Genesis Chapter 16

Ok, here we go..There's like, four different kinds of wrong with what happens in this chapter.

We'll start by remarking on this, Sarai wants Abram to have children. Abram, as we know, wants to have children, so Sarai gives her slave to Abram to be his "wife". No mention whether the slave wanted to be his wife or not, but she doesn't appear to have much of a choice. She's a brood mare. She gets pregnant and then dislikes Sarai, well, Gee, I wonder why? So, she acts out and when Sarai doesn't like it she goes to Abram to complain. Abram, full of compassion tells her that she owns Hagar, deal harshly with her...What does that mean? Beatings? I'm guessing yes, probably more here than a sever tongue lashing, right?

Is it any wonder that slavery was justified in this country , by people who called themselves Christian? There seems to be no problems here with A) owning a slave, B) Impregnating your slave and C) Beating your slave.

Then when Hagar runs away God's angel comes to her to tell her to go back because the Lord has heard her "affliction". I will readily admit that I don't follow the logic here. Abram is again rewarded for his lack of morality.

Genesis - Chapter 16
1Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name [was] Hagar.

2And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

3And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

4And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

5And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong [be] upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.

6But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid [is] in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

7And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

8And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

9And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

10And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

11And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou [art] with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

12And he will be a wild man; his hand [will be] against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

13And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

14Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, [it is] between Kadesh and Bered.

15And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

16And Abram [was] fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

Genesis Chapter 15

Not too much to write about today but I want to take note of how selfish Abram is. After all he's been given. After it was not he who was punished for pimping his wife out (to save his own life, mind you) after becoming a very rich man and being favored by God, he's still asking for more. He's asking "Oh, God, what can you GIVE me?" You can almost hear the whine in his voice. Now he's upset because he has no children to bestow his wealth upon. Why is this suppose to be such a great man?


Genesis 15
1After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

2And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

4And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

6And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

7And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

8And he said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

13And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

17And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

18In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

19The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

20And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

21And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Genesis Chapter 14 in it's entirety

Chapter 14, the first war we see in the Bible. Not much to discuss though. The next couple of Chapters may have more considering it's the story of the beginning of Judaism and Islam.

Genesis - Chapter 15
1After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward.

2And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house [is] this Eliezer of Damascus?

3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

4And, behold, the word of the LORD [came] unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

6And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

7And he said unto him, I [am] the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

8And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

13And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites [is] not yet full.

17And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

18In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

19The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

20And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

21And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Genesis Chapter 13

We see in today's reading that Abram is a rich man, thanks to his decision to let his wife become the Pharaoh's wife. His lies and deceit. His utter lack of morals, rewarded somehow. In this story, it's the Pharaoh, punished for nothing more than being tricked by Abram and Sarai, who is noble. Why is that not the story we're taught on Sunday morning?


Genesis - Chapter 13
1And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

2And Abram [was] very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

3And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;

4Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

5And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

6And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

7And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

8And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we [be] brethren.

9[Is] not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if [thou wilt take] the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if [thou depart] to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

10And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it [was] well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, [even] as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

11Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

12Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched [his] tent toward Sodom.

13But the men of Sodom [were] wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

14And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

15For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

16And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, [then] shall thy seed also be numbered.

17Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

18Then Abram removed [his] tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which [is] in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.



Tracy

Genesis Chapter 12, wrapping up..Abram.

Today's read is interesting to me. I'm going to put my comments after the verses. Please read:


9And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

10And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine [was] grievous in the land.

11And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou [art] a fair woman to look upon:

12Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This [is] his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

13Say, I pray thee, thou [art] my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

14And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she [was] very fair.

15The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

16And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

17And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.

18And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What [is] this [that] thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she [was] thy wife?

19Why saidst thou, She [is] my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take [her], and go thy way.

20And Pharaoh commanded [his] men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.



Abram tells Sarai to pretend that she is his sister so that the Egyptians will not kill him. He tells her that this is for her sake as well as his. Of course, it was his life he was afraid for. Afraid enough that he'd let his WIFE become the Pharaoh's wife.

God must not have cared for the plan as he brought the plagues down unto the Pharaoh because of Sarai....The Pharaoh, up until that point, was being kind to both Abram and Sarai. When he found out that Abram had lied, he was angry! he sent Abram and Sarai away.

Interesting to me that we see here, Abram, God's servant, willing to have his wife bed down with another man, to save his own life and the Pharoah, is the one who then doesn't kill Abram, which I'm sure he could have done with no problem, but instead sends him away. We see the Pharoah being more moral, as a person, than Abram. The Pharoah even sent everything with them that he had given them.

Where in this story is the "sanctity" of marriage? Why are we getting the washed down, glorified versions of the people in the Bible and even what the Bible actually says?!

Something to think about today.

Tracy

Genesis Chapter 12, beginning...

I'm going to post these verses today. There's really not much to discuss though. Tomorrow's read has more to talk about but it's too much to post the whole chapter so, I'm just going to post this today. I'll be back tomorrow and we'll talk !



Genesis - Chapter 12
1Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

4So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram [was] seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite [was] then in the land.

7And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

8And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, [having] Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

9And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

Genesis Chapter 11 Wrap up..

Nothing much here but worth noting that it's here that we see where Judaism and Islam are beginning to form. Abram's sons will be the beginning of those two religions.



11And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

12And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:

13And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

14And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

15And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

16And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:

17And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

18And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:

19And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

20And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:

21And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

22And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:

23And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

24And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:

25And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

26And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27Now these [are] the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

28And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

29And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife [was] Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

30But Sarai was barren; she [had] no child.

31And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

32And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis Chapter 11

Interesting read today, for me at least. Today's verses are Genesis Chapter 11 verses 1-10 (I'll comment after underneath the verses):

Genesis - Chapter 11
1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

4And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6And the LORD said, Behold, the people [is] one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

8So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

10These [are] the generations of Shem: Shem [was] an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:



1) I was always taught that God was angry that people even dared to build a tower to get to heaven. These verses don't convey that to me, at all.

What God says here is this:

6And the LORD said, Behold, the people [is] one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.


To me it says that he's concerned that because everyone can communicate and organize, they can't be stopped. We see here that they are already trying to get to heaven. God doesn't want them to be able to succeed at anything "Which they have imagined to do." He seems less mad, and more, worried. Too much communication, too much knowledge is a bad thing. Perhaps this is why the church has been such a vocal opponent of Science throughout history? They were stubbornly holding onto the *fact* that the earth was flat ! I've heard the expression "Playing God" time and time again by Christian people. They don't want anyone to "play God", especially when it comes to something like Stem Cell research or in vitro fertilization. Is that fear instilled in God's people? How can we play God? To play God means to be like God. Is the fear that God will be angry? How can one simultaneously hold the belief that God is perfect and also that he will be angry with us because of science? Well, we see here, that God was upset that there was an organized effort to build a tower to heaven. He did not want that kind of knowledge nor organization. Why?


I know that won't be a popular question. It's not what we're taught. We're told that God is perfect and vast, all knowing and doesn't make mistakes. However, in his own word, we see that he considers himself to have made a mistake. He proves this by wiping the slate clean and SAYING that he made a mistake. We see that Adam and Eve listened to the serpent over God. Again, he was concerned that they might eat from the tree of life. They already had knowledge like God and the "us" of which he spoke, so he removes them from the garden.

It's right there in black and white. Read it. What other conclusion is there, if you are truly reading it and have no other motives?

2) God said:
7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

Again we see God speaking to others. "Let US go down". The church says it's the trinity. He's speaking to himself, basically. But we also know that there are sons of God with him. We read that they mated with human women. Might there be others he's speaking to?


Things to think about today.

Tracy

Genesis chapter 10

Nothing to really talk about in today's read. Moving right along....

Genesis - Chapter 10
1Now these [are] the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

2The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

3And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.

4And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

5By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

6And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

7And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.

8And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

9He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

10And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

11Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

12And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same [is] a great city.

13And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,

14And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.

15And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,

16And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,

17And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,

18And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.

19And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.

20These [are] the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, [and] in their nations.

21Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were [children] born.

22The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.

23And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.

24And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.

25And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one [was] Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name [was] Joktan.

26And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,

27And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,

28And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,

29And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these [were] the sons of Joktan.

30And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.

31These [are] the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

32These [are] the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

Genesis Chapter 9

Here's a couple of observations regarding this chapter:

1) We see here where the rainbow was sent to be a promise that God would not destroy the earth again. I've seen many Christians site this chapter as proof that the earth will not be destroyed by global warming. I was going to discuss that issue but have decided not too as the point of this Blog is to discuss the Bible, what the Bible states, and not to do any reading between the lines nor translation.

2)Reading this chapter lead me to realize that in regards to this story, at least, we see some embellishment by the church...Or at least the churches I've attended and the Sunday school lessons that I've heard.

Noah is a drunk, apparently, and this is also most likely where the church began establishing the *rule* that drinking is a *sin*. Getting drunk is suppose to be anyhow....The interesting part to me though is this...Noah gets drunk, his son sees him passed out naked and gets his brothers. They come in, cover him up and when Noah wakes up all hell breaks loose. He doesn't take responsibility for his own actions but blames Ham for seeing him and telling his brothers. I was always taught that Ham must have been a bad guy...He dared to make fun of his drunken father. The church makes Ham out to be the bad guy too...In *my* experience...And so what does Noah do? Curses Ham's SON Canaan ! Nope, it's not Noah's fault, if he hadn't been drunk in the first place, no one could have seen him naked, no personal responsibility there, It's Ham's fault and Ham's son is cursed. Interesting.....

The church has used this as proof that Noah wasn't perfect, he, like us, had his faults. However, this example also shows me that Noah wasn't the guy he's held up to be either. Ya, he had his faults and it would seem that when he found himself embarassed he lashed out at someone else.

Genesis - Chapter 9
1And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

2And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth [upon] the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

3Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

4But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

5And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.

6Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

7And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

8And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,

9And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

10And with every living creature that [is] with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

11And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

12And God said, This [is] the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that [is] with you, for perpetual generations:

13I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

14And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

15And I will remember my covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth.

17And God said unto Noah, This [is] the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.

18And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham [is] the father of Canaan.

19These [are] the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

20And Noah began [to be] an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:

21And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

23And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid [it] upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces [were] backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

24And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

25And he said, Cursed [be] Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

26And he said, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

27God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

28And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

29And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

Genesis Chapter 7 & 8

Nothing much to talk about in today's reading. We're going to knock out 2 chapters and tomorow , I think, there is something we can discuss:



Genesis - Chapter 7
1And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

2Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that [are] not clean by two, the male and his female.

3Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

4For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

5And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

6And Noah [was] six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

7And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

8Of clean beasts, and of beasts that [are] not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

9There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

10And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

11In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

12And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

13In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

14They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

15And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life.

16And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

17And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

18And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

19And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that [were] under the whole heaven, were covered.

20Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

21And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

22All in whose nostrils [was] the breath of life, of all that [was] in the dry [land], died.

23And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained [alive], and they that [were] with him in the ark.

24And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.


Genesis - Chapter 8
1And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that [was] with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;

2The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

3And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

4And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

5And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth [month], on the first [day] of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

6And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

7And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

8Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

9But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters [were] on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

10And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

11And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth [was] an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

12And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

13And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first [month], the first [day] of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

14And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

15And God spake unto Noah, saying,

16Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

17Bring forth with thee every living thing that [is] with thee, of all flesh, [both] of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

18And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:

19Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, [and] whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

20And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart [is] evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

22While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Wrapping up Genesis Chapter 6

5And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually.

6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

9These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God.

10And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

12And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

13And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

15And this [is the fashion] which thou shalt make it [of]: The length of the ark [shall be] three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

16A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; [with] lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it.

17And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life, from under heaven; [and] every thing that [is] in the earth shall die.

18But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

19And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every [sort] shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep [them] alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

20Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every [sort] shall come unto thee, to keep [them] alive.

21And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather [it] to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

22Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.



I think that what's confusing here is the fact that God seems to be imperfect. Perhaps man really is like God in every way. We're told throughout childhood that God is perfect. We're comforted by the fact that God is all knowing and perfect and "Doesn't make mistakes" but the fact is that here, we see that God did make a mistake. He regretted creating man and beast so he wipes the slate virtually clean and starts over. He kills everyone but Noah and his family. Kills them, so he can start over. We are told repeatedly that God loves us, that's why he sent his son etc...But we also see that he wipes out the world and kills nearly everything because he made what he thought was a mistake.

Interesting.

Tracy

Genesis Chapter 6

Ok, so, here's something odd :

Genesis - Chapter 6
1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of renown.


The sons of God mated with the daughters of men? What are the son's of God? Angels? Jesus has also been referred to as the Son of God. Is it different? Not, thinking about the Jesus part as that hasn't happened yet in Genesis Chapter six, and based solely on taking the verses at face value, it seems as though some heavenly beings were allowed to mate with human women. Is that why there were giants on the earth? Were these men the products of the mating of "sons of God" and human women?

Oh, and is this who God was speaking to back in the creation days?

Anyone?

Tracy

Genesis Chapter 5

Not much to talk about in this chapter. The one interesting thing to note here is:

24And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him.

All the others listed "died". Enoch did not die, God took him.

How did God take him?

Pondering...And moving out of Chapter 5.....

Tracy


This [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, 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.

Wrapping up Genesis 4:

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.


OK, not much to talk about in today's reading. I only want to comment on this:

1) I wonder why we don't hear more about Seth?

2) It sounds like Eve didn't have more children between Cain, Abel and Seth because:

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.

3) Interesting to me is how apparently Cain's descendants didn't worship God. It wasn't until Seth' Seth's son that we read:

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.

Because it's noted that Cain's descendants did this and that and Seth's began to call upon the name of the Lord, it means to me that Cain's descendants did not call upon the name of the Lord. How is it that you can be Cain, or be one generation from Cain or even say four generations from Cain and not worship God. You have heard the story first hand !! Goes to show how humans are. Faith doesn't come easily.

Tracy

Genesis Chapter 4:

Genesis - Chapter 4
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.
8And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9And the LORD said unto Cain, Where [is] Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: [Am] I my brother's keeper?
10And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
11And now [art] thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
12When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
13And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment [is] greater than I can bear.
14Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, [that] every one that findeth me shall slay me.
15And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
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.


Ok..Here we go today...Now, taking the King James version at face value. Not reading into it and not taking into account the added bits of the story that we've all heard in Sunday school...

Why wasn't God happy with Cains offerings? Cain offered to God, the fruits of his labor. His labor was "Tiller of the earth"? Why wasn't his offering just as favored as Abel's? At face value, we don't see why. We see that Cain is upset by it and God doesn't offer much in the way of comfort.

Second, question...Who is Cain afraid of that will kill him? Who else is out there? Who is Cain's wife? We've been told, through the church, that Cain's wife is his sister. Must be his sister, who else would there have been, right? Who is he telling God that he's afraid will kill him? His brothers and sisters? Their children? They would know what happened though. Were there other people? This is one of those places in the Bible that feels more like an outline and less like a blueprint. Seems like there's quite a bit of information missing. I guess the message that's suppose to be gleaned from this story is the murder of one brother by another brother and how , once again, we see someone sent away.

Tracy

Follow up on genesis Chapter 3 discussion:

We see here in Chapter 3 verse 3:

(Gen 3:3 - 3:5 )

3But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Where Eve tells the serpent that God has told them that they may not eat from the two trees in the garden or even touch them or they will die.

The serpent, Satan, tells her that that's not true. That God lied to her and that she will only have her eyes opened and be as Gods...As it turns out, he was right. She did not die from touching or eating the fruit. As a matter of fact we later see that God then sent them from the Garden so that they wouldn't eat from the tree of life and live forever like God..Or "Us" as he actually says.

Genesis 3: 22

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:

My question today is..What happened here? God lied to Adam and Eve? The serpent tells them the truth? Sub questions:

A) Why did God put it in there if he didn't want them to eat from it ?

B) Why did he lie and not tell them it would make them like a God, but instead told them they would die?

C) Let me reiterate this point, Why did God lie?


Tracy

Genesis Chapter 3:

Again, we see here in Chapter 3 that God addresses someone, to whom he confides, other beings, and says that Adam is now like one of them:

Genesis 3:22 : And 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:

Also, we see in Genesis 3: 5 that the serpent told Eve that She would not die but she would become like Gods if she ate the fruit. So, here I wonder again, was God speaking to other Gods? God does say to someone, some being or beings, that they are now like them ..."us".

So, while normally we wouldn't assume to believe the serpent, being the devil and all, but God does seem to back it up with his own words. God also sends Adam and Eve out of the garden to that they will be sure to not eat from the tree of life and live forever.

Is this the trinity we're seeing here? Does he refer to the other two parts of his being as "us" ? If this is the case then, it would not be the angels he's addressing in Chapter one but to jesus and the Holy Spirit, but then, if the Holy Spirit doesn't have form, how could Adam be created in his likeness?

5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.


Genesis - Chapter 3
1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
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.
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.
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.

Genesis Chapter 2

Todays read was pretty easy and there's not much to ponder so here it is and tomorrow we'll see what we get:

Genesis - Chapter 2
1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4These [are] the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
5And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground.
6But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
7And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11The name of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where [there is] gold;
12And the gold of that land [is] good: there [is] bdellium and the onyx stone.
13And the name of the second river [is] Gihon: the same [is] it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14And the name of the third river [is] Hiddekel: that [is] it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river [is] Euphrates.
15And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof.
20And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
21And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Wrapping up the first chapter of Genesis

Once again:

Genesis 1:26 reads:26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness


My husband and I were discussing this last night at dinner. We both agree that we shouldn't need to think too hard, read between the lines or interpret every thing in the Bible. It's purpose is to be simple so that us peon's can understand it. So, when reading that verse we wondered, who is he speaking too? I think there must be three options...

1) Jesus and the Holy spirit:

I don't believe that he'd be speaking to them like that. First off, the Holy spirit is that, correct? A *spirit*. What I tend to think of as our conscious. It's what speaks to you when you've done wrong. Makes you regret, feel guilty......If the trinity is, in fact, one , like an egg with shell, yolk and white, then he wouldn't really even speak that way. He's announcing what he's going to do. Like one would say "I'm heading to the grocery store" Would you speak to yourself like that? No. Now, I *do* talk to myself on the occasion, don't tell anyone, but I never *announce* to myself that I'm going to go to the store.

2) The Angels:

I read several websites where the authors got downright pissed at the idea that he was speaking to the Angels. Mostly the logic was "There's NO mention ANYWHERE in the Bible that the angels had anything to do with creation!!! Eleventy!!!!" Odd, to be so angry that one might use all capitals and a million exclamation points. I don't consider the Bible to be a blue print. It doesn't have the details down the most minute thing. I tend to view it less like a blueprint and more like an outline. The Bible doesn't mention house cats either and I think I've spotted one of those before. I'm sorta going with the Angels theory, myself.

3) Other Gods:

Now this one is sure to stir up the same people who get pissed about angels V no angels. Maybe this is why a certain Christian sect believes they too will one day become a God of their own world? It does seem like the possibility exists that he's speaking to equals, does it not? I mean, while I lean towards angels, it would also make sense that he wouldn't announce his intentions to the subordinates, true?

If one was to think, hey, maybe he's speaking to other Gods, that would rock Christianity as we know it though, right? I, personally, have never heard the issue addressed in church or Sunday school. I wonder why that is? I think we tend to get the watered down , hitting the highlights, version of the Bible. I think that in general, the feeling that I got growing up in the church is that you don't question. You don't pause and wonder..What??? You keep your head down, listen to what the pastor says, take it at face value and that's what they call "Faith".

I'm not going to do that anymore. I want to know for myself. I want to wonder, question, struggle and come to my conclusion. The conclusion that God himself wants me to come to from personally reading his word. My husband I wondered if doing this might lead us to question what we've been told by our church and it's leaders. I think I'm already doing that which is why I'm on this journey. First chapter of Genesis and already feeling the journey has begun.

Tracy

And again...then I'm done...

Had a discussion with my husband about "day". He's certain that it means 24 hours because it mentions morning and evening, which it does. He thought that meant that God (and I quote) "poofed" adult trees and formed stars. Ok, I'll give you the 24 hr day then, but then I asked him, does it say consecutive days, does it say "week"? Or just day? No, just day...It doesn't say consecutive days. Could it be possible that he created the seedling of a tree that DAY...Then didn't come back "to work" again until after the trees had grown and contained fruit?I asked him, "How old do you believe the earth is? Do you believe it's 5000-6000 yrs old? " No, he believes it's millions of years old..Ok, I say...Young earth advocates believe that if Adam was here, on earth, 5000-6000 yrs ago, and the earth was created 72 hours before that, then the earth must be a YOUNG earth..Right? Then we rehashed whether the days were consecutive and now we're...

Pondering that as we speak.


That's it..No more earth stuff. We have a whole new question coming up in the next few verses.


Genesis 1:24- 1:31


24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.
26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.


Now, today's question is this:

Genesis 1:26 reads:

26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness


Who is "our" in this sentence? Who is he talking to? Is this supposed to be Christ and The Holy Spirit ? It's clearly there that God was speaking to others, but who? I'm going to look into what others think about this verse. I'll come back and address it further.


Tracy

Thursday's post...

One thing that I wanted to add here, real quick, is that part of my intention to read the Bible and post here about it is to read it as just me. I'm not a Bible Scholar. I'm not an expert in Hebrew. I won't be dissecting every word , I won't be trying to translate what this word or that means in Hebrew so that means this verse really is saying, whatever. One example of what I'm talking about is the Hebrew word for"day". It comes up when discussing whether the word is a literal 24 hour day or not. In this case the Hebrew word for Day means something like when we say "Back in the day" , so more of a general timeline, and not so much a 24 hour time period.



Now, I know that's what the Hebrew word means and I could use that in the argument about young earth V not so young earth..But my thinking is this: We shouldn't need to be a Bible scholar to understand the Bible. If we believe that God is as powerful and amazing as we do, then the argument some people have about the Bible being inaccurate because "Man" wrote it, is mute for me. I believe that the word we have, through his book, is the word we were intended to have. Fully. I believe that we should be able to get an idea of what a day means without analyzing every word...As an example, the fact that trees grew to be fruit bearing in one "day".

I do not believe that whether a day is "an era" of time or "24 hours" has any basis in salvation. I just don't. I think that when people concentrate so hard on things like that or if it was truly an apple that Adam and Eve ate or more likely a fruit that originates in that part of the world, and argue the point, it misses the larger picture, Salvation, and I really don't think that infighting about the small stuff, solves anything, nor will it matter when the time comes.

I'm addressing it here, not to decide what a day really means, but simply because it interests me.....and since this is about my journey through the Bible, we must suffer through what interests me ever once in awhile ! :-)


Now back to our regularly scheduled programming..

Genesis 1:14 through Genesis 1:23

14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars also.
17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that [it was] good.
19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.
22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Ok, that's pretty straightforward right?

That's it for today

Tracy

Genesis...

Genesis 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

Genesis 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which [were] under the firmament from the waters which [were] above the firmament: and it was so.

Genesis 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Genesis 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry [land] appear: and it was so.

Genesis 1:10 And God called the dry [land] Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that [it was] good.

Genesis 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

Genesis 1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.

Genesis 1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.


I'm going to stop here.

Question:

The trees GREW and produced fruit which to me means that day two was several years long. Before that, God created the heavens and the earth. We still see stars being made and dying. The process is LONG. We see every day how God creates. It takes 9 months for a human life, several years for trees to produce fruit, millions of years for stars to complete their life cycle. It's a sticking point for some people that we as Christians use the "literal" meaning of seven days but I'm not convinced of that. We see here, only a few verses in how God created, the way God still creates to this day, right in front of us, and it's a process. From seedling to adult, everything in every way.

That's it for today. We'll be addressing this young earth V not so young earth view over the next several days.

Tracy

Day one...

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.


Had a busy day today and this is what I read. Not much, granted, and not much to talk about. The discussion will come a little further into the list of days. The discussion will include "Young Earth" views and the "Not so young Earth views" I'll save my opinion until I've explained what I believe are the issues on either side.

See you soon.

Tracy

Day One In the Beginning...

On Day One of this Blog, I'm not going to start with Genesis, the Bible version, but my own genesis and the reason why I'm starting this Blog.

I was raised Evangelical in the Assemblies of God and am now, 41 years of age. For some time now I've been struggling with the message and face of the Christian Church. I've prayed and thought, thought and prayed and was recently sent an random email from a church I've never attended (My children had though) and the message in it was that the only way we can know God's true message is to read his word. Forget what the church tells us. Forget what your family tells you. Forget what your political leaders are telling you and listen the the Word of God then decide for yourself.

That is what I intend to do. Starting today. I will read as close to daily as possible, one, two or more verses per day. I'll start In The Beginning..Of course and discuss them here. It might not be exciting. It might not be much of anything on most days but if you want to, pick up your Bible, I'm using a King James version and let's discuss. We'll stop the day we've read the last verse and then the real journey will begin......

See you tomorrow.

Tracy