1. Sodom perished

Today, we learn about the devastation of Sodom from Genesis 19. The story is referred several times in the New testament. Jesus preached in Capernaum, a city on the northern shore the Sea of Galilee, and performed many miraculous acts there. Nonetheless, inhabitants of the city denied the divinity of Jesus. Jesus referred to Sodom to blamed them ; - ¡ÈAnd you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to the depths. If the miracles I did in you had happened in Sodom, its people would have stopped sinning, and it would still be a city today. But I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for Sodom than for you.¡É(Matthew 11:23-24) (³¤­…)

1. Abraham¡Çs decision on the faith

We keep reading the Book of Genesis and finished lectures on chapter 1 to 11, which constitute the Primeval history. The history shows that humans, though created by God, committed sin and dropped from God. Nonetheless God did not abandon sinful creatures. Instead, He had chosen a man through whom a new people should be formed and all of humans would be saved. That was the very plan of God. The writer of Genesis tells that everything started with the calling of Abraham, originally Abram. Today, we will learn how the story of Abraham can be relevant to our own life. Genesis 12:1 reads that ; - The Lord had said to Abram, ¡ÈGo from your country, your people and your father¡Çs household to the land I will show you. (³¤­…)

1. Listeners became preachers

We are gathered today to observe the Pentecost worship service. Pentecost means ¡Æfiftieth (day)¡Ç in Greek. Fifty days after the Passover, the Holy Spirit came to the followers of Jesus. For that reason, the Church named the festival ¡ÆPentecost.¡Ç Though killed on the Cross, Jesus was resurrected on the day of Passover. And according to Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, Jesus stayed with the Apostles for forty days then ascended to heaven. (see Acts 1:3-9) (³¤­…)

1. The Tower of Babel
We continue the series of lecture on Genesis. Genesis chapter 1 to 11 is called ¡ÈPrimeval history*1¡É which tells about the Creation of the world. It isn¡Çt a simple mythological story but the record of the soul of Jewish people who underwent harsh incidents of times.
Attacked by Babylonian forces, the South kingdom of Judah perished in 587 BC and Jewish leaders were brought and confound to Babylonia as captives*2. Those experiences shocked them strongly as they had been proud of being chosen by God. They wondered why God abandoned them and were afraid of dying in the foreign country. They aspired to go back to Jerusalem. Under strong anxiety, they studied legends passed on by their ancestors in praying God for rescue. Then they wrote down meditations on the past and compiled the book of Genesis. Last Sunday, we read the passage of ¡Æthe Deluge¡Ç at the time of Noah, of which plot is reportedly taken from the similar legend in Gilgamesh*3. Jewish captives made comparison between the loss of the nation and the judgement of God in form of the flood. In that way, they saw the path to the rescue and salvation. The core of the story was the promise of God given to them after the flood. God declared, ; - ¡ÈI will never again destroy every living thing on the earth,¡É(Genesis 8:21) The people saw the hope in future through the promise. (³¤­…)

1. Before all, Noah¡Çs faith

During the May 2011, we read the book of Genesis. Its chapters 1 to 11 is called ¡ÈPrimeval history.*1¡É and we today learn about ¡Æthe Deluge¡Ç which starts from chapter 6. In several regions of the world, we find similar legends, which suggests that a widespread flood was really observed in an ancient time. It might be caused by melting glaciers. And a flood myth appears also in Epic of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia.* It is said that the flood story was written by Jewish captives in Babylonia by basing on the contents of Gilgamesh. In 587 BC, the kingdom of Judah was defeated by Babylonian forces and numerous Jewish people were brought to there. The concerning writing in Genesis is not a scientific, archeological, or historical report but a witness of those captives. They were aspiring to know why God let the nation perish. Through the story about the flood, they arrived to understand that the destruction of the nation was a judgement of God. In that way, they built the faith in God of the salvation. (³¤­…)