Episode 245 - "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD" - Genesis 6:1-8

Gen. 6:1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

Gen. 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

I suspect there are few passages in all of Scripture that are more debated and discussed in church Sunday school rooms and parking lots than these first few verses in Genesis 6. What is meant by “sons of God” and “daughters of man”? Furthermore, who were the Nephilim? What is the point of all this? One common question is, “Does the term ‘sons of God’ refer to angels?” In other words, is the author suggesting that angels or demons had sexual relations with human women? I believe the definitive answer is that no one can be absolutely certain of the mysteries in this section. The original audience probably understood these terms and their significance. But it’s been lost over time.

One thing we can be certain of is that what transpired and is described here is an unholy union of marriages and procreation, and it led to problems. The context makes it clear that the actions described lead to more wickedness on the earth. Personally, I’m inclined to interpret “sons of God” as men in the lineage from Seth to Noah that was just given to us in chapter 5 and not supernatural beings. The emphasis appears to be on the contrast between “sons of God” to “daughters of man.” The author adds that these sons of God were attracted to these women based upon their beauty, and they chose any they wanted based on these criteria rather than a shared commitment to the LORD. Perhaps Hebrew scholars can better discern the nuances of the language and the narrative. It just seems that there is a contrast here of some men who are born within this lineage appointed by God who, like Eve, made decisions based upon what they saw and wanted and not God’s revelation. They married women who were from families that rejected God. Throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, the Israelites were constantly warned not to marry outside of Israel because the foreign wives worshipped foreign gods.

However one interprets this, these actions exasperated the LORD, and he determined that humans' life spans would be reduced and, generally speaking, not continue past 120 years of age. This is in stark contrast to the people who had lived hundreds of years.

Verse 5 makes it clear that something about the unholy marriages between these two classifications of people leads to increased wickedness throughout the earth. Speaking of humanity in the third person singular terms, he says, “every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen 6:5b) That is very significant.

Verses 6-7 emphasize the LORD’s grief concerning the wickedness of humanity and regret that he’d made mankind. Considering that humanity was his crowning achievement by his own will, this is tragic, and humanity as a whole was as far away from the presence of the LORD as possible. God determined that he would wipe out all living things. If we’re tracking with the greater narrative, this should prompt us to ask the obvious question, “What about the promised seed of the woman?” Is the LORD going to renege on his promise? Our fears are partially assuaged in verse 8. “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” Do you remember what Noah’s dad said when naming his son? He said, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” (Gen 5:29) In spite of how everything else has gone on around him and the overall wickedness of people in the world, Noah has lived favorably before the LORD. Is Noah the seed? Stay tuned.

The important thing for us is to identify themes that appear repeatedly and take them to heart. For one, God’s word and purpose for us are to be the guide and standard for our actions in life, not what we desire through our senses. Secondly, by the grace of God, may we find favor in the eyes of the LORD regardless of what the rest of the world is doing.

Episode244 "Rest from our toil" - Genesis 5:1-32

Gen. 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Gen. 5:25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

It is so tempting to just jump over genealogies and “get to the good stuff.” But I’m reminded of what the apostle Paul writes to his disciple Timothy, “All Scripture given by inspiration from God is useful for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness in order that the person of God may be thoroughly equipped.” (2 Tim 3:16-17 my paraphrase) Let’s see what we can find in this family tree that may be useful for us.

The first thing that I observe is that this is not an exhaustive genealogy. Cain and Abel aren’t listed. Abel is now dead, and Cain and his descendants are not in consideration for this genealogy. Clearly, the author has a purpose. That purpose is not primarily for future generations of this line to figure out who their third cousins are twice removed. This genealogy traces the lineage from Adam through his son Seth, the son appointed by God to replace Abel, all the way down to Noah. In other words, it’s leading us down a family line of men who, from all evidence we have in the Scriptures, are following the LORD.

I’m sure these men weren’t perfect. However, the extremely long life spans recorded for many of these individuals may indicate God’s blessing of life and his desire to use them to fulfill his will to fill the earth with other people who reflect God’s image. Of course, that logic has its limitations in a way when the narrative informs us that Enoch only got to live 365 years. Why? Because he “walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (Gen 5:24) Wow! Enoch’s obedience to and fellowship with the LORD led the LORD to give Enoch a bypass on the death experience. Unless I’m mistaken, Enoch and Elijah are the only two people in Biblical history who don’t die. The LORD simply takes them into his presence.

In verse 28 we read about a man named Lamech. Wait a minute. Haven’t we already read about Lamech? Wasn’t he a descendant of Cain who also committed murder and mocked God? Answer: Different Lamech. This Lamech had a son that he named Noah and we are given a proclamation or prophecy concerning Noah. Lamech says, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” (v. 29) What I get from this is that by the time we get to Lamech after all these generations, God’s promise of a “seed of the woman” who will crush the head of the serpent and bring resolution to the conflict of the curse has not been forgotten. It has been passed down through this line of descendants.

This genealogy of chapter five advances the greater story that hope in deliverance from the curse has not been lost. There is so much more we could ask about this chapter. For instance, “How was it possible that people lived so long?” All I can say is that this genealogy seems to present each of these people as historical individuals who are born, grow up, marry, have sons and daughters, and die. The literature does not suggest in any way that they are mythical creatures. So, I suggest we just take it at face value, and maybe someday we’ll understand these things.

My “take home” from this chapter is that God values a faithful relationship with us and wants us to have life. Furthermore, we must not just accept God’s promises for ourselves but pass them on to other generations. May the LORD help us walk with God as did Enoch, and look forward to the ultimate fulfillment of God restoring all Creation to his will and completely removing the curse.

Episode 243 - "God appoints a son" Genesis 4:25-26

Gen. 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To 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.

So last week, we read about what happened through rebellious Cain’s descendants. To put it briefly, the narrative describes it as a “like father, like son” outcome. We are left wondering what hope there is for “the seed of the woman” to crush the head of the serpent. Abel, whose worship was accepted by the LORD, was dead, and Cain’s descendant Lamech, also a murderer, demonstrates even a greater defiance and mocking of God than Cain. This heightens the crisis of humanity’s distance from the presence and fellowship with the LORD.

As chapter four closes with these two verses, it sets up a genealogy of Adam in chapter five that advances the greater narrative in the direction of hope. It is sometimes amusingly said that the only command from the LORD that people have faithfully obeyed is “be fruitful and multiply.” So, Adam and Eve have not failed in this command and have another son. They exercise their God-given authority to name this son Seth. Notice that our text offers an explanation for his name, “for she said, ‘God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.’” (Gen 4:25b) How does this explanation fit with this name? The name “Seth” in Hebrew sounds almost exactly like the word that means “appointed.” Let’s stop for a minute and reflect upon the importance of this revelation.

From the standpoint of the greater narrative, this recognizes the crisis that I just identified. Righteous Abel is dead, and Cain and his line continue on a path of rebellion against the LORD. The narrator reveals that Eve identified the problem but somehow recognized that this son had been appointed by the LORD to replace the righteous Abel. How did she know that? Did she just assume it, or did the LORD somehow reveal that to them? It’s not clear from the text. I am inclined to think that if the LORD felt the need to specifically explain that to them, it would be in our Scriptures. Therefore, it seems to me that Eve is drawing this conclusion based on God’s previous revelation and promise that she would have a descendant who would crush the head of the serpent. Why is this important to us? Eve has learned a hard lesson in not only listening to what God says but trusting that the LORD will fulfill his promises. This is beautiful in that Eve is learning about grace. Even though she has messed up, and it has had tragic consequences, she recognizes that God has not disowned her and reneged on his promises. His provision of this son is a gift to her, but also a divine provision to ultimately bring fulfillment of his promise, proving that he is faithful to his word. Awesome, isn’t it?

What do you think? Am I reading too much into this? Consider the next verse. Seth has a son Enosh, and the narrator tells us, “At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD.” (Gen 4:26) Is this not the narrator reinforcing how this appointed line trusts in the LORD? I think so. Our hope in the “seed” is sustained. The crisis is mitigated for now.

Our lesson is to know God’s word and trust that he is good, faithful, and able to fulfill his promise to redeem us to his good plan and life with God.

Episode 242 - "Sin has devastating effects" - Genesis 4:17-24

Gen. 4:17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

Gen. 4:23 Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:

I have killed a man for wounding me,

a young man for striking me.

24 If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold,

then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”

The first thing I’d like to address in this episode is the genealogy that proceeds from Cain after he leaves the presence of the LORD. This may sound strange, but there is no small amount of discussion and disagreement about genealogies in the Scriptures. The reason for this is that genealogies don’t necessarily work the same way in the ancient Scriptures and cultures of the Bible as they do in 21st-century Western civilization. In our society, we are solely focused on connecting the dots as far back in our ancestry as possible to try to, as best as possible, find out who we are and where our ancestors were from. If we subscribe to ancestry.com or other genealogical databases, we are not likely to omit one or more generations if possible. Some genealogies in the Scriptures omit people in the genealogy. When people in our day and culture use an ancient and foreign culture’s genealogy to calculate the number of years back to Adam and Eve and then presume from that the age of the earth, you run into potential problems. Another problem we may encounter is figuring out some hidden meaning by learning the meaning of peoples’ names in the genealogies. My objective in this study is not to make some assertion about the age of the earth or discern secret messages from the meanings of people’s names. The reason is that the Scriptures themselves are not concerned about people knowing the age of the earth. Furthermore, the Scriptures are concerned about God’s clear revelation about God, humanity, and their relationship. Therefore, we will focus on that which is more evident in the text.

There are two things about this genealogy that are of concern to us. First, I believe scholars are in agreement that where a genealogy exists, the people who wrote it and read it understand that the people listed were historical people and that we’re dealing with historical narrative rather than fantasy. Cain and these descendants were real people. The second thing is that the list of Cain’s descendants moves the story along and reveals to us that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” I’m speaking of Cain’s descendant Lamech in comparison to his rebellious ancestor.

Before we get to Lamech, let’s return to the beginning of this segment of the story. It would seem that the first logical question we might ask ourselves is, “Where did Cain’s wife come from?” To this point, no clear statement in the Scriptures definitely answers this question. The best that we have is found later in Genesis 5:4 which speaks of Adam fathering “other sons and daughters.” A common assumption is that Cain’s wife was also a sister. Personally, I think it’s legitimate to say, “I don’t know. The Scriptures do not tell us” and not worry about it. It’s not that important.

What is important is how the story reveals that the first son of Cain and his wife is Enoch. Cain builds a city and names it after his son. Why is that important? Because God told Cain he would be a wanderer throughout the earth. (Gen 4:12) The story reveals that Cain has not changed his ways. He is going to do what he wants to do regardless of what God has to say about it. The fact that he names it after his son puts an exclamation mark on his act. God named the things he created and gave Adam the authority to name the animals. Now Cain is using that authority granted by God to spite God.

As this sub-story develops, we learn how the attitude is passed on and exacerbated by Lamech. “Lamech took two wives. (v. 19)” Why? Because like his ancestor Cain, he was going to do what he wanted to do. Then, in verses 23-24 he brags to his wives about the murder that he’s committed. Is he not mocking God? He doesn’t attempt to hide anything or disavow responsibility. Instead, he advertises his sin like a flag.

The point is that this story of Cain and Lamech serves to heighten the conflict in the greater narrative that began with Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Things are going to get worse. In terms of what we can learn from this for our own walk of faith is that our disobedience of God’s standards can have a much greater negative impact on other people than we can ever imagine. This reality should cause us to stop and think and ask ourselves if we care about what God says or are we going to do what we want to do?

Episode 241 - "The devastating consequences of sin" - Genesis 4:8-16

Gen. 4:8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the LORD said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

We are in the middle of a story about two sons of Adam and Eve. They are Cain and Abel, who are, to put it in modern terms, a farmer and a rancher, respectively. They’ve each brought an offering to the LORD. But only Abel’s offering is accepted, which leads to Cain becoming very angry. The LORD confronted Cain about his attitude and encouraged him to do what was “right.” Otherwise, sin would dominate him. The principles we get from this text instruct our attitudes concerning worship and to be careful about letting our emotions get the best of us. Otherwise, we could allow sin to overtake us.

While we are in the middle of this story about these men and the conflict that is developing, we are in the early stages of a greater story. It’s the story about God and his creation of the universe and humanity and the effects of their disobedience to the one prohibitive command given to them by the LORD. I would suggest that the present conflict and what unfolds in the rest of this story is intended to show us how the effects of disobedience against the LORD’s good commands create havoc and have impact on many others.

Verse 8 makes it appear that Cain didn’t even bother considering the LORD’s grace and counsel to him. He decided to express his anger and jealousy against his brother by killing him. From my perspective, the author wants the reader to see the disparate difference between eating a piece of forbidden fruit to murder. We like to assign weight to various acts of morality or immorality, of justice and injustice. Our problem is that we don’t see the seriousness of acting in a way that is contrary to the holiness of the LORD.

Notice what happens after Cain ignores the LORD and murders his brother. The LORD shows up to have a conversation with Cain and acts like he doesn’t know what Cain has done. Does that sound familiar? This is similar to how the LORD approached Adam and Eve after they disobeyed. One would think that Adam and Eve had instructed their children, “Listen! Whatever you do, don’t try to cover it up. The LORD will call you out on it.” But Cain acts like he doesn’t know where Abel is in responding to the LORD’s inquiry. Then, he disavows any responsibility for knowing or caring. He rhetorically asks the LORD, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (v.9) Scholars have pointed out the irony in how Eve sought to know more about good and evil by disobeying the LORD, and here is one of their sons who claims to know nothing about his brother. Tragically, he knows too much about good and evil. He’s made a choice, and now he is trying to hide it from the One who is truly good.

As he did with Adam, he quickly revealed that while Cain claimed not to know where Abel was, the LORD knew exactly where he was. (v.10) It seems that as he did with Adam, he is attempting to elicit a confession from Cain. But he never gets it.

The LORD then proclaimed the judgment upon him for his crime. Whereas tending to the trees of the garden appeared to have been a pleasant and easy job for Adam, the LORD cursed the ground and informed Adam that now he would have to till the ground and his work would be toilsome in order to get the harvest. For Cain, even that effort will not be successful. He will need to wander in order to get whatever is available to him. (vs. 11-12)

Cain responded to the LORD’s pronouncement of judgment that it was too harsh. On a personal note, I feel that it may even be a bit disingenuous. He complained, “from your face I shall be hidden.” This is Cain’s way of saying, I won’t have any access to your blessings. From what has just transpired, it seems like Cain has never seriously valued what the LORD has given him. He didn’t care enough to have the right heart in his offering. He didn’t receive the gracious correction by the LORD. And he has despised both his brother and the LORD by murdering his brother Abel.

Verse 14 offers us an interesting challenge. Cain, in his plaintiff response regarding the LORD’s judgment, says, “Whoever finds me will kill me.” The question is, “Who is around that would kill him?” So far, the only people we know about are Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel and now Abel is not around. Clearly, it seems that Cain’s response indicates they weren’t the only people on the earth at that point in time. Many people believe that Adam and Eve had other children and they aren’t mentioned because it has not been relevant to the greater narrative that is being revealed. Scholars have other theories about this. But the important thing here is for us to follow the greater narrative of what is given to us. So where we are in the greater narrative of Scripture is that there was a promise for a “seed” of the woman who would crush the head of the Serpent. We are informed about Abel who responded rightly to the LORD in worship. Therefore, he appears to be a potential candidate for that role. Cain’s offering is rejected. Yet, he is offered an opportunity to make it right. He rejects that and murders his brother, the righteous seed. From a literary standpoint, there is no viable candidate for this seed who will crush the serpent’s head. Abel is dead, and Cain leaves the presence of the LORD.

To conclude this episode, my desire is that we begin to see the seriousness of sin and that, by God’s grace and the leading of the Holy Spirit, we are sensitive to our options and allow God’s Spirit to lead us to the right way.

Episode240 - "Sin's desire is to dominate you" - Genesis 4:1-7

Gen. 4:1 Now the man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created a man just as the LORD did!” 2 Then she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground.

Gen. 4:3 At the designated time Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock—even the fattest of them. And the LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering, 5 but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased. So Cain became very angry, and his expression was downcast.

Gen. 4:6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 7 Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” (NET Bible)

I have chosen to use the New English Translation (NET Bible) instead of the ESV for this study due to its translation of Eve’s statement in verse one concerning the birth of her first son. The NET Bible reads, “I have created a man just as the LORD did,” whereas the ESV Bible translates her words as “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” Scholars are divided on exactly how to translate this. Both translations have their proponents.

My choice is based on two things. First of all, I happen to know many of the translators of the NET Bible and trust their knowledge and judgment. Secondly, this translation feels more likely or natural to me than that represented in the ESV. I take it as an exclamation of amazement. Think about it. Unless the Bible is intentionally not mentioning other children already born to Adam and Eve, Cain is the first human born. We have no idea whether they’ve witnessed even the birth of an animal. It seems to me that she is amazed and even joyful that she has accomplished something so significant. Regardless of which translation better represents the original language, I think Eve’s response reflects God’s grace to her. Even though they have messed up, God is still using them to fulfill the roles and responsibilities he gave them. They are being fruitful and are multiplying. I think the LORD is like that with us. Even though we aren’t always obedient, God does not abandon us or cease to have a purpose for us.

After the announcement of Cain’s birth. The author quickly informs us that his brother Abel is born and then we are given the career paths of both brothers. Abel became a shepherd, and Cain became a farmer. From these few details, it would seem that both sons are doing something related to what the LORD had assigned to Adam. Abel is responsible over some animals, and Cain is toiling by working the ground for crops. It doesn’t appear there is any indication of wrong-doing by either one.

In verse three, we are told that “in the designated time,” both men brought a sacrifice to the LORD. Each brought a sacrifice from their respective jobs. We are not told what the designated time was or how they came to know that. In fact, we are not told how Adam and Eve or their children knew they should bring an offering to the LORD.

Some, including myself, have assumed a connection between the LORD making garments of animal skin with Abel’s offering of an animal sacrifice. This view could explain why the LORD approved of Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain’s. However, I would admit today that is quite an interpretive stretch and shouldn’t be considered too seriously. What is safer and a more likely reason for why the LORD accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain’s offering is found right in the text. Notice that of Cain’s offering, it is recorded that he brought “some fruit.” (v. 3) This is followed by, “But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock—even the fattest of them.” (v. 4) What this is showing us are the attitudes or motives and offerings that corresponded to their attitude in bringing these offerings. Abel brought the first and best of what he had to offer. Cain brought “some” of what he had. Here is another principle for us. What kind of attitude do we have in bringing our offerings to the LORD?

If Cain’s attitude was not ideal when he brought the offering, it only got worse when the LORD did not receive his offering but accepted his brother’s. The text tells us he got angry. He was angry that the LORD did not accept his worship on his own terms. As I reflect upon this, I’m reminded of Jesus’ dialogue with the Samaritan woman at the well. In response to her question about the right location of worship, Jesus informed her, “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23) We need to be reminded that it’s not just about a desire or having the right emotion. We need to worship in truth as well.

We find in verse 6 that the LORD approached Cain in a manner similar to how he approached Adam after his sin. He invites Cain to explain his attitude problem. Then, in his patience and mercy, he suggested a solution followed by a warning if he didn’t heed the advice. He used the imagery of a beast or cat that is crouching to attack its unsuspecting prey. The LORD cautioned, “if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” Here is probably the most important lesson in this text. Sin has a desire to dominate us, and we must subdue it. The apostle Paul gives us advice on how to do that in Romans 8. To summarize, by means of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us through faith in Christ, we “put to death the deeds of the flesh.” The Holy Spirit is with us to remind us of God’s love for us through Christ, to grant us wisdom, to teach and caution us in our walk of faith and to convict us when we let sin dominate us.

Well . . . we’re not yet done with the story of these two brothers. Who’d have thought there would be so much we could learn from some of the first people in the history of the world?

Episode 239 - "Loving discipline for disobedience" - Genesis 3:20-24

Gen. 3:20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Gen. 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Why does the statement, “The man called wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living” (v.20), matter to us? First of all, scholars debate the meaning of her name, which tells us they don’t really understand how it corresponds to the explanation given. So what do we do? We accept the explanation given by the text. We’ll come back to this in a minute.

This is immediately followed by the statement, “And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” Wait a minute! Didn’t Adam and Eve already have garments? When their eyes were opened after their disobedience, and they saw that they were naked, the text tells us they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. (Gen. 3:7) This Scripture has raised all kinds of questions and debates. The first issue is that some people see this as God initiating the first sacrifice because the garments were made of animal skins. Many people argue strongly against this by saying that this is reading back into the text something that is established later, and that the author does not intend to communicate the idea of a sacrifice. In response to this argument, I would concede that I cannot recall anywhere in all of Scripture that identifies this incident as a sacrifice. Furthermore, I believe it’s entirely possible that the author, the human author, that is, does not recognize God making garments of animal skin as a sacrifice. But what about the divine author? Is it possible that in God’s inspiration of the Scriptures, there is meaning embedded in what is written, which will not be perceived and understood until the LORD reveals more understanding of his divine plan? I think so. I am inclined to think and suggest that God, through this act, is establishing an example of the shedding of blood and substitutionary atonement for sin. In Christian theology, we understand that we have sinned like Adam and Eve and we are unable to adequately cover our shame through our own effort. The blood of Christ was shed on the cross through the divine will to meet our needs. In our modern society of electronic games, developers of games will often create hidden surprises called “Easter eggs.” I understand the risk of reading my theology back into the Hebrew Scriptures. But Jesus himself told people those Scriptures spoke of him. Essentially, Jesus stated that the Hebrew Scriptures had “Easter eggs” of revelation concerning him.

At the very least, I think it’s appropriate to understand this act of God to reveal that Adam and Eve’s efforts to cover their nakedness and shame were inadequate, and only God could appropriately address it. This leads me back to the question of why the naming of Eve and the garments of skin matter to us. I believe that what we are seeing revealed here is God’s grace. Adam and Eve had just disobeyed the LORD’s one prohibitive command, and the LORD had just revealed the consequences of their sin. Like a loving father disciplining his children for disobedience, he also shows his care for them. He is not disowning them. He still has a purpose for them. Adam acts according to the role God gave him and gives Eve a name to reflect the honor she has in becoming the mother of all living. Finally, God is giving them the covering they need for the broken world they will now live in. We need this reminder at this point in the text because God is about to expel them from the garden. We need to be reminded that when we sin, God’s discipline may be painful, but we are not disowned, and we are still valued and cared for by God.

The conclusion of this segment of Adam and Eve’s disobedience and the consequences pronounced by the LORD is found in verses 22-24. For the first time, it’s clearly revealed that the serpent used some truth in his deception of Eve. In Genesis 3:22, the LORD says, “the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.” So, he resolved to prevent the man from eating the fruit from the tree of life and living forever. In verses 23-24, the LORD expelled the man from the garden and made it impossible for him to reenter. That sounds mean and vindictive, doesn’t it? Actually, it’s quite the contrary. The LORD intended for humanity to enjoy life and all of his creation eternally, but not in a cursed world and a condition that is a far cry from that in which the people were created. How awful it would be to live forever in such a condition. Again, as strange as it may seem, this was an act of grace and not sadism.

The first few chapters of Genesis clearly reveal God’s power, goodness, patience, justice, mercy, value, and purpose for humanity. These are important principles to remember and embrace in our daily lives to encourage us and sustain our faith.

Episode238 "Listen to God's voice!" - Genesis 3:17-19

Gen. 3:17 And to Adam he 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;

18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Once again, let’s quickly review where we’ve been in this story so as to interpret this Scripture in its immediate context. When the serpent tempted Eve and she ate the forbidden fruit, she gave it to Adam, who also ate it. But the LORD confronted Adam first. He reminded him of the command he had given Adam not to eat of one specific fruit in the garden. (Gen. 3:9-11) He then interrogated Eve before addressing the serpent and pronouncing the curse upon it.

As we read last week, the LORD then backtracked to Eve to explain that the blessing of bearing children would be experienced with greater pain because of her disobedience, and the harmony designed by the LORD between her and Adam would suffer. She had been formed from Adam’s flesh and bone and received the LORD’s command through him. Yet, she listened to the lie of the serpent and brought her husband to participate in this act of disobedience. The LORD’s pronouncement to her that “he (Adam) shall rule over you” seems to suggest that she will even experience a measure of forced subjugation to Adam, something that would not have occurred or have been necessary in their pre-fallen condition.

NOTE: My opinion is that these people, made in the image of God, would have conducted themselves toward each other as do the members of the Trinity. In the New Testament, we often read that Jesus only does what the Father wants him to do. As God himself, he submits to the Father. Yet we see other Scriptures in which the Father gives all authority to the Son. In short, there appears to be mutual submission within the divine Godhead. This is important for us because we often think that submission to others makes us less important and is a negative thing. That clearly isn’t true with God. I believe what we see here is that because of sin, there will be resistance to a harmonious mutual submission and conflict within human relationships. There would be a sense of competition instead of perfect cooperation within marriage relationships. The cooperation will not be so natural now that they have acted out of accordance with God’s will and character.

In verse 17, God returns to Adam to explain the consequences of his sin. Adam will also experience pain. His work is going to get more difficult. In Genesis 2:15, Adam’s responsibility was to tend to the garden. What appeared to be easy and pleasant work will now be painful and troublesome.

Notice that this curse on the ground was not because Adam had listened to his wife. It was because he obeyed his wife’s words contrary to the LORD’s command. Adam ought to have recognized that Eve’s invitation to eat was in contrast to what the LORD had commanded, and he should have refused. In fact, he should have even tried to stop her from eating it.

The LORD cursed the ground so that Adam’s survival would be toil. The ground would produce thorns and thistles, and he would experience pain when harvesting food to eat. Finally, he would die, just as the LORD had said would happen if he disobeyed.

The most obvious takeaway from this section seems to be the importance of discerning and obeying the LORD’s words. Sometimes, people close to us may attempt to encourage us to do something that doesn’t seem right. Regardless of the relationship, we need to trust and obey God’s voice first and foremost.

Episode237-"The Pain of Disobedience" - Genesis 3:16

Gen. 3:16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

To review, the LORD gave Adam and Eve one prohibitive command not to eat of the fruit of one specific tree in the garden. The consequence of disobeying that command, the LORD informed them, is best translated as “dying you will die.” It means that death would be a definite reality for them. It is not evident how quickly that might happen. We are left to wonder, “Will this be immediate?” We don’t have to wonder too long because it appears they disobeyed this command rather quickly after the serpent deceived Eve, and she ate and gave some to Adam, who ate the fruit along with her. But they did not die immediately. In fact, rather than God striking them down for the offense, the LORD provided coverings for their nakedness, which represented their shame. It seems obvious that he would not bother doing this if death would be an immediate judgment upon them. Furthermore, when the LORD approached them in the garden and elicited confessions from them, there was an indication that they would be around for a while. The LORD began by pronouncing a judgment upon the serpent who twisted the LORD’s words and impugned God’s character in the deception. The LORD spoke of a seed, or descendant of the woman, whom the serpent would bruise his heel. Yet, that seed would bruise his head. This suggests that while the serpent has upended the authority God had given his people to rule over the earth, the serpent would ultimately be crushed. It’s a glimmer of hope that God would someday set everything right according to his purpose in creation.

Concluding his verdict and judgment on the serpent, the LORD turned to Eve and told her that an immediate consequence of her disobedience was increased pain in having children. In fact, in the Hebrew language, what is likely conveyed here is a sense of anxiety in conception through the physical pain of birth. This pain is not just a natural consequence of her disobedience, but something the LORD brings upon her for this disobedience. I must admit that I ask myself, “Why this?” The text doesn’t explain it outright. Perhaps it is because Adam and Eve understood that the LORD’s first command to them was to be fruitful and multiply, and they understood this as an important part of their identity and purpose, which continues to be so after their “fall.” Because Eve is the one who will conceive and bear children, the LORD is giving her a reminder that disobeying God will bring pain. As she looks forward to her seed that will someday crush the serpent’s head, it will not come without anxiety and pain.

The LORD continued with the second part of her sentence by saying, “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” Hebrew experts have debated the exact translation of this, but the bottom line is that there will now be a conflict of authority within the relationship. What began as the perfect compliment of a partner to the man, will now manifest conflict at times.

I would caution anyone from the tendency to read and judge this ancient story through the lens of our 21st-century AD proprieties concerning gender roles. What is most important to observe from this story is how people radically upset the harmonious state of life on earth through a simple act of disobedience. It is not difficult today to see the divorce rate in our world, recognize other interpersonal conflicts, and know this is not the ideal state of humanity in the world. We long for harmony, peace, and healthy relationships. That was God’s intent for us in the beginning. My hope is that as we read this, we recognize that we sometimes violate God’s righteous ways in our minds, words, and actions. When we do, it has terrible results and tends to bring pain and conflict into our lives. Let’s humbly acknowledge how relevant this story is to us today and continue in this story to see both the tragic consequences of disobedience to the LORD and the hope that he offers in spite of our rebellious ways.

Episode 236 - "He will bruise your head" - Genesis 3:14-15

Gen. 3:14 The LORD God 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.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Let’s begin with a brief review of our last episode. Adam and Eve disobeyed the LORD’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had given Adam the clear command and the clear consequences of disobeying that command. The offense began with the serpent questioning and confusing God’s word, followed by impugning God’s character. The serpent used these methods to deceive Eve, and she ate, and she gave some to Adam, and he ate.

The LORD approached Adam first to interrogate and confront him. Adam attempted to redirect the blame onto God and Eve before confessing that he had indeed eaten the forbidden fruit. The LORD then questioned Eve, who redirected the blame to the serpent before confessing that she ate the fruit.

In verse 14, the LORD spoke to the serpent but did not question it. The serpent neither redirected blame nor confessed to any offense. The LORD simply pronounced judgment on the serpent.

I do not want to give much attention to the details of the first part of this curse because I don’t see how they inform our spiritual life. What I will say is that the New Testament Scriptures make it clear that the serpent is the devil himself. Many have suggested that the devil possessed or took on the form of a serpent to approach Eve and that the serpent was complicit and, therefore, deserved this curse.

I believe the most important thing we can glean from verse 14 is that God does not leave rebellion against his holy and righteous standard to go unpunished. God will not let evil go unchecked. This is an important principle to understand in appreciating the Good News of Jesus and his death on the cross. Jesus, in dying on the cross, took upon himself the just punishment for the sins of the world. This is known as substitutionary atonement. Since God is just, he cannot simply turn a blind eye to some sins. Jesus is the only one who could accomplish this because he is the only Son of God and was perfectly obedient to every command of his Father in Heaven. God sending his Son to this earth to accept the just punishment on our behalf not only reveals God’s justice by showing that he will not let any sin go unchecked, but it also shows his love and mercy toward us.

Enmity is an appropriate word to describe the common reaction most people have to snakes to this day. Snakes can be difficult to see lying in the grass, and it’s easy to get bit if we walk near or step on the snake by mistake. Conversely, people often have such an aversion to snakes that they will bludgeon or step on their heads to kill them. The question is, “Does this verse simply tell us about the ongoing conflict between humans and snakes?” I don’t think so. Many people understand this verse not only to remind us of the conflict between people and snakes but also to symbolize the conflict between spiritual forces. Based upon God’s original commandment that death would be certain if they disobeyed the LORD, we might expect God to strike Adam and Eve down right then and there. But that doesn’t happen, and God’s words about the seed of the serpent striking the heel of the woman’s seed, but the woman’s seed striking the head of the serpent seems to indicate that God has a plan, and the plot of this story is about to thicken. Who will this seed be, and when will he come to crush the head of the serpent?

In our next episode, the LORD returns to Eve and Adam to explain the consequences of their disobedience. Life would get tough for them, but hope becomes evident. Within these two verses, we learn some very important truths that are as valid today as they were then. First, God is just. Second, God is also merciful. By promising a seed that will crush the head of the serpent, there is an expectation and hope that God will set right the chaos and death that will result from this rebellious action by Adam and Eve.

Episode 235 - "Where are you?" - Genesis 3:8-13

Gen. 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The first people were given one simple, clear, prohibitive command by God with very clear consequences if they disobeyed that command. They would surely die. Yet, they listened to the serpent’s lie, and they ate the forbidden fruit. The one part of the serpent’s promise that was true was that their eyes would be opened. (v.5) But that did not make them more like God. In fact, it diminished their likeness in that they were no longer innocent.

So when we pick up the story in verse 8, the author tells us, “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. (v.8) If you stop and ask yourself, “How did they recognize the sound of the LORD God walking?” I believe the only possible answer is that they’d heard it before. God had entered into their presence before in a way that was more than just a feeling. They had a relationship with God that God had initiated. God apparently liked to visit with his people and have a relationship. This is another important truth about God’s intended design for humans and one that we’ll see come up time and again throughout the Scriptures.

Because their eyes were opened, we were told that they saw that they were naked and they made loin cloths of fig leaves. But now they wanted and attempted to hide from God. Perhaps I’m pushing the interpretation here a little bit. But I see some irony in this because the promise by the serpent was that they would “be like God.” Yet they are so foolish to think they can hide from God.

So, I think we, as readers, are supposed to think, “Hey fools! You can’t hide from God.” But God plays the game. God arrives at the place where it seems they would have met before, and God asks, “Where are you?” Instead of outright stating their offense, God draws them to confess their offense.

In verse 10, Adam’s response, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself,” reveals something about violating God’s law. There is no indication whatsoever that Adam ever had a reason to be afraid of the LORD’s presence until he disobeyed God. I think that’s just as true today for us as it was back then. God does not want us to live in fear of Him but in love and relationship. We experience the peace God wants for us when we trust him and follow him.

Adam’s response not only reveals his location, it reveals his action of disobedience. God uses the man’s words against him as though he were a prosecuting attorney in a court case. (Which is essentially what this is.) “Who told you that you were naked?” God had made the man and woman oblivious to their nakedness. So, the LORD follows that with the direct question, “Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (v. 11)

The jig is up, as they say, and Adam knows it. But before he comes clean, he attempts to redirect the blame. “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (v. 12) Did you notice who he blames first? He blames God in saying, “The woman who you gave . . .” Then he blames the woman and finally, “and I ate.” It’s a confession of sorts. But he’s trying to play that he’s the victim. This is absurd, considering that he was the one who directly received the command from God and was present when the serpent contradicted God’s word.

Before saying anything else to Adam, the LORD turns to Eve and asks her a question: “What is this that you have done?” Eve also tries to redirect the blame. It’s not that either Adam or Eve lied. But they are both attempting to make excuses for their disobedience to the LORD’s command. She just says, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (v. 13)

I’m going to stop at this point for this week’s study, and we’ll pick it up next week when the LORD God addresses the serpent and returns to both Adam and Eve to explain the consequences of their actions. But there are certainly takeaways for us from these few verses, aren’t there?

Primarily, God wants to have fellowship with us, and that can only happen when we obey His word. Later in the New Testament, the apostle John writes, “6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:6-10)

This is great news! Through Jesus's death on the cross, we have forgiveness for our sins. We receive that through faith in him. When we sin (disobey God’s righteous standard), it disrupts our fellowship. We experience that in our relationships with other people, right? If someone offends us, the relationship still exists, but the mutual joy and encouragement that normally exists within the relationship is strained. The offense needs to be acknowledged and made right to restore and maintain fellowship with others and the LORD. That kind of fellowship is free of fear.

Episode 234 - "You will not surely die!" - Genesis 3:4-7

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

In our last episode, the serpent questioned and twisted God’s command to eat freely of every tree of the garden except for one. Instead, the serpent was indirectly suggesting that God was cruel by asking, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Gen 3:1) How easy and common it is for people to do that today. If people don’t like what God’s word says, it’s tempting to twist it to something more agreeable, or perhaps we just question whether God is truly good or not.

At some point, we just deny it all together. That’s what the serpent does here. He denies that God’s word is truthful. But he doesn’t stop there. He continues by arguing that God doesn’t want us to be like him. Wait a minute! Wasn’t humanity already “like God?” The people were made in the image of God. So, there is a similarity. But they aren’t exactly like God. This is a very important theological principle. God is the Creator. We are the creatures. We should not confuse those. Too often, people want to be their own god. They want to determine what is good and evil or right and wrong. Furthermore, they want to change it as needed to fit their current situation or desires. This is a common tenet of the postmodern way of thinking, “There is no such thing as absolute truth.” Of course, that is an absolute truth claim itself and stands in self-contradiction. If there is no god and no source of morality, then the logical thing to do would be to abolish laws, law enforcement, and justice systems such as prisons and let people do whatever they want to do. It shouldn’t take long to ponder the consequences of that and understand how ridiculous it is.

Verse 6 says, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” What we should not miss is the statement, “When the woman saw . . .” The point is that she let her senses override God’s explicit command. This is another problem we face in our lives, isn’t it? We need to value God’s word so that it’s in our minds, and perhaps when we let our senses tempt us to do something we shouldn’t, God’s word will remind us and encourage us to be discerning and exercise restraint. We need to remember that God wants what is good and best for us and isn’t trying to hold out on us. If we refuse, we’re making the decision that we are our own god, and will suffer the consequences of poor decisions.

Besides disobeying God’s clear command herself, she gave it to her husband, who was with her. The million-dollar question here is, “What was he doing this whole time?” If he was with her, why didn’t he step in and try to stop her? But he ate it with her.

Notice what has happened. God made the man and gave him the command to enjoy everything except the one tree. From the man, he made the woman to whom we assume the man gave God’s command. She knew what it was. There’s a sense in which he had a responsibility to inform her of God’s command. The man and woman together had authority over the beasts of the field. However, the woman listened to the serpent (a beast of the field) and followed the serpent’s lie. The man followed his wife’s offer despite knowing clearly what he was doing. The whole order of God’s creation has been turned around. The serpent has achieved a sense of authority over the people and creation based upon the peoples’ willing subjection to its will over God’s. As we continue through God’s story, we see how this plays out and the extent to which the world becomes very much unlike what God wanted for it in the beginning.

Verse 7 reveals the one thing the serpent said that was true: their eyes were opened. Unfortunately, that was not a good thing. Previously, they were “naked” but not ashamed. There was no guilt upon them of which they should be ashamed. But now they are ashamed of their nakedness, and they make an attempt to cover that shame. This is another thing that is not uncommon for people when they sin. They attempt to hide or cover up their guilt and shame.

Essentially, these few verses describe what people often call “the human condition.” This explains our own reality today. We are descendants of the first people and we’ve inherited and continue to manifest the hubris of the first people and become our own god and do our own thing.

We’re going to see the tragic consequences of their decision and see that God seems to have a plan up his sleeve. My encouragement is that we take an inventory of our own attitudes about God and his word and prayerfully ask that he gives us a passion for what is good and right according to his will and not our own senses and judgment.

Episode 233 - "Did God say . . ." - Genesis 3:1-3

Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

The first few chapters of Genesis are essential to understanding the Bible as a whole, and the third chapter of Genesis is no exception. What happens in Genesis 3 is the crisis or conflict for the greater story of God creating the world, designing humanity in his image, and giving them dignity and responsibility of being the stewards of God’s creation.

We recall that Adam named the animals. He exercised his God-given authority over the other creatures by naming them. So far, everything has gone according to what God has said. But every story has some type of crisis or conflict from which the plot develops, and a resolution is pursued. The crisis in God’s story through the Bible is revealed in this chapter. I believe that we are still experiencing this crisis today, but the resolution has been revealed, and we are waiting for the culmination of that resolution.

This third chapter opens by saying, “The serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field” (Gen 3:1). The serpent then speaks in the following verse. For those of us, living in today’s age, this would obviously cause us to suspect the genre to be fantasy and that this is fiction. Who could possibly assess the serpent’s craftiness, and when has anyone run into a talking snake? But if we believe this is God’s story in which we play a part, let’s take this at face value and see if we can identify with what is going on.

The statement that the serpent was more crafty than any other beast suggests that the serpent was going to cause trouble. I believe that is its purpose in the narrative. It should heighten our sense of an imminent problem.

If you recall, God gave the command to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17 to eat freely of every tree except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the unfolding of the narrative, the woman was not even created when the command was given. Yet, the serpent goes to her directly to ask what God said. Why doesn’t the serpent go to the man who has authority over him to ask what God said? If I’m not mistaken, the implied purpose is to test whether the message had been communicated to her. Based on the information that this creature is more crafty than the others, the serpent’s intent is not to discover God’s message but to confuse and contradict it.

This is evident in the first words it speaks, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Gen 2:1b) The serpent acts as though it knows what God has said, but is unsure of the details. Personally, I think it knew exactly what God said. Why? Because the first chapter of the Bible vividly describes God as one who expresses and makes known his will. If God is God, he could have thought creation into existence. But instead, he spoke creation into existence. This creator God clearly reveals his will. This fact alone distinguishes the LORD from other gods of the various people groups we read about in the Bible who worship gods represented by inanimate objects. They don’t speak. He also communicated with his people letting the man know that he could freely eat from every tree but the one tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God even communicated what would happen if the man disobeyed God’s one prohibition. I think we are supposed to understand that all the creatures heard God’s word and that in the harmony of all creation, everything understood God’s expressed word.

The craftiness of the serpent becomes more apparent in this question. Instead of repeating specifically what God said, the serpent turned God’s words 180 degrees. In doing so, the serpent indirectly challenges God’s goodness. It is using a question rhetorically to insinuate that God is cruel by putting them in such a wonderful place and not allowing them to enjoy it.

Eve correctly responded with what God said and the consequences with one little addition. She adds, “neither shall you touch it.” (Gen 3:3) Personally, I think this is supposed to get our attention. I think the reader is supposed to cry out at least in their thoughts, “No! God didn’t say that.”

Well, there’s more to this conversation. But I want to pause here to focus on a few things we should learn and even internalize.

First, God is good and desires good for his creatures. In a world in which there is a lot of trouble, we need to be guarded against the temptations to think otherwise.

Second, we should endeavor to know God’s word because it’s through obeying God’s word that we have life. When we get to the New Testament, we discover that Jesus is God’s Word. He is the most clear revelation of who God is. He has promised eternal life to those who believe in him.

Episode 232 - "It is not good for man to be alone" - Genesis 2:18-25

Gen. 2:18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was taken out of Man.”

Gen. 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

This is another one of those times where there is so much we could call attention to in this text. But it just seems appropriate to take it all together and focus on what is important.

The first thing is that God spoke again. To humorously borrow from an old commercial for an investment broker, the pitch line is “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.” Well, it seems to me that when God speaks, we need to pay attention and listen. In this case, God, for the first time recorded in the Scriptures, expresses his assessment that something is NOT good, and he immediately resolves to do something about it. It was “not good that man should be alone” (Gen 2:18).

Before we look at God’s plan and action to resolve this, let’s consider the principle revealed here. We’ve already learned some very important God-revealed facts about humanity, haven’t we? Humans are valuable in the eyes of God. That is by God’s intent and design. This is a valuable tenet for us today. For those who claim to follow the God of the Bible, we should value other people with no regard to race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic class, or other characteristics that may differentiate us from them based on outward appearances. The Scriptures tell us that God is no respecter of persons. (Acts 10:34, Rom 2:11) It would appear that this value assigned to us by God is related to the measure of how we bear God’s image.

Now we receive another truth about people that should inform how we live; how we think about others and interact with others. It is not good for man to be alone. What is evident in the immediate context is that God’s intent is to create the woman and the marriage relationship through which they can “be fruitful and multiply,” as was already expressed in the more general story of creation in chapter one. But at the more general level, we find the principle that God does not want us to isolate ourselves. We should not think that we can avoid people at all costs and just look out for ourselves. We need to be otherly-minded. This is not a condemnation of introverts. It is a principle that should inform us that God wants us to pursue and engage in relationships with other people.

Why would God say this? Why is this so important? We Christians understand that God is triune. There is one God, but God is three in person. Therefore, there has been fellowship within the Godhead from eternity past. Furthermore, we’ll see that as the Scriptures unfold, God doesn’t just want people to be in relationships with other people; God wants to be at the center of these relationships.

Picking up where I left off, God expressed his plan to “make a helper fit for him.” (Gen 2:18) The idea is that God was not going to make someone just like the man he’s created. However, the person he would create corresponds to the man and has similarities but is different enough to be a perfect complement to the man. In short, together, they will best fulfill the roles and responsibilities given to them by God, and they will best reflect the dignity and value of which they were endowed by their Creator.

Before God created the woman, it’s recorded that God brought every animal he had created to the man who named them. The man exercised his God-given responsibility to rule over the creatures and the earth. But the helper fit for the man was not among those creatures.

God could have formed the woman out of the ground as he had the man. But to form her out of the man himself reveals the connectedness and the intimacy they were designed to have. The culmination is when the LORD brought the woman to the man, and he was in absolute awe. He recognized that this is the perfect partner for him. (vv. 22-23)

This section closes with two important statements about this couple. First, the marriage relationship is the God-ordained formation of a new family in which the allegiances have shifted from parent-child to husband-wife. There are many people today who fail to get that. It does not mean to disregard or abandon our parents. But the child’s primary responsibility is now to their spouse and children.

The second statement says this first couple was naked and not ashamed. This is a picture of innocence. They have no knowledge of any wrong done. They have nothing to hide.

So what can we learn from this section? I would suggest that we need to embrace God’s assessment that it is not good for man to be alone. This does not mean that it’s sinful for people to be single. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians argues for the value of remaining single so that one’s focus and energy can be on doing the Lord’s work. But, of course, that means serving others, doesn’t it? God wants us to be concerned for others and seek to serve them.

Episode 231 - "Death for Disobedience" - Genesis 2:10-17

Gen. 2:10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Gen. 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

I believe that there’s a good reason for every word that is in the Scriptures. However, it is hard to discern the purpose for some of the details. Genesis 2:10-14 is an example of this. For example, why are these details concerning the location of Eden and its garden important when it would have been long gone by the time this book was written? Why would people need to know where it was and about the valuable resources that had been there?

Here are some thoughts. First of all, what we do recognize and know are the current locations of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They are both in modern-day Iraq. We know that Cush later in the Bible is identified as modern-day Ethiopia. However, there is disagreement over whether it’s referring to a river running through Ethiopia. There is a common agreement that no one knows where Havilah is. The point is we don’t really know where Eden was located. Furthermore, wherever it was, surely there were significant changes in the courses of these rivers after the flood, which we’ll read about soon, and rivers often change their course over time. But don’t miss the point that there is specific detail to where it was. This suggests that the author is not making up a mythical place with no basis of geography and reality. The detail suggests that it was a real place.

Another potential purpose for the detail is to describe a lush and luxurious place that might indicate a place of God’s presence. The prophets later speak of the Promised Land becoming like Eden. (Ezekiel 36:35, Joel 2:3, Isaiah 51:3, Zechariah 14:8, Revelation 22:1-2) See also Haggai 2:7-8 and Revelation 21:18. Admittedly, I am pushing the text a bit more than what is given in the immediate context. But I don’t think it’s wrong to point out that what this setting in Eden looked like at the beginning of time when God created it and how it parallels the New Jerusalem we read about at the end of time. This is an important observation as we begin to read Genesis because it begins a long story about God and his perfect creation, the conflict that arises and brings chaos into the world, and the long road to resolution when God brings his followers back to a garden of Eden like setting to live for eternity. The Bible is a grand story of God and we don’t want to quickly gloss over this information as though it is irrelevant.

At the very least, this description of Eden paints a beautiful scene in which God’s story will quickly unfold. It describes his creativity and goodness. The rivers help sustain life for plants, animals, and humanity, and this scene describes an abundance of God’s provision.

In both Genesis 2:8 and Genesis 2:15, the author says that God “put” the man in the garden. But the verb that is translated as “put” in each of the verses is different than the other. John Sailhamer, in The Bible Expository Commentary, Genesis, points out that the verb in verse 15 is used elsewhere in the Scriptures to indicate “God’s ‘rest’ or ‘safety,’ which he gives to man in the land (e.g., Gen 19:16; Deut 3:20; 12:10; 25:19), and the ‘dedication’ of something in the presence of the Lord (Exod 16:33-34; Lev 16:23; Num 17:4; Deut 26:4, 10.” If this is the intent of the verb used in verse 15, it would lend support to the description of Eden in verses 10-14 as a place of God’s presence. The idea is that in giving man responsibility, it was not a labor of toil but purpose and fellowship with God.

Verses 16-17 contain some of the most important words uttered in the history of the world. God commanded the man to eat freely of every tree in the garden except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you recall, this tree and the tree of life were said to be in the center of the garden. So, the man could eat as much from the tree of life as he wanted. It would seem that doing so would sustain his life. But eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would result in certain death.

When our sons were young, they sometimes asked, “Why did God put that tree of the knowledge of good and evil there for people to eat if he didn’t want them eating it?” That’s a good question and the answer is not in the text. My speculation is that it was a test to see if people would listen to their Creator or do whatever they wanted to do. It clearly wasn’t a trap. God made it clear what was expected and what would happen if he disobeyed. Furthermore, God encouraged him to eat the variety of good things he had provided in the garden. It’s not like the man had no options. Lastly, being made in the image of God indicates to me that man needed to exercise his will on what he would and wouldn’t do. God exercised his will to make the earth and life and to make it very good for us. Enjoying the abundance of God’s provision and trusting the One who made it all sounds like a good choice to make.

This is a valuable lesson for us. Do we believe that God is good? Do we believe that God wants what is best for us and that he wants us to trust him? When some of Jesus’ followers abandoned him, Peter expressed that Jesus had the words of eternal life. Like Peter, we may not always understand what God is doing. But we need to trust that he alone gave us life and can give us eternal life.

Episode 230 - "God formed . . . and breathed into . . ." - Genesis 2:4-9

Gen. 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

Gen. 2:5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Verse 4 sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? What do generations have to do with the heavens and the earth? The Hebrew word that is translated “generations,” can be transliterated as “toledot.” It’s often used at the beginning of genealogies. But the idea is what comes forth out of something else. Therefore, it makes sense to use that expression for genealogies. But Dr. John H. Walton, in the NIV Life Application Commentary volume for Genesis, suggests that the reason this expression is used here is a form of irony intended to be a critique, even an attack, on the views of other ancient cultures about the beginning of the universe. He argues that other ancient Near Eastern cultures believed that gods brought forth other gods. (See reference below) But what is revealed in Genesis is that the LORD brought forth the heavens and the earth, and through it, He brought everything good for life. Therefore, Genesis 2:4 is not only an introduction to the detailed account of the creation of humanity but, to the Hebrews coming out of Egypt and their descendants who would enter the Promised Land, it could be highlighting how their God, the LORD, is bigger and better than the gods of other cultures around them. Throughout the Bible, the writers want us to know the self-revelation of God. Understanding who we worship is essential to our life and walk of faith.

In verse 5, a few details are given to support the argument that the LORD is acting in a manner that reveals his good intent for humanity. The bushes and plants had not yet sprung up from the ground. Then we read, “the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land.” It tells us that God is in control of everything necessary for life. If nothing else, this is antithetical to a Deist worldview, one that believes that god is nothing but some initial cause to the universe with no intervention to sustain life in any way. This detail also raises the question, “When did the LORD cause the rain to fall?” We’ll get to that later. But verse 6 explains that “a mist” (or possibly springs) came up from the ground and watered the whole ground.

One more detail in verse 5 poses another problem; “there was no man to work the ground.” (v. 5) This creation was not an accident or even started by a god with no intent, willingness, or ability to orchestrate that which was to come forth to support life and be a place where mankind could exercise their God-design authority and privilege to rule over the earth as God’s vice-regents.

Verse 7 introduces God’s plan and solution for the previously stated “problems.” “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Gen 2:7). The picture here is that humanity was a “hands on” project for God. It pictures both intent and a sense of connectedness between the Creator and the man.

The goodness and blessing that is revealed from the Creator God to the man is then heightened even more in Genesis 2:8, which states that God made a garden with a variety of plant food and put the man in the garden. It’s as if God is saying to the man, “I want you to have the best of what I have made for you.” These plants created a beautiful scenery in which he would dwell and also enjoy the experience of eating them. Verse 9 concludes with two trees mentioned by name. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Given that this is the first time “evil” is mentioned in the Scriptures, it would appear the intent is to provide an ominous tip that trouble is coming.

So, what is our “take-away” from this text? What can those of us in the 21st century glean from this text? I would suggest that we understand that the God we worship is not some force or power with no concern or ability to interact in our lives today. The God we worship values mankind and wants what is absolutely best for them. This gives us hope and a reason to worship the LORD.

John Walton, Genesis, Accordance electronic, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001).

Episode 229 - "God cease from all his work on the seventh day" - Genesis 2:1-3

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Before we dive into the text, let’s briefly discuss the context for a moment. The Scriptures and tradition hold that Moses wrote the first five books of what we as Christians, call the Old Testament. These are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. As we’ve just read, it begins with a description of the creation of the universe. Deuteronomy will end at the end of Moses’ life with Joshua ready to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land after being oppressed in Egypt for 400 years.

Among other things, Moses is giving the Israelites an account of who their God, Yahweh, is and how he created the universe and life on the earth. Ancient accounts from Egyptians and other ancient cultures on how their god(s) created things are preserved in some measure today. Many scholars believe that Genesis is writing to the Israelites to say, “You have one God, Yahweh, and here’s how he created the world.” That is helpful for us to know as we read and think about the creation account in Genesis and what it says about God. It’s also helpful to understand that this original audience who had received a covenant promise by God in Exodus and again in Deuteronomy would need to understand why the sign of the covenant promise was for them to remember and honor the seventh day (Sabbath) of the week. It all returns to the original “seventh day” in Genesis 2:1-3.

On the sixth day, God saw all that he had made, and it was “very good.” Genesis 2:1 emphasizes the completion of God’s creative work. Personally, I find it comforting that God completes what he starts. It reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s introductory encouragement in his letter to the church at Philippi, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philip. 1:6). Paul clearly believes that God will accomplish in our lives what he begins. He won’t leave us undone or scrap us.

Besides completing what he started, the English Standard Version (ESV) says that God “rested on the seventh day from all his work he had done” (Gen 2:2) The word “rested” is actually better translated as “ceased.” God wasn’t tired. He didn’t need a nap. The emphasis is that he “ceased” creating on the seventh day. When the Israelites got in trouble for violating the Sabbath day against God’s express command, they didn’t get in trouble for not napping. They got in trouble for not ceasing their regular activities of providing for themselves. They were to trust the LORD to provide for their needs. But they didn’t. (See Exod. 16:4-30) They were trusting in their own efforts. This reality has significance for us, doesn’t it?

Finally, Moses wrote, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy” (Gen 2:3) What this means is that God wasn’t just giving the Israelites a day off from work. He made it holy or set apart for a holy purpose. God set apart the seventh day for it to be a day when people cease from the self-absorbed routine work and focus on God.

One question that occasionally arises among Christians sensitive to doing what is good and pleasing is, “Do we as Christians have to observe the Sabbath?” There are some traditions that believe they do have to observe the Sabbath along with other requirements of the Mosaic Law. However, most mainline Christian church denominations understand that the Law, which could never be perfectly obeyed by people, was truly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. (Rom 8:1-8 for one example). Therefore, we who are trusting in the one who could and did completely obey the Law are “in Christ” and not under the Law of “Sin and Death.” (The Mosaic Law) Some Christians argue that the first day of the week is the Christian’s Sabbath. I’m not sure I buy into this latter argument. However, I think we could all agree that the idea of ceasing from our own efforts to focus on the LORD and worship him is a good and necessary discipline.

Perhaps this week, we can cease from our busyness and give praise to God that he has made all things good and that he provides for our needs. We can prayerfully reflect upon how he is completing the work of transforming us into the image of Christ.

Episode 228 - "Behold! It was very good!" - Genesis 1:27-31

Gen. 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Gen. 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

In our last episode, we reached the climax of this story of creation. Among all the living things that God created, humanity is most like God. The structure of the narrative supports this assessment. But the rest of the chapter explains what it means to be made in God’s image.

First of all, “male and female he created them” (v. 27) qualifies that both genders reflect the image of God. I take this to mean there is equality of the genders. That is not to say that the genders are the same. We’ll see evidence in a future episode that suggests differences between the genders.

In verse 28, “God blessed them” . . . and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it . . .” (v. 28a) As God wanted the living things in the seas and the birds of the air to multiply and fill their respective domains, mankind is also blessed by God and instructed to multiply and fill the earth. People have observed that the command to multiply has been the command of God most commonly obeyed. This will not be the last time we will hear (read) this command. Why does God want people to multiply and fill the earth? I think it’s so that they can be stewards of what God has made throughout the world. In other words, God has made humanity to be caretakers of this earth and all that it within it. (v. 28b)

Verses 29-30 reveal that God made plants to be the source of food for both humans and beasts. Aside from the diet that God had designed for animals and people, we see something significant. God is communicating his will to humanity. Once again, this God of the Bible is not an impersonal force but a cognizant being that made himself and his will known. God does not leave things to chance.

This section concludes with, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (v. 31) For each creative day, God assessed what he accomplished and saw that it was good. But when he assessed the whole creation, it was “very good.”

The God that made us created it all to be very good for us. The beginning of the grand story through the Bible tells us so much about this God. It’s important for us to think about these things. God communicates his will to mankind. God wants what is good for us. What God does reflects who God is. Let us take these things to heart as we continue through this story.

Episode 227 - "And then God said, 'Let us make man in our image'" - Genesis 1:24-26

Gen. 1:24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Gen. 1:26 Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

As mentioned in the previous episode, the description for each day of creation is longer with more detail than the preceding days. The effect is to build the suspense for the climax.

Verse 24 begins the sixth day, and the description is long enough that I’m going to split my discussion into two episodes. First, have you noticed the repetition of “according to their kinds?” We first encountered this on day three of creation, when God created all plant life. The expression is also used for birds, sea creatures, and now land animals. What is the point? The point is that, according to Genesis, God designed species of plant and animal life. God is not to be brought down to some creative force that was simply an initial cause of life. God is an intentional creator with a creative imagination for the variety and complexity of the various living things that were made. Do I believe God could have made his living creatures able to adapt to changes and challenges for survival? Absolutely! That’s part of the creative design.

So the beginning of the sixth day was the creation of land animals and once again, “God saw that it was good.” (Gen 1:25) But God wasn’t finished.

Verse 26 begins with, “Then God said.” (Gen 1:26) So far, the story of each day has begun with “And God said.” This simple change in wording indicates that what follows is the climax and grand finale of what God will create. “Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth’” is the whole verse. Out of everything God has created, the sun, moon, stars, sky, seas, and dry land, the pinnacle of his creation is humanity.

Consider verse 26 carefully. First, we notice that humanity most resembles God. This does not mean that God is actually some bearded old man in outer space as one might surmise from Michelangelo’s painting titled The Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. People debate the exact nature in which humanity resembles God. But look at the context, and I think we’ll get a better idea.

God expresses that these creatures made in his likeness will have dominion over living creatures in the sky, waters, and dry land. God is putting them (us) in charge to take care of these other living things. God, as the Creator, has the authority over all creation and demonstrates that authority by naming it as he wishes. But when he creates humanity, he says, “Let them have dominion.”

There’s is a lot more said about the creation of humans that we’ll look at next week. But for now, ask yourself how that makes you feel that God has entrusted you to take care of other creatures. What does that say about God’s value for you?

Episode 226 - "And God saw that it was good" - Genesis 1:6-23

Gen. 1:6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Gen. 1:9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

Gen. 1:11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Gen. 1:14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

Gen. 1:20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

This may be the longest section of Scripture I’ve handled on one blog and podcast session. It’s not that we couldn’t say a lot about each day of Creation. But my intent is to not miss the forest for looking so closely at the trees.

In our last episode, we addressed how, in good story fashion, God resolved the problem of darkness over the formless and void earth. God spoke light into existence. This pattern continues through each event of Creation. God’s word has power.

As I read this section, did you notice that according to this story, God created light givers after He created light? Interesting. In fact, according to this story, it’s not until the fourth day that God created the Sun, Moon, and the stars. Some scholars have pointed out that the story is told to emphasize God creating the spheres of Creation: the heavens, the dry land, and the waters in the first three days of Creation and then filling each of them on the fourth through the sixth days.

The question I want you to consider is, “What is happening in this story that is important for us to understand?” One clue is the repetition that occurs throughout this narrative. Did you notice the repetition of the phrase, “And God saw that it was good?”

That tells us something about God’s character, doesn’t it? It reveals that God will not miss a detail and wants this creation to be perfectly suitable for the living things within it.

There is some more repetition. The word “rule” is repeatedly used to describe a function of the greater and lesser lights that rule over day and night, respectively. We will see this term more often very soon. I find it fascinating that God assigns things to rule over other things. It’s an essential theme throughout the Scriptures.

The final observation I want to make of this text concerns God’s action after He created sea creatures and birds. Verse 22 says, “And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’” God didn’t leave this to chance. It was God’s goodwill toward these creatures to multiply and spread throughout the realm of the earth.

My whole point in making these observations is that this story is not something on which people should be splitting hairs over questions like “Was a ‘day’ of God’s creation still twenty-four hours long before the fourth day when God created the Sun and the Moon?” The point of this text is to tell the original audience and later to us about this awesome Creator God.

The story is not over yet. If you haven’t noticed, the description for each day of Creation is getting longer with each day. The effect of this is to anticipate something big is still coming. We’ll get to that next week. But for now, focus on the awesomeness and goodness of the Creator God described in this first chapter of the Bible.