Having reflected on
the first book of the New Testament, we shall continue with our 5-year reading
plan with the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis.
Prologue (I)
Note: You may wish to consult conservative commentaries to aid your understanding of the overall theme and significance of the Prologue, not only to the book of Genesis, but to the entire Bible. (Prologue refers to Gen. 1:1–2:3.)
As we are reading the Scripture for a devotional purpose, our concern
will neither be its scientific implications, nor exegetical debates. As with Robert Alter and Gordon Wenham, I do
not care too much about the so-called Documentary Hypothesis which since the 19th
century seeks to shred the unity and historicity of the Pentateuch, because it
“has reached a point of diminishing return” (Alter, 11), and “there have been
significant dissenters at various points". I prefer to follow the approach
of “valuable commentaries of Jacob…and Cassuto…(which) dispense completely with
the sources JEP and attempt to understand Genesis as a coherent unity.”
(WBC,
Wenham, Genesis 1-15, xxvi-xxvii)
Although the Prologue is “elevated prose, not pure poetry,” I agree with Waltke that we should approach its study reverently as the Word of God recognizing its historical, ideological and aesthetic nature. Use of notebook is highly recommended for today’s devotional study.
(1) The Prologue simply states that God created the heavens and the earth. Why does it not give arguments for God being the Creator, nor inform us who God is?
(2) The following brief explanations of key terms are note-worthy:
a. “In the beginning”: “refers to the entire created event, the six days of creation, not something before the six days nor a part of the first day.” (Waltke)
b. “God”: the form is plural, but the verb (created) is singular, i.e. “plural in form, but singular in meaning.” (Wenham)
c. “created”: (this word) “distinguishes itself by being used exclusively of God” (Waltke), although not confined to use of “creation out of nothing.” (Wenham)
d. “heavens and earth” is “merism…a statement of opposites to indicate totality. For instance, ‘day and night’ means ‘all the time’…As a unit this refers to the organized universe (or cosmos)” (Waltke)
e. “Day”: “There can be little doubt that here ‘day’ has its basic sense of a 24-hour period. The mention of morning and evening, the enumeration of the days, and the divine rest on the seventh show that week of divine activity is being described here.” (Wenham)
Reflect on the above explanations by these conservative, yet critical, leading scholars of our times, and see, in each case, how it helps your understanding of this announcement about Creation.
(3) Repetition is a very important literary style in the Bible. As you read carefully about each day of creation, highlight the repetitions being used by the narrator. Spend some time reflecting on the importance and meaning of each of these repetitions. (At this point, it is best not to look at the notes at the end of today’s materials.)
(4) As this Prologue is written as “elevated prose”, which is much closer to a poem than a narrative, it is best not to overlook its “aesthetic” nature. Therefore, try to slowly re-read the portions on each day of creation, and use your imagination as if you were watching a documentary of the National Geographic. Pause and utter your amazement at the beauty, majesty and goodness behind each day of creation.
(5) What new insights have you gained about creation today?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
Note:
Genesis 1 is characterized by a number of recurrent formulae:
(Wenham)
Is Genesis scientific? As an account that describes life-support systems, heavenly bodies, species of flora and fauna, and other natural elements of earth, the creation account has a scientific dimension. But the Genesis creation account has distinct differences from a scientific document.
"First, Genesis and science discuss essentially different matters. The subject of the Genesis creation account is God, not the forces of nature. The transcendent God is a subject that science cannot discuss.
"Second, the language of Genesis and that of science are entirely different. The creation account is formed in everyday speech, non-theoretical terminology, rather than technical mathematical terminology. More importantly, Genesis is concerned with ultimate cause, not proximation. The intent of the creation account is not to specify the geological and genetic methods of creation but to definitively establish that creation is a result of God's creative acts. When the psalmist says 'You knit me together in my mother’s womb' (Ps. 139:13), he is not intending to comment on genetics or immediate cause. To suggest otherwise is to distort the text. This is a clear example of why scientific and theological accounts should not be pitted against one another. In Genesis, the narrator only tells us that God commands the earth to bring forth life. He does not explain how that bringing forth occurs.
"Third, the purposes of Genesis and science also differ. Genesis is prescriptive, answering the questions of who and why and what ought to be, whereas the purpose of science is to be descriptive, answering the questions of what and how. The narrator of the creation account is not particularly concerned with the questions a scientist asks; rather, he wants to provide answers to the questions science cannot answer— who has created this world and for what purpose?
"Fourth, since they are addressed to different types of communities, Genesis and science require distinct means for validation. Science, speaking to the academic scientific community, requires empirical testing for validation. Genesis, addressed to the covenant community of God, requires the validation of the witness of the Spirit to the heart (Rom. 8:16). For these reasons, the Genesis creation account cannot be delineated as a scientific text."
Excerpt from Waltke’s Genesis, A Commentary
“The Prologue is considered ending in 2:3 as the chiastic pattern brings the section to a neat close which is reinforced by the inclusion 'God created' linking 1:1 and 2:3.” (Wenham)
(1) Why would God wait till the 6th day to create men?
(2) Read John 4:24 and find out who God is, according to Jesus.
(3) With this in mind, what might the “image” and “likeness” of God entail, and what might the “image” and “likeness” of God exclude?
(4) Within the context of this chapter, and especially its immediate context in 1:26, what is this image/likeness linked to?
(5) Why must the rule over God’s creation be linked to “beings” who have the image and likeness of God?
(6) How important it is to know that both men and women, and not just men, are created in the image and likeness of God?
(7) God then pronounces His blessings upon men and women who have been created in His image and likeness in these ways:
a. They are to be fruitful and increase in number: In what way is it a blessing?
b. What kind of a blessing is pronounced in v. 29, apart from being God’s provision of food?
(8) We all know that from Day 3 of creation onward, each day of creation ends with God seeing that “it was good”, and at the creation of men and women on Day 6, God saw that “it was very good”. In what sense was it “very good”?
(9) From this short passage, give your understanding of:
a. What God’s original intent in creation was
b. What God’s original intent in creating men and women was
(10) Read Proverbs 8:22-31 in which the speaker is Wisdom (most conservative scholars believe this refers to Christ). How does it enrich your reading of the creation story?
(11) God does not “need” to rest. With this in mind, consider the following questions:
a. Creation was essentially done in 6 days and yet God set a 7-day week to include the day He rested. Why?
b. Why does He “bless” it and make it a holy day for us?
c. What is the true meaning of rest? (If you have time, you may want to read Heb. 4:1-11 to gain further insights into the meaning of rest.)
(12) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
As Genesis introduces us to the creation of men and women with the mandate to take care of the earth, we often look at it from the angle of utility, but God has created us not just as tools, but in His image, with feelings and desires, and more importantly with the capacity to love and be loved.
When our first child was born, we were living in Hong Kong, and had the privilege of having a full-time nanny to look after him. After about five years, we heard comments that our son was getting more and more like the nanny. That, of course, made our nanny very happy. We were very fortunate to have a nanny who looked after our son like her own. But at the same time, this made us a little jealous; after all he is our son.
This helps me tremendously in understanding why God has chosen to make us in His image and likeness. I still remember the joy and the pride of holding our new-born child. No wonder, at the end of Day Six of His creation, God said “very good!” He must have said it with such joy, such pride and such love.
In this recounting of Day 6 of the creation of man, further insight is shed on the creation of man.
(1) What is man made of? (There is an obvious play on words used by the author in that the Hebrew word of man is “adam” and that for ground is “adama”. What might be signified here?)
(2) Now, for the first time, God is introduced as the Lord God (or Yahweh-God). This name is used consistently throughout Genesis 2-3, but outside of it, it is rarely used in the Pentateuch (the 1st 5 books of the Bible). What is the message being expressed here in its use as part of the creation story?
(3) In recounting man’s creation, the author points out a very important process in v.7. What is the significance of man being given life by God who breathed into his nostril the breath of life?
(4) While the geographical location of Eden is not knowable these days, Eden signifies a “temple garden, represented later in the tabernacle” (Waltke, 85). In what ways might you agree with Waltke’s view?
(5) Refer to Proverbs 11:30, 13:12 and 15:4. How do these verses deepen your understanding of the purpose of placing the Tree of Life in the garden?
(6) Why would God also put a tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden? Is God afraid that man might be like Him?
(7) Why are the two trees mentioned as being side by side?
(8) If there were no tree of the knowledge of good and evil, do you think man would still disobey God in some way or another?
(9) Part of God’s purpose of putting the man in the garden was to work it and take care of it and this was before the Fall. What then should we view as “work” today?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
We often wonder why God would not allow Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And, from the account in Genesis 2, we also wonder whether God is “afraid” of us gaining the knowledge of good and evil as He has. Does God intend us to be robots then? I have found the following statements by Dr. Waltke very insightful.
“Unless we know everything, we only know relatively; unless we know comprehensively, we cannot know absolutely. Therefore, only God in heaven, who transcends time and space, has the prerogative to know truly what is good and bad for life. Thus, the tree represents knowledge and power appropriate only to God (Gen. 3:5, 22). Human beings, by contrast, must depend upon a revelation from the only one who truly knows good and evil (Prov. 30:1-6), but humanity’s temptation is to seize this prerogative independently from God (see 3:7).”
In a way, it echoes any writer’s view that God does not intend that we would never have the ability to know good and evil, but like teenagers, Adam and Eve were not ready to handle such knowledge. Given time, God would have imparted His knowledge to them, through revelation — knowledge that is dependent, not independent of God.
(1) What problem of the man does God want to solve — loneliness or being alone? What is the difference between the two? And how would it affect the finding of a “suitable” helper?
(2) The naming of other creatures follows immediately after v. 18, and is an exercise meant to help Adam himself to know the above difference:
a. How would Adam logically give names appropriately to each of the beasts?
b. During this exercise what might Adam have learned about their suitability to help him in solving
- His being alone (needing help to do things), and
- His loneliness (needing someone to share his deepest desires and wants)
c. Biblically, is a “helper” necessarily a weaker person? (Scan through the psalms and see who is the one the psalmists always seek help from.)
(3) What is the result of this exercise according to v. 20?
(4) The naming exercise has not really finished. After the man wakes up from his sleep, whom does he give a name?
(5) According to the man’s own explanation, what is the meaning of this name, “woman”? And how different is this name from all the other names he had just given previously? (Note: the Hebrew name for man is “is” and that for woman (here given to Eve) is “issah”. “ah” is used commonly to denote the female form of the “same” thing.)
(6) What might be the significance of having the woman made out of his rib?
(7) In what way is the woman a “suitable helper” (“notoriously difficult to translate” with the preferred translations being “alongside him…a counterpart to him”, The Five Books of Moses, Alter, 22) to the man?
(8) What is the key reason for God instituting marriage according to this passage?
(9) V. 24 sums up what a marriage is. What is it and why is it prefaced by the words, “for this reason”?
(10) In understanding v. 24, we have to understand the background of a patriarchal and agricultural culture where a son normally got his career and family started through the provisions and help of the father — everything would have been provided by the father as he (the son) begins his own family (see the parable of the prodigal son in Lk. 15).
a. What if the son, upon being married, would not leave his father and his mother? What might be the advantages and disadvantages?
b. Why then does the Bible mandate that a man will leave his father and mother upon being married?
(11) V. 25 points to a very important aspect of a marital relationship between husbands and wives. How important is it to the marriage that the two can be naked in their hearts, without having to be in fear or shame? How might this be possible?
(12) What then is the essential message of today and how may you apply it in your life?
It is quite interesting to note that the creation account deals not only with the important question about how we and the universe came about, but also with what marriage is all about. Why would God see fit to have the meaning of marriage included in the creation account? What if, this account of the first marriage between a man and a woman were not included?
Firstly, it establishes that the foundation of a stable society is a stable marriage after God’s own heart. A society is not made up of individuals, but individual families. A stable marriage leads to a stable family, which in turns, leads to a stable society. The current sorry state of the society is exactly a result of the destruction of marriages and families as God intended.
Secondly, marriage demonstrates the meaning of human beings made in the image and likeness of God, with the capacity to love and be loved. As much as man becomes a living being when the breath of God is breathed into him, as a creature, and not God, he needs a companion. She is one that can share his deepest feelings and meet his deepest needs. At the same time, he needs to share his god-like love by sharing her deepest feelings and by meeting her deepest needs too in god-like selflessness. All this was made impossible when sin entered the world. The spousal relationship has since become a selfish power-play. But as Christ has come to redeem us, such god-like selfless relationship is now possible. In fact, when a Christian man and a Christian woman are united as one, they bear a very honored responsibility to be witnesses of the selfless love relationship between Christ and His church. A Christian marriage declares to the world, “If you want to know how Christ loves the church, look no further than our marriage.” I wonder how well are we doing in this respect.
(1) Read Revelation 12:9, 14, 15 and 20:2 to get a sense of who the serpent is, according to the Bible.
(2) What is the intention of Satan in enticing the woman into sin?
(3) Why did he approach the woman, and not the man? Who heard God’s instruction directly in this respect? (2:16-17)
(4) As a first step, what kind of approach did Satan take in leading the woman to sin? Why did he frame the temptation in the form of a question?
(5) Consider what kind of doubt Satan injected into the mind of the woman.
a. Was her doubt raised by Satan's words,"Has God really said"?
b. Did she doubt the motive of why God would make such a rule?
(6) Compare the woman’s answer with what God actually said in 2:17. What might the difference be?
(7) John 8:44 calls Satan the father of lies. What lie did Satan tell in v. 4?
(8) V. 6 gives three reasons for the woman’s disobedience:
a. The fruit was good for food
b. The fruit was good for pleasure to the eye
c. The fruit was desirable for gaining wisdom (like God had)
Look up 1 John 2:16 and see how John sums up the three reasons.
- Which one do you think is the core reason for which the woman ate the forbidden fruit?
- Which one is the most powerful source of temptation to you?
(9) How is Adam referred to in v. 6? Why would he eat the fruit also? Did he have any choice? As much as the two now have become “one flesh”, what does it NOT mean?
(10) Why did they feel the need to cover their nakedness? How did they cover their nakedness? Is there any important symbolic meaning to all these?
(11) What then is the essential message of today and how may you apply it in your life?
The sudden turn of events recorded in Genesis 3 is perhaps the darkest moment in human history, and worse yet, this history keeps on repeating itself in our very days. There is no point blaming Adam and Eve, because we would have done the same in disobeying God, and we have. Take a moment, then, in reflecting on the lyrics of the hymn below, as we seek to learn to live a life of obedience.
1
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.2
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.3
Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.4
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.William D. Longstaff (ca.1882)
Which of the above stanzas mean the most to you? Why?
(1) It appears that God used to visit them in the garden as a habit. Why would Adam and Eve feel the need to hide even from God? Is it not the usual thing to do when we sin?
(2) When God asks questions, He does so, not because He does not know the answers, but rather to either teach us a lesson or to give us a chance to confess our sins. Which was the case with Adam?
(3) How similar was Adam’s reply to that of Eve? Was it a confession? Why or why not?
(4) What has the gaining of the knowledge of good and evil done to the man and the woman?
(5) God pronounces judgments to all three guilty parties:
a. What is the true curse pronounced to Satan? In what way is the plan of salvation being prophesied?
b. What is the more important result of the woman’s sin — the pain in childbearing or the broken relationship with her husband? What kind of a relationship did the woman have with her husband before the Fall?
c. The result of the man’s sin is pronounced as a three-fold curse. What are the three aspects of the curse?
d. How are the above curses being manifested in the world today?
(6) This tragedy, however, ends with a glimmer of hope in vv. 20-21:
a. What does the naming of Adam’s wife signify?
b. Why would God make garments for them? Why would He make them out of skins and how does it point to His plan of salvation to restore the relationship He had with them before the Fall in the Garden of Eden?
(7) Now that the man and the woman have gained the knowledge of good and evil, in what ways might they be like God? In what ways might they be different from God, so that they have to be driven out of the Garden of Eden?
(8) Using Waltke’s analogy of a “temple-garden”, decide if men are driven away from it forever? If you have the time, read Revelation 22:1-5 and get a sense of the heart of God, even when He drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden.
(9) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
For the longest time, I had been blessed with a sensitivity to sin in that at the end of the day, I would spend time reflecting on how my day had been. Often, a lack of peace would force me to come before God, to deal with unconfessed sins in my life. I would kneel and pray and ask God to show me the cause of that feeling of peacelessness. Over the years, I have come to know how God would answer my prayers in this respect instantly. Burdened with a lack of peace, I would pray, “Lord, show me what is the cause of this peacelessness.” And, as I tarry before Him in prayer and waiting, He would show me things from which I needed to repent. I then would pray and pray until peace, once again, was restored.
However, after many years of such a “good” habit of confession, one day God showed me that this was not necessarily true repentance on my part. I have come to understand that at times, my confession lacks a true desire to leave my sin. I am more interested in regaining peace which is so precious to me, so I would pray and pray with so-called confessions, until my peace has been restored, only to find myself repeating the same sin again, shortly afterward.
I was cheating God, even with my confessions!
This is the first recorded act of offering as well as the first act of murder in the Bible:
(1) Adam and Eve were having their first ever baby. If God has given you a new baby in your family in the past year, pause and offer your thanksgiving to God.
(2) Have you observed how young parents of our time greet the arrival of their new-born, especially if it is their first baby? They would read up relevant books (or internet websites), stockpile supplies and might seek help from grandparents. Can you imagine how Adam and Eve prepared for the arrival of Cain? How different was it from our young parents today?
(3) Yet, the Bible records the words of the mother. How do these words reflect her attitude of having a child?
(4) All children are uniquely created by God. As parents or grandparents, what should your prayers be for the children?
(5) Compare the two different career paths of Cain (whose Hebraic name means “smith”) and Abel (whose name mean "vapor"). Abel (a rancher) kept the flock, and Cain (a farmer) tilled the soil. Without making a value judgment, what might be the differences between the two types of occupation? the commonalities between them?
(6) Though not yet stipulated by God, what then prompted Cain and Abel to bring an offering before God?
(7) What then is common between the offerings? What might be their key difference (which, logically, should have nothing to do with one being lambs and the other being crops)?
(8) Is there a difference between bringing the firstborn versus not the firstborn and between the firstfruits and not the firstfruits? (Refer to Exod. 22:29, Lev. 23:10, Num. 18:12, Prov. 3:9, Exod. 13:2 and Lev. 27:26 for the meaningfulness represented by the firstborn and firstfruits.)
(9) When his offering did not find favor from God, Cain became angry. What then does his anger tell you of the purpose of his offering?
(10) What happens when Cain allows his anger to be unchecked?
(11) How does Jesus talk about anger and murder in Matthew 5:21-22? Why?
(12) Again, why does God choose to ask Cain a question, the answer of which He knows very well?
(13) How does Cain’s answer speak to his attitude after sinning?
(14) Consider Cain’s concern about the severity of God’s punishment in v. 13. What might stand out as a surprise to you that may give us a clue as to God’s leniency towards him in v. 15?
(15) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
The story of Cain is a story of disappointment with God. Ironically, it was precisely because Cain believed in God and cared about how God looked upon him that he ended by committing the first murder in human history.
In presenting an offering to God, at a time when it was not even mandated by God, shows a side of Cain that wanted to please God or even draw close to God. Cain knew and believed God was his creator and his source of blessings, that is, he knew his life depended on God.
But as his offering did not please God while that of his brother, Abel, did, we are told that he became angry with God. Perhaps, the anger was mixed with a sense of disappointment. When he knew that he and his offering did not please God, he possibly anticipated that he would not be blessed by God, or as blessed as his brother would be. Of course, his reaction clearly showed his worship of and relationship with God was entirely self-centered. If it were God-centered, his reaction would be one of self-examination and repentance. His anger and disappointment with God were subsequently expressed in the most rebellious way — the murder of his own brother and a total lack of remorse (“Am I my brother’s keeper!”).
This was committed by someone who believed in God and once tried to please God, albeit for his own sake.
I am afraid there are many Christians who follow the way of Cain. They believe in God for their own sake, expecting blessings from God as if they were something that God owed them. But when their dreams have not turned out the way they had hoped for, or by comparison, they have not succeeded in life as have other brothers and sisters with whom they have grown up or have been surrounded by, their lives turn bitter. Many have either given up their faith, while some have given their lives to licentiousness. Given the right circumstance, they would even commit the most horrible crime that non-Christians may not be capable of committing. All because of their anger or disappointment toward God.
But the core problem remains that their belief in God was grounded in self-centeredness. As a result, their “Christian” belief is no different from any “pagan” belief.