First of all I would like to thank everyone for their encouraging comments. I hope those reading along are encouraged as well! Please be sure to post any thoughts or questions you had while reading this section at the bottom of the post, no matter how much or how little that might be. Remember, this is not a contest but a challenge to get us all to read the scriptures so easily taken for granted that our Creator has preserved and made available to us. Here are my thoughts from this week's reading. Looking forward to reading yours too!
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| Shannon's creation about creation. |
Gen 1:3+ I still find it interesting every time I read this passage that day and night are made and days are marked off before the sun and moon / stars are created.
The first chapter in Genesis clearly states that God created everything, including man in His image. This goes directly against what many of us have been taught about the theory of evolution. I have been thinking lately about how deeply ingrained in our lives is this theory which dismisses a God who created us. This being something Satan, the author of confusion is surely behind. How much do we accept without really understanding, sometimes contrary to our own observation and experience?
As a possible example of this I thought you might find interesting, Shannon and I replicated an experiment I learned about recently. Gen 1:16 talks about the lesser light (moon) which we are told is a space rock that reflects the sun’s light. On a clear night a couple weeks ago, when the moon was nearly full, I took a smooth white plastic poster board and placed it outside so that the moonlight shown on half of the board and the other half was shaded by an object. Then I took a radiant heat gun and measured the temps. Almost immediately there was a 2 F degree difference. I got Shannon to come and verify my readings and after only about 5 minutes there was approximately a 5 F degree difference. So you might think, what’s the big deal? Well the deal was that the lighted side reflecting the moonlight was colder than the shaded part! Could this mean that the moon has its own light with properties different than that of the sun and does not reflect sunlight as we are told? Note: as a control I also ran this test using the same material and reader with direct sunlight, cloud diffused and mirror reflected sunlight. The sunlit area was warmer than the shade in all cases. It is more significant to be able to prove this ourselves. How many more things in our lives can we strengthen our faith by doing instead of just hearing? (1 Thes 5:21) Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
Gen 3:19 Part of the curse of taking of the forbidden tree is returning to dust, death. Suffering and death were not part of man’s original design before sin.
Gen 4:10 The blood of Abel cries to God… So much shed blood over the years. This reminds me of a man named Henry Gruver known as a prayer walker who travels the world to pray for such things. God have mercy!
Gen 4:15 God extends mercy to Cain with the mark, even without penitence. God is still merciful to many a sinner today.
Gen 6:1-4 There is much speculation about this section of scripture. The notes in my Bible (HCSB) states “This brief portion of Genesis is one of the most controversial sections of the entire Bible”… enough said.
Gen 6:6-7 This verse has been confusing to me in the past. Why would God regret for making man? Did he not see this coming? I have since come to understand that this is not Him saying that He wished He never made man to begin with, but the emphasis is “He was grieved in His heart” for how men were regarding Him and treating each other. The LXXE translation gives me a different picture than the HCSB:
And the Lord God, having seen that the wicked actions of men were multiplied upon the earth, and that every one in his heart was intently brooding over evil continually, then God laid it to heart that he had made man upon the earth, and he pondered it deeply. And God said, I will blot out man whom I have made from the face of the earth, even man with cattle, and reptiles with flying creatures of the sky, for I am grieved that I have made them. (LXXE)
Gen 6:22 Noah did everything God commanded Him. Are we as diligent? Our very existence is a testimony to Noah’s obedience. Contrast with the original sin we are all still suffering from. What we do and say, good or bad has more effect then we may realize.
Gen 8:4+ Yeshua (Jesus) said, just as it was in the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the son of man be. I wonder if there will be significance to the numbers and days mentioned in correlation with future events.
Gen 12:16 Abram was still blessed despite his deception.
Gen 13:11 Abram gave Lot the option and Lot chose the best from his perspective. This later turned out to be a bad choice. Sometimes what looks good to us may not be what is best for us.
Gen 15:16 God would later instruct Israel to war against those living in Canaan. This verse shows his mercy as their sin had not reached the point of full measure yet. A 400 year reprieve.
Gen 17 The covenant given to Abraham and his offspring was significant for God to appear and pronounce it. This and many stories that follow are recorded for us because it is the genealogical line through which our Messiah would later come.
Gen 18:8 I disprove of Lot’s decision to suggest to throw his daughters to the crowd. Are they not also under the protection of his roof? This is not admirable to me.
Gen 19:16 In the midst of a story of destruction we see “the Lord’s Compassion” for Lot.
Gen 22 Abraham’s “sacrifice” of Isaac is another difficult story. If someone said God told them to sacrifice someone I would think they are not hearing from God yet this is not the case here. This story pictures for us the heavenly Father sacrificing his own Son. I think it was more for the benefit of those who came between Abraham and Yeshua (Jesus) than a test for Abraham.
Next reading: Week 2 Genesis 25:1 to Genesis 43:1
Genesis 4 is the story of Cain and Abel. Cain kills his brother, everyone knows he is the bad guy, end of story right? Well, being a gardener, I noticed something this time through that I hadn't thought of before. Cain was a farmer, he grew things. The problem wasn't what Cain's offering was I think but rather that it wasn't the best of his harvest which would have been an indication of a heart issue. Yahweh wants the best of our efforts and rejects Cain's offering. Cain gets upset and rather than fix his heart, which is what Yahweh warns him to do, he murders his brother. Bad, very very bad. But then instead of taking his life, (perhaps because there were not two witnesses which is required in Torah for the punishment) Yahweh instead tells him that because his brother's blood was swallowed by the ground, the ground would no longer yield its crops for him. Think about that for a moment. This is a farmer, a gardener... if nothing grew for me again, it would be heart breaking. He was turned into a nomad, a person who wandered the earth. He lost his garden. I understand Cain's plea of, "This punishment is more than I can bear." It wasn't just being driven from the presence of Yahweh and fear of being killed by his family for his sin, he lost his connection with the soil. He lost his identity. I can't imagine what growing plants was like back then. What kind of amazing crops and plants and flowers they could grow? Going from a green thumb extraordinaire to a black thumb, regardless of what you do, is terrible. So the blood of his brother poisoned his soil, what things in my life poison my soil and prevent life from growing in me?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful artwork Shannon!
ReplyDeleteTimothy your comment about the moon and it casting it's own light is interesting. I always wondered how reflected light could be so bright, without any of it's own enhanced light aiding in the process. I know the Word says we are to reflect Christ in our life, but I also believe when He abides in us, He is our Spiritual Light, as we abide & obey His Word. So reflected light, as well as projected light emanate from our Spirit. Maybe similar to the Moon's?
It has been a blessing reading through Genesis again. I've been praying that God would help me to apply what I'm reading into my current life situations. A constant thread seems to be highlighted throughout...God has a plan & purpose, trust Him! Trust is based on relationship, relationship is strengthened by understanding, understanding is brought about by submission & acceptance, through a greater knowledge of the One you are trusting. God's Word constantly reiterates how much He loves us, so why wouldn't we trust Him? Trust is an ongoing, growing process. His love compels us forward on the path that He has laid before us. What a journey, from the very beginning!