LESSON 1: ADAM: WISDOM OF UNDERSTANDING

VALUES: UNDERSTANDING
BIBLE STORY: GENESIS 2:8-25
ADAM

Now the Lord God had .the garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he
had formed. The Lord God made all kind of trees grow out of the ground- trees that were
pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four
headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah,
where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)
The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of
the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the
Euphrates.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take
care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the
garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you
eat from it you will certainly die.”

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable
for him.”

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds
in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the
man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the
livestock, the birds in the sky, and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall
into a deep sleep; And while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed
up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of
the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones

And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called ‘woman,’
For she was taken out of man.”

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they
become one flesh.
Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
LESSON 2: JOB: WISDOM OF KNOWING THE WILL OF GOD
VALUES: KNOWING
BIBLE STORY: JOB 1:1-22
Job’s First Test

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and
upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he
owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five
hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all
the people of the East.

His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their
three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job
would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a
burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children had sinned and cursed God
in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also
came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered
the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on
earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

“Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around
him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands so
that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and
strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power but on the
man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest
brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the
donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and made of with them. They put
to servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from
the heavens and burnt up the sheep and the servants, I am the only one who has escaped
to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans
formed three raiding parties and swept down on you camels and made of with them. They
put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “Your sons and
daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a
mighty wind swept from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on
them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. When he fell to the ground in
worship and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
LESSON 3: NOAH: WISDOM OF SUBMISSION
VALUES: SUBMISSION
BIBLE STORY: GENESIS 6:1-22
The Flood

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were
born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they
married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans
forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days- and also afterward- when the sons of
God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of
old, men of renown.

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,
and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The
Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply
troubled.

So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have
created- and with them the animals, the birds, and the creatures that move along the
ground- for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
This is the account of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked
faithfully with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how
corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.

So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with
violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make
yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is
how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty
cubits high. Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one-cubit high all around.
Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle, and upper decks. I am going to
bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has
the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.

But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark- you and your sons
and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living
creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every
kind of animal, and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you
to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as
food for you and for them.”
Noah did everything just as God commanded him.