Genesis 3, 4, 5 Reflections
I finally realize why my wife is deathly afraid of snakes, because it says so right in the bible, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."...hmmmmm, lol, I'm just kidding Laura. After reading chapters 3, 4, and 5 of Genesis, I find the Bible taking a turn from a beautiful and poetic start to a somber story about the creation of Sin. How fast we find ourselves as humans taking advantage of this wonderful world we have been given, because God allowed us the freedom to do so. Imagine living in a world with all the food you can eat, and where all the beasts and man live together in a type of harmony. I finally realize how much we have taken advantage of the freedoms that God has given us and how we use them in excess amounts to satisfy some type of worldly need. It is sad when I think about it. But, all of this chaos is a result of our continuous sinning, which all started in the beginning with Adam and the woman. I say the women, because I also noticed, for the first time, the woman is not named Eve until the end of Genesis 3. Is there any hidden meaning as to why the woman is named Eve? It doesn't clearly define it for me. As I read Genesis 4, I couldn't help but notice how much humans have in common with Cain. We continuously strive to be honored and have favor with everything and everybody, including God. The way we go about trying to gain honor and favor can be loosely explained with the following analogy. Imagine you are running a highly visible project. To show that you were the right choice to run the project, you make decisions and go about running the project looking for the easiest possible path to success. We tend to hire or consult with the people who can do the job the fastest and the cheapest. Cain wondered why he fell out of favor with God. He chose to give offerings to the Lord in the easiest and cheapest way. He thought this would be the path to honor and favor with God. We must realize, it is not always going to be the easiest and cheapest path we should take to find honor and favor in God. It is sometimes the uncomfortable and hardest path that yields the best results.
Questions to Follow up on:
Q - Is there any hidden meaning as to why the woman is named Eve?
Genesis 5:19 - 24 19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. 21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Q - Chapter 5 is the book of the generations of Adam. They all seem to follow a standard list format, until you get to versus 19 - 24. What is being communicated to us when it is Enoch that walks with God and all of the other generations did not?
Matthew 2 Reflections
Until you fully read Matthew 2, you do not understand the impact of the chapter. The chapter is written in a way which reveals that Jesus’ birth fulfilled 3 prophesies from the Old Testament.
Right away in the New Testament, we are given proof that Jesus was the messiah, Emmanuel that was prophesied in the Old Testament.
1. Matthew 2:4 - 6 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
2. Matthew 2:13 - 15 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. 13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
3. Matthew 2: 22 - 23 22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
The proof has started to present itself.
Questions to follow up on:
Q - Matthew does not make mention of 3 wise men at all. Were there only 3 wise men or could there possibly have been more?
Q - Matthew states that the wise men came to visit Mary and the baby in a house, not in a manger. Matthew 11 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
Could the wise men possibly not have given their gifts to Jesus in a stall?
- Through thought, word, and deed, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, I will be You Lord God and Your Son Jesus Christ...Amen
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