Tag: sin

Cool of the Day

Posted on by jovial_cynic
What is the “cool of the day?” Is it a time of day? An event that occurs within the day?

The word here is “ruah,” which is the same word that describes the Spirit of God. It’s the breath that brought life into humanity. It’s a wind, as though it happened during the windy time of day.

It’s fascinating.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:8 (NIV)

But the rabbis point to a different strangeness in the verse: In what way did the man and his wife hear the sound of God walking? What does that sound like?

Because You Did This

Posted on by jovial_cynic
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.

Genesis 3:14 (NIV)

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.

Genesis 3:17 (NIV)

God doesn’t say this to the woman. Unlike with the Serpent and with Adam, God does not appear to assign blame to her.

Returning to the Ground

Posted on by jovial_cynic
God tells Adam: “cursed is the ground because of you,” and this word “ground” is the same place that Adam came from. It’s the same word that Adam came from.

And then God tells Adam that he will RETURN to the ground.

This “return” is also repentance. Dying… to self.

to return, turn back
to turn back (to God), repent
H7725: שׁוּב

By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.
Genesis 3:19 (NIV)

Pure Religion

Posted on by jovial_cynic
If you understand that the correct way to love God is to love your neighbor, you’ll understand that “sinning greatly against the LORD” means to sin greatly against your neighbor.

Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked sinners against the Lord.
Genesis 13:13 (NASB)

NOW THE MEN OF SODOM WERE WICKED. To their fellow man. This is stated in Ezekiel, viz., neither did she (Sodom) strengthen the hand of the poor and needy (Ezek. 16:49).
Ibn Ezra, Genesis 13:13:1

The Sons of Canaan are Everywhere

Posted on by jovial_cynic
In the previous chapter, we were told that the Canaanites were in the land. This time, it’s the Canaanites AND the Perizzites.

For historical context: the Canaanites lived in cities. “Perizzites” refers to rural villagers, who did not live in cities.

Perhaps the Canaanites represent the sin in our hearts, and this tells us that this sin doesn’t merely present itself in the obvious big ways, but also in the small ways. The less obvious ways.

And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
Genesis 13:7 (NKJV)

It was Bad First

Posted on by jovial_cynic
Our Christian theological “big picture” says God made a GOOD world, but we sinned and now God/we must fix it.

But the pattern of Genesis 1 actually says something different:

It was dark, but God made it light.
First Evening, and then Morning.
The land was barren, but then plants emerged.

Genesis is giving us a story about the human condition, and it’s giving us a message of hope: God will bring us through it.

Hope for the Hopeless

Posted on by jovial_cynic
A story of hope makes sense only to those who first know the story of hopelessness.

“I will fix this” is a message for those who know brokenness.

Light makes sense in the context of darkness.

But this is not the same as “first, know you are a sinner.”

Genesis 1, which sets up the proper order of things, doesn’t blame the creation for its own darkness, or the land for its barrenness.

It simply acknowledges that it is. And then God fixes it: Light and Life.