NOAH AND THE FLOOD
Critics of the Bible like to point out other ancient flood stories, such as the Gilgamesh Epic, and say Genesis got its inspiration from those pagan stories. Others have pointed out that so many flood stories must well arise from memory of a great flood.
Some Bible critics wonder about the justice of such a world-destroying event. Let's begin by looking closely at Genesis 6:5 and how sin was piling up.
EVERY inclination of the thought of the human heart
was ONLY EVIL
ALL THE TIME!
Now folks, that's bad, and that's serious. The Lord saw how great the wickedness of humanity had become.
Sin had snowballed from the garden. Eve only took a few forbidden bites, but became a missionary of sin, leading Adam to join her. Her children were infected, and Esau committed a far worse sin – murder. By the time of Lamech in 4:23, we find a guy who had killed a man for merely injuring him and boasting veangeance not seven times, but 77 times! Now we find the human mind obsessing with sin incessantly!
Note also in verse 11 that the “earth was full of violence.” Most of us recoil from R-rated content because of sex, but perhaps we need to recognize the Lord is equally concerned with violence. Scripture also speaks of massive corruption here. When's the last time you heard the church declaiming against corruption?
God reacted first by limiting human life to 120 years, instead of the very long lives of such men as Methusaleh. (6:3) While death puts a limit to how long an evil man can continue to sin, that was not enough to turn the present situation. Note 120, not 70! Seventy years is found in the poetical books, but here the life span is set at 120. More and more folks are living longer, and the last I heard 85 was the average age of those entering nursing homes.
The KJV also says “My spirit will not always strive with man...” which has been abused by preachers and evangelists. These guys make the verse mean that if you don't come to the front tonight, the Holy Spirit may leave you and never visit you again. If you must do that, there is a verse in Hebrews that says something that can legitimately be interpreted this way, but don't abuse Genesis, because that is NOT what God means here. He simply means that the breath of life will leave man after 120 years instead of having more Methusalehs.
Verse 9 introduces Noah, who in the midst of all this wickedness continued to live blamelessly and righteously. You may from time to time be in an environment surrounded by wickedness, but one testimony of Noah is that you can follow God's standards anywhere and anytime. As a result, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAZSs4Hz_Fs
God gave Noah explicit directions on ark-building which he followed to the letter. You are familiar with the story of his gathering all the animals and his family into the ark. Note the Lord shut them in 7:16, and Noah had no way of admitting anyone else. The Bible is very explicit that all other life outside the ark was destroyed, and all future life was derived from people and animals preserved in the ark. Everyone knows the rain fell 40 days and nights, but did you notice water covered the earth for 5 months or 150 days?
After the flood, a rainbow. Once again a new covenant – no more flood to the extent of wiping out humanity.
The story teaches clearly there are consequences for evil, that God will not tolerate it forever. It also teaches one can remain untouched by evil in a sinful world. Above all, it is a story of salvation, God preserving the righteous through the floods of this world. Innumerable sermons have compared the salvation through the ark to salvation through the ark of Christ.
A final addition because I'm from the south and hate scriptural abuse. One of the worst abuses is the statement that God cursed Ham, and that is why black people became slaves and suffer. Everything in that statement is false and just wrong. A chapter or so later Noah raises a vineyard and proceeds to get passing out drunk. While he was out, Ham came in and “uncovered his nakedness.” That could mean he simply looked at his father while undressed, or some believe he performed a homosexual act. His two brothers were more circumspect and walked in backwards to cover up their still sleeping father.
When Noah awoke, (9:25), he cursed CANAAN (not Ham) and cursed him to be the slave of Shem. Canaan was not the father of blacks, but of the Canaanites in the land where Israel went after the Exodus. God did not curse him, Noah did. And Noah was either still drunk or with a king-sized hangover when he did it. Read it yourself, and take it as a warning not to believe everything people tell you about the Bible.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
CAIN
AND ABEL AND “ANGEL” MARRIAGES
The
Lifeway series Exploring the Bible skips from Chapter 3 of Genesis to
the middle of Chapter 6, thus skipping the two stories in the title.
Since I consider them very important, I shall insert this extra set
of notes in between the two lessons at no extra charge.
The
very best commentary on Cain and Abel is in John Steinbeck's great
novel, East of Eden. I recommend it highly and will comment on it
again later in this essay.
Those
who have raised children will notice immediately how the conflict
between these first two brothers echo what those parents have seen in
the sibling rivalry in their own homes. Psychologists have missed
this important fact while immersing themselves in the effects of
parental influence. Sibling rivalry is at least as important in
shaping lives, and the Bible knows it. We can immediately think of
Jacob and Esaau, Joseph and his brothers, David's sons, even Jesus's
disciples! You might consider which life patterns you developed in
dealing with your siblings. One clue: children want all –
absolutely all – of their parents' love. They are never sure there
is enough to go around. If they love my brother, they must love me
less. As one woman observed, “Everything was fine until my brother
was born.”
Cain
and Abel were very different. (So were the others listed above.) Cain
was a farmer, Abel a sheepherder. One day they both brought an
offering to the Lord. There is no record of why they did this, no
account of God's command or even request for a sacrifice. And no
instructions how to sacrifice. One offering was accepted, the other
rejected. Scripture neither tells us how they knew, nor why one was
chosen over the other. Some have said it was because Abel offered a
blood sacrifice, but if so, he had no way of knowing an animal was
preferred. Indeed, later in the Law, there were also grain
sacrifices.
The
best clue is the statement the Abel brought an offering of the fat
portions of the firstborn, and Cain brought from some of his produce.
This could be a hint that Abel brought his best, and Cain brought
something. Remember that's a guess. The Bible does not say.
How
did they know? Maybe one offering completely burned and the other one
did not. Some have suggested various ways ancients examined parts of
sheep offered as sacrifice. I don't know, but both Cain and Abel did
did.
Cain's
countenance fell. He brooded. He blamed his brother that the Lord had
rejected him. Then God spoke to him. Just as God was on the scene to
deal with Adam's sin, so He was on the scene to warn Cain before he
sinned. The Lord tried to comfort him by pointing out there would be
other opportunities to do well, and assured Cain that he too could be
accepted. Meanwhile, sin was crouching outside the door ready to
devour him, but “he must rule over it.” Control your impulses,
Cain.
East
of Eden concludes an intense study of that warning “you
must/shall/can rule over it” by concluding the best translation is
“thou mayest.” In other words, it's up to you. You may. You're
not foreordained to do one or the other. This is good news for those
of us with besetting sins. We CAN control them. No more “I'm only
human” or “the devil made me do it.” Take responsibility and
build in control.
But
Cain didn't. Told in a few brief words, he invites his brother to
take a walk and proceeds to murder him. Again God is on the spot to
ask in horror, “What have you done. Your brother's blood cries to
me from the ground.” And Cain cries out first of all – as his
parents did - “Why am I responsible for my brother?” And that
denial echoes down the centuries, “Am I my brother's keeper?”
Jesus answered that denial in the parable of the Good Samaritan, but
few of us get it. Consider our reaction to the poor, to immigrants,
to needy of any sort. Why can't they just leave us alone?
As
God did with the parents, He both punished and offered mercy. The
punishment was to leave that small society for the land of Nowhere to
forever wander. But to protect him, God placed a mark on him that
none could kill him without themselves being killed. Many have used
the “Mark of Cain” as a curse. It was not. It was a blessing, the
blessing of God's protection.
Other
questions abound to which there are no answers. Where did Cain get
his wife? One answer is he must have married his sister. Even if you
believe in evolution, early humans must have intermarried, as there
was no one else. Another possibility mentioned by some is going back
to 1:26 and assuming that God created many more people besides those
told about here. That would also explain where the people came from
when Cain founded the first city.
ANGEL
MARRIAGES?
The
early verses of Genesis 6 could well lay claim to the weirdest story
in the Bible. The “sons of God” cohabit with the “daughters of
men” and produce a race of “Nephilim.” Let's be honest. We have
no clue what any of these three are. The easiest way out is the
approach some take that the passage is a folk tale that somehow got
incorporated into the Bible. The only problem with that is the story
is in all the manuscripts. Thus the compilers and translators over
the centuries thought it belonged there. Besides, if you believe in
the Bible's inspiration, do we have the right to pick and choose
which part is inspired, and discard those that are difficult?
So
we wrestle with it.
The
most frequent interpretation is that angels slept with human women
and created a race of giants. In mythology the gods are always
sleeping with humans and creating demigods, half human, half divine.
Nowhere does the Bible give any hint of such a belief. Besides angels
are not gods, they are the creation of God. Jesus said they don't
marry, presumably meaning sex is not part of their makeup. Besides,
it doesn't say “angels,” it says “sons of God.” So what are
they if not angels? One possibility is that men from God-fearing
families married into families that worshiped other gods. One version
holds that descendents of Seth married descendants of Cain.
So
who were the Nephilim they created? Some actual legends outside the
Bible refer to “raphaim” that means the dead ones. Zombies?
Another popular theory is a race of giants, which is easy to see if
you have heavenly beings involved. But again...
By
the way, the assumption, whichever theory you espouse, is that this
is a taboo marriage and the Nephilim are an unwanted and disturbing
by-product. Must I point out this is all an assumption. It's possible
to read it as equivalent to the children of Jack married the children
of Jill and produced Tom, Dick, and Harry.
You
may have perceived by now that I don't mind saying “I have no
clue.”
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Sunday's lesson; Temptation and Fall
TEMPTATION AND FALL
You've played the game: Was it heredity or environment that made this person who they turned out to be? Which is more important. Well, here's a story that throws a monkey wrench in the big middle of that argument.
Adam and Eve had perfect heredity. Made by God Himself in His image. He even commented later, “It was very good.”
They had an ideal environment, created just for them. No nosy neighbors or pollution. Just the Lord and each other.
They had only one sin they could commit.
That apple.
That apple became their whole world. And its downfall.
Only one sin, and they went right to it.
Don't miss the truth.
If we had only one sin, if you had only one sin, we would go straight to it! Original sin means our nature is to sin, we are inclined to sin. Those sweet little babies we all love come into this world fighting to get their way. Feed me now, or I'll scream until you do. Change my diaper now, so I feel comfortable. As they get older they want what someone else has, and they want it now. We try to civilize them but with varying degrees of success. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Rom 3:23.
I like to tell the story of a couple who are house-sitting for a friend who is away on a trip out of the country. They've been told to use the house as they would their own, except for one thing. They are not to open the door to the attic. Everything else they can treat as if it were their own. Just stay out of the attic. If that were your situation, how long would it be before you stood looking at that door, wondering what was behind it?
There's a whole lot in this story, so let's press on. Note that evil was already in this newly created world, an evil that came independently of both the couple and the Lord. The serpent made mischief – and worse. The Bible doesn't really tell us where Satan came from. He just appears as a tempter. Some have created a story from Isaiah 14:12 which the KJV says “Lucifer” is fallen from heaven as meaning Satan is a fallen angel. However, if you bother to read the whole chapter, verse 12 is part of a taunt-song over the king of Babylon, who will fall before Persia and leave Israel free. What exactly was this “tree of the knowledge of good and evil?”
Amazing to me is the number of Bible students who claim this has to do with sex. Doesn't “forbidden fruit” always mean sex? Not here it doesn't. God told them to “go and multiply and fill the earth...” Sounds like sex to me? No one else was around to commit adultery or even lust with. Forget sex. (I don't mean permanently, I mean in this discussion.)
The key lies in the Biblical use of the verb “to know.” It's the same verb used a chapter later when the writer says “Adam KNEW his wife, and she conceived...” Chapter 4:1 does not mean that when Adam looked up one day and saw Eve approaching, he said, “I know you! You're that gal I married.” No. When the Bible says he knew his wife, it means he knew her by the experience of having sex with her.
VERY IMPORANT, so nail it down: In both the OT and the NT, when you see the word “know,” it almost always means knowledge by experience. My often used example is fixing cars. In one sense I understand cars well. I can describe in detail how they work and can explain it to you better than most mechanics. I know how a car works. But if you ever see me walking toward your vehicle with a wrench and a determined look in my eye, stop me. No way do you want me tinkering with your car. I understand cars intellectually, but I have done very little of it. My sons knew more in junior high when they got minicycles and proceeded to explore their engines.
The tree of Knowledge was not intellectual knowledge. They already knew it was wrong to disobey God. They had never done so. But immediately after their sin, they discovered guilt and shame. They knew by experience what good and evil are. All else that follows are unintended consequences of sin.
Note secondly that as soon as Eve ate, she became a missionary of sin. She became the temptress to Adam as Satan had tempted her. Once while working at a hospital, a nurse asked me to come talk to her while she took a break for smoking. When I regretfully declined, she decided not to smoke at that time. I wonder how often we lure ourselves into sin by going along with others or worse – promoting it!
Further, neither took responsibility for their sin at first. Eve blamed the serpent, and Adam blamed Eve. Incidentally, did you see Adam indirectly blamed God?
“The woman which YOU gave me...” Sin makes excuses, “After all, I'm only human.”
And sin divides. Adam blamed Eve and God. Eve blamed the snake. Both hid from God. Even as a child, when you knew you were guilty, you wanted to avoid your parents. Sin builds walls. Love tears them down, seeking intimacy. Sin separates from God. Forgiveness restores that trust.
Forgiveness lies through confession, taking responsibility. At the very last, Adam admitted, “I ate it.” I'm world class at rationalizing. I bet you know a little about it as well. Dodging responsibility. But we cannot get past our sin until we admit it, first to ourselves. If you have an alcoholic in your family, you know that everyone around them knows their condition, except them. Alcoholics Anonymous tells us that until you admit you are powerless to help yourself, no one can do anything for you. This concept is true of all sin and shortcomings. All have sinned. I have sinned. You have sin.
The Lord told them the punishment was death. So people ask why He let them live. Look back at the Tree of Life. If they ate from it, they would live forever and never die. In their fallen state they could not live eternally as sinners, so God took strong action: he booted them out, evicting His tenants.
Yet there is an element of salvation here. The first couple had covered their bodies with fig leaves to express their shame. God replaced those fig leaves with fur coats! And God revealed human destiny as being constantly tempted (bitten on the heel,) but finally humans will stomp on the head of the Evil One and destroy him.
Meanwhile, the Lord was on the spot. He knew, and He knows. “Where are you? What have you done? A question you and I would do well to ask at the beginning of every day.
You've played the game: Was it heredity or environment that made this person who they turned out to be? Which is more important. Well, here's a story that throws a monkey wrench in the big middle of that argument.
Adam and Eve had perfect heredity. Made by God Himself in His image. He even commented later, “It was very good.”
They had an ideal environment, created just for them. No nosy neighbors or pollution. Just the Lord and each other.
They had only one sin they could commit.
That apple.
That apple became their whole world. And its downfall.
Only one sin, and they went right to it.
Don't miss the truth.
If we had only one sin, if you had only one sin, we would go straight to it! Original sin means our nature is to sin, we are inclined to sin. Those sweet little babies we all love come into this world fighting to get their way. Feed me now, or I'll scream until you do. Change my diaper now, so I feel comfortable. As they get older they want what someone else has, and they want it now. We try to civilize them but with varying degrees of success. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Rom 3:23.
I like to tell the story of a couple who are house-sitting for a friend who is away on a trip out of the country. They've been told to use the house as they would their own, except for one thing. They are not to open the door to the attic. Everything else they can treat as if it were their own. Just stay out of the attic. If that were your situation, how long would it be before you stood looking at that door, wondering what was behind it?
There's a whole lot in this story, so let's press on. Note that evil was already in this newly created world, an evil that came independently of both the couple and the Lord. The serpent made mischief – and worse. The Bible doesn't really tell us where Satan came from. He just appears as a tempter. Some have created a story from Isaiah 14:12 which the KJV says “Lucifer” is fallen from heaven as meaning Satan is a fallen angel. However, if you bother to read the whole chapter, verse 12 is part of a taunt-song over the king of Babylon, who will fall before Persia and leave Israel free. What exactly was this “tree of the knowledge of good and evil?”
Amazing to me is the number of Bible students who claim this has to do with sex. Doesn't “forbidden fruit” always mean sex? Not here it doesn't. God told them to “go and multiply and fill the earth...” Sounds like sex to me? No one else was around to commit adultery or even lust with. Forget sex. (I don't mean permanently, I mean in this discussion.)
The key lies in the Biblical use of the verb “to know.” It's the same verb used a chapter later when the writer says “Adam KNEW his wife, and she conceived...” Chapter 4:1 does not mean that when Adam looked up one day and saw Eve approaching, he said, “I know you! You're that gal I married.” No. When the Bible says he knew his wife, it means he knew her by the experience of having sex with her.
VERY IMPORANT, so nail it down: In both the OT and the NT, when you see the word “know,” it almost always means knowledge by experience. My often used example is fixing cars. In one sense I understand cars well. I can describe in detail how they work and can explain it to you better than most mechanics. I know how a car works. But if you ever see me walking toward your vehicle with a wrench and a determined look in my eye, stop me. No way do you want me tinkering with your car. I understand cars intellectually, but I have done very little of it. My sons knew more in junior high when they got minicycles and proceeded to explore their engines.
The tree of Knowledge was not intellectual knowledge. They already knew it was wrong to disobey God. They had never done so. But immediately after their sin, they discovered guilt and shame. They knew by experience what good and evil are. All else that follows are unintended consequences of sin.
Note secondly that as soon as Eve ate, she became a missionary of sin. She became the temptress to Adam as Satan had tempted her. Once while working at a hospital, a nurse asked me to come talk to her while she took a break for smoking. When I regretfully declined, she decided not to smoke at that time. I wonder how often we lure ourselves into sin by going along with others or worse – promoting it!
Further, neither took responsibility for their sin at first. Eve blamed the serpent, and Adam blamed Eve. Incidentally, did you see Adam indirectly blamed God?
“The woman which YOU gave me...” Sin makes excuses, “After all, I'm only human.”
And sin divides. Adam blamed Eve and God. Eve blamed the snake. Both hid from God. Even as a child, when you knew you were guilty, you wanted to avoid your parents. Sin builds walls. Love tears them down, seeking intimacy. Sin separates from God. Forgiveness restores that trust.
Forgiveness lies through confession, taking responsibility. At the very last, Adam admitted, “I ate it.” I'm world class at rationalizing. I bet you know a little about it as well. Dodging responsibility. But we cannot get past our sin until we admit it, first to ourselves. If you have an alcoholic in your family, you know that everyone around them knows their condition, except them. Alcoholics Anonymous tells us that until you admit you are powerless to help yourself, no one can do anything for you. This concept is true of all sin and shortcomings. All have sinned. I have sinned. You have sin.
The Lord told them the punishment was death. So people ask why He let them live. Look back at the Tree of Life. If they ate from it, they would live forever and never die. In their fallen state they could not live eternally as sinners, so God took strong action: he booted them out, evicting His tenants.
Yet there is an element of salvation here. The first couple had covered their bodies with fig leaves to express their shame. God replaced those fig leaves with fur coats! And God revealed human destiny as being constantly tempted (bitten on the heel,) but finally humans will stomp on the head of the Evil One and destroy him.
Meanwhile, the Lord was on the spot. He knew, and He knows. “Where are you? What have you done? A question you and I would do well to ask at the beginning of every day.
Friday, September 11, 2015
ADAM AND EVE
Genesis 2
Genesis 1:26 and following give a wide-angle shot of God's creating humanity. Genesis 2 zooms in. Some students have even said they represent two stories. I can imagine Moses, during that 40 years in the wilderness, recording the histories from the various tribes and being led by the Lord which ones to include. Anyway, let's look at the details of the story.
THE MAIN TAKEAWAY: God created YOU. The fact that He created the human race is vitally important. Yet for you personally the belief He created you as an individual, placed you in this world and time transforms life. Suddenly you are supposed to be here. Suddenly you have a mission. God gave you certain talents, abilities, and opportunities for that mission. If you fail, no one else can do it. You are his unique creation!
Word play: The Bible is full of it. Three or four words have the consonants “dm” as their root form in Hebrew letters. Adam is both the man's name and a generic term for man, often translated in modern translations as humanity or something similar unless the word obviously refers only to a male. “Dam” means blood. “Edam” means red. “Adamah” means earth. You should see the obvious connections.
God formed Adam in great detail. James Weldon Johnson wrote a great piece called “The Creation.” You can find Johnson himself reading it on You Tube, recorded at Columbia University in 1935. I recommend it. Also Psalm 139 speaks of the closeness God has with us. The more I learn about the human body, the more amazed I am at its details and intricacy. A friend taught an introductory college course in blood. I saw the textbook once, and it looked like a large dictionary. Who knew?
The Lord formed Adam out of the dust of the ground. Formed him in detail, as I mentioned above. And then he breathed into man the breath of life. This was not artificial respiration. This was the real thing. God's own breath and spirit came into that clay human, transforming him from a doll to a human being! The Hebrew calls him a “nephish haya,” a living soul. And so he was. And so are we.
Then the Lord moved on to make a partner for Adam. We find the first anesthetic and the first surgery done by the Lord Himself. The Hebrew is better expressed by something like “a piece of his side,” rather than a “rib.” Eve was to be by his side, as a partner. Incidentally, “helpmeet” is not a word. Look at the King James. It makes two words, a “help meet,” that is, a helper fit for him or suitable for him, a partner.
It is not good that man should be alone. Aristotle said “Man is a political animal.” We would more likely say a social animal. Man's first partner was woman, a wife. I don't know how many anxious pleas I read on Facebook from single women moaning that they have no man to share life with. And yet many of them are far too quick to grab the first man who comes along, instead of becoming deeply acquainted to discover a true partner and companion. I'm sure men do likewise, just don't talk about it as much.
She shall be called “woman” because she came from man. More Hebrew word play. Another word for man is “ish.” Ishah is the corresponding word for woman. The similarity does carry over somewhat into English.
“They were naked and not ashamed.” Their intimacy was natural, but remember this in the next chapter after they have sinned. All of a sudden they were ashamed of their nakedness. How exposed and ashamed do you feel after sin?
Genesis 2
Genesis 1:26 and following give a wide-angle shot of God's creating humanity. Genesis 2 zooms in. Some students have even said they represent two stories. I can imagine Moses, during that 40 years in the wilderness, recording the histories from the various tribes and being led by the Lord which ones to include. Anyway, let's look at the details of the story.
THE MAIN TAKEAWAY: God created YOU. The fact that He created the human race is vitally important. Yet for you personally the belief He created you as an individual, placed you in this world and time transforms life. Suddenly you are supposed to be here. Suddenly you have a mission. God gave you certain talents, abilities, and opportunities for that mission. If you fail, no one else can do it. You are his unique creation!
Word play: The Bible is full of it. Three or four words have the consonants “dm” as their root form in Hebrew letters. Adam is both the man's name and a generic term for man, often translated in modern translations as humanity or something similar unless the word obviously refers only to a male. “Dam” means blood. “Edam” means red. “Adamah” means earth. You should see the obvious connections.
God formed Adam in great detail. James Weldon Johnson wrote a great piece called “The Creation.” You can find Johnson himself reading it on You Tube, recorded at Columbia University in 1935. I recommend it. Also Psalm 139 speaks of the closeness God has with us. The more I learn about the human body, the more amazed I am at its details and intricacy. A friend taught an introductory college course in blood. I saw the textbook once, and it looked like a large dictionary. Who knew?
The Lord formed Adam out of the dust of the ground. Formed him in detail, as I mentioned above. And then he breathed into man the breath of life. This was not artificial respiration. This was the real thing. God's own breath and spirit came into that clay human, transforming him from a doll to a human being! The Hebrew calls him a “nephish haya,” a living soul. And so he was. And so are we.
Then the Lord moved on to make a partner for Adam. We find the first anesthetic and the first surgery done by the Lord Himself. The Hebrew is better expressed by something like “a piece of his side,” rather than a “rib.” Eve was to be by his side, as a partner. Incidentally, “helpmeet” is not a word. Look at the King James. It makes two words, a “help meet,” that is, a helper fit for him or suitable for him, a partner.
It is not good that man should be alone. Aristotle said “Man is a political animal.” We would more likely say a social animal. Man's first partner was woman, a wife. I don't know how many anxious pleas I read on Facebook from single women moaning that they have no man to share life with. And yet many of them are far too quick to grab the first man who comes along, instead of becoming deeply acquainted to discover a true partner and companion. I'm sure men do likewise, just don't talk about it as much.
She shall be called “woman” because she came from man. More Hebrew word play. Another word for man is “ish.” Ishah is the corresponding word for woman. The similarity does carry over somewhat into English.
“They were naked and not ashamed.” Their intimacy was natural, but remember this in the next chapter after they have sinned. All of a sudden they were ashamed of their nakedness. How exposed and ashamed do you feel after sin?
Saturday, September 5, 2015
GENESIS
Genesis means beginnings, the beginnings of the human race and the beginnings of Abraham's covenant with God and Israel. I call the first part Pre-history, because it is difficult or impossible to date. The second part is about the Patriarchs, or Fathers of Israel and includes Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, his 12 sons, each of which fathered one of the 12 tribes. Joseph's story plays a leading role in preparing for the Exodus.
Genesis sets forth several basic ideas:
Creation: only God creates. Man only makes. God also makes, but the Hebrew word, barah, only has God as its subject throughout the OT.
The image of God: man is somehow created “in the image of God.” George Caird in a book by that name concludes the image is man's ability to be addressed by God. Lately, I have begun to compare this to a “back door” in a computer program, a private way for the designer to get back into the program to make changes. I believe God opens the capacity for humans to hear Him and respond.
Covenant: The Lord is a covenant making God. In the ancient world, the greater power, such as a king, offers a covenant to his subjects. We find the isolated covenant with humanity after the flood. But the foundational covenant comes to Abraham in chapter 12. ...Leave your people to a land I will show you, and I will bless you and make your name great, even among the nations who will also receive blessings through you and your seed. All Israel adopted this covenant at the foot of Mt Sinai, and there was a similar covenant with “the House of David.” This is a foundational idea throughout the Bible, esp the OT. The NT gospel offers a new covenant.
For Sunday we have time to focus on two groups of verses. First, the very beginning. We will not deal with the Big Bang nor evolution because both would require college courses, first to discuss the science and then to discuss theology and metaphysics. You should know that there are Christian scientists who accept both theories as being the way God created.
In the beginning – I take it to mean creation ex nihilo, from nothing. Others sometimes treat it as a title. Still a few others believe there is a gap between verses 1&2, making room for dinosaurs before a tragedy threw the world back into chaos. It doesn't read that way to me.
After creation, Genesis pictures a world “without form and void.” Chaos. Excellent OT scholars believe Israel thought they were surrounded by chaos that was eternally trying to break back in. Morally, that meant evil was always trying to overcome the Lord's way. (On their west – ocean. Other three sides – desert.)
Then God said “Let there be light, and there was light.” Note that even here God creates by speaking, by His Word. When John wrote “In the beginning was the Word,” he was referring back to Genesis. I've also been amazed that light was the first specific creation mentioned. Modern particle physics now says the photon and its cousins, the neutrino et al, are the basic building blocks of everything.
Skip now to verse 26.
God created man (Adam) in His own image. Again we find the word create. Three times the word shows up. In the beginning, in the origin of life, and the creation of humans. The word “Man” here is Adam. You might want to play with translating verses the other way. Note that He also created us male and female, BOTH in His image.
The first blessing God gavve us was sex! He said fill the earth and gave us sex to do it. Some say sex did not begin until they were kicked out of the garden, because Chapter 3 begins “Adam knew his wife and she conceived.” Conception happened out of the garden, but there's no reason to think that was the first time they had sex.
God also gave us work to do. He put the man he had made into the garden and told him to “dress and keep it.” He expects us to take care of the earth in which He put us. The Bible is full of working people and skilled artisans.
The heavens declare the glory of God... The book of Psalms echos the creation over and over in songs of praise and faith. Try Psalm 18.
Finally the most important take-away: YOU were created by God and endowed with specific talents and abilities. He has purposes for you that will not be filled if you don't carry them out. Once you grasp this deeply it makes all the difference.
Genesis means beginnings, the beginnings of the human race and the beginnings of Abraham's covenant with God and Israel. I call the first part Pre-history, because it is difficult or impossible to date. The second part is about the Patriarchs, or Fathers of Israel and includes Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, his 12 sons, each of which fathered one of the 12 tribes. Joseph's story plays a leading role in preparing for the Exodus.
Genesis sets forth several basic ideas:
Creation: only God creates. Man only makes. God also makes, but the Hebrew word, barah, only has God as its subject throughout the OT.
The image of God: man is somehow created “in the image of God.” George Caird in a book by that name concludes the image is man's ability to be addressed by God. Lately, I have begun to compare this to a “back door” in a computer program, a private way for the designer to get back into the program to make changes. I believe God opens the capacity for humans to hear Him and respond.
Covenant: The Lord is a covenant making God. In the ancient world, the greater power, such as a king, offers a covenant to his subjects. We find the isolated covenant with humanity after the flood. But the foundational covenant comes to Abraham in chapter 12. ...Leave your people to a land I will show you, and I will bless you and make your name great, even among the nations who will also receive blessings through you and your seed. All Israel adopted this covenant at the foot of Mt Sinai, and there was a similar covenant with “the House of David.” This is a foundational idea throughout the Bible, esp the OT. The NT gospel offers a new covenant.
For Sunday we have time to focus on two groups of verses. First, the very beginning. We will not deal with the Big Bang nor evolution because both would require college courses, first to discuss the science and then to discuss theology and metaphysics. You should know that there are Christian scientists who accept both theories as being the way God created.
In the beginning – I take it to mean creation ex nihilo, from nothing. Others sometimes treat it as a title. Still a few others believe there is a gap between verses 1&2, making room for dinosaurs before a tragedy threw the world back into chaos. It doesn't read that way to me.
After creation, Genesis pictures a world “without form and void.” Chaos. Excellent OT scholars believe Israel thought they were surrounded by chaos that was eternally trying to break back in. Morally, that meant evil was always trying to overcome the Lord's way. (On their west – ocean. Other three sides – desert.)
Then God said “Let there be light, and there was light.” Note that even here God creates by speaking, by His Word. When John wrote “In the beginning was the Word,” he was referring back to Genesis. I've also been amazed that light was the first specific creation mentioned. Modern particle physics now says the photon and its cousins, the neutrino et al, are the basic building blocks of everything.
Skip now to verse 26.
God created man (Adam) in His own image. Again we find the word create. Three times the word shows up. In the beginning, in the origin of life, and the creation of humans. The word “Man” here is Adam. You might want to play with translating verses the other way. Note that He also created us male and female, BOTH in His image.
The first blessing God gavve us was sex! He said fill the earth and gave us sex to do it. Some say sex did not begin until they were kicked out of the garden, because Chapter 3 begins “Adam knew his wife and she conceived.” Conception happened out of the garden, but there's no reason to think that was the first time they had sex.
God also gave us work to do. He put the man he had made into the garden and told him to “dress and keep it.” He expects us to take care of the earth in which He put us. The Bible is full of working people and skilled artisans.
The heavens declare the glory of God... The book of Psalms echos the creation over and over in songs of praise and faith. Try Psalm 18.
Finally the most important take-away: YOU were created by God and endowed with specific talents and abilities. He has purposes for you that will not be filled if you don't carry them out. Once you grasp this deeply it makes all the difference.
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