Wow! That Hurt On So Many Different Levels

[I am backed up on posting my daily thoughts, but here are the first 3 days of my actual reading of God's Word. At a minimum, I am shooting for a chapter a day. Chapter 3 was huge in my life and had a ton of GREAT reminders.]

Genesis chapters 1-11 could be described as a survey of the world before Abraham. Chapters 12-50 focus on one main family line in considerable detail. Other ancient nonbiblical stories do exist recounting stories about both creation and the flood. In ancient literary traditions, creation is a struggle often involving conflict between the gods. The flood was sent because the gods could not stand the noise made by human beings, yet they could not control it.

These chapters should act as eyeglasses so that readers focus on the points their author is making and go on to read the rest of the Bible in light of them.

Chapter 1
Day 1: Let there be light…and it was good. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Day 2: God created the expanse and called it Heaven (sky in NIV).

Day 3: He created the Earth (land in NIV) and Seas…and it was good. Vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed…and it was good. (multiplication)

Day 4: Sun, moon and stars to give light to the earth and to mark the seasons…and it was good.

Day 5: Fish/creatures of the sea and birds…and it was good. Told them to be fruitful and multiply. (multiplication)

Day 6: Livestock/creeping things/beasts of the earth…and it was good. Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. 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. 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. 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 plan for food.” And it was so. …And it was VERY good.

Chapter 2
Day 7: God rested and made it holy.

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. He placed him in a garden. The tree of life and tree of good and evil were in the midst of the garden (the river of Eden divided out of it into four: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates). Lord, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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.”

The Lord had man give names to all livestock and to the birds of the heaven and to every beast of the field. But there was no helper fit for him. So, the Lord put him to sleep, took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And He made woman from the rib. Adam regarding Eve, “Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become ONE flesh.

Chapter 3
Serpent to Eve, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Serpent playing dumb) Eve, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 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.’” Serpent, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desire 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.

Most of chapter 2, God is called “Lord God.” In chapter 3, the serpent only referred to Him as “God.”

It indicates Eve “saw” that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes. Tells us she might of checked it out for the first time with the serpent right then and there.

“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. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Adam blames Eve for eating from the tree and Eve blames the serpent. God specifically has words for the serpent, Eve, and Adam.

MY THOUGHTS (some very random):

1. SABBATH (Chapter 2):
I stink at it. I need to figure that one out.

2. OWNERSHIP (Chapter 2):
God had Adam name all the animals. Giving people ownership is not only a huge “How to get buy-in” leadership principle, it tells us…more importantly…God wanted to do this “with us.”

3. LOVE, OBEDIENCE AND A “HEALTHY” FEAR (Chapter 2):
God desires for us to REPETITIVELY CHOOSE to love and obey. And, I would imagine, as with all fathers, to have a “healthy” fear (or respect) of Him so that when our flesh (pride, selfishness, insecurity, whatever) wants to disobey, we will “choose not to choose” to go against His Will. He will not force us to LOVE Him or OBEY Him. God wants us to trust Him, as our heavenly Father, to have our best interest in mind.

Andy Stanley says, “When we see as God sees, we’ll do as God says.” When our eyes are selfishly (or fearfully) on ourselves, we can’t see as God sees, which makes it hard to do as God says.

One way to see as God sees is to know how/what He sees. Apart from the Holy Spirit, the only way to do that is by reading His Word. Luke 24:45 says, “Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” In my words, “Then He opened my mind so I could see how He sees (by understanding the Scriptures).” Well, that’s my prayer anyway.

4. WOW! THE FALL HURT ON SO MANY DIFFERENT LEVELS (Chapter 3):
Serpent to Eve, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Serpent playing dumb) Eve, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 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.’” Serpent, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desire 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.

a. First time I noticed it says “she also gave some to her husband who was WITH her.” Ouch! Oh the challenges of a divided heart.

b. “Did God actually say…” As if, should God not specifically prohibit it, it gives one permission. While different situation, I think we do that…figure out how to get around the “heart” of God’s intent.

c. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened.” Satan challenged Eve on whether God had her best interest in mind. She did not “choose not to choose” when tempted. The desire to “choose” not to live under authority will always lie within us.

d. “and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Jealousy of those stronger, faster, wiser, more gifted lies within us as well.

e. Most of chapter 2, God is called “Lord God.” In chapter 3, the serpent only referred to Him as “God.” How someone addresses the Lord should be a clear indicator of how “deeply” you listen to them.

f. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes…” Adam and Eve took steps toward the tree. If you dance with sin, you’ll sin. Moral of the story: Flee, baby, flee.

g. God took walks in the Garden, presumably to hang out with Adam and Eve. Wow! Because of redemption, we can still walk with Him.

h. But unrepented sin will separate us from God, make us afraid and cause us to blame others for our mistakes. Repent!

i. Eve pulled Adam in. Adam was supposed to be stronger/the leader, but instead of preventing or fleeing he ended up succumbing. The smallest can take down the strongest if we fail to realize our status. Sin loves company.

j. God gave Adam the opportunity to confess by asking a simple question, “Where are you?” vs. just telling him “I know what you’ve done.” Adam ended up blaming, not confessing his part in the sin. He blamed both Eve and God (“the woman whom YOU gave to be with me”). How well do I blame-shift?

k. What an interesting question, “Where are you?” Maybe that’s should be the “question of the day” each evening, “Where are you, Judy”…not physically, but spiritually.

l. It sounded like Adam didn’t really seek to truly understand the “why behind God’s what”. Regardless we are to submit, but seeking to understand the heart of the Lord is a big deal.

m. God says to Adam, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you…” While we are to seek counsel from people, it should be secondary to seeking counsel from the Lord. And, if the counsel ever doesn’t like up with God’s word, throw it out.

n. The Lord still did not abandon, he made clothes for them out of skins vs. the fig leaves they had used initially (note: something had to die to cover up their sin), but things would change, especially when it comes to unrepented sin. The Lord must have been utterly devastated. Based on the verses, it sounds like his initial sadness turned to righteous anger.

o. The marriage issues that the fall created are disastrous. Both abandoned their roles, strife abounds.

p. One of the hardest things to do is ask forgiveness when we’ve failed God or another. No where do you see Adam swallowing his pride and saying, “I am so sorry, I was wrong.”

q. When we sin, we think God doesn’t want anything to do with us. But in the case it was quite the opposite, He purposefully puts Himself in a place to meet with them. It’s us who want to run.

r. While sin has it’s “moment” of pleasure (like with Eve, it looks good), the thought of “breaking the heart of the Father” (along with a “healthy” fear) should prevent us from “seeking or acting on it.”

s. Everything Adam and Eve were capable of, so am I. My decisions determine my destiny.