Monday, June 25, 2012

III

I'd like to cover Genesis chapters 3 and 4 today if time allows.  Seems like one could go on and on about every verse in Genesis.  But just a brief word or two about the first two chapters.  They are basic to the understanding of the entire Bible.  If it is not understood or seems unconvincing then the remainder is difficult to understand fully.  Remember, Genesis does not mean the FIRST.  The only thing first about Genesis is that it is the first book of the Bible.  Genesis means ORIGIN.  Not the first origin, but rather THE origin, thus an acute understanding is necessary.
Note back in 1.24 that God commented on his creation of all heretofore, saying "it was good".  But in vs 31, after He created man, He said "it was very good".  God knew that creating man was His finest work.  No wonder He gave His dear Son's life for us.  We'll find out after our study of Levitican Law how only God's perfect genious could devise the only way for us to have a restored fellowship with Him.
In chapter 3, things are a bit out of order.  Man was already created.  Now for some details.  God made man from the dust of the ground.  God breathed into the nostrils of man the breath of life, thus man became not only a living human being, but also a living soul, something to which the animals were not priviledged.  Man was made in God's image, and capable of fellowship with God.  Among all that was created, man was the bright and shining trophy.  And God was pleased.
He placed man in an absolutely perfect environment called the Garden of Eden.  This garden was perfect, watered through underground and on-ground streams so as to water everything effortlessly and perfectly.  The garden was beautiful and provided man with everything to sustain life.  God further blessed man by assigning him to work it and take care of it.  Work was a blessing from God and not punishment for wrong-doing.  Work and the ability to perform work is still a blessing taken much too much for granted.
The Lord God commanded that man could eat from the garden except for the fruit from tree of knowledge of good and evil which was in the middle of the garden.
((( In the 1st chapter of Genesis, God the Creator was referenced as "God".  However, beginning in the 2nd chapter and forward, He is refered to as "the Lord God".  Ever notice the change?  Throughout the old and new testiments, there will be different names used for God, all having a purpose.  I hope I don't neglect to mention these as we go through and meet the different names.  Some very interesting.  To me "the Lord God" means that God had moved from the Creator of all things to the Lord or "ruler", having power and authority over all living things, and is present and among them.)))
Everything seemed to have been working very well.  I'm not certain how long.  But then in vs 18" The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him."  then in vs 20 "but for Adam (I really like that name) no suitable helper was found".  So God created woman from the side of a man.  vs 24 "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh".  Say that vs  24 again to yourself.  That is exactly how God envisioned marriage to be.  The marriage of a man and a woman is to be exclusive, permanent, and God-sealed.  Man is made for woman and woman is made for man.  On a personal note:  I am only half without my wife Peggy.  She is my other half.  She completes me.  We are one.  We are partners.  Together we are smart, powerful, ordained of God, solid, strong, wise, productive, self-disciplined, happy.  She's my friend and confidant.  I've been with Peggy 40 years now and I cannot imagine how empty and incomplete my life would be without her.  I honestly think that my marriage is the way God wanted it to be. 
God instituted marriage and the home.  Family life and the home were part of God's original purpose for man.
Genesis Chapter III  -  The Fall
I meant to make this comment earlier, but better late than never:  Many many years ago when I was seeking an understanding of God through studying His holy scripture, a man tried his best to explain to me that Moses and the other men God used to write the scripture were inspired by the God through many different means (dreams, visions, directives, angels, etc.)  These people wrote the scripture in thier own languages, documenting these events and times in the only manner they knew, and making every attempt to describe and explain in such a way as to promote understanding to all of mankind in all future generations.  How does one accomplish that?  Thier languages had only so many words and they were commissioned often to describe things that nobody ever saw or heard of before.  ie Ezekial.  When John the Beloved tries to describe objects and events in Revelation, he described them the only way his limited language could, resulting in some confusion to say the least.  But taking it backwards to Moses describing the whole creation of the heavens, the earth, the universe, animal, vegitable, mineral, man, woman, serpants, sin, tree of good and evil, cheribim, seriphim, the flood, the tower of babble, just to name a few.  Just try to imagine God giving you a very vivid vision of all this and you are commissioned to explain it in writing.  I mention this because I honestly feel that this awareness helped me bridge the gaps in my mind between the direct, the concrete, and the abstract.  I suggest any serious student of the Bible to pray for understanding of these men's discriptions of events, especially in books like Genesis, Jonah, Revelation, Ezekial, Job, to name a few.
I am often entertained by the factual stories in the Bible.  This is one.  The serpent beguiles and persuades Eve.  She tells him God says she will die if she eats the fruit.  The serpent chuckles and says "now you don't really think He would kill you, do you?  C'mon."  The serpent goes on to paint a bad picture of God making such a restriction because He doesn't want her to know as much as He does.  Temptation wins (as usual)  Adam also partakes.  They know they've done wrong and are ashamed and actually hide from God.  But God seeks out Adam and asked about his disobedience.  Adam said it was the woman YOU gave me (Your fault God).  That wouldn't have sat well.  God asked Eve about it.  She was a little better and blamed it on the serpent.  At least she admitted her weakness.  The whole story is written plainly in NIV.  But look at some of the punishments.  The garden work will become really hard work now.  Weeds, thistles, thorns, insects.  The work will be hard and sweaty.  They will no longer be allowed in the Garden of Eden.  They must go out and work the land that is raw like the raw land we have today.
That story of the fall is good and educational and very revealing of human nature, but there is another important issue.  God did not punish Adam and Eve for eating of the tree of good and evil.  He punished them for disobedience.  Throughout the Bible, we'll see God punish mostly for two reasons:  disobedience and lack of faith.  Much of the time, He allows the results of our own actions to punish us.
Battery low.  will post again soon.


1 comment:

  1. I like the thoughts on work here. I find it interesting that work was created before sin entered. I have never noticed the change from simply "God" to "Lord God." Intriguing, to say the least.

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