Read: Genesis 19 - 28

Sodom & Gomorrah.

Not much came to me in this first part where the two angels come and rescue Lot out of Sodom.  God seems to hold his wrath if even 1 righteous person is present and goes about rescuing that one person before delivering his wrath.  He does it with Lot, He did it with Noah.  God continually holds back judgement for the sake of the righteous (or at least the not completely wicked) even in the midst of great evil. I guess I'll see if he continues this trait.  God even saved Lot though he is reluctant to be saved.  He saved Lot in spite of himself.

Gen 19:16 But he (Lot) lingered. So the men (angels) seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

I think that is a good thing because he also saved us in spite of ourselves. 

Lots wife gets turned to salt and Lots daughters trick him into fathering children on them.  More mayham, incest and iniquity continue.  Abram AGAIN says Sarah is his sister rather than his wife rather than trusting God, I don't get what is up with that.  One thing of note is that even though Ishmael was concieved out of not trusting God to do what he said, God still honored his promise to Abraham in Ishmael.  Abraham was unfaithful but God was not!

The entire chapter of Gen 22:1-24 seems to be another foreshadowing of Jesus and the cross.

Gen 22:6 And Abraham took wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son.
Gen 22:8 Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son"
Gen 22:12 He (God) said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.

Jesus carried his own cross, he was the lamb provided by God and he was God's only son.

There is the faithful servant who does trust God unlike Abraham.  Somehow, it seems like the servants and slaves are more trusting in God than the one whom God is lifting up.

There is Isaac, Jacob and Esau and and that whole family fued going on.  The backstabbing and lack of honor and kindness that just seems to be so pervasive here.  Yet God is still honoring his promise while those he is lifting up are committing all kinds of mischief and evil.  Isaac even seems to inherit his fathers bad trait of passing off his wife as his sister.  There is something wrong there.

Jacob even steals the birthright and blessing from Esau and God honors the blessing even though it was illicitly gained.

Lastly here is the second reference to tithing that I find so far.

Gen 28:22 - And of all that you (God) give me (Jacob) I will give a full tenth to you.

Summing it all up, it seems like the only constant thing in this entire escapade is God.  Everyone else is wheeling and dealing, lying and cheating, committing adultary, stealing and a multitude of other immoralities.  Yet God is still honoring his own word.  It would be easy to think that Abraham and his children are getting rich and prosperous because of all the mischief, yet again and again God intercedes and renews his commitment with each generation.  In that it becomes obvious that they are prospering not because of their own actions but rather because of Gods faithfulness.

I think that is a great comfort for a sinner. God promised to forgive all who asked and believed and like Abraham and his children, God will honor that promise regardless of our own continuing sins and sinful nature.

Read: Genesis 5 - 18

Well I'm combining yesterday and today together.  After writing a day late about Monday I didn't have the brain power to write Tuesday as well.  So today you get both yesterday and today.  This one might come across a litte stream of conscience like but oh well.

Much of this section of Genesis seems to be genealogy and I'm not sure that has any special significance or not beyond adding weight and validity to the book.  I'm sure that scholars and such can read much into it and out of it but for me reading it was kind of blase.  There, of course, was Noah and the flood in there and the start of the very repetitive theme of the wickedness of man.  Not to be course about it but, what else is new, obviously hasn't been new in a great long time. Mention of the Nephilim, whom I've heard said were angels but the text itself seams to regard them merely as some kind of giant sentient being.  Fodder, I'm sure, for the "aliens have visited us" crowd.  Well God would still be God for aliens so what does it matter.  Angels and Demons would be a kind of alien too if you think about it and God is still God for them.

Of interest is the general longevity of people before the flood versus the marked decreasing longevity of people afterward.  I remember my dad talking about some paper he wrote in college concerning a theory behind that.  Maybe he would be willing to post that some where and I can link it or something.  The genealogy is followed down to Abram (later Abraham) and the start of his travels and travails. Abrams father didn't have Abram until he was 70 years old and he lived to be 205.  I remember in church, sermons that would go on and on about how amazing it was that Abram would father a child at 90 yet given the still great longevity of that generation, I don't see the amazement in that justified.  What IS amazing to me is that after 80 years of barrenness Sarai (later Sarah) did conceive, even after menopause.  That seems rather miraculous, but the age thing, given the context of the time does not seem miraculous unless you view it through the glass of present life and longevity.  Even today octogenarians can still produce sperm and the like so they could conceivable also father children.

I'm going to step back a little here as I skipped over something that also occurred to me.  Everyone knows the general story of the Tower of Babel.  We all here about it in Sunday school about everyone gathering and building the tower basically giving the finger to God as it were.  I'm not sure I see that upon examining the text myself.

Genesis 9:1 - And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth"

Later in Gen 9:7 - And you (plural) be fruitful and multiply, team on teh earth and multiply in it"

Here we have a command from God to go out and multiply upon the earth.  But did they do that?  Well they started to.  There is a whole list of Nations and the like including Babel so everything is good right?  I mean isn't everyone spreading out and filling the earth just as is commanded?  Well almost.

See here is little old Babel started by a group that originally where going out to fill the earth.  They are migrating after all.  Well in their migration they found a plain and said to one another.

Genesis 11:4- Come let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

There it is "lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth".  They wanted to stick together, they did not want to fill the whole earth, they disobeyed God.  Well, God said be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.  2/3rds of an enchilada isn't the whole enchilada. God saw this, saw what they could do with one language and decided to remove the tool by which their desires where enabled. Its a pretty handy solution to accomplish his purpose I think.

Back to Abram.

Genesis 12:10-20 tells us of Abram in Egypt and I must say, Abram is a jerk here.  He basically whored out his wife to the Pharaoh and didn't trust God for his needs and safety.  I say whored out because he recieved riches for falsely giving his wife to the Pharaoh.  He got rich off of doing evil.  Don't we see that all the time in our world.  And Abram is obviously doing this because of unjustified fears.  Unless I'm missing something, even after the lie was revealed and Pharaoh had suffered plaugues because of the unknown immorality he treated fairly and kindly with Abram.  I can't imaging that God would of allowed death to come to Abram after he had already made promises.

This  lack trusting of God and his wisdom and word seems to continue as well in other forms. Abram wheels and deals with Lot and Lot for his part uses his human senses rather than trusting or asking God to find a place to settle.  Lot settles in a place that reminds him of the Garden of Eden and guess whats there.  Yup, Sodom and Gomorrah.  Den of inequity line from star wars crosses my mind here.

Something that I can say about Abram in this part is he's always honoring and thanking and at least striving after God. Everywhere he goes he puts up alters and sacrifices.  The first mentioning of tithing is here in Gen 14:20 "And Abram game him (Melchizedek, priest of the God Most High) a tenth of everything.  So even though Abram was filled with fear and greed and such, Abram still honored God and God in return honored Abram and did not turn his back on him.  He even reminds Abram and creates a second covenant with him in Gen 15:13-16. (the first being Gen 13:14-18).  I think there are 3 covenants total with Abram, these two I mention and the last one, the covenant of circumcision that is layed out in Gen 17:11-14.

About these covenants.  Well there are 3 of them.  The first one vague and far in the futre, the second one soon and very specific but not actually present and the third one is now and immediate and requires immediate action.  That is a neat progression there.  Seems like as Abram grows in trust of the Lord, God asks more and more of him and also gives more and more to him.  Even when he's weak and takes Hagar to bed in Gen 16:2-4, God honors and protects and looks after Hagar and her child.  Even the bastard child is important to God.

What is also very interesting is the nature of the covenant.

Gen 17:12 & 13 - He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised.  Every male throughout your generations, whether born in you house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised.  So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.

Jesus was the Son of God.  He was born of God and just as the covenant with Abraham was vested in those bought by Abraham's money, so is the covenant and relationship that Jesus has with god vested in us through the money (blood) of the cross.  I think that is a wonderful foreshadowing of what is to come down the road.

I actually read part of Gen 19 but I'm not going to include it today.  It is more appropriate I think to reread it with the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah.

This was yesterday. Yes I'm writing it a day late but its to catch up to present. I hope to post daily as part of my day.

Read: Genesis Chapters 1 - 4

As I said previously, I didn't know where to start, so I started at the beginning.  Creation story... Day 1, 2, 3... 6, 7 check!  Eden, where it is etc... hold on first question or thought I had reading through this.

Genesis 2:16-17 - And the Lord God commanded the man, saying " You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eate, for in the day that you eat of it yous hall surely die

Well obviously Adam and Eve didn't die when they ate, at least not physically.  Later they are cast out so they wouldn't eat of the Tree of Life and continue to live for ever.  So where they designed with the ability to die and the garden/tree of life just continued to renew them?  But what does that have to do with the prediction that they will die.  I've remember the preacher talking about them dying spiritually but I wonder at that too.  Yes thats the "original sin" but what died? I'm not sure anything died truthfully, I don't know.  Maybe the "surely die" is the proscribed punishment rather than the inevitable and immediate consequence.They where cast out of Eden so that they couldn't eat of the Tree of Life and live forever.

Something else that struck me shortly there after was the timing of it all.

• Gen 2:7 Adam is created.
• Gen 2:16 Commandment to Adam not to eat from the Tree of knowledge of good and evil.
• Gen 2:22 Eve created.

So in that time line Eve never actually hears the commandment, she only hears the commandment second hand from Adam.  The prohibition to not eat from the tree of knowledge may also not apply to her either.  I will want to follow up on this but the bible I'm reading specifically references the "You" that the serpent uese as plural where the "You" that God uses may mean singular.  Eve wasn't actually there yet so what use is there to mean "You" the plural by God.

This thought is also supported by later time line evidence.

1. Eve eats the fruit
2. Nothing happens
3. Adam eats the fruit
4. "Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked."

See Eve can safely eat the fruit and to her its just fruit because she is not the one in authority in the relationship.  If you go back, Eve was made as a helper and companion to Adam, as a wife.  Later this Husband/Wife relationship is confirmed in verse 24 as being a husband and wife relationship.  So  for EVE the fruit was fruit.  It had no effect over her because:

• The commandment was for Adam
• Authority was vested  in Adam

This means that only Adam eating the fruit was actually the sin.  I think the conversation with the serpent also points to this.  The serpent asks a leading question.

"Did God Actually say, 'You (plural) shall not eat of any tree in the Garden?'"

What a leading question, one that is inviting an opportunity for error.  Eve responded with erroneous information as well.

"We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden but God said, 'You (singular as in Eve herself) shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden neither shall you touch it, lest you die'"

So what does this tell us about what Eve knows.  Well, she doesn't know the name of the tree, she never heard it.  She knows the general location of it.  She thinks she can not touche it which is entirely false.  So she has good knowledge mixed with bad knowledge.  The serpent is crafty when he approaches her as well for I think he knows that she is the only one of the two that can eat of the tree safely.

Now in terms of something that also was striking is that Sin was able to enter into Eve through the actions of her husband.  What does this mean in my life with my wife.  I think that sin and evil spirits may be able to have doorways opened to my wife through my opening those doors to me.  It would also stand to reason that I can close those same doorways and protect her from that through Grace and Forgiveness.

Here is part of a conversation I had with my Mom later that day.  Please excuse the misspelling and such, I didn't clean it up.

Me- I started a quit time this morning, and I hope to stick with it, i want to

didn't know where to start so just started in genisis

something that struck me when reading was the original sin and its implications in how it happened

or the order in which it happened

Mom- God will honor you where ever you start.... I would read a Psalm every day too, along with your regular reading. The Psalms are so encouraging

Me- God created Adam and told Adam that the punishment for eating the fruit of knowledge would result in death. THEN God created Eve afterward. She didn't actually hear Gods word about the tree directly, she only heard from Adam is the implication of that.

So, when the serpent asked his leading question, Eve revealed in her answer that her knowledge of the command was faulty

This allowed her to be susseptable to a lie

but, something that was interesting is that the lie became truth in her eyes after she ate of the fruit and did not die, nor did she know she was naked

It wasn't until Adam ate that she knew she was naked, it wasn't until Adam ate that she gained that knowledge

Mom- Wow, Dan... I have known that Scripture for years and never picked up on all of that. That is amazing revelation

Me- I was thinking about authority, the authority of a husband over a wife and that authority seems to derive from Adam having authority over Eve as illistrated in that series of events... Its spiritual authority

I almost got confused between it being husband and wife and man and woman, but the verse specifically called Adam and Eve husband and wife.

Mom- Yes, that is what I was trying to say at the beginning of your quest with all this. You have authority over Jamie because you are her husband..

Me- However, the really scary part that struck me is this.

Because I have authority, does my own doorways or actions being opened in my life for devils to invade also open those same doors for Jamie?

Is she dealing with not only her own demons but those introduced through me as well?

Knowledge didn't enter Eve until Adam ate

Mom- Yes, I think there is validity in that... but you can also close those doors directly by cleaning out your own spirit
it is just a matter of recognizing your issues, asking for forgiveness and repenting of them (fleeing from them)

nothing to be scared of... but just to know that as a husband you have a great amount of responsibility for your wife... God holds the place of husbandtry in a very responsible place.... like that of a teacher or leader

it is like a parent/child relationship as well... the Bible does say that the sins of the father fall upon the children.. i.e. generational sin and generational curses... but that the parent also has the authority to break off those generational curses and sins
but it takes recognition and repentence.. God forgives each time

Later in Gen 4:7 sin is referenced to as if it is the demon.  Its crouching at the door like an animal.  There is a verse later on that I don't know the reference to that talks about satan or evil crouching like a hungry lion or something waiting to devour you.  The similarity makes me think that sin can be a kind of demon possibly.

Anyway, those are the thoughts that I had and contemplated.  Feel free to comment with your own insights, call out any fallacies and such.  I'm new in my pursuit of Christ and while I have lots of cultural knowledge that influences, I'm trying to examine as much as I can with an open heart and mind.  Grace that I succeed and Eyes and Ears to see and hear the word of God.

I just started this blog and I'm not a blogger.  I tried blogging in the past but it didn't stick with me because, truthfully I don't really write what I think out much.  However things have changed in my life since then.  So, I'm going to attempt to do some blogging here with some specific goals in mind.

Recently, withing the last few months, it has come upon me my absolute need for Jesus Christ in my life.  Not just to be my savior and that's enough but rather to press in and desire his and the Holy Spirits involvement and leadership and companionship in my life.  To put it shortly I want to know him more.  This has been driven by several things in my life that I can identify beyond the most obvious one of his calling me to be close.  His call seems to be often circumstance driven but I don't think it always is.

Anyway, I want a way to record my thoughts, record what I've learned and done and experienced and this also shares it.  However sharing it isn't really the goal.  If not one person ever reads this it will have no bearing on what I want out of it.

So, I have some catching up to do now.  I've been pressing in on Jesus and spiritual warfare with what knowledge I've gained from just being my parents son.  But also I've been reading some books.  I finished reading Pigs in the Parlor and I'm in the middle of Deliverance from Evil Spirits.  I have found these two books both hopeful and tremendously frightening.

Sunday I bought a bible even though I have several that are collecting dust. It was a journaling bible and I like it a lot.  I bought it for the journaling aspect because I felt it was time, it was more than time to start my own quite time with God.  I'm modeling it after my own fathers quite time.  He would be up early in the morning and spend a half hour to an hour reading the word and praying.  So Monday I did the same.

I got up at 5:30 and rather than hitting my snooze about 9 times, I actually woke up. I went into our living room and sat on the love seat and I didn't know where to start so I decided to start in Genesis... you know, start at the beginning right.  I'll post what I learned and thought and a conversation I had with my mom the following day later.  Today I continued and again got up at 5:30, however I was so groggy I decided to have some breakfast first.  Cookie Crisp and Bananas for the win!  I got dressed and then around 6 I started, or tried to start.  Rather I couldn't start so decided to read some of "Deliverance from Evil Spirits".  I read a chapter of it and then I prayed and continued reading in Genesis.  I'll post about that one also as something occurred to me about the Tower of Babel section.

Anyway, off to interview a guy for a job at my work.