Genesis 6:1-22
The Lord said , "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh; his days shell be 120 years."
The wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth.
"Behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and your family." God said to Noah.
Different versions give 'sons of the gods' of 'sons of God' or 'supernatural beings.'
Why?
The human race, lost in violence and corruption, is bringing destruction upon itself. God reduces the life-span to 120 years. But that alone will not answer. Only an act of judgment will rid the world of sin.
As with creation, we should approach this account as story, expecting picture and symbol and pattern, looking for why it is being told, 'the big message.'
When people's every intention of the thoughts of his hearts are only evil, destruction will come upon him for their wickedness. But God gives opportunity to everyone to repent and turn from evil.
How?
Looking for why it is being told 'the big message'.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Monday, April 6, 2015
The reducing ages may be meant to suggest the cumulative effects of sin
Genesis 5:1-32
Adam lived were 930 years.
Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all of the days of Enoch were 365 years.
All days of Methuselah were 969 years, the most high ages.
Methyselah, he fathered Lamech. Lamech fathered a son Noah. Noah fathered Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Why?
The Bible often provides family trees similar to this one to define an important line of descent. Many of them are selective, sometimes is order to create a pattern of a certain number of names. We are not meant to add up all the figures and work out the length of time covered. (Ussher did this, arriving at 4004 BC for the date of Adam. Yet we know from Jericho and other cities, of a civilization going back to 7000BC, and that is not the beginning of human history.)
In the ancient Near East numbers were often used to signify importance, rather than actual quantity. The reducing ages from Methuselah to Joseph may be meant to suggest the cumulative effects of sin.
Enoch's life of 365 years, a complete year's cycle of days, is worth special note.
The life-span assigned to these early ancestors is remarkable. It ranges from 777 years for Lamech to Methusleah's 969 years. Each of the ten records follows the same formula: When A was x years old he had a son B. He lived another y years and had other sons and daughters. He lived z years, and them he died.
How?
Most high ages of man now is about 120 years. The reducing ages may be meant to suggest the cumulative effects of sin
Adam lived were 930 years.
Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all of the days of Enoch were 365 years.
All days of Methuselah were 969 years, the most high ages.
Methyselah, he fathered Lamech. Lamech fathered a son Noah. Noah fathered Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Why?
The Bible often provides family trees similar to this one to define an important line of descent. Many of them are selective, sometimes is order to create a pattern of a certain number of names. We are not meant to add up all the figures and work out the length of time covered. (Ussher did this, arriving at 4004 BC for the date of Adam. Yet we know from Jericho and other cities, of a civilization going back to 7000BC, and that is not the beginning of human history.)
In the ancient Near East numbers were often used to signify importance, rather than actual quantity. The reducing ages from Methuselah to Joseph may be meant to suggest the cumulative effects of sin.
Enoch's life of 365 years, a complete year's cycle of days, is worth special note.
The life-span assigned to these early ancestors is remarkable. It ranges from 777 years for Lamech to Methusleah's 969 years. Each of the ten records follows the same formula: When A was x years old he had a son B. He lived another y years and had other sons and daughters. He lived z years, and them he died.
How?
Most high ages of man now is about 120 years. The reducing ages may be meant to suggest the cumulative effects of sin
Sunday, April 5, 2015
If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door
Genesis 4:1-26
The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
Cain killed his brother Abel. God punished Cain, "Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."
Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
Adam and Eve, after their expulsion from the fatten, have two sons:Cain, the farmer, and Abel, the shepherd. In due course each brings his offering to God. Abel's is accepted, but not Cain's. It was not what Abel offered, but his faith which made his gift acceptable. Cain's better resentment shows a very different spirit.
Cain kills Abel - it is a short step from rebellion to bloodshed - and God condemns him to a nomadic life, but provides protection against death.
The last two verses give a glimmer of hope. Seth is born to Adam and Eve, and people begin 'to call on the name of the Lord.'
Why?
As the prophets will say again and again. God is not bought off by sacrifices. He wants the offerer also to 'do well'. True faith cannot be divorced from right behaviour.
How?
There is hope from Seth, and God wants man do well more than soffer sacrifices.
The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
Cain killed his brother Abel. God punished Cain, "Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."
Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
Adam and Eve, after their expulsion from the fatten, have two sons:Cain, the farmer, and Abel, the shepherd. In due course each brings his offering to God. Abel's is accepted, but not Cain's. It was not what Abel offered, but his faith which made his gift acceptable. Cain's better resentment shows a very different spirit.
Cain kills Abel - it is a short step from rebellion to bloodshed - and God condemns him to a nomadic life, but provides protection against death.
The last two verses give a glimmer of hope. Seth is born to Adam and Eve, and people begin 'to call on the name of the Lord.'
Why?
As the prophets will say again and again. God is not bought off by sacrifices. He wants the offerer also to 'do well'. True faith cannot be divorced from right behaviour.
How?
There is hope from Seth, and God wants man do well more than soffer sacrifices.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Desire and domination will hurt relations between the sexes
Genesis 3:1-24
Serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die, For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for good, and that it was a delight to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her.
She wanted simply to know as God knows, or to be God's equal.
The Lord said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life..."
And to Adam God said," Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field..."
The man called his wife's name Eve, "because she was the mother of all living."
Why?
Because of the serpent and Adam, Eve did not obeyed the commandment of God so there were curses to all livestock and beasts, and curses to the land.
Adam knew her wife ate the fruit of life tree, but he did not forbid her.
All of the sins are look good for man and made man delight, but the trap is behind it.
The woman will experience suffering - in childbirth. Man and woman are no longer at ease together. Desire and domination will hurt relations between the sexes. Adam's work will be sweat and toil.
Why?
Enter the serpent - a creature made by God and yet a rebel. Where does the bad come from in this good world? The story does not say. But clearly God has taken an enormous risk in giving his creatures the freedom to choose. What follows is brilliant insight into the psychology of temptation and sin: the attempt to shift the blame and eventual shame.
How?
Woman seems not only want to be wise but also like to be God's equal. Man has to be humble before the Lord and among other people.
Serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die, For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for good, and that it was a delight to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her.
She wanted simply to know as God knows, or to be God's equal.
The Lord said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life..."
And to Adam God said," Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field..."
The man called his wife's name Eve, "because she was the mother of all living."
Why?
Because of the serpent and Adam, Eve did not obeyed the commandment of God so there were curses to all livestock and beasts, and curses to the land.
Adam knew her wife ate the fruit of life tree, but he did not forbid her.
All of the sins are look good for man and made man delight, but the trap is behind it.
The woman will experience suffering - in childbirth. Man and woman are no longer at ease together. Desire and domination will hurt relations between the sexes. Adam's work will be sweat and toil.
Why?
Enter the serpent - a creature made by God and yet a rebel. Where does the bad come from in this good world? The story does not say. But clearly God has taken an enormous risk in giving his creatures the freedom to choose. What follows is brilliant insight into the psychology of temptation and sin: the attempt to shift the blame and eventual shame.
How?
Woman seems not only want to be wise but also like to be God's equal. Man has to be humble before the Lord and among other people.
Friday, April 3, 2015
True marriage is a unique and exclusive relationship
Genesis 2:4-25
The Lord formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils鼻孔 the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
God commanded the man "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
The God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman for she as taken out of man."
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
It is focuses on the first two human beings and their relationship with God.
Significantly, God now has a different name. In the first story he was Elohim, God the Creator, the one High God. Now he is Yahweh (Jehovah) Elohim, the personal name by which he can be known.
Why?
Man was made from the dust of the ground so man will go back to the ground when he died.
You will surely die, is the really die in spiritual and physical for the sin; against the commands of the Lord.
So man and woman should leave his parent and be united, become one flesh. It is the unit of a family. They are naked, totally open to one another.
True marriage is a unique and exclusive relationship.
Adam in Hebrew is both a personal name and a word for 'mankind'.
How?
True marriage is a unique and exclusive relationship. God's name are Yahweh (Jehovah) Elohim.
The Lord formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils鼻孔 the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
God commanded the man "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
The God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman for she as taken out of man."
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
It is focuses on the first two human beings and their relationship with God.
Significantly, God now has a different name. In the first story he was Elohim, God the Creator, the one High God. Now he is Yahweh (Jehovah) Elohim, the personal name by which he can be known.
Why?
Man was made from the dust of the ground so man will go back to the ground when he died.
You will surely die, is the really die in spiritual and physical for the sin; against the commands of the Lord.
So man and woman should leave his parent and be united, become one flesh. It is the unit of a family. They are naked, totally open to one another.
True marriage is a unique and exclusive relationship.
Adam in Hebrew is both a personal name and a word for 'mankind'.
How?
True marriage is a unique and exclusive relationship. God's name are Yahweh (Jehovah) Elohim.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
God blessed the seventh day and made it holy
Genesis 1:26~2:3
God blessed man.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
From first day to the sixth day there was evening and there was morning.
Why?
This is not a chronological(年的)account. The separations of the first three days create the spaces which God them fills. We are not told when creation took place. Nor are we given details as to how God brought the earth and life into being - nor how long it all took.
The storyteller does not share the preoccupations of a scientific age. He is concerned with more important things.
The seventh day God did not described evening and morning for God was rested so there is not assignment for time and works, it is running automatically.
The seventh day is holy day so other matter is not important.
How?
Holy day is a day to meditate the creation of God and his love and blessing for man.
God blessed man.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
From first day to the sixth day there was evening and there was morning.
Why?
This is not a chronological(年的)account. The separations of the first three days create the spaces which God them fills. We are not told when creation took place. Nor are we given details as to how God brought the earth and life into being - nor how long it all took.
The storyteller does not share the preoccupations of a scientific age. He is concerned with more important things.
The seventh day God did not described evening and morning for God was rested so there is not assignment for time and works, it is running automatically.
The seventh day is holy day so other matter is not important.
How?
Holy day is a day to meditate the creation of God and his love and blessing for man.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; Genesis 1
Genesis 1:1-25
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over every living creature that moves on the ground.
Genesis title means 'beginnings - the beginning of the world and the beginning of the a nation. It is important to appreciate the early chapters especially as story: concern with truth and meaning at the deepest level; delighting in pictures and patterns.
There are many heavens but only one earth.
How the books reaches their present form may be a matter of debate, but what is clear is that these stories express the deepest convictions of God's people that this world is the work of the one Creator-God, who is utterly good and who loves and cares for his creation. They had no need to argue for God's existence: they knew him for themselves.
The story, styled and shaped to a conscious pattern, make it clear that
1. The origin of the world and of life was no accident; there is a Creator - God
2. God made everything there is
3. All that God made was good
4. Of all God's marvellous creation, people are special; they alone are made in God's likeness and given charge over everything.
5. God's six days of creative activity, followed by a day of rest, sets the pattern for working life.
How?
God is the creator of everything, and man is God's special creation, they alone are made in God's likeness.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over every living creature that moves on the ground.
Genesis title means 'beginnings - the beginning of the world and the beginning of the a nation. It is important to appreciate the early chapters especially as story: concern with truth and meaning at the deepest level; delighting in pictures and patterns.
There are many heavens but only one earth.
How the books reaches their present form may be a matter of debate, but what is clear is that these stories express the deepest convictions of God's people that this world is the work of the one Creator-God, who is utterly good and who loves and cares for his creation. They had no need to argue for God's existence: they knew him for themselves.
The story, styled and shaped to a conscious pattern, make it clear that
1. The origin of the world and of life was no accident; there is a Creator - God
2. God made everything there is
3. All that God made was good
4. Of all God's marvellous creation, people are special; they alone are made in God's likeness and given charge over everything.
5. God's six days of creative activity, followed by a day of rest, sets the pattern for working life.
How?
God is the creator of everything, and man is God's special creation, they alone are made in God's likeness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)