|
In today's lesson we see God creating man...and becoming so distraught, that by Chapter Six He's ready to destroy him!
We learn that, in the beginning there was nothing. YHWH created everything there is. Have you ever thought about how very powerful a feat that was?
Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning ELOHIM created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water.
YHWH created the heavens and the earth and the entire ecosystem! He arranged for animals of like kind to find each other and procreate, and for plants to grow to provide both beauty and food; each of which has certain insects to clean, protect and/or pollinate them, and to aerate the ground - the synergy is simply amazing. (For more on these miracles, we recommend a wonderful video series by David Attenborough called "Life in the Undergrowth." Even though Mr. Attenborough, an agnostic, cannot see YHWH in these miracles, the presentation of them in these videos is wonderful.)
As most of you know, Genesis 1 is an overview "thumbnail sketch" of Creation, while Chapter 2 provides more details, especially on how man was created (the history of the heavens and earth - Genesis 2:4-9). Notice in Genesis 1:26 that YHWH says, "Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves...." Who was He talking to?
Some believe He was talking to the angels, but angels are just created beings who don't necessarily resemble us (examples, Heb. 1:14, Josh. 5:13-14, Mat. 28:4, Ex. 25:20, Is. 6:2). Plus, in Genesis 3:22, after Adam and Eve's disobedience, ADONAI said, "See, the man is become as one of Us"....This is not an expression YHWH would have used if he were speaking to an angel, because angels are not equal with Him!
So, who was he talking to? Perhaps He was simply using the "third-person" terminology reserved for royalty; perhaps He was talking to Yeshua! Who really knows for sure? Remember, YHWH is ECHAD, Hebrew for the plural form of ONE (such as ONE DOZEN eggs or ONE BUNCH of grapes), and Yeshua is "an arm" of YHWH (Isaiah 53:1) who was the Word that was "with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2). It's a concept we will only fully understand once we are out of our "earth suits" and in our eternal bodies.
As you study, notice that Moshe used human terms to describe what YHWH did/accomplished. Genesis 1:6 "Let there be a dome in the middle of the water; let it divide the water from the water"....and God called the dome Sky." Genesis was never intended to be a scientifically accurate account of the Creation; it is simply describing the event. Moshe, to the best of his human ability, captured the importance of the events of the beginning.
Notice in verse 24, we're told something very interesting:
Genesis 1: 24 God said, "Let the earth bring forth each kind of living creature - each kind of livestock, crawling animal and wild beast"; and that is how it was. 25 God made each kind of wild beast, each kind of livestock and every kind of animal that crawls along the ground; and God saw that it was good.
Animals don't become "livestock" until they are corralled and kept for food or milk! This seems to debunk the idea that man was supposed to be vegetarian only....
In verse 28, after YHWH created man, He ordered man to be "fruitful and multiply." Not only was that the first Torah command (Divine Instruction) that we know of, but it's something that humankind today directly violates via man-made birth control methods, including abortion.
Check out verse 30, which says: "And to every wild animal, bird in the air and creature crawling on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I am giving as food every kind of green plant." This seems to put to rest the debate as to whether or not animals have souls....
Now here's a great question: Genesis 1:27-28 says, So God created humankind in his own image; in the image of God he created him male and female he created them. God blessed them: God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and every living creature that crawls on the earth." Wouldn't this mean that before Adam, God created humankind, and filled the earth before Adam?
The answer is: No, there were no humans before Adam and here's why: Genesis 1 is an overview of Creation and Genesis 2 goes into a deeper explanation of what happened in Genesis 1.
Genesis 2: 4 Here is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created. On the day when ADONAI, God, made earth and heaven, 5 there was as yet no wild bush on the earth, and no wild plant had as yet sprung up; for ADONAI, God, had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no one to cultivate the ground. 6 Rather, a mist went up from the earth which watered the entire surface of the ground.
7 Then ADONAI, God, formed a person [Hebrew: adam] from the dust of the ground [Hebrew: adamah] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living being. 8 ADONAI, God, planted a garden toward the east, in 'Eden, and there he put the person whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground ADONAI, God, caused to grow every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In Chapter 2:1-3, He blessed the Seventh day and made it holy, because that is the day He sat back and watched the "engine" He created, begin to run by itself! Throughout the Torah He reiterates that the Seventh Day is to be kept holy/set apart for Him. It is our "date" with Elohim every week! How awesome is that?
Now, please pay close attention beginning in verse 7 where we see YHWH forming Adam (Hebrew for "humankind") from out of the earth, and then immediately providing food for him...including food from the "tree of life"...and for some reason He also caused the forbidden "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" to be there, as well:
Genesis 2: 9 Out of the ground ADONAI, God, caused to grow every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
We can only surmise that He put the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" in the Garden to give man the choice to obey and belong to Him, or not....After all, He is not a God who forces Himself on His creation. We all have the choice to accept Him, or not - as we will see below.
Genesis 2: 16 ADONAI, God, gave the person this order: "You may freely eat from every tree in the garden 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You are not to eat from it, because on the day that you eat from it, it will become certain that you will die."
Ever wonder why He did that? Why He put a tree there He surely knew would tempt His Creation? Only He knows the answer to that, but perhaps it was to test our free will? He has, after all, given us the CHOICE to belong to Him, or not....
Anyway, it's food for thought. But we need to keep in mind that, because they CHOSE to disobey YHWH, they "lost their lives." You see, they were kicked out of the Garden after they had "tasted of good and evil" and they consequently lost their right to eat anymore from the Tree of Life - which resulted in the end of "eternal life" in Utopia. Thanks to YHWH's grace and mercy, He sent us His Son to be our Final SIN Sacrifice, which restored our access to eternal life....
Moving on to Chapter 3, we see Satan as a serpent, deceiving Eve by asking questions and making some troubling statements to cause doubt into her mind. Note that Satan addressed the woman and not the man - perhaps because he knew that Adam had received YHWH's initial Instructions directly from the Mouth of YHWH and was not about to stray from them...while the woman had received the instructions "passed down" from her mate and would be easier to sway and thus be instrumental in convincing Adam to "eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."
Be that as it may, Eve was successful in getting Adam to ignore YHWH's command to refrain from eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. Once they did, everything changed! Suddenly, the couple "knew" the difference between good and evil and they apparently also recognized the difference between the genders and, consequently, the need to "cover themselves"....
And thus began the first deliberate rebellion against YHWH, and the invention of the first "blame game" - the birth of the "excuse" and not being personally responsible one's own actions!
Genesis 3: 11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I ordered you not to eat?" 12 The man replied, "The woman you gave to be with me - she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate." 13 ADONAI, God, said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me, so I ate."
And so began man's downfall....
Note, up until Genesis 3:16, man and woman were completely equal, because YHWH said:
Genesis 3: 16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pain in childbirth. You will bring forth children in pain. Your desire will be toward your husband, but he will rule over you."
Now watch what all else YHWH did as He kicked them out of the Garden:
Genesis 3: 21 ADONAI, God, made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them (this was the first sin sacrifice). 22 ADONAI, God, said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, to prevent his putting out his hand and taking also from the tree of life, eating, and living forever -" 23 therefore ADONAI, God, sent him out of the garden of 'Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.
Note, He could have put Adam and Eve to death, but He didn't - which is evidence that the "Old Testament God" was showing mercy and grace!
Genesis 3: 24 So he drove the man out, and he placed at the east of the garden of 'Eden the k'ruvim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
NOTE: YHWH permanently removed access to eternal life - which was restored only after the death of Yeshua!
Backing up a bit, remember that YHWH had told man to be "fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28). In Genesis 3:20 we learn that Eve was "the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:21) - and she and Adam were apparently very prolific because by the time we get to Genesis 4 where Cain killed Abel, we see that they had already populated the earth as evidenced in Cain's strange statement:
Genesis 4: 13 Kayin said to ADONAI, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 You are banning me today from the land and from your presence. I will be a fugitive wandering the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." 15 ADONAI answered him, "Therefore, whoever kills Kayin will receive vengeance sevenfold," and ADONAI put a sign on Kayin, so that no one who found him would kill him.
Who is the "whoever" in the above statement? It HAS to be the brothers and sisters who came before him. Obviously, Moshe moved through the Genesis account very quickly, and he only mentioned those who were crucial to the Bible story....That's evidently where Cain got his wife, as well.
Moving on, in Genesis 3:21 we saw the first sin sacrifice as YHWH sheds the blood of an innocent animal and then uses its skin to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve. How awful it must have been for the duo to see an animal friend that they had named, put to death because of their sin! The next thing they knew, they were put out of the Garden, thus losing their cushy life forever. And, unfortunately, mankind has paid the price for their sin, ever since....
The subject of animal sacrifices leads us to Genesis 4:3-5, where we see Cain and Abel offering a sacrifice. (Whether it was a SIN sacrifice we can't say; however, it seems likely because this particular situation required a sin sacrifice, because verse 7 YHWH discusses sin.) Now, while we don't know exactly why YHWH rejected Cain's sacrifice, throughout the Torah (especially in Leviticus) we discover that only blood atones for sin. While Cain and Abel had obviously learned this truth somewhere, for some reason Cain decided to bring "produce from the soil." As you saw, YHWH obviously did not accept his offering, and Cain ultimately killed his brother in a fit of jealousy.
At this point it is important to note that neither Cain nor Abel nor their parents nor anyone else on earth at that time were "Jews". there were no Jews until after Jacob begat the Tribe of Yehudah (Genesis 29:35; Matthew 1:1-2). The Tanach ("Old Testament") shows that His Chosen were called Hebrews (Genesis 14:13). (See the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Tanach).
The Scriptures read in context reveal that EVERYONE, beginning with Cain and Abel, was Torah observant - which negates the Christian claim that they don't have to obey God's Divine Instructions! ANYONE who believes in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is to be Torah observant, and He even said so FOUR TIMES IN A ROW in Numbers 15:13-16! YHWH chose Abraham because He wanted to (Deut. 7:6-8) and He reiterated this in Jeremiah 31:32 by making His New Covenant with the Houses of Israel and Judah - both of whom were Torah observant....
Moving on, something powerful is revealed in this first parashah: YHWH tells Cain that he has the power to rule over sin!
Genesis 4: 6 ADONAI said to Kayin, "Why are you angry? Why so downcast? 7 If you are doing what is good, shouldn't you hold your head high? And if you don't do what is good, sin is crouching at the door - it wants you, but you can rule over it."
YHWH was reaching out to Cain, showing Him the need for holy living through obedience to His Torah, and yet Cain CHOSE to go with his sin nature when he ended up killing his own brother.
Notice after that, Cain "left the Presence of ADONAI and lived in the land of Nod (which means "wandering"), east of Eden (Genesis 4:16). In other words, Cain was fully abandoned and free to create a new generation of unbelievers - those who didn't know YHWH!
Isn't it great to know, however, that He is so full of grace and mercy that He allows us to RETURN to Him once our spiritual eyes have been opened? Halleluyah!
Immediately afterward (although many years had passed), we learn something about how the "sins of the father are passed down" (Ex. 20:5, Ex. 34:6-7, Deut. 5:9) when Cain's line produced a man named Lemech who "took two wives"; thus committing adultery and bragging about how he, too, had killed a man (Gen. 4:23-24). In other words, YHWH allowed sinful man to continue even in those days, and the descendants of Cain reproduced and moved right into the nations where they became godless heathens.
Notice in verse 25 that Adam again had sexual relations with his wife, and they named the boy Shet - who eventually had a son called Enosh, and "That is when people began to call on the name of YHWH!" (Genesis 4:26).
It is imperative to realize that Yeshua did NOT come through the line of Cain (remember, ultimately YHWH killed off the entire world and allowed only the righteous Noah to start humankind again)! Yeshua came straight through the line of Adam (Genesis 5) which bore Noah, who was chosen by YHWH to re-populate the world.
Notice in Genesis 5:24 we see the first "rapture" (if we want to call it that) when Enoch "walked with God and then he wasn't there because God took him." It doesn't say he DIED....Wouldn't it have been awesome to have been there to witness that event?
By the way, sinners did not get to continue into the post-Flood world! YHWH continued mankind through Noah who found favor in His eyes (Gen. 6:8). Unfortunately, sin eventually crept in again, and we'll see how that happened in future studies.
As you digest today's Torah study, please think about a mystery in Genesis 6: Who were the Nephilim? (Gen. 6:1-8) We invite you to check out this one possible explanation.
| 
