Day 2 of the Bible Reading….

We are now moving onto Day 2 of the Bible Study that I am following… this takes us from Genesis 4:1 through Genesis 7:24

Genesis 4 — I would have liked to have seen there be some more information on what made Cain think that the Lord did not respect his offering? It does not mention the reason. It almost appears that Cain just “felt” that way because it goes on to say that the Lord asked Cain why he was so angry and why he was disappointed with the offering. I also wonder why they are talking to the the Lord and not to Adam? Is the Lord their father or Adam at this time? It shows that the Lord cared for Cain because even though he sent him off to fend for himself because he killed Able, he also ensured that no one would kill him. I am not sure that was a blessing or a curse. At this time we start to learn a little more about the genealogy of these first families:

Adam married Eve and had Cain and Abel. Eve then also has another son named Seth. Seth has Enosh.

Cain married and had Enoch.

Enoch had Irad.

Irad had Mehujael. Mehujael had Methushael.

Methushael had Lamech.

Lamech had two wives (Adah and Zillah) — not sure why that was ok. Adah had Jabal and Jubal. Zillah had Tubal-Cain and Naamah. The next part seems to come out of nowhere. Lamech says that he had killed a man and that he wanted his wives to know that if someone kills him for doing that they would be punished worse than if someone had killed Cain.

At the end of this chapter is states that men then began “to call on the name of the Lord”. There does not appears to be any specific event or reason for this statement. Does this mean that is when people started to pray to the Lord? Is that when people started calling the Lord by name?

Genesis 5 — This chapter focuses on the genealogy of Adam…

Adam lived 930 years — he was 130 when he had his son Seth and then lived another 800 years… now that is not even realistic if in fact we are talking about a human being. This is not God. This is a human and they lived to be 930 years old. That just does not seem possible to me.

Seth lived 912 years — he was 105 when he had his son Enosh and then lived another 807 years…. again unrealistic.

Enosh lived 905 years — he was 90 when he had his son Cainan and then lived another 815 years….you know what I am going to say

Cainan lived 910 years- he was 70 when he had his son Mahalalel and then lived another 840 years…still going strong

Mahalalel lived 895 years- he was 65 when he had his son Jared and then lived another 830 years… and going

Jared lived 962 years — he was 162 when he has his son Enoch and then lived another 800 years… and going

Enoch lived 365 years- he was 65 when he had his son Methuselah and then lived another 300 years. This is the first time that it mentions that someone walked with God and that God took someone. You would think that maybe this would be were a more realistic age would come into play — but….

Methuselah lived 969 years — he was 187 when he had his son Lamech and then lived another 782 years….not so much

Lamech lived 777 years — he was 182 when he had his son Noah and then lived another 595 years. Of all of the children that had been born to date this is the first mention of a child being born who will be special. It says that Noah will “comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed”. Another very long life.

Noah was 500 years old when he had Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Genesis 6 — in this chapter the topic of age seems to be addressed. Although all of the people above lived extremely lengthy lives, God decided that man should now only live to be 120 years. Still a very high age considering the average today that includes all of the modern advancements.

Then the story takes an odd turn now all of a sudden talking about giants on earth. I find it odd that God never mentioned these creations when he was creating Earth and talking about all of the things he created… birds, cattle, sea creatures, etc.

It then goes on to talk about the wickedness of man although there are no real examples of the wickedness provided. It says that the earth was filled with corruption and violence. The only thought I have is that it talks about sons of God coming in to the daughters of men and the women having children…maybe out of wedlock or forcibly? I find it odd that God would want to destroy everything that was made even the animals for what the man was doing wrong. Kind of an all or nothing approach.

It seems that somehow Noah was on God’s good side.. again no examples provided, just that Noah walked with God and was a just man. God told Noah that he was going to destroy everything that had been created and directed him to build an Ark. The ark that Noah was directed to build was really large — about 1/2 the size of an average cruise ship today. Which back then with no Home Depot to get already cut lumber and no power tools was an enormous task especially that I believe Noah had 7 days to build this ark. Now I do find it interesting that God told Noah to bring his family and 2 of every living creature so that they could live on. What made God think that the new set of living creatures was going to be any better the set that he was about to destroy?

Genesis 7 — This chapter focuses on the loading up of the ark and the rain that started and continued for 40 days and nights. I can’t help but think of how bad that ark was. According to the story although it rained for 40 days and nights the water covered earth for 150 days. All of these animals are living on this ark along with 8 people for 150 days! I am assuming that the ark was very tight because God created a TON of animals and the ark (although big) was still only 1/2 the size of an average cruise ship today. The story does not say where the ark was built but it would interesting to know where it was built and how far it traveled over those 150 days since basically earth became one giant lake or ocean. Literally nothing in its way — if you looked out of the window all you would see ever was water.

I always like to include any words that I needed look up:

Countenance — there are three meanings 1) a person’s face or facial expression 2) support 3) admit as acceptable or possible. My thoughts are based on the context the story is referencing support. It says that Cain was very angry and his countenance fell… I think it means his support fell.

Vagabond — a person who wanders from place to place without a home or job. So when God sent Cain away he had no place to call home so he would be vagabond.

Pitch — black glue-like substance left behind when coal tar is heated or distilled. My guess is this is what made the ark waterproof? Odd that there is no mention of coal to date. I believe coal was used to generate heat, but my additional research indicates that coal was first used in 1679 — clearly WAY after this time. My guess is that maybe the “pitch” that was used was a by-product of some other naturally available plant or tree.

cubits — an ancient measure of length, approximately equal to the length of a forearm. It was typically about 18 inches. That is how I determined the ark was about 1/2 the size of a cruise ship… I looked up and the average cruise ship is 1000 feet long and 300 cubits is about 510 feet.

covenant — an agreement — when God tells Noah that he will establish a covenant with him it is in reference to Noah ultimately going on the ark to be saved from the flood.

I also like to evaluate several passages that just don’t make sense when read as is….

Genesis 4:4 — “Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat” — based on what I have researched this fat portion is considered the best part of the lamb so there is significance of the firstborn and the fat portion.

Genesis 4:7 — “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” — it appears that God is telling Cain that is is ok for the rejection and that he should take the rejection in stride, but if he can’t take the rejection and he gets angry at the rejection then he is going against what God wants and that is not good.

Genesis — 4:15 — “And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold” — this appears to be a figure of speech or an emphasis on just how important it was for people to know that they were not allowed to kill Cain. Additional research shows that it basically emphasized three things 1) it helps Cain know who was really in charge 2) it reiterated that the punishment was banishment and not death 3) it ensured that everyone knew that punishment would certainly follow whoever may choose to kill Cain.

Genesis — 6:4 — “There were giants on earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the might men who were of old, men of renown”. I could not find a lot of information here… there are a couple of theories that men of God had children with the daughters of God and they created these giants who were most powerful. I also saw information around these giants forcing themselves on the daughters of God and creating very powerful beings. Either way, it is confusing that this is even here as they are not talked about being created in the beginning but it does appear that these giants are one of the reasons that God wants to destroy all things.

Genesis 7:2 — “You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female.” This is another passage that seems odd because we have not addressed what a clean versus unclean animal is. Based on my research, a clean animal has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud. An unclean animal is any animal that does not have both a split hoof and chews cud. Examples would be camel, rabbit and pig.

Lots was covered in this reading. We learned about the genealogy of Adam and his decedents, we learned that man was a disappointment to God very early on. We learned that man in inherently jealous and greedy. We also learned that God was not, at least initially, very patient. Based on my very rough math it was about 1000 years after creation that God decided he wanted to get rid of everything and start over. I guess we should be lucky that Noah was on God’s good side because without him… from what I gather there would be nothing.