The first children....sibling rivalry run amuck!

January 2, 2010

Genesis 4,5,6 & 7

Big lesson learned: Do not attempt to read the book of Genesis and then attempt to write a blog at 9:30 p.m. Bad plan. I put off my reading for today until this evening for a purpose. I figured after dinner when my husband is watching TV or reading his book, it would be a good time to read and write in quiet. Well, that might be acceptable to do with just any ol' book, but not The Book. I think that Genesis chapters 4-7 has even more huge things to wonder about than the first 3 chapters did. (And yesterday I didn't think that was possible!) In 3 chapters I read about Cain, Abel, their first offerings to God, how God did not accept Cain's offering, Cain then being jealous of his brother Abel and murdering him, the mark that God put upon Cain, Cain's great, great, great, great great grandson being the next murder, Adam and Eve having another son named Seth and then several verses regarding his lineage (which by the way includes Noah) then the whole story of Noah and the flood that starts in chapter 6 and ends in chapter 8. Woah! Help! Overload!
It's only day 2 and I can already tell that this blogging my thoughts about my daily Bible reading is going to be harder than I thought. Especially when I'm tired. So....with that said...I'm going to take the blogging task of day 2 to tomorrow. Seriously, am I already blogging on borrowed time on just day 2??? This is not encouraging to me, to say the least. I feel a little bit like Julie did in the movie when she made the beef jell-o mold (after boiling down a calves foot that the recipe called for) and it proceeded to fall apart, slip off the plate on to the floor when she attempted to get it out of the mold. How does that relate to me you may ask? Well, you see, trying to get me out of my mold could prove to be a challenge as well. Up until now any daily Bible reading I've ever done has been more like a competition of checking off the chapters just to see the checks, and not really stopping to meditate and think about what God may be saying to me personally. When I can't make sense out of what I'm reading, I just keep mindlessly reading so I can just get through it. Hey, here's a novel idea...what about stopping and asking for help from the Holy Spirit? Nah, it's easier to just say "I don't understand this" and just read without a purpose. Much quicker too. When you don't really think about what your reading you can read twice as much! OK, lest you think that I am being far too condemning of myself, please know that I am not into condemnation, I'm just being honest with you about how it has typically been for me when I've started a daily Bible reading plan. With that said, I will turn my computer off and call it a night. The Holy Spirit, no doubt, will be waiting patiently for me in the morning.....

Good morning, world. I'm saying "good morning", but since this blog is a continuation of last night....let's just pretend it's still last night. I'm making good on my promise of blogging this morning for yesterday's reading, which if you are reading this right now, is today. Please don't confuse me with logic. It's still early, I need much grace. :o)

So this morning I re-read chapters 4-7 so they were fresh in my mind. Still as much meat (gotta love those cookbook terms sprinkled throughout this blog, don't you?) as there was last night. I just had to pick a few things to meditate on lest this day's blog becomes way to long. The first big thought for me came in chapter 4:3 with the first recorded offerings to God. Before this time you do not ever hear of Adam and Eve or any of their children bringing offerings to God. It just says "in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering". This deserves some study in my opinion. When I think of offerings I think of all of the different kinds of offerings that were brought to the Lord after the law was given by Moses. But sin had come into the world, and now with it comes the first recorded offerings. I would deduct from this observation that an offering to God is connected to atoning for our sin, even before the law was given. But would any offering do? Apparently not, because it says in Hebrews 11:4 that ...Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous... This is one of the areas that I have just "grazed over" in past readings. I didn't really stop to "eat there", until recently.
A few months ago I called my dear sister in the Lord, Edie, and asked her if she had any insight about why God considered Abel's offering more excellent than Cain's and did not accept Cain's offering. She definitely did have some thoughts on this subject. (which did not surprise me...Edie loves The Lord and studies His Word like no one I have ever met, that's why I called her!) Now, honestly, I have not personally had my own complete revelation of this, but I have dug a little deeper because of our conversation and I am coming to the conclusion that the rejection of Cain's offering has to do not only with his heart toward God (which is what I have been taught from the pulpit was the only reason it was rejected) but it is something with more "meat on it", literally! Sin offerings to God always required one thing...that blood had to be shed to atone for the sin. Hebrews 9:22 says that ...without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. And the shedding of an animals blood pointed to the future when there would be a true offering for sin that would finally reconcile man to God once and for all. That offering would of course be the sacrifice that Jesus made of His very own life on the cross. It appears through a closer look in the Hebrew text in these verses that Abel may have brought two offerings. (This is not something easily seen in a cursory reading of a modern day version of the bible. It takes some digging into the Hebrew meaning of words as well as comparing scripture with scripture.) The same Hebrew word is used for "offering" for both Cain and Abel, which means grain offering. But it clearly states that he (Abel) also brought an animal sacrifice (not just because he was a keeper of sheep, but because a blood sacrifice was required by God). In Hebrews 11:4 in the New Testament, we read that By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. Notice that it says gift(s), plural. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. The word gifts being in the plural in Hebrews 11 leads me to believe he might have brought two offerings, but I can't say that I know that for a certainty. If God's righteous requirement was that an animal's shed blood had to be offered along with any other sacrifice that may have been given then Cain was in direct disobedience to God by only bringing a grain offering. It was not an acceptable offering to make one righteous, as stated in Hebrews 11:4. I think this is worth digging into, don't you? Now that is what I call a "big idea". Whew!

I also thought it interesting that in vs. 19 it is recorded that Cain's great grandson, Lamech, was the first man to have two wives. God didn't give two wives to Adam, just one, so I don't think it was something God condoned. It is also recorded a few verses later that Lamech committed the second murder in the Bible.
Just a few things in Chapter 5 I noted were that in vs. 2 it says that after God created man as male and female he blessed them and named them. It makes me ponder on how much God loves me. He blesses me and He knows my name.
Chapter 6 begins the account of Noah and the great flood and continues through chapter 8 which is in my reading for today, which is not to be confused with yesterdays which I am doing today. (See what happens when you get behind?)
When I get home from church today I will be reading chapters 7,8 & 9 and commenting on them. Before it gets dark and I get tired. Promise. Thanks for reading, whoever you are.