Summary of passage: God blessed Noah and his sons and told them to be fruitful and fill the earth. All animals will fear and dread you and God placed them in man’s hands. God gave everything that lives and moves now as food for man as well as the plants.
Man must not eat meat that has lifeblood still in it. God will demand an accounting from every animal and from every man and accounting for the life of his fellow man. “Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God has God made man.”
God establishes His covenant with Noah and his sons and with every living creature on earth. God promises to never again destroy the earth with a flood. The rainbow is the sign of this covenant between God, Noah, and all on earth. God will see the rainbow in the sky and remember this covenant.
Questions:
8a) In John Jesus says we must be born again of water and of the Spirit in order to see the kingdom of God. In Genesis, atonement of a blood sacrifice.
b) I see no difference. All the same. Means we are the image of God and made to be like Jesus.
9) Personal Question. My answer: Probably enhance and ameliorate them.
10) A believer’s mind and heart are opened and receive the indwelt Holy Spirit, which changes him or her to be more like Christ. The veil of ignorance is lifted and Truth enters and reigns. And we now reflect the Lord’s glory and are being transformed little by little into his image.
11) Personal Question. My answer. I had forgotten the rainbow was a sign of the covenant! I had just remembered it was a sign of God’s promise not to flood the earth. I’ll never look at a rainbow the same again. God is good and He is faithful.
Conclusions: Repetitive is the word that comes to mind with this lesson. When I read question 10, I sighed and thought Not again. This question has nothing to do with Genesis 9. It just doesn’t.
I liked the rainbow since me and my kids love rainbows and photograph them every chance we get! We will definitely talk about this one this week!
Although not the best picture, this rainbow is special to me. It was taken on my dog’s last day and she was in the car with us. It was right after her vet’s appointment–the appointment that had given us hope.
I still wonder what God was trying to tell me with this. It was so beautiful I had pulled over to take the picture and I had completely forgotten about it in the chaos of her death until I downloaded my pictures. And Bay was with me that day.
I hope it was a sign that God was remembering her as He promised He’d remember all living creatures. I call it “Bay’s Rainbow” for I truly believe it was put there by Him for her. And for me. She was truly special. And in my heart forever.
And I liked the idea of seeing other’s as images of God. So often we see people (especially relatives) as the broken humans we all are. I would extend this to not just Christians but to all people. For all are made in His image even if the Spirit is not in them.
I came into your website by accident. What a blessing to be able to compare and get other insight on the BSF lessons. I appreciate the e-mail on the lessons. Thank you for sharing your answers and thoughts. God bless. RJ
wow the rainbow shows how great our God is……
My comment on question 8b: I took “image” in Gen 9:6 as being ALL humans (believers and unbelievers) are made in the image of God. However, in Col 3:10 and Eph 4:20-4 refers only to believers who are a new creation as a “new man” and have put off the old self with a new self. A believer should always be growing to be like Jesus thru the process of sanctification. God is the Creator of all humans but only the Father of those who He has saved. The devil is the father of unbelievers (John 8:44) People many times say that God is the Father of all humans, but to me that is not biblical. He is the Creator of all, but only the Father of those who have accepted Jesus in faith and been “born again”.
that rainbow reminds me of God’s promise to fear not and grieve not. Although your heart may be broken, we are all going to a better place where there is no pain or sorrow. It hurts for a while for us left behind. Sometimes it feels like your heart was put in backwards but eventually will turn around and be in the position. We don’t go down this road alone. Some feelings have no words but need time to heal.
God bless.
While I agree that question 10 might not seem to have anything to do with the lesson, don’t forget that BSF is not just attempting to eliminate biblical illiteracy but biblical poverty (ie. not knowing Jesus in a personal way) and as such, every lesson should be sowing seeds. Have you read True to His Word? Inexpensive copies are available on Amazon and eBay. How many people have come to Christ via the invitation to attend Bible Study Fellowship and study God’s word? I loved the reminder that at Christ’s death, the veil was torn that separated us from God. When I was studying John what seems like a lifetime ago and just barely holding my own, a husband who was never home, a young one and exhaustion (health problems)…we had a lady who helped me one morning a week. She was so curious to see my working on my lesson. Every week she had questions for me and the answers I needed to answer her were always just what we had studied the day before. She was of a faith that most of us would consider a cult…and one that is extremely hard to leave particularly in that part of the country. I didn’t know that much about her religion but knew I needed to study to know what I was dealing with…my DL wasn’t much help probably because there were women of that faith attending our class and frankly, I don’t even remember her calling me but that doesn’t mean she didn’t. This was a LONG time ago. Anyway, this dear woman worked cleaning houses every day so she had not accepted my invitations to attend BSF with me. I would do laundry, sit down, work a little, do more laundry, while she vacuumed and dusted. We always talked and she told me that she had started going to a church that wasn’t in her faith but that specialized in helping people leave that faith because she wanted a relationship like my husband and I had with God. I will never forget the questions she asked me each week. One day, she came into the living room on a freezing cold snow up to the window sills day. She had questions about Jesus’ death and the veil. Only the Holy Spirit could have put all those words in my mouth so eloquently because I know they were not mine. She accepted Jesus Christ as her savior in my living room, led her entire family out of that cult despite great opposition, and I credit it all to God and that lesson in BSF giving me the right knowledge at the right time. Someone in BSF needs question 10 this week. We can pray for them to be open and ready to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
I’m so glad you posted this Sweet Mama. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Great perspective on it.
Great point! Repetition is the key for many in learning. School is the same way. Thanks again!
Thank you for sharing your story of Bay’s Rainbow. I had 2 old cats that passed away several years ago, I still think of them every day. I love what you wrote about God remembering all living creatures, it gave me a lot of comfort, thank you and so sorry for your loss of Bay. Maggie
Very touching perspective. Glad you had that reminder of God’s convenant with His people. I too miss my good ole dog, Blue.
ive lost two dogs in the last week due to horrible cancers! Habana and Amigo were two much loved members of my family and very much a part of our lives! I had to make the difficult appointments and hardest decisions ive had to make in my life. I thank God for the rainbow…And I truly beleive that my beloved pets are in heaven with my dear mother sister and mother in law and with each other, with no more suffering and pain. God you are good and I know you love all your creatures the same . thankyou