1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
3And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
4And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
5And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
6And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:
7And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
9And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
10And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
12And Cainan lived seventy years and begat Mahalaleel:
13And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
14And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
15And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
16And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
17And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
18And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:
19And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
21And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
25And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech.
26And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
27And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
28And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
29And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
30And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
31And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.
32And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
You had to read a whole chapter; but, I promise there is not much to say about it. What we have in this chapter is who had which kid. What we notice is that people lived much longer prior to the flood; but, that the length of those lives was not getting any longer. The second thing we get from this chapter is Noah. He becomes important real quick.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Genesis 4: 16 - 26
16And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. 17And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
18And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
19And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
20And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
21And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
22And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
23And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
24If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
25And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
26And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
So, Cain has killed his brother, he is told to leave and is given a mark so that none will harm him. Cain leaves, has a wife and has a child. We are only in the fourth chapter and once again we are confronted by the question of who else was on the earth. Either Adam and Eve had other children before or at the same time as Cain and Abel (and we have no evidence of that whatsoever), Cain slept with Eve (and we have no evidence of that) or there were in fact other people (and that is what we discussed when talking about Genesis 1 and 2.
We are told about some of Cain's children and how Cain built a city and named it after his son. Cain did not name the city after himself, that sort of implies he was proud to be a father. One of the descendents of Cain was Lamech and he seems to be a pretty vain person. He says that anyone who hurt Cain would have harm returned to him 7 times more and he says that anyone who hurts him will have harm returned to him 77 times more. We are not told that God said this, only that Lamech said it.
Adam and Eve have a couple of more children and that is when people begin to talk about the Lord. That is sort of interesting, it means that Cain was not talking about the Lord to the people he was around. Maybe he didn't want to discuss what had happened to him and how the Lord had separated Cain from himself.
18And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
19And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
20And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
21And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
22And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
23And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
24If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
25And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
26And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
So, Cain has killed his brother, he is told to leave and is given a mark so that none will harm him. Cain leaves, has a wife and has a child. We are only in the fourth chapter and once again we are confronted by the question of who else was on the earth. Either Adam and Eve had other children before or at the same time as Cain and Abel (and we have no evidence of that whatsoever), Cain slept with Eve (and we have no evidence of that) or there were in fact other people (and that is what we discussed when talking about Genesis 1 and 2.
We are told about some of Cain's children and how Cain built a city and named it after his son. Cain did not name the city after himself, that sort of implies he was proud to be a father. One of the descendents of Cain was Lamech and he seems to be a pretty vain person. He says that anyone who hurt Cain would have harm returned to him 7 times more and he says that anyone who hurts him will have harm returned to him 77 times more. We are not told that God said this, only that Lamech said it.
Adam and Eve have a couple of more children and that is when people begin to talk about the Lord. That is sort of interesting, it means that Cain was not talking about the Lord to the people he was around. Maybe he didn't want to discuss what had happened to him and how the Lord had separated Cain from himself.
Genesis 4: 8 - 15
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[d] 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]; anyone who kills Cain 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.
Cain brings a gift to God, God prefers the gift that Abel brought him and Cain gets mad. So, what does Cain do, he invites his brother to go into the field and kills him. Cain was jealous of Abel. Cain was jealous of God loving Abel more; but, God did not love Abel more, he loves us all the same, he just appreciates it more when we do good for good's sake.
God asks Cain where his brother is and Cain does even more than lie, he says that he does not know where Abel is and then challenges God, he asks God if he is responsible for the well being of his brother. A rather arrogant statement to make to the Lord. Cain had a guilty conscience, he knew good from evil, we all do. He did like many do, when questioned and they know they are in the wrong, they question the questioner. They attempt to change the subject. We attempt to deceive.
Here is an alternative view and just as rarely stated. What if Cain thought Abel was trying to kiss up to God and slew him for that reason? Pretty far out there, I mean what if Cain thought he was being a "good guy", what if he believed his own lies. Nope, I don't think we can find that in the bible, certainly not if we read the rest of the story.
Adam and Eve played dumb when God asked them how they knew they were naked and them they tried to blame others. Cain flat out lies and then tries to turn the table on God. Once again we are shown that these people did not really understand who and what God was, they did not understand that he knew what had happened.
God's "punishment" for Cain was that the land would no longer be fruitful for him. Instead he was told that he would be sent out to wander the earth. Cain's response was that his punishment was more than he could stand; yet, people today would have punished Cain by putting him in jail for life or taking his life. Cain complains that once driven from the place he is at that God will no longer see him. He also worries that others who find him will kill him. To understand this one needs to go back and read what I wrote about Chapter 1 of Genesis.
God tells Cain that he will put a mark on Cain so that nobody who finds him will kill him. There has been a lot of speculation about this mark, there are those who claim that the mark was being made "black"; but, this is about as dumb as can be. Firstly, the mark was for his protection and I would pretty much say that African's were not protected by being dark skinned. Secondly, we have no reason to believe this mark was on anyone other than Cain or that it was on anyone who came with Noah and survived the floods. We read about marks in the bible in a couple of places so lets consider where it comes up.
In the bible we are told not to mark our bodies or to accept the mark of the beast in the end times. In regards to the mark of the beast we are told it was to be on the hand or forehead, when God seals people (which is a form of marking often) the seal is on the forehead. My best guess is that the mark of Cain was placed on his forehead so that people would see it and know he was not to be killed. Truth is, we have no idea of what the mark was that Cain was given and it doesn't matter because he has been dead a long time.
When we read the story of Cain and Abel we have to wonder why it was included. It is the first murder; but, there are plenty more to read about. What we witness is jealousy, we can begin to understand why God didn't stay with people more. If you have ever been around someone who is very powerful (money, fame, influence) you will find that people will try to please them so that they can become one of their friends and possibly get some of the benefits that surround them.
God's purpose for us was not for us to become slaves or beggers, it was for us to grow up, learn the lessons of life and learn that we all matter. We matter even if there was no God; but, fortunately there is and he understands us pretty well.
“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]; anyone who kills Cain 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.
Cain brings a gift to God, God prefers the gift that Abel brought him and Cain gets mad. So, what does Cain do, he invites his brother to go into the field and kills him. Cain was jealous of Abel. Cain was jealous of God loving Abel more; but, God did not love Abel more, he loves us all the same, he just appreciates it more when we do good for good's sake.
God asks Cain where his brother is and Cain does even more than lie, he says that he does not know where Abel is and then challenges God, he asks God if he is responsible for the well being of his brother. A rather arrogant statement to make to the Lord. Cain had a guilty conscience, he knew good from evil, we all do. He did like many do, when questioned and they know they are in the wrong, they question the questioner. They attempt to change the subject. We attempt to deceive.
Here is an alternative view and just as rarely stated. What if Cain thought Abel was trying to kiss up to God and slew him for that reason? Pretty far out there, I mean what if Cain thought he was being a "good guy", what if he believed his own lies. Nope, I don't think we can find that in the bible, certainly not if we read the rest of the story.
Adam and Eve played dumb when God asked them how they knew they were naked and them they tried to blame others. Cain flat out lies and then tries to turn the table on God. Once again we are shown that these people did not really understand who and what God was, they did not understand that he knew what had happened.
God's "punishment" for Cain was that the land would no longer be fruitful for him. Instead he was told that he would be sent out to wander the earth. Cain's response was that his punishment was more than he could stand; yet, people today would have punished Cain by putting him in jail for life or taking his life. Cain complains that once driven from the place he is at that God will no longer see him. He also worries that others who find him will kill him. To understand this one needs to go back and read what I wrote about Chapter 1 of Genesis.
God tells Cain that he will put a mark on Cain so that nobody who finds him will kill him. There has been a lot of speculation about this mark, there are those who claim that the mark was being made "black"; but, this is about as dumb as can be. Firstly, the mark was for his protection and I would pretty much say that African's were not protected by being dark skinned. Secondly, we have no reason to believe this mark was on anyone other than Cain or that it was on anyone who came with Noah and survived the floods. We read about marks in the bible in a couple of places so lets consider where it comes up.
In the bible we are told not to mark our bodies or to accept the mark of the beast in the end times. In regards to the mark of the beast we are told it was to be on the hand or forehead, when God seals people (which is a form of marking often) the seal is on the forehead. My best guess is that the mark of Cain was placed on his forehead so that people would see it and know he was not to be killed. Truth is, we have no idea of what the mark was that Cain was given and it doesn't matter because he has been dead a long time.
When we read the story of Cain and Abel we have to wonder why it was included. It is the first murder; but, there are plenty more to read about. What we witness is jealousy, we can begin to understand why God didn't stay with people more. If you have ever been around someone who is very powerful (money, fame, influence) you will find that people will try to please them so that they can become one of their friends and possibly get some of the benefits that surround them.
God's purpose for us was not for us to become slaves or beggers, it was for us to grow up, learn the lessons of life and learn that we all matter. We matter even if there was no God; but, fortunately there is and he understands us pretty well.
Genesis 4: 1 - 7
1And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
I am trying to go through Genesis and discuss it in a manner that will show others how to read the bible, not like a novel; but, with critical thinking. I am trying to show people how to read for greater understanding and it is my intent to go through all of the book of Genesis. I don't think I have the time to do this for the whole bible and it is not my intent to do so. After completing Genesis I intend to discuss different issues and the world around us and how it relates to the bible.
Adam and Eve became one and had their first child, Cain. Eve does not credit Adam with helping to have a baby, she says the Lord has given her a man. Adam takes credit for Eve's existence when he called her "woman" (which means to have come from man) and she takes credit for Cain as she saw him come from her. Did Eve know that the child came from the two of them? We don't know. We don't know if Eve knew how babies were made. She then has Abel.
Cain and Abel are the first two children that we know of. There are some that believe there may have been other children; but, we have no evidence that there was anyone children prior to Cain and Abel. In fact, in Genesis 5, we are told of all of the children born to Adam and Eve and it begins with Seth and it is clear at the end of Chapter 4 that Seth was born after Cain and Abel.
The name Cain is believed to mean "from the evil one". I don't know if that is an accurate translation; but, it is certainly an interesting possibility. If Eve believed that the Lord had given her Cain then she probably would not have named him such. In fact, the person who was given authority to name things was Adam. Is it possible that Adam would have named Cain because he was jealous of Eve's ability to do what he did, have others come from his essence?
We really don't have much information to go on regarding what Adam and Eve were like. I don't think we can really say that we know them well from just reading the book. In either case, they had their first two children and the elder became a farmer and the younger raised sheep. Cain decides to bring God a gift of what he has grown and Abel brings God the fat of the first sheep. Abel brought the best parts of his first animals to God. God appreciated the gift that Abel brought; but, not the gift that Abel brought and Abel brought the gift first. It does not appear that either was told to bring the gift nor are we told of Adam and Eve bringing God any gifts. so we must ask ourselves why Cain brought a gift to God.
I have heard it said that God liked Abel's gift because it was the best that he had to offer and that Cain had just brought God any of his produce, I am not convinced of this and it does not say that in the bible, so , we are left to wonder. Perhaps, it was Cain's reason from bringing God a gift in the first place, God certainly did not need it and it does not say that he asked for it. Perhaps Cain brought it to God to get in his good graces, a bribe if you will. Abel, being younger may have believed that it was what you were supposed to do because he had just seen his older brother bring a gift. If that was Abel's reason and he brought the best of what he had then he was denying himself the best of his work in honor of God. Let us assume for a moment that it was the intent that differed.
Well, God liked Abel's gift and and did not care about Cain's gift. Think of it like when your cat brings you a mouse, you appreciate the effort; but, not the gift. Cain did not take it well, his gift did not have the desired result, it had the opposite result. The result is that Cain pouts, he is put out and annoyed. God asks Cain why he is so unhappy and says that if Cain does good he will be accepted by God. Accepted, in what way? How about in the way of being worthy of having a personal relationship with God that involves God thinking well of him, of appreciating his attempts to please others. Of being of service to others.
God tells Cain that if he does not care to do nice, if he does not try to make things better and chooses to be ruled by his urges that he will not do well. He says that sin will be what he desires. If we do not care about others and attempt to cheat everyone, to bribe them to give us things then we will also be controlled by our desires and our sins will define us and determine what we become, it is a choice. The way to avoid sin is to seek to do good rather than seeking our pleasures, which rules your life?
3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
I am trying to go through Genesis and discuss it in a manner that will show others how to read the bible, not like a novel; but, with critical thinking. I am trying to show people how to read for greater understanding and it is my intent to go through all of the book of Genesis. I don't think I have the time to do this for the whole bible and it is not my intent to do so. After completing Genesis I intend to discuss different issues and the world around us and how it relates to the bible.
Adam and Eve became one and had their first child, Cain. Eve does not credit Adam with helping to have a baby, she says the Lord has given her a man. Adam takes credit for Eve's existence when he called her "woman" (which means to have come from man) and she takes credit for Cain as she saw him come from her. Did Eve know that the child came from the two of them? We don't know. We don't know if Eve knew how babies were made. She then has Abel.
Cain and Abel are the first two children that we know of. There are some that believe there may have been other children; but, we have no evidence that there was anyone children prior to Cain and Abel. In fact, in Genesis 5, we are told of all of the children born to Adam and Eve and it begins with Seth and it is clear at the end of Chapter 4 that Seth was born after Cain and Abel.
The name Cain is believed to mean "from the evil one". I don't know if that is an accurate translation; but, it is certainly an interesting possibility. If Eve believed that the Lord had given her Cain then she probably would not have named him such. In fact, the person who was given authority to name things was Adam. Is it possible that Adam would have named Cain because he was jealous of Eve's ability to do what he did, have others come from his essence?
We really don't have much information to go on regarding what Adam and Eve were like. I don't think we can really say that we know them well from just reading the book. In either case, they had their first two children and the elder became a farmer and the younger raised sheep. Cain decides to bring God a gift of what he has grown and Abel brings God the fat of the first sheep. Abel brought the best parts of his first animals to God. God appreciated the gift that Abel brought; but, not the gift that Abel brought and Abel brought the gift first. It does not appear that either was told to bring the gift nor are we told of Adam and Eve bringing God any gifts. so we must ask ourselves why Cain brought a gift to God.
I have heard it said that God liked Abel's gift because it was the best that he had to offer and that Cain had just brought God any of his produce, I am not convinced of this and it does not say that in the bible, so , we are left to wonder. Perhaps, it was Cain's reason from bringing God a gift in the first place, God certainly did not need it and it does not say that he asked for it. Perhaps Cain brought it to God to get in his good graces, a bribe if you will. Abel, being younger may have believed that it was what you were supposed to do because he had just seen his older brother bring a gift. If that was Abel's reason and he brought the best of what he had then he was denying himself the best of his work in honor of God. Let us assume for a moment that it was the intent that differed.
Well, God liked Abel's gift and and did not care about Cain's gift. Think of it like when your cat brings you a mouse, you appreciate the effort; but, not the gift. Cain did not take it well, his gift did not have the desired result, it had the opposite result. The result is that Cain pouts, he is put out and annoyed. God asks Cain why he is so unhappy and says that if Cain does good he will be accepted by God. Accepted, in what way? How about in the way of being worthy of having a personal relationship with God that involves God thinking well of him, of appreciating his attempts to please others. Of being of service to others.
God tells Cain that if he does not care to do nice, if he does not try to make things better and chooses to be ruled by his urges that he will not do well. He says that sin will be what he desires. If we do not care about others and attempt to cheat everyone, to bribe them to give us things then we will also be controlled by our desires and our sins will define us and determine what we become, it is a choice. The way to avoid sin is to seek to do good rather than seeking our pleasures, which rules your life?
Friday, October 14, 2011
Genesis 3: 21 - 24
21Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
After announcing Adam and Eve's "punishment", God made them clothes from the skins of animals. You should wonder why God would make them clothes, he did not tell them to be ashamed of their nakedness, they had come to that conclusion on their own, that knowledge. When Adam told God that he had hid because he was naked, God asked him who told him that, Adam did not say that God had told him to be ashamed. God then asked Adam if he had eaten of the tree because there were only two ways that Adam could have come to the understanding. We come into this world naked and vulnerable.
Verse 22 is particularly interesting. God says to other beings that humans had become like God because we knew good and evil. God then removes the tree of life so that we would not live forever. There are those who attempt to read this to mean that God did not want to compete with us; but, that is just silly. This verse can only be fully understood if one understands the New Testament and the trinity. There are those who have attempted to say that God was talking to angels because they also live forever; but, he wasn't, he was talking to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We were made in God's image, angels were not.
I asked earlier what would have happened if Eve had eaten from the tree of life rather than from the tree of knowledge. Would we become prisoners of this reality, of this world and never move onto heaven. This world is preparation for the next, this world is about learning manners and how to have proper relationships. In order to protect us, God prevented us from eating of the tree of life by removing us from Eden. What is interesting is that Jesus dies for our sins and constructively is the tree of life from which we may have eternal life. That means that God removed it for awhile; but, it is given to us when we die to this world.
We are here to live this life, to learn and grow and choose who we will be and how we will treat others. We are here to learn to grow up into people worth having a relationship with.
23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
After announcing Adam and Eve's "punishment", God made them clothes from the skins of animals. You should wonder why God would make them clothes, he did not tell them to be ashamed of their nakedness, they had come to that conclusion on their own, that knowledge. When Adam told God that he had hid because he was naked, God asked him who told him that, Adam did not say that God had told him to be ashamed. God then asked Adam if he had eaten of the tree because there were only two ways that Adam could have come to the understanding. We come into this world naked and vulnerable.
Verse 22 is particularly interesting. God says to other beings that humans had become like God because we knew good and evil. God then removes the tree of life so that we would not live forever. There are those who attempt to read this to mean that God did not want to compete with us; but, that is just silly. This verse can only be fully understood if one understands the New Testament and the trinity. There are those who have attempted to say that God was talking to angels because they also live forever; but, he wasn't, he was talking to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We were made in God's image, angels were not.
I asked earlier what would have happened if Eve had eaten from the tree of life rather than from the tree of knowledge. Would we become prisoners of this reality, of this world and never move onto heaven. This world is preparation for the next, this world is about learning manners and how to have proper relationships. In order to protect us, God prevented us from eating of the tree of life by removing us from Eden. What is interesting is that Jesus dies for our sins and constructively is the tree of life from which we may have eternal life. That means that God removed it for awhile; but, it is given to us when we die to this world.
We are here to live this life, to learn and grow and choose who we will be and how we will treat others. We are here to learn to grow up into people worth having a relationship with.
Genesis 3: 14 - 20
14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
20And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
God's response to the situation was to punish the serpent first. No doubt the serpent felt that he had been mistreated as he didn't make them eat the apple. Imagine Satan's justifications, he would have said that he did not violate the rules and that Eve only did what she wanted; but, that misses the point. The serpent was not punished because Eve ate the apple, he was punished because he was not his brothers keeper, he was punished because he promoted others to do evil. It is my guess that he did so to show that he was better than us, better than humans.
The serpent was told that God would make the woman hate him and that her children would hate him. What do you think that means? How does that show itself in history? Better yet, her children would also be Adam's children; but, it doesn't say that his children would hate the serpent. The reason, I believe, is that Eve did not have a name yet, she was still known as Adam, she was still one with him.
When "Eve" was created Adam called her "woman" to signify that she was made from him, after getting in trouble for eating the fruit he chose to call her "Eve". The first name was used to signify no difference other than that she had come from him, she was a piece of him, he loved her as his own flesh. He named her when he didn't even know he was naked and she was naked.
God "punishes" Eve by saying that she shall have pain in childbirth, she will desire her husband and he will be in charge of her. Ever since then the world has sought to make childbirth painless and more importantly teach women to lust rather than desire their husbands. Adam is given a different "punishment", he is told that he will have to work hard all his life and then will return to the earth. As I have often told people, this is not a vacation resort, this is about learning through difficulties.
Here is a question, why did Adam choose to name her Eve at this point, he was happy with calling her woman up until then. He did it so that her children would blame her and not him for what we have to endure in this life. He was being a jerk, in my opinion. Now let me ask another question, Eve may have been tricked into eating the apple; but, Adam was not tricked and God had told Adam not to eat of the tree, he did not tell Eve, at least it doesn't say that he did. Most likely scenerio is that Adam told Eve that God had said not to eat of the tree or at least it is equally possible.
It is a short story, the story of Adam and Eve is given only a few paragraphs in the whole bible. I know someone who told me that they didn't like God because they thought it was unfair that we all had to pay for the sin of two people. This is not about being punished, it is about the nature of our life here on earth. People don't want to understand why life is hard and like having someone to blame. We do not sin because Adam and Eve did not listen to God, we sin because we know good from evil and let selfish urges rule our choices. The story of Adam and Eve is short because it is not the issue we each individually need to address, we need to address why we do bad things much more than how we got here.
15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
20And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
God's response to the situation was to punish the serpent first. No doubt the serpent felt that he had been mistreated as he didn't make them eat the apple. Imagine Satan's justifications, he would have said that he did not violate the rules and that Eve only did what she wanted; but, that misses the point. The serpent was not punished because Eve ate the apple, he was punished because he was not his brothers keeper, he was punished because he promoted others to do evil. It is my guess that he did so to show that he was better than us, better than humans.
The serpent was told that God would make the woman hate him and that her children would hate him. What do you think that means? How does that show itself in history? Better yet, her children would also be Adam's children; but, it doesn't say that his children would hate the serpent. The reason, I believe, is that Eve did not have a name yet, she was still known as Adam, she was still one with him.
When "Eve" was created Adam called her "woman" to signify that she was made from him, after getting in trouble for eating the fruit he chose to call her "Eve". The first name was used to signify no difference other than that she had come from him, she was a piece of him, he loved her as his own flesh. He named her when he didn't even know he was naked and she was naked.
God "punishes" Eve by saying that she shall have pain in childbirth, she will desire her husband and he will be in charge of her. Ever since then the world has sought to make childbirth painless and more importantly teach women to lust rather than desire their husbands. Adam is given a different "punishment", he is told that he will have to work hard all his life and then will return to the earth. As I have often told people, this is not a vacation resort, this is about learning through difficulties.
Here is a question, why did Adam choose to name her Eve at this point, he was happy with calling her woman up until then. He did it so that her children would blame her and not him for what we have to endure in this life. He was being a jerk, in my opinion. Now let me ask another question, Eve may have been tricked into eating the apple; but, Adam was not tricked and God had told Adam not to eat of the tree, he did not tell Eve, at least it doesn't say that he did. Most likely scenerio is that Adam told Eve that God had said not to eat of the tree or at least it is equally possible.
It is a short story, the story of Adam and Eve is given only a few paragraphs in the whole bible. I know someone who told me that they didn't like God because they thought it was unfair that we all had to pay for the sin of two people. This is not about being punished, it is about the nature of our life here on earth. People don't want to understand why life is hard and like having someone to blame. We do not sin because Adam and Eve did not listen to God, we sin because we know good from evil and let selfish urges rule our choices. The story of Adam and Eve is short because it is not the issue we each individually need to address, we need to address why we do bad things much more than how we got here.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Genesis 3: 8 - 13
8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat
I wish that I could read these passages out loud to you so that you could understand better. Lets begin by getting some simple things out of the way. Adam and Eve hid themselves; but, they didn't even understand what was going on. They ate the fruit and knew good from evil; but, they were children and all they could see that was evil was that they were naked. Why would that bother them?
Can you imagine going from being a child to an adolescent in less than a minute? That would be very confusing. The first thing that Adam and Eve noticed was that they were not physically the same. They noticed their body parts were different. They had no children prior to eating the fruit of the tree. What a wonderful explanation of puberty. The bible can be used to see how we progress (learn) as we grow as people and societies.
Adam and Eve discovered that they were separate individuals and separate from God, that they were all different from one another. Two kids who for the first time have learned that they are not perfect.
Adam and Eve did not understand how much more God is than they were prior to eating the fruit, they did not feel a need to hide from him. If there is none good but God (as the bible says) then if Adam and Eve did not know good and evil until they ate the fruit then they didn't really understand God, they did not know him on any sort of significant level. They did not understand his nature.
Here is what I want you to consider. A couple of children ate a piece of fruit from a tree when they had been told not to, it appears that God punishes them for it and rather harshly even punishing all that would come from them, sounds a little harsh doesn't it? Well, maybe there is more going on than is immediately apparent.
Let's get back to the story. So God calls to Adam and asks him where he is. I am just guessing here; but, I am guessing God knew exactly where Adam and Eve were and what had happened. The whole story sounds like a father talking to a couple of two year olds. He was. Their intent was curiosity and being naughty in the smallest amount, just like any other children. Here is where you can really begin to understand.
To God we are like children growing up. He is going to let them grow up, he is going to let them get burnt, he is going to let them learn and exercise free will and he is going to do it with as little interference as possible. He knows how the game ends, everybody wins, life on earth is but a vapor. After God "curses" them he is no longer in front of them all the time, just sort of checks in. Can you imagine the pressure to do things it would be if you knew that God was watching you every second and knew your every thought, that is a lot of pressure and might influence your decisions.
It is too much pressure for children. I believe we all need privacy, Adam and Eve needed privacy, they needed privacy in their minds, they needed to know that they could think freely and not be judged on every passing thought, they needed to be free to be themselves and that is what God gave them; but, there is a price tag, separation from God for a time, time to define themselves by their free will choices and that meant they were going to be challenged. How could God explain that to children? The lack of privacy leads to "group think", it leads to going along to get along.
Anyways, God "finds" Adam and Adam says that he hid because he was naked and God asked Adam who told him that he was naked. Now, again, I think God knew that nobody had told Adam that he was naked. So, why did God ask Adam the question? Could he have just been being funny, did he find Adam's predicament amusing? Being a father my guess is that he asked it to give Adam a chance to repent, to admit what he did and address it. Being an intelligent father, he knew that Adam was new to lying and would come up with an excuse and Adam did, Adam blamed his sister (so to speak).
Adam's excuse is classic two year old, he says that God gave him the woman and she made him do it, everyone's fault but his own. He blames God and takes no responsibility, he blames God for creating the woman and the woman for giving him the fruit; but, he ate it and knew what he had been told. It is painfully obvious to anyone with children what is going on, God is not mad at them, he is giving them a chance to give themselves up, admit what they did and take responsibility; but, that is something teenagers don't do, that is what adults do (hopefully).
Back to the story, Adam blames God and Eve and Eve then blames the serpent. Was Satan to blame for Eve's eating the fruit? Not in my opinion. I don't blame the devil for my bad decisions, I blame immaturity. I blame not having enough understanding and I blame urge driven choices that we make as young adults. It is all part of growing up. God did not create us to remain children, he created us so that we could grow to our limits, not his, ours. We only get there if we are challenged, if we stretch ourselves as hard and as far as we can and that is what we are supposed to do morally and spiritually. Do the right thing for the right reason and do it against all comers, against all challenges, push your boundaries.
We all fall short, we are all human and God knows that. Life is not about becoming perfect, God see us as sinless when we have the heart of Christ, when we understand that we are all less than perfect.
9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat
I wish that I could read these passages out loud to you so that you could understand better. Lets begin by getting some simple things out of the way. Adam and Eve hid themselves; but, they didn't even understand what was going on. They ate the fruit and knew good from evil; but, they were children and all they could see that was evil was that they were naked. Why would that bother them?
Can you imagine going from being a child to an adolescent in less than a minute? That would be very confusing. The first thing that Adam and Eve noticed was that they were not physically the same. They noticed their body parts were different. They had no children prior to eating the fruit of the tree. What a wonderful explanation of puberty. The bible can be used to see how we progress (learn) as we grow as people and societies.
Adam and Eve discovered that they were separate individuals and separate from God, that they were all different from one another. Two kids who for the first time have learned that they are not perfect.
Adam and Eve did not understand how much more God is than they were prior to eating the fruit, they did not feel a need to hide from him. If there is none good but God (as the bible says) then if Adam and Eve did not know good and evil until they ate the fruit then they didn't really understand God, they did not know him on any sort of significant level. They did not understand his nature.
Here is what I want you to consider. A couple of children ate a piece of fruit from a tree when they had been told not to, it appears that God punishes them for it and rather harshly even punishing all that would come from them, sounds a little harsh doesn't it? Well, maybe there is more going on than is immediately apparent.
Let's get back to the story. So God calls to Adam and asks him where he is. I am just guessing here; but, I am guessing God knew exactly where Adam and Eve were and what had happened. The whole story sounds like a father talking to a couple of two year olds. He was. Their intent was curiosity and being naughty in the smallest amount, just like any other children. Here is where you can really begin to understand.
To God we are like children growing up. He is going to let them grow up, he is going to let them get burnt, he is going to let them learn and exercise free will and he is going to do it with as little interference as possible. He knows how the game ends, everybody wins, life on earth is but a vapor. After God "curses" them he is no longer in front of them all the time, just sort of checks in. Can you imagine the pressure to do things it would be if you knew that God was watching you every second and knew your every thought, that is a lot of pressure and might influence your decisions.
It is too much pressure for children. I believe we all need privacy, Adam and Eve needed privacy, they needed privacy in their minds, they needed to know that they could think freely and not be judged on every passing thought, they needed to be free to be themselves and that is what God gave them; but, there is a price tag, separation from God for a time, time to define themselves by their free will choices and that meant they were going to be challenged. How could God explain that to children? The lack of privacy leads to "group think", it leads to going along to get along.
Anyways, God "finds" Adam and Adam says that he hid because he was naked and God asked Adam who told him that he was naked. Now, again, I think God knew that nobody had told Adam that he was naked. So, why did God ask Adam the question? Could he have just been being funny, did he find Adam's predicament amusing? Being a father my guess is that he asked it to give Adam a chance to repent, to admit what he did and address it. Being an intelligent father, he knew that Adam was new to lying and would come up with an excuse and Adam did, Adam blamed his sister (so to speak).
Adam's excuse is classic two year old, he says that God gave him the woman and she made him do it, everyone's fault but his own. He blames God and takes no responsibility, he blames God for creating the woman and the woman for giving him the fruit; but, he ate it and knew what he had been told. It is painfully obvious to anyone with children what is going on, God is not mad at them, he is giving them a chance to give themselves up, admit what they did and take responsibility; but, that is something teenagers don't do, that is what adults do (hopefully).
Back to the story, Adam blames God and Eve and Eve then blames the serpent. Was Satan to blame for Eve's eating the fruit? Not in my opinion. I don't blame the devil for my bad decisions, I blame immaturity. I blame not having enough understanding and I blame urge driven choices that we make as young adults. It is all part of growing up. God did not create us to remain children, he created us so that we could grow to our limits, not his, ours. We only get there if we are challenged, if we stretch ourselves as hard and as far as we can and that is what we are supposed to do morally and spiritually. Do the right thing for the right reason and do it against all comers, against all challenges, push your boundaries.
We all fall short, we are all human and God knows that. Life is not about becoming perfect, God see us as sinless when we have the heart of Christ, when we understand that we are all less than perfect.
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