The Bible Period by Period | Page 8

Those concerning Cain and Abel are: (1) The mere fact of having
worshiped is not a guarantee of acceptance with God. (2) Both the spirit
and the form of worship must please Jehovah. (3) God tries to point out
the right way to men and only punishes when man fails to give heed. (4)
Man is free and though God may turn to show him a better way, he will
not restrain him by force even from the worst crimes. (5) To try to shun
the responsibility of being our brother's keeper is to show the spirit of
Cain.
The story of Cain and Seth, or the two races show: (1) That our acts
reveal our thoughts. (2) That the indulgence of our lusts and appetites
disgraces the noblest people. (3) That outward culture without true
religion will not save a people. (4) The noble and good will finally
dominate other men.

The story of the flood teaches: (1) That Jehovah can not make men
righteous against their will. (2) That men by wickedness grieve God
and thwart his purposes. (3) That man has, therefore, power to cause his
own destruction. (4) That God does not save because of numbers or
civilization, but because of character and obedience to his laws. (5)
That God is pleased with the worship of those who obey him.
For Study and Discussion, (1) The consequences of sin as seen in this
period with special reference to the new truths added to those of the
former period. (2) New truths about God. (3) The beginning of the arts
of civilization. (4) The unity of the race. (S) The names and ages of the
six oldest men and whether any one of them could have known
personally both Adam and Noah. (6) The size, architecture and the task
of building the Ark. (7) The flood as a whole. (8) The inhabitants of the
Ark. (9) The departure from the Ark, and the new covenant. (10) The
flood as a divine judgment especially in the light of the judgment put
upon Adam and Cain. (11) Noah as the first man mentioned who saved
others and the way in which he represents Jesus. (12) Evidences of
man's freedom as seen in this and the former chapters. (13) Worship as
seen in the two periods studied.
Chapter III.
From the Flood to Abraham
Gen. Chs. 9-11.
Noah's Shame and Prophecy. Just what the vocation of Noah bad been
before his call to prepare for the flood we do not know. But after the
flood, perhaps compelled by necessity, he became an husbandman. He
had probably settled on the slopes or in the valleys of Ararat where he
planted a vineyard. On one occasion at least he fell under the
intoxicating influence of the fermented wine. This man upon whom
God had conferred such great favor and who alone preserved the race
alive lay naked and helpless in his tent.
In this shameful condition he was discovered by his sons whose
conduct led him in a spirit of prophecy to assign to his three sons the

rewards and punishments which their deeds merited. The punishment
and rewards fell upon the descendants of his sons. The descendants of
Ham, because of his joy rather than sorrow over the sin and humiliation
of his father, should always be a servile race. Out of these descendants
of Ham arose the Canaanites, the Babylonians and the Egyptians who
developed the three great civilizations of antiquity. Their ascendancy,
however, soon passed. The Canaanites were subdued by the Israelites;
the Cushites of Chaldea were absorbed by Semitic conquerors and
Carthage of the Phoenicians fell before her foes. The sons of Cush, in
the scripture commonly meaning the Ethiopian and now known as the
black-skinned African, are the very synonym for weakness, degradation
and servitude.
The descendants of Japheth and Shem like those of Ham can be traced
only in part. The Japhethites probably settled around the Mediterranean
and in the northwest beyond the Black Sea. From them "the great races
of Europe, including the Greeks, the Romans, and the more modern
nations, must have sprung." The Shemites were located, generally
speaking, between the territories occupied by the sons of Ham and
Japheth. Aram, one of the sons of Japheth, settled in Syria near
Damascus in northern part of Mesopotamia and through his son, Uz,
gave the name of Uz to the territory, thus showing how that branch of
the Hebrews came from western Mesopotamia, a fact now confirmed
by modern discovery. All the other sons of Shem and their descendants
are dropped from the record of Chapter eleven, except that of Arphaxad
from whom descended Abram.
The prophecy of Noah was not only fulfilled in the case of Ham and his
punishment but in the blessing of the