Category: Genesis

Gen 9:20-21 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.
This morning finds me still struggling to fit the drunken, naked Noah into the childhood image of the faithful man who risked appearing foolish to the world in order to follow God’s directive to build an ark. This new image of Noah, like the new image of Cain earlier in Genesis, just doesn’t fit my religious paradigm, so I struggle with what to do with the new, how to reconcile it.
Gen 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.
Perhaps God is reinforcing the fact that there will be only one perfect person—Jesus. Everyone else will fall short. But, like He did with Noah, God can use imperfect people in powerful ways. And like He did with Cain, God offers hope to even “the worst” (and we all have our own ideas of who qualifies as the worst), if they “do what is right” in His eyes: put Him first. I think we learn a powerful lesson here, too, about how to treat those whose humanity is showing. Commentary suggests that Ham and potentially Canaan were rude and mocking to Noah, while Shem and Japheth worked to protect Noah’s dignity in whatever small way they could. There are many lessons to be learned here, I think.
Gen 9:23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body.
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for the richness of Your word. Thank You for these insights You are revealing to me, insights that are breaking pre-established paradigms but that are also allowing me to see humanity, fallibility, and worthiness in myself and in all people. Draw me closer, Lord, as I continue through Your word. Open my eyes and my heart to Your truth. Amen.
Gen 9:28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years.
Have a blessed day.

Gen 7:4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”
Oh the questions I would have. “Are You SURE there isn’t another way?” “We’ve been in this boat for days and it’s not even raining yet. Did I misunderstand God’s instruction?” “How are we going to survive with the stench of all these animals and no company but each other? Won’t we grow tired and begin squabbling?” 
Gen 7:5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.
But there is really no dialogue between God and Noah in these chapters. God commands, and Noah obeys. Even in the face of what seems to human reasoning like absolutely ridiculous instructions, God commands, and Noah obeys. Lord, Help me to have that kind of faith.
Gen 7:16 …Then the LORD shut him in.
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for this insight. Thank You for the example of Noah’s faith and obedience. Thank You that YOU shut the door—You didn’t leave it up to Noah to decide who made it in the boat. You don’t leave it up to me to decide who is redeemable. You are sovereign. You ask me to listen and obey. Give me strength to do so. Draw me closer. Amen.
Gen 7:24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.
Have a blessed day.

Gen 6:6 The LORD regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled.
I am having a difficult time articulating my thoughts about this verse. It’s hard not to take it personally, hard to reconcile my fiercely loving, deeply compassionate God with this God who regrets making human beings. One commentary, which helps me somewhat, talks about how, even though He knew humans would act this way, God was deeply affected by human sin. 
Gen 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
And yet, even in the face of such wickedness and corruption, He still finds one who is faithful. Interestingly, He doesn’t put Noah on a pedestal in the eyes of the world, telling mankind to “Be like Noah.” He asks him to do something rather crazy—build a boat. Cover it with pitch. Put two of every kind of animal inside, and be saved. The same commentary mentioned that Noah’s ministry lasted 120 years, though he converted no one. And yet, God used him in a mighty way, and Noah remained faithful.
Gen 6:22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. (NKJV)
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for this illuminating look at Your word. Thank You for giving me eyes and a heart to see things I’ve never noticed before. Help me to respond to You like Noah, Lord, obeying without question, no matter how crazy it seems in the world’s eyes. Draw me closer. Help me to shine Your light. Amen.
Gen 6:22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him. (NIV)
Have a blessed day. I love you.

As I am reading Genesis, I am also reading commentary from enduringword.com. It has been incredibly enlightening about things I don’t know or understand about the text.

Gen 5:1 This is the written account of Adam’s family line.
I’m pretty sure Gen 5 is where my resolve to read through the Bible usually breaks down. I’m not a genealogy buff. All the begetting gets terribly confusing pretty quickly. At first glance, my most solid takeaway is that this chapter is where the expression “Old as Methuselah” comes from. He lived a total of 969 years, according to Gen 5.
Gen 5:5 …and then he died.
“…and then he died” is repeated eight times in this chapter, so often that it is easy to overlook the significance, but Gen 5:24 stands out sharply in contrast because of the that repetition. Enoch, who walked faithfully with God, did not die. “God took him away.” What a lovely thought, walking faithfully with God. It puts me in mind of the Ram Dass quote I like so much: “We are all just walking each other home.” God’s walking with us, too. Are we being faithful in our walk?
Gen 5:24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more because God took him away.
Lord, Thank You for this day, this scripture, this new look at verses I’ve read since youth. Thank You for faithfully walking us home, Lord, for loving us so much that You anticipate our time together. Help me to value and prioritize my time with You. Always. Draw me closer. Amen.
Gen 5:27 Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.
Have a blessed day. 

Gen 4:3-4 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….
I have never really taken time to slow down and look at the specifics of this verse. The English teacher in me is a bit chagrined that it took reading commentaries on this verse to pick up the subtle nuances. God did not favor Abel because He liked Abel better. He favored Abel because Abel’s sacrifice was a pure desire from the heart to please God by offering his best—fat portions from the firstborn. Cain’s offering came from his excess—some of the fruits of the soil, not the best. Cain was just going through the motions.
Gen 4:7 “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.”
Commentaries suggest the perhaps other brothers were aligning themselves to Abel instead of Cain, the firstborn, and that that is what “being accepted” refers to. Regardless, I think “doing what is right” refers to getting his heart right, putting God first, offering Him first fruits. God is saying, “Put Me first and everything else will fall into place. You will no longer have to fight to feel accepted. But you must do what is right. Put Me first in your life and your heart.”
Gen 4:8 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.
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for the ability to read Your word through new eyes, seeing new insights. Thank You for not condemning Cain instantly because he was pandering to You with his sacrifice. Your response was not damnation but rather conversation. “If you do what is right…” You gave him a choice and a chance, just as You do for us today. You love us and want us to turn to You, to love You, to put You first, knowing that if we do, everything will fall into place for us. But You don’t force us. You let us choose You. Help me, Lord, every moment of every day to put You first in my life. Draw me closer. Amen.
Gen 4:10 The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.”
Have a blessed day.

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
As I was reading commentary on Gen 4 this morning, I was caught off guard when I read “It is likely Eve thought Cain was the seed that God promised, the deliverer who would come from Eve (Gen 3:15).” I totally missed the promise of a Savior in that verse. And the name Cain is so synonymous with evil and murder that my head is spinning just a bit.
Gen 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”
I have held a newborn in my arms, heart swelling with pride and promise of all the child might become, yet I have never thought of the Cain who cold-bloodedly killed his brother as a newborn full of untapped potential. And it has never occurred to me that Eve might have held said newborn in her arms thinking, mistakenly, that she was holding the Savior of the world. Did that thought, that hope, translate into how she raised him? Did she show Cain, intentionally or otherwise, favor as he grew? Did she somehow pass on to him an air of entitlement that later translated into pride, arrogance, and anger when God accepted Able’s sacrifice and not Cain’s? 
Gen 4:4-5 …The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for this new layer of understanding, these new questions and thoughts. I’m not sure what to do with these pieces, Lord. They don’t fit into my religious paradigm, but I know You have placed them before me for a purpose. Help me to sit with this information, to ponder the implications, to lift all of it up to You in prayer and praise. I want to know You better, Lord. I want to praise You fully. Draw me closer. Amen.
Gen 4:5b …So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Have a blessed day.

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent…said to the woman, “Did God really say…?”
One verse earlier, Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed in the Garden. And just like that, the serpent introduced temptation. But the serpent is wily, just like temptation. He doesn’t try to convince Eve that she should eat the fruit. He just introduces doubt. “Did God REALLY say….” That doubt took hold and led to disastrous consequences. All the snake did was ask a very pointed question and step back to watch.
Gen 3:11-13 …”Who told you that you were naked?…” …”The woman You put here with me—she gave me some fruit….” … “The serpent deceived me….”
We all make bad choices in life, some more frequently than others. One thing that I know at this point in my life is that when I make bad choices, I need to take responsibility for those decisions instead of deflecting blame. No one in the Garden wanted to do that. Adam deferred blame to Eve. Eve pushed the blame onto the serpent. I’m sure the serpent would innocently claim all he did was ask a question. And yet, together, they brought about consequences for all mankind.
Gen 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Lord, Thank You for this day, this scripture, this reminder. Thank You that even when we are disobedient, Your loving care is still present. It boggles my mind that after You are directly disobeyed, after no one will take responsibility for their poor choices, after You have to clean up the mess that You had safeguards to avoid, after all of that, You still love and care for Your children so much that You make them garments to cover their nakedness. Thank You for Your fierce love and tender care, Lord. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Draw us closer. Amen.
Gen 3:19 …for dust you are and to dust you shall return.”
Have a blessed day.