Unbrotherly love

Genesis 4: 1-2: "Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, 'With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.' Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil."

Day 2 of the bible journey took us through Genesis 4-7, the stories of Cain and Abel and also Noah. (I'll discuss Noah in another post). Again it's another story I know full well from my childhood only... as an adult I see it a little differently. Cain and Abel were brothers and each had a different field of expertise. Cain was a farmer of sorts, working the soil as his day to day. Abel worked with the sheep and tended to their needs. They each brought an offering to the Lord but the Lord was more pleased with Abel since Abel brought of the fattest from the firstborn of his flock and Cain just gathered some fruit. Cain, in his jealousy, kills his brother. (Sibling rivalry on steroids).

I found an interesting verse in 4:9.  "Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?' 'I don't know,' he replied. 'Am I my brother's keeper?” Like...WOOOO Cain. Slow down. Why so snappy?! Got something to hide? Here we can see Cain deflecting the situation; a defense mechanism man uses to protect himself from his shame. Cain doesn't immediately answer God's question, he instead poses another, almost expecting God to back off the situation simply because Cain decided he wasn't ready to talk. Another interesting point: Although God knew that Cain had murdered Abel, he still asked him "where is your brother?" Why would God ask a question he already knew the answer to? To see what we would say? To see if we would be honest with him and come clean? Cain didn't lie to God about what he had done nor did he try to excuse himself. He only asked God for his mercy since he knew his punishment was great and once it was public knowledge that he had killed his brother, whomever found him would kill him. God granted his request for mercy. He marked Cain so that if anyone should hurt him he would be cursed seven times over. 

The bible proceeds with a chapter of genealogy. But one of Cain's descendants, Lamech, merits a bit of discussion. In 4:23-24 Lamech explains to his wives that he had killed a man for wounding him and continued to say "If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” I'm sorry Lamech but who do you think you are? Personally, I don't think God would have honored Lamech's curse to others. 

What do you think?  Do you see yourself deflecting situations in your life in order not to come clean with God or yourself?

God's creative genius

Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Ever look at a sunset and marvel at the beauty of the scene forming before you? I onced expressed to my husband as we watched the sunset on the beach a few years ago:

"God must be a masterful painter. Look at the sky...it's like a painting."

And it almost was. It looked like something straight from the Louvre that could've easily been located near the Mona Lisa or the Venus de Milo.

On Day 1 of the reading plan, we read Genesis 1-3. Going through the creation story and remembering the days of my childhood where Raquel would teach us in bible study. Surely we must all have this story memorized by now. God created the sky, the moon, the stars. God created the earth and all that inhabits it...wildlife, vegetation and humans. All the time he saw that everything he made was good. And surely it is. How could I possibly live a day where this is no sun? Or a day where the cool wind doesn't blow through my hair? God is the ultimate creator and his creative genius surpassed anything the world could possibly fathom.

One thing stood out this time though. (1) The blame game has been played since the original humans were created. How interesting that Adam and Eve's first instincts when God approached them about their sin was to blame the other. Neither found blame in themselves and both were quick to throw the blame to another. The man blamed the woman "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.", the woman blamed the serpent "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." ...Yet neither thought to assume blame for their own actions. Man's nature to save his own skin dates back to the creation. I also like Adam's choice of words when he attempted to excuse his actions before God "The woman you put here with me". It was almost like he was telling God...this is your fault too.

What do you think? Is there anything about the creation story that stood out for you? Something you learned that you didn't know before?

Introduction

The English Dictionary defines the word "Outspoken" as being frank in stating one's opinions, esp. if they are critical or controversial. And so this I intend to do...to be free and unreserved in my speech and my writing and find in it a liberating spirit through which God can speak to and through me.

My intentions are to attempt to understand God, his word, his mysteries and attempt to guard them in my heart, soul and spirit and learn from them.

I have begun a year long reading plan of the Bible this week, "The Bible in Chronological Order". It began with Genesis ofcourse and has jumped to Job. My vision for this blog is to record my thoughts and views on what I think God is trying to say in his word and how I understand the message behind it. I'm enthusiastic as to the direction the blog may take but my only hope is that I gain a deeper understanding of God and learn more about myself in the process.