Genesis 1 - 5 (Before the Flood with some explanations)
Chapter 1 - Everything you see today was first created by God out of nothing. He created it by speaking. The Spirit of God is immediately mentioned. The first thing God created was light. He separated light from darkness. We call it day and night. The second thing God created was the sky above the water. Today we would call this atmospheric moisture (gas) and liquid water (oceans). The third thing God created was land and what was on it (plants and trees). The fourth thing God created was the universe full of stars with our own sun and moon to function as a time keeper.
The fifth thing God created was birds in the air and living creatures in the water. Unlike trees and plants which can propagate close by only, God blessed every living creature that moves so they would multiply and fill the earth. The sixth thing God created was land animals and reptiles, man, and woman. God's highest creation was people. "God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth and over everything that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him: male and female He created them." (verses 26-27) God blessed man and woman to be fruitful, multiply, and to fill the earth and having dominion over the rest of creation (fish, birds, every living creature that moves upon the earth. At this time man and woman were vegetarian, eating plants and fruit from trees.
Chapter 2 - The seventh thing God created was rest. He looked at what He created; He declared it good and blessed each step of the way. Now He was finished. He said this rest was holy and set apart from working.
The story of creation is now retold. (The first time it was told, man and woman were shown to be the highest and best creation of God and plants were lower and were created before man and woman.) The second telling of creation totally skips light, sky, and ocean. Certainly the point isn't suddenly that God didn't create light, sky, and ocean having created only plants and people (thus making chapter one wrong). No, God is telling us something else. What is it? God is retelling the story to emphasize that He created all that you see with one goal in mind: to create people. So in this second telling, plants can't be created before humans because there was no humans to till the ground. Plants have no meaning of themselves. They have meaning only because man is going to take care of them. So this time God creates a man from the dust of the ground and God breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being. (verse 7)
Then God planted a garden, the Garden of Eden, and put the man in it. Then God caused plants and trees to grow in the garden. In the center God put a special tree, the tree of the knowledge between good and evil. This must be very important to be in the center of the garden.
A river watered Eden (there was no rain yet) which became four rivers that flowed out of Eden: Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel, and the Euphrates.
The man's function was to tend, guard and keep the garden. God told man to eat anything in the garden except the tree in the center. Why? If you do, you will die.
God created man male and female (Genesis 1:27). Now God says it is not good that man should be alone.
Let's summarize: all things created are good so far. There are only two things that are not good. 1. if man eats of the tree in the center of the garden 2. if the man (male) is alone.
All will be well if man just doesn't eat of the tree in the center of the garden. God is now taking care of the man (male) being alone without a female. The man now has a name, Adam. God takes part of Adam while he sleeps and makes woman (which literally means 'taken out of a man'). Adam went wild! After having named all the animals, he realized this was his mate, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. (verse 23)
There is a bit of commentary at this point. Adam and woman had no human parents. But God wanted to be sure that in the future, when there were parents, that this very close relationship between husband and wife was treated as sacred and above the relationship of either the husband to his parents or the wife to his parents. It means a wife is highly honored by God. When a man recognizes in a woman that she is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, he is to treat her according to the importance God gives her. She is a gift to the man.
Genesis 3 - A new character shows up in the garden, the serpent. Was the serpent a creation of God? The answer must be yes. Was the serpent good when he was created? The answer must be yes. What happened to the serpent? Go back to the only two things God said weren't good. 1. eating of the tree in the center of the garden 2. man (male) being alone. The serpent must have at some point been involved in 1. So this must be very important.
God separated the light from the darkness, the sky from the water, the water from the land. The birds fly; water creatures live in water. Plants and trees don't move around but animals and people, birds and water creatures do move around. Every created thing seems to have its boundaries. God gave man free will in that He created man in His image. The serpent may not just be something God created as an animal or reptile. The serpent may also have been a creation of God that like man had free will. It may be that once the serpent ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which now was at the center of the garden, that he was unable to be restored to his previous condition. But the man and the woman, who were instructed not to eat of the tree at the center of the garden, we will see that God had a plan to restore them.
What was this tree? God called it "the tree of the knowledge of the difference of good and evil." (verse 9) Any tree was good to eat from "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:17)
The serpent (described as being more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made) asked the woman, "Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden?" (verse 2) She answers correctly, "We may eat the fruit from the trees of the garden except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, 'You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" (verse2-3) God didn't say they couldn't touch this fruit, He said they shouldn't eat it. Not touching it was not required but still OK to get wrong. The serpent goes on and now introduces a direct challenge to God's command and God's explanation of what would happen. "But the serpent said to the woman, you shall NOT surely die. For God knows in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity." (verses 4-5) Note that God already said He created man in His image and in His likeness (Genesis 1:27). But this does not make man and woman God; they are still only His image in dust. They could not successfully handle knowing the difference between good and evil not being God, only being His image in dust. So why did God put such a dangerous tree right in the center of the garden? Was it entrapment? God put the tree there because we are not robots. We must freely choose to obey God. He put it there precisely so we could disobey. We had to be free to both obey and disobey. Otherwise, we were not made in God's image. We don't understand everything about the serpent but he seems to be more than just a snake. The serpent seems to be a subtle creation of God that disobeyed and now wants to pull the man and the woman off course for its own purposes, to create its own little refuge of disobedience.
But the effect was huge. The eyes of both the man and the woman were opened. They knew they were naked and sewed fig leaves together to cover their sexual parts. They hid from God. When God came looking for them they said they were afraid because they were naked. God asked them, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat of the tree I commanded that you should not eat?" Blame started. Finger pointing started. The truth is that each free being makes the choice. God didn't listen to the blame and finger pointing. He had warned them so now the consequences were activated.
The serpent is cursed and now must slither on its belly and eat dust. "I will put enmity between you and woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie and wait and bruise His feet." (verse 15)
The woman will have trouble in pregnancy and childbirth and while you crave your husband, he will rule over you (not as much fun as joint dominion).
The ground is now cursed and Adam will have trouble doing his work tending the garden, the dirt and plants won't co-operate anymore, there will be weeds.
God had some damage control to do. "And the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of US [the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit], to know [how to distinguish between] good and evil and blessing and calamity; and now lest he put forth his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever,' Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So [God} drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep and guard the way to the tree of life." (verses 22-24).
If God had not cut us off from the tree of life, we would live in our fallen, sinful lives forever. It was an act of kindness for us to die. We all know some very evil people in history. Imagine if they lived forever. Imagine if you or I lived forever?
Did you miss it? God preached the first Gospel message in Genesis 3:15. If you had a choice to get the back of your foot (your heel) hurt or your head hurt, which would you pick? I've got two feet and one head and it's my head that sends information that gets my foot healed, my foot does not send information to get my head healed. So I'd rather my foot be hurt. This is what God picked. He basically told the serpent, the woman's Offspring, Jesus, is going to walk on your head and bruise it while all you are going to do is to bruise His heel. God has a plan in place to overcome what the serpent did and restore humans in a way the serpent could never be restored. God will do it, but we are going to have to choose it. We chose to fall; we will have to choose to get back. No one can do it for you except you. I'm typing this message but you are the one who chooses. I can present the facts and point the way, but you must choose to come back to God the way He has laid out for you to come back.
Adam named his wife Eve, the mother of all the living. (verse 20)
God preached the second Gospel message. "For Adam also and for his wife the Lord God made long coats (tunics) of skins and clothed them." (verse 21) He saw the fig leaves. He did not make bigger clothes out of more fig leaves. God killed animals and made clothes out of skins. He made long coats, He completely covered them; He did not just cover the parts that concerned the man and the woman. God shed blood for the sake of his humans. Their wrongdoing He decided must be covered through the shedding of blood. In the Garden God used the blood of animals. Eventually, God used His own blood, the blood of Jesus. Only then could humans again safely live forever.
Chapter 4 - Adam and Eve have their first child, Cain, a tiller of the ground. Adam and Eve have their second child, Abel, a keeper of sheep.
Cain brought to God an offering of the fruit of the ground. Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and the fat portions.
The Lord had respect and regard for Abel and his offering.
But for Cain and his offering He had no respect or regard.
Why? Did God play favorites? Genesis doesn't spell it out for us but we did see above that as far as covering our wrongdoing and guilt and fear, God did not use fig leaves (plants or trees) but He used animal skins (blood was shed).
Cain brought "an" offering. Abel brought the firstborn of his flock. What place should our Creator have in our lives? Should God have "a" place or the "highest" place? Should God have us after our own hearts or after His heart (delighting Him rather than delighting ourselves)?
God asked Cain why he was angry. "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you but you must master it." (verse 7) God is telling Cain he had a choice, and he has a choice. God warns Cain to master himself and choose life, not sin.
Cain decided not to listen to God's counsel but to kill Abel. He asked Abel to come to the field, Cain's territory, and then killed Abel.
Just as God said to Adam and his wife in the garden, where are you? Even though He knew where they were, God asks Cain, where is your brother Abel?
God is not stupid. He already knows the answer. We have free will and God honors it. We can answer with the truth or come up with a lame response. Cain said, Am I my brother's keeper?
That's when God told him clearly, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground." (verse 10)
God announces Cain will no longer be able to grow plants; the soil won't yield to him because of Abel's blood. Cain will be a fugitive, a vagabond in perpetual exile.
Cain complains that the punishment is too great that people will kill him. But God puts a mark on Cain's forehead, possibly some kind of picture or script that promises if you kill Cain, there will be sevenfold vengeance taken on him. It could possibly be clearly God who put it on his forehead, not just some tattoo.
Cain leaves and his lineage is listed.
Adam and Eve have a third son, Seth. At that time men began to call [upon God] by the name of the Lord.
Chapter 5 - This chapter lists Adam's offspring and lineage. God reminds that He created man in the likeness of God and male and female. This seems to be God saying that He's still there with Adam and Eve and Seth. The fathers in the lineage lived longer lives than we do now. Adam lived 930 years, Seth lived 912 years, Enosh lived 905 years, Kenan lived 910 years, Mahalalel lived 895 years, Jared lived 962 years, Enoch never died but God "took him" at 365 years old because Enoch walked in habitual fellowship with God. Methuselah lived 969 years, Lamech was 182 years when Noah was born and lived 595 years after Noah was born which equals
777 years. Noah was the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
End of Genesis 1 - 5, Before the Flood. You should be able to understand what follows now. You should be able to understand the entire Bible now. Why is this so? These few chapters are a thumbnail representation of all that is to come. God gives us a choice. We choose wrongly. God himself mitigates the immediate consequences and plans our rescue long-term. This always involves shedding of blood for God knows the life is in the blood.
http://mobile.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Lev%2017:11
(Leviticus 17:11)
Once you know this thread you can follow all other like threads!
Genesis 6-9 (The Flood):
http://jesusiscoming.mobi/testimonials_6.html
Chapter 1 - Everything you see today was first created by God out of nothing. He created it by speaking. The Spirit of God is immediately mentioned. The first thing God created was light. He separated light from darkness. We call it day and night. The second thing God created was the sky above the water. Today we would call this atmospheric moisture (gas) and liquid water (oceans). The third thing God created was land and what was on it (plants and trees). The fourth thing God created was the universe full of stars with our own sun and moon to function as a time keeper.
The fifth thing God created was birds in the air and living creatures in the water. Unlike trees and plants which can propagate close by only, God blessed every living creature that moves so they would multiply and fill the earth. The sixth thing God created was land animals and reptiles, man, and woman. God's highest creation was people. "God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth and over everything that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him: male and female He created them." (verses 26-27) God blessed man and woman to be fruitful, multiply, and to fill the earth and having dominion over the rest of creation (fish, birds, every living creature that moves upon the earth. At this time man and woman were vegetarian, eating plants and fruit from trees.
Chapter 2 - The seventh thing God created was rest. He looked at what He created; He declared it good and blessed each step of the way. Now He was finished. He said this rest was holy and set apart from working.
The story of creation is now retold. (The first time it was told, man and woman were shown to be the highest and best creation of God and plants were lower and were created before man and woman.) The second telling of creation totally skips light, sky, and ocean. Certainly the point isn't suddenly that God didn't create light, sky, and ocean having created only plants and people (thus making chapter one wrong). No, God is telling us something else. What is it? God is retelling the story to emphasize that He created all that you see with one goal in mind: to create people. So in this second telling, plants can't be created before humans because there was no humans to till the ground. Plants have no meaning of themselves. They have meaning only because man is going to take care of them. So this time God creates a man from the dust of the ground and God breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being. (verse 7)
Then God planted a garden, the Garden of Eden, and put the man in it. Then God caused plants and trees to grow in the garden. In the center God put a special tree, the tree of the knowledge between good and evil. This must be very important to be in the center of the garden.
A river watered Eden (there was no rain yet) which became four rivers that flowed out of Eden: Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel, and the Euphrates.
The man's function was to tend, guard and keep the garden. God told man to eat anything in the garden except the tree in the center. Why? If you do, you will die.
God created man male and female (Genesis 1:27). Now God says it is not good that man should be alone.
Let's summarize: all things created are good so far. There are only two things that are not good. 1. if man eats of the tree in the center of the garden 2. if the man (male) is alone.
All will be well if man just doesn't eat of the tree in the center of the garden. God is now taking care of the man (male) being alone without a female. The man now has a name, Adam. God takes part of Adam while he sleeps and makes woman (which literally means 'taken out of a man'). Adam went wild! After having named all the animals, he realized this was his mate, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. (verse 23)
There is a bit of commentary at this point. Adam and woman had no human parents. But God wanted to be sure that in the future, when there were parents, that this very close relationship between husband and wife was treated as sacred and above the relationship of either the husband to his parents or the wife to his parents. It means a wife is highly honored by God. When a man recognizes in a woman that she is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, he is to treat her according to the importance God gives her. She is a gift to the man.
Genesis 3 - A new character shows up in the garden, the serpent. Was the serpent a creation of God? The answer must be yes. Was the serpent good when he was created? The answer must be yes. What happened to the serpent? Go back to the only two things God said weren't good. 1. eating of the tree in the center of the garden 2. man (male) being alone. The serpent must have at some point been involved in 1. So this must be very important.
God separated the light from the darkness, the sky from the water, the water from the land. The birds fly; water creatures live in water. Plants and trees don't move around but animals and people, birds and water creatures do move around. Every created thing seems to have its boundaries. God gave man free will in that He created man in His image. The serpent may not just be something God created as an animal or reptile. The serpent may also have been a creation of God that like man had free will. It may be that once the serpent ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which now was at the center of the garden, that he was unable to be restored to his previous condition. But the man and the woman, who were instructed not to eat of the tree at the center of the garden, we will see that God had a plan to restore them.
What was this tree? God called it "the tree of the knowledge of the difference of good and evil." (verse 9) Any tree was good to eat from "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:17)
The serpent (described as being more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made) asked the woman, "Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden?" (verse 2) She answers correctly, "We may eat the fruit from the trees of the garden except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, 'You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" (verse2-3) God didn't say they couldn't touch this fruit, He said they shouldn't eat it. Not touching it was not required but still OK to get wrong. The serpent goes on and now introduces a direct challenge to God's command and God's explanation of what would happen. "But the serpent said to the woman, you shall NOT surely die. For God knows in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity." (verses 4-5) Note that God already said He created man in His image and in His likeness (Genesis 1:27). But this does not make man and woman God; they are still only His image in dust. They could not successfully handle knowing the difference between good and evil not being God, only being His image in dust. So why did God put such a dangerous tree right in the center of the garden? Was it entrapment? God put the tree there because we are not robots. We must freely choose to obey God. He put it there precisely so we could disobey. We had to be free to both obey and disobey. Otherwise, we were not made in God's image. We don't understand everything about the serpent but he seems to be more than just a snake. The serpent seems to be a subtle creation of God that disobeyed and now wants to pull the man and the woman off course for its own purposes, to create its own little refuge of disobedience.
But the effect was huge. The eyes of both the man and the woman were opened. They knew they were naked and sewed fig leaves together to cover their sexual parts. They hid from God. When God came looking for them they said they were afraid because they were naked. God asked them, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat of the tree I commanded that you should not eat?" Blame started. Finger pointing started. The truth is that each free being makes the choice. God didn't listen to the blame and finger pointing. He had warned them so now the consequences were activated.
The serpent is cursed and now must slither on its belly and eat dust. "I will put enmity between you and woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie and wait and bruise His feet." (verse 15)
The woman will have trouble in pregnancy and childbirth and while you crave your husband, he will rule over you (not as much fun as joint dominion).
The ground is now cursed and Adam will have trouble doing his work tending the garden, the dirt and plants won't co-operate anymore, there will be weeds.
God had some damage control to do. "And the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of US [the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit], to know [how to distinguish between] good and evil and blessing and calamity; and now lest he put forth his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever,' Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So [God} drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep and guard the way to the tree of life." (verses 22-24).
If God had not cut us off from the tree of life, we would live in our fallen, sinful lives forever. It was an act of kindness for us to die. We all know some very evil people in history. Imagine if they lived forever. Imagine if you or I lived forever?
Did you miss it? God preached the first Gospel message in Genesis 3:15. If you had a choice to get the back of your foot (your heel) hurt or your head hurt, which would you pick? I've got two feet and one head and it's my head that sends information that gets my foot healed, my foot does not send information to get my head healed. So I'd rather my foot be hurt. This is what God picked. He basically told the serpent, the woman's Offspring, Jesus, is going to walk on your head and bruise it while all you are going to do is to bruise His heel. God has a plan in place to overcome what the serpent did and restore humans in a way the serpent could never be restored. God will do it, but we are going to have to choose it. We chose to fall; we will have to choose to get back. No one can do it for you except you. I'm typing this message but you are the one who chooses. I can present the facts and point the way, but you must choose to come back to God the way He has laid out for you to come back.
Adam named his wife Eve, the mother of all the living. (verse 20)
God preached the second Gospel message. "For Adam also and for his wife the Lord God made long coats (tunics) of skins and clothed them." (verse 21) He saw the fig leaves. He did not make bigger clothes out of more fig leaves. God killed animals and made clothes out of skins. He made long coats, He completely covered them; He did not just cover the parts that concerned the man and the woman. God shed blood for the sake of his humans. Their wrongdoing He decided must be covered through the shedding of blood. In the Garden God used the blood of animals. Eventually, God used His own blood, the blood of Jesus. Only then could humans again safely live forever.
Chapter 4 - Adam and Eve have their first child, Cain, a tiller of the ground. Adam and Eve have their second child, Abel, a keeper of sheep.
Cain brought to God an offering of the fruit of the ground. Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and the fat portions.
The Lord had respect and regard for Abel and his offering.
But for Cain and his offering He had no respect or regard.
Why? Did God play favorites? Genesis doesn't spell it out for us but we did see above that as far as covering our wrongdoing and guilt and fear, God did not use fig leaves (plants or trees) but He used animal skins (blood was shed).
Cain brought "an" offering. Abel brought the firstborn of his flock. What place should our Creator have in our lives? Should God have "a" place or the "highest" place? Should God have us after our own hearts or after His heart (delighting Him rather than delighting ourselves)?
God asked Cain why he was angry. "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you but you must master it." (verse 7) God is telling Cain he had a choice, and he has a choice. God warns Cain to master himself and choose life, not sin.
Cain decided not to listen to God's counsel but to kill Abel. He asked Abel to come to the field, Cain's territory, and then killed Abel.
Just as God said to Adam and his wife in the garden, where are you? Even though He knew where they were, God asks Cain, where is your brother Abel?
God is not stupid. He already knows the answer. We have free will and God honors it. We can answer with the truth or come up with a lame response. Cain said, Am I my brother's keeper?
That's when God told him clearly, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground." (verse 10)
God announces Cain will no longer be able to grow plants; the soil won't yield to him because of Abel's blood. Cain will be a fugitive, a vagabond in perpetual exile.
Cain complains that the punishment is too great that people will kill him. But God puts a mark on Cain's forehead, possibly some kind of picture or script that promises if you kill Cain, there will be sevenfold vengeance taken on him. It could possibly be clearly God who put it on his forehead, not just some tattoo.
Cain leaves and his lineage is listed.
Adam and Eve have a third son, Seth. At that time men began to call [upon God] by the name of the Lord.
Chapter 5 - This chapter lists Adam's offspring and lineage. God reminds that He created man in the likeness of God and male and female. This seems to be God saying that He's still there with Adam and Eve and Seth. The fathers in the lineage lived longer lives than we do now. Adam lived 930 years, Seth lived 912 years, Enosh lived 905 years, Kenan lived 910 years, Mahalalel lived 895 years, Jared lived 962 years, Enoch never died but God "took him" at 365 years old because Enoch walked in habitual fellowship with God. Methuselah lived 969 years, Lamech was 182 years when Noah was born and lived 595 years after Noah was born which equals
777 years. Noah was the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
End of Genesis 1 - 5, Before the Flood. You should be able to understand what follows now. You should be able to understand the entire Bible now. Why is this so? These few chapters are a thumbnail representation of all that is to come. God gives us a choice. We choose wrongly. God himself mitigates the immediate consequences and plans our rescue long-term. This always involves shedding of blood for God knows the life is in the blood.
http://mobile.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Lev%2017:11
(Leviticus 17:11)
Once you know this thread you can follow all other like threads!
Genesis 6-9 (The Flood):
http://jesusiscoming.mobi/testimonials_6.html