Genesis 4-8 today... Genesis 9-11 tomorrow...

Ok, I don't know about you, but I am really finding this exciting so far. :) To be honest, it has been a struggle for me to actually take the time to sit down and read (sad, I know... especially since it is only the 2nd day into it)... but once I start reading, it is really exciting. I found myself almost sad that I was done with the reading today... the kids were happy to be done with "quiet time", but I found myself looking forward to what tomorrow's section will hold.

Now, I am going to try to make this entry shorter than yesterdays, so, right to the point...

First, I found it interesting to see whose names where mentioned in the bloodline of Cain, and also in the geneology from Adam and Seth, on to Noah. Some of the names were the same, but the people they belonged to were so different!

I also thought it was really cool in Gen 4:26b, where it said that people began to call on the name of the Lord (or proclaim, as the footnote said)... so this must be when "evangelism" or "missionary work" first started? It was also when God seems to have started laying the bloodline from Adam (to David, and then on to Jesus)... it seems like evangelism started then, because God was starting to call everyone back to Himself and laying the very first part of the foundation for the redemption of man. Pretty cool how God orchestrated Salvation right from the beginning, not long after the fall! :)

I was amazed at the words of Genesis 6:5, where it said that "... EVERY inclination of the thoughts of [man's] heart was ONLY EVIL ALL THE TIME..." We think about how bad it is now, but there is more than one person who loves God in the world today... I can't even imagine EVERYONE being evil ALL the time!
But then, after the flood, when Noah makes the offering to God (Genesis 8:20-21), God restates that every inclination of man's heart is evil from childhood. It is amazing to think that God knew what kind of heartache He was setting Himself up for by allowing Noah and his family to continue on... Yes, Noah was righteous, but God knew it was only a matter of time before mankind turned against Him again... now that is love... God knew how much we would hurt Him, but knew that having the relationship with us was worth it... Wow! That is humbling to me, because I know that I do not help things most of the time, and give God tremendous heartache... and He knew I would, but created me anyway... I plan to be more intentional in trying to stop giving into the evil inclinations of my heart.

Kind of a random thought, but I liked verse 4:7.

I also liked Genesis 7:13, where it states that "On that very day ..."... the day that the rain started... that was the day that God had Noah and his family get on the ark. I liked that part because it made me think about how God IS so faithful, and His timing IS so perfect... He will deliver us at EXACTLY the right time, we just need to trust in Him, and patiently and obediently prepare as we wait on Him to show us the next thing to do. That was a very encouraging reminder. :)

I did not know that it took Noah apparently 1 year and 3 months to get off the ark, once the rain started. (Genesis 7:6, 8:13-14) Just and interesting fact to know. :)

And finally, I thought it was a good personal reflection that the first thing Noah did after God delivered him was to praise God... but not just with a flippant "Thanks" or something... no, instead, Noah put some effort and action into his worship and thanksgiving... he build a whole alter and made a sacrifice and everything... I have to admit that there are many times that I forget to thank God at all for all the many blessings He gives me... and when I do thank Him, I can be sure that it is almost always a brief, "By the way... thanks again..." kind of thing. I really need to work on becoming more intentional and exert more effort to express an appropriate and reverential "thankyou"... afterall, it is the Creator of the Universe that helped me!

On to Questions (and answers to yesterdays questions)...

First off, I did get some answers to the questions I posted yesterday...

The question about the wording in Gen 1:2, can be answered that "... the earth was formless and empty...", meaning, yes, there was nothing before... the fancy latin term for this is: "ex nihilo"... which means "out of nothing"... everything was created out of nothing. The explanations I got about what the word "became" means, are: 1.) that God had to create the idea of "form" in order for the earth to be "formless"... so, in essense, the earth "became" formless, because God created the idea of "formlessness", and/or 2.) prior to God putting everything in order, there was chaos, so when it says "became", it means that God made everything move from chaos to order. I think I am explaining that right, but please feel free to add to or correct anything that I have just said.

The second question I asked was about where the water above the expanse (sky) went (Gen 1:6-10)... this answer I got (I think) from today's reading... I think that the water above the sky was the same water described in Genesis 7:11-12, as the "floodgates of heaven". I believe that I remember hearing people say that there wasn't anything like rain prior to the flood and that there was a water barrier of some such around the earth, so it must have been let loose during the flood, and then became part of our atmosphere (through evaporation, clouds, etc), and part of our water of earth (oceans, lakes, etc). If you think something different, or have other references, please let me know... I would value your input. :)

I do have some questions for today, too:

1.) In Gen 6:3, it says that God numbered man's days to 120 years. Now I had always heard that God was numbering the length of time that any person could live (like we would die before we hit 120 years old)... but after reading through the flood chapters, I think that it might be referring to the number of years from the time God decided to wipe man out, to the time that He sent the flood (carried out His plan)... any thoughts, comments, or theological references on this???

2.) Also, just after that, in 6:4, it talks about the Nephilim... who were these people?
It says that they (or their decendents) were the "heroes of old"... does that mean that the Nephilim (or their decendents) were the basis for the stories of legends like Hercules, Gilgamesh and other ancient tales of lore... or are there other specifics about them?
And finally, it refers to the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men", both in this verse, and just above it (6:2)... who were the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men", and how were they related to the Nephilim? Were they the decendents of Cain (maybe the sinful "men"), and the decendents of Seth (those who followed in the image of God and the image of Adam, etc-Gen 5:1,3)?
Anybody know any theological references or philosophies about these things?

3.) And, for the last question, it talks about Cain's great-grandson making tools out of bronze and iron (4:22)... does anyone know what the educated thinking is on the time tables that are being given?... What else do we know, if anything, from other historical and archeological findings, as to what else might have been happening at this time? What year do the scholars think the flood happened? Etc...
We have been reading The Story of the World for our history in school (with the kids), and it talks about the earliest people being nomads... would these be Cain and his family, or does anyone have any ideas about that kind of thing?

Ok, sorry that this is so long again. :) Hope you are enjoying your reading and keeping up with it. We'd love to hear what you have to say about the things we've posted here, or anything you found while you were reading. We will be in Genesis 9-11 tomorrow. Have a fantastic night!
In His Love,
sandJ