This might be a new way for many of you to read the Bible, but I invite you to give it a try! Each day I will post the suggested reading and a couple of questions to get you started. The reading is intended to be 15 minutes. Not a detailed study of the Scriptures, but a big-picture view, looking at how God addresses the theme of "destination" throughout the Bible. After you read through it yourself, click on "comments" to see what other people have discovered, what it's made them think about. There are no "right" answers here. I hope we will have an interactive discussion and all learn together from God's word and from each other. I'll be a little more detailed in my own comments on this first blog post to give you an idea of what I mean.
Genesis 1-5
1. What specific verses do you see that speak of destination (doesn't have to be the actual word, but a place to go, a goal to pursue, a direction to head)
2. How do you see the theme of destination at the chapter (not verse) level?
3. What do you see as God's purpose for mankind?
4. What do you see as mankind's purpose for itself?
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Gen. 1: God spent the 1st seven days of creation with the purpose of creating a destination and giving mankind a purpose--to fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:28)
ReplyDeleteGen. 2: Mankind's first destination was a good garden. It had everything they needed--beauty and food (2:9); purpose (2:15); understanding of their limits (2:17); and community (marriage) (2:24).
Gen. 3:6: Purpose of Eve--gaining wisdom
Gen. 3:14-19: Purpose of God--consequences
Gen. 21-24: same purpose, altered circumstances--God clothes them, banishes them from the garden, gives them harder work
Gen. 4: Mankind begins to fulfill God's purpose--bearing children, working the land
Gen. 4:8: Cain's goal--murder
Gen. 4:26: Mankind's goal--call on the name of the Lord
Gen. 5: Continue to fill the earth, but hard (5:29)
Overall comments: God's plan for mankind is not thwarted, but we made it much more difficult for ourselves by going by our own plan rather than God's. It's shocking how quickly we move from a picture of one-ness to competition, murder and suffering.
Gen. 1: Each day until the last, God SEPARATES in creating our first destination: light/day from dark/night; sky from water from land; seeds-plants-trees-fruits from land; sun/day from moon-stars/night; sky/birds from water/creatures; domestic-wild-ground creatures from man/woman (I had never before noticed we were created on the same day as land animals!). Then all comes TOGETHER for a moment in time. God sets the boundaries, gives the tending of the garden over to man, and rests in holiness. Peace.
ReplyDeleteGen.2: Now our earthly destination's path is broken by gorges of separation...starting in 2:7 with spouse from parents in a surprising placement of this verse: this is the first mention of parents, before Adam and Eve have any children, and before they sin.
Gen. 3,4: The Biggest Gulf, between God and man. I wonder about bloodshed. God used skins to clothe Adam & Eve (3:21); killing animals is implied but not specified. I went back and checked Gen. 1:29,30...God gave all plants to all animals and man for food; no mention is made of animals/man eating each other until Abel sacrifices using fat from flock's firstborn (4:4). It's after they're driven out of the garden, but before Abel's own blood is shed in the first murder. What a precursor to Jesus the Lamb of God's unthinkable sacrifice for us!
Gen. 5: As impossibly old as they live to be, did you notice they keep dying younger than their fathers? I wonder if it's the deterioration of sin...if so, will we ever be able to reverse the trend before Jesus comes again?
Overall comment: Janet, thanks for your focus on PURPOSE, giving great hope for the journey to our destination in spite of our sin. "God's plan for mankind is (still) not thwarted"!