Our Old Testament readings so far have been mostly from
Genesis, the first book in the Bible. The
word genesis means ‘origin’ or ‘source’ as it is a book about our origins but
the Hebrew name for the book is bereishit,
which means ‘In the Beginning’. And the book is a book of beginnings - the
beginning of the natural world, the beginning of the human race, the beginning
of human culture and the beginning of the people of Israel, but also it is the beginning
of God’s plan of salvation for us. The
call of Abraham in chapter 12 is the beginning of God’s people and God tells
Abraham that ‘all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ God starts building with one person. A small beginning but the story of God
building a people runs throughout the Bible and it is our history, our
beginnings as well, as we too belong now to God’s people!
Reading Genesis always reminds me of both the good and bad side
of our human nature as I read about the good things done by the various people but
also the bad things are not hidden from us either - yet God still loves us. In some parts I marvel, yet when I read others
I cringe. What about you?
One of the things I like most about the Bible is that it does contain the good, the bad, and the ugly. It has never been sugar coated. In the beginning, it was simply beautiful. But nothing ever stays that way in real life. Even though we start off as a twinkle in someone's eye, we have to face that we are far from perfect. So what can we learn from others imperfections that help us face and own up to our own imperfections? This book gives us answers and guidance because of the bad and the ugly. Yes, I sometimes cringe while reading the Bible. I cringe when thinking of how my mistakes have affected not only myself but most importantly others. However, I have found the best personal growth usually comes in the midst of strife. I can't help but wonder how different life as a Christian would be if only the good had been passed along to us. The promise of heaven which will be better than the Eden of Genesis gives me wonderful hope in myself and our people as a whole. As an avid reader, the Bible "seems" to present nearly every genre of writing, yet it is to me the ultimate love story. We can have that happy ending if we have faith and believe in Jesus Christ.
ReplyDeleteLately, I have taken more of an interest in geography. So, since we are reading Genesis, where in the world is/was Eden?
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Eden is generally thought to have been in the Middle East as Genesis mentions the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates both of which flow through modern day Iraq but have their sources in Turkey. The other two rivers mentioned in Genesis flowing out of Eden are unknown to us. There is a lot of debate about where Eden was but don't forget that the flood in Noah's time would have altered the topography of that region greatly. Some think Eden was destroyed in the flood.
ReplyDeleteYou are right we have a wonderful hope for the future thanks to Christ and certainly the overall narrative of the Bible does show God's abundant love for us, but many people miss that, especially in the Old Testament. But God's love still is there and many people misinterpret the OT by only doing a surface reading of selected texts.
Skipping between Old and New Testament ties it all together. So does having breakfast with a 400 year old Bible, the ministers, and parishioners. I lok forward to more together and learning.
ReplyDeleteGod is big.
Jennifer Peavey
It is fun and rewarding to get together, isn't it?
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