Destroying the earth didn't destroy sin and removing all men but one righteous did not remove sin from the earth or from man. That is why God said He would never flood all the earth again for man's sake, because that was not the answer to the sin problem? This story is meant to reveal to future generations the depth of the sin and the destructive nature of it. And the only sure answer for it.

Thanks,
annie

We were trying to think just what the sin was the Ham did. Was it only the fact that he refused to cover up his father's nakedness or was there more? I didn't think that someone walking around or sitting naked within the confines of one's own tent seemed like so bad a sin

To me, the worst part was that Ham published his father's sin to others, not only that he was naked but drunken. It gave me an idea of how God expects us to treat those who have come to such an undignified state, even if their maladies are the result of their own hand

Welcome, Annie!

Yes, it is just so true that even the "righteous man" who had been such a tower of strength before the flood, who had lived through that "not so smooth" 5 months in the ark, and now had settled down on dry land again, which was just SO different than how it was before the flood -- this "righteous" man was still a sinner!

The flood did not remove sin, it only removed the depth of depravity that had occured, and allowed for a new beginning -- but mankind were still sinners in need of a Saviour!

God bless,

Beryl

Beryl, I have been appreciating reading your insights!

Could you please put that last commentary into simplier terms for me? I just can't seem to get my brain around it. Its from Nov.8th lesson. I hadn't thought about the idea that some people may have believed Noah's words and died before the flood. In Genesis 7:1 God's invitation to Noah and his family because "thee have I seen righteous" before me in this generation. These are powerful words to those who would follow and amazing to me that Revelation closes with the same invitation. It gives me great comfort for in these words I see this same God who saved Noah calling to us and dealing with us in the same caring way. And it gives me great peace.

Thanks,
annie

Hi, Annie, I typed out a long answer to your question, then did something wrong (???) and lost the lot! I will get back to you a little later.

God bless,

Beryl

I hate when that happens...

Hi, Annie, Sorry to have taken so long getting back to you. As I read the words of that commentary, I can't help but think of another forum here on the Adventist Forum -- where so much energy is expended trying to convince one stubborn, unconvinable person that God created the world in 6 literal days, and not thousands, millions, of years, and other rubbish like that. This was the type of "reasoning" that was happening before the Flood. Noah, they thought, must have been mad thinking that it was going to what? Rain? What was that?

Although Adam was still alive until a generation before the Flood, and they could have asked him about what happened, they were determined to go their own way.

So-called scientists promote evolution, because if they believe in creation that have to believe that we have a nighty powerful God. Evolution claims to be science -- but it is not science -- in true science scientists must be able to prove their theories, and they must be able to be replicated by other scientists. This is impossible in evolution -- evolution cannot be proved any more than creation can be proved -- it takes faith to believe in either -- and I prefer to place my faith in what God says than in what a lot of scientists THINK!

We know from the biblical story of the Flood that it was a massive upheaval of the world. Reading the story of the flood in Genesis 7 and 8 we "springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened" -- this was a massive upheaval such as this world has never again experienced!

I will try to post in another reply a couple of photos which I have. These were taken about 800km north of where I live in Perth, Western Australia. They were taken in an area where these massive rocks are piled high -- just as they would have been in a massive eathquake, where "Jets of water burst from the earth with indescribable force, throwing massive rocks hundreds of feet into the air, and then, in falling, buried themselves deep in the ground." (Patriarchs and Prophets p.99). And in this area you can see the "deep into the ground" as well as being piled high. And when you see the photos you can also see that they are so massive that they could not have been put there by anything else but the Flood.

The people of the time before the Flood refused to believe what Noah was telling them --"Nah! Things have been like this since the beginning." Evolutionists today say the same -- it takes millions of years for any "change" to happen.

As the infidels of Noah's day went on living in the same way "until the day the flood came and took them all away", so, as we come towards the end of the world, today's "scientists" are telling us, "Nah! Things have been like this for millions of years, and we are gradually getting better." And they will go on teaching the same until the coming of Christ.

God bless,

Beryl