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.