Month: December 2017

So, people begin to invoke the name of the Lord.  It took them long enough.  You would think that the stories of Adam and Eve with their walks with God in the garden would have triggered their children and grandchildren to a devotion to the Lord which would have been obvious.  But Scripture says that they began invoking the name of the Lord only at the end of chapter 4.  What is sad in these stories is that the first accounts we have of humanity and their relationship with God is defined through sin.  Adam and Eve sin, and so are punished and cast out.  Cain sins and so is banished.  But also in both of these cases we have God who ensures not only the protection of His children, but also their longevity and their security in perpetuity.  God loves us even while we were yet sinners.

We find in this chapter the often misused quote: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  The answer to that questions is, of course, yes, of course.  More often than not we misuse it to say that no, we are not responsible for our brother.  But obviously in this context Cain was very much responsible for the demise of his brother so yes, he was at that point his brother’s keeper.  Don’t let anyone use this quote to describe how they have either washed their hands of a situation or trying to shed any responsibility vis a vis another individual. 

There is a lot of ground here to cover.  Let’s begin by what is not mentioned in these verses.  We do not see the name Satan or the devil anywhere in these verses.  But we have associated the serpent with Satan and we feel secure in that association.  I’m okay with it, as long as it doesn’t remove our responsibility from whatever sinful actions we may take.

Do you notice what happens as soon as they eat the fruit?  As soon as they eat the fruit their first realization is that they were naked.  Now, that is a bit of a stumper for me.  God has created us in a certain way and our bodies ought not to embarrass or cause shame, they ought to be just another part of that miracle which is God’s creation.  But for some reason we are somewhat obsessed with our bodies and sexuality.  It all goes back to the garden where we became embarrassed and that embarrassment turned to shame and that shame turned to hiding from God, and hiding from God turned into creating idols which are addictive.  

God’s tortured cry in vs.9, “Where are you?” is echoed throughout Scripture.  From the prodigal son to the disciples who flee Jesus in his darkest hour, God’s call to us and is wanting to find us as we hide from him and create our own idols haunts our existence.  That “where are you” is a beseeching on God’s part to come back to him after we have run away.  It is not a threat to punish, although punishment does come, but it is a promise of restoration. It is a promise that God will make things right even if it means knitting garments for us with His own hands.  Our God loves us so much!

Did you know that there is another creation account from the pagan Babylonians?  Here is the text of it: 

http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/enuma.htm

It contains very similar wording to what we find in Genesis, and some scholars see it as a predecessor to the Hebrew text of Genesis.  There is no conflict here for me in regards to a nation writing about creation to uplift their god over other gods.  The Babylonians wanted to lift up their god, Marduk, as the most powerful and so ascribe to him the creative ability.  

Some Christian scholars will also say that there are two creation stories which do not correspond to each other: the one found in Genesis 1 and the one found in Genesis 2.  I have a different take.  I believe that there is one creation story with Genesis 1 giving us the general flow of creation with the 6 days.  Genesis 2 gives us the seventh and final day as well as describe more in detail the creation of humanity.  

If you have the time read through those two chapters again and you can see how at vs. 3 it seems like the author is taking a break and then diving into the details of the creation of the human which begins a more detailed description starting in vs. 4.  It fits for me and seems to go together better than two separate accounts that might conflict with each other.  

When you look at the account of the creation of Adam you see God breathing His Spirit into him.  What a powerful image.  For some reason this scene in this movie comes to my mind whenever I read this passage.  I envision God getting down and getting muddy to create us.  So, I tried really hard to find a clip of Robert Redford whispering to the horses to train them as an image of God getting down and creating us but I couldn’t find that scene.  

I know I have included a few times this article on what it means exactly that woman was created to be a “helper”.  I hope you find it useful.  

A Suitable Helper (in Hebrew)

We transition from the Greek language to the Hebrew language as we move from the New Testament to the Old Testament.  The first five books of the Bible are called the Torah which means literally the law.  But before you establish the law you need to know how things came about, how what we have now has come to be.  Genesis 1 gives us an opportunity to set the stage, to understand why God does what he does and how much he loves us.  That is the beginning of God’s Word for us, it simply is that he loves us so much that all that we see is a result of that relationship.

Many hours have been lost by people on both sides arguing over creation or evolution and all the permutations in between.  Let me say from the beginning that I do believe that God created the heaven’s and the earth.  I believe that is the point of the whole story.  Christian evolutionists also believe that God created, but the details are different than what is expressed in the Scriptural account.  I’ll never forget a confirmation paper that I received probably 20 years ago where the topic of this youth’s paper was why you can’t be an  evolutionist and a Christian.  I completely disagree.

While I am a creationist I also recognize that the Bible is not a science textbook and that the primary point of these creation stories is that God created, period.  That is all that really matters as far as the truth of Scripture, we need to agree that God created.  But how God created is not a point which separates those who are saved and those that are not.  We need to be sure we keep that clear.  While I take an approach to Scripture which tends to be more literal (for example I believe that there was a real Adam and Eve, I’m okay with that), in no way does a literal vs. metaphorical approach define a salvation vs. damned approach.  As we look at some of the most important biblical stories in Genesis I am going to take a more literal approach, it is more interesting for me that way and I actually believe it.  But no one reading this should ever think for a moment that either you take it all literally or you are an unbeliever.  There simply are no grounds for this false dichotomy.

So, creation, pretty powerful reading isn’t it?  God creates from the void, from the nothing.  Here is my favorite depiction of the creation below.

Sorry for the unwanted advertisement for Alamy, but it was the best image that I could find which included not just the creation of Adam, but the other days of creation as well.  One highlight which must be mentioned is how God creates.  God speaks and creation happens.  It is through the Word of God that things happen.  Just like the Gospel of John mentions.  Feel free to read John 1 again to see the role that the Word plays in creation.  That Word which became flesh which we cannot forget this day after Christmas.

The next chapter we will look at creation again and the relationship that we have with God and each other as well as another potential creation story from a culture and religion that is not ours.  Tune in tomorrow!

Get ready to roll into the book of Genesis.  We will begin the study on December 26.  Pick up your booklet in church and follow along.

Pastor Bob