365 Reflections

Three times we are told in the last part of Genesis 7 that the Waters prevailed... Genesis 7:18  (ESV)   The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. Genesis 7:20  (ESV)   The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.   Genesis 7:24  (ESV)   And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. Water was a symbol of chaos and evil in the ancient world. The sea was a fearful place not many wanted to be around. Think of the days before nautical equipment, floatation devices, large ships, and navigational instruments! Apart from those items, the sea is scary! But notice the first verse of Genesis 8: Genesis 8:1 (ESV)   But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark.  The vivid detail of the Earth's destruction is portrayed and then contrasted by God's remembrance of Noah. Remembrance is not what we thi...

Genesis 6:6–8 (ESV) 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord . Why was Noah saved?  The word "favor" in verse 8 can also be translated "grace." It is important to note the verb before it as well. Noah FOUND favor, he did not earn favor. Verse 9 comes after verse 8 here with no connecting participle between them.  God had every right to judge Noah along with his entire generation. Noah in no way earned salvation, for that would make it a work. Noah was declared righteous and blameless by the God who gave him His grace. But you may say, "Yes, but look at Noah's righteous acts! He built the ark, he preached righteousness, he was zealous for God's word ...

Genesis 1-6 is often refered to as a microcosm of world history. God creates, man sins, God selects a form of redemption for some, they escape His wrath while the Earth is judged, a new creation mandate is given (to Noah), and life with God is made possible. Here's how the chapter describes the corruption of the Earth which demanded judgment. Genesis 6:1–8 (ESV)   When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of ...

Genesis 5:21–24 (ESV)   When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. What do we know about this man of mystery in the middle of a Genealogy from Genesis 5? We know far less than we'd like to since he never died! His incredible life is shrouded from our vision by the simple phrase repeated twice, "He walked with God." We know a little more from some New Testament references: Hebrews 11:5 (ESV)   By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. Jude 14–15 (ESV)   It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 ...

Genesis 4:25–26 (ESV) And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord . Two very interesting things happen around the birth of Seth. First Adam finds his voice. Second, men begin to worship God. I think they go together. Adam speaking here contrasts Eve naming both Cain and Abel. Seth, however is named by the man who hasn't spoken much since sin entered the world (other than to call his wife "Eve."). It would seem that Adam is doing what he was meant to do - lead his family. He is curiously absent in the sibling rivalry, and of course before that, during the first temptation. When men step back from being Godly, watch the damage that is done. I know there are many who will disagree with me, but wherever you have men t...

"God, that's not fair!" Who first said those words? Cain. Genesis 4:11–14 (ESV) And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord , “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” You know what's interesting about Cain's complaint? First: God's punishment wasn't more than he could bear... he went on to build an entire city and have many descendants. Second: God's punishment did not fit the crime. Cain KILLED Abel. In the Old Testament, the law will be spoken from Sinai and even before through Noah; an eye for an eye, life for life. Cain should have...

Genesis 4:6–7 (ESV)   The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” For all the bad press Cain gets as the first murderer, the jealous brother and greedy... you can't afford to miss the Hero of his story. God did not want Cain to go bad. He reached out to him in his hour of frustrating madness.  Abel was doing things well, his offerings were wonderful. Yet we do not have recorded a conversation between himself and God. He dies humanity's first death without even a recorded sentence to his name.  But Cain gets a ton of ink in the Bible's first few chapters. He's the first born. He's on God's mind. He's the one who takes center stage in the post-paradise reality of creation. And God seeks to save him from himself. If Cain would have listened, he would have been spared and ...

Genesis 3:9–10 (ESV) But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” One of the minor details of Genesis 3 is the power of God's voice. Here Adam and Eve are - quivering in their loin cloths - waiting for God to strike them dead... after all that was the initial deal: Genesis 2:17 (ESV)   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.”' They eat. Their fate is sealed. The rumbling of the Lord God through the Garden has them attempting one last ditch effort of self-salvation - they run and hide. Like every human being on planet Earth when it comes to the God conversation.  Want to see a conversation go poorly fast? Bring up God. See how unbelievers squirm and feel out of place, like you just told them you pick your nose for a living. It's the huma...

Genesis 3:8–9 (ESV)   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. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” The first sin is going to set the stage for the drama of Redemption. And in this drama, God is the antagonist going after His lost people.  The devil had convinced Eve that at the very core, God did not care about her. If He did, He wouldn't have kept that specific tree off the table. She was convinced and desired all that God was keeping from her and so sin entered the world as passive Adam also felt God was robbing him of what should have been his. But the narrative takes us to this undeniable truth: As soon as they sin... God seeks them out. They run and hide... God comes and finds. The lie of the devil is expose not only before our sin in this passage... but also afte...

The third chapter of the Bible must be read in the context of it's original hearers. Redeemed slaves wandering in the wilderness wondering if they can trust the God who has called them to an entirely new kind of life after 400 years of knowing only hard labor and harsh treatment. The original temptation speaks to everything they knew of in Egypt. A ruler who thought he was god and in charge of them... a renegade shepherd leading them where they do not yet see... and miles and miles of desert sand. Genesis 3:5 (ESV)   For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Every temptation is rooted in believing God is holding you back. Jealousy toward others is being convinced that God had skipped over you to bless "them." Lust is taking sexual gratification on your own personal terms. Pride is believing you know better than God. Murder is eliminating the competition. Stealing is deciding you know better t...