Partriarchal Age (Part 1) : The Creation

In our last lesson, we discussed briefly the three ages or periods in which we can divide Bible history. The first of these is the Patriarchal Age, or the age in which God spoke directly to the Fathers (head of families).

This period began with Adam and ended with the giving of the law to Moses at Mount Sinai. This was about 2500 years. We can read about this account in the first two books of the Bible, Genesis and the first twenty chapters of Exodus.

In the very beginning of the Bible, we read where God created (or made) everything. He created the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars and everything in it. The last to be created was man. God formed Adam, the first man, out of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). After Adam was created, God took a rib from his side and created the first woman, Eve (Genesis 2:21-22).

At this time, the world and all that was in it, including Adam and Eve, were perfect. God planted a beautiful garden and put Adam and Eve to take care of it. They were allowed freedom to the entire garden except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God told them not to eat of the fruit from that tree for in the day that they eat from it, they will surely die (Genesis 2:17).

One day, the devil in the form of a serpent came to Eve. He persuaded Eve to eat of the fruit that God had told them not to by deceiving her that it will make her wise like God. Eve ate of the fruit and after which, she gave it to Adam and he ate also. The Bible tells us, “And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:7).

When God knew what they have done, He punished them by pronouncing a curse upon the serpent (Genesis 3:14-15), upon Eve (Genesis 3:16) and upon Adam (Genesis 3: 17-19) for their disobedience to what He had commanded them not to do. Then God drove Adam and Eve out of the beautiful garden of Eden and they were never to return to it again (Genesis 3:24).

We see that when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, they did not die physically as mentioned in Genesis 2:17. Rather, ‘death’ here means that they will be separated from God because of their disobedience. By disobeying God’s commandments, they have sinned against God.

In Genesis Chapter 4, we read of the sons of Adam and Eve. Their names were Cain, Abel and Seth. Here in Genesis Chapter 4, we also read of the first murder. Cain and Abel both offered sacrifices to God. Cain offered the fruit of the ground which God had not commanded. Abel brought a lamb which God had commanded and offered it. The Bible tells us that, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (Hebrews 11:4). God was pleased with Abel’s offering but was displeased with Cain’s. This made Cain very angry and he killed his brother, Abel.

God then put a curse upon Cain (Genesis 4:11-12) for the murder of his brother, Abel.

From the lessons of Adam, Eve and Cain, we can learn that God always punishes man when he disobeys Him. This should be a warning to us today that God will be displeased with us if we do not follow His commandments.

In the next lesson, we will study more about other patriaches.

Section I
Fill in the blanks

Question 1
The Patriarchal Age began with __________ and ended with the giving of the __________ to __________. It lasted __________ years.

Question 2
The last to be created by God was __________.

Question 3
Cain offered the fruit of the ground that God had __________ commanded and Abel brought a lamb which God __________ commanded.

Question 4
God is __________ with us when we do not follow after His commandments.

Question 5
We can learn from the lessons of Adam, Eve and Cain that God always punishes man when he __________ Him.

Section II
True or False

Question 1
God did not punish Adam and Eve when they disobeyed Him.
TrueFalse

Question 2
Abel was the first murderer
TrueFalse

Question 3
Eve was created from a rib taken from Adam
TrueFalse

Question 4
God was pleased with Abel's sacrifice because he offered it by faith (Hebrews 11:4)
TrueFalse

Question 5
After eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam gave to Eve and she ate also
TrueFalse

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