Genesis 1
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
Of course that was just the beginning for us. God has no beginning or end. Our little brains can't really wrap around that one because we are linear in time unlike God.
“So God created man in his own image.” Genesis 1:27
Genesis 2
"And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Genesis 2:22-24
Genesis 3
After the fall of man, once Satan got Eve all confused and questioning God, here is the punishment God gave to Eve and all of womanhood with her:
"Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children: and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." Genesis 3:16
Genesis 4
“Sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Genesis 4:7 Those him pronouns are, I am thinking, referring to sin so God's saying we have to master sin rather than sin mastering us.
Genesis 6
Now this is what I am really trying to figure out these days, is wondering about the global flood from a why did God do it standpoint? I noticed for the first time when I was reading my Bible today that He said almost exactly the same thing right before the whole flood plan and ark being built, as He said right after the flood. When God decided to wipe out life with the flood this is what He said:
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. It repented the Lord that he had made man on on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." Genesis 6:5-6
Genesis 8
A long time passes, Noah gets busy on the ark, got a hammer and a slide rule or something, massive building project here without so much as a calculator so don't tell me the ancient dudes weren't smart. Building that puppy took some genius. People think he's whack, had to float around on that ark for hundreds of days with random stinky animals, and he and his family come out and start life again but here is what God says after that:
“I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth: neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.” Genesis 8:21.
Okay that strikes me as puzzling. God said before the flood that the reason He was about to do it was because people's imagination in their hearts was evil. Then right after the flood when everyone except Noah, Mrs. Noah and the Noah sons and their wives were killed by the flood, God says the exact same thing. That he's not going to wipe out the earth ever again because the imagination of man's heart is evil. He did the flood because man's heart is evil, and now he won't ever do a flood again because man's heart is still evil.
Which sounds like this time around He is accepting this about man rather than flooding us all again. It's not as if God can learn anything. He already knows everything. Putting these two passages together puzzled and interested me today because it makes me think that God is saying to us: Look, there's nothing you God-fearing scripture reading faithful chicks and dudes can ever do to completely wipe out evil. I've already tried in a global flood way that you could never do and even that didn't work.
I mean the very next passage after the flood was when Noah's son Ham was weird and lewd about Noah's nakedness. By the way Ham's descendents are Sodom and Gomorrah. And those guys were the lewd of the lewd, as in perverse sexuality that highly angered God. After the flood chapters, there's a genealogy chapter, and then the tower of Babel situation. God dealt with those high-minded guys with selfish intent by confusing their language.
So God's not saying, whatever, throw up our hands and give into evil because we know it's what's in the imagination of everyone's heart. He's saying we fight it, we absolutely resist it: Boo-yah, He's got it under control and He will whoop up on some bad guys today as He did back then. But ultimately until Jesus returns in the second coming, no one can wipe out evil completely, and God is choosing not to wipe it out completely. Sorry but this means that whole world peace thing ain't gonna happen.
Genesis 15
“Fear not Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Genesis 15:1
Genesis 17
“I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou perfect.” Also translated “blameless.” Genesis 17:1
Genesis 18
“Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” Genesis 18:14
Genesis 19
"The the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven." Genesis 19:24
Genesis 24
I love when Isaac's servant goes to find a wife for him, and he's feeling the pressure and wants to do well with this task. He explains his prayer communication with Rebekah and her brother Laban and when he's finished, he asks Laban, can Rebekah come with me and be Isaac's wife: so what do you think Laban? Here is what Laban says: "The thing proceedeth from the Lord; we cannot speak unto thee bad or good." Genesis 24:50. Laban is saying, it doesn't really matter what I think. The thing comes from God. I can't really say anything about it one way or the other. Pretty cool insight coming from a guy who cheats his nephew later on. If it weren't for all that later, I'd say Laban starts out being a good dude. He obviously has taken good care of his sister Rebekah who is a respectable young lady who has never known a man, as in a virgin.
Genesis 33
“My lord knoweth that the children are tender… I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure.” Genesis 33:13-14 This teaches me to be patient and go at a pace the children can handle because they do not have as much endurance.
Genesis 45
I love where Joseph forgives his brothers who had sold him into slavery, and when they apologize he forgives them having become second in command to Pharoah in Egypt and Joseph says this to them:
“So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God.” Genesis 45:8
Genesis 50
Joseph also says to his brothers: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good.” Genesis 50:20
So whatever wrong happens to us, God means it for our good. If we're super faithful like Joseph that is.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
Of course that was just the beginning for us. God has no beginning or end. Our little brains can't really wrap around that one because we are linear in time unlike God.
“So God created man in his own image.” Genesis 1:27
Genesis 2
"And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Genesis 2:22-24
Genesis 3
After the fall of man, once Satan got Eve all confused and questioning God, here is the punishment God gave to Eve and all of womanhood with her:
"Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children: and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." Genesis 3:16
Genesis 4
“Sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Genesis 4:7 Those him pronouns are, I am thinking, referring to sin so God's saying we have to master sin rather than sin mastering us.
Genesis 6
Now this is what I am really trying to figure out these days, is wondering about the global flood from a why did God do it standpoint? I noticed for the first time when I was reading my Bible today that He said almost exactly the same thing right before the whole flood plan and ark being built, as He said right after the flood. When God decided to wipe out life with the flood this is what He said:
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. It repented the Lord that he had made man on on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." Genesis 6:5-6
Genesis 8
A long time passes, Noah gets busy on the ark, got a hammer and a slide rule or something, massive building project here without so much as a calculator so don't tell me the ancient dudes weren't smart. Building that puppy took some genius. People think he's whack, had to float around on that ark for hundreds of days with random stinky animals, and he and his family come out and start life again but here is what God says after that:
“I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth: neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.” Genesis 8:21.
Okay that strikes me as puzzling. God said before the flood that the reason He was about to do it was because people's imagination in their hearts was evil. Then right after the flood when everyone except Noah, Mrs. Noah and the Noah sons and their wives were killed by the flood, God says the exact same thing. That he's not going to wipe out the earth ever again because the imagination of man's heart is evil. He did the flood because man's heart is evil, and now he won't ever do a flood again because man's heart is still evil.
Which sounds like this time around He is accepting this about man rather than flooding us all again. It's not as if God can learn anything. He already knows everything. Putting these two passages together puzzled and interested me today because it makes me think that God is saying to us: Look, there's nothing you God-fearing scripture reading faithful chicks and dudes can ever do to completely wipe out evil. I've already tried in a global flood way that you could never do and even that didn't work.
I mean the very next passage after the flood was when Noah's son Ham was weird and lewd about Noah's nakedness. By the way Ham's descendents are Sodom and Gomorrah. And those guys were the lewd of the lewd, as in perverse sexuality that highly angered God. After the flood chapters, there's a genealogy chapter, and then the tower of Babel situation. God dealt with those high-minded guys with selfish intent by confusing their language.
So God's not saying, whatever, throw up our hands and give into evil because we know it's what's in the imagination of everyone's heart. He's saying we fight it, we absolutely resist it: Boo-yah, He's got it under control and He will whoop up on some bad guys today as He did back then. But ultimately until Jesus returns in the second coming, no one can wipe out evil completely, and God is choosing not to wipe it out completely. Sorry but this means that whole world peace thing ain't gonna happen.
Genesis 15
“Fear not Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Genesis 15:1
Genesis 17
“I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou perfect.” Also translated “blameless.” Genesis 17:1
Genesis 18
“Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” Genesis 18:14
Genesis 19
"The the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven." Genesis 19:24
Genesis 24
I love when Isaac's servant goes to find a wife for him, and he's feeling the pressure and wants to do well with this task. He explains his prayer communication with Rebekah and her brother Laban and when he's finished, he asks Laban, can Rebekah come with me and be Isaac's wife: so what do you think Laban? Here is what Laban says: "The thing proceedeth from the Lord; we cannot speak unto thee bad or good." Genesis 24:50. Laban is saying, it doesn't really matter what I think. The thing comes from God. I can't really say anything about it one way or the other. Pretty cool insight coming from a guy who cheats his nephew later on. If it weren't for all that later, I'd say Laban starts out being a good dude. He obviously has taken good care of his sister Rebekah who is a respectable young lady who has never known a man, as in a virgin.
Genesis 33
“My lord knoweth that the children are tender… I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure.” Genesis 33:13-14 This teaches me to be patient and go at a pace the children can handle because they do not have as much endurance.
Genesis 45
I love where Joseph forgives his brothers who had sold him into slavery, and when they apologize he forgives them having become second in command to Pharoah in Egypt and Joseph says this to them:
“So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God.” Genesis 45:8
Genesis 50
Joseph also says to his brothers: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good.” Genesis 50:20
So whatever wrong happens to us, God means it for our good. If we're super faithful like Joseph that is.