Genesis | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Look up in faith. Count the Stars. Genesis 13-15. Day 11. Jan 11.

LOOK UP FROM YOUR TENT OF IMPOSSIBILITY AND COUNT THE STARS

Genesis 15

⁵ Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. ⁷ And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called children of God.

Abram resolves to avoid conflict with Lot. How does he do it? He gives him first pick.

Foolish? Perhaps.

Fair? Not to Abraham.

Generous? Yes!

¹⁰ Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company:

Lot chose selfishly. Abraham let him.

¹² Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. ¹³ Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

Abram stayed in the land to which God had led him. Lot went to the land which appeared most economically profitable. God and his directives did not enter into the picture.

¹⁴ The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Lift up your eyes from where you are, and look to the north and south, to the east and west. ¹⁵ All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. Lot’s choice alienated him from participating in the blessings promised to Abraham. Instead, he became involved in the history of Sodom and Gomorrah, whereas Abram continued to receive God’s promises.

And God’s promises, because they are God’s are as good as the real thing.

A study in contrasts. Lot looked selfishly, and coveted. Whereas Abram obeyed God’s commands to lift up his eyes from where he was and look all around him, to the north and south, to the east and west. And he was blessed.

God says this to us today. Lift up your eyes from where you are, and look to the north and south, to the east and west. God wants to bless you BECAUSE THAT IS HIS NATURE. Ask him in which direction his blessing is flowing.

¹⁶ I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.

Offspring as numerous as the dust of the earth. Wow. Abraham is an old man now. 75 years old. How many children does he have?

Zero.

God trains his heroes in a rigorous school of faith, before they are heroes whom God can use.

¹⁷ Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

Sweet words. And what did Abraham have to do at this point? Precisely nothing. God gave him this gift, just because. Because of the goodness of his own nature.

Jesus repeatedly reminds us in the Last Supper discourse (John 13-17) to ask the Father for anything we wish, for whatever we wish.

It would be wise to take him up on it, and see what he does– just because…he loves us.

¹⁸ So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the LORD.

He was always aware of God’s goodness, and worshipped God even when he was not aware of a specific need for God.

Genesis 14

¹ At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar,^[a] Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim, ² these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³ All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley). ⁴ For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵ In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim ⁶ and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. ⁷ Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.

⁸ Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. ¹¹ The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. ¹² They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

¹³ A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother^[b] of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

God’s blessing on Abraham was that he would be a blessing. So here, he turns the other cheek, and rescues Lot who chose the more fertile land.

¹⁷ After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, ¹⁹ and he blessed Abram, saying,

   “Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
   Creator of heaven and earth.
²⁰ And praise be to God Most High,
   who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

That Abraham is blessed was evident even to the pagan king Melchizedek, who in turn blesses him too in the name of God.

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Abram’s spontaneous and generous response to Melchizedek’s blessing.

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”

²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, ²³ that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’

Abram was a man of faith. He wanted it to be clear that his blessing came from God himself. He is depending on God to become a great nation.

²⁴ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”

He is beholden to God alone.

Genesis 15

¹ After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:

   “Do not be afraid, Abram.
   I am your shield,
   your very great reward.”

Wonderful words of peace. I am your shield, your protection.

Though Abraham was very rich, his reward was God.

God’s peace. God’s protection. God’s wealth. God’s promises. God’s destiny.

And children born of God.

² But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

The first time Abram cavils, which he needs to do in all honesty.

⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

In the Middle East, 8000 stars are visible to the naked eye. God is saying, IF I CAN CREATE THIS, IS ANYTHING IMPOSSIBLE TO ME?

An impossible promise, on the face of it. BUT NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD.

⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

And as the writers of the New Testament say, we are children of Abraham. We are not righteous in ourselves, but we believe God, and it is credited to us as righteousness.

⁷ He also said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

⁸ But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

God is our father. An honest question is not the same as expressing doubt. And in his goodness, God gives Abraham a sign.

Having credited Abraham’s faith to him as righteousness, God graciously ministered to his need of assurance concerning the land.

⁹ So the LORD said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹ Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³ Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.¹⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi^[e] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

A unilateral covenant between God and Abraham. God made the promise, and wanted nothing from Abraham in return. It’s like the unspoken covenant of protection and blessing which we enter into with our new-borns.

Immense Blessing, Genesis 11-13, Day 9, Jan. 9

By Anita Mathias

Genesis 11

¹ Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

³ They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵ But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

⁸ So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel^]—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Wow! Note the economy of this passage. The whole story of Babel told in 9 sentences. Wow.

It’s a moving and scary story. The endeavour of the people of Babel was two-fold, “to make a name for themselves,” and to resist destiny, to resist what God might do, resist “being scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Isn’t that ambition in a nutshell–“to make a name for ourselves?” Hmm. Is it wrong?

Yes, no, or It Depends? I would tend to say Not Always Wrong, partly because all ambition is not yet dead in me, and I have not heard God saying to me what Cardinal Wolsey said to Cromwell in Shakespeare’s Henry VIII.

Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition:
By that sin fell the angels; how can man, then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by it?
O Cromwell, Cromwell!

Had I but served my God with half the zeal
I served my king, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies.

It is okay I think to work towards a goal, provided you have had long and serious talks with Christ about it. Is is a good fit with the talents he has given you? Will it bless you, your family and the world? Will you be fully human, fully alive while pursuing this goal? Will you be happy? Is it a healthy, achievable goal?

The people of Babel wanted to be famous, and wanted to resist the will of God. And so he who sat in the heavens laughed them to scorn. The Lord held them in derision.

From Shem to Abram

¹⁰ This is the account of Shem’s family line. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father^[d] of Arphaxad. ¹¹ And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
¹² When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. ¹³ And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.^[e]
¹⁴ When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. ¹⁵ And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
¹⁶ When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. ¹⁷ And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
¹⁸ When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. ¹⁹ And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
²⁰ When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. ²¹ And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
²² When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. ²³ And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
²⁴ When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. ²⁵ And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
²⁶ After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

Abram’s Family

²⁷ This is the account of Terah’s family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. ²⁸ While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. ³⁰ Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.

God gives humanity a third chance. People blew it after God inaugurates human history with Adam and begins again with Noah. Now there is yet another opportunity– he enters into a faith-based covenant, with a child born by faith to an old and barren woman.

God’s loving mercy–how he gives us chance, after chance, after chance–is indeed astonishing. We must be careful not to presume upon it.

³¹ Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.

A journey prematurely aborted. They stop, but God’s plans for them do not stop. He calls them again.

³² Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

Genesis 12

¹ The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

The demand of faith–get up, leave everything familiar, and go into the unknown. “Go to the land I will show you.”

Oh great!! That would have maddened me when I was younger, and really wanted to know my future and destiny desperately.

Now I feel that statement does mirror our lives accurately. We are walking with God to a land he will show us.

We do not know what the year will bring, or the decade, or our lives. We walk on a winding road, and cannot foresee its twists and turns, but we know a good God walks it with us.

And here are God’s seven promises to Abraham. A free gift as we give our children gifts–with no strings attached. Just because!!

² “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;

Surely these are among the sweetest words God can say to an individual, “I will bless you.”

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

The beautiful contract of faith!! Whereas the people of Babel worked very hard (and futilely) to “make a name for ourselves,” God just gives Abraham this as a free gift, “I will make your name great.”

And what is the purpose of this free blessing: “You will be a blessing.”

³ I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;

Wow, do not ever mess with those whom God is clearly and manifestly blessing, with those on whom his favour rests. For God promises, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse.”

and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

Wow! What an amazing free gift. Let’s pray together,

Lord, as a child of Abraham, I ask that you bless me and my children,

That if it pleases you, you “make our names great”

and make us a blessing.

Bless those who bless us.

Bind those who curse us from causing us any pain.

And bless all peoples on earth through us.

This is our inheritance, through faith, as children of Abraham.

⁴ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.

Wonderful words were spoken over Abraham. However, if Abraham had not taken the risk of faith, none of it would have come true.

Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. ⁵ He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

⁶ Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

Theophanies are memorialized so that they will not be forgotten. It is important for us to do this too, in a journal entry or blog post if nothing else.

⁸ From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

⁹ Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

Abram in Egypt

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. ¹¹ As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

And this was a hero of the faith.

And this is part of being a human being.
One day our faith blazes brightly.
The next day, we are cowardly,
We trust in our shifts, schemes and devices rather than in God.

So don’t be too hasty to write off men of faith when they disappoint you.
And don’t be hasty to write yourself off either.
With God there is always a second and third chance.

¹⁴ When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. ¹⁵ And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. ¹⁶ He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

¹⁷ But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” ²⁰ Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Very interesting! Here God punished an unwitting sin innocently committed. This is reminiscent of what Jesus said in Luke 12;48. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.

How much more will his judgement fall on deliberate sin.

Genesis 13

¹ So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. ² Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

“Very wealthy in silver and gold.” This is what we would intuitively consider God’s blessing to look like, partly because if we wanted to bless our children or family or friends, we would give them good things.

However, God’s blessing is so much more. It is primarily INTERNAL. Shalom. Peace. Joy. Love. Because what is silver and gold worth without peace, or joy, or love or shalom?

³ From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier ⁴ and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.
He has sinned, he has been a coward, he has been forgiven, he has been blessed. And now Abraham returns to the great theme of his life. He calls upon the name of the Lord.

Covenant with Noah, Genesis 8,9,10.

By Anita Mathias

Genesis 8

¹ But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.

That is one way God differs from man. Seasons of punishment, of discipline, end.

²Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. ³ The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, ⁴ and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

⁶ After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark ⁷ and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.

Forty again. The psychologically necessary period for spiritual transition.

⁸ Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. ⁹ But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. ¹⁰ He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. ¹¹ When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. ¹² He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

¹³ By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. ¹⁷ Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”

Fruitfulness. God’s intention for human beings. His original design. What is fruitfulness? Partly that our effort should bear fruit over and over again, out of all proportion to the original effort. Just as a single fruitful apple seed bears millions of apples over its lifetime.

¹⁸ So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. ¹⁹ All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. ²¹ The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

²² “As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.”

God notes Noah’s act of gratitude and atonement. There is now, some commentators note, a partial lifting of the curse of Gen 3:17 i.e. “Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you.

At first the cursed earth resists man. He works; it produces thorns and thistles. Now, there is an inextricable and forever connection between seedtime and harvest, between work, and the fruits of work.

Genesis 9

¹ Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. ² The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. ³Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

Every creature feels an instinctive fear and distrust of man.

I have long agonized about whether vegetarianism is the most ethical choice, but apparently here, God says, “³Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.”

(I personally try to eat meat that is as compassionately and ethically raised as possible. Organic, free-range whenever I can. And this is also the healthiest choice).

⁴ “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. ⁵ And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.

⁶ “Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind.

There is a kind of sacredness to every human being, even the worst, because we are made in the image of God. God demands an accounting for how we have messed with the lives of other people.

For how we have treated them.

AND, when people have seriously harmed our lives–relax, because there is a Just judge, and an accounting will be demanded.

⁷ As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”

⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: ⁹ “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you ¹⁰ and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. ¹¹ I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

¹² And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: ¹³ I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶ Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

¹⁷ So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

An unconditional covenant between God and man. A unilateral promise. We see God’s yearning kindness towards human beings, a bit like a parent’s towards even an estranged child.

Mankind is given a second chance. The repopulating of the earth by Noah and his children and the animals from the ark mirrors the original Creation.

The Sons of Noah

¹⁸ The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) ¹⁹ These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.

²⁰ Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. ²¹ When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. ²³ But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

²⁴ When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵ he said,

   “Cursed be Canaan!
   The lowest of slaves
   will he be to his brothers.”

²⁶ He also said,

   “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Shem!
   May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
²⁷ May God extend Japheth’s^[^b^] territory;
   may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
   and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”

²⁸ After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹ Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.

Ouch! Ham’s action of dishonouring and humiliating his father was one of those actions with enormous consequences. His father curses him. Actions are, in fact, revelatory of the heart. And so, though Noah’s reaction appears to be disproportionate, it is, in fact, not so.

Blessings, on the other hand, have an arbitrary element in the Old Testament (and in life). I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Acts 17:11). Both Japeth and Shem appear to have been equally righteous, yet it is Shem, who is given power and a dominant position over his brother (May Japheth live in the tents of Shem).

Genesis 10

¹ This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.

The Japhethites

² The sons^[a] of Japheth:
Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras.

³ The sons of Gomer:
Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.

⁴ The sons of Javan:
Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites.^[b] ⁵ (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)

The Hamites

⁶ The sons of Ham:
Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.

⁷ The sons of Cush:
Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka.

The sons of Raamah:
Sheba and Dedan.

⁸ Cush was the father^[c] of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.” ¹⁰ The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in^[d] Shinar.^[e] ¹¹ From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir,^[f] Calah ¹² and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

¹³ Egypt was the father of
the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, ¹⁴ Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.

¹⁵ Canaan was the father of
Sidon his firstborn,^[g] and of the Hittites, ¹⁶ Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, ¹⁷ Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, ¹⁸ Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.

Later the Canaanite clans scattered ¹⁹ and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.

²⁰ These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

The Semites

²¹ Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was^[h] Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.

²² The sons of Shem:
Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.

²³ The sons of Aram:
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek.^[i]

²⁴ Arphaxad was the father of^[j] Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.

²⁵ Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg,^[k] because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

²⁶ Joktan was the father of
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸ Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹ Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.

³⁰ The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

³¹ These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

³² These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

Covenant with Noah, Genesis 8,9,10.

By Anita Mathias

Genesis 8

¹ But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.

That is one way God differs from man. Seasons of punishment, of discipline, end.

⁶ After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark ⁷ and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.

Forty again. The psychologically necessary period for spiritual transition.

²² “As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.”

Genesis 9

Every creature feels an instinctive fear and distrust of man.

I have long agonized about whether vegetarianism is the most ethical choice, but apparently here, God says, “³Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.”

(I personally try to eat meat that is as compassionately and ethically raised as possible. Organic, free-range whenever I can. And this is also the healthiest choice).

⁶ “Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind.

There is a kind of sacredness to every human being, even the worst, because we are made in the image of God. God demands an accounting for how we have messed with the lives of other people.

For how we have treated them.

AND, when people have seriously harmed our lives–relax, because there is a Just judge, and an accounting will be demanded.

⁷ As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”

¹⁷ So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

An unconditional covenant between God and man. A unilateral promise. We see God’s yearning kindness towards human beings, a bit like a parent’s towards even an estranged child.

Mankind is given a second chance. The repopulating of the earth by Noah and his children and the animals from the ark mirrors the original Creation.

The Sons of Noah

²⁴ When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵ he said,

   “Cursed be Canaan!
   The lowest of slaves
   will he be to his brothers.”

²⁶ He also said,

²⁸ After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹ Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.

Genesis 10

¹ This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.

The Japhethites

² The sons^[a] of Japheth:
Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras.

³ The sons of Gomer:
Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.

The Hamites

⁶ The sons of Ham:
Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.

⁷ The sons of Cush:
Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka.

The sons of Raamah:
Sheba and Dedan.

¹³ Egypt was the father of
the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, ¹⁴ Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.

¹⁵ Canaan was the father of
Sidon his firstborn,^[g] and of the Hittites, ¹⁶ Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, ¹⁷ Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, ¹⁸ Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.

Later the Canaanite clans scattered ¹⁹ and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.

²⁰ These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

The Semites

²¹ Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was^[h] Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.

²² The sons of Shem:
Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.

²³ The sons of Aram:
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek.^[i]

²⁴ Arphaxad was the father of^[j] Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.

²⁵ Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg,^[k] because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

²⁶ Joktan was the father of
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸ Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹ Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.

³⁰ The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

³¹ These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

³² These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

Sin, Destruction, Mercy, Genesis 5,6,7. DAY 5. Jan 5th.

By Anita Mathias

Genesis 5

This is the written account of Adam’s family line.

When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. ² He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind”^[a] when they were created.

³ When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. ⁴ After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁵ Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

⁶ When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father^[b] of Enosh. ⁷ After he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.⁸ Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

⁹ When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰ After he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹ Altogether, Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.

¹² When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³ After he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ Altogether, Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.

¹⁵ When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. ¹⁶ After he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ Altogether, Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.

¹⁸ When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹ After he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰ Altogether, Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.

²¹ When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. ²² After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

²⁵ When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. ²⁶ After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷ Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

²⁸ When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. ²⁹ He named him Noah^[c] and said, “He will comfort us in the labour and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed.” ³⁰ After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹ Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

³² After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Genesis 6

¹ When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. ³ Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

⁵ The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. ⁶ The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.

I love this anthropomorphic description of God, as full-bodied and full-emotioned as Christ was. He temporarily regrets his loving actions. His heart is troubled by what man is doing.

⁷So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”

Does this happen? No. Reading Genesis shows us the point of prayer—the many times God changes his mind about what he is going to do, what is inexorably going to happen, because he finds a good man, and often, because that good man prays (as we see when Abraham intercedes for the wicked cities a little later).

⁸ But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD.

⁹ This is the account of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. ¹⁰ Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. ¹² God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. ¹³ So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” Prophets often have the certain foreknowledge of what is going to happen. But there is a cost and burden to the prophetic gift. Read on. Noah is told to build a SHIP. Inland. In a DESERT land. What do you think the neighbours thought?

¹⁴ So make yourself an ark of cypress^[wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. ¹⁵ This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. ¹⁶ Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubithigh all around.Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.

I like this. This is the methodical, logical, techy God we serve. I was touched by the methodical and systematic way he set about Creation in Genesis 1. First light, then green plants to grow in the light. Then animals to keep the plants in check. Then man, who will soon eat those plants (and then animals).

Bill Johnson in Dreaming with God has numerous examples of God giving similarly detailed directives to young inventors and entrepreneurs. Mark Virkler in Spirit-born Creativity has examples of hearing God’s directives in stock-picking (which have worked for me. Not that we follow Christ for help in shrewd investing. Far from it! But he is our friend, and so it is okay to rely on his wisdom when we need it).

As an entrepreneur myself and a hopelessly impractical person, I have learnt to rely on hearing God’s voice in business, in buying stocks, in housekeeping, in hiring people, in writing. Not all the time, of course (anyone who takes the time to hear God’s voice before he acts would be the smartest and most blessed person on earth, I reckon) but when I remember, and am smart enough to slow down and listen.

So Noah tells the carpenters, “This is the design God gave me.” And they say, “Yeah. Right!!” There is a price to hearing and obeying God’s voice. You might very likely look and sound very foolish. You have to stick to your guns when voices around you say, “Did God really say?”

¹⁷ I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.

Again we see, the moving and extraordinary friendship God feels for the righteous. He confides in Noah, as he later will in Abraham, musing, “Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” Genesis 18:17.

¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰ Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

Blessed words, I will establish my covenant. An unconditional covenant because God was good and because he loved Abraham. Loving our children, whatever, just because, is perhaps our closest experience of this kind of love, and covenant.

²² Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

A little glimpse of both the righteousness of Noah, and why God chose him and could trust him. He was asked to do something costly, time-consuming, exhausting and ostensibly foolish. To build a ship in summer, in a desert. All he had to strengthen him during the ardours of the building was knowing that he definitely had heard the word of God.

I would have found it so hard.

Building that ark was financially costly, costly in lost time and income, costly in loss of face and prestige.

Obeying God has HUGE costs.

And HUGE rewards.

Genesis 7

¹ The LORD then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. ² Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, ³ and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. ⁴ Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”

Every living creature I have made. Imagine that. Imagine destroying all your children. Or poems. Or paintings. Or your life’s work. God’s judgement of sin is not without personal cost. His wrath is intensified by his love, just as we are far more upset by the betrayal of a friend, than the betrayal of a stranger.

Forty, by the way, is frequently the Biblical number of days for change, purification and spiritual transformation. Moses stayed 40 days on the mountain, twice. And then his face was radiant. Both Elijah and Jesus fasted for 40 days.

⁵ And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

Noah was trustworthy in God’s sight. God could tell him his secrets, and trust him with them. He could trust him to do what he told him to do.

Lord, let me be trustworthy in your eyes. Tell me your secrets. Tell me your deep things. Tell me what is on your heart and mind. Teach me how you think.

And when you give me a commission, please help me to faithful in executing it.

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. ⁷ And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸ Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, ⁹ male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. ¹² And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³ On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.

And if Noah had not obeyed God, he could have been killed.

I think again of what Moses said to this people as they were about to enter the Promised Land, “They are not just idle words for you–they are your life. By them you will long in the Land you are about to enter.” Deut 32:47.

¹⁴ They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. ¹⁵ Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. ¹⁶ The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.

This is fascinating. Moses is about to embark on a great destiny. He will be a new Adam, a prototype of Jesus.

And what is his preparation for his destiny as the new Father of the human race?

GOD SHUTS HIM IN.

WHAT? Yes.

Many times in my life, despite much manoeuvring, and prayers, and strategy and manipulation, and effort and tears, I have experienced this. A sense of being shut in, set apart to listen, hear, grow in solitude, away from approbation, affirmation, attention, praise, buzz, all these addictive things that are poison to the growth of the spirit. These are classroom experiences, in preparation for the next little task God gives me. And God keeps one in the classroom until one has mastered that lesson.

I know many people who feel shut in. In fact, I myself feel called by God at the moment for a season of silence, much solitude, repentance, spiritual growth, and quiet happiness with God. And I am not going to amputate this season, but will happily go through it, until God reveals the next chapter of my life to me.

You can be shut in for a season, and feel like your life is going nowhere, and that you are a failure. However, if you are a child of God, and submitted to him, this is merely a season of preparation for your destiny.

¹⁷ For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. ¹⁹ They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.²⁰ The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.^{[ 21} Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. ²² Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. ²³ Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

Being able to hear the word of God, the voice of God, and the directives of God can keep you alive, even thriving through the bleakest, most cataclysmic season.

²⁴ The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 3 and Genesis 4, The Fall, Original Sin, and the Murder of Abel. Day 3

By Anita Mathias

Image by William Blake
Genesis 3

The Fall

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

And so be on your guard. Trickery and deceit comes subtly and cunningly. And in the guise of friendship and concern. It is wise to quietly interrogate proffered friendship and concern from those you hardly know. That is how “mentors” become tormentors.

* * *

And so temptation starts, “Did God really say?”

I have heard these words spoken to me, for instance when I am absolutely sure I have heard God’s voice advising a course of action. And God’s advice is often challenging, even senseless, to the rational mind. Because the jewel God requires of us is faith, he may often call us to do something which is senseless to the rational mind.

I have spoken these words myself, mainly when I want to be transgressive and not obey what seems to be the Godly course.

So be on your guard when you hear, “Did God really say?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

“You will not certainly die” the serpent says. The life of faith, the life of a Christian, is never easy. It requires a rigorous application of the mind, as well as the heart. So often voices sound certain, knowing, authoritative, as the serpent’s does, with our good at heart. I might have been deceived too. The safest source might be to stick to the truth revealed to you, when bedazzled by competing arguments.

* * *

And it’s human nature: prohibitions only serve to make forbidden fruit more desirable.

I am wondering if there is a parenting application here—the fewer the rules, the less trouble you have with your children. So rather than say no computer games, no sweets…point out the pleasures of reading, the pleasures of health. Parent by winning hearts and minds rather than by rules…which create the instant temptation to break them.

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.

Tasty and attractive. The channels for the first temptation.

Pleasing to the eye, a masculine temptation; good for food, a feminine temptation??

She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Eve as the de facto leader of the family!! Eve sounds like a lot of women I know.

⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

With sin, comes shame. And the instinctive need to conceal shame.

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

And until one repents, that is the other effect of sin. One hides from the Lord. Skips one’s time of prayer. Prays about tangential things. Reads scripture instead of praying. Allows oneself to get distracted during times of prayer. If blogging is your spiritual discipline, then you blog about things far from where your heart really is.

These are all the instinctive reactions of one who continues in sin he will not repent of.

⁹ But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”

One of the great questions, God asks man. “Where, exactly, are you?”

It is a good question to address in one’s quiet times. Where exactly am I?

¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

The heartbreaking effects of sin. One hides from one’s friend, because your friend would confront you with your sin, and require you to repent. One hides one’s true self from enemies, from the community. You lose some of the joy of friendship.

¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The inextricable connection again between guilt and shame.

¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

The next consequence of sin—You blame someone else!!

¹³ Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The next consequence of sin—You blame someone else!!

¹⁴ So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

   “Cursed are you above all livestock
   and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
   and you will eat dust
   all the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
   between you and the woman,
   and between your offspring^[ and hers;
he will crushyour head,
   and you will strike his heel.”

Christ will win the victory but not without pain.

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

   “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
   with painful labour you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you

The conflict between the sexes in a nutshell. The woman will desire, want (to own, control, possess, have?) her husband.

And he will rule over you. Oh dear! The Bible wasn’t written in 2011, was it? Though we still see the Genesis opinion of the roles of the sexes embedded in social mores. It is considered forward and shameful for a woman to propose marriage, for instance, in almost every culture, or to be too forward in bringing this happy state of affairs to pass. And in the vast majority of families, the man is still the principal financial provider, and the vast majority of families are financially reliant on the man’s work and skill.

“And he will rule over you.” Dear Lord, this is a most unpolitically correct statement. What were you thinking of? Please let me know. Love, Anita

Joking apart, C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity tries to take on these rapidly-becoming-unfashionable

statements. He says that it is always best for men to set “the foreign policy” of families, because women tend to be emotional mother bears when it comes to protecting nest and nestlings, home and hearth. Hmm. There is something to that.

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

   “Cursed is the ground because of you;
   through painful toil you will eat food from it
   all the days of your life.

¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
   and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
   you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
   since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
   and to dust you will return.”

God sets a link between work and food in place. And this link is essential for man’s emotional, psychological and, even perhaps, physical health.

This curse was partly lifted after the flood, when God sets a connection between seedtime and harvest in place, and was lifted to an even greater extent at Calvary.

²⁰ Adamnamed his wife Eve,because she would become the mother of all the living.

²¹ The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. ²² And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” ²³ So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. ²⁴ After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side^[^e^] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Exiled from Eden for a long season to a life of toil.

Genesis 4

Cain and Abel

¹ Adammade love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” ²Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.

I have often felt vegetarian may have been closer to God’s will. But given that the good Abel kept flocks, it’s probably okay to be a carnivore—as long as you eat compassionately raised, free-range meat (IMO). It’s costs more, but one’s conscience is at peace—and that’s worth a lot.

³ In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. ⁴ And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.

Why, why, why, did God not look on Cain and his offering with favour? Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering. There is no suggestion that this was a carefully thought out offering. However, when Abel gave an offering to God, he really gave it!! The first-born, the most precious of the flock in Jewish thinking, and the best and tastiest portions–the fat portions, (hey, those ancient Jews knew something!!).

So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

The original sin of Cain. When we see God apparently look with more favour on someone else, our first reaction may be to be very angry, and have our faces downcast. However, the righteous reaction is to revise our lives, and to see if there is any sin in our lives, or anything, other than his sovereign will, which keeps his favour from us.

And to accept that we are actors in his play, and that he chooses our roles, and so it is rebellion to become very angry, and have our faces downcast.

⁶ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?

Ancient words with modern relevance. Who has not been a bit angry, and had his face downcast when they have seen someone else apparently more blessed by God?

And God suggests a way that we too can experience the mysterious thing called his favour. If we do right, we too shall be accepted.

Acceptance by God. The best kind of acceptance. The only one which really counts. And God can make things happen.

“But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

When we are not doing the right thing, sin is ready to pounce on us, and control and master us. Instead, we must control our sinful impulses.

Does Cain accept God’s advice?

Do we?

⁸ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Jealousy can be deadly. So much of man’s endeavour, consciously or unconsciously, is to become one who is envied—for his wealth, success, spouse, kids, looks, lifestyle, whatever.

But jealousy can cause deadly harm.

Cain killed Abel for no reason other than that he was more blessed and favoured by God.

⁹ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

The deadly circle of sin begets sin. Jealousy and sulking beget murder, murder begets insolence and untruthfulness.

¹⁰ The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. ¹¹ Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you

And when we are wronged—this is the best advice: Relax. There is a just judge. He hears innocent blood cry out. He puts those who wrong the innocent under the curse of his disfavour, the curse of restlessness among other things. And the curse of futility, of barren endeavour, working the ground which no longer yields crops for you.

“You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

The land in Jewish Old Testament thinking (God’s thinking?) was the good. Being driven from the land was one of the worst things which could happen to the ancient Israelites.

The punishment of Cain was “to be a restless wanderer on the earth.” Hmm, I have at last settled down 6 years ago in Oxford, and 5 years ago in our house. We love being rooted, and enjoy the blessing of that. An immense saving in time is one of the blessings of being rooted, having everything set up, and being able to work without the immense waste of energy that moves and being uprooted involves. Thank you, Lord, for roots.

¹³ Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear. ¹⁴ Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵ But the LORD said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. ¹⁶ So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Mercy and justice always meet in God. Cain is punished, yes, but because he appealed, he is still under God’s protection, oddly enough to a greater extent that even Abel was. See Mark Buchanan’s take on this http://theoxfordchristian.blogspot.com/2010/06/life-is-unfair-and-thats-okay.html.

¹⁷ Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. ¹⁸ To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

¹⁹ Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock.²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. ²² Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of^[^g^] bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives,

   “Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
   wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
   a young man for injuring me.
²⁴ If Cain is avenged seven times,
   then Lamech seventy-seven times.”

The horrid spirit of Cain, taking a magnified vengeance, 77 times over. Lord, preserve us from this forceful spirit.

²⁵ Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth,^[^h^] saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” ²⁶ Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.

At that time people began to call on^[ⁱ^] the name of the LORD.

The story of redemption continues, despite all detours.

Genesis 3 and Genesis 4, The Fall, Original Sin, and the Murder of Abel. Day 3

By Anita Mathias