Genesis 4

Not going to lie, this chapter was kind of boring. It begins the long...so and so lived so many years and had so and so for a son and then died. The interesting part of this chapter is the Cain and Abel part. I never realized how vague the Bible actually was on what happened. Seems like all those preachers I've heard talking on the subject have elaborated and added their own words to it. 

First off, it never says what was wrong with Cain's offering. He worked the ground, he was a farmer. He brought God an offering of fruit. Abel was a shepherd. He brought God a dead lamb. So what, God doesn't like fruit? He only likes blood? Never went into detail. Just said that God looked on Cain's offering in displeasure. Cain gets understandably upset with this. I would too.  Not condoning the part where he kills his brother, but I understand why his feelings were hurt. And am I the only one who ever wonders exactly how Cain killed Abel? Does that make me weird that I think about that kind of stuff? The Bible just says that they go out into a field and Cain attacks and kills him. Then God punishes and drives Cain away, blah blah, and we get a family genealogy. I also didn't realize that Methuselah, the oldest guy ever, came from Cain's bloodline. Just never connected the two. I wonder what it would be like to live almost 1000 years. 

Conclusion: The Bible likes to be really vague when it comes to what should be it's historical parts. Reminds me of Beowulf or the Iliad. Also, I feel kind of sorry for Cain. 

Genesis 3

Otherwise known as the Big Whoops Chapter. This is the chapter where Adam and Eve choose to disobey God and eat from the tree of good and evil. I've read this chapter many times in parts and had this chapter preached at me as well. I have never seriously focused on what I was reading however. I didn't get until this time that there were TWO trees in the Garden of Eden. One was the tree they were not supposed to eat from. The Good and Evil tree. But God never told them not to eat from the Tree of Life, aka the Tree of Eternal Life/Immortality. After Adam and Eve were cast out, God put an angel with a flaming sword to guard this tree so that no one would ever find the tree of immortality. Which I concluded then was still on Earth somewhere, hidden from man's eyes. This must also be where humans have gotten the stories of the Fountain of Youth, and other eternal life stories...etc etc. I never thought about that before. God cast them out of the Garden so that they couldn't eat from the tree and live forever. So I wonder if being away from this tree is what caused Death to enter the world. Who knows...it's possible.

Also, this chapter kinda miffed me a bit. This is the chapter that misogynistic males try to use to insist that women are somehow the inferior sex. They blame the entrance of sin into the world on Eve, and thus on her female descendants. However, and I noted while reading that Adam was right stinking next to her as it happened. He did nothing. He didn't speak up or say that he thought it was a bad idea. Nope, he was worse than Eve. He was a sheep. Eve was deceived by the dude who invented lying, but Adam just went along with it. If anything, he was guiltier than Eve. They were both in the wrong to disobey God, but it really pisses me off when people try to lay the heavier blame on Eve. They were both equally guilty. It really doesn't matter who actually picked the fruit from the tree, they both ate it. Anyways, the woman got the worse deal afterwards. Increased pain in childbirth. Thanks....thanks a lot.

Conclusion: Adam and Eve shared equal responsibility in the introduction of Sin into the world. Also, there is a tree of immortality chilling somewhere in the Middle East....guarded by an angel with a fire sword. 

Genesis 2

What does it mean for God to rest? How does He rest? Is there a celestial LazyBoy up there that He just chilled on for a day? These are very ambiguous terms the Bible uses. And on the seventh day, God rested. What does that mean really? This is the chapter when God rests and then breathes life in Adam. He also makes Eve in this chapter.

 It is also interesting to note that the Bible mentions that at this time there was no such thing as rain. Water came up from the earth, not down from the sky. Also, this is the chapter where Adam was given the task to name all of the creatures that appeared before him. I would be in trouble. Not that creative here and there are millions of different species out there. Also, woman is introduced. Taken from Adam's rib while he is in a deep sleep. I like that God calls woman a helper and not a slave. Makes it equal. He did not set one above the other at all. Eve was Adam's equal and they were meant to help each other with the task God had given them.

Conclusion: God has the power to somehow rest, where and how is beyond me. Also, Adam and Eve are in the game now and the rules about the Tree of Knowledge have been laid down emphatically. Oooooo..foreshadowing. I love it. 

Genesis 1

This is obviously the beginning. The telling of how God made the world. I have read this over and over again during the course of my Sunday School years and now, upon closer inspection I saw things that I had never noticed before. They also raise some interesting questions. First, in 1:2, God is hovering over waters above a shapeless earth. So water already existed. And so did the rock like shape of the Earth. For some reason I have always thought everything just appeared out of thin air. I make a *poof* sound in my head when I picture this.

Also, this brings me to the question of life on other planets. WHICH we can never know if it exists or not. Perhaps God has done this before...with another planet. Wouldn't that be cool? Anyways, chapter 1 is all description of the 6 stages God went through creating the Earth and populating it with animals, fish, birds, and humans. He doesn't seem very detailed about the types of animals he is creating. Maybe he is thinking it all in his head. Also, I think I discovered that God meant for us to be vegetarians. In a perfect world, which this isn't. Therefore it is perfectly OK to eat meat. Thank God.

I am always touched when I get to 1:27 which is when God makes man in His own image. It just seems special, and I know it is, that God chose us, chose humans to represent his likeness. "So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Alright, I get it. God created man and woman.  One needs to think about that. His own image....as in God looks like us? Or the thought of God in a corporeal form is us? Those be confusing words. Thanks Moses.

Conclusion: Beginning Chappie is a bit repetitive, but God really didn't want anyone second guessing who created what. Which makes sense now as I think about evolution....  So God has a sense of humor. 

Slight Introduction

Well, this will be something new for me. Many of you have read my other blog, Pass the Kimchi, about my adventures and trials that come with being married to a Korean. With this blog, I really want to do something different. I was thinking today about religion, Mine specifically, and then others. I then realized that I have read more of the Koran than I had of the Bible. Shameful, really. I wondered to myself why this was. I have nothing against the Koran or Muslims. I respect them as I do any other religion. I find the Koran to be beautiful. So why have I never read all the way through the Bible? Can I really be a Christian if I have never studied my religious text in entirety? How dare I make absolute claims on anything spiritual. I came to realize that became I read the Koran as a piece of literature and thought of it as such, I was able to read through it without a second thought. The Bible on the other hand was only stories told to me in Sunday School and snippets read out of context in small groups.  Therefore! This blog was thought into existence. I am dedicating myself to read 1 chapter of the Bible a day and then write my reflections and thoughts about it on here. Anyone who has thumbed through a Bible before knows that this will take me a very long time. But I am resolved and I hope my readers keep me accountable. I will begin, naturally, at the beginning. The VERY BEGINNING. Genesis 1.