Jan. 25, 2012 - Genesis 25

Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.

Well, apparently he’s gotten over the worry that he can’t have any more children because of how old he is, and this wife provides him with quite a few more sons.

Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away…

Concubines? Where did they come from? Possibly referring to Keturah, and/or other women. Earlier, while he was married to Sarah, he took Hagar as his concubine. While the term is technically different from a wife, a concubine was essentially treated the same. This status could result from being a servant, or not having a dowry provided, or many other reasons. However, a child from a concubine was considered a rightful heir, and would have an inheritance as normal. These sons aren’t going to receive any of Isaac’s blessing, though, and Abraham has them all sent away. He doesn’t just repeat his past and send them into the desert as he did with Hagar and Ishmael, but at least sends them to a certain area, with gifts.

His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him…

Ishmael is going to be blessed, and so while he’s not as ‘high’ in the blessing line as Isaac, he still is above the other sons that were sent away, and is important enough to take part in helping bury his father.

After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac…

And the blessing is passed. The “blessed him in every way” blessing. Yay.

This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael…and they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.

Ishmael has 12 sons, which form 12 tribes, and give us a preview of what will happen later through Isaac. And while he is blessed and fathers a nation as promised, his sons don’t live in harmony, and we know that the real blessing lies in wait for Isaac’s descendants.

This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac…Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren.

This line is special, and God wants it to be clear that these sons aren’t going to just happen, but are directly provided by himself.

So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her “…the older will serve the younger.”

As Rebekah asks why her twins seem to be fighting, God clearly gives the instruction that they will both be great nations, but that the younger will be the greater.

So Esau despised his birthright.

After some time out hunting, Esau comes back hungry, and trades something of lasting value for immediate gain. He doesn’t recognize the value of his birthright, and sells it for so cheap that it is as if he considered it altogether useless. Now, this birthright was essentially a larger portion of his father’s inheritance, and with all the wealth of the family, it should have been obvious exactly how much this was worth. Esau doesn’t take the time to think about it, though, and gives up a great fortune for a simple meal.

Jan. 24, 2012 - Genesis 24

Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.

Blessed in every way? Yes please. This sounds like a pretty amazing way to sum up someone’s life. I mean, that would be a good way to be remembered, right?

“I want you to swear…that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country…”

Abraham knows that while this land is ultimately promised to his descendants, it doesn’t mean that they will inherit it by simply intermarrying with the current residents. One day his people will have to drive out the others, and take possession of God’s promise. In the meantime, his line must remain pure, so Isaac must be married to someone from his own country, from his relatives. However, Isaac is not to leave this land, and if the servant can’t get a wife to come back with him, he won’t be help responsible, but simply released from this oath.

“O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today…”

You know, I have a suspicion that this is possibly one of the most often-used prayers ever. Countless students place all their faith in this prayer on test days. I regularly use it as I begin my search for a parking spot. O LORD, give me success. It’s a plain, simple request. And yet, it hints at the most mind-blowing truth of all: that the God of the universe might just care enough about your life to personally step in and give you a little help.

Before he had finished praying…

And God does care. He is listening. And when a teacher is lenient with the grading and gives you points you don’t really deserve, or a car pulls out of a spot right in front of you, or the perfect woman comes walking up with a jar on her shoulder, maybe it was just a coincidence. Or maybe it wasn’t.

Without saying a word, the man watched her closely…

So, obviously Rebekah is busy running back and forth getting water for the camels, and they can’t exactly have an in-depth conversation, but still, surely it’s a little awkward for him to just be standing there watching. Of course, he probably had some other servants with him, since later we see that the family offers water for “him and his men to wash their feet,” so they could have been socializing with Rebekah during this time. This would then allow him to be watching how she interacted with them, to make sure she was the right one. After she has drawn the water, he then gives her some gold jewelry and asks about her family, which he is pleased to discover is that of a close relative.

Then the man bowed down and worshipped the LORD…

He asked for a pretty specific thing to happen to find the right woman, and it happened exactly as he asked, with a close relative. Pretty much, his mission is going perfectly so far.

As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets…he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. “Come, you who are blessed by the LORD…”

So we see that Laban notices the jewelry immediately, and takes it upon himself to go welcome this guest. He greets him with the name of the LORD, so he is not completely oblivious to this name. However, later on we know he had many other gods in his household, so it is likely that he didn’t actually worship the LORD. In fact, it’s possible that he heard Rebekah mention this name as she was relating the story, and then used it simply to make this guest feel more welcome. As the savvy businessman he was, he recognized the value of the jewelry first given, and was certainly interested to learn more about this traveler, as wealthy friends are always good.

“This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other.”

Whatever the beliefs of this household, they are amazed at the exactness of the story, and yield to the obvious workings of the LORD in keeping the family together.

“Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey.”

He’s excited to share the good news, and doesn’t want to keep his master waiting any longer than he has to. The quicker he can leave, the quicker he can get back.

So she became his wife, and he loved her…

And just like that we have the next main characters lined up, as Abraham’s part in the story is almost over, and it’s time for Isaac to play his part in passing down God’s blessing.

Jan. 23, 2012 - Genesis 23

Well this chapter is going to be short and sweet(or sad, I suppose). Sarah dies, and Abraham wants some land to bury her. So, the Hittites offer their tombs to him, and will freely allow him to bury his wife wherever he wants. However, it wouldn’t be Abraham’s land, or tomb. Essentially, the family would be adopting Abraham, and allowing him to bury Sarah with their own deceased.

This isn’t what Abraham wants, though, so he specifically asks for a certain piece of land that he can buy and own for himself. The owner, in turn, offers the land as a gift, but this still isn’t what Abraham wants. A gift could be argued over later. Abraham wants to buy the land, and have a record that names him as the specific owner so that no one can try to say he doesn’t belong, or run him off.

The owner agrees, and Abraham buys the field at full value, with plenty of witnesses. And so, while Abraham isn’t going to inherit the entire promised land himself, he does get a piece of it, and leaves a sign to his descendants that they have much more left to claim, but that God has already given it to them.

So Abraham gets the field, the cave, and all the trees. Of course! More TREES! That’s obviously why he picked this land. At least, it probably didn’t hurt.

Jan. 22, 2012 - Genesis 22

“Take your son, your only son, Isaac…”

Only son? What about Ishmael? Apparently he’s no longer a part of Abraham’s line, similar to how Cain lost his place in Adam’s line. God has a specific plan for this line, and it doesn’t always go according to the accepted customs of normal inheritance, but rather by where he chooses to give his blessings.

…Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Well that’s a nice bland couple of sentences to describe a ridiculously insane series of events. I mean, he’s about to kill his son for goodness sakes. So, did Isaac try to fight back? He was old enough to carry the wood, right? And Abraham is 100 years older than Isaac, so he could probably resist, right? We know that he has already questioned his father about the missing lamb, so it’s not like he’s oblivious to what’s going on. After three days of traveling, hiking up a mountain, and working at building an altar, surely Isaac is starting to wonder where this magical lamb is. And then when the altar is done, and there still isn’t a lamb, Abraham turns toward him. And he either allows himself to be bound, or Abraham overcomes him and forcefully restrains his son, blocking out the cries and screams for mercy.

And then he raises the knife. Here it is. After all this time, all the doubts and deception, all the fearing for his own life, and skepticism about this son, after it all he finally gives up fighting and surrenders to God’s plan. He didn’t trust God for his safety, and lied about his wife…twice. He scoffed at the idea that Sarah could have a child, and asked that the blessing be given to Ishmael instead. But now, he is finally to the point of complete belief. God said he was going to make Isaac into a great nation, that’s exactly what he’ll do. Even if this doesn’t make sense, Abraham finally trusts that God will keep his promise, no matter what.

“Now I know that you fear God…”

Just as Abraham knew all along, it was a test. Of course, the test ended without him actually having to harm his son, but the result is achieved. He was willing to sacrifice everything, and completely rely on God and his promise.

As an interesting side note: Abraham seems to be pretty good at following directions and obeying God. Pack up. Leave your home. Go. Circumcise your family. Sacrifice your son.

However, he seems to run into trouble when he doesn’t have some specific task or direction from God. Something about the ‘down-time’ makes wife = sister, servant = wife…

Now whether he just isn’t listening to God at these times, or whether God just isn’t speaking, I don’t know. But it does bring a lot of trouble into his life, and complicate things. If only he always lived his life toward a specific goal, and was constantly asking for guidance, he might have been able to avoid some of those issues.

And just because it’s been a while since we have any decent family records, we get a little chunk to round out the end of this chapter. Namely, we see a certain Rebekah enter the scene.

Jan. 21, 2012 - Genesis 21

“God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”

Both Abraham and Sarah scoffed at laughed at God’s plan, but now that it has come true and a son has actually been born, their laughter is of a different sort. The infectious, everybody thinks we’re crazy because we’re always so happy, sort.

But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking…

Mocking at a celebration for his brother? Well that’s not very nice. You would think that after all the drama it took just for him to get to grow up in this house, he’d be on his best behavior now that the ‘real’ son of promise is around. I mean, Sarah has made it pretty clear that she doesn’t really like him or his mother, and this just pushes her over the edge.

The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.

Well he’s stuck in a nasty situation, isn’t he? On one hand he has a son that he wants to take care of and be a father to, but on the other hand he has Sarah demanding he and his mother be sent away. Luckily God is hanging around, and he reminds Abraham that Isaac is the chosen son, and while he has promised to bless Ishmael as well, Abraham doesn’t need to be worried about sending him away.

And just like that, Hagar’s back wandering the desert about to die again, and God shows up to take care of her again. He comes with comfort, encouragement, and promises, affirming to Hagar that not only will Isaac be great, but her son Ishmael will also be a great nation.

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.

Poof. Water. Sometimes you just have to stop looking, and let God show you.

“God is with you in everything you do.”

So we’re back to Abraham, and we see that even after all the shenanigans with Sarah and everything, he’s back on track, and something is just different about his life. And people notice. Of course, it’s cool when people come tell you they see God at work in everything you do, but maybe not so nice when they’re having to come beg you to deal fairly with them because of your deceit in the past…Anyways, Abraham and Abimelech sort out a treaty, and agree to remain straight and upstanding guys with each other.

Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.

Abraham and his trees…It seems like everywhere he goes he finds, or in this case plants, a tree. He always wants a specific place to worship. And he doesn’t just want something private, but rather a landmark that other people can use, as well as a symbol of what he believes and stands for. This is probably just me, but it seems like Abraham would be one of those guys that would cover his car with Jesus bumper-stickers, decorate his house with fish symbols, and build a giant alter in the front yard for sacrifices. You know?

Jan. 20, 2012 - Genesis 20

…and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.”

Really? Again? There’s still this promise about Sarah having Abraham’s son, who will go on to be the head of a great nation and all that good stuff. I mean, Abraham was bold enough to question God and bargain over Sodom, but he still doesn’t have enough faith to hold God to his promise? Guess he is just a regular old messed up dude like the rest of us, with his own highs and lows…

On a sidenote, whatever exercise program, or diet, or natural supplement that Sarah is on seems to be working. Because even at 90, the first thing that happens when she enters town is that king sends for her. Bet you’d like to get your hands on that secret, eh?

“Lord , will you destroy an innocent nation?”

Hey look, Abraham’s pleading for mercy again. Oh wait. That’s not Abraham. That’s the king. Well how about that? Even though he doesn’t personally know the “LORD,” he still recognizes the “Lord” and begs for mercy. Just as Abraham pleaded for Sodom, because of its sin, now Abimelech pleads for his city, because of Abraham.

“I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”

I don’t know about you, but this reminds me of a certain dude name Pilate, and how he’s going to ‘clean his hands’ of the whole Jesus deal, and try to make sure the blame doesn’t fall on him, just in case God happens to get upset about the crucifixion. Anyways, Abimelech here is going for the same thing, pleading his innocence in the matter, and as it happens, he actually has a solid case for himself.

“What have you done to us? How have I wronged you…What was your reason for doing this?”

“There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.”

Why have you done this to me? Well, I just didn’t think you loved God as much as I do, so I assumed you would just kill me. Again, Abraham blows his witness, and loses the chance to live by trusting in God’s promise, letting people notice how his life is different. Instead, he’s just a judgmental traveler who doesn’t trust anybody and always assumes the worst about everyone. Not to mention the guilt he brought on the kingdom.

“Besides, she really is my sister.”

Well technically I wasn’t actually lying, just deceiving you on purpose…

Jan. 19, 2012 - Genesis 19

When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

Remind you of anybody? Whatever else he’s been doing, at least Lot still plays the part of a good host, as Abraham did.

“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house.

He insisted strongly. He put effort into serving them. He didn’t wait for them to beg for a place to sleep. In fact, he offered his house first, and then when they declined, he refused to take no for an answer. This wasn’t a passive service, but an active one. He went out of his way to serve these travelers who at first didn’t want his help at all.

…all the men from every part of the city…surrounded the house.

All the men. Not even 10 righteous. Uh-oh…

“No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

Don’t do this. Well that’s good. He’s trying to talk them out of it.

Here, have my daughters. Whoa now. Something seems a little off with that plan, right?

So what’s going on here? What is this guy thinking? Well as far as I can tell, he’s just resorting to drastic measures because he put himself in a bad situation. He has a responsibility to protect his guests, but he can’t because of the circumstances he got himself into. If he wasn’t living in the city, then his guests would be perfectly safe, and everything would be fine. Since he has chosen to surround himself with sin, though, he has no means to actually protect his visitors, or even his own family.

But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door.

Lot is still trying to reason with the mob, and find some way out, but there’s nothing else he can do. The angels are watching out for him, and recognize that he can’t do anything else here, and he needs to back up and worry about saving himself.

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law…But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

He tries one more time, but even these men that are the closest to his family refuse to listen. They are too caught up in their sinful lives to listen to anyone else, to heed advice or warnings.

“Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere…”

Nothing left to do except get away.

Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land…

Abraham pleaded with God for mercy on behalf of any righteous men that might be found in the city, and then he went on with his life. He didn’t just camp out and watch to see if God was going to smite them or not, although a certain Jonah fellow might try that approach later…

…there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth.

Well if you thought Lot trying to hand his daughters off to a mob was awkward, buckle up cause this story is about to go to a whole new level. But how does this crazy messed up thing start? Because of ‘custom.’ Living in Sodom, Lot’s daughters have been brought up with a very worldly education, and they respect the customs of the land, namely their hometown of Sodom. This, of course, isn’t exactly the place you want your children growing up in, and again we see some extreme consequences from Lot’s choice to surround himself and his family with sin, however pure he may have tried to live. Anyways, with his life in shambles, Lot has apparently given up even trying to remain righteous, and allows himself to get completely wasted multiple nights in a row, to the extent that he doesn’t even realize what his daughters are doing to him. And then they both have sons to carry on the family line. Good luck explaining that to the kids…

Jan. 18, 2012 - Genesis 18

The LORD appeared to Abraham…

Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby.

So apparently God shows up with a couple angels, but they’re all decked out in their human forms and just look like regular old men.

When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.

He didn’t just wait for them, but got up and went out to meet them, bowing low and humbling himself. Also, it’s not “LORD” but just “lord.” They still appear to just be human travelers, but as a good host, he puts them above himself and serves them. Now, one day Jesus is going to come, and explain what it means to serve others, and all that good stuff, but right here we see Abraham already doing this exact thing. In spite of all his wealth, and plenty of servants he could have had take care of his visitors, he does it himself. HE calls for the “fine flour,” and has Sarah take charge of that. HE runs out to pick a “choice, tender, calf.” And while he has a servant help prepare the food, HE brings it out to his guests. Servants are expected to serve, but Abraham and Sarah take the opportunity to do the unexpected, and be the servants themselves.

Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Well this is just review for Abraham, and if he hasn’t figured it out yet, now it’s clear that these aren’t just ordinary travelers, but that it is actually the LORD. However, apparently he never told Sarah about this promise, and as she overhears, she laughs to herself as Abraham did earlier.

Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?”

There doesn’t seem to be any real reason for God to tell Abraham what’s about to happen, but just because he feels like it, he lets Abraham in on the secret: Sodom and Gomorrah are about to be judged for their sin. Now most people would probably think this was pretty cool, that a wicked city was getting its dues, but Abraham instead begins to plead for mercy on behalf of any righteous people that might actually be there. From 50, to 45, to 40, to 30, to 20, and then to 10, Abraham bargains with God over the number of people it would take to save the entire city. And while Abraham remains reverent, he also insists on being heard.

Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?”

“Now that I have been so bold…what if…”

Once again he spoke to him, “What if…”

“May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if…”

“Now that I have been so bold…what if…”

“May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if…”

Now, I know we all love our “God, if it’s your will…” prayers, but that’s not what’s in Abraham’s mind. Obviously God doesn’t have to listen to him, and will judge the city as he has decided, but that doesn’t stop Abraham from fighting for it. And he doesn’t just sheepishly ask God, “Uh, God, if it’s your will, spare that city.” Instead, he comes with confidence and declares “Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the righteous with the wicked…” You don’t want to do this God. Think about it for while. What if there are some righteous people living there? You wouldn’t kill them over this.

Maybe it’s just me, but do you hear how ridiculous this sounds? This old man is standing here questioning the creator of the universe, and begging for mercy over some city that is drowning itself in sin. Hey Abraham, that’s God. He knows everything. You really think you’re going to make him change his mind? For that matter, aren’t you afraid if you keep poking him with questions that he might just squash you? But God doesn’t squash him. He just listens. And takes Abraham’s words into consideration. And agrees to spare the city on behalf of just 10 righteous men, if they can be found.

Jan. 17, 2012 - Genesis 17

I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.

So, is there a difference between walking ‘with’ God, and walking ‘before’ God? I don’t know. And if there is, I don’t know what that difference would be anyways. Just for reference, though, Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden. Enoch walked with God and was no more. Noah walked with God and had his family saved from global destruction. And here, God tells Abram to walk before him, and be blameless.

Be blameless. God is going to make him blameless, perfect, righteous.

Or, and this idea pretty much blew my mind when I first thought about it, what if it just means: blameless. Free from blame. What if after all the junk that just went down in chapter 16, with Ishmael and everything involved with that, what if after all that, God comes and says: “It’s ok. Here, let’s go for a walk. I don’t blame you.”

I will confirm my covenant between me and you…

“Yeah, you messed up. But it’s ok. I’m still going to honor this covenant. I’m going to make you great, no matter what you do or how bad you screw up. And I’m not going to blame you for the mistakes that we both know you’re going to make.”

Abram fell facedown…

Yeah. That’s about how I felt too.

Abram à Abraham

Abraham. Father of many. And in a way, God shows what it means to be ‘born again’ as he opens the door to the next part of Abraham’s life, and gives him a new name to match it. A name of promise.

Hey look, covenant, covenant, covenant, covenant…I’m getting a vibe that this chapter has something to do with some sort of covenant. “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Yep. There’s a covenant. I knew it. Also, it’s not some sort term deal, but an everlasting bond that is to be passed down from Abraham through his descendants for generations.

You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant…

Whoa now. I was all for this you being my God, and all the land being mine, and me being a great nation and everything, but come on now, that’s not really what you mean, right? Wait, it is? You want me to what? To my what?!?

So anyways, my first question is whether Abraham even knew what this was. I mean, this is the first mention in the Bible about circumcision, and I can’t imagine it was really a popular thing to do at the time, so I wonder if God had to explain the process, and how that conversation went. For that matter, even if Abraham did know what was being asked, I can’t even imaged what was going through his head at that moment…

Besides all that, we then have the obvious question: why? Seriously, why is God including this as part of his covenant with Abraham?

First off, as a sign. “It will be the sign of the covenant…” As generations pass, relatives can lose track of each other, or your heritage can get jumbled, or whatever. I mean, do you know your great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents? Or anything about them at all? Yeah, I didn’t think so. However, circumcision is something very specific that is to be passed down through Abraham’s descendants, so that as the nation grows, they can always be assured of where they came from. They came from Abraham. They have a covenant with God. And his promises are still true. It’s an identifying mark. A reminder. They are special. Unique. Chosen by God.

As a side point, hygiene was definitely more of an issue at that time, and this procedure could definitely have helped to avoid certain infections or diseases. So it also served as somewhat of a sanitary measure.

Sarai à Sarah

Like Abraham, Sarah also gets a new name, as she begins her new section of life. A life in which she will actually be able to have a son.

I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.

Now we get a little bit more clarification of the promise, just so nobody’s confused any more.

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed…

Well, sort of not confused. It’s still confusing. Abram and Sarai can’t have kids. They’re too old. Ah-ha! Luckily we have spiffy new name changes to fix that problem. All is new in the world. Anything is possible.

If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!

Then God said, “Yes, but…”

Hey God, I hear what you’re saying and all, but if only you would do it this way, it would be good. I mean, I have a son already, just bless him. “Yes, but…” Yes, it may be good, but I have something better planned. Yes, you think you understand, but I have things in store that you can’t even begin to imagine. Yes, you want good, but I want to give you great. Yes, but…

And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him…

Oh, I’ve got great things planned, but here, have the good as well.

But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.

Hey, the baby already has a due date. We’re really nailing down the specifics here. Making sure everybody’s on the same page with who is supposed to be having what baby, when.

Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day.

No waiting around. No time to start questioning if that was really what God said, or what he meant. The directions were clear, and Abraham acted. Immediately.

Jan. 16, 2012 - Genesis 16

So everybody’s still waiting for Abram’s son. And Sarai still isn’t having any kids. So she comes up with a plan. And it’s not such a terrible plan, really. “Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Sarai is still planning to build the family. To raise the child. She just needs someone else to get things started.

Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

Well, it might have been a believable plan and all, but some sort of warning should be going off, right? I mean, this is Abram, who’s been living in this land building a reputation based on his trust in God. This is Abram who asks God questions, and gets crazy vision answers. Maybe he should take a time-out and ask: “Hey God, should I go commit adultery to get this son that you promised?” That seems like a question that might get a response. But instead, when his wife comes up and says “Go, sleep with my maidservant.” He just goes with: “Ok.”

Of course, when you add a pregnant woman to anything, nothing goes according to plan. So then Sarai blames Abram, and Abram backs way off and lets her do whatever she wants. Which turns out to be: abusing the pregnant woman. Hagar, not appreciating this treatment, decides to hit the road. She runs into an angel, who says “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” However, the angel also comforts her, and points out that “the LORD has heard of your misery.” You’re not alone. It’s going to be ok. God knows who you are, and what you’re going though. He’s watching you, and he cares about you.

So Hagar goes back, and Abram gets a son. Ishmael.

Jan. 15, 2012 - Genesis 15

I am your shield, your very great reward.

Just coming from Abram refusing a reward from the king of Sodom, and God shows up in a vision to be his reward.

Oh Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless…

…a son coming from your own body will be your heir.

So, Abram is going to get a son. And it’s going to be an actual son from his own body. Cool. But Sarai is still barren. She’s not having a son. There’s got to be some solution, right?

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Yay. Righteousness. Not because he was righteous, but because he believed, he got credit for being righteous.

…how can I know that I will gain possession of it?

He believed, and then asked “how can I know?” Obviously believing isn’t the same as just not having any questions. Which is a good thing. Because if you haven’t noticed, I have a lot of questions, and I answer most of them with “I don’t know.” Anyways, Abram brings some sacrifices, God works some sort of vision/trance something or other, tells him the future for the next few hundred years, and makes a covenant with some fire symbols and stuff. But in the end, he asked, God answered.

Jan. 14, 2012 - Genesis 14

4 kings:

-Amraphel king of Shinar

-Arioch king of Ellasar

-Kedorlaomer king of Elam

-Tidal king of Goiim

5 kings:

-Bera king of Sodom

-Birsha king of Gomorrah

-Shinab king of Admah

-Shemeber king of Zeboiim

-unnamed king of Bela

For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him…

Wait, what? They rebelled in the 13^th year, and then nothing happened? The story skips to a year later, when Kedorlaomer and his allies are just conquering a bunch of other stuff, apparently oblivious to this rebellion that’s been in progress for a year. Now I don’t know what they’ve been doing in this time, but I guess there’s been a lot of strategizing and planning about how and when to stand up and fight. They choose to pick their fight now, in the 14^th year, after the 4 kings have been doing all this other fighting.

[5 kings] marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim against [4 kings] –four kings against five. Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled…

So, they picked the time, they picked the place, and they set up battle lines and were ready. However, there wasn’t even a good enough fight to get mentioned at all. There is literally zero resistance recorded. Now I’m sure they did actually fight, but in the end, they just wind up running. At least, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled. There’s no mention of what the other 3 kings were doing. Maybe they all died. Maybe they ran even earlier. Whatever the case, all that planning doesn’t do any good, and the 4 kings take everything from Sodom and Gomorrah, and just go along their way.

They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

He was what? Living in Sodom? When did that happen? Apparently at some point he got pulled into the sin that he was living near, and gets captured here as a result.

One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew.

While Lot has conformed to the sin of the land, Abram stands out as different. So much that he even gets referred to not just as Abram, but ‘Abram the Hebrew.’ He’s not hiding or compromising his beliefs, and it’s making an impact. People know who he is, and what he stands for.

Anyways, Abram takes 318 guys, chases the 4 kings down, beats them up, and takes all the stuff back. So while the 5 kings failed to even put up a fight worth mentioning, Abram just walks in with no preparation at all, and only a small group of guys from his household, and wipes the 4 kings out.

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High…Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

First tithe?

And then when the king of Sodom offers him all the goods he recovered as a reward, Abram very straightly says: no. “…you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ” Abram doesn’t want to be associated with Sodom in any way, and doesn’t want any question about where his wealth comes from. He’s not going to let his nephew get captured, and he rescues him, but that’s where it ends. He doesn’t approve of the city, its reputation, or what’s going on there.

Lot is conforming to the world.

Abram is standing out as different.

Jan. 13, 2012 - Genesis 13

Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

Seriously. Foreshadowing much? Maybe it’s just me, but that’s all I can think about while reading this story. How the Israelites are going to go through this whole thing as soon as we hit Exodus. That is, pretty much the same thing, with a little more slavery, a little more time, and a lot more people.

In fact, Abram and Lot have collected so much stuff, there isn’t enough land to support them both if they stay together. As far as I can tell, that’s a lot of stuff. These guys seem like they’re living the high life. Follow God, get stuff. Cool. Notice that God never promised this, though. He just told Abram to pack up and leave. True, he did promise blessings, but mostly it was about Abram becoming a great nation and everyone else on earth being blessed through him.

Anyways, they split up and “Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain…” Now it’s not clear exactly what’s going on in Sodom, but they’ve already established a name for themselves as a wicked city. And while Lot doesn’t just go in and join them, he does pitch his tent near Sodom. I don’t know if he was planning on trying to witness to the city, and turn the people from their evil ways, or if he just wanted to be close to watch and see if God would fry them, or what he was thinking. But for whatever reason, he decides that instead of trying to stay as far away as possible, he’ll just live next to this pit of sin.

Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.

Go walk. Experience it. Enjoy it. It’s yours. I’m giving it to you.

So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

Hey look, more trees. Again, besides just being the best landmarks, with cities still being in somewhat sort supply, it’s very likely that these trees were basically shrines to something or other. So Abram builds another altar. Gets a promise from God, builds an altar. It’s starting to become a pattern if I do say so myself…

Jan. 12, 2012 - Genesis 12

“Leave your country, your people, and your father’s household…”

Ugh…But God, can’t I just be a missionary here? My pastor said the mission field was everywhere. There are plenty of things I can do for you HERE. I don’t need to move. I guess Abram could have tried some of those, but he sure would have missed out on his life, wouldn’t he? And since you don’t know what God has planned for you, it would sure be a shame if you missed your opportunity to change the world, wouldn’t it?

…they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Oh snap. Ringing any bells? Like say from chapter 11 when they were headed to Canaan, but stopped early? I wonder if Abram would have had to leave everything if they had just kept going the first time? Interesting thought at least.

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Morech at Shechem.

A tree. Let’s see, what other trees have been mentioned so far…oh right. That one that started all this sin stuff rolling. Dang trees. Anyways, apparently this tree is special to some extent. Maybe it was a tree that managed to survive the flood or something. I don’t know. But I do know that great trees were often used as sites for alters, idols, or whatever. So, this tree probably had a bunch of junk associated with it, as well as being an important landmark. Abram takes the time to build an alter to the one true LORD, marking the territory that God just promised to give him.

Now I think this next section is just flat out crazy. See if you notice any foreshadowing of later stories that involve Egypt…

Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.

People going to Egypt because of famine? Hmm…

When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me…

Well, it doesn’t really have to do with Egypt, but there is some story later about this guy David, and this married woman Bathsheba…So, I suppose this could be a valid concern on Abram’s part, but by his deception he ruins his possible witness to this land. Not to mention God has already promised to bless him and make him the father of nations. A little faith that God would keep his promise, and Abram wouldn’t have to be fearing death.

But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household…

Did somebody say plagues?

“Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?”

So, my question here is how did he find out? At some point here Pharaoh is having a rough time with a disease-ridden house, and somehow or other finds out who Sarai actually is. I wonder if his advisors figured it out. Or maybe Sarai confessed one day. Something like Jonah, maybe? "Yeah…all this stuff happening is just how my God expresses his displeasure. He’s not as mild-mannered and quite as all your gods, sorry. He does more real, physical things. It’s just the burden of worshipping the one true God, you know?"

Anyways, they get kicked out of Egypt.

Jan. 11, 2012 - Genesis 11

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.

As I pointed out earlier, this clearly fits somewhere in the middle of the genealogy record from the previous chapter, since by the end everyone is sorted out by their different languages.

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Make a name for who? For God? No? Uh-oh…

So that what? So that we can “fill the earth” as God commanded? No? Uh-oh…

I see problems with this plan.

If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

Now, I understand the idea of them trying to get glory for themselves, or not listening to God’s command, and why God would be against these things, but what is this nonsense going on here? God’s going to break them up and confuse everything because he’s afraid of what they’ll do later? That somehow if they do this, then they could do anything, and that’s some issue? God has a problem with them being successful? What?

To begin to get some background, let’s start off with the premise that these guys were pretty smart. We know that even back with Adam, people could talk, possibly even write to start keeping records. Cain built a city, and people were working with metal and doing all sorts of stuff, still within Adam’s lifetime. Noah built an ark for goodness sakes. And now, a large group of these guys are working together to build bigger and better stuff. I don’t know how much technology they actually have at this point, but it seems that humans so far have basically been advancing through science with no problem.

Now for some speculation: What if they were going too fast? What if these guys were going to invent the internet a few thousand years early? What if they were going to develop guns, missiles, bombs? With the human race still so small, a group that discovered some sort of advanced weaponry could literally take over the entire world. And since these guys obviously aren’t the ‘good’ guys, as they’re ignoring God and trying to gain glory for themselves, they must be the ‘bad’ guys, and the ones we definitely don’t want in control of everything.

Or maybe it’s not so drastic as that, but rather that the society is simply advancing too fast in general. I mean, think about this for a second: what if Jesus came for the first time in today’s world? Virgin birth? Yeah, whatever. Some scientist probably just implanted a fertilized egg in her. He’s claiming to be God? So what? Plenty of crazy people do that. Miracles? I saw David Blaine do it better. And of course, there’s no way we’re going to crucify some guy, or even kill him at all, simply for claiming to be God. Maybe lock him up in a mental hospital if he gets too out of control, but not kill him. Jesus came at a specific point in history, when the society of the earth was just right to allow him to complete his mission. Maybe these guys at Babel were simply too smart, and were threatening to mess with the timing of this ultimate plan. I don’t know.

Anyways, for whatever reason, God steps in to slow them down, and poof! Language mix-up, and everybody finally starts getting spread out to fill the earth like they were supposed to in the first place.

This is the account of Shem.

Section transition. More genealogy. Shoot yeah! This time, though, we’re specifically interested in only this one special line that will eventually lead us to Christ. We have a little bit of overlap at the beginning with the tree from chapter 10, but then we keep going down, in the familiar form of ‘so-and-so lived x years, had a son, lived x more years, having other sons and daughters.’ Notice anything new though? How about how instead of living to 900+, we’re down to the 400’s, and then we take another drop down into the 200’s. This is probably somewhat due to climate changes after the flood and whatnot, but another real possibility is simply genetic issues. With the ‘bottleneck’ caused by the flood, any bad genes Noah might have picked up from his father(who only lived to 777 back when the 900s were average), he then passed to his sons. They, of course, simply spread the same issues, and could easily account for the dropoff of lifespans.

The other interesting thing I notice is that the ages for the first son have dropped quite a bit now, probably because of shorter lives. Anyways, now it’s all between 29-35, until we get to Terah, who takes twice as long, and is 70 before having his sons. This of course reminds me of Noah, who was really late in having his first son, and I have the same question as I did then. Was he just having a lot of daughters, or was something else going on? Now Terah isn’t going to build an ark or anything, but he does father Abram, who turns out to be our next main character in this story. And since fathers get their sons’ glory, all the awesome stuff Abram experiences reflect back on his father. So I guess the real question I’m asking is something about whether the fact that these guys didn’t have sons till later reveals that they were spending more of their time seeking God, and his blessings, or something like that. As it turns out, Abram is going to be late in having his first son as well, as his wife happens to be barren.

…together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.

Well how about that? They were planning to go to Canaan, but just stopped early. I wonder if that will come back to them later…

Jan 10. 2012 - Genesis 10

This is the account of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s sons…

Transition time. Buckle up for some genealogy truth about to hit you in the face.

Ok, ok, it’s a lot of names and stuff. Surely it can’t be that important, and there’s no way you could ever actually understand it, or really care, right? Well for starters, the most obvious thing that I come across when looking at this section is the apparent randomness with which people are listed. It seems to me that certain people get their sons listed, while others just get ignored. So why are only some lines done? What about Magog, Tubal, Put, Elam, etc.? Did they not have any sons? Is this actually a complete list? I don’t know, but that just doesn’t seem right to me. So what’s going on?

v.5: …peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language

v.20: These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages

v.31: These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages

So, we can see that apparently this list is sorted at least somewhat by separate clans and languages. However(spoiler alert!), in 11:1 we see that: “Now the whole world had one language…” Thus, we can tell that the incident at Babel actually occurs somewhere within this genealogy, and at that point, people are pretty much separated all throughout the world.

Scott’s speculation: So, if people are moving away, before or after Babel, it’s possible that some of them didn’t keep records as studiously, or they were lost, or never consolidated with the others. Thus, this list could simply be all the records that actually still exist in this master copy of these few generations.

Anyways, we can see Shem’s line developing, which will be important to trace though plenty of important people all the way down to Jesus. Although, with everything else included, it doesn’t appear that any special attention is given to this particular line, but rather that this is simply a complete-as-possible record of the nations developing after the flood. This is particularly apparent in that the list isn’t just of sons, but refers to the people groups that will come of them. For example: Maizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, etc.

Also, there’s this guy Nimrod. “He was a mighty hunter before the LORD.” Apparently he’s important enough to get his own little section. Also, instead of just sons, he has a list of kingdoms and cities that he founded and/or built. Anyways, the first kingdom mentioned is Babylon, or Babel, if your translation lists it that way. And of course, something is about to go down in said city. It’s not clear if Nimrod was in charge of a certain tower getting built or not, but it’s definitely a possibility. I mean, he was a mighty hunter, right? Sounds like somebody that could definitely attract some followers.

Jan. 9, 2012 - Genesis 9

Gen 1:28 – “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” ”

Gen 9:1 – “Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” ”

Well, at least the instructions for creating the human race haven’t changed. Also, they come with God’s blessing. Yay blessings.

Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

MEAT! Sure, vegetables are good and all, but come on. Anyways, maybe Noah didn’t sacrifice all of those clean animals. I mean, he had seven pairs, right? Maybe a couple of those were for the first barbeque. That sure sounds like a good, physical blessing to me.

Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.

Death penalty. Straight up. Also, seems to set the framework for some sort of government, or judicial process of some sort.

This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come…

Pretty rainbows. So, it would seem that there weren’t any rainbows before this, which makes a lot of sense if there hasn’t been any rain or anything. No real water in the air at all, no rainbows. Also, this is another very significant thing besides just marking the covenant with Noah and all living things. It’s one of those unique things. Because, just like there are billions of creation stories, there are almost as many flood stories of one kind or another. But just like the genesis creation account, where the stars aren’t gods, the genesis flood account has this rainbow covenant. Other flood stories don’t. Although, their existence does add credibility to the entire event.

Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.

It’s not exactly clear, but it seems as if this could have almost been an accident. For one thing, this is the first mention of wine we’ve come to. It’s possible that the fermenting process didn’t happen, or at least not in the same way, before the flood and this is something new. In which case, Noah just happens to be the first person to discover the effects. Or perhaps he did know what he was doing, and just got drunk. I don’t know. But either way, he’s made it back to his tent, and he’s sleeping it off.

Now for some reason Ham decides this is a great time to go visit, and walks in on Noah and sees his nakedness. And then, instead of covering him, or going about his business, he decides to go gossip to his brothers about it. They, in turn, go and do something about it. So when Noah wakes, he’s not particularly pleased with Ham. Instead of cursing Ham, though, he curses his son, Canaan. One explanation is that the father is responsible for the son, and gets all his glory, or shame, or whatever. This is seen throughout the bible, and was a big part of that culture. So by cursing Canaan, his father, Ham, would carry the curse. Whereas if Noah had simply cursed Ham, then it would have fallen back on himself. Also, this is somewhat of a prophetic event that will shape the world to come, and how different people groups develop. Anyways, Noah gets in a few more years, and finally kicks it at the ripe old age of 950.

Jan. 8, 2012 - Genesis 8

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals…

I don’t know if this means that God helped Noah to care for all the animals and everything during the flood or not, but I do know that God still isn’t abandoning anybody.

Now, we’ve still got those different accounts intertwined throughout here. So for instance, with the P account we see more exact measurements of time:

-For 40 days the flood kept coming

-At the end of 150 days the water had gone down

-17^th day of the 7^th month the ark came to rest on the mountains

-1^st day of the 10^th month the tops of mountains became visible

-1^st day of the 1^st month, Noah’s 601^st year, water dried up

Specific days and months to mark the time of the flood, and when things were happening.

On the other hand, the J account gives us:

-Rain fell for 40 days and nights

-The water receded steadily from the land.

-After 40 days Noah opens window

-7 more days

Instead of focusing on the exact length of the flood though, this section gives the story about the dove, and the search for land. After getting off the ark, we also see the sacrifices portrayed in this account, and the promises by God not to ever curse the land because of man again(Adam), or destroy all living creatures.

Now, I would like to point out again that the whole thought about the different accounts is really only a theory. Nobody knows if there ever were such documents, or who would have written them if there were. Or, if they were just different ‘drafts’ that were edited together. I’ve never written the bible, I don’t know how God works with that. Apparently, not many other biblical scholars have either. It’s crazy. Anyways, with the internet and everything, you can find a zillion sources to tell you absolutely anything you want. Honestly, the idea was just something new for me, and I found it an interesting way to study this story. I’m going to try to keep giving as many disclaimers as I can, so you hopefully you’ll remember that I don’t really know anything. I’m just hoping to introduce you to new ideas, or ways to think about things, as I find them myself. In the end, just read the book. That’s the only thing I really know is right.

While we’re speculating, though…

How did all the animals fit on the ark? How long did it take to build the ark? Where the water come from? Where did it go? What about dinosaurs?

How did they fit? Well first of all, remember we’re talking about ‘kinds’ of animals. Possibly species, or something of the sort, but we don’t really know how big a ‘kind’ is. Anyways, we’re only getting a pair from each, so it’s not like we have exactly every specialized animal, just representatives. Also, it seems reasonable to assume this pair would be younger, not completely fully grown, so as to give them a better chance of actually having enough babies to establish themselves and survive. Now I haven’t even tried to do the math on how much area was in the ark, or estimate how much space so many animals would take, or any of that. The bible says they fit, that’s good enough. They fit. However many there were, however old or big they were, however much food was required. It all fit.

How long did it take to build the ark? Well, Noah had his first son at 500, the flood came when he was 600, and when God told him to build the ark, he included instructions for Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives. Sounds like all his sons were born, and even possibly had wives themselves already. So probably something like 60-70 years after that to build the ark before the flood. I don’t know. It got done in time.

Where did the water come from? Above the sky. Whether this means from some water-atmosphere, or like above everything(aka, from heaven), it’s almost certainly coming from wherever it was at creation.

Where did it go? The oceans? Gigantic underground aquifers? I don’t know. I have no idea how much water was on earth before the flood, but I do know that the majority of the surface area is water now…

Dinosaurs? Sure, why not. They could have been on the ark. Most of them weren’t so gigantic anyways, and again, younger specimens, less space. If we really want to go for it, we could say that due to the drastic environmental changes after the flood, most of them died off. Some got called dragons, whatever. Human life spans definitely took a drop-off, seems reasonable the same thing could happen to dinos, except their life span eventually dropped all the way to zero.

Jan. 7, 2012 - Genesis 7

“Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal…and also seven of every kind of bird…”

Now this seems to contradict the earlier commands in Gen. 6:19-20 of “You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures…Two of every kind of bird…”

So how many birds do I need? Two, or seven? And clean animals? Seven, not two, of them as well? What’s going on? Well, for starters, remember that we’re putting together a couple of different accounts here. After the latter part of chapter 6, from the P source, chapter 7 now switches back to the J source. Eventually, we’ll see that the J source is the one that includes Noah’s sacrifices after the flood, and as such requires these extra animals. Since the P source doesn’t focus on this aspect, there is no need to mention anything extra besides the two of each kind that will carry on the species.

There are also many ways both accounts are the same, however, and as you read chapter 7, you should notice quite a bit of repetition. For example, animals come to Noah, and enter the ark(v.9 and 15). Rain falls for 40 days(v.12 and 17). The ark is lifted above the earth(v.17 and 18). Everything not on the ark dies(v.21 and 23).

Jan. 6, 2012 - Genesis 6

…the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.

The sons of God? What does that mean? Angels? Demons/Fallen angels? Godly men? Seth’s family line? Well first of all, if these sons of God are not to be men, but angels, then they’re certainly fallen away from God. Thus, these fallen angels would have married human women, and had a mix of human/angel offspring. For this to happen though, obviously these angels would have been able to reproduce in the same fashion as humans. Whether this could be possible is unclear, but certainly the spiritual can produce physical offspring, as we see with Mary and Jesus. This involves God the creator though, and there isn’t any mention whether angels would have the power.

The other main view is that the sons of God simply refer to godly men at the time. These men would have been from Seth’s family line, but wouldn’t necessarily have included the entire line. Thus, these men would have married women from Cain’s lineage, or possibly other un-godly women from Seth’s.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days – and also afterwards…

In any case, we end up with the Nephilim, or the fallen. This could lend support for either case, either ‘fallen’ angels, or man having ‘fallen’ away from God. But what is interesting is that it is specifically pointed out that they were on the earth in those days, AND also afterwards. After what? After the flood? If so, they must have continued through Noah’s sons, which sways me away from the idea of the angels. However, this after doesn’t have to be the flood, and could easily be contained in the time before.

…his days will be a hundred and twenty years.

Here again is a point at which there are two main views. God is either limiting man’s lifespan to 120 years, or providing a countdown until the flood. Since men lived well past 120 after the flood, that doesn’t seem to match up. Also, God is planning to wipe all of mankind out with the flood, so limiting their lifespan doesn’t seem to have a point. At least, he’s planning to wipe out everyone until he thinks about Noah.

Now once again we come to a new account. This has been happening, but as we get to flood, a couple of these different accounts seem to be mixed together for the next couple of chapters. There’s an idea called the documentary hypothesis which holds that the Pentateuch of the Bible was put together by pulling sections from other older works. The major ones are often listed as the J, E, P, and D sources. J for Yahwist or Jahvist, E for Elohist, P for a Priestly source, and D for Deuteronomist. We’ve seen this idea before, with the different accounts of creation. For example, the day-by-day creation account is attributed to the P source, as well as Adam’s genealogy, and part of the flood story. The other part of the flood story is attributed to the J source, as well as the creation account starting in Genesis 2:4(where the name Yahweh appears and is used throughout).

Whether these other sources actually existed isn’t known, but there are separations as we’ve seen, with different points of focus. Anyways, as far as Noah’s story goes, the start of chapter six is thought to go with the J source, and then at verse 9 we switch over to the P account, as it sets up its stage for the flood. Over chapters 7 and 8 these sources then get intertwined to create the story we have recorded, but could be separated out to each give their own account, with different points of focus. The site energion.com/rpp/flood.shtml has the passage separated out, or just color-coded for comparison if you’re interested. 

Jan. 5, 2012 - Genesis 5

Time for another new section. So far we have the original day-by-day creation account, then a more focused story about the beginning of man, and now we have a genealogy record.

We start with Adam(seems like the best place), and see that after 130 years, he has Seth. We know from the previous chapter that Seth was the replacement for Abel. The line continues on from Seth, noting the birth of each firstborn son, and then mentioning the “other sons and daughters.” And while Cain should have been Adam’s firstborn, with the line going through him, it’s clear that through the murder of his brother and exile, he has been disavowed from Adam’s line, and has his own separate family now.

Everything seems to be in order for a few generations, and then all of a sudden somebody just disappears. “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” And they tried to tell me it wasn’t possible to vanish in a puff of smoke…

A couple more generations pass, and then we get this guy called Noah. And something is different about Noah. While everyone else in the line has their first son after 65-187 years, it takes Noah until he’s 500, and then he has three. And while so far only the firstborns have been named, perhaps all of Noah's sons are included simply because they all end up playing a part in the story. Whatever the case, it took Noah long enough to get around to having some sons at all. Now what he was doing before this, I don’t know. Was he just having a ton of daughters? Or was he living a single life in a monastery somewhere? No idea.

Jan 4. 2012 - Genesis 4

“With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.”

First baby ever. Think about that for a second. No practice, no manuals, no experience, no doctors, no painkillers. And you know Adam is freaking out and completely useless. “With the help of the LORD…” I don’t know how it went down, who cut the umbilical cord, or what they wrapped the baby in. But I do know that God wasn’t abandoning anybody. Banishment from the garden does not mean banishment from God, and he’s still pursuing them and personally involved in their lives.

In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.

In the course of time – how long? Enough time to have some daughters? Obviously enough time for the boys to grow up, and there’s no reason for Adam and Eve not to keep having children. Remember, the goal is to “be fruitful and increase in number.”

Anyways, I don’t know when sacrifices started and whether this is a first time deal, or whether Adam and Eve have been showing the boys what to do, but they’re bringing offerings now. “Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil…” There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with this to me. It seems like a solid offering. He brought some of what he had. “But Abel brought fat portions…” While Cain’s offering may not have been ‘bad,’ it just didn’t match up to Abel’s. Abel brought the fat portions of the firstborn. The best of the best. His offering cost him more, it was more significant.

The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.

Looked on Abel AND his offering, Cain AND his offering. It’s not just about the offerings, but about the person. Perhaps their attitude as well? God looks with favor on Abel and his offering, but not on Cain and his. Doesn’t look with hate, or disgust, or anger, or frustration, just not with favor. God asks “why angry?” You didn’t receive favor because you weren’t joyful, didn’t give your best, whatever. Don’t hold back, give it your best, and you’ll be rewarded, but don’t expect favor when you don’t give your best. But watch out, “sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you, but you must master it.” To me, this sounds like so far Cain hasn’t sinned in this story. Sure, Abel’s offering was better, and Cain didn’t receive God’s favor, but he hasn’t actually done anything wrong, except holding back. And then he does do something wrong. Sort of a biggie.

And just as Adam and Eve were cursed, Cain is cursed. No longer will the ground produce crops for him. His livelihood is stripped away. The one thing he knew best is taken from him and he is cursed to be a wanderer. God puts a mark on him so that no one would kill him. Who? Family? There’s still no one else except Adam, Eve, and whatever other sisters he has, but they surely aren’t going to be pleased that he killed Abel. Justice might very well drive them to sentence him to death. It’s hard to fill the earth with people when one of you is killing the others. Whatever this mark is though, it’s supposedly enough to make everyone leave him alone. So what was it? A word of warning? A symbol? Some single thing that everyone would realize was a mark of God. But where? His forehead perhaps? I don’t know.

So Cain went out from the from the LORD’s presence…

For the first time, someone is separated from God.

Cain lay with his wife…

Wife? When did that happen? Question you were too afraid to ask in Sunday School: where did she come from? Since everyone has to come from Adam, it must be a sister. There aren’t any other people in the world, that just doesn’t match up with anything that’s happened. God created Adam and Eve to start the world, and they’re the only ones. Not just one of many groups. So Cain married his sister. But isn’t that like against the law and aren’t their babies going to be all messed up and everything? Not really. First of all, the law didn’t come for thousands more years. As for defects, they’re still basically perfect. Genetic issues arise because related people have the same weird stuff in their DNA, so it compounds to their children. Adam and Eve were created perfect, though, and even though sin has entered the world, they’re still pretty much as close to perfect as anyone ever will be. Their children, then, don’t suffer from genetic issues, and inbreeding isn’t an issue at all. As generations pass, it slowly does become something that can actually cause problems, and a couple thousand years later the law comes which forbids it, since by that time there are plenty of other people in the world to choose from.

Anyways, Cain builds a city. Just for reference, he wasn’t a caveman. Nobody really was. They’ve been farming and caring for animals from the beginning. Not to mention talking. These were intelligent, basically almost perfect people. I don’t know who invented the wheel, but it probably wasn’t by accident.

So Cain’s line starts developing, and we see certain heirs take up specific crafts. Six generations down we see Jabel, the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother Jubel, the father of all who play the harp and the flute. And their half-brother Tubal-Cain, who forged tools out of bronze and iron. Well, the Stone Age didn’t last that long…only a few generations. So we have a line of resourceful offspring, accomplishing things, and delving not only into survival, but even music. Also, we have Lamech, proclaiming his power, and threatening his vengeance.

Back to Adam and Eve, they have another son Seth to replace Abel, and his line also begins to develop.

At that time, men began to call on the name of the LORD.

Now what does that mean? Now obviously Adam and Eve have been talking to God from the beginning. Perhaps we’re talking about some of Cain’s descendants who actually haven’t been calling to God, since Cain did leave his presence and everything. Like a revival, then. Or perhaps the first sort of gathering to worship. Adam and Eve bundle up the kids and head over to visit Cain to sing a few hymns or whatever. Or maybe that’s the wrong track altogether, and this isn’t a good thing at all. Maybe this is actually a statement of men beginning to worship idols. To call other things ‘LORD’ as they stray farther from God.

Jan. 3, 2012 - Genesis 3

Sunday school summary: Satan tricks Eve, Adam and Eve eat the fruit, God comes, Adam blames Eve, Eve blames Satan, everybody gets cursed and kicked out of Eden.

Simple right? And yet…

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.

So the serpent is Satan, and he’s all sneaky and crafty and everything. Or is he? Where does it say anything about Satan, the devil, Lucifer, or whatever you want to call him at all? Does the passage even mention an evil spirit of any kind? Not so much. So, was this creature the devil himself, just a random talking serpent, or the devil using the serpent as his instrument? And why do you think so? I’ll come back to this later, but for now I’m going to move on a little bit.

Whatever the serpent is, or represents, it obviously isn’t here to bring peace, but to stir up trouble.  “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree…’ ” No. No God did not really say that. Not even close. Of course, while Eve is explaining that in fact, God said they could eat from any tree except the one in the middle, she also adds her own little spin on things with the “and you must not touch it, or you will die” clause at the end. So where did that come from? There’s been absolutely no talk of touching trees at all until this point. What’s going on in Eve’s head? I don’t know, but here is something to think about:

God gave these instructions before Eve was created. In fact, all that Eve’s life consists of so far is being created, being Adam’s wife, and then bam! Serpent. Technically, she doesn’t even have a name yet, but for the sake of easier writing, I’m just going to jump ahead with that. Anyways, I don’t know what kind of directions Eve got about anything. Maybe God repeated the same instructions as he gave to Adam, maybe it was Adam’s job to tell her, maybe since she was created from Adam, she just knew it from the beginning.

Anyways, when confronting the serpent, she adds on this extra bit about not touching. Whether this was her being somehow confused about the exact power of the tree, or simply her embellishing the story a little bit isn’t obvious. The serpent, of course, simply denies the claims of death, and tells how this tree actually would make her like God.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. For review, the fruit was:

- good for food

- pleasing to the eye

- desirable for gaining wisdom

These aren’t bad things. The fruit wasn’t poisoned. It didn’t have a skull and crossbones painted on it. It wasn’t black and shriveled up. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong associated with it. It looked good. Except…God said not to. I’ll leave all the life applications of that up to you.

So, Eve eats the fruit. The first sin. Except it wasn’t. Not really. It was certainly a physical act that served to solidify what was going on, but it only happened because Eve was already doubting God and his plans. Why did Eve think the tree was good? Because she believed the serpent, and what her eyes saw over what God said. If she truly trusted God, then the tree would simply be a marker of death. No matter how it looked. Eating results in death. With this view, it would no longer look good for food, or desirable at all. It would look like death. It would appear exactly as what God said that it was. However, Eve has decided that God is really just holding out on her, and that she wants to be in charge. She can be like God. And so she eats.

She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.

Now I don’t know long Adam has actually been there, or what he’s been doing. I don’t know if he’s been with Eve the whole time, observing the talk with the serpent, or if he just walked up. If he was there the whole time though, then he was either: staring at Eve oblivious to the world(I mean, she was the perfect woman…), or being a complete sissy and not punching the serpent in the face. Whatever the case, though, he’s here now, and Eve offers him the fruit. And in this instant of time, Eve has eaten, and Adam hasn’t. So, are the effects of the fruit instant? Is Eve knowingly bringing Adam into her new understanding, and shame? Does Adam realize what his wife has done, and decide to join in her fate instead of refusing and leaving her alone? Is it worth giving up everything for a woman? Maybe. Or maybe he’s also doubting God. Eve just ate, she’s still alive. Maybe God was holding out after all. I don’t know. But he eats.

And then they hide. And Adam blames Eve. Sort of. “The woman you put here with me…” The woman you put here. You did this God. You put her here. You set me up to fail. I never had a chance. And Eve blames the serpent. Sort of. “The serpent deceived me…” You didn’t make me smart enough. You put the serpent here. I never had a chance. And both of them have the same basic complaint: If I had been God, this wouldn’t have happened…

And now, I want to get back to the idea of the serpent for a second, and the thoughts about what exactly it was. Because now is the time when God starts handing out curses, and the serpent catches the first one. And I think it’s important to note that God curses the entire species. He actually physically alters the serpent to crawl along the ground. So what did it look like before? I have absolutely no idea. But there was a specific, noticeable, physical change in what a serpent looked like, and how it moved. So then we ask: if the serpent was really Satan himself, why did God curse the species? If it was an animal possessed by Satan, why curse the species? So was the serpent really Satan, and if so, what’s going on? Well, the devil is definitely referred to as a serpent multiple times in the Bible, especially in Revelation. In fact, in Revelation 12:9 there is a reference to “that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.” As an interesting thought: at this point, Adam and Eve ARE the whole world…Anyways, there is solid backing to think that the serpent could very well have been Satan or some possession. Also, if the serpent was merely an animal, the prophesy about heel-biting and head-crushing doesn’t seem to make that much sense. As for the species being cursed if it wasn’t really at fault, the Bible is full of animals being sacrificed because of human sin, and never being at fault. Also, God curses the ground because of Adam, although the ground certainly wasn’t at fault...

After the serpent receives its sentence, the woman gets hers. And again, there is some sort of physical change. I don’t know if her outward appearance changed at all, but something about her child-bearing capabilities certainly did. Also, she gets ‘demoted.’ She is no longer just Adam’s partner, but now he rules over her. As for Adam, his curse falls to the ground itself, and he is doomed to a life of hard work. I don’t know what “work” was like before this, or if there really was any at all. But it definitely just got a lot harder, and a lot less fun.

Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

Finally, the woman has a name. Of course, this makes me wonder about when Adam got his name, but I can’t really tell. It seems that God just created him with it. Anyways, remember how Adam got to name all the animals, because he ruled over them? And until this time, the woman with him he really didn’t have any authority over? But now, because of God’s judgment, he does have dominion over her, and just as he named the animals, he names his wife. He doesn’t name her Evil, or Temptress, or Demoness, though, he names her Eve. He’s apparently gotten over his earlier ‘the woman made me do it’ syndrome, and gives her a name of life. Of hope. In midst of hardships he takes the time to say: you are life. You are everything.

Likewise, God takes the time to make real garments for the couple, and clothes them. While the story is about sin, consequences, and punishment, it doesn’t end there. Grace comes right after. Forgiveness. Understanding. Caring. Life.

He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.

Ah, the tree of life again. Now, to me this passage sounds as if eating once of the tree would be enough to gain everlasting life. Which is, of course, different from my thoughts last time. Told you I didn’t know what I was doing. So if eating could grant life forever, how does it fit with the earlier observation that Adam(and Eve) could very well have been eating from it previous to the fall? Well, perhaps since at that time they were both still perfect creatures already with eternal life being sustained by God, the tree would just be another form of food, and then only after sin would it really have any effect. Or, since they were commanded to be fruitful and increase in number, but have yet to have any offspring, it’s likely that their stay in the garden wasn’t too terribly long. Maybe they just never ate at all, even though they could. Whatever the case with the tree, whether it would grant instant eternal life, or would simply provide everlasting life to anyone who continued to eat of it, God doesn’t leave either option open. Adam and Eve are banished from the garden, and a guardian is set up to block the way to the tree.