We reach the end of the first of the four parts of the story in Genesis this week - with the end of the flood narrative and the geneology that takes us from Noah and his sons to Abram - later known as Abraham.
The intersecting circles of the Genesis story - the one of God calling the world and humanity into being and our response - and the one of us being close to God, moving away from God and God drawing us back - reach the starting point again ready to begin the next round - the Abraham story.
Two things to notice - the generations of Noah describe the nations of the world as they were at the time of King Solomon. And the story of the tower of Babel, which gets plunked right in the middle of the geneology, explains that the Babylonians were arrogant and tried to reach God - and God dealt with them. Both of those things make perfect sense when you remember that the final editing of Genesis took place while the nation of Israel was in exile in Babylon. So the kingdom of Solomon was the high point of their history and the story that has the Babylonians exceeding their place and being punished by God for arrogance would have resonated deeply with the exiles.
We get Abraham next week - stay tuned.
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