Genesis: Chapter 2

I've decided that as I try to read and understand and study the bible, I will post here my summary of what I think it means and how I interpret it, so thank you for joining me in this journey.

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Genesis: Chapter 2

"So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation."

Now everything was done. The universe was made. Since God was finished on the seventh day, he rested. He blessed this day and declared it holy. (Sunday... which suggests that it is actually the last day of the week, does it not?)

"This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. The Man and Woman in Eden When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the LORD God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land."

This is the statement of how everything was created. About how man and woman existed in Eden, and now neither wild plants or grains grew yet because God did not yet send rain to help them grow, and no one else was around to help work the ground anyway. Instead, springs and mists of water came up from the ground and provided a water source for the land.

"Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made."

God decided to create a man from dust. He breathed into his nostrils with the breath of life (which is also said to be the pronunciation and true name of God) and the man came to life. Then he planted a garden in the East of Eden, and that's where he put the man that he made to live there.

"The LORD God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

After God made a living space for the man to live, he made all sorts of trees grow from the ground. The trees were beautiful and they grew delicious fruits of every kind. In the middle of the garden, he placed two very special trees, the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

"A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates."

There was a river that flowed out of Eden. This river watered the Garden of Eden before breaking into four different rivers. One was called Pishon and it went around the whole land of Havilah. Havilah is a land where gold the gold you find there is exceptionally pure, and there is also strong smelling resin and onyx stone. The second river is called Gihon, which goes around the entire land of Cush. The third is called Tigris, which flows east from the land Asshur, and we know it exists today in Mesopotamia. And the fourth river is called the Euphrates, which we also know exists in Mesopotamia.

"The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the LORD God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden - except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

God placed the man that he made in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and watch over it, and he told him he could eat from any tree, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he went against what God said and ate fruit from that particular tree, he would be sure to die. (That's probably why we can't live forever, we eventually have to pay the price of death. But what about the tree of life? What if he ate from that other special tree? What would have happened then?)

"Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” So the LORD God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals."

Then God knew that it wasn't good for the man to be all by himself, so he made animals and birds (also from the ground) to keep him company. He brought them to the man, and the man named each one. (All of the names for animals originally came from Adam, but all the new animals we are discovering today are all given names by the descendants of Adam.

"But still there was no helper just right for him. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the LORD God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man."

The animals just weren't good enough to help out the man like he needed. And although they were good company, and as much time it took to name so many of them, they just weren't what he needed. So God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, God took out one of his ribs and closed the opening where he took it from with flesh. Then God made a woman from that rib, and brought her to the man some time after he was awake.

“At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame."

The man was excited because this new person was just like him, same kind of bones, and same kind of flesh. He said that she would be called "woman" because she came from a man's woe (Adam yearning for someone like himself). This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins his wife and the two become united as one, and have children (both of the DNA from two beings becoming one being). And both of them were naked, but they didn't know what being ashamed felt like, so there was no shame between them.

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End of Genesis: Chapter 2

Genesis: Chapter 1

I've decided that as I try to read and understand and study the bible, I will post here my summary of what I think it means and how I interpret it. And although my Pastor suggests not starting in Genesis, I thought I'd go ahead and give it a whirl. I think the best way to do this (at the moment) is chapter by chapter, so thank you for joining me in this journey.

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Genesis: Chapter 1

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters."

In the beginning, God created the universe, even the very planet we live on. The Earth was just a meteor without any shape and no life no land, only water, and it was always dark. (Because of this, it stands to reason that perhaps we really ARE the only planet with life on it? And does this mean the Earth existed before the Sun? Seeing as how science believes the Earth and the sun were both created about 4.5 billion years ago, then yes, it would stand to reason that the Earth could have been formed before the sun.)

"Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day."

Then the sun formed, and there was light. And the Earth rotated around the sun, making night and day. God saw the benefits of what night and day did to earth (tides, temperature, weather), and he saw the potential and it was a good thing.

"Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day."

As the sun heated up the Earth, it became a planet of humidity, and he created oxygen to be a space that formed a layer between the evaporating waters and clouds above, and the deep waters below. Night came and went, ending the second day.

"Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good."

On the third day, as more evaporation occurred, the surface of the ground began to peak, becoming the land, and the waters were known as the seas and ocean. God saw the potential in this and thought it was good.

"Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day."

Then God said to let grass, plants, and trees, and anything that makes seeds and fruits that bear seeds to keep producing plants of their own kind with seeds. All sorts of vegetation covered the ground. Then night and day came, the third day passed.

"Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day."

Then he made planets visible to the sky, so we had stars, sun and moon. We would be able to use the stars be to determine seasons, days, years, and locations. (But wait... If light existed BEFORE the sun was put in the sky, then where did the light come from? The answer is that the light came from God because He IS the light.) He saw that it was good. Day and night passed, and the fourth day was completed.

"Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth. And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day."

Then God created creatures for the water, and birds for the sky. Whatever this creature was, it would give birth to the same creature of it's kind. He blessed them and told them to multiply. Evening passed and morning came. That was the 5th day.

"Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good."

Then God created land animals, and also had them make babies of the same kind. (A monkey could only mate with a monkey, a chicken only with another chicken. Etc.) God saw that it was good.

"Then God said, “Let us make human beings." So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day."

Then God made human beings that looked similar to him. He made them male and female. (But wait... If this says he already made a female, how does Eve come from Adam's rib, as they don't come in until Chapter 2? Does this mean there were more people in Eden other than just Adam and Eve??? The answer here is no... There was no one before them, as Chapter 2 just goes back and tells more in-depth history to the creation story.) He told the humans to bear children and grow in numbers. He told them to master the animals and the land, and to eat the plants that grow fruit and the plants that make seeds. Leafy plants were for the animals. Basically, he told humans to take care of his creations, and be vegetarians (even though this would later change). He saw that it was good, evening passed, morning came, and that was the sixth day.

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End of Genesis: Chapter 1

God Will Take You Out

Tonight at evening service, we went over Genesis, Chapter 12. It states, as follows:

"The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”"

You notice here that God said HE will curse the people who treat Abraham. He didn't tell Abraham to go out and curse people. When you get mad at people, you can't just go around cursing them, as much as you want to. Technically, you can, but that's not the right thing to do. God wants you to be a blessing to others. If you have some beef with somebody so much that you feel like they need to be cursed, then you need to figure out what's going on in YOUR heart.

"So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the LORD, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the LORD, and he worshiped the LORD."

If you've noticed, Abraham did not just build one alter where he went. He would build one in every place he resided. How many times have you met God at the alter in your life? You meet him when you give your life to God. If you're lucky, you meet him at the alter to bless your union for your wedding. Me, personally? I feel like I've internally given my life to God at this point, but I've still not done it externally. I haven't really went to the alter to ask for forgiveness for my sins, or to physically speak my dedication to God. I hope to soon though. When we get the chance, my brother, and Khloe and Devin and I all want to get baptized together. I didn't want to get baptized right away. I wanted to make sure I felt like I truly belonged somewhere before I took that step. And now I do, so I feel like I'm finally ready to make it official, so to speak, by this ceremony which represents my rebirth as a Christian.

"Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev. At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner."

Here, Egypt represents the world. Basically, when Abraham enters Egypt, this represents him bringing God to the world.

"As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.” And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s beauty. When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace. Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. But the LORD sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. “What have you done to me?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and get out of here!” Pharaoh ordered some of his men to escort them, and he sent Abram out of the country, along with his wife and all his possessions.

You would think that for a man representing God, Abraham would have been an honest man, but the first thing he does is lie to them, and had his wife life because she is so beautiful, so he has her tell them she is his sister so that they wouldn't want to kill him and take her. Sometimes... SOMETIMES lies are necessary. After all, the 10 commandments does not mention lying amongst them.

But now the pharaoh had knowledge of Abraham's God, and had fear of his God because he got plagued. Otherwise the pharaoh might have just killed him anyway, but because he now feared the wrath of Abraham's God, whom had already sent terrible plagues amongst the pharaoh and his household, he just told him to take his things, his wife, and go.

Abraham was saved - not because he was a good man... You don't have to be a good man to be saved. You just have to be a man who has faith in God and trusts God. Believing IN God and believing God are separate. Believing in him doesn't mean you're going to trust him and do as he wants you to do. Believing him means you will do whatever he asks of you. You trust him and have faith in him.

Now let's go back to the beginning of the chapter, where God told Abraham to “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” When you get saved, God wants to separate you spiritually (and sometimes actually physically) from the world you knew. You need a new scene. Sometimes you gotta just get away from your past life and start fresh. Abraham's parents were pagans and he had to get away from them, that place, etc.

Like 2 Corinthains 6:17 says, "Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you."

God needs to put you in another place to get you out from a bad place, but the Devil tries to get you back. In a lot of ways, this reminds me of the situation with my brother. When he stayed with us the first time, things were pretty good for him. He got away from the bad people and the bad situations, but Satan pulled him right back away from us. He was just itching to get back to the bad things he originally tried to escape. Then he hit the bottom again, hiding out place to place, stealing and lying to get by... eventually he went back to rehab, and has come back, but this time he has joined our church, and seems to be doing really well! Hopefully this time he stays faithful to God, and between the both of us, maybe we can keep him on track this time. I, myself, just have to trust that this is what God wants me to do as well, to guide him, help him grow, help him stay right, and keep him away from the bad people who influenced him before. Who knows? Maybe he can find a good church girl along the way, instead of picking up trash from the street.

As 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?" Or as another version says, "Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?"

You can't date unsafe people because you'll end up marrying one of them. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes light overcomes darkness and both of the people work well together and support one another and are able to lift each other out of the dark... But more likely than not, if you love and support a sinner, it will drag the believer away from God.

It's easy to avoid it though. Just avoid people like that. Fellowship with people at your church. Find like minded people who just want to live a good life and be good to others. People with good morals and values. Listen... Darkness don't overcome light. Only you can allow the darkness to take it out. You remember that song "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine"? When it says not to put your light under a bushel or let Satan put it out? You're the one putting your light away and hiding it. So when you find yourself in the dark - only you can get yourself out. Thankfully God will guide you if you allow him, but it's your free will to make that decision.

When you get saved, there becomes something in you that doesn't feel right going back to that old life. If you can go back to that place, back to those people, those habits and situations... and you're fine with it??? If it doesn't bother you, were you even actually saved? Something to think about as we end this entry.