God had told Adam that the price of rebellion would be death.  So it was, though the people remained physically alive, the souls within them had died.  Physical death came to one of the innocent animals in the garden, providing a covering both for rebellion and for their nakedness, of which they were suddenly ashamed.

Cain, the firstborn, tended the garden and one day brought some of his crops as an offering to the Lord.  His younger brother Abel, who tended sheep, brought his first and best.  God, who sees the heart, accepted Abel’s gift, but not Cain’s.  In a jealous rage, Cain killed his brother, then tried to deny any knowledge of what had been done.  God imposed a life sentence, and Cain, a marked man (lest any should kill him for vengeance), became a nomad.

Another boy, Seth, was born to Adam & Eve, replacing their slain Abel and thoroughly disowned* Cain.  Adam & Eve had many other sons & daughters, from which Cain and Seth took wives and had children of their own.  Thus, the generations grew, and with them, their rebellion against the God who created both them and the planet they lived on.

*The biblical account lists only that Seth was born when Adam was 130, and there were more sons & daughters.  Cain isn’t listed among Adam’s descendants in the final recap.

Noah, a multi-grandson of Seth, was in the one family line that chose to honor God, and was the only living man found to be in a relationship with God when He’d had His fill of worldwide unlimited depravity.  Destruction of all life came in the form of a global flood, yet Noah and his family were provided a way of escape, along with male and female representatives of every animal on the planet.  These eight people, Noah & wife, three sons, and their three wives, were the new beginning for all generations to follow.

Interesting note…  Noah’s father, Lamech, died 5 years before the flood; his grandfather, Methuselah, lived until the year of the flood and died at age 969, the oldest ever.  There is a tendency for parents, wanting the best for their children, to discourage what they consider to be off-the-wall ideas (like starting construction on a massive boat in a desert at age 600).  There is also a tendency for grandparents to encourage their grandchildren to live the adventure.  Could it be that Lamech was a hindrance removed, and Methuselah a cheerleader retained?

After the waters receded and Noah’s family left the ark, God put the first rainbow in the sky and declared that He would never again destroy the entire earth by flood.  After every rain, said He, there would be a rainbow, an indicator that He continues to remember and keep His promises.

Noah started a vineyard, and one day found him consuming a bit too much wine, and passed out in his tent without modesty.  His son Ham saw this and told his brothers, Shem & Japheth.  Rather than sharing in Ham’s disrespect, they entered the tent with a cloak to cover their father, while carefully averting their eyes.   For his disrespect, Ham was cursed by Noah, that he and his children should be servants to the two brothers who honored their father.