January 3: Genesis 7:1–10:32; 1 Chronicles 1:5–23

The Great Flood – Genesis 7

• Seven days after Noah and his family enter the ark, forty days of rain ensued, flooding the face of the earth and killing all people and animals.
• The waters prevailed on the earth for one hundred fifty days.

Noah's Deliverance – Genesis 8

• Over forty days, the flood waters recede, and the ark rests on the mountains of Ararat.
• Noah sends out a raven and then a dove. The dove returns because it has nowhere to land, and Noah sends it out again seven days later, and this time it returns with an olive branch in its mouth. Noah waits another seven days, then sends out the dove again. This time it doesn't return, confirming dry land.
• God tells Noah and his family to leave the ark.
• The first thing Noah does is build an altar to the Lord.
• The aroma of the burnt sacrifices pleases the God, and He decides to never destroy the earth in such a way again.

God's Promise to Noah – Genesis 9

• God blesses Noah, and, as He did with Adam and Eve, tells him to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." (Gen. 9:1)
• God establishes a covenant with Noah and his sons, promising to never destroy the earth by flood again. He places a rainbow in the sky as a reminder of this covenant.

Noah and His Sons

• The sons of Noah are introduced: Ham, Shem, and Japheth.
• Noah gets drunk and becomes "uncovered" in his tent.
• Ham sees his father's nakedness and tells his brothers, and Shem and Japheth respectfully cover their father without looking at him.
• When Noah finds out what happened, he blesses Shem and Japheth, but curses Canaan, the son of Ham, making him and his offspring servants.
• Three hundred fifty years after the flood, at age nine hundred fifty years, Noah dies.

Nations Descended from Noah – Genesis 10 & 1 Chronicles 1:5–23

• Describes the offspring of Ham, Shem, and Japheth, and (in Genesis) the lands they occupy.

January 2: Genesis 4:1 – 5:34; 1 Chronicles 1:1–4; Genesis 6:1–22

Sin Enters the World – Genesis 4

• Cain and then Abel are born to Adam and Eve.
• Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the ground (farmer). Both bring a sacrifice of praise to the Lord, but Abel brings his best while Cain does not. 
• Cain is angered when God does not respect his offering, and while talking with Abel in the fields, Cain kills his brother.
• God curses Cain, banishing him from the land. (Cain is the third thing to be cursed by God; the first was the serpent and the second was the ground.)

The Family of Cain

• Cain dwells in the land of Nod with his wife (one of his sisters).
• Six generations of Cain's offspring are described, ending with Lamech, who, in taking two wives (Adah and Zillah), tries to subvert the original pattern of God of one man and one woman.

A New Son for Adam and Eve

• Seth is born to Adam and Eve.
• Enosh is born to Seth, and "Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord." (Gen. 4:26)

The Family of Adam – Genesis 5

• Many generations of Adam's offspring through Seth are given, ending with Noah.
• Of note is Enoch, son of Jared, who is described this way: "And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Instead of dying, Enoch was taken into God's presence. Only Enoch and Elijah (see 2 Kings 2:11) leave earth in this way.

The Family of Adam, from Seth to Noah – 1 Chronicles 1:1–4

•  Adam, Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The Wickedness and Judgment of Man – Genesis 6

• People begin to multiply on the earth.
• The sons of God take wives from the daughters of men. There are a few different interpretations of this passage. The view of Jewish scholars is that the "sons of God" were fallen angels who married human women, and their offspring were "Nephilim," or giants. This breach of God's order would certainly be monumental enough to provoke His judgment in the form of the flood.
• God is sorry for making mankind, and determines to destroy all people with the exception of Noah, "who found grace in the eyes of the Lord." (Gen. 6:8)
• God instructs Noah to build and ark for himself, his wife, his three sons (Ham, Shem, and Japheth), and his sons' wives.
• Onto the ark they bring seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of every unclean animal (a male and a female); and seven each of every bird of the air.