#14: A New Beginning

Genesis 8:16-22

Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”

So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

          “As long as the earth endures,

         seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,

         summer and winter, day and night

         will never cease.”

Comments

After the destruction of the flood, the world was given a new beginning. God’s command that all living creatures “multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number” parallels much of the language of creation.

There was, however, one big difference: this new beginning had none of the innocence of the Garden of Eden. God was starting over with full recognition that “every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.”

Reflections

God’s promise to Noah was that “never again will I destroy all living creatures.” God did not, however, promise to prevent life on earth from being destroyed through nuclear war, pollution, biological weapons, global warming or something else of human origin. Do you think such things are preventable?

According to Genesis 6:9, Noah was righteous and blameless even though his heart, like all humans, was inclined to evil as described in Genesis 8:21. Do you ever try to excuse your actions by thinking, “I couldn’t help myself; I’m only human” when you’ve done wrong?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who blesses us with the possibility of a new beginning even though our hearts are inclined to evil from childhood.

#13: Sorrow and Regret

Genesis 6:5-8

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Comments

Just as thorns and thistles proliferated in the ground from which Adam was to raise his food, so did wickedness and evil flourish in the generations that followed Adam and Eve.

God’s reaction to this was not one of outrage, but of sorrow. The description of God’s heart as being “deeply troubled” should not be understood in the context of anger. The New Living Translation makes this clear by saying that the proliferation of evil in the world God had created “broke his heart.”

Like a surgeon choosing to remove a cancerous tumor before it destroyed everything, God determined to wipe out all life from the face of the earth. This could have simply been the end, but God chose instead to have a new beginning. This “do-over” would not involve a new creation and a second Garden of Eden, but the salvation of one man’s family and a representative sample of all the animals.

Reflections

God’s regret over having created the world implies that God had not known from the beginning how far human wickedness might go. This is an important passage for understanding the limits of God’s sovereignty and the extent of human free will. Do you find such an understanding of God to be comforting or disturbing?

God did not choose to remain distant and removed from creation, but rather to invest in it so greatly that its demise brought great sorrow. What in our world today is likely a source of similar grief and sorrow for God? Are there attitudes and behaviors in your own life that might do the same?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who loves us so deeply as to grieve the evil that exists among us and within us.

#12: The Wrath of Cain

Genesis 4:2-15

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

But the Lord said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

Comments

Genesis gives no indication why God was pleased with Abel’s offering, but not with Cain’s. The events that follow, however, certainly suggest that Cain’s offering might well not have been from the right motivation.

This story is another example of how God’s wrath and God’s tender mercy can both be expressed in the same event. Notice the objects of God’s concern:

•    Abel, the innocent victim
•    The ground, polluted by the shedding of innocent blood
•    Cain, the son who could not control his anger

By all rights, Cain’s life should have been forfeited for the murder of his brother. God, however, extended mercy, going so far as to place his protection on Cain in his cursed wanderings.

Reflection

To what extent do we seek justice for innocent victims? To what extent do we show mercy to those who are guilty? 

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who grieves the shedding of innocent blood and shows mercy even to those who have done something terrible.

#11: Tender Mercy

Genesis 3:6-7

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Comments

Genesis 3 goes on to tell us that, after eating the forbidden fruit, it was impossible for Adam and Eve to hide what they had done. God confronted them with their disobedience and each sought to place blame elsewhere: Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. Such pitiful excuses could not keep them from experiencing the consequences of what they had done:

• Eve would bear children, but only with great pain, and the intimacy she would want with her husband would not come easily either
• Adam would grow food, but only with great hardship as the ground itself would be cursed with thorns and thistles
• Both Adam and Eve would be banished from Eden, cast out into the wilderness

It would be easy to read this entire story as an example of God’s wrath poured out upon sinful humanity, but it is also possible to see God grieving the loss of human innocence and simply explaining the consequences of what they have done.

In any case, Genesis 3:21 shows the tender mercy of God in spite of all that Adam and Eve have done. Realizing that the fig leaves Adam and Eve had sewn together to cover themselves were entirely inadequate for the harsh world they were about to enter, “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”  This is hardly the act of an angry God!

Reflection

When you read the story of Adam and Eve, do you see an angry God who has been disobeyed or a grieving God who has been disappointed?

Have there been times in your life when, having made a bad choice, you experienced the tender mercy of God as things turned out better than you deserved?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who shows us tender mercy even in the midst of our foolish choices.

#10: Freedom

Genesis 2:15-17

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Comments

Of the many gifts that we have been given by being created in the image of God, surely none is greater than the gift of our freedom.

To be free means to be able to make choices, and that means we have a variety of options. We can choose what to eat, what to wear, where to work, who to marry and a multitude of other things.

This freedom to choose also means we have the ability to consider these many options, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each. We can anticipate the outcome of our choices, remembering the past and imagining the future.

The alternative to such freedom would be something like the androids in the Terminator movies. They had been programmed with a single objective: kill John Connor. They had freedom to choose how and when this would be done, but they were unable to follow any path that did not bring them closer to their objective.

God created us to love and obey him, but did not program us in such a way that we would have no other choice. How sad that we so rarely choose to use our freedom to do the very thing we were created to do.

Reflections

You have had a lifetime of making choices. What are some of the best and worst ones you have made?

How well have you considered the consequences of your actions before making these choices? Who or what influenced you most as you were choosing?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who gives us freedom to choose whether or not to love and obey you.

#9: A Day of Rest

Genesis 2:1-3

 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Comments

It is hard to imagine that God was so exhausted from the act of creation that it was necessary to take a day off. In fact, Genesis says nothing about that; it simply says God rested from his work and blessed the day by doing so.

Each day of creation ended with a summary: “and God saw that it was good.” The sixth day’s summary went a bit further: “and God saw that it was very good.” Finally, the seventh day allowed time for God to consider and appreciate all that had been done in creation.

The pattern for humans was a bit different. Created on the sixth day, we were given the job of taking care of the created world. Then we were given a day off to get ready for our new responsibilities. What an example of God’s love and care!

Reflections

Have you ever had a boss who told you to be sure to take time off in order to avoid burnout? Do you tend to work harder for bosses who treat you well than for those who are demanding and inconsiderate?

The Sabbath was given to prepare for work, not to recover from it. Do you find yourself in a pattern of working until you are exhausted and never quite catching up? Do you need to discover a new rhythm for your life?

The Sabbath was also to be a day of sacred assembly as God’s people gathered together to remember and celebrate what God had done. Do you express your love for God by including such awareness and thanksgiving within your weekly schedule?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who gives us every week a day to rest and remember.

#8: Vegetarians

Genesis 1:28-31

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Comments

The Hebrew words translated as “subdue” and “rule over” are not nearly as dominant as most translations suggest. One version of the Bible, The Message, translates these words as “take charge” and “be responsible for.” I think that captures the intent a bit better.

Perhaps what is most notable about this passage from Genesis is that it describes a world in which humans and all other creatures were vegetarians, and concludes by saying that such a world was very good.

Science pictures a very different world with “nature red in tooth and claw,” a world in which only the strong survive by killing (and often eating) the weaker.

The worldview of science is essentially competitive: in order for someone to win, someone else has to lose. Within such a world, fear is the norm.

The worldview of faith is essentially complementarian: if we care for one another, we all come out ahead in the end. Within such a world, love is the norm.

Science may offer a better description of our world as it is, but faith offers a picture of the world as God wants it to be in the “already but not yet” of God’s kingdom.

Reflections

How competitive are you? Must you win at everything you do and at all costs? How well do you treat those against whom you compete?

There is no better way to express your love for God than to care for those who are weaker rather than seeking to dominate them. What could you do today to love God in this way?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who created a world in which peace would be a way of life.

Lesson 7: A World Alive

Genesis 1:20-25

 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Comments

The variety of living things on earth is astounding. It is not easy, of course, to get an exact count when the numbers are so large, but here are the best estimates:

·        About 28,000 different fish in the sea

·        About 10,000 different birds in the air

·        About 5,000 different animals on land

Although these numbers are large, they are dwarfed by the diversity of insects, 900,000 of which have been identified.

Science has an explanation for how this great diversity has come about, but not much to say about why we are so fascinated by it. Consider some examples:

·        We snorkel, scuba dive and have aquariums filled with fish to marvel at their diversity and color

·        We go birding to identify different types of birds and to stand in awe at the brilliant colors and variety of body types

·        We build zoos to satisfy our fascination with exotic animals

Perhaps nothing expresses our fascination more, though, than the animals we adopt as pets. Perhaps the best way to understand all of this is simply to see these creatures as a gift from God.

Reflections

It is estimated that the population of large ocean fish has been reduced 90% by commercial fishing. In the last 200 years, at least 13 birds or animals have been hunted to extinction for sport or for commercial purposes. Many other fish, birds and animals are at risk because of pollution.

What efforts do you support that show respect for God’s creatures?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has populated our world with an abundance of such interesting and beautiful creatures. 

Lesson 6: Seasons

Genesis 1:14-18

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Comments

The development of powerful telescopes has allowed us a view of the universe unimagined in ancient times. Science has shown us a universe in constant motion; not only are planets in orbit around the sun, but all galaxies continue to expand.

The immensity of the universe, with “billions and billions of stars” as Carl Sagan so famously said, has led many to conclude that earth and its religions are entirely insignificant.

The problem with those who reach such a conclusion is that their understanding of God has not grown with their understanding of the universe. This is not surprising given how many of them were told growing up that they would have to choose between science and the Bible.

Faith’s perspective is captured in a famous hymn:

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds thy hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee:

How great thou art! How great thou art!

Reflections

Have your faith and understanding of God grown over the years as you have learned more and experienced more of life?

Genesis says God has established “seasons and days and years.” C. S. Lewis in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe wrote of an evil world in which it was “always winter, but never Christmas.”  Do you have a favorite season of the year? Do you find something for which to be thankful in every season?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who gives us seasons and days and years of life.

Lesson 5: From the Ground

Genesis 1:11-12

 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Comments

Science tells us that every living thing on earth evolved due to a process of mutation and natural selection. Change occurs constantly and randomly, with some changes increasing the likelihood that an organism will thrive and multiply.

Large portions of the earth have fertile soil and adequate amounts of rain and sunlight that make it possible for plants to grow. The result is an abundance of vegetation capable of supporting life.

None of this explains, of course, why the fruit of some trees is so delicious or why flowers are so exquisitely beautiful.

Science says all of this is a fortunate coincidence; faith says we are blessed by a loving God.

Reflections

What are your favorite fruits and vegetables? What spices and seasonings add something special to the food you eat? How might you give thanks to God for the wonder of so many good things that come from the ground?

What are your favorite flowers? Do you find it remarkable that fruit trees are so beautiful when they blossom in the spring, and other trees stunning as their leaves change color in the fall? How might you give thanks to God for the beauty that can be found in the world we have been given?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has blessed us richly with goodness and beauty.

Trees

by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

 

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

 

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

 

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

 

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

 

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

Lesson 4: Water

Genesis 1:9-10

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Comments

Science tells us there is life on earth only because there is an abundance of water here due entirely to a most fortunate set of circumstances:

•         The earth, as it formed four billion years ago, had to cool sufficiently over time in order for water to exist in liquid form

•         Earth’s axis had to be tilted and stable in order for earth to develop moderate temperatures, a condition that existed only because of the presence of earth’s moon

•        Earth’s moon was formed in a collision with earth that, had the point of impact had been slightly different, would have destroyed both

•         Following the formation of the earth and its sufficient cooling, water came to earth from collisions with ice-bearing comets or asteroids

•         The comets and/or asteroids had to be large enough and numerous enough to provide large amounts of water without being so large as to shift earth’s axis upon impact or destroy earth altogether

Faith tells us this “fortunate set of circumstances” was not a series of random events, but evidence of God at work within the forces of nature. The land and seas that resulted were truly something good.

Reflections

How do you react when you consider the abundance of water God has provided for us on earth today and the life that it makes possible?

We have the opportunity to conserve water where it is in short supply, clean up sources of pollution, and provide access to clean water for those who have none. Do any of these strike you as something you might want to do as an expression of your love for God? What first step could you take to do this?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has provided us with water that we might have life.

Lesson 3: In the Dark

Genesis 1:1-3

 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Comments

Science has concluded that the universe began about 14 billion years ago. Before that moment, neither time nor space, neither energy nor matter existed. In an instantaneous burst of energy, the universe went from being almost infinitely small and utterly dark to being almost infinitely large with countless points of light.

This explanation of the origin of the universe is popularly called the Big Bang Theory. Though the whole idea sounds rather elegantly impossible, it nonetheless makes sense of data showing that the universe continues to expand in every direction.

Science speaks of “the Big Bang” as a singularity: a non-repeatable, non-observable, inexplicable event. Faith speaks of it as the moment of creation. Both stand in awe.

Reflections

Genesis says that in the beginning, the world was nothing but utter darkness and chaos. Still today, life can be that way. On a large scale, we face war, tyranny, poverty, greed, human trafficking and terrorist acts that plunge us into darkness. At a personal level, we deal with grief, loss, failure, betrayal, abuse, violence and other events that stagger us. What have been the greatest times of darkness and chaos in your own life?

Genesis also says that the Spirit of God was there in the darkness and chaos, hovering over it all. Have you been able to sense the presence of God in your own times of darkness? If not, can you look back on those times now and see how God was with you?

Genesis says that light came into an utterly dark world at God’s command. In what ways has God brought light into your own darkness? Was it something that happened in an instant or over a long period of time?

For further reflection on themes of light and darkness, read the first chapter of the gospel of John.

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hovers over us in darkness and brings light into our lives.

Lesson 2: In the Beginning

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Comments

In its description of how the world began, Genesis speaks in the language of faith, not science. In the early 1600s (about the same time as the King James Version of the Bible was being published), Galileo was imprisoned for teaching that the earth revolved around the sun in contradiction to what the Bible taught. The church could have avoided this conflict if it had been willing to recognize that all truth is God’s truth.

Science seeks to understand how life came to be; faith seeks to understand why life came to be. Faith without science leads to rigid dogma that places a straitjacket on the pursuit of knowledge. Science without faith is equally problematic in that it leads to life without purpose, a random existence that lacks any ultimate sense of right and wrong.

In addition to speaking in the language of faith, Genesis also speaks in the language of mystery. It does not answer every question; it makes no comment on what existed before God. What it affirms, though, is essential: God was there in the beginning; everything has its source in God.

Reflections

Have you ever felt forced to choose between faith and science? If so, was it someone from church or someone from school that pressured you to choose? How did you respond?

How comfortable are you with unanswered questions about God? Do you feel more drawn to religious leaders who give clear answers or to those who allow honest questions?

Has there ever been a time in your life when you doubted the existence of God? What was that like? What ultimately brought you to faith?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe who was and is and ever will be.

Lesson 1: Love God

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Comments

These words are the beginning of the Shema Yisrael, the Jewish recitation of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41 every morning and evening.

More than anything else, God desires our love, a love that involves all our heart, soul and strength. Such love can never find expression in the grudging obedience and legalism that arise from obligation and fear. Nor can such love have its origin within us; our love for God comes in response to what God has said and done for us or for others.

Many identify the death of Jesus as the greatest example of God’s love for us, and the greatest source of our love for God. There is nothing wrong with this, except that it ignores the fact that the command to love God had been given more than 1,000 years earlier.

The focus of this study will be on what God has said and done in the Torah, the first five books of our Bible and the holiest part of the Hebrew Scriptures, that gives rise to our love for God. It is hoped that such an approach will dispel the common idea that the God of the Old Testament is one of wrath while the God of the New Testament is one of love.

Reflections

The ancient Hebrew concept of “heart” included intellect as well as emotions. We tend to separate these and depend on one more than the other. Are your decisions guided more by thoughts or feelings? Does your love for God favor one of these over the other? What might it look like for you to love God with all your heart in this Hebrew understanding?

The ancient Hebrew concept of “soul” contained all that makes us who we are. (The tri-partite concept of “body, soul and spirit” was Greek, not Hebrew.) To love God with all your soul means that love for God becomes an essential part of your identity. Do you tend to be a different person at church than at work or school? What might it look like for you to love God with all your soul in this Hebrew understanding?

The ancient Hebrew concept of “might” included all the resources at our disposal: personal, social, professional, financial and everything else. What might it look like for you to love God with all your might in this Hebrew understanding?

Prayer

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who calls us to love you with all that we are.