Genesis 3 and 4
Matthew 2
Genesis:
Note that humanity lasts in the garden of Eden for approximately 5 minutes before sin enters the picture. Discuss.
Some have suggested that the "temptation" story is really a "denial of responsibility" story. How do Adam and Eve deny responsibility here?
chapter 4: Cain, in Hebrew, means "begotten, born". Abel means "nothingness, vapor".
God blesses Abel's offering instead of Cain's. This is the first of many times in Genesis when the older brother will be passed over in favor of the younger brother.
After Cain murders his brother, and God asks Cain where Abel is, Cain says, "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" Keep this question at the front of your mind as you read the rest of Genesis. Perhaps "Am I my brother's keeper?" is the theme of the entire book of Genesis. Discuss.
Matthew:
How odd is it to read the Christmas story in June? Did you notice anything in the text when you read it in the "wrong" season?
The "wise men", after they have seen Jesus, are warned in a dream to go home "by another road". What might that journey have been like for them? Do you think they made it home?
Matthew tells of the birth of Jesus to make the reader remember the story of Moses. Which parts of chapter 2 remind you of the Moses story?
John Calvin reads his Bible too.
About Me
- Marci Glass
- I'm a mom, a wife,a lapsed cellist, and the pastor of Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho. Please join us for worship at 9:30 on Sunday mornings!
Elliott's observation tonight on Genesis 3 and 4--"Who was Cain's wife?"
ReplyDeleteHere's a question Darleen emailed:
ReplyDelete"Marci,my Mormon friends work very hard on their genealogy work to trace their ancestors back to Adam and Eve. One friend told me that it was helpful if you were related to Kings in the bible and not peasants! What do you think about their claims of making a connection to Adam and Eve through a written genealogy?"
Darleen
my reply:
People who believe in reincarnation always seem to think they were Cleopatra or Charlemagne in a previous life, and never the chamber maid or the peasant who mucked out the stables....
And, when you research your own genealogy, you tell people, "I've traced my mother's family back to a signer of the Declaration of Independence". You neglect to mention, "but my grandfather spent time at the State Penitentiary".
I think the Old Testament genealogies buy into that tradition. People live 800 years. They work hard to connect back to either Adam and Eve or back to Abraham. The genealogy in Matthew, while it also harkens back to the beginning, throws in some people who never should have been mentioned in an "official" genealogy. Women. Foreigners. Women who were foreigners. Men who murdered other people's husbands so they could steal wives. Brothers who stole birthrights. etc.
So, in Jesus, God seems to be telling us, "if my very own son can have a very human, a very 'broken', genealogy, shouldn't that be good enough for you?"
In Jesus, God is always turning things upside down, which should free us from our illusory chase for "perfection".
Love your last reply, Marci! Also really dig the way you're hitting the OT and the NT in parallel. Great idea! I'll be following along from PDX.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Brian H.
Love your last reply, Marci! Also really dig the way you're hitting the OT and the NT in parallel. Great idea! I'll be following along from PDX.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Brian H.