Cain and Abel
Aaron's note: "I like how Eve said she ‘acquired a man from the Lord’, we think children come from specific physical acts but if God doesn’t show up, it doesn’t happen."
Chapter 5
Adam’s Descendants to Noah
Aaron's note: "Is there any significance to the fact that Adam begot a son ‘in his own likeness, in his own image’ but other sons are not described this way? Is this so we don’t forget that since we come from Adam (the first Adam) that we are made in his likeness and image? Meaning we are created with Adam’s original sin as part of us? Does that mean that we are not created in God’s image to the same extent as Adam, since we are born sinners and enemies of God?
Aaron's note: "I wish there was more scripture about angels and what happened before creation, evil must have existed before man was created since there was a tree of the knowledge of good and evil? so evil did exist prior to creation, Adam just made it part of his and our world?"
Chapter 6
The Corruption of Mankind
Aaron's note: "I have always struggled with the 120 years – ‘yet his days on earth shall be 120 years’ I think in the past I have read commentaries that have said this means it was 120 years until God gave mankind the flood, but I have wondered if this was referring to lifespan. Folks live a long time prior to the flood then after the flood it starts dwindling down (…Abraham 175, Jacob 147, Joseph 110). Our max lifespan could be construed as 120 years today, mankind plateaud following the flood, maybe with an upper limit of 120 years? I could be way off on this one."
Chapter 7
The Flood
Aaron, I had another thought, related to your "120 years" question... If you believe that the "sons of God" referred to in Genesis 6 are supernatural beings (which I do), then a possible interpretation of these verses could be that the Lord didn't want a supernatural strength/life force/breath/wind/spirit to be overpowering to certain segments of the human gene pool, so he "capped" those lifespans. Another possible application could be the 120 year time limit before the flood, perhaps to correct the "little e" elohim's influence in human affairs. Of course I'm just spitballing here, dealing with the English translations and trying to understand it in our modern context. I bet a more thorough study of the Hebrew text and the culture of the age of the patriarchs would shed much more light on the subject.
ReplyDelete- jeffrey
RE: Cain & Abel, it sure seems like God The Father appeared to Cain to warn him not to sin, and then appeared after the murder to meet again with him "in person" - this sounds like a gracious, engaging God, even here in the Old Testament!
ReplyDelete- jeffrey