As we go through the Bible and especially Genesis and Exodus, we will come across so many situations where we will have to make a decision whether someone was right or wrong, which is a good thing to do. But the temptation is always there to say, “If I was there, I would have done things so much better!” We’re going to use the story of Peter at the Last Supper to talk about why bragging is a bad idea but also about how God knows that we are going to mess up and never gives up on us.

This week we are going to learn about a very myth-understood word! And we will be doing that so that we can talk about one of the flood myths of ancient Babylon written down during the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—the Atrahasis Epic. We’ll learn a bit about ancient storytelling, the difference between mythology and lies, and how we can compare and contract stories from the Bible with the writings of other cultures to learn how different our God is from the false gods of the nations.

This week, something happened to me to make me very sad and so I want to talk to you about what to do when you are sad and what forgiveness is and is not all about. Hopefully this program will also help you to be a better friend when others are sad.

What is the Creation Covenant and what does it have to do with the Flood? Is God cruel or kind? Sometimes it is hard to understand why we should trust God when we see scary stories about the flood so we’re going to talk about what all of this teaches us about God’s character.

In our very first real episode for the second Torah portion of the Bible, we immediately see that Noah was righteous and blameless—in his generation… Is that a compliment or not? And what do these words mean? As they are very important to understanding the Bible, we’re going to explore them.

What kind of a guy was Noah before he found favor with the Lord? Was he a good guy or a bad guy? What what the heck is hyperbole and why will we spend so much time talking about how silly it can be?

What is the one-hundred-and-twenty-year mystery In Genesis 6? And can God really have regrets? What does the Bible tell us? What does the Bible not tell us?

God regrets making humans because we are wicked from cradle to grave, the Bible tells us in Genesis 6. But what about the philosophers who claim that people are basically good? And what does our wickedness tell us about God and how we can trust Him? And what does any of this have to do with the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees?

This story hits you like a mack truck, out of nowhere, and then just disappears again like it never happened. Why is it in the Bible? Who are these guys? What the heck is going on here?

Before we launch into the flood story, it’s very important to understand the theology of “Creational intent” aka “God’s original purpose” aka “God’s will.” We’re going to run into people, for the rest of the Bible, doing awful things that don’t represent what God originally wanted for us and usually, nothing is said one way or the other about whether they were right or wrong. That can make Bible study very confusing for kids. Studying creational intent is how we can keep people from feeling like they have to make excuses for what everyone in the Bible was doing—things like slavery which we all know is terribly wrong. By teaching kids to look backward to the Garden where all relationships were once healthy and good, we can give them the critical thinking skills to learn to live lives more reflective of God’s plans in creating us in the first place.