Bible Studies, Inspired by Faith and Science

Lesson 9: Israel in Egypt: Genesis 46-50 What if… faith and science agree on Israel going to Egypt? The Land of Goshen: What if… Egyptians didn’t like shepherds? In Genesis 45:16-20 Pharaoh promises the best land to Joseph’s family. But Joseph is clearly nervous and needs God’s reassurance that this is okay ( Genesis 46:1-4 ). He reminds his family ( Genesis 46:31-34 ) that the Egyptians really don’t like herdsmen. When Pharoah gives them the land of Goshen he puts them in charge of his livestock ( Genesis 47:6 ), but livestock certainly wouldn’t be kept on the best land. Goshen may well be a hilly area near the Nile delta. Egyptians would not want to live there, so the Israelites would live undisturbed for almost 400 years, able to consolidate their stories and their beliefs without the pollution of foreign mythologies. Perhaps this was God’s provision for them, a time of strengthening. When a later Pharaoh began building the city of Rameses in the delta, the Israelites would have ...

Lesson 8: Joseph: Genesis 37 & 39-45 What if… Joseph really was a pain? Joseph’s Childhood (Genesis 37): The stories of Joseph’s childhood are probably quite familiar, but the details may be less so. Joseph’s Coat: Genesis 37:1-4. Note, Joseph appears to be a teenager, not a little boy, when he gets his coat. Joseph’s Dreams: Genesis 37:5-11. Did Joseph’s brothers hate him because his father loved him, or because he kept telling them that he was better than them? Certainly he doesn’t appear to the most tactful of younger brothers. Joseph Threatened: Genesis 37:19-24. Note that Reuben is playing the good older brother part. He seems to want Joseph scared rather than harmed. Joseph Sold: Genesis 37:25-29. Note, Reuben does not take part in selling Joseph, and this clearly isn’t what he planned for. It’s interesting to note the traders are Ishmaelites – there is still travel and trade between the two tribes. Joseph Mourned: Genesis 37:31-35. Jacob’s sons and daughters try to console ...

Lesson 7: Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 24-36 & 38) What if… God wants us to question faith and science? God speaks to Abraham: Genesis 12:1-2, 6-7; 15:1-6; 17:1-14; 22:15-18. God repeats His promises to Abraham, almost as if Abraham needs reminders, just like we do, that He can be trusted. Genesis 18:16-33. Abraham argues with God, a reminder that this is a real relationship, where we’re allowed, maybe even expected, to complain and ask questions (as science does). Genesis 18:1-3. Some traditions suggest that Abraham’s visitors were angels, and that one was the pre-incarnate Christ – God in human form. Whoever they were, Abraham related to them as he would be expected to relate to visitors. God speaks to Isaac: Isaac’s mother dies, leaving Abraham and his son alone. The story of the search for a wife for Isaac starts in the very next chapter. Perhaps Isaac’s impending marriage is triggered by his mother’s death. Certainly it’s followed by Abraham’s remarriage in Genesis 25:1-6. Gene...

Lesson 6: Abraham’s Family: Genesis 12-23 What if… faith and science agree on history and culture and traditions? Abraham’s Wives: What if… someone says Abraham had three wives? Sarai: Sarai as Abraham’s sister? Read Genesis 12:10-13, 20:1-3. Actually, calling your wife your sister wasn’t an uncommon practice at the time. In Genesis 26:6-7. Isaac plays the same trick on Abimelech as his father did before him – though it may be Abimelech’s son… And in other historical records, the same idea is repeated – an attempt to avoid the alternative where a king kills the husband to gain access to the wife (as David eventually did to Uriah). In fact, since Sarai was probably related by blood to Abraham, she may technically have been his “sister” as well as his wife, since the same word would have covered many types of cousin. So maybe Abram didn’t lie. Hagar: Servant as surrogate mother? Read Genesis 16:1-4. Another culturally common practice, particularly in Egypt, was that of a servant givi...

Lesson 5: Nations and Peoples (Genesis 10-19) What if… faith and science agree on how we lived in ancient times? The lists in Genesis 10 contain 70 names of nations and people (or peoples). It reads like a relational list, not complete list of peoples. And 70 may well be a symbolic number—7 for God’s plan times 10 for something countable for man. (There are lots of sevens in the Bible, and lots of tens; most significantly God resting on the seventh day, and ten commandments.) Note, the ages of parents become more “normal” over time, possibly representing increased numeracy; possibly a change in lifestyle and health; or possibly more attention paid to the distinction between father, grandfather, tribal elder, etc., reflecting more words as the language develops. The Tower of Babel: What if… humanity really did spread out from the Fertile Crescent? Read Genesis 11:1-9: Genesis 10 told of Noah’s descendants spreading throughout the known world. In chapter 11, the Tower of Babel gives an...

Lesson 4: Noah’s Flood: Genesis 6-9 What if… faith and science could agree on the flood? The Nephilim: Genesis 6 What if… we really don’t know who the Nephilim are? See Genesis 6:4. In mythology, the Nephilim are seen as fallen angels or demons, the demon possessed or the demon impregnated. They’re becoming more popular now in modern horror stories. One possibility is that they’re simply evil people—perhaps the descendants of Cain. Or they might represent a different branch of humanity, still able to reproduce with humans, but doomed to die out in time. After all, Neanderthal man died out. We don’t know (and neither do those who write their stories of angels and demons), so we guess; we interpret; and we wait to learn more. Noah’s Ark: Genesis 6-8 What if... the Bible really was written from more than one record? 1. Read Genesis 6:3-8, 7:1-5, 7,10, 12, 16b-20, 22-23, 8:2b-3a, 6, 8-12, 13b, 22-22. This is the southern, Judah version of the story, where God is called Yahweh. (Remember...

Lesson 3: The First civilizations: Genesis 3-5 What if… neither faith nor science knows for sure how the numbers add up? Cain and Abel (Genesis 3): What if… Cain and Abel could be Adam’s great-great-grandsons? Since Adam also means “man” (and earth, and clay, from which Adam was formed), and Eve means “mother of the living,” Cain and Abel’s story could be interpreted as the tale of Adam and Eve’s first children, or else of man’s and woman’s, of their great-great-… great-grandchildren. Different cultures have interpreted it differently in different times. The details of the Cain and Abel story do seem to suggest a more settled world than the immediate escape from Eden; a world of farming, villages and religion; maybe even of meat and cooking grain. Since Cain leaves and marries someone else, at the very least the details suggest a world where Adam and Eve are not the only human beings. What if… father doesn’t always mean Dad? Of course, the Bible does (sort of) say Adam is the father...

Lesson 2: The First Human Beings: Genesis 2-3 What if… faith and science agreed that there really was an Eden? Adam and Eve: What if… Adam and Eve were two people chosen from the crowd? One man. One woman: Genesis 1 ends with the creation of human beings. “Male and female He created them,” is says, implying more than one person, and certainly not discounting the possibility of more than two. But Genesis 2 starts with one man, Adam, in the garden, and begs the question: Was he the only “man?” What if he was the only man tested by God? What if there were other “people,” but their generations would die out in time, and only Adam’s descendants would survive? Would that contradict Genesis 1 and 2, or could it be valid, if unconventional, interpretation? And which matters more, the interpretation, or continuing to read the word? Richard Dawkins describes research that shows all humanity to be descended from a single woman who probably lived in Africa. She would have been one member of a ne...

What if… science and the Bible were both true? What if… creation and evolution told the same story? What if… Adam and Eve were real people? What kind of world would they live in? What if… we could tell the difference between God’s word and human interpretation? What is the aim of this study: • To keep the emphasis on the Bible. To remember God’s word is more important than my interpretation. • To be ready to encourage people to read the Bible and hear God’s word, rather than risk them rejecting what God says because of man’s word. My interpretation may be valuable to me, but it’s God’s word that might make a difference to my neighbor. • To know what the Bible says, even if it’s not what I think it ought to say. Lesson 1: Creation: Genesis 1-2 What if… faith and science don’t have to disagree? Before reading, try putting these 3 things in the order in which you think they were created – • Plants • Reptiles • Man Then read Genesis 2:4-8, 18-19. Is that what you came up with? If not,...