Planet Of The Apes Week 1

Planet of The Apes Week 1 – Discussion Guide Genesis 4:1-16 1 Adam [a] lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. [b] She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth [c] a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" 10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." 13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." 15 But the LORD said to him, "Not so [e] ; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, [f] east of Eden.

Mixers Go around the circle and have each person give his or her name/grade/school. If “time dilation” were possible where would you go in outer space? Going Deeper Describe the three Astronauts? What makes each one different from the other? Dodge is the knowledge seeker; he wants to scientifically explain everything. Landon is the glory seeker; he wants to be famous and renown. Taylor is the complicated one. Discuss the character of Taylor more in depth, talk about what you like/dislike about him. Consider these quotes: “Tell me, though. Does man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who sent me to the stars, still make war against his brother? Keep his neighbor's children starving?”

© 2009 Dixon Kinser

“I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere 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 why not? What we want to particularly point out is that although Taylor is intelligent and insightful (he sees that man is destructive and is angered by it), there seems to be a disconnect between what he believes to be true about people and the way he treats people. He sees people as having evil in them, and yet he throws up his hands doesn’t do anything about it. He has given up on humanity. Reflect on the passage from Genesis. Why do you think Cain says to Yahweh, “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” Consider the following passage from Matthew: Jesus teaches this in the sermon o the mount: 9"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. 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 about receiving health, wealth, peace and possessions from God, but always with 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. What connections 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. We do make war. We kill each other. We stock pile wealth and throw away food while others live in poverty and starve. But his conclusion is not sufficient. Jesus challenges us to do something about it. As Jesus dealt with the deep root cause of Cain’s sin (sin and death in the good Creation) so we are called to do likewise. We have to do something about this problem. When we do, as Jesus says, we start to discover our place in God’s family and we redeem the darkness by acting in the opposite spirit of Cain. “We are our brother’s keeper!” The place to start is by looking at what God first says to Cain after the murder. (Read it in verse 10). He says “Listen!” Listening to the cry of the needy, the forgotten, the oppressed is always where this kind of blessing begins. God is listening. God hears. So should we. Where do you hear the cries of the needy? Where do you hear cries of injustice. How can you © 2009 Dixon Kinser

listen better? What can you do about it! Is there anything you are scared to give up for some one else? Why or why not? Close in prayer. Pray that God shows us where we can bless the world and contribute to its redemption rather than be apart of the problem.

© 2009 Dixon Kinser