Genesis 7

I would like to think we are making our way through the bible quite nicely. It’s going to be a slow progress. If one chapter a day is not quick enough for you, then by all means, I encourage you to read ahead. Read it and soak it in. The only way we are going to get through the ups and downs of life is to keep the word of God close to our hearts. Let’s continue with our study.

Today we have Genesis 7. While reading this I have noticed that people tend to leave things out when they speak of the bible. Remember in Genesis 6 when God told Noah to take two of every kind of bird and two of every kind of creature that moved on the earth? Well, there is more to that and you will see that first thing in Genesis 7.

God tells Noah to go into the ark with his family. Then He also says to take seven kind of clean animal, a male and its mate. Two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and it’s mate. And seven of every kind of bird, a male and it’s mate.

It makes sense really. God’s number is 7. I am a little confused as to what a clean and unclean animal is though. I am also confused as to why this is kept bible study. All my life I have been told that Noah only took two of each kind of animal and bird. But, I guess this is why we should read the bible for ourselves right?

Ponder on that for a while. The lesson we take from this; never take someone’s word for it. Go read the bible yourself. J

As we move through what God has to say to Noah, God says to Noah that in seven days He will make it rain for forty nights and forty days. That is a long time for it to rain! I get worried about when it rains for a whole day and my yard becomes super flooded.

Noah, being the awesome follower of God that he was, did just as God asked and didn’t even stop to think about it. It’s funny that just from reading the first few chapters of Genesis we already know what we should be doing. If we disobey God we are only hurting ourselves. But if we listen to Him and do as He says, we will be the ones on the ark as God prepares to wipe out everything else on earth. Think about that for a moment.

Noah was 600 years old when God flooded the earth! Do a little math, God said that man had 120 years before he flooded the earth. So Noah was already 380 years old when God made the decision. AMAZING! Can you imagine being able to build a massive boat at such an old age?

God sent all the animals to Noah, all he had to do was load them into the boat and he had to do this in 7 days. I am sure people think of it as chaotic, but I always imagined the animals lining up perfectly waiting to be lead into the ark. It’s a beautiful picture. A small picture of God’s great power. We are even told when the flood happened!

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month – on that day all the sprins of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.” Genesis 7:11

The water rose so high that it covered even the highest mountains and they were 20 feet and more underwater. I don’t know about you but I have a bit of a fear of open waters. Imagining looking out of my window on the ark and seeing nothing but water…it’s kind of freaky! There is no dry land left. It is all underwater, just as God planned. All creatures, including man, that walked the earth was no gone, except those that had been saved by the ark. Only 8 people left in the entire world. I wonder if Noah or any one with him realized how alone they were.

Once the forty days and forty nights were over the rain stopped. But the earth stayed flooded for 150 days.

And that is all that Genesis 7 has to say. What used to be a world full of hate, anger, destruction and wickedness had been wiped away in what seems like moments. And all it took was a decision by God to rid the world of the ugliness. Remember that next time you are talking about someone.

Now, go read the next chapter. What happens after the flood?

Much Love,

Heather

Genesis 6

Today we will be discussing Genesis 6 which is where we meet Noah. So, if you have read it already then continue on. If you have not been doing your homework then go read Genesis 6 and come back. I will wait.

Genesis 6 starts off by talking about the destruction of man. The angels start noticing the daughters of men and decided to marry them. God basically says in verse 3 that the angels blood and human blood mixing is not going to turn out well and he says that man will live for 120 years.

When I first read this I thought that God was saying the life expectancy of any one person was now only 120 years. But after doing a little bit of research I actually found out that he is saying the world had 120 years before the flood. I was actually a little shocked and enlightened when I read that. It made so much more sense then what I thought because there are people past the flood that lived well over 120 years.

Any ways, when an angel and a human have a child they call it Nephilim. If you have been following the latest trends in books you will know that a lot of books focus now on Nephilim and fallen angels. I was just a little (a lot!) excited when I saw that Nephilim were actually real! They are also the reason that people started creating the myths of the Greek gods. They were actually real too! Only, not gods. They were half angel and half human so they were stronger and likely prettier than other humans.

Men became even more corrupt and God actually started regretting that he had created men. How crazy is that? But it wasn’t just man that God decided to wipe out. He wanted to get rid of it all! Everything he had created except the earth itself. If it moved God wanted it gone.

But then there was Noah. Noah and God were pretty tight. They were like best buds. You get the picture right? Noah was a good man. He did everything he should and he listened to God. So God tells Noah that he is going to wipe out everyone, BUT he wants to keep Noah and his family.

Now, God is a straight up kind of guy. He knows what He wants and He gets it. God tells Noah to build an ark and He tells Noah how to build it. How big to make it, how many floors and rooms and even what kind of wood to use! All Noah had to do was build it. Then He tells Noah what to fill it with. Two of each kind of animal and two of every bird and of course plenty of  food.

My brother had mentioned once how he didn’t believe the whole ark thing because of the animals. He questioned how all those animals could live on the boat without killing each other. I imagine they were all in separate rooms. Also, they were doing as God told them. Animals don’t question God’s word. They just do it. Maybe we should take a lesson from animals and Noah? I think we would all be a lot happier then.

I have seen stories about Noah and his ark. It always showed how Noah questioned what God wanted him to do and how he tried to get others to help but no one believed what Noah was telling them. None of that actually happened. Noah didn’t even bat an eye when God told him what to do. He did it just as God told him. I wonder where those stories come from…I think it could have been made to show how wicked the world had become, but who really knows.

And that is it for Genesis 6. I have to say, it was one of my favorites to type so far.

Don’t forget to read the next chapter! Genesis 7. We finally get to the flood!

Much Love,

Heather

Genesis 5

It is time to move into all the little details that no one wants to know. I find chapters like these really boring and I don’t feel bad for saying it because I know a lot of people think so.

Welcome to Genesis 5. This chapter takes us from Adam all the way to Noah. Why? Because it’s kind of awesome to know where Noah came from. I will try to get through this as quickly and as painfully as possible. The reason I want to go through this is because I love to see how long people lived back in the “Bible Age.”

Adam was 130 before Eve gave birth to Seth. Can you imagine living that long and then having a child?? Altogether Adam lived 930 years! Some people say that the years and months were not as long as what we have today. Some say that there was only 10 months in a year, but even then 930 years is still a super long time. I like to imagine that these people really did live a long time. If you think about it, Adam and Eve had a direct line to God so maybe God just kept them around longer then. I always think of Sims (yes the game.) In Sims3 you can prolong your characters life by changing the settings. So I can have one game where my Sims live forever and another game where they hardly live at all. I am sure if God wanted to He could do the same thing, only…in reality. And you have to imagine that God had a fond attachment to Adam and Eve, seeing as they were the first people.

Sorry for the rambling, let’s continue.

Seth lived 912 years and had  Enosh

Enosh lived 905 years and had Kenan

Kenan lived 910 years and had Mahalalel

Mahalael lived 895 years and had Jared

Jared lived 962 years and had Enoch

Enoch is where things become just a tad different. Enoch lived 365 years, but Enoch walked with God and did not die. God took him home. He was just no more on earth. Unlike the rest who left a body behind, at least that is what I take from this.

Enoch had Methuselah

Methuselah lived 969 years and had Lamech

Lamech lived 777 years and had Noah. When Noah was born Lamech said “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed” (Genesis 5:29) I’m not really sure what that means. I only know that Noah is the one who built the ark and was such a good listener of God he saved men from being wiped out completely.

Yay Noah!! Noah was 500 years old before he had Shem, Ham, and Japheth. I wonder, were these sons triplets? Or just really close in age? It doesn’t really say in my bible. Though, I guess since it doesn’t really say, it’s not that important.

Now, this chapter has other awesome ages, like the ages that these men where before they had their first child. The youngest was 65

And that is it my friends. Genesis 5 comes to an end. Hopefully you didn’t get to bored and actually see how interesting the Genealogy chapters can be. It’s interesting to see the line of Noah going back to Adam or seeing Adam’s line going all the way to Noah. What I find the most interesting though is the ages of these people when they finally died. I wonder if the women lived as long.

I shall stop with my rambling now and let you go on with your day or night…See you folks tomorrow!

Genesis 4

Welcome back! I hope that you have read Genesis 4 because that is what we are going to be going over today. Go read it and come back if you haven’t already. Then at the end, throw in your own comments!

Cain and Abel make their appearance here. Most everyone knows the story of Cain and Abel, but let me remind you of their story. Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve. This was right after they ate the forbidden fruit, because bearing children was one of Eve’s punishments. Then Eve bore another son, Abel. The bible doesn’t say how far apart in age they were, but the way Cain gets jealous of Abel, my guess is they were only a year or so apart. It just seems the closer siblings are in age the less they get along. Just a guess and how I see it.

Cain “worked the soil.” In other words he was the gardener. He grew crops of food. Abel kept the flocks. When it came time to bring God their offerings Abel brought his best while Cain basically brought what was left. It took a few bibles to actually understand that and it actually all came down to a teen devotional bible to grasp it. Cain took the best of his crops for himself and I guess for his family. Abel didn’t think twice about it, he took his best fat portions from the first born of his flock and took it to God. God knew the difference. God will always know the difference no matter what it is you are offering him.

Cain becomes jealous and angry and takes his brother out into the field for a bit of a chat. Really, Cain took Abel out to kill him. And there you have it my friends, the first murder! I do wonder how cold blooded you would have to be to kill your own sibling. I love my brother and would fight to the death for him. I can’t imagine killing him because God favored him…though the only reason God favored Abel is because he was obedient. If I was Cain I would have asked Abel to help me with my offering next time, not kill him.

So, God knows what’s up and he comes to Cain and ask where Abel is. Cain plays dumb and makes a smart remark “Am I my brothers keeper?” I can hear Cain asking that in such a way that makes me want to pop him and tell him to fix his attitude. God gave Cain a chance to confess to his sin but Cain lied. I think the lesson we can learn from this is to never lie to God because He ALWAYS knows the truth!

God tells Cain that he can hear Abel’s blood cry out to Him from the ground. Of course, sense God created all He is connected to all. Cain really did not think his actions through. God punishes Cain by casting him out and Cain becomes a restless wanderer. But he is also protected by God so that no one shall kill him as he killed his own brother.

So Cain goes out, finds a wife and has a son named Enoch. Random fact, I love that name. Cain then built a city and named it after his first born. Then we get into more genealogy.

Enoch has a son named Irad. Irad had a son named Mehujael. Mehaujael had a son named Methusheal. Methusheal had a son named Lamech. Here we stop for a moment.

Lamech marries two women, which in today’s society would be illegal. Adah and Zillah were their names. Adah gives birth to Jabal who becomes the father of  “Those who live in tents and raise live stock.” And his brother is Jubal who becomes the father of “all who play the harp and flute.” So Jabal is all work and now play while Jubal is all play and no work? I know it’s probably wrong of me to think of music as just play, I am sure it kept up the spirits of the people, but sometimes you have to get down and dirty to get the jobs done.

Lamech’s other wife Zillah has a son, Tubal-Cain who forged tools of bronze and iron. I am suddenly in the mind of Thor…I have no idea why! Maybe because the idea of making tools back then seems to me to be a hard task. Zillah also had a daughter Naamah. I assume that she will come up again in the bible sometime later simply because daughters are not often named…at least not from what I have seen so far.

The last of Genesis 4 goes back to Adam and Eve. They have another son, to replace the one lost. They name him Seth. I thought it was funny when I first read about Seth. He comes in almost as an afterthought. Like, Oh by the way, here is another son. And Seth goes on to have a child named Enosh. But as we will see in Genesis 5 (yes, that will come tomorrow) Adam and Eve do have more sons and daughters then the three that are named.

I wonder about the sons and daughters that are named. Some seem to be just for the time line to show where someone came from. I would hate to be one of the kids on the list of  “not so important.” LOL

That is it. Genesis 4 is done. That wasn’t so bad now was it? I do warn you about tomorrow though…It’s a lot of names and how long people lived. So…go read it.

Much Love,

Heather 

Genesis 3

Hopefully you are reading ahead. One chapter a day is not much to ask for. And God only ask that you do as much as you can. To learn the bible I have picked to do a chapter a day but I am also reading ahead. At this point I have already started in Exodus but revisiting each chapter in Genesis every day. You only have to do as much as you can handle or as much as you have time to do. But I ask you, how much time are you willing to give God, because He has given every minute of his time to you. Think about it. 

Here we go!

When we left off in Genesis 2 we had just gotten to where God created woman for Adam. 

In Genesis 3 this woman comes across a serpent who made the Woman questions God's command. God told them not to eat fruit from the tree in the middle of the Garden. But the serpent tells the woman that she will not die like God said she would but that eating the fruit will make her like God, knowing good an evil. So the woman ate some of the fruit.

Now, most people think that the serpent was the devil. But I ask you to reread the beginning of this chapter. It says nothing of the serpent being Satan. It is a serpent, a snake and a representation of temptation. 

The woman took some fruit to her husband, Adam, and told him to eat it too. Then their eyes were opened to the fact that they were naked. So they made coverings out of fig leaves. When they heard God they were ashamed and hid. 

When God finds them and ask them why they hide Adam lay blame on his wife and she lay blame on the serpent. Funny that no one took responsibility for their own actions. Because of what they had done God cursed them. The serpent was cursed to crawl on his belly and eat dust. This always makes me think! Before the serpent convinced Eve to eat the fruit, did he have legs? What did the serpent look like BEFORE he was cursed to move around on his belly?

Then God tells the serpent "I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (Genesis 3:15)  Makes you wonder what kind of relationship we would have had with snakes before all this...

Then God comes to the woman and tells her of her curse. Ladies, we have all heard the story. You know what came of this, childbirth. Painful childbirth (or so I am told it is painful). And that her husband, women's husbands, will rule over her. 

Adam did not escape the wrath of God. God cursed the ground so that working the ground and growing food would not be easy. Adam, man, would have to work the ground to grow food and it would be painful. Have you seen a farmers hands? Have you seen a farmers face? The battle with crops is not a fun or easy battle. Those of us who do not farm take for granted all the hard work that goes into it. 

Then Adam named his wife Eve. Finally the woman has name! Eve means mother of all living. Because of her sin and God's curse, Eve would now birth the children that would fill the earth.

God then gave Adam and Eve clothes made of animal skins. Even though God was angry with what they had done, He still loved them, He still loves us!

Once we get to verse 22 is where I start wondering about a lot of things. First off, God says "The man has become like one of us..." is He talking to the Angels? That is what I am assuming. Then he says "He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." I am, again, assuming that before Adam and Eve gained knowledge of good and evil they were allowed to eat from the tree of life. Meaning they would never die. Which is what makes verse 19 make sense. "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." 

This alone makes you realize how much Adam and Eve lost by eating from the tree God had forbade them from. They had everything, but were not allowed ONE thing. When they took the one thing God kept them from they lost everything. There is a lesson here my friends. In this one chapter alone. God knows what is best for us. He gives us what we need. He even shows us what we can't have, what others have, and he tells us it is not for us. Should we reach for it anyways we are only hurting ourselves. We need to start obeying God!

In the end of this chapter Adam and Eve are cast out of their perfect world. Eden is closed to them and a Cherubim and a flaming sword guard the Garden of Eden. We have a perfect place waiting for us once we leave earth. Do you want to ignore God and lose it?

I know this is long, but there is so much in this chapter. It is the first lesson in the bible and the most important. Listen and trust God.

Read Genesis 4 for tomorrow! 

Much Love, 

Heather

Genesis 2

Welcome back! Today we are going to talk about Genesis 2. Did you read it? Did you read the first chapter? If not, go do it! Come on, you know you want to. I think it would be best if you read it before you read my summary/opinion. That way you are not influenced by my opinions. Let's get this party started!

Genesis 2

We start with the ending of the creation of things. The seventh day, which God blessed and made holy. And He said to rest! Now, here is something I would like for people to think about. We go to church on Sunday because it is supposedly the day of rest, the holy day. But, think about it, we start our weeks on Sunday. On the calendars Sunday is the first day of the week. Saturday is the last day, the seventh day of the week. So, shouldn't Saturday be the day of rest and church? I just thought it was something fun to consider.

By verse 4 we meet Adam. God puts Adam in the Garden of Eden to take care of it. He also told Adam that he can have anything that is there, EXCEPT he cannot eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God tells Adam that he will die if he does! Talk about intense! But really I think all God meant by that is Adams innocence would die because this tree would give him knowledge of good and evil.

Then in verse 18 God decides that Adam needs a helper. He says that it is not good for a man to be alone. 

In search for a helper God brings all the animals to Adam for him to name. (How much fun would it be to name all the animals!?) But God was not happy with anything he had already made; well, in the sense that they were not a suitable helper for Adam. So God put Adam to sleep, took one of his ribs and made a woman. 

Verse 14 says "That is why a man leaves his father and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh." Because women are a part of man and together they are whole! (My opinion!) I have to admit, that JUST came to me. lol Now Adam's wife is just called woman until chapter 3 of Genesis. But we all know her name is Eve...unless you didn't know, in that case, sorry for the spoiler!

There are other things that are important in Genesis 2. Like, Adam was made from the dust of the ground and God breathed life into him. And of course the rivers of Eden. I think if God took the time to name these rivers we should take the time to remember them. 

There were 4 rivers (it actually said headwaters.) I will put them in a nice list for you!

1. Pishon- Goes through the land of Havilah, which is the land of gold. Who doesn't love gold? 

2. Gihon- Goes through the land of Cush.

3. Tigris- Runs along the east side of Ashur. This is my favorite because of the awesome name!

4. Euphrates- That is all that is said of this river. Feel free to let me know if more is said about it later! (That is if you know already)

And that is Chapter 2 of Genesis. Go read it for yourself! And read Genesis 3 to be prepared for tomorrow!

Genesis 1

Let's get this started. I have had this blog sitting, waiting to be used. I let other things get in the way of it. So I have to suck up my laziness and get it going. I will start with one chapter a day. There are days I may get more, just depends on the time that I have. Though, I am going to try and get ahead on the weekends. So, here we go!

Genesis 1

The first chapter of Genesis is easy! Most people know all the things that God created. We know that He created the heavens and the earth and then he said "let there be light!" And there was light and God saw it as good.  Then he separated light from darkness and made day and night. Bam! You have the first day. Call me weird or strange but I can see God smiling a huge smile and his arms crossed at his chest admiring his work for that day. I know I would be doing exactly that.

Then the chapter goes on to the rest of the six days that God spent creating all of what we have today. I will list it because I am not rewriting the Bible, just summarizing. 

Day 2 - God separated the waters of heaven from the waters of earth. And called the space between, Sky. I say waters of heaven but I could be wrong in my understanding of this part. Correct me if I am wrong or let me know if you think differently. (That is the point of this) 

Day 3 part 1 - God separated the water and put dry ground between it. Land and Sea!

Day 3 part 2 - God made the land produce vegetation. Plants with seeds according to its kind as well as trees with fruit according to its kind. I always think of Johnny Appleseed when I read this part. I'm not sure why... Also, God had a super busy day on day 3!

Day 4 - This is how I understand the fourth day. God created two "great lights" for day and night, I think of the sun and moon. He also created the stars, which in my opinion are the greatest things ever! 

Day 5 - This is the fun day! That is, in my opinion anyways. God creates all the creatures of the sea and birds! Finally something that moves. Motion is given to the earth. Sure, plants are living and breathing, in an odd sort of way, but they are still, never moving. Now there are fish in the sea and birds in the sky. I think if I was God it would be one of my favorite days of creation. 

Day 6 - Now, God fills the land with wild animals and livestock. I always wondered if all the animals that we see now are the same ones as the ones put here on the sixth day. I mean, I know when I make things in Photoshop or build a new website I am always going back and adding things. I wonder if God did the same thing.

Also on the sixth day God created mankind. Now, something that confuses me...in the bible it says in verse 27: "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." My question, does this mean God created more than just Adam at first, but only put Adam in Eden, or is this just a premonition of sorts of what is to come?  Any opinions are appreciated.

I will remind you; this is MY summary of what I have read. These are MY opinions and thoughts. I am not saying anything other than what I think. I could be wrong in my way of thinking. But that is why this is here. To help others and myself understand what we are reading. 

Your task is to read Genesis 1 and then give your own opinion. Then read Genesis 2 because that is tomorrow!

Much Love,

Heather