This is the beginning of mankind's story. The word "Genesis" comes from the Greek translation of the first book of the Scriptures, meaning "origins." This book is the first of the five-volume literary unit which is called the Law ("Torah" in Hebrew), written by Moses between the Exodus of Israel from Egypt and his death (1445 BC ~ 1405 BC). God gives the Torah to Israel and all the other peoples who will hear, in order to install in them an attitude of reverential awe for God, and teach them how they may restore their broken fellowship with God. The Torah is foundational to understanding everything in life, and the rest of God's spoken revelation, chiefly, how and why God sets out on His mission to restore His relationship with His estranged children and form an infinitely better relationship. Genesis 1
God creates the material universe which is bound within time and space in six consecutive days. The Hebrew words for "evening," "morning," "day," that are repeated for the six cycles of God's creative work, are the same common words that were used colloquially in Moses' times to signify a regular evening and morning cycle of one ordinary day. The Hebrews have marked the start of a new day from sunset (i.e. from evening), so by using the ordinary language, Moses expects the readers to simply understand that each day of creation is one ordinary day (i.e. 24 hours). The universe is created to be the stage in which His glorious story, which He has written before time began, will play out from beginning to end: Day 1. God separates light from darkness. Day 2. God separates water, and creates a water canopy in the sky and a water pool in the ground. Day 3. God separates land from ocean. Then God creates all kinds of vegetation and plants for the land. Day 4. God attaches light to celestial bodies -- the sun, the moon, and the stars -- to separate day from night. They also serve as a marker for the calendar year and seasons. Day 5. God creates the sea and freshwater creatures, and the flying creatures. Day 6. God creates the land creatures, including insects. God gives all the creatures the ability to reproduce themselves after their own kind. One of the land creatures God crafts is mankind; God creates mankind in two distinct forms: male and female. Although all the land creatures are sculpted out of the same material (i.e. dust of the ground), the mankind is entirely different from the rest of the creation on earth, in that they are created in God's own image. To be human is to be an image of God, and as God's image, every human bears a special role in God's universe. They are God's representative on earth; they bear a moral responsibility of reflecting God's name (i.e. who He is) in every facet of their life. As an extension of God's reputation, then, they are given authority over all the other creatures, and tasked with building a civilization on the entire earth according to God's design. They share God's own attributes, chiefly, His self-awareness and autonomy. They are given the capacity to consciously commune with God forever, that is, to be conscious of God's perfect beauty and to respond with reverence. Their self-awareness gives them a unique autonomous control over their mind: who and what they value most, whose law they should obey, how they should feel in response to a certain situation, and how they should behave. Due to their being created in God's image, the little God-like creatures have the special privilege to understand God's will in the form of a language and of a moral instruction, and to respond with volitional obedience. When God says, "Let us make man in our image," this has be interpreted in light of the fact that God has already created myriads of supernatural image-bearers in the spiritual realm, who are the counterparts to the physical image-bearers in the earthly realm [Job 38:7]. Here, God holds a council with all His sons, in order to share His excitement with them and direct their attention to His plan, so that they all may celebrate with God as He creates their siblings on earth, who will also be able to enjoy God's beauty with them. In this originally created world of perfect creatures, where there is no death or decay, the seed-yielding vegetation was the source of food for mankind, and the rest of the vegetation was for the animals. Genesis 2 Day 7. God sets the day apart, and gives it a special meaning. It is the day in which God rested from all His work of creation, the chief of which is His family in the spiritual realm, and His family in the physical realm. The idea of God's rest on the seventh day is not to convey the need to restore His depleted strength, as we would experience rest when we are weary. He marks the seventh day as a day of absence of labour, to signify that His work of six-day creation is complete, and that nothing else needs to be added [Ge 1:31]. God also sets a seven-day week pattern for mankind to follow, so that, every week, they may be reminded of God's wondrous work of creation, and of their duty to represent Him on earth by their own working and resting. God first creates man, and seals his right to govern the earth by allowing him give a name to every land and flying creature, an act that would signify the man's authority over these animals and his responsibility to nurture them; essentially, all the animals become the man's pet animals he must care for. Then He anesthetizes him, and surgically removes his rib. With the rib, God creates woman and brings this gift, whom the man names as his own partner. Through this order of creating male and female, God designs the mutually dependent relationship between man and his wife, in which they complement each other through a distinct but equally important role. The man is to identify his woman as the essential piece of his own body that was missing and is finally found. Therefore, the man must protect and cherish her at all times; he must study everything about her, so as to know how to be a strength to her weaknesses. The woman is to identify her man as the reason for her existence. Therefore, the woman must always help to bring him more honour from God; she must study everything about him, so as to know how to be a strength to his weaknesses. Through the marriage of one man and one woman, then, God joins back together what naturally belongs to each other, and seals them as one inseparable unit through their sexual union. Through this lifelong companionship, God makes them one mind -- in thought, emotion, and motive -- toward God's will; they are to constantly encourage each other to be faithful stewards, and to create solutions together for carrying out His will in the most God-glorifying way. With this goal in mind, God gives each a special role. The man's role is to lead. He must make executive decisions for what their tasks are for the day; he must be diligent in listening to every guidance that God gives them, so that he may properly guide his wife and lead their efforts for the most effectiveness. The woman's role is to follow. She must strengthen the man's authority, and encourage him to take charge with confidence; she must be diligent in listening to every guidance that God gives her through her husband, so that she may offer crucial advices to the man and help him make well-informed decisions. This forms an organic teamwork, in which every workflow is seamless from initial conceptualization to its completion. All familial relationships pale in comparison to this relationship between a man and his wife, so much so that a man will rightly consider his wife as the most important person in his life. The original world environment is markedly different, both in geography and ecosystem, from today's environment. The irrigation system for the land vegetation is through constant streams of underground springs that flow up to the surface, rather than through water that falls down from the fickle rainclouds. The thick water layer, somewhere high in the atmosphere, traps the sun's heat within the atmosphere, providing consistent warm temperature. All the lands are virtually barren of life, except one location called Eden. Eden is a massive and luxuriant garden that God had created, full of all kinds of plant life; and consequently, all the animal life is also concentrated here. Eden is also the home of a great subterranean spring, which is a source of four great rivers that spread to all the lands outside the garden. Eden never lacks food, or water, and this is where God places mankind. The outer lands possess, just below their surfaces, all the materials required for civilization, which, with a little digging, will be lavishly yielded for mankind. The garden of Eden is the earthly counterpart to God's dwelling place in the spiritual realm, in which God fellowships with His children. It can be reasonably assumed that God habitually visits Eden in order to instruct the man and his wife, and also to enjoy each other's company. In the centre of the Eden, God plants two special trees: the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The first serves as a symbol; it teaches that fellowshipping with God is life itself, and that there is no life apart from being in constant communion with Him. The second also is a symbol; it teaches mankind what pleases God and what displeases God. What pleases God is mankind's fellowship with Him. And their fellowship is based on their obedience to His instructions, which God gives them for the sake of their own happiness. What displeases God is disobedience, because it breaks their fellowship and results in their death and dishonour. When God sternly warns mankind not to eat the fruit of the second tree, God gives mankind the objective knowledge of what is evil (i.e. what displeases God), that is, the act of disobedience. As long as the tree exists in Eden, it serves as a constant object lesson to remind the mankind that obedience is life, and that they must be careful to heed all their Father's good instructions. According to their perfect innocence, they joyfully obey. They have experienced nothing but loving fellowship with their Father, and have not experienced any guilt and its accompanying shame. They are completely pleasing to God; there is nothing dishonourable within themselves to try to cover over, as demonstrated by their complete nakedness. Eden becomes a base of operation for mankind, from which they will carry out God's design for Eden and the outer lands. Although God's work of creation was complete, it is still in its primeval and chaotic form, and there is still much work to be done in order for it to better reflect God's beauty. For instance, certain vegetation, which constitutes as food for the animals, requires deliberate cultivation and tender care, the work which He now delegates to mankind. Although God has the authority to instantly accomplish all His desires without the aid of His children, God rather chooses to involve them, so that they may actively participate through use of their God-given abilities. This shows God's delight in bringing His image-bearers into a partnership with Him in order to accomplish His glorious vision. Genesis 3 The fact that the talking serpent is not one of the earthly creatures, which God created on the sixth day, is obvious. Animals lack God-consciousness, but the serpent is very much aware of his Creator. He does not make animal sounds as a physical serpent would, but speaks an intelligible language and propagates the world's first alternative perspective about God and God's character. Besides mankind, the only other kind of creatures who can intelligently communicate, is the sons of God who are in the spiritual realm. The serpent bears his fangs, and utters the first dissonant sound in the universe that pollutes the harmonious melody of praise being sung to the beautiful Creator. The mechanism by which this supernatural being manifests himself before the woman is through the hijacking of the body of a physical serpent, and temporarily possessing it. Of all the animals, he identifies specifically with the serpent; the serpentine qualities of the son of God are reflected by the animal's own glistening specular beauty, subtlety, and intelligence. The most distinct quality, however, is its shrewdness: its ability to take inventory of all its available resources, factor all the limiting constraints into its plans, anticipate its prey's moves and devise countermeasures, analyze the situation for a timely opportunity, and achieve its goal at the expense of its prey. Due to his union with the serpent, the serpent no longer behaves like a normal animal; the serpent behaves like an image-bearer with supernatural ingenuity behind his eyes. Egypt uses a serpent imagery to symbolize the throne guardian of the Pharaoh. The imagery is repeated in the Seraphim (which means "fiery serpents"), who guard the throne of God in Isaiah 6:2 (also called Cherubim; ref. Ge 3:24; 1Sa 4:4; Is 37:16). This son of God had a high and privileged position of guarding the boundary of the holy throne of his Father. Not unlike mankind, he fully experiences his Father in all His perfection; he is a first-hand witness to his Father's infinite holiness (i.e. His unique otherness, which elevates Him far above all His creation). He knows that God is self-existent, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. Not only does he know about God's nature, but he also knows about God's character, that He is honourable and beautiful. The serpent's intentions are hidden from the mankind for the moment. Unbeknownst to mankind, the son of God had corrupted his mind. He values himself far above God by reason of his spectacular beauty, and refuses to acknowledge the truth that God is his Creator and Lord. He sees himself as God's equal, and the rightful one who is truly worthy of the worship that is wasted on God [ref. Is 14:13-14; Eze 28:17]. His arrogance leads him to justify his desire to annihilate God and replace Him, but he knows that he will never succeed. His Father's infinite supremacy is unattainable; God, by His very infinite nature, prevents any possibility of rivalry, and His invincible authority will always stand in the way of the son's own claim to being worthy of worship. The knowledge of God should have inspired reverence and worship, but rather, it produces within the serpent envy and hatred. Motivated by his violent emotions, he concocts the next best thing, which is achievable; he robs God of worship by leading his fellow image-bearers in heaven and on earth into a rebellion. If he will not be worshipped, then God will not be worshipped either; and he will lure his brothers into a worship of themselves or any other thing, as long as they abandon their faithfulness to their Father [Rev 12:4]. His rebellion is undeterred by his knowledge of the penalty: death. His impenetrable pride makes him indifferent to becoming the object of God's infinite wrath; he rather considers this dishonour as a badge of honour [Job 41:24,34]. He would rather suffer unspeakable torment for all eternity than serve his God. What is particularly interesting to the serpent in regard to the mankind is their capacity to reproduce other image-bearers. By enticing the mankind to rebel, he hopes to create a self-perpetuating race of God-hating image-bearers, who will join his eternal rebellion. If the serpent cannot be supreme in God's kingdom, then he will be supreme in his own kingdom, even if his kingdom is destined for destruction. In order to achieve his slippery fall into a full disavowal of the truth of God, the serpentine creature, by absolute necessity, corrupts himself and becomes the very antithesis of God's moral character. He hates everything that God stands for, and cannot endure His perfection. The serpent's character is mirrored in the fallen mankind's own everyday experience (i.e. mankind arrogantly refuses to acknowledge God and His character, which leads them to murder, deceive, and commit unfaithfulness). All enticement to disobedience begins with an assault on the person's faith in God's unique nature, God's honourable character, and God's infallible word, and it succeeds when the conscience no longer is protected by the shield of faith; the conscience will then inevitably follow after the voice of a new god, who will defy God's supreme authority. What one knows about God and His perfect beauty informs the emotions. The reverence and love for God is the emotional response to the knowledge of God. The emotion, in turn, motivates the person to allegiance and obedience to God's word. The serpent, who has plumbed the depths of corruption, knows how the mind works, and he begins to hack the mind of mankind at its most foundational level in order to elicit a rebellion. The serpent's shrewdness guides him to target the woman as his first choice of prey, rather than the man, and lures her out from under the umbrella of her husband's protection. She is, by design, someone who depends on the strength of her husband to build a stable environment in which she can carry out her tasks. This is not only true physically, but spiritually; the husband must maintain a stable framework of moral principle and knowledge of God, within which her emotional centre, which has greater sensitivity than man's, can be safely guarded, so that she may always have a proper response to their situational challenges and provide insightful wisdom overlooked by the man. Thus, by virtue of her emotional giftedness and designated role, she is more vulnerable to a theological assault against her mind, and more susceptible to sympathizing with the wrong person. She is not designed to be a fighter, hence she is unlikely to be as aggressive and disagreeable as man. In novel and unpredictable situations, she must honour her husband by looking to him as her saviour, the defender of her emotional purity. Secondly, the serpent attacks the woman first, because the way to make the man fall is through the woman. The man depends on his wife as his second pair of eyes and ears, so that she brings to his attention the things about which they should be concerned. The man fully trusts her loyalty to his leadership, and depends on her for her wise guidance. Unlikely is the man to respect a talking serpent's enticement to join the rebellion, unless the serpent passes the invitation through the only creature on the earth whom the man trusts and whose advices he is obligated to consider. Thirdly (and most ultimately), the serpent directly attacks the woman rather than the man, because he wants to rob God of His glory and pollute His creation (just as someone out of spite would smear a blob of mud on a beautiful painting of an artist). God designed the man to be the leader and the woman to be the follower. Causing the fall of mankind by bolstering the woman into the executive role would effectively overturn God's order of authority and submission for the man and his wife, much to the serpent's delight. The mankind had never encountered anything like the serpent's sophisticated deception. Nevertheless, they know their Father, with whom they fellowship regularly. They know His character, that He is kind and gentle. And they know His clear warnings and His simple instructions. They had more than enough knowledge of their Father to maintain a simplicity of loving devotion to Him, and to not tolerate any invitation to deviate from their obedience to His word. The serpent initiates a conversation with the woman by way of a question, from which she cannot easily walk away and to which she must respond: "Is it a true rumour about which I heard, that Elohim is so unkind that He would restrict you from every enjoyment of this paradise?" This marks the world's first word war. Starting with this one question, the serpent strikes his bites against the truth of who God is, what He is like, and what He has said. The serpent firstly attacks the truth of God's unique nature. He calls God, "Elohim," a generic term which indicates a supernatural being among many other supernatural beings. Indeed, God is a Spirit, just as His sons in the spiritual realm are spirits. However, no other spirits are like the self-existent One, the Father and Creator of all [Ps 90:2, Is 43:10. 45:5]. And this one Elohim's uniqueness and supreme authority is what the serpent refuses to acknowledge. The serpent leads the woman's mind into the trap of his fantastical paradigm, in which God is simply a god among many other gods, equal in nature: "God is not the source of all happiness; He is merely a facilitator who makes happiness possible for mankind. As such, God merely possesses an acquired knowledge of an external principle which defines happiness. Furthermore, God's power is limited, and His knowledge of happiness is imperfect; thus, God cannot ever accomplish the utmost happiness of mankind." If the serpent is successful, the rest of the woman's entire understanding of God's character and of God's word will be left vulnerable to the serpent's attacks. The woman will no longer be able to appreciate her Father's unique nature, and she will have to concede that whatever justification she might find for staunchly and singularly honouring her Father's authority is no longer from her recognition of His supremacy, but from her personal preference. Thus, she will neither be able to defend her God's character against any malicious words of other gods with absolute certainty, nor will she be able to repel their words from re-interpreting or from sitting in judgment over God's word. The serpent's second line of attack is on God's honourable character. Even if the woman grants an erroneous view of God's nature and she gives credence to the existence of other gods with an equal right to be worshipped, her emotional commitment to her own God will keep her devoted to obeying God's word as opposed to hearkening to the words of other gods. The serpent will not be able to lead her to commit unfaithfulness against her God as long as she trusts that God is good to her. And she trusts in God as long as she sees value in God's beautiful character, if not in His unique nature. And she sees value in God's character, only insofar as what she knows about God's character aligns with her moral conscience. The woman's acquired knowledge of God's character is only as strong as her consistent appreciation of the witnesses who testify of God's character. Her moral conscience's function is to enable her to appreciate the witnesses (i.e. to enable her to discern the true value and the false value), and properly functions only if she informs it with a correct interpretation of the witnesses (the chief witness being God's spoken word); her educated knowledge of God, as taught by creation and God's spoken word, becomes the standard by which her conscience navigates her. Just like a freshly calibrated compass, her moral conscience then works to navigate her toward recognizing God's supreme value, hence, toward obedient behaviour. Ultimately, it is the witnesses who both strengthen the woman's knowledge and inform her moral conscience, and the co-dependent relationship between knowledge and conscience constitutes her faith in God. And it is the witnesses whom the serpent uses in order to topple over her faith in God's character. The serpent does not deny the existence of the witnesses; he re-contextualizes them. It is obvious to the woman that the entire universe is a witness of God's beautiful character. She experiences nothing less than a completely fulfilling life, because God withholds nothing good from her. Everything in the created order, from the stars to the breathing creatures, inspires awe and adoration for the Creator. She sees that God permits her to enjoy every good thing, because He is good. More assuredly, God's spoken word testifies to His good character; God's instruction to the mankind is always for their happiness. It is to this woman that the serpent maligns God's character by making an accusation which could be refuted in a deceitfully easy way: "Your God is not good, because He prohibits you from enjoying any good thing." What the serpent angles for is a defensive reaction from the woman, so that she, of her own accord, rashly agrees to the serpent's terms of engagement in their debate about God's character. The terms of engagement are that she associates permissiveness with goodness, and prohibition with the opposite of goodness. Thus, the serpent subtly constricts her vision so that she rather sees in the similar yet counterfeit perspective: God is good, because He permits her to enjoy every good thing. The serpent's framework of thinking slips by her guard without being detected as a threat. The serpent's paradigm having been uncritically invited in, her mind begins to lose its stability. The serpent's malicious words against God's character was a diversion tactic. The serpent was directly contradicting her well-grounded knowledge of God's character, only because he wants to ensnare her moral conscience, the interpreter of the witnesses; the serpent was not leading the woman to willfully disregard or to directly contradict the witnesses, but to voluntarily misinterpret them. Thus, her moral compass becomes the serpent's voice, now giving her a faulty reading of the witnesses: "God is not good if He prohibits you from pursuing all your good desires." Her myopic vision focuses on what is now a point of contention for her moral conscience: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Indeed, everything that God has created is good, but the woman becomes blind to the fact that everything is created to serve a specific purpose determined by God, which ultimately serves to elicit some kind of worshipful meditation about God. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was designed to be an object lesson to teach the mankind to honour God as their only source of their utmost happiness and to heed His instruction on what is truly good or evil, for He is the perfect standard of goodness itself. Thus, worship always precedes happiness, both in priority and in sequence. The mankind's happiness itself is to serve its greater purpose of eliciting worship for God. Also, whether God permits or prohibits, it is only right for the mankind to honour God by trusting Him to command for their own utmost happiness, and to obey. To the woman, however, the tree seems now like any other tree, with the same purpose of producing fruit for her eating. For the first time in her life, the woman does not see the pleasures of Eden as evidences of God's goodness, but as a distraction that intends to conceal the one evidence of God's less than generous character. She now sees a logical incongruity between God's prohibition and her newly-conceived wantonness. Her wantonness has become her new standard of goodness to which God Himself is subject. She sees that God does not grant her whatever pleasure she desires, as she thinks He should, and this irritates her moral conscience. Thus, the woman's perspective becomes impressed upon by her inner voice who hisses that there are unknown pleasures to be discovered apart from loyal obedience to God's instruction. The mutually dependent relationship between the woman's faith and her moral conscience turns into a vicious downward spiral. Her moral conscience has not set apart God as her supreme authority for whose honour everything serves its purpose, so the woman sets apart her wanton pleasure as the supreme purpose for which God exists to serve. Her moral conscience has not set apart God as the absolute standard of goodness, therefore the woman sets apart herself as the one who determines what is good and evil. The woman's mind effectively detaches itself from reality, and can no longer navigate her properly through dangers. God's character is put on trial; the woman has made God's absolute permissiveness of her novel and self-willed passions as the test of His goodness, and He fails her test. Having found God guilty of lacking goodness, the question naturally arises in her inquisitive, yet now corrupted mind: "Why does God work against my good desires? He must have some sinister motive." This is a different kind of inquiry from the one she should have made: "Why does my good Father prevent me from eating from the tree? There must be a good reason." The woman has already begun to distrust God's character, and the serpent has a prepared answer for her warped inquiry. Carried away by her wantonness, the woman becomes frustrated due to her unfulfilled lust for forbidden pleasures, which can only be experienced through flagrant disobedience. The woman's moral conscience, though having hastily crowned her as the new supreme authority, still harasses her with the voices of the remaining naysayers within its domain who oppose her unrightful reign; they advise her that her wanton desires cannot be good, and remind her that God alone is good. Driven by her lust, she seeks justification to slay her critics in order to quell all resistance against her authority, and the serpent readily provides her with one: "God is a megalomaniac who is willfully opposed to the mankind's entitlement to their full happiness and their realizing their full potential." The corrupting process of the woman's mind is the archetype of all enticement processes that will transpire throughout the history of the fallen mankind. The woman's faith in God's nature and His goodness erodes away. The promise of forbidden pleasure, yet to be discovered, dangles in front of her. Being unaware of the dangers, she becomes mesmerized, and bites the bait. She imbibes the principle of hedonism as the ultimate test of goodness; every pursuit for pleasure is a noble pursuit, and whatever she finds pleasurable cannot be evil. The only obstacle in her path to this new pleasure is God's prohibition. Her newfound passions compete with God's word for the woman's allegiance. She values the fulfillment of her wanton desire far above her obedience to God's word. She replaces God's word with her internal lust as her new guide to happiness, and does so against the advice of her moral conscience. In order to neutralize her protesting conscience and justify her violent overthrow of God's authority, the woman seeks after an alternative witness who will undermine God's unique nature and malign God's moral character. The serpent does not miss his opportunity to slander God, and tells her all that she wants to hear: "Firstly, God's knowledge and His power are so limited that He cannot ever accomplish your utmost happiness. Secondly, God refuses to act upon the little knowledge that He does have; God knows the degrees of your happiness are consistent with the degrees of your deification, and He knowingly withholds what will help you progress toward the utmost happiness. Your God wants you to remain docile and miserable, and to never realize what you were born to be -- a god. Your Elohim, while having no unique right to being worthy of worship, cares nothing for the mankind's own right to becoming Elohim themselves -- the self-sustaining, self-glorifying creators of their own worlds. And the reason for your God's nipping in the bud your great potential is that He only values His glory; He is not at all interested in putting to good use what little authority He has and helping the mankind ascend to the same level of glory as He at the least, because He is only motivated by His selfish desire to be revered by the mankind." The woman now finds sufficient justification for fully distrusting God's character, and she becomes relieved by the dead silence of her once disapproving moral conscience. If God cannot be trusted to guide her to happiness, then she will have to seek after another god who can be trusted to do so. The serpent easily earns the woman's trust by simply validating all her cherished lusts: "The fruit, which God has cruelly forbidden for you to eat, is not only visually sumptuous but also palatably flavourful. Most importantly, the fruit possesses a special property which, if eaten, will give you the forbidden knowledge of the secret path to higher levels of your glory." The serpent, now the god of the woman, permits her to pursue all her exciting passions with reckless abandon. For the woman, disobedience becomes not only a noble act, but also a necessity. Thus, she sets her mind on the journey in search of her own godhood, and her journey can only begin with a clear assertion of her independence and declaration of her freedom from God's "oppressive" Fatherhood. Lastly, the serpent attacks God's infallible word. The serpent has already succeeded in seducing the woman into valuing herself far above God, and consequently distrusting God. The faith of the woman has all but collapsed, and she feels almost nothing but contempt for God; she no longer believes God is the sovereign, powerful, all-wise, loving God, but rather an ordinary, weak, ignorant, self-important god who is simply one among the pantheon of many unknown gods. Surging from the heart of self-worship, all her rebellious emotions cascade down to the centre of the woman's will in order to motivate her to action. There is yet, however, one uncollapsed portion of her wall of faith that holds back some force of her torrential emotions; it is the fear of punishment. She still remembers that God has clearly warned her of the consequence of disobedience: death. In order to consummate her rebellion, the serpent persuades her to fully renounce her faith in God: "Remember that this selfish God has not been at all truthful with you about what true happiness means. You have no good reason to now believe His empty threat of punishment, which He uttered only to deter you from pursuing your happiness. Besides, the journey to true happiness awaits you, but you must first prove yourself to be worthy of it by fully repudiating your allegiance to this untrustworthy God." The serpent's religion of progressive self-deification teaches the woman that if she is not willing to risk death in pursuit of her godhood, then she is not worthy of godhood. Before she can be initiated into the religion, the serpent first requires her to prove her commitment by performing the religion's rite of blasphemy; she must formally declare that God is a liar, and fully disavow the truthfulness of God's word. The woman willfully performs the ritual, and voluntarily lays down her life in pursuit of the serpent's empty fantasy. The man is conspicuous by his absence throughout the entire conversation between the serpent and the woman. The man has no excuse for failing to fulfill his role as the woman's saviour. God must have clearly instructed him to be vigilant for such a danger as this, when his wife would need him to be right by her side so that he may protect her faithfulness to God. His dereliction of duty towards his wife costs her her life. Even if the man were to snatch just in time the fruit of the knowledge from his wife's hands, his effort would be in vain. The serpent had already corrupted her mind. The woman had effectively divorced her husband; the mind of the woman has been so corrupted that even if her husband were to try now to fulfill his duty, his leadership would no longer be honoured. The woman, who now possesses a rebellious heart, suspects the man to be only an agent of the "oppressive" God, created only to keep her servile and ignorant. The woman disobeys God's word. With the entire wall of faith demolished, her wayward emotions overwhelm her will, and she consummates the corruption of her mind. She eats the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and she immediately experiences death. Indeed, the fruit possessed a special property to give her the knowledge of what is good and evil, but it is not as she expected. Her moral conscience, which has been brutally beat into submission thus far, comes back to life with a vengeance, becomes reinstated as the true voice of God, and judges the woman as a traitor only fit for destruction. She now, all too well, realizes that her pursuit of supposed happiness outside of obedience to God was all a sham. If she had once known evil as a physician knows the pathology of a disease, she now knows it as a patient knows a disease. The woman is completely separated from the source of her life, that is, God. The moral conscience pummels the woman mercilessly with guilt. -uncharted territory from this point onwards: excavation in progress- God knows that, if you start disobeying Him, you will start your progress to becoming like the gods. Eating the forbidden fruit will start the trajectory of your own deification, and God feels threatened by rivals." The serpent promises the woman that she can reach the same uniqueness of God. So is the lie of the serpent for today's generations, that if they do not deviate from their path of disobedience, they will reach their own immortality. The serpent makes the woman believe that there is some special, magical, innate property within the fruit in and of itself to produce deification. He also promises practical benefits to disobedience: she would be able to be wiser, and be a better helper to her husband. The serpent's third tactic is to directly deny the truthfulness of Gods' word: "God is not hiding from you the truth. You will not die, but you will find your fulfillment." The man is conspicuous by his absence during the interaction between the serpent and his wife, who should have stepped in to protect her. She was never meant to stray from the covering and protection of her husband, and wander into the world, which makes her vulnerable to assault. Both her sympathy, and her desire to defend God demands it. Whether or not she walks away, the serpent wins either way. On one hand, she can not respond and leave God's honour undefended. On the other hand, she can continue to interact with the serpent, and give him more chances to lure her. he knows how to bypass their natural suspicion, and earn their trust. He knows how to string along his victim, and maintain their interactions. He is a creature of beauty and light. He also appears as an authoritative figure, who claims to have a greater knowledge, which he now claims to let the mankind in on. All problems in the world, all weakness, all disasters, all despair, all failure, all regret, all vengeance, all lies, all cowardice, all evil, all deaths, all sorrows has its source from this monumental event that defines the universe. He appears as innocent, and neutral observer, who only has the best interest of his victim, and promises greater heights of happiness and fulfillment if they would only follow him in rebellion against God, who only seeks to deprive them and keep them down. Serpent claims to know secrets about God that if known would bring great disappointment to mankind, and that Serpent knows more than God does. Serpent introduces the first dilemma, and a question. She starts the subtle path of questioning God, to doubting God, to distrusting God, to disobeying God. All sin starts with this path. The trustworthiness of God's word is now subject to our own judgment. Serpent makes God sound restrictive. Serpent focuses on the one prohibition, and expands it into the biggest deal ever, that would entice grumbling to the point that God sounds like He does not want any tree to be eaten. God could not have said it. The fact that He did say it is because there is also something within God that is very flawed, and unkind, and has dirty secrets. Satan is pro freedom, pro-wisdom, pro-happiness. God is the opposite. Serpent casts aspersion on God, by spinning that one prohibition that God gives, and does not talk about all the bounty God has provided for the woman. Although, she knew God, and she knows her role, she does not run back to her husband, and asks him instead. She does not defend God, although everything in her life screams God's goodness. She becomes myopic, and focuses on things that serpent wants her to see, the deprivation of her satisfaction. She does not believe obedience brings the best life, and full satisfaction. She is given a clear command. She commits the inexcusable rebellion against a good Father who had withheld nothing good from mankind, and always sought their ultimate satisfaction, the greatest act of turning away from faith in God's goodness. All sin comes from losing faith in God. Woman severs her fellowship with God in her mind, and she experiences sinful desire. Serpent has answer for the woman. God hates rivals. God knows perfectly well that His image-bearers has every possibility of being equal to Him in every way, and God does not want that. Trust me. I tried. (God has no rivals, because there is none like God; but God hates arrogance and violent usurpers who think to dethrone the Creator). And God's flaw is that He is self-absorbed, and only cares about protecting his authority, and making His image-bearers grovel before Him. Serpent overturns everything the woman knows and believes about God: God is not kind. God has evil and secret motives, He lies, He does not tell the truth, God restricts full happiness. But Serpent is the opposite; he is the true love. The promise of becoming like God sounds noble, and intoxicatingly appealing. Every religion and cult is this. Serpent tells half truth. The woman knows evil by being evil. The woman is nothing like God, but indeed her knowledge of evil has surpassed her previous knowledge of evil. She knows everything about evil. God knows everything about evil outside of Himself as a physician knows about illness, while the mankind knows about the illness by being the patient. The woman's values are changed, emotions are fired up, and moves her to the act. The reptile brings to full demolition any remaining defence of woman to push back against his intention. He bold face lies, and calls God a liar. God is dishonoured, and woman is defiled with evil thoughts about God. The ultimate lie of serpent, is there is no judgment for disobedience. Even then, woman had the choice to walk away from the serpent, and the serpent removes the last restraint from her, the only fear that she has that keeps her now from eating: fear of judgment. God does not love you, and therefore He only wants to restrict you. Serpent says: I care about you. I know your tenderness, and I know God's law is harmful to your full happiness, and I am here to help you become free. Do what you shall choose. You are your own authority. You are your own God. Satan always tells sinners what they would like to hear, to their own destruction. The reptile is not surprising to the woman, and can be assumed that such occurrence of talking animals was not infrequent, as sons of God minister to the mankind. The serpent then goes for the strike. He brashly contradicts God. God has something to hide from you, and he is not being honest with you, and does not want you to have the full knowledge. The question would arise in the mind of the woman: why, then, would God tell us such a thing, that we would die? The serpent has an answer: he gives a plausible reason why God would forbid them: it is because God wants to keep you ignorant and servile. There is so much about God that you do not know about, and I am here to tell you the truth. God is not the kind person that you think He is. He is deliberately keeping you from becoming like Him, because He does not want to share all His knowledge with you. The woman has already bought into the alternate truth; the dynamic between the husband and wife is missing. She does not run to her husband to verify the doubts in her mind; she begins to question everything that God has designed in her life, all because she no longer can trust God. She begins to also rationalize what she knows is an evil choice. She finds enough justification for what she wants to do: she must strive to represent God after all, which means becoming like Him in every way. Perhaps, she will be a better helper to her husband by knowing good and evil in a greater way. The fruit appears delicious, it looks beautiful, and it gives her the esoteric knowledge that the serpent promises. By taking the fruit, she agrees with the serpent: God cannot be trusted, and He does not seek after my happiness, and God must be disobeyed in order to find my happiness. Spiritual realm is just as full of activity as in the physical realm. Lots of things were happening behind the scenes, and still are. If they knew of a disease as a clinician, they now know it as the patient. The first mention of God’s surprising response to sin: God shows mercy rather than mete out His righteous judgment. First sacrifice of an innocent being to provide for the new needs of man. Not certain what Satan was trying to accomplish: getting God to doom mankind? Trying to recruit man into rebellion against God? Still it must have been enraging to see God have two different judgments according to His justice: doom for the fallen angel the serpent, and mercy for man. For man, faith is determining factor. The will of God is lost, and the dynamic between the husband and wife is all out of whack. The husband will seek to dominate, and the wife will also seek control, all not regarding obedience to God. 4: Genesis: Cain doesn’t know how to learn. He does not need to change. Cain’s aggression is compensatory mechanism for his threatened sense of self-worth and identity. God will not pamper Cain in his idolatry. 5: Adam was witness for the Lord almost until his really great grandkid Noah. They lived long due to water canopy above shielding harmful radiation. The reptiles lived long too, and they never stop growing. Real Jurassic Park. 6: All the animals including T Rex are vegetarians. It must have been terrifying to hear of a flood considering they never even saw rain. Don’t make God regret He created you. You won’t get away with it. In an effort to cheat death, men stack up God’s wrath for themselves throughout centuries of their lifespan exponentially, all the way to demon worship. In an effort to create a race of men who will not die, they elicit demon possession, and women are married off to these possessed men. The results are futile, and all they produce is more flesh. Genesis 7: It is not enough to be created in God’s image to be safe from God. God will not spare anything tainted with sin, as evidenced by the universal flood. Next time it will be universal fire. sendtosamkim 1:01 AM Genesis 8: A new world starting with Noah’s blood line. God knows the wickedness of men. God will not drown the world again. God is pleased with blood sacrifice. sendtosamkim 1:19 AM genesis 9,10: The promise of God to never destroy the earth by flood again. Next time though it will be fire. Fermentation of the grapes happens and Noah doesn’t know about it? Was it intentional? Humiliation by Ham causes Noah to wrath and curses his son Canaan and his descendants. The rise of the great king Nimrod and his empire Babel. And the race of men beginning to take on specific characteristics by their kin. sendtosamkim 2:31 AM genesis 11 Babel provides no checks and balances for the sins of men. The one government rule would exponentially catapult the entire race to plumb the sinful depths, perhaps similar to the pre-flood men. To diversify, God scatters them. Beginning of Abram’s story. sendtosamkim 11:13 PM ge 12 God initiates relationship with Abram, and promises prestige as the father of a great nation. God sides with Abram as His defender and Benefactor. Abram, lacking in faith, resorts to deceit to try and preserve his life against potential threat. God proves true to His word, and strikes Egyptian king with plague. Don't mess with Abram. sendtosamkim 1:15 AM ge 13: Abram returns to ground zero where he initially met with God who comforted him with a covenant of protection and peace. Abram reminds himself of God’s covenant by returning back to the nostalgic place where his faith was initiated, and reaffirms his faith in God. It does not mean Abram will not falter again later on, but it means Abram is willing to learn and improve, and keep returning to God from his failures in humility. Lot, abetted by the generous gesture of Abram, gives freedom to his desires and dreams and lets it fly. His treasure is in the earth, and so is his heart. He runs heedless into dangerous zone of imbibing the sinful culture of Sodom. Perhaps he reframed his earthly desire into heavenly one, thinking he is off to proseltyze teh Sodomites. sendtosamkim 10:29 PM ge 14 Melchizedek, the mysterious priest-king, with no genealogies pops out and interacts with the founder of Israel, and blesses him, and is given a tithe. Abram wisely shields himself from creating grounds for robbing God of His credit for making Abram rich, and giving some credit to a loser. ge 15, 16 God officially affirms his promise to Abram by making a unilateral covenant with him. He is the only one to walk between the carcasses. Abram responds in faith. All throughout history, salvation only comes through believing in the Lord, not through personal sacrifices. God is both God of light and darkness, and meeting with Him is always terrifying. In the recorded account of Genesis, we for the first time look closely at the kind of tearing at the social fabric brought on by polygamous relationship. Family discord and power imbalance results as there was a great social standing to be had by motherhood in early days. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/19/2021 ge 17,18,19 God's reaffirmation of His unilateral covenant. God's laying down of His expectations from the people He will identify with. Just because the covenant resets entirely on God's faithfulness does not mean God does not predicate His blessing on man's obedience. God is ultimately the one who gives the spirit to obey. Circumcision is used to identify the people of God, and the need of human race to be saved from perpetuating sin to generation after generation. Very dramatic and terrifying and privileged face to face time with the Lord. The Lord perhaps wants to shield Abraham from the horrifying consequence of running at the end of the rope of God's patience as a nation, since Abraham will have the same fear for his people. At the same time, such fear will motivate Abraham and future leaders to care more about upholding and passing on righteousness to the next generation. Sexual lust knows no boundaries. If unchecked, it easily cascades down to full unmitigated force until it is wasted on its victim. Lot lacks courage and has never made effective witness to Sodomites. Even with the news of impending doom, Lot cannot speak with conviction or persuasive urgency to his sons in law to save them. His family, rather than influencing Sodom, was influenced by their debase culture. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/20/2021 ge 20 Abraham cowers again, and lies to save his life, and almost exposes his wife to adultery. But God has the power to prevent sin, and He does. Abimelech is said to have taken her with integrity of heart only insofar as he was not taking someone else's wife. Abimelech already had a wife, and had every intention of adutery, as far as his wife was concerned. Abimelech gives a lot of money to vindicate himself that he did not touch Sarah. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/20/2021 ge 21 God chooses to hear the cry of the helpless in distress. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/22/2021 ge 22 dramatic testing of Abraham's faith in God. Against reason and morality, Abraham believes in God who has the authority to require the life of any sinner. As for the promise, Abraham believed in resurrection. A foreshadowing of Jesus the only Son who would take the place of sinners. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/22/2021 ge 23 Abraham does not wish to be indebted to a foreigner for a property which will contain the tomb of his loved one. It has to cost Abraham something. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/23/2021 ge 24 Isaac lounges about while his dad and his servant secure for him a belle. Monogamous, planned, organized arrangement for marriage with God's blessing in mind is in stark contrast to chaotic, incestuous procreation of Lot. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/24/2021 Ge 25 a generation come and a generation goes. Abraham leaves not a few potential problems for Israel behind due to procreation through illegitimate children, who would compete for land. God highlights the uniqueness of the birth of the twins by making Isaac entreat Him to open the womb. I forgot Esau and Jacob were twins. They are so different. Esau is headstrong, and rugged. He cares little about long-term goals or his family, and lives for the present. He has little empathy and communication skills. Jacob is calculating, and manipulative. He is able to communicate and gain the upper hand psychologically. He has in mind a bigger fish to fry than eating a meal. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/25/2021 ge 26 Isaac's adventures in Philistine city. God reaffirms Abrahamic Covenant to Isaac, that all nations will be blessed through his seed. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/27/2021 ge 27 Rebekah initiates a snowball deception for her son Jacob that will turn into an avalanche of misery for Jacob. Sins have consequences, even lying. Isaac, as family priest, offers up prayer-wish blessing for his son Jacob, but realizes violently that he should've all along blessed Jacob as God's chosen in the first place. Esau's cautionary parable story becomes a cautionary tale for those who would miss heaven due to their love of the world rather than God. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/27/2021 ge 28 God reaffirms Abrahamic covenant through Jacob. The Stairway to Heaven: angels use this Mediator to carry out God's will on earth for His people. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/28/2021 ge 29 Jacob the deceiver is deceived, and he doesn't like it. Jacob commits polygamy in his lust, and brings about further misery in his life. Later, we find God even able to fulfill His covenant promise through sinful people. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/29/2021 ge 30 Family strain only known to polygamous relationship. Jacob's dignity is reduced to an object to be used in the two sisters' rivalry. God according to His plan allows Rachel to give birth to Joseph, the savior of Egypt. Jacob seeks independency from Laban. Jacob does genetic engineering, and with the help of God, increases his livestock. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/30/2021 ge 31 The straw that broke the camel's back comes when Laban becomes hostile toward Jacob when the favor of God no longer brings benefit to Laban, but Jacob only. The green eyed monster of envy begins to grow in Laban, and Jacob flees before he can be devoured. The wives justify themselves in their indecorous clandestine departure from their father, and rationalize away any guilt. After all, all the sister rivalry and family strain wouldn't have happened if their father hadn't treated them as simple objects of commerce to be bargained with. God is watching Laban: tread lightly. Your business with Jacob is over. Having endured Laban's selfish and manipulative nature (reminds you of anyone? Doesn't feel good to taste your own medicine, does it) for 20 years, and Laban's now skulking about his possessions (his dignity as a head of his own household) brings Jacob to full froth. Nothing is said of the content of Laban's blessing to grandchildren, and the blessing from the pagan doesn't matter. TalkingSkunk (sam)01/31/2021 ge 32 God reminds Jacob of His promise with a vision of His army. Jacob is frightened by news of Esau's army incoming. Jacob prays to God of covenant for protection, and reminds himself of the promises of God. Jacob understands the promise can only be guaranteed by God's faithfulness, not by any merit of his own. Jacob the supplanter is made Israel the one who struggles with God and men. Israel's entire life is marked by struggle for survival. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/01/2021 ge 33 Heartfelt, affectionate, brotherly reunion. The old bitterness of Esau has dissolved over time. Jacob treads lightly, not wanting to fracture again their relationship. Jacob fulfills his vow to God by returning back to Canaan, and commemorates God's faithfulness to His promise there. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/02/2021 ge 34 True to his name, Israel, with one trouble behind him, sees yet another heartache: the rape of his daughter. The self-absorbed young man who rapes girls is also like the valedictorian of the town; respected, and a role model. The father wants Israel's wealth. After heaping disgrace on Israelite people, they heap more disgrace by offering their hands to shake to agree on future potential rape. The protective brothers, burning in philos love, are moved to anger. Their vengeance justifies whatever means, including deceit. Mafia style, two brothers take care of business, and send a message to other neighbours. Jacob really doesn't like the name change. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/04/2021 ge 35 Israel sheds idolatry altogether, and makes the exclusive worship of his God official for his entire people. God protects Israel by making the neighbours afraid. God reaffirms His covenant with his grandfather will pass on through his people. Israel re-commemorates the place where he first met God who has been taking care of him. ge 36 The birth of a nation through Esau, forming tribal chiefs, all the way to a monarchy. Amalek makes his first appearance in the chronicles. ge 37 The beginning of Joseph's adventures: Joseph, either knowingly or not, flaunts the special place he has in the father's heart and God's plan to his brothers, and his brothers want to bring the slaphappy boy down. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/06/2021 ge 38 Judah's adventures in the land of pagans. Israel's house is fragmenting. The first three eldest sons are out of their father's favour. Joseph is gone. After having sold his own brother into slavery, Judah tries to forget his guilt and runs away from his grief-ridden, joyless community of faith to begin his descent into pagan acculturation. Judah tries to cover up his guilt of marginalizing a disenfranchised widow, but is exposed, and humiliated. Far greater is that sin than the prevalent sexually immoral practice of securing inheritance through father-in-law. The twins from Tamar is reminiscent of the the birth of Jacob and Esau which was specially distinguished by God. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/06/2021 ge 39 Back to Joseph in Egypt "The Lord is with Joseph" whatever adventure he faces, which would infer the injustices he suffers is all part of God's plan. The Lord gives Joseph the power of influence and beneficence, so others accrue the benefits, a micro-fulfillment of His promise to Abraham. Joseph quickly gains trust from the captain of the guard, who by profession is a wily judge of character. Joseph becomes known for his integrity and loyalty, and competence. He is highly conscientious: He respects the social engagement of master-slavery in Egypt, he bears his duties and his place of honour given by his master, he will keep his conscience clean. He also will shun the adulteress characters like the plague, once he finds out their identity and intent. The adulteress, when she sees the object of her lust does not function according to her user specifications, turns immediately to slander. She tries to manipulate Joseph's fellow slaves with racist sentiment, and her husband with blame-shifting. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/07/2021 ge 40 Joseph meets the Pharaoh's servants in prison, by God's appointment. Joseph is ever more useful in prison. The prison life has hardened Joseph even more into a life of truthfulness and integrity, with an added dimension of aggressive kindness and empathy. Although no news of his freedom ever came after the cupbearer's departure, Joseph remains faithful, and trusting, because his conscience is clear, regardless of receiving no recognition, appreciation, or encouragement. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/13/2021 ge 41 according to God's timetable, God gives the king of Egypt an emotionally disturbing dream. God uses a kindness that Joseph showed some 2 odd years ago to a nobody to bring about a dramatic change of circumstance. We see what years of abuse does to the psyche of a man with a clear conscience who believes in God. Rather than bring him down to bitterness and depression, it hardens him to see the solid reality of his God, his all-in-all, his Master. Joseph has in himself the perfect liberty to speak the truth without any fear of man. Joseph interprets, and advises the king of Egypt. By God's appointment, Joseph gets promoted to become a prime minister, and has children. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/13/2021 ge 42 Israel, a man who has always lived on the brink of troubles, lives in fear of some next unknown tragedy. The 11 brothers are afraid of going to Egypt, the place which remains hostile toward them psychologically due to their guilt. Even the returned money in their sacks must have made them think that God will not allow their guilt of selling off their brother to slavery depart from them. Joseph's fulfilled dreams must have run some strong, nostalgic emotions in Joseph. Joseph extracts intel about his father's house through an interrogation tactic of a severe misunderstanding. Joseph lovingly secures their guilt-burdened brothers' return to the psychologically hostile Egypt by holding one of them hostage. Joseph is heart-broken that he must play this violent ruse in order to secure their safety from famine. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/13/2021 ge 43 Jacob comes to peace with the unavoidable decision of risk, and surrenders to God the consequences. After years of living with guilt, the most responsible person, Judah, has in himself the liberty to consider his life expendable, and acts as a substitute for safety of his father's favourite youngster. Death is better than to live a life of secret guilt. Even during the ruse, Joseph cannot help but subconsciously reach out toward his brothers at long last for reconciliation. Joseph tests his beloved brothers to see if reconciliation is possible. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/13/2021 ge 44 Joseph gives his brothers a final test for the long-hoped-for reconciliation: for any lingering hatred for the favoured brother. All the brothers, with the most guilty one as spokesman, willingly give up their right to freedom in order to save their father's favoured son, not only for Benjamin but for their father's well-being. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/13/2021 ge 45 Joseph finally breaks open all floods of emotions long held back. Joseph allays his brothers' burden of guilt by saying their sinful act was all part of God's plan to bring about salvation. Brothers are reconciled. Joseph continues to work to alleviate any self-infliction of guilt. God moves the king of Egypt to secure Israel's survival. A little humour in the midst of this extremely emotional story: Joseph, knowing his brothers too well, tells them not to blame each other on their journey. The brothers finally unburden their guilt of betraying their brother long kept secret from their father. Jacob must have felt as though he travelled back in time. TalkingSkunk (sam)02/13/2021 ge 46 God reminds Israel that He is always with him, and His promises to him still stand firm. Joseph is reunited with his father. Jacob is very proud of his son, and feels that this reunion is a fitting end of his long, hard life. Joseph secures the best place for his father's house. TalkingSkunk (sam)Yesterday at 4:26 PM ge 47 Joseph presents his family to the king of Egypt, and secures for them their living space, and food. Joseph, using the famine's threat to survival, systematically buys off all the Egyptians' private property for the king of Egypt, moves people into manageable sections, and establishes tax system, all except the religious properties of Egypt. Jacob wants to be buried in the family cemetery. TalkingSkunk (sam)Yesterday at 4:35 PM ge 48 Jacob's blessing on Joseph's sons, and Jacob gives double portion to Joseph in blessing. Is this the first time God has been referred to as Shepherd? TalkingSkunk (sam)Yesterday at 5:06 PM ge 49 Israel's blessing on his sons is read more like oracles. The conduct of each chief will reverberate to affect the fate of their tribe. Reuben, you won't play any big role. Simeon and Levi, you are going to be like nomads in your own nation. Judah, you are a king material. Zebulun, you are a sailor. Issachar, you are the robust engine of the nation. Dan, you are a treacherous snake that rules its own place. Gad, you are a fighter. Asher, you are a baker. Naphtali, you are a poet. Joseph, you are made invincible by the Stone of Israel, the Almighty, Shepherd, Mighty One of Jacob. Benjamin, you are a ruthless warrior. The Lord takes Israel home. TalkingSkunk (sam)Yesterday at 5:21 PM ge 50 Joseph follows Egyptian custom of preparing the body for burial. Entire nation of Egypt pays tribute to the passing of the father of Joseph, and holds a great ceremony for Jacob. The brothers have their guilt and fear of possible retribution resurface. Joseph is reminded again of the painful memories of his early troubled life. Joseph directs their fear of him to fear of God, comforts them by telling them that God used their evil to produce good. Joseph promises to continue to provide for them. Joseph signs off with an exhortation to believe in God's covenant promise.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
CategoriesAll Discourse Doctrines Gospel Humour NT Commentaries OT Commentaries Tactical Life Date
August 2023
|