Naked and Innocent

Last time in Bible Understanding, man and woman were naked and unashamed, representing their moral innocence. Along comes a crafty serpent, slithering up to the woman as though to begin a conversation with an inquiry. This is our first glimpse of the devil, who has clothed and disguised himself as a snake, one of God's good creatures. He asks "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"  The woman replies that while she and the man are permitted to eat fruit from the garden's trees, God did say 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' Here is were things get dicey in the story as the tension builds. The woman is innocent at this point and has been engaged by the devil dressed up or more aptly, down, as a crafty snake. She is at a pivotal point here because what comes next marks the beginning of her fall from innocence into the despair of shame and guilt. The serpent has the woman's attention and responds with "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." In this statement the devil insinuates a falsehood on Gods part, suggesting subtlety to rebel against Gods command for the purpose of being like God and knowing good and evil. Eat the fruit and be like God, knowing good and evil? Don't eat the fruit and remain innocent from the knowing, living free from this bane of existence and never dying. The devil negates Gods warning, blatantly denying Gods divine pronouncement that death will result from eating the fruit from this one tree, as a way to convince the woman into disobedience. He entices the woman into believing that eating from this tree will provide her with a Godly knowing and the woman eagerly buys what the devil is selling, looking to the middle of the garden and eyeing the fruit of the no no tree and seeing that it was "good for food, pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom".  She eats, she gives some to her husband who was with her and he too eats. Once the fruit is eaten their eyes are opened and they realize they are naked. The first body covering clothes are sewn from fig leaves out of shame for the nakedness. Satan successfully caused the woman and man to doubt and then disobey God and thus began the alienation between God and man. Exciting and dramatic stuff, until next time in Bible Understanding.

The First Marriage

Last time in Bible Understanding, woman was created by God using one of man's ribs. The Bible explains that from here forward in time "man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one".  This is the first marriage and it establishes the belonging of one to another, becoming one with a shift in loyalty from parents to spouse with relationship commitments including inseparability and exclusivity. The family unit is created from the pairing and is a foundational building block for human society. Gods original plan and what humans have done thereafter is the accounting of our own choices with the freedom that comes from having been created in His image. At this point in the account of man and woman, they were naked and unashamed. Next in Bible Understanding, we meet a serpent, the shrewdest of all wild animals The Lord had made...until next time.

Men, Women and Ribs

Last time in The Bible, God was on the cusp of creating someone wonderful, woman. God observes "it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him." Before creating woman, God formed from the ground all the wild animals and birds of the sky and he brought them to the man and gave him the task of naming them. By naming the animals, man exercises his reign over them. After all the animals were created and then named, there still remained no helper that was just right for the man. Out of all that had been created, the lack of a match for man led God to create the perfect complement, made in the same image of God, given the same commission and obligated by the same prohibition (recall the trees in the garden of Eden and the warning given about one tree in particular)~without a partner man could not fulfill his created purpose alone. The Bible tells of  God causing the man to go into a deep sleep and while sleeping, God removes one of the mans ribs and than closes up the opening. God then made a woman from the rib and brought her to the man at which point the man exclaims "At last!"  The man waxes poetic and states "This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called 'woman,' because she was taken from 'man.'"  I can imagine and feel the mans thrill as he lays his eyes on woman for the first time...the same excitement and rib sharing remains today...have you felt it, the excitement I mean, I have.  I like the one less rib in the man than woman part of the story, God makes sure that some things can only be explained by Him, no matter what rationale humans come up with.  Until next time, in The Bible.

Purity Yet Untainted

The garden that is spoken of in The Bible is a real place on earth with land features and rivers described and named. While the exact location of Eden is left to speculation, it is described as being east of Canaan, Israel's later home. Eden is spectacular, mountainous, fertile and from this land flowed a river that divided into four branches, watering the garden and surrounding areas. The prominent present feeling from this account is that from Eden, beauty and fertility enrich the whole world and Gods design is such that all good blessings flow from His Creation.  With man established in the garden and his work being to watch over it, God gives this warning "You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden-except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  If you eat it's fruit, you are sure to die." This is an ominous warning and upon reading it, I wonder at mans possible reaction? At this point in mans existence, there is no cause for alarm nor is there any notion of fear~ he is in the Presence of God and innocence is purity untainted. A child trusts it's parent and has no reason to think, sense or feel otherwise. Until next time in The Bible~that's when God creates woman...

Two Trees

When we were last in The Bible, man was alone with God in the garden with beautiful fruit baring trees and two particularly interesting trees of which one was not safe for man to partake, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gods desire to be in relationship with man, to reveal Himself and have man learn directly from Him would be sidestepped with the eating of the fruit from this tree~it is like a child rejecting a parents guidance and hand holding when crossing a busy street, with the child "flaunting their own independence rather than submitting to Gods will" by running headlong into traffic, despite the stern parental warnings. The other tree was the tree of life, representing Gods presence and provision~eating from it would give man the gift of everlasting life...this is the part of the story where we can ask ourselves: would I, would you, partake of the forbidden fruit?  My answer is clear, what about yours?  Until next time, in The Bible. 

Blessing or Curse

God created man from the dust of the earth and breathed the breath of life into the mans nostrils, making him a living person. This is The Biblical account of mans existence and God breathed life. In Eden, God planted a garden and there he placed the man he made. The garden had lots of beautiful trees that produced delicious fruit and in the middle he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God gave instructions to the man, to tend the garden~work is not a punishment for the man, it is a form of occupation. God and the man had a relationship with information sharing and instruction. Part of the instruction came with this warning:  "you may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden~except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  If you eat it's fruit, you are sure to die."  Several important thoughts come immediately to mind with this account of the garden, God and the man:  God provides for the man, he is loving and caring and the offering is the enjoyment of beautiful surroundings and plentiful fruit to eat; God teaches the man what he is meant to do with his time and what is safe and what can cause harm, including death;  man is clearly free to choose...he is informed of consequence, the cause and effect of his actions.  The biggest message here is that God wants relationship with the man, not with a puppet man, but with one that would choose to honour Him, mans Creator and clay crafter. God gives, warns, and than says it's your choice...this remains an eternal Truth.  Our greatest gift, after life, is the freedom to choose~we make this gift a blessing or a curse in our own lives and in the lives of others. Until next time, in The Bible.

Humans aren't Animals

In The Bible, Adam & Eve are created and told to be fruitful and multiply, giving them reign over all of creation.  God gave the humans and all of the animals every seed, green plant and fruit as food.  Please note the clear distinction between humans and animals~God made man in his own image, and gave them King and Queenship over the animal kingdom...I am not an animal and if you are reading this, neither are you!  Now it is clear from the above that plant sources were meant to sustain all living creatures. God created all that exists and on the seventh day he rested and blessed what he had made and called this day of rest holy. The Sabbath, the day of rest was set aside by God as the day to celebrate Gods finished work.  This is so exciting because God was pleased with his six days of work and sat back, checked it all out and said "it is good".  This is the model that we humans have adopted and is still reflected for the most part in our own work lives. Now for the part of The Bible that gets a little, shall we say, juicy?  God created human sexuality; we were created as sexual beings. The sex act makes us "one" with another, not just sexually but as in two becoming one.  It is a knowing of the other; a commitment to each other's mutual good; knowing another person intimately. Biblical sexuality builds up the sexual partners and the community...it is a one to one relationship.  Until next time in The Bible.

The Word

Creation~this speaks to a believers understanding of how the world and all that is in it came to be based on the belief that The Bible is the Divine and inspired Word of God. Embedded in this belief is that Jesus Christ is the Word and that God created with words...it is like a four dimensional universe sized puzzle. Just as each and every living organism is intricate and majestic and totally impossible to enliven (meaning there is life in it AND that it can not be put there by any Herculean or Darwinian effort of man), the Word of God is unfathanably magnificent and breathtaking in its intricacy. God breathed life into the nostrils of man, giving life to the organism and The Word, The Bible that is, breathes life to the spirit. In creation, we are made in Gods image. The Bible states "they will reign..." this means be King/Queen over all of creation.  God blessed the fish, the animals.  They were fertile based on Gods commands. When God created man, he stated "Let us make"...the theory here is that as the Soverign, God was addressing his Heavenly court as he worked~this he is known to do. I would love to have been front row and centre at that event!  The first human created in Gods image is named Adam, which means man...once Adam and Eve were a matched set, God told them to be fruitful and multiply and he gave them the dominion to reign over creation...this is where things get rather exciting and dicey, and it is where I shall stop~Until next time in The Bible.

Gods Curse~Alienation

I find the results of alienation astounding~it is no longer a wonderment that people do not recognize Gods presence and authority.  It's seems as though this is part of the curse, continued rebellion against the One who made us. Estrangement from the rest of creation is fascinating...I picture gentle rain, perhaps thunder and pretty lightning but it NEVER strikes, is never a danger to humans.  I see playing with wild animals and never feeling threatened by them, that this was Gods design, his plan for us and instead, it's like natures gentleness turned into a snarl and man must live cowering from it, rather than reigning with God over it.  Unity, alignment with God, one another, nature, these are skewed.  God does not leave us here though, his plan is magnificent, until next time in the Bible. 

God Isn't Mean

The result of the first rebellion against Gods will is that evil was implanted in human hearts. Genesis explains that the worlds evil does not come from some defect in Gods creation, it comes from mans rejection of Gods plan for his created beings. If God were an umbrella and his children wanted to stay dry, it would behoove them to stay under the protective covering~instead, Adam and Eve decided to go against Gods advisement and in so doing, they and we as direct descendants, have had to brave the storm so to speak, ever since. Consequence is a natural law, cause and effect exists and we have all experienced the "if I do this, that will happen" in life and this law holds true in relationship with God. His offering was parental, protective, a covering and a supplying of all good things for human pleasure and liveliness.  Man and woman chose, using freedom of will, to reject Gods offer in favour of something else...would you and I have done the same?  Results and effects?  Humans no longer recognize Gods presence, his authority; there is shame, fractured relationships with God and other humans; estrangement from the rest of creation and death.  The gifts were rescinded, not because God is mean, but because man didn't recognize a good thing when he saw it, felt it, had it already...Until next time in the Bible.

Rest Blessed

The introduction to Genesis speaks about "God desires to bless his people but he will not tolerate rebellion and unbelief". In Hebrews this sentiment is echoed "Without faith, it is impossible to please him".  The first five books of the Bible are written for clarity, for the sake of teaching Israel that the world was created, ordered, populated by the one true God, not the created by humans gods of the surrounding nations. In Genesis, God blessed animals, humans, and the Sabbath, his seventh day, the one of rest.  The Bible states that man is made in Gods own image to enjoy sovereign dominance over creatures and participate in Sabbath rest.  God modelled rest, and our current calendar is a direct reflection of Gods sovereign design, with weeks being apportioned to 7 days each.  It is the Israelites that followed Gods lead...fascinating, isn't it, that our time is marked and counted in this way? God created order, a plan to follow with rest built into the plan and more significantly, God blessed rest...Until next time in the Bible.

Presupposition of Gods Existence

Genesis explains Gods providential working in history. His plan has a starting point with creation and  has an end point when all his promises are fulfilled. Israel's ancestry, traceable to Abraham, and it's destiny, are all linked to Gods promises. Family records were written and preserved to show how God protected his people and the purity of the line...Jesus would come from this family line.  In the book of Genesis, the motifs of blessings and curses appears and this theme repeats through history forward to Christ.  There is blessed by faith and being damned and cursed by turning away from God.  God, the master of foreshadowing, warns his people and when they chose to not heed, they suffer at their own hands. Here is his very clear, unmistakable warning:  Don't fear human beings fear God, who has the power to bless and to curse.  The presupposition of Gods existence was and is a way of living for many, it is a birthright for the Israelites.  Until next time, in the Bible. 

God Is In The Details

Genesis traces genealogy.  It details briefly with family lines that are not Isrealite and than goes into detail for Isrealites...Gods people had mixed so much with their Caanite neighbours as to be almost blended. God made it happen that his people would be separated out through Joseph and the seventy family members that would move to Eygyt, grow and flourish, becoming a great nation. The Bible seems to do a backward and forward, criss crossing of information, the order of information is not chronological.  When one point is explained, there appears many more, giving clarity to Gods plan, giving us a glimpse into his master mindedness.  This brings us to his command to "Be still and know that I AM God". This reminder is so significant and profound as we work our way through the Bible as his created beings, seeing with human eyes.  God is in the details, as someone so aptly stated.  I erred in an early post when I said that Abraham was the author of the first five books of the Bible when authorship has been attributed to Moses. Moses had been raised as an Egyptian, and he had the skills to record the Israelite history and of course, he had a relationship with God. Israelite worship includes reenactment of their own rescue from Egypt; celebration of Gods factual intervention in history and their hope in his promises.  The events in Genesis cannot be validated from outside sources~no other records demonstrate that Abraham existed or that any of his family history occurred~this points us in the direction of the supernatural. The Israelites were used to the supernatural and perfectly ok with giving God credit for any and all historical events. Critics want proof where the Israelites had experienced Gods presence.  When archaeology and historical data are assembled around events, they fit perfectly and make good sense within the setting and details of the narratives in the Bible. Sometimes what we don't have an answer to today, gets dug up tomorrow...until next time in the Bible.

Decay and Death Inherited

Inheritance has a lovely connotation but in the instance of Adam & Eve, humanity inherited the legacy of their sin, the first or original sin, and this inheritance includes toil, sickness, suffering and the ultimate price, death.  In Genesis, God creates man from the dust of the earth and breathes life into the nostrils of Adam. Adam is made in the image of God, a stunning statement and reminder that we are to respect his work as we see it represented in each human being.  Sin and self indulgent pride gave way to disregard for Adam and Eve, as they chose to seek their own knowledge and control in life, eating from the one tree in the garden that would forever damn them, and us, to the decay and final death of the body. Innocence lost, pride before the fall, these go hand in hand. Sadly, God regrets creating humans, his disappointment must have been great.  Genesis explains the extent of Gods wrath as he warns and then does, wipe out all living things through an earth covering flood~he finds favour with only one man Noah, and through Noah, humanity is given new hope.  The flood purged the earth of abominable evil...think on this a moment.  What is the most evil and vile thought you can have?  What have you seen or heard that breaks your heart, enrages you, makes you sick to your stomach?  Humans are capable of unspeakable vileness and abominable evil.  What would make God regret creating man so much that he wanted to wipe out all but one, with a select few family members, riding on Noah's coat tails?  Man hasn't changed much, there are evil and vile acts in dark corners all around the world...God wiped the slate clean once, there will be one more time to come. Until next time, in the Bible.

Peace vs Restlessness

In Genesis light, life, order and peace are established. God created all and said afterward, it is good. He said this about everything, except darkness. In the "In the beginning" account, opposites appear~darkness, death, confusion and pain.  While creation in all its magnificence is attributed to God, destruction and decay are attributed to man through sin. The book of Genesis was written for the Israelites after their escape from Egypt where they had been slaves for four hundred years.  They had been influenced by their captors and God reclaims them, makes promises and a covenant. The contrasts between good vs evil begins and when looked at closely, Gods design had built into it order and peace to be enjoyed by man. Sin brought unrest and restlessness, a condition that persists to this day and that few have escaped. Light and life have been replaced with guilt and fear~fear of darkness is universal and it is then, in the dark of night particularly, that there is foreboding.  Here in lies the beauty of the creation story, choice.  God created with perfect conditions in mind for peaceful existence for man, giving him freedom of will to except the gift, to choose peace.  We know how the rest of this story goes as we live with the consequences of what God calls rebellion and sin.  Fact or fiction, either way, it seems a reasonable explanation for God in the world and man as he is now.  Until next time in the Bible.

The Five Books

There are five books that make up the Old Testament.  This collection of books is known as The Pentateuch which means five containers; The Law of Moses; The Torah which means instruction in Hebrew and in Greek means law. Genesis speaks of creation, the in the beginning account of Gods work and rest. In Exodus God mobilizes his people through Moses, redeeming them from slavery as promised to their ancestors.  God also reveals himself, is in and amongst the people during their escape and an agreement is stuck between him as God, Creator, and his people. There are do's and don'ts, promises from him to them, them to him and this becomes a powerful covenant, the first example of lawful arrangement between God and man.  In this covenant their is relationship, a request from God to be honoured and in return he would guide, watch over, protect and nourish his people, providing for their every need abundantly.  The relationship is Parental, Loving, Provisional...it is Gods generous offer to be with his children.  Next in the book line up is Leviticus, then Numbers and finally Deuteronomy.  There are seeds planted in these, the first five books of the Bible and they all bare fruit later, in Biblical record, through Christ.  We have just begun~until the next time in the Bible.

The Land of Canaan

"They stood on the verge of entering the land of Canaan, which God had promised to their ancestors".  This line is full of breath holding anticipation. There are many promises in the Bible, this is one of them.  From 70 family members, a group of people grew into a nation~this is Joseph's family, one of the Bibles main characters, not to be confused with Joseph, Jesus' earthly father.  This thriving group became enslaved when the reigning Egyptian King realized that they were accumulating wealth and he feared that they would become too powerful~he could not tolerate their numbers and found their behaviours repugnant, he despised them.  The people cried out to God, God promised them deliverance and that's what they got...as they gazed across the land, looking out over Canaan or the biblical Palestine, their eyes saw the promised land, a land of their own, they had been delivered to this place of Gods choosing and they had hope, visions of a new life, freedom~they had believed in the God of their ancestors, the God of promises, and their eyes drank in the beauty of their soon to be new home.  Believing before seeing, this is faith.  The rich heritage of trusting ancestors for the truth based on Gods promises is not lost...the promises wait to be read, believed, and drunk in for their stunning beauty.  Until next time in the Bible.

Abraham~The First God Father

God had a personal relationship with some key players in the Bible, Abraham was one of them. The first five books of the Bible are credited (mostly) to him as the author. Writing events down was important to Israel as a record for them, passing tradition from one generation to the next and more crucial than this, establishing who God was to be to the people as their one and only. God told Abraham that from him, nations would be established and a redemptive plan begun. Abraham trusted God and this is why he is considered the spiritual father of the Israelites~he was the first of many to say yes, ok, whatever you say God, my life I entrust to you. Abraham wasn't perfect, he had his weaknesses, his challenges, fears, understandably so, we all do~when courage was needed in the case of extreme requests, Abraham leaned into God, believed God knew what he was talking about and trusted.  The foreshadowing in the beginning, in the first five books, speaks of true faith~Abraham believed that all God promised would come to pass, even when there was no way of proving it would. It is no wonder God loved Abraham so.  It is no wonder that God placed in this mans hands, the future of nations.  It is no wonder that Gods Son would came from the ancestral line (the human side of Jesus), from this God loving loyal man, Abraham.  Abraham was the first God Father, leading Gods children to Him. More to come, until next time.

Correction:  Moses is credited as the author of the first five books, my apologies...Linda Byers

Good vs Evil

The story of good vs evil starts in the Bible and as a protective parent, God teaches his kids right from wrong, sin from right(eous) living and he teaches consequences. It is no accident that cause and effect are scientific and when I think of this law, it reminds me of sowing and reaping.  Biblically, there is an out for breaking the law, and it is called forgiveness. Being sorry means there is an internal shift, a shame felt and a desire to re form, change, re calibrate, correct and here in lies the gift for those who seek and find God, they are given second, third, multiple chances to get this life thing right~isn't this true with our own children?  How many chances do we give them before we throw up our hands and say enough, this is hopeless, helpless, they will never learn?  The God of the Bible is repulsed by sin, it is vile to him, he wants more for his children and tells them so.  He is also very patient, and he waits, and waits~he knows the heart.  Until next time.

Old & New Testaments

The Bible is ancient and starts with the Old Testament and ends with the New Testament.  What's the difference?  In the Old Testament, God establishes a special relationship with his people, there are promises and commands and requests from God~he is with them and they, the Isrealites, experience God relationally, to be clear, he talks and walks among them. The question of his existence never crosses their minds and as I write, I grin. They didn't need to prove God exists, they heard him, saw him in fire and smoke and other manifestations, they communed with their God.  God chose people to represent him, to be in relationship with him and he set them apart. The Isrealites were given strict orders to look only to him, the one who made them. He offered his protection and care when they abided and when they didn't, they took themselves out from under his protective umbrella. You and I, we know how this works:  I can tell my 16 son that driving fast could result in a speeding ticket and if he chooses to not heed the warning, speeds and gets pulled over, he is subject to a law outside of our home, where I cannot protect him nor can I save him from consequences.  So it is with God~Does this mean God only loves his chosen people, the Isrealities?  Absolutely not, any and all people are welcome to him...he gives us the option of choosing, it is up to us to decide.  With idol worship, human sacrifices and other detestable to God activities all around them, the Isrealites were different from their neighbouring communities in their worship and faith filled practices. Don't just trust The Bible on this, it is written elsewhere too.  Go find out for yourself!  God isn't secretive and he isn't chaotic, Truth never is.  To finish this up with the differences between the old and the new, the New Testament is about the life, death of...okay...more next time.

Todays News in Ancient Times

The Bible is a stand alone book with merit as a solo piece of pieced together work. Many writers contributed to the book of accounts, unbeknownst to them.  The authors of the many books in one didn't write with the notion of it ever being published, passed down maybe, handed out, but never published, and yet...there is a common thread, a truism that weaves it's way throughout from beginning to end, giving the reader a sense of continuity, a feeling that what is written is trustworthy. By itself, The Bible is magnificent AND in exciting news, many of the accounts it contains are authenticated, mentioned in outside sources, other ancient writings.  The Bible as we call it and know it today was written on the go, with writers recording happenings in their day, without the need to make things up to prove a point. They wrote like I am doing now, observing and recording, albeit from my own as honest as possible perspective.  Their records are consistent with the other news of the day that people outside of their community wrote. The matches are numerous, simple and indisputable~Truth is like that, simple.  Here is one of the huge differences between other ancient writings and The Bible:  while the others exist, they have not been mass produced, I can't go to Chapters and buy myself a copy.  Does this prove that Gods hand was on The Work?  Maybe, maybe not...it sure is a curiosity though.  More on The Bible soon.

In the beginning...

I have read the bible before, cover to cover, and I like it. It's a magical read because each time I spend time in it, it would appear to me to be a completely different book...strange, because this is the only book that I have had this experience with. I decided recently to read it slowly, to take notes of my learnings and to savour the wisdom~mine is a study bible, and as I read I am edified. I have friends that find this book very difficult to understand and for this reason, I feel happily compelled to share what I glean from The Good Book. I will have fun writing and I hope many have fun reading as we dive in, together, head than heart first, into The Bible.