Planet of The ApesWeek 1 – Discussion Guide

Genesis 4:1-16

Adam

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lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.

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She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth

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a man."

Later she gavebirth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.

In thecourse of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.

But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORDlooked with favor on Abel and his offering,

but on Cain and his offering he did notlook with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sinis crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they werein the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?""I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to mefrom the ground.

Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, whichopened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

When you workthe ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer onthe earth."

Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear.

Today you aredriving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restlesswanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

But the LORD said to him, "Not so

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; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffervengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one whofound him would kill him.

So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived inthe land of Nod,

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east of Eden.

MixersGo around the circle and have each person give his or hername/grade/school.If “time dilation” were possible where would you go in outerspace?Going DeeperDescribe the three Astronauts? What makes each one differentfrom the other?

Dodge is the knowledge seeker; he wants toscientifically explain everything. Landon is the glory seeker; he wantsto be famous and renown. Taylor is the complicated one.

Discussthe character of Taylor more in depth, talk about what youlike/dislike about him.Consider these quotes:

“Tell me, though. Does man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox whosent me to the stars, still make war against his brother? Keep his neighbor's childrenstarving?”

“I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking thatsomewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be.”

Do Taylor’s actions contradict the things he says? Why or whynot?

What we want to particularly point out is that although Taylor isintelligent and insightful (he sees that man is destructive and isangered by it), there seems to be a disconnect between what hebelieves to be true about people and the way he treats people. He seespeople as having evil in them, and yet he throws up his hands doesn’tdo anything about it. He has given up on humanity.

Reflect on the passage from Genesis. Why do you think Cainsays to Yahweh, “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?”Consider the following passage from Matthew:

Jesus teaches this in the sermon o the mount:

"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete orfight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

What does it mean to be blessed?

Blessing in the Bible is aboutreceiving health, wealth, peace and possessions from God, but alwayswith the intent of using what you have to help others. You are blessed(God tells Abraham) so you may pass on your “blessing” to others.Then everyone gets what they need.

Compare Jesus teaching to the Cain and Able story. Whatconnections and divergences do you discover?There is a call in the gospel to be like Taylor and like Jesus.Taylor is right in the way he recognizes humanity’s failures. Wedo make war. We kill each other. We stock pile wealth andthrow away food while others live in poverty and starve. Buthis conclusion is not sufficient. Jesus challenges us to dosomething about it. As Jesus dealt with the deep root cause of Cain’s sin (sin and death in the good Creation) so we are calledto do likewise. We have to do something about this problem.When we do, as Jesus says, we start to discover our place inGod’s family and we redeem the darkness by acting in theopposite spirit of Cain. “We are our brother’s keeper!”The place to start is by looking at what God first says to Cainafter the murder. (Read it in verse 10). He says “Listen!”Listening to the cry of the needy, the forgotten, the oppressedis always where this kind of blessing begins. God is listening.God hears. So should we. Where do you hear the cries of theneedy? Where do you hear cries of injustice. How can you