Video - Bible Story - Genesis

Abraham and Isaac

"Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." Genesis 22:12

Soon God's promise came true and Abraham had a son named Isaac. All the promises God had made were for Isaac's children after him. Abraham loved God and believed even more.  

But then God asked Abraham to do a strange thing. God told Abraham to take Isaac to the top of a hill and offer him to God as a sacrifice, as if he had been a calf or lamb. Abraham was shocked that God would ask him to do this wicked thing, but he knew that if God commanded it, there had to be a reason and he should obey. 

So they set out to the mountain together. Abraham carried the knife and a vessel with fire in it. Isaac carried the wood to start the fire on which the sacrifice would be burnt. While they were walking, Isaac said, "Father, we have fire and wood, but what about the lamb?" Abraham said, "God will provide the lamb." 

Isaac soon knew that he was to the be lamb, for his father put the wood in place and tied his hands, then took the knife. Isaac didn't complain or struggle. Like his father, he was willing to obey God. But just as Abraham had the knife ready, an angel called to him from Heaven and said, "Don't hurt the boy. Don't do anything to him. I know that you fear God because you haven't withheld your only son." 

Abraham untied his son and was as glad as if Isaac had risen from the dead. He saw a ram that was caught in a bush nearby, so he took the animal and offered it as a sacrifice instead of Isaac. In this way, God did provide a lamb for the offering. 

God blessed Abraham more and more, and promised again that his children should have the land and that in his Seed should all the nations of earth be blessed. That Seed was our Lord Jesus Christ, who was given by his Heavenly Father to die and then rise from the dead that all people might be saved by Him. 

QUESTIONS

1. What was the name of Abraham's son?

2. What had God promised Abraham ?

3. What had Abraham done at God's command ?

4. What was he to do ?

5. Whom did he obey ?

6. Where was he to go ?

7. Who went with him?

8. What did Isaac ask?

9. What did Abraham answer ?

10. Who seemed likely to be the lamb ?

11. What was Abraham just going to do?

12. Who called him?

13. What did the angel tell him ?

14. Why was God pleased with him ?

15. What blessing did God give him?

16. Who was to be his Seed in whom all nations should be blessed ?                

Lot is Led Away From Sodom and Gomorrah

"Escape for thy life ; look not behind thee." Genesis 19:17

There was a beautiful valley with steep hills surrounding it and a clear, swift river running through the middle and spreading into a lake. Sheep, cows and goats were eating rich grass in fine fields. Five cities with strong walls around them were placed on the banks of lake. The cities were full of rich people who bought and sold and had fancy parties with the things they possessed. 

One good man lived among them. He was upset at the bad things the people around him were doing. If he said anything to them, they laughed at him. 

One evening two strangers came into the city. He was the only person who took them in and sheltered them from the bad people in the town. 

The strangers told the good man the city was going to be destroyed, along with everyone in it, because it had become so bad. Even though the walls were strong and the fields quiet, they told him everything would be ruined in a just a few hours. 

The strangers told him and his wife and daughters they needed to leave. The strangers led them away from the city at dawn. They told them to go to the mountain and not look back. The family was scared and asked if they could go to another city that was closer instead of the mountain. 

The strangers agreed, and just after dawn they entered the small town nearby. As soon as they were safe the four towns, including the city where they had been living, was destroyed with fire and brimstone. All of the bad people who had laughed at the good man were dead. Only the good man and his daughters reached safety because his wife didn't listen to the warning given by the two strangers. She looked back at the city she'd left and became rooted to that spot as a pillar of salt. 

The cities were Sodom and Gomorrah, and the one good man saved by God's mercy was Abram's nephew, Lot. Now a lake called the Dead Sea covers that valley with heavy water and the hills are crusted in salt. This shows God's curse on the place. 

Let's remember one thought from this sad story. This world will one day be destroyed like those cities. It seems safe and prosperous now, but that doesn't make it safe. God will send messengers to lead us out, and if we follow their advice we'll stay out of danger all our lives and will go to a safe home in heaven. But if we only care for the pleasant things of earth, it's like looking back. That's why Jesus reminded us, "Remember Lot's wife." We should remember her when we are tempted to think it's hard to give up things of the world and listen to God's call.

QUESTIONS

1. What was the name of the place I told you of today?

2. What was the name of the man ?

3. What kind of place was Sodom ?

4. Who was the only good man there ?

5. Who came to Lot ?

6. What did he do for the strangers ?

7. What did the strangers tell Lot ?

8. Why was Lot to leave Sodom?

9. Why was Sodom to be destroyed ?

10. Where did Lot go?

11. Who looked back?

12. What became of her?

13. What did God do to Sodom?

14. What sort of place is it now?

15. What will be burnt up some day?

16. If we are not good, what will become of us?

17. What teaches us to be good?

18. And how must we try to come out, like Lot ?

Abram and Lot Divide the Land

"Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between thee and me."

Genesis 13:8

Abram was traveling with this nephew, Lot. They had left their home because God had called Abram to leave his former home and come to a land that God would give to his children. Abram believed God's promise, so he obeyed. Lot, the son of Abram's dead brother, went with him. 

They weren't alone. Each of them had great groups of cows, sheep, camels, donkeys and goats. They each had servants that cared for the animals. The servants would set up their camel hair tents in any place they found grass and fresh water. They would stay there until the grass was eaten and then move to another place. 

They reached a bare, stony place where the sun was hot and there wasn't much grass. Abram built an altar with great stones and prayed. 

Abram and Lot loved each other and were at peace, but when their servants cared for the animals they would argue. If Abram's men found a green valley, they wouldn't let Lot's servants into the valley. If Lot's servants found a well full of fresh water, they wouldn't let Abram's animals drink. They were always arguing and complaining to their masters. 

Abram didn't want this to continue, so he said it would be wiser to separate. Lot should travel one way and he would travel another so there wouldn't be any more arguments. Abram even let Lot choose the way he wanted to go. 

Lot looked and saw a green valley filled with a grassy meadow and fields of corn. A river ran into a clear lake and there were five towns on the banks of the lake. He liked this better than the bare, stony hills where they were. He never thought about the people who lived there - are they good or bad? He took the first choice and went to live in the green valley. 

Abram had the right to choose first because of his status as Lot's uncle, but he chose not to use this right. He gave up the right to choose first and let Lot choose. He hated the arguments and knew that by separating and allowing Lot to choose, there would be peace. The peace within the family would please God. 

QUESTIONS

1. Who had called Abram?

2. Who went with him?

3. What was Lot to Abram ?

4. Why did they go ?

5. What had God promised ?

6. What had they with them ?

7. Who argued?

8. What did the servants argue about?

9. Did Abram and Lot argue?

10. How did Abram prevent an argument?

11. Who was to choose first?

12. Who might have chosen first ?

13. Why didn't Abram choose first ?

14. Should you hurry to take the first choice?

15. What should you try to avoid?

16. If you and don't say "It's mine," and "I must," would you avoid arguments?

Abram Received God's Blessing

"In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Genesis 12:3

When Noah's grandchildren and great grandchildren multiplied and the world was full of people again, they still were not all good. As time went on they grew worse. 

But God called to a very good man named Abram, and told him that if he would move away from his home, God would show him a new land to call his own, and God would bless him and give the land to Abram's children and their children. God told Abram his children would be more than the grains of sand on the seashore or the stars in the sky. God told Abram that from his children all the nations of the earth would be blessed. 

Abram thought it was strange to hear this from God because he was an old man. He and his wife, Sarai, didn't have a child. But he believed in God. He believed God is Almighty and can whatever He will. So he did as God said and moved from his home to the land God showed him. 

He brought all of his animals with him - his cows, goats, sheep, camels and donkeys. He brought servants to care for the animals. When they reached a place with grass and fresh water, they would stop to rest. They only had tents made with goat hair and set up with poles. They could set up and take down the tents as they needed. Abram and Sarai and all their servants all lived in tents instead of in a house in a city. 

 Soon they came to a beautiful country. There were high hills rising up and green valleys full of grass for the sheep and cows. The glorious blue sea spread far away towards the west. God told Abram to look at the land, for this was the place his children would call their own. At the time, though, Abram didn't have any of it, and he still didn't have a child. 

But he was sure God was telling the truth, that somehow - he didn't know how - it would happen as God said and that his children should have this land and that in One all of nations of the earth would be blessed. This is called faith. 

QUESTIONS

1. What good man do you hear of today?

2. What did God tell Abram to do ?

3. What did God promise ?

4. Who were to have the land ?

5. Why was it strange to hear of his children ?

6. But did he believe it would come true?

7. Why did he believe it?

8. How did he show that he believed?

9. Where did he go?

10. What had he with him?

11. What did he live in?

12. What is a tent like?

13. What sort of place did he come to ?

14. Who were to have this land ?

15. How many were his children to be ?

16. Did he believe this?

17. What is believing called?

The Promise of the Rainbow

"I do set my Bow in the Cloud." Genesis 9:13

 When Eve had listened to the evil spirit in the garden, sin entered the world. As the people multiplied in the world, the sin grew worse. God brought a great flood over the earth and the wicked people all drowned in the flood. But God saved Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives. They were in the Ark for a whole year. They watched the rain come until they  couldn't see anything but water. Now the water had gone down and they left the Ark, along with all the animals God had saved with them, and stepped onto the fresh green grass. 

God spoke to them. He made a promise to Noah.  He promised that he would never drown the world again. He world would go on, year after year and season after season, until he would burn it with fire. He promised this so that Noah and all of us after him would feel sure that God, in his mercy, will go on preserving us day and night. He gave us something to look at as a sign of his promise. He ordered the rays of light so that when they shine upon drops of water in the air they make beautiful colors in the shape of a bow. 

So when the sun shines on a cloud as it rains, the bright rainbow is seen as a pledge to us of God's mercy, love and care for us. 

There is a rainbow around the Throne of God in Heaven. The lovely rainbows we see when the sun shines and the rain stops are to remind us we are safe in His care because of His promise to Noah and his family, who then multiplied and spread over the whole earth. 

We are the children of his sons - Ham, Shem and Japhet, and all that was promised to them belongs to us also. 

We should remember and put our trust in Him, and be thankful when we see the beautiful arch that the Hands of Almighty God bended, looking out from the dark, watery clouds.  

      QUESTIONS

1. What beautiful sight do we sometimes see after a rain shower ?

2. What is a rainbow like ?

3. Who put the rainbow in the cloud?

4. Who was the man to whom God showed the rainbow ?

5. What promise did God make Noah?

6. What had God just done to the wicked people ?

7. Whom had He saved?

8. What did He say should always go on?

9. What did God put in the sky to show that He will not send another flood ?

10. What are we to think of when we see a rainbow?

11. Who takes care of us?

12. Where is there a rainbow in Heaven above?                

The Ark Rests

"So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth."    Genesis 8:2

Noah, his wife and their sons must have been very sad as the rain continued, the water grew deeper and deeper, and everybody and everything was drowned. There came a time when nothing could be seen but water. Everywhere they looked was sky and water. 

But when the rain ended, the sky was blue again. The sun shone during the day, the stars shone at night, and they must have been very glad.  

Finally the water lowered until the Ark wasn't floating but was stopped. It rested on the peak of a very high mountain. Soon the family could see the tops of other mountains around them. 

Noah opened the window of the Ark and let out a raven. He never saw the raven again. He waited a week, then let out  a dove. Doves like trees to rest in and they eat grains and seeds. The dove couldn't find a place to rest, so it returned to the Ark. 

Noah waited another week and let her go again. She few away but came back later with a spring of a an olive branch in her beak. 

It was the first green thing that Noah had seen for a year! Because of this sign, the olive branch has meant peace and good news ever since.  

Now Noah knew that the waters had gone down and that trees must have leaves again. Once more, after another week, he let out the dove, and she did not come back. She'd found a tree to make a home, and seeds to eat. 

Noah knew the sad time of the flood was over and the earth had been washed from all her stains. 

QUESTIONS

1. What was the Flood?

2. What was the Ark?

3. Who was in it ?

4. What had Noah with him in the Ark ?

5. What became of everyone else ?

6. Why ?

7. Why was Noah saved?

8. How long did the Flood last?

9. What birds did Noah send out of the Ark?

10. Which came back?

11. Why did not the raven come back?

12. What did the dove bring?

13. What was Noah sure of then ?

14. What had the earth been washed from?                      

The Great Flood

"And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth."    Genesis 6:17

After Adam and Eve disobeyed God and left the Garden, they had children. Some were good and some were bad. As time went on the bad ones were worse and the good ones were tempted, so many of the good children became bad too. When God looked at the world, he only saw evil. He said He would destroy the wicked people and clean the earth by a great flood.     

But there was one good man named Noah, and God said He would save him. He told Noah build an Ark - a great ship all made of wood. It took a long time to build and all that time people laughed at Noah. They didn't believe anything was going to happen. 

Noah obeyed God and built the Ark. He stored food and God sent him a pair of all sorts of animals that were in the world. He put them into pens in the Ark. Then Noah and his wife, and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and their wives, went into the Ark, and God closed the door.    

It began to rain. It rained for forty days and forty nights without stopping. The rivers flooded their banks, the ocean came upon the land, and the ground was covered up. Even the tops of the highest hills were hidden, and everybody and every creature was drowned - all but Noah and his family with him. The Ark floated safe safe on the water. The storm could not upset it and the sea couldn't make it sink because God took care of it and everyone that was in it.   

The reason Noah was saved was because, first, he tried to be good, and not do like the bad people around him and next, because he believed what God said to him and built the ark, even when he didn't see any danger. If we wish God to save us, then we must do what is right and not just what seems fun and good right now. 

       

QUESTIONS

1. Do you know why Adam and Eve were driven out of the happy garden ?

2. How did people go on after that ?

3. How had sin come into the world?

4. What did God say He must do to the world ?

5. Why ?

6. Who was to be saved?

7. What was Noah to make?

8. What was the Ark like ?

9. What were put into it ?

10. Why were two of all creatures put into the Ark?

11. What men and women were in it?

12. What were the names of Noah's sons?

13. What happened when Noah was in the Ark?

14. How long did it rain?

15. What was covered up?

16. What became of all the people ?

17. Who were safe?

18. Where was the Ark ?

19. Who took care of the Ark ?

20. Why was Noah saved?       

Adam and Eve Eat From the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

"The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." Gen. 3:13

You know God made the world and put a man and woman to live in it. The man was named Adam and the woman was named Eve. God gave them a beautiful garden to live in, full of trees and flowers; and they had no pain, no trouble, nothing to upset them. Only one thing God told them - there was one tree whose fruit they must not eat. They might eat the fruit of all the other trees, but not of that one. As long as they obeyed, all was well and happy with them. But if they ate it, they would die.     

But a bad spirit came and took the shape of the serpent and talked to Eve. He told her a wicked lie. He told her that eating the fruit would make her wise and she wouldn't die. Eve listened and did eat. And she gave some fruit to Adam, and he also ate. So they took the bad spirit for their master instead of the good God. Then God was angry with them, and made them leave the garden. They had to work, they became weak and sick, and died at last. 

It is a sad thing for them and for us because if they had been good and obeyed God and not the bad spirit, it would have been easy to us to be good, and we wouldn't have the devil tempting us to do wrong. We would never have known pain or sadness. But God pitied Adam and Eve, and us too. He promised them that the Seed that is, the Son of the woman, would bruise the serpent's head and set them and their children free. 

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, set us free when He died on the cross and rose again. Now we belong to Him and not to the bad spirit. We must asking Him to help us to do what is right and not what is wrong, as Eve did, or won't stay free from the power of the bad spirit. 

QUESTIONS

1. Who was the first man ?

2. Who was the first woman?

3. Where did God put them?

4. What was the one thing they might not do ?

5. What was to happen if they ate of that fruit ?

6. Who came and spoke to Eve ?

7. What shape did the bad spirit take ?

8. What did he tell Eve?

9. What did she do?

10. Whom did she make her master ?

11. What was done to punish her?

12. What sad things did the bad spirit bring on her?

13. Who came to set us free from the bad spirit ?                    

The Wonderful Sea

"Hitherto shall thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." Job 38:11

God has made such glorious and wonderful things!  Have you ever seen the ocean? There is a great, open space, all water, green close to us but blue further away. The water is always moving, up and down, rising and rippling along then bursting with a white edge of foam bubbles on the shore. 

If you live near the ocean, you know at certain times of the day one wave after another begins to break a bit higher on the beach. Eight waves run the same distance, then the ninth comes much further. Then eight more like that, then another. The beach that had been dry is now covered in water, and where you were walking is now covered. What is this called? 

It's called the tide. What will the tide do in the proper time? Will it come rolling over the beach, sand, pebbles and rocks, and wash us all away, drown us all, and cover up the land? 

No. Each tide will turn. Each wave will be a little less high than the last, till it will have gone back again and left the beach uncovered as before. 

Why does the tide do this? It is because God so wonderfully made this earth and sea that the waters should rise and go back.   

He made the sand the boundaries of the sea, and said, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." 

There is a Psalm sometimes sung on Sundays - 

       

"The sea is His, and He made it :   

And His hands prepared the dry land."       

QUESTIONS

1. Which day was the sea and land made?

2. What curious thing does the sea do every day?

3. What do you call the coming in and going back of the sea?

4. Why does the tide always stop in its proper place?

5. What did God make the bound of the sea?

6. What did he say to it?

7. What verse praises God for making the sea? 

The Garden of Eden

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7

In the Bible God tells us that He made the world and everything in it - land and water, and grass, flowers and trees, insects, birds and beasts, and last of all He made the first man and woman. 

The man was made by God out of the dust of the ground, and then God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and gave him a living soul. The woman was made by God out of the man's side. They were called Adam and Eve, and they were to be the first father and mother of everyone who was to be born into the world.   

The good God gave them a beautiful home in a garden with a clear river of water flowing through it and all kinds of delicious fruit trees and beautiful flowers growing in it. Nothing could hurt or upset them there. They didn't know what pain was, they were never tired, and all they had to do was to take care of the garden. They had no faults and never did wrong; and God Himself talked to them.   

That was the way they lived, always good and always happy, while they obeyed what God told them. In the middle of the garden grew two trees. One was the Tree of Life, and the other was the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil. 

God told them that if they ate the fruit of this Tree of Knowledge they would die. We do not know what those trees were like, but we hope to see the Tree of Life as it grows in heaven, close to the river that flows by the Throne of God. When we see it and taste it, we'll live forever, and will be happier even than Adam and Eve in their garden. 

We won't be as happy as they were while we are living in this world; but if we will try to obey God and live holy lives, He will take us to heaven, and that will be still better than the Garden of Eden.       

QUESTIONS

1. What did God make?

2. Whom did He make?

3. What was the man made of ?

4. What was the woman made of ?

5. What did God breathe into them ?

6. What did He give them?

7. Why were they better than the beasts?

8. What was the man's name?

9. What was the woman's name?

10. Of whom were they the father and mother?

11. Where did they live?

12. What had they to do there?

13. What grew there?

14. What were the two important trees that grew there?

15. Which were they not to touch?

16. Where is the Tree of Life now?

17. When do we hope to see it?

18. What is a still happier place than the Garden of Eden ?

The Creation of the World

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Gen. 1:1

God made the earth that we live on. Sunday is the earth's birthday because it was on this first day of the week that creation began. The world was a mass of darkness, empty and shapeless, until God made light by His Word and said the light was good. 

Without light we couldn't live. Even trees and flowers would die. 

Do you remember being in a dark place and how glad you are to see the light come back, even if it's only one gray line in the sky. This shows how blessed this gift is. It was good, too, that we have a dark and quiet night for rest. 

The second great change wrapped the earth in a ball of air which we call the sky or firmament. This is the deep blue we see when we look up. The water rises from the earth and makes the clouds. The clouds are sometimes white and puffy and in funny shapes. Sometimes they are dark and full of rain to water the earth. Sometimes they are pink or gold in the sunlight. 

The third great change was the water filling the deep hollows in the earth and the hills that rose above. Rivers and streams ran down their slopes into the sea below. 

God didn't leave the earth bare. He clothed it with green plants and herbs with leaves and flowers, and trees to give us fruit or wood, and filled even the sea with plants to live under the water. 

Next, God allowed the rays of the sun to brighten the earth, and the moon was lit by the sun,  and the stars far beyond our own sky. We count the months by changes in our moon and the earth's journey around the sun marks years and seasons. We're all glad for a bright, sunny day, even though the sun is too bright to look at. Our moon is lovely, whether it's a crescent moon or a beautiful full moon rising over the horizon. 

The water began to fill with living things that swam and crept and flew - fish, birds, and insects. By this time the world was nearly as we see it and was a beautiful  home for us to live in. 

Then God made the four-footed animals - sheep, cows, horses, dogs, cats, elephants, lions - all that becomes our pets or that we admire from afar. Last of all, when he'd made this earth a happy and healthy place, He planted the Garden of Eden. He put the first man and woman in his garden. They were the best he'd made, even though their bodies were of dust their souls were from the Breath of God. They could think, speak, pray and know what was seen and unseen. 

Let the ground below, the sky above, the sun, moon, stars, flowers, trees, plants and animals and His day of rest remind us that they are all gifts from Him and be thankful for such good things. 

QUESTIONS

1. Who made the world?

2. Which Commandment tells you about God's making the world?

3. What is in the sky that God made?

4. What is on the earth ?

5. What do you see around you that He made?

6. Can we make birds, or beasts, or flowers?

7. Could we make them live?

8. Who makes them and us live?

9. Where does all our food come from?

10. Who gave us corn?

11. What must we ask God to do for us?

12. What must we thank Him for? 

13. When you see a pretty flower, or a beautiful sky, or when the sun shines bright and warm, can you say, "Thank you, God, for being so good to me"?