After the flood to Abram

January 11, 2020

We continue reading chapter eight.  The water finally recedes, and Noah and his family leave the ark with all the animals.   Life will never be normal again.  The world must be repopulated.  This will be a longer process than the first time.  Man’s life expectancy is now much shorter.  Why do you think this happened?

Once again God commands that these eight people be fruitful and multiply.  The rest of the Bible will tell of this struggle.   Life will never be destroyed from the planet; God has promised this.

In Genesis chapter nine God makes a covenant with Noah, his sons and all living creatures.  Never again will all life be destroyed by flood.  The rainbow in the sky is not a physical phenomenon, but a promise from God.

The fear animals have of men is explained and meat is blessed as food for people.  Our canine teeth are another proof that God knew this day would come.  We are given everything that lives for food.  In Exodus animals are once again designated as clean and unclean.  Murder is also condemned and the punishment for it is given.  This is not original to the law given to Moses.

We are also enlightened about Noah and his son’s through a story about this righteous man becoming drunk from drinking too much wine and passing out while he is naked.  This proves that even the best man was not perfect.  The error was not in making or drinking the wine.  The mistake was in becoming intoxicated.  All human beings will sin.  And that means us?

We have arrived at chapter ten of Genesis.  This is the genealogy of all the nations that populated the ancient world.  They were the descendants of Ham, Shem and Japheth, Noah’s sons.  Japheth was the father of those that settled along the seashores and became mariners. The Hamites include Egypt, Canaan, Babylon, and Assyria.  The Shemites include the ancestors of Abram as well as others.

We find more here to describe where and how these nations descended.  I don’t want to dwell on this since most of us are not that interested in ancient history.

“Nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.”  This is the statement of God from Genesis chapter eleven that explains why He confused the language.  Does the verse four of chapter ten preview this scripture.  Today, differing speech does not necessarily preclude cooperation among peoples.   God scattered them throughout the planet.  It was not only the language that was spoken that was different.  Different cultures mean complications in understanding each other.  These problems often cause problems in marriage.

Abram is descended from Shem as we learned yesterday.  His father, Terah, was moving the family from Ur to Canaan, but they stopped and stayed in Harran.  After he died, God would direct Abram to complete the journey.

In the beginning

January 8, 2020

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I started a previous attempt to publish my comments about the entire Bible in a systematic way for a year. I failed to complete it.

Today we start with Genesis chapter one. We are reading in chronological order. I will make some observations on each scripture. Use the comments under my post to share your thoughts or ask questions. We will attempt to answer all the questions.

Genesis chapter one begins “In the beginning God.” God is called the creator of everything. Many ask, “If God created everything, who created God?” That is why God is God. He has no beginning or end. He is eternal. That is what is meant by “In the beginning God.” It wasn’t until the fourth day that the sun, moon, and stars were made.

On the sixth day, all land animals are created including man. Man is made in the image of God. Other verses will explain this later. The first command is given to mankind, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.

We move on to the seventh day and God resting from His work in Genesis 2.  God did not need to rest, but we do. He set the example for us.

Man Is created from just dust and given the task of naming all the animals.  Often, we are told that language was developed slowly by people. God created it along with man. A dog is not man’s best friend, that is why a woman was created.  Every man needs a wife for a best friend. Unlike man, she was not made from dust. She was formed from the body of Adam himself.

Marriage is first mentioned here in the Bible. A man leaves his mother and father for his wife. Note that there was only one man and one woman. That is enough to begin a family. God called them good in chapter one. We are also told there is no shame in a man and wife being naked together.
The story of the fall of man is very controversial. It is told in Genesis chapter three. If you deny the existence of sin, then no consequences exist for the actions. Without sin and its punishment salvation is not required for anyone. Arguing that God set Adam and Eve up to fail seems plausible.

There is also an argument about why there is a snake in the story. You could argue that a disservice is done to the serpent.

The most intriguing question is “What happened to the second tree?” According to chapter two, God placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life in the center of the garden. The serpent enticed Eve to eat from the tree that would cause spiritual death. Satan continues to tempt us with things that will cause us harm. He does not care about us as God does. This was just the first act of sabotage for humans. He continues to do this today if we allow it.