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God is Setting All Things Right. So I am Blogging Through the Bible in a Year.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

January 2 - Genesis 4-7: Sin Overtakes the World

Today’s Reading: Genesis 4-7

The Message

English Standard Version

Hint: When you reach the genealogy section, don’t pronounce the names in your head. That way you will read the important parts without feeling overwhelmed by the Hebrew names.

Thought to Guide Your Reading

See how each generation cares less and less for setting things right.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Adam and Eve give birth to two sons: Cain and Able. Both sacrifice to God. Cain’s was not approved, which angered him greatly. God warned him this anger would overtake him. Cain instead killed Able. As punishment, God required Cain to spend his days cursed from the earth. Adam and Eve had another son Seth who became like his father.
Year after year, each generation grew further and further away from God. Eventually they thought only of evil. So God chose the one man whose family followed Him and saved them from a flood which wiped out the entire world.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

God’s warning to Cain was to keep things right between Cain and his brother.

Even God’s warning to Cain was not focused on his actions. God did not tell Cain, “Don’t kill Able. That would be wrong." His answer is a warning—your anger will make sin (taking control from God) overcome you. Cain’s sin did not start at the murder. It started when he allowed his anger to control him.

Cain was protected by God even after murdering Able.

What is strange is that God protected Cain with a mark instead of leaving him out on his own. God did not want to punish Cain with death. Why would God do such a thing? Because God’s intentions are to make all things right, not exact punishment on all. God could make things right through sparing Cain.

Seth called on the name of the Lord.

This was much more than saying the word “Lord." If sin is taking control from God, calling on the name of the Lord means giving control to God. True conversion means giving control of all things to God.

God chose Noah because he was “a good man, a man of integrity in his community" (6:9, The Message).

I find this definition interesting. Not only was Noah understood to be good by God but a good man by his community also. What a great statement for anyone, especially someone who calls on the name of the Lord. We as followers of the Creator of the universe should naturally be people of integrity among our community.

What else did you see reading this passage? Questions? Comments? Leave a comment in the section below or on the Sonoma Mountain Parkway Church of Christ Facebook page.

3 comments:

  1. Interesting thought in Gen. 4:26 – After Seth is born is when they “began to call on the name of the Lord”. Some translations say this is when people began to pray or worship God. Seems to mean more of a “traditional prayer” type of attitude rather than a daily conversation. While this seems on the surface to be a good thing - people are worshiping God- perhaps not. Perhaps it marks a pulling away on the part of man - moving from a personal relationship to a more formal one? Or am I misreading it? I will have to think about this one for a while...

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  2. Sharla, I've never heard that interpretation before though it does sound plausable. I would caution against it because it sounds like a "churchy" interpretaiton. Churches teach people to call on the name of the Lord through the sacraments and prayer and to think outside that box is difficult.

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  3. Interesting thought... just for grins I did two concordance searches, one for "call upon the name of the Lord" and one for "call upon his name".

    100 percent (no exceptions) of every occurence of both of those phrases in both Old and New Testaments were positive references to looking toward God in faithful ways.

    So if Gen 4:26 means something else, it would be a unique and unlikely exception.

    FWIW..

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