BENJAMIN

• 12th and youngest son of Jacob.
• 2nd and last son of Rachel
• Rachel died during his childbirth.
• Name means "son of my right hand".
• Described by his father as a wolf that prowls, devouring his enemies in the morning and dividing up the spoils in the evening. (Gen. 49:27)
• King Saul, Judge Ehud, Paul and Jeremiah were descendants of Benjamin.
• Had 10 sons.

JOSEPH

• 11th son born to Jacob.
• Mother is Rachel (Jacob's favored wife).
• Name means "may he add"..."May the Lord add to me another son."
• One full and 10 half brothers.
• Received preferential treatment thus angering his brothers.
• Brothers faked his death and sold him into slavery in Egypt.
• Had power to interpret dreams.
• Became leader in Egypt.
• Married an Egyptian wife, "Asenath"
• Had two sons, Manesseh and Ephraim.
• Died when he was 110, bones were embalmed in Egypt and moved to Canaan during the Exodus.

ZEBULUN

• 10th son of Jacob.
• Probably means "honor".
• Mother was Leah.
• 5 full brothers and 6 half brothers.
• Tribe renowned as seafarers.
• Had 3 sons.

ISSACHAR

• 9th son of Jacob.
• Born to Leah.
• Name means "reward".  Leah said; "God has rewarded me for giving y maidservant to my husband.
• Born to Leah after a period of not having children.
• Leah 'hired' her husband to sleep with her and thus became pregnant with Issachar & Zebulun.
• Twin to Zebulun.
• Brother to Dinah.
• 5 full brothers, 6 half brothers.
• Described as a beast of burden who would submit to forced labor.
• In the Song of Deborah (Judges) mentioned in favorable light concerning tribes' battles with Canaanites.
• Gained reputation for it's wise men.
• Married Aridah.
• Had 4 sons.

ASHER

• 8th son of Jacob.
• 2nd born to Zilpah, Leah's handmaid.
• Name means "happy" because Leah said: "How happy I am!..."
• One older full brother and 10 half brothers.
• Helped in the plot to sell Joseph into slavery.
• Failed to drive out the inhabitants of their allotted land, the Phoenician's.
• In the Song of Deborah (Judges 5) they are reprimanded for not helping out during the struggle against a Canaanite king.
• Had four sons and a daughter.

GAD

• 7th son of Jacob.
• Mother was Zilpah, Leah's handmaid.
• Means "good fortune" or "a troop".
• One full brother, 10 half brothers.

NAPHTALI

• 6th son of Jacob
• One full brother Dan, 10 half brothers.
• Born to Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid.
• Means "my struggle"  because Rachel said; "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won."
• Described by Jacob as "a deer that has been set free."  Possibly because of his free spirit.
• Praised in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:18) for bravery in defeating Sisera and the Canaanites.
• Jesus started his ministry in Naphtali and calls His first disciples from it's shores.
• Had four sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillemhtali.

DAN

• Fifth born son of Jacob (Israel).
• Born to Rachel's (Jacob's second and favored wife) handmaid Bilhah.
• One full brother, Naphtali and 10 half brothers.
• Name means "vindicated"  because Rachel felt vindicated because she couldn't bear her husband children.
• The second largest Israel tribe after Judah.
• Failed to conquer the portion of land allocated to them by Jacob and so had to  move northward to conquer that land.
• His land was the most northerly region, to the north of the Galilee and west of the Jordan.
  

JUDAH

• Fourth born to Jacob (Israel)
• Name means "praise" 
• Mother was Leah, Jacob's first but less favored wife.
• Full brothers:  Reuben, Simeon & Levi (older), Issachar & Zebulun (younger)
• Six half brothers:  Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph & Benjamin.
• Instigator in plan to kill Joseph.  Was going to kill him with a knife but Levi stopped him, suggesting they throw him in a pit instead.
• Married ta Canaanite woman.
• Had three children: Er, Onan and Shelah with her.
• Had sex with his daughter-in-law thinking she was a prostitute, she became pregnant and bore two sons, twins, Pharez and Zerah, Judah's fourth & fifth sons.
• His allotted land included the city of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
• Judah became the name of the southern kingdom when Israel was divided into two kingdoms.
  

LEVI

• Third born son to Jacob (Israel)
• Born to Leah, Jacobs first (and less favored) wife.
• Name probably means "Attached" because Leah said: "Now at least my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons."
• The tribe of Levi did not receive land allotment when they, (the Israelite's) concurred Canaan.  Instead, they were to serve the other eleven tribes, the 'priests' so to speak and the other tribes were to give them 1/10th of all they made.
• Married Melcha
• He fathered three sons, Gershon, Kohath & Merari and possibly a daughter, Jochebed.
• He, along with his brother Simeon destroyed the city of Shechem to avenge the rape of their sister, Dinah.
• Was not in agreement with killing Joseph.

SIMEON

• Second Son of Jacob
• Name means "God had heard"
• Born to Leah, Jacob's first (and less favored) wife.
• One older and four younger full brothers.
• 6 half brothers.
• He, along with his brother Levi killed people in Shechem because they raped their sister Dinah.

REUBEN

• First born son of Jacob
• Name means "see a son".
• Born to Jacob's first (and less favored) wife, Leah.
• 5 full and 6 half brothers.
• Because he had an affair with Leah's handmaid, Bilhah, he lost his first born rights.
• He was responsible for keeping his brothers from killing Joseph and selling him instead.

THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL

What exactly are "The 12 Tribes of Israel" you ask?  Well...

The 12 tribes of Israel originated in biblical times.

Since the flood wiped out all people except for Noah and his family, all people come from Noah.
Noah had Shem,
From Shem came Abraham.

From Abraham came Isaac.

From Isaac came Jacob (God changes his name to Israel).

Now Jacob/Israel had 12 sons. .

The sons, in order of birth are:

1. Reuben
2. Simeon
3. Levi
4. Judah
5. Dan
6. Naphtali
7. Gad
8. Asher
9. Issachar
10. Zebulun
11. Joseph
12. Benjamin

1. 

   This is a breakdown of Jacob's wives and kids born to them.
   
   
   
   

After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, the new generation is now Jacob and his 12 sons and all their wives and descendants. The People are known as the Israelites and are told to go in and conquered the land known as the 'land of milk and honey' for it's rich resources.  When they did, they sectioned off portions of the land and gave it to each son and it is these 12 sons and their subsequent tribes that are being referred to when we talk about the 12 tribes of Israel.  They each hold significance both biblically and today because Canaan is what is now known as The Middle East.   The following is a map of the land and how it was divided among the 12 sons of Jacob (Israel).   You will notice that Levi is not shown here.  That is because the 'Levites" had the job of being the 'priests'.  They were to minister to the needs of the people and the people were to give them a portion, 10% of their earnings to support them.  So they had no particular place but rather were spread throughout the tribes to minister and care for the people.

THE FLOOD: Genisis chapter 6

Here begins the story of Noah.  God has created man and the universe, time has gone by and men began to increase on the earth.  Daughters were born to them.  'Sons of God' married the 'daughters of men'.  What does that mean?  One popular belief is that the 'Sons of God' are fallen angels, however, according to Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25 angels do not marry.  Another belief is that the 'daughters of men' refers to people who married into Cain's 'evil' family which would have weakened the 'good' influence of the faithful and increased the immoral influence in the world.

To me, the later seems more likely, but anything is possible as there is much we do not know.  Either way, man was becoming more corrupt and God said that His "spirit" would "not contend  with man forever" and that man's days would be 120 years which the NIV Study Bible footnotes tell us means that man was given 120 years to change their sinful ways.

Verse 6 says that the Nephilim were on the earth then.  The Nephilim were giants, people 9 or 10 feet tall.  The same term is used in reference to Goliath later in the Bible.  We are told that the Nephilim used their physical size to oppress the people.

Anyways, man became more and more corrupt as time went on & God was sad that people had made the choices they had made.  He decided to send a flood to wipe them all out.  But, God did find one man, Noah to be a 'righteous' man and He told Noah to build an Ark, or boat, so that he and his family would be spared. He told Noah exactly how He wanted it built and He also told him he could bring his family with him and to bring a male and female from each kind of animal and food to feed them all.  And Noah obeyed.  (Very important).

Was God saying that He made a mistake when He created man?  I don't think so.  I think of the flood as sort of like a form of discipline.  Like a parent who uses 'tough love' after trying for years to get their rebellious, drug addicted child to change and finally kicks them out of the house, often onto the streets, rather than letting them corrupt and destroy the whole family.  And the Bible doesn't say that God was angry, it says that He was sad about it all.

One of the reasons I like to really study God's word is that you learn more about the character of God and the people who 'found favor' in His eyes.  God says that Noah was 'righteous' and 'blameless'.  But we know that Noah was not perfect.  He was human, with human fallacies.   This is very clearly shown when, later on, Noah gets drunk  and passes out in front of his children-naked!  So he was no angel, nor were any of the other people God favored, like Moses, who lost his temper and took credit to himself instead of giving it to God, or Abraham & Sarah who decided to take matters into their own hands when they felt it was taking God too long to come through with His promise to them, or David, who had a weakness for women-lots of them-some of them other men's wives and he had one of the husbands killed!  The list goes on and on.  These people were not perfect.  I love knowing this and I love that the Bible does not try to hide their faults, because it gives me a chance, with all of my faults and failures to still be 'favored' in God's eyes.  I know that God is not looking for perfect people, He is looking for people who love Him and are available, with open hearts, to serve Him.  When I realized this, it strengthened my relationship with God because I no longer felt so unworthy or like I could never be 'good enough' for Him.

Another point to be made about this story I think is that Noah lived in a world that was filled with corruption and sin but he did not allow that to change him.  He stayed true to his beliefs even when everyone around him did not.  Are we not faced with the same thing today?  It becomes ever harder in our world to even know what is good and what is bad what with the way the world (Satan) can twist the truth of things.  I mean, what is the sin?  Is it the homosexual?  Or is it the people who shun them in the name of God?  Is it abortion? Or is it divorce?  Or maybe gossip?  The bible talks way more about divorce than it does about abortion yet, listen to a Sunday morning church service and you'd swear the homosexuals or abortionists were the more evil.  I guess that by bashing them, we let ourselves off the hook.  But doesn't God tell us not to judge others?  It is very hard to remain focused on what's important and not be deceived.  We must remember what is important and know that God  does see you and that in the end, that's all that really matters.  So, do good, even though it seems that hardly no one appreciates it anymore-do good anyways.  Stay the course.

Interesting thing about the Ark: Not only was it huge, the length of one and a half football fields and as high as a four story building, but it was exactly six times longer than it was wide, which is the same ratio that modern shipbuilders use today.  Also, it had to take a very long time to build it, maybe...120 years?  So, not only did the people have plenty of time to change their ways, they also had a very visual prop to enforce the message being given to them.  Nothing like a huge boat in the middle of dry land to make a point!

It is scary though because it's so similar to us today, I mean, who hasn't heard that Jesus will return soon, the end is near, etc. and we have God's Holy Word and history to learn from and yet, we don't live as if God is returning soon.  I wonder if I'd be one of the ones taken if He did come back today.  I mean, look at the way Jesus lived.  His entire life was spent  serving, teaching, helping others.  He even died for us.  He didn't own a house or a car, He walked from town to town, He spent serious time alone with God.  I don't know anyone who does that today.  Certainly I do not.  I mean, we live our lives working to have more money to buy houses, cars, clothes, boats, TV's, etc.  And when we die, none of that will even matter.  If Jesus walked into our lives today would we not look around at all of our possessions and the things we surround ourselves with and suddenly see and be ashamed and afraid?  It does make me worried for myself and others.

THE FLOOD ENDS: Genesis Chapter 8

The floods continued and God remembered Noah and the ark.  God closed the floodgates and he sent a wind over the earth and the waters receded steadily until, at the end of the 150 days the water had gone down enough that the Ark came to rest.  This happened when Noah was 600 years, seven months and 17 days old.  The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat which is in present day Turky near the USSR boarder.

Here the Ark continued to rest and after 40 days Noah opened the window of the ark and sent out a raven. He then sent out a dove which returned to him.  After 7 more days he sent the dove out again and this time it returned with an olive leaf-proof of life!  Seven days later he sent the dove out and this time it didn't return.  When Noah was 601 year, one month and one day old he saw dry land from the ark and one month and 26 days later he was able to come out along with everyone else.  He built an alter to the Lord and gave a sacrifice using some of the clean animals and birds he had.

Here, God says that he will never again, as long as the earth endured, curse the earth or destroy all living creatures because of man, even though 'every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.'  It's so sad to think that people are so bad.  

Timeline of Noah's Flood:




Notice that from the time Noah enters the Ark until he leaves it is somewhere around one year.

Evidence of the Ark has never been found although rumors of sightings have been told.  But the area remains largely unexplored and the ark probably would have completely decomposed by now but wouldn't it be an awesome discovery today?

NOAH PREPARES FOR THE FLOOD: Genesis Chapter 7

At this point God tells him to take seven pairs of each kind of 'clean' animal (meaning animals used for sacrifices) and 2 pairs of each kind of unclean animal.  According to science it is estimated that 45,000 animals could have fit into the ark.  Seven days before the flood starts God tells Noah and his family to start loading up which Noah did.  He is 600 years old at this time.  The Bible tells us that the animals came to Noah.  What a scene that must have been.  If I had been a doubter back then that in itself would have made me change my mind quick.  A footnote I liked about this said; 'God took care of the details of that job while Noah was doing his part by building the ark.  Often we do just the opposite of Noah.  We worry about details over which we have no control, while neglecting specific areas (such as attitudes, relationships, responsibilities) that are under our control....concentrate on what God has given you to do and leave the rest to God.'

So seven days later, when  Noah was 600 years, two months and 17 days old, everyone is loaded up and ready, the 'Lord shut him in' and the flood gates opened up. For forty days the flood kept coming.  It says that all the mountains were covered to a depth of more than twenty feet and that every living thing on the earth was wiped out except for Noah and those in the ark with him.  And the waters flooded the earth for 150 days.    

NOAH

• Son of Lamech
• One of 8 people that lived before, during and after the flood.
• One righteous person on the face of the earth before the flood.
• Commissioned by God to build an ark.
• Three sons:  Shem, Ham and Japheth from which came all the nations of the earth.
• Was a 'tiller of the soil'.
• Know for his story of becoming drunk and passing out naked in his tent. (Gen. 9).
• Lived to be 950 years old.
• The last of the long lived people in the Bible as their life span decreases rapidly thereafter going from around 900 years to around 120 years.
• Mentioned 8 times in the New Testament and in Ezekiel.
• Listed along with Daniel and Job for righteousness.

CAIN & ABLE

Genesis Chapter 4

Adam's name means "The man"

Eve probably means "living"

Cain sounds like the Hebrew for "brought forth" or "acquired"

Adam & Eve have two sons, Cain & Abel.  Actually they have more sons and daughters, we are not sure how many but we only hear a story about Cain & Abel.

Cain is older than Abel.  Cain became a farmer and Abel became a shepherd.  (Notice that they no longer have everything provided for them.  They now have to work in order to provide for themselves).  They both bring an offering to The Lord.  God wasn't pleased with Cains offering.  We are not sure why but reading in verses 3 & 4 it does say that Cain brought God "some of the fruits"  from his garden to God while Abel brought "fat portions from...the firstborn of his flock".  As if Cain just gave God what he felt he had to while Abel joyfully gave God the best he had.  

Cain becomes upset that God favors Abel's gift over his and God actually tries to talk to Cain about doing the right thing and He tries to warn Cain about mastering sin in his life.  Cain obviously doesn't head God's warning and ends up killing Abel.  This is the first murder ever committed.  (Interesting how, now that "good & evil" have been introduced into their lives that evil has a way of growing & spreading).  When God questions Cain, he gets sassy with Him and says "Am I my brothers keeper?".  God punishes Cain by making it so that the ground will no longer produce for Cain.  Quite a hardship for him since that's what he does to provide for himself.  

Cain is concerned that other people, (maybe other family members?) would be mad at him & try to kill him so God puts a mark on Cain and says that if anyone kills him he will be punished more than Cain was.

Cain had to leave the area  and went to live in Nod.  Nod means "wandering".  We are told that Nod lies east of Eden so judging from the map this would put him probably in what is modern day Iran because Adam & Eve are in Iraq.

Cain has a wife and has children with her.  The question is always asked about where all these other people came from?  One explanation may be that the human race was still genetically pure and so they married relatives.  Also, we've only been told about Adam & Eve, I've always wondered if God didn't place other people here as well.  I think there are theories that angels lived among people in the beginning and were involved with humans.  To me, it's not really important.  However God chose to do it is fine with me.  There's lots of things we don't know about that we'll learn about later.  I mean heck, we used to think the earth was flat!  When we learned it was round it was interesting and good to know but didn't change anything.

So, Cain has a baby and names him Enoch.  Cain is building a city and names the city after his son.  Here we start going into a list of ancestries.  i like to start keeping track of them even though some of the names are never heard again but it does make an interesting story when you see where they lead to.  So here is the table I started:

The interesting thing I noticed about this list is that you can see that under Cain who was the first recorded murderer in the bible, is a relative, Lamech, who also killed a man.  And under Seth, who evidently stayed in good graces with the family, is Enoch who "walked with God" and later, Noah who, as we know was the man God used to build the Ark and save from the flood.  A "righteous" man.  Interesting how evil begets evil and good begets good.

THE FALL

Genesis 3

Genesis chapter 3, about the fall of Adam and Eve tells about how Satan, disguised as a serpent comes to Eve and convinces her that the reason God doesn't want them to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is because it will make them as wise as He is and that God doesn't want that.  She eats of the fruit, Adam eats of the fruit, God finds out about it, there are consequences and than they are banished from the Garden of Eden.

I thought it was interesting that when Satan persuades Eve, he does it by one; putting doubt in her mind about God's intentions and love for her.  And two; he makes her want the one thing she can't have even though she has so many other things.  Isn't that so like us.  We always want what we don't have instead of appreciating all the good things we do have and being content with those.  The biggest battle is in your mind.  You have to decide ahead of time that God does love you, he has your best intention at heart and that you will be faithful to Him no matter what.  Otherwise you will be easily swayed and tricked.  You have to stay in a close relationship with God on a daily basis and remove yourself from situations or people who would cause you to fall to temptation.

I think it is kind of funny how Adam and Eve try to squirm out of trouble by playing the 'blame' game.  Adam blames Eve (she gave it to me) and God (the woman you gave me) and Eve blames the serpent (he deceived me).  I think it's funny because we still do it today.

The Tree of Good and Evil.  The Bible says that when they ate of it their 'eyes were opened'.  Satan said that this would mean that they would be like God.  God said in Chapter 2 that they would die.  I feel like that their 'eyes being opened' means that they were suddenly aware of sin for the first time.  Before, they were protected by God and lived in a world where there was no evil.  Not as far as they knew.  Kind of like a newborn baby.  Once they were aware of sin, God knew that the natural order of things would be that over time they would become more and more sinful beings.  Which is what we see happens in life.  From generation to generation our society become more and more decadent and will continue to do so until we are on the verge of destroying ourselves.  This is why they had to be banished from the Garden of Eden.  Not as punishment so much but because if they were to eat of the Tree of Life, they (we) would live forever becoming more and more sinful with no end in sight.  In a sense they did die. They died to an old way of life, they died to innocence.

The punishment for disobeying God was that Eve would have pain in childbearing and that her husband would rule over her.  This seems to be the first time that there is a division between man and woman and one being the head over the other.  Before this, they are equal.  As for Adam, he has to toil and sweat and work to live now whereas before everything was just there for the taking.

Someday when Christ returns and Satan is defeated we will live in a new world, reunited with God but evil will have been removed from the world.  Only good will exist and we will be able to live forever with no moral deterioration.  One we will understand when we die.  We'll be back in a land that is free from pain or hard work and heartache.  This is the new heavens and new earth revelation talks about.  I think that it is right here on this very earth we walk on today.   I'm not sure why the world didn't just start out that way to begin with but I have a feeling there is a reason.   There are many things we don't understand now but someday our 'eyes will be opened' even more and we will understand everything.  Until  then we  have to operate on the thought that God is wiser than we are and that He does love us and is looking out for our best interest.  Adam and Eve kind of took one for the team so to speak by giving us this lesson to learn from.

There is a song about the fall of Adam and Eve that I love called Adam.  It's an oldie and it's by Don Francisco who does a great job of writing Christian songs that tell a story.  Actually I love every song on this CD.  Here is the lyrics to the song:

Unashamed and naked in a garden that has never seen the rain,
Rulers of a kingdom, full of joy -- never marred by any pain,
The morning all around them seems to celebrate the life they've just begun;
And in the majesty of innocence the king and queen come walking in the sun


But the master of deception now begins with his discection of the Word
And with all of his craft and subtly the serpent twists the simple truths they've heard,
While hanging in the balance is a world that has been placed at their command
And all their unborn children die as both of them bow down to Satan's hand.

And just before the ev'ning in the cool of the day, They hear the voice of God as He is walking
And they can't abide His presence, so they try to hide away;
But still they hear the sound as He is calling:
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/d/don_francisco/adam_where_are_you.html ]
"Adam, Adam, where are you?
Adam, Adam, where are you?
Adam, Adam, where are you?"

In the stifling heat of summer now the gard'ner and his wife are in the field
And it seems that thorns and thistles are the only crop his stuggles ever yield
He eats his meals in sorrow 'til he sinks in to the dust whence he came
But all down through the ages he can hear his Maker calling out his name.

"Adam, Adam, where are you?
Adam, Adam, where are you?"

And though the curse has long be broken
Adams' sons are still the prisners of their fears
Rushing helter skelter to destrution with their fingers in their ears
While the Fathers voice is calling with an urgency I've never heard before
"Won't you come in from the darkness now before it's time to finally close the door!"

"Adam, Adam, where are you?
Adam, Adam, where are you?
Adam, Adam, I love you!"

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/d/don_francisco/#share

ADAM AND EVE'S BEGINNING

Genesis 2:4-25 

Here we back up a little and get more of a break down of the creation of man.
     God forms man from dust and breaths life into him.  Nothing fancy about us, just made from dust.  Not until God breaths life into us.  I guess this might be God's Spirit, The Holy Spirit breathed into us.  Now we're special.  Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden which, it seems from the description of the rivers, is  probably located down by the Persian Gulf.  (I like to know where I'm at when reading the Bible because as the story unfolds, you move around a bit. Oh yes, we also learn that there is no rain yet, the ground is watered by streams.

Middle East

Adam is told about the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil and not to eat of it's fruit.  You know, I always thought that Eve was there too when God told them not to eat of that fruit.  Hmm.  So we know that evil already existed.  Maybe Satan?  (It's also interesting that the Tree of Life appears again in Revelation 22 where people are enjoying eternal life with God).

This whole thing used to seem like a cruel trick to me.  Like God kind of set them up to sin but I don't think that way anymore.  I feel like that there are lots of things placed on this earth that we shouldn't be messing with or at least not unless we know how to.  The book The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity by William P. Young did an excellent job of explaining this.  In the story, Mack is walking in a garden with the Holy Spirit and he asks the Holy Spirit if she made the poisonous plants and stinging bugs too.  The answer was of course yes and Mack asked Her why create poisonous plants at all?  The Holy Spirit responds  "Your question presumes that poison is bad; that such creations have no purpose.  Many of these so-called bad plants...contain incredible properties for healing or are necessary for some of the most magnificent wonders when combined with something else.  Humans have a great capacity for declaring something good or evil, without truly knowing.".   So maybe we don't know exactly what the purpose of the Tree was but I don't think God placed it there just to trick Adam into sinning.  I think it had some reason for being there.  What if it was poisonous berries that God had told them not to eat and they did it anyways and they got sick or died.  That we could understand and say "well, I guess they should have listened".

God creates woman out of the rib of man.  Why not make Eve from dust like He did Adam?  It turned out pretty neat I think.  It makes them more of  "one flesh",  a "mystical union".  God treats the union between man and woman sacredly throughout the Bible.  And I think that it's cool how God gives life to man, and man gives life to woman, and woman gives life to babies.  They each have a special roll to play in the creation of life.

Adam was really pleased with Eve and this was the first 'marriage' union.  Note, no ring, no ceremony, no license.  These are all man made ideas.  Just like church, it takes what God intended to be a heart thing and makes it a judgment thing.  Gives boundaries in which to judge one another and hold each other accountable when what we really need to do is to be indevidually accountable to God and let others do so also.  Yes, it's true we need laws to govern us to keep us safe from criminals but these are not criminal laws we are talking about, these are moral laws.  You can't force morality on people, that has to come from within.

Lastly, they were naked.  Not only were they naked physically but also emotionally and spiritually before each other and before God.  When I think about this I think about what it must have been like to be them.  They had no childhood on which to build hurt and insecurities, fears, distrust and anger.  In some ways they must have been like innocent little children.  No wonder they fell for Satan's trick so easily.  They did not have that hardened outer shell that we get from living life as we grow.  In so many ways they truly were naked.

So the question comes to my mind "Why were they not more protected by God, their Father?  Then I thought about my own children.  They have been hurt in life.  They have fallen down and scraped their knees.  They have bled. They've had their share of emotional hurts as well.  Does that mean that I didn't protect them enough or that I don't love them enough?  Was I neglectful?

The answer is no.  I love my children with everything I've got.  I would lay down my life for each and everyone of them.  But the only way I can keep them from all harm is if I lock them away somewhere or never allow them to get out of bed in the mornings.  They certainly couldn't fall out of tree that way could they or get sunburned either.  But, what about the joy of being outside and climbing a tree then?  Who wants to miss out on that?  Keeping them locked up safe somewhere would actually be abusive.  (I'm thinking Rapunzel and the wicked mother here).

And I did try to protect them.  I told them for instance not to run around the pool because it was wet and slippery and they'd fall.  But they did it anyways and sure enough, they fell down, got hurt, scraped their knees and bled and cried.  And what about when they did fall?  What do you think I did then?  Do you think I stood over them with a smug, happy look on my face saying 'I told you so, that's what you get'.  No, I ran to them and picked them up and held them tight and kissed them until the hurt went away.  Then I brushed them off, cleaned them up and carried them in just like God does for us when we fall.  (Now I'm thinking "Footprints in the Sand")

God placed us on this beautiful earth with everything we need and He gave us freedom!  Freedom to laugh and play and run.  And freedom to be our own people.  Not puppets on a string.  But freedom always comes with the ability to choose right from wrong, good from bad.  Sometimes the choices are no brainers and sometimes they are not so clear.  We are as ignorant of God's ways as our own children at 2 or 3 years old are ignorant of ours.  And when God says 'don't do this', we may not necessarily know why we shouldn't but  we should learn to trust Him and believe that He's looking out for our best interest and do what He says whether we understand it or not.  Maybe He's only trying to help you not get hurt.  But just like Adam and Eve, we constantly disobey God's laws even today.  Then, when things go wrong, we blame Him for not protecting us.  We knew it was wrong when we did it.  Don't blame God.

CREATION

Genesis 1 through 2:3

Author:     Moses
Date:        Unknown

Place:       The Middle East

Here is a world map showing where the Middle East is.  It is not actually a country, it is just highlighted here to show where it is.  It is considered to be part of Asia and part of Africa.

So now, if we zoom in on the middle east, this is what we see.

Middle East

(I like to envision where I am at when I'm reading)

Later, we'll actually zoom in further to point to places we're reading about.

So, we begin in Genesis 1 with the creation of  the world.
The world starts off in complete darkness and nothing but water.
God's presence is there moving around preparing to create the world and everything in it.

Day 1
God creates light.  The better to see with?

Day 2
God places a space or expanse between the waters and names the expanse sky.

Day 3
God gathers the waters together and gives them names:  'land' and 'seas'.  Then he plants trees and seeds for fruit and vegetation.
Interesting, God is orderly.  Light comes before plants so plants can grow?

Day 4
God decides we need different lights.  A greater light (sun) and a lesser light (moon) and the stars too.  This allows for days, nights, seasons and years.  Time starts here in a way I think.  I also like that in verse 17 it says that God 'put them in the sky'.  Cool

Day 5
God now creates birds and blesses them to increase.

Again, orderly, plants before animals.

Day 6
God makes animals on the land and then he creates  man and woman.
God was pleased with His work.  Thats Us!

God made man in 'our' image.  What is 'His image'?  God has no physical body.  Rather it must be his character, His soul image.  Love, patience, kindness, ability to reason, create, etc.  It is our souls that are reflective of Him.

God speaks of Himself here in the plural sense.  Why?

Does He mean the Trinity?  Is He using it as Royalty do when they refer to themselves?  Are there others there?  I think there are.

Both man and woman are equally created in His image.  There is no differentiation here.

He now blesses them and gives them the ability to subdue the earth and rule over it and it's creatures.

The earth God created is ultimately His.  He delegated the care of it to us.  Shame on us for how we care for it and take it for granted.

He then gives us all the trees and plants for food.

It doesn't say He gave us animals for food, only the plants.  Hmm, we were vegetarians at first.  It wasn't until after Noah's flood that God gave us animals for food.

Now in Chapter 2:

Day 7

God is done and He rests.  (If God demonstrates the importance of rest from His work, I guess we should too).

He blesses the 7th day and makes it holy.  Holy - meaning to set aside as special.  Later, in Exodus God commands that a sabbath day be observed.  Is it on a Saturday or a Sunday?  It used to be Saturday.  Who changed it and why?

What is 'observing the sabbath' anyways?  Going to church? Not doing any work? What?
I think it means to stop, to be still a little, to enjoy all that God has given you, to appreciate the people in your life and to remember God and how great His love is and to rest up.

The idea of an organized church as we have it today is a people idea.  Not that it's a bad one, just that it becomes more of an obligation and a routine when it's done like that rather than coming from the heart.  There is nothing routine about God.   And yes, God did say to 'not forsake the gathering together of yourselves' and we shouldn't but that can be done in many forms and places.  What he wants is our heartfelt expressions of love and happiness.  Man has made church a routine and an obligation led by someone who passes judgement not on whether you have done what God asks of you but whether you are doing what a pastor decides is right or wrong.

Why did God create the world and us?

Maybe because He is Love and love can best be expressed by sharing it?

And also, How?  Was there some big sudden explosion that He caused to happen when He spoke it?
Did He start it and things evolved over billions of years?
Was it literally a day?  24 hours?  And how long is a day in God's timing?

Who knows?  Either way, He created it.  And what a wonderful thing it is.

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS

The word Genesis means "beginnings" or "origin" and that what this book is about.  The first book and therefore beginning of the Bible and the beginning of creation and our lives here on this earth.

This book was written by Moses and begins with God.  It tells the stories of  His creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, The tower of Babel, The story of Abraham and Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah, Isaac and Rebekah, the death of Abraham, Jacob and Joseph.  It ends when Jacob and Joseph die in Egypt.  Which means that we start somewhere near the Persian Gulf probably in Iraq and end in Egypt.

Map of The Middle East

Lets Get Started!

THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLE

I started my daily bible study today and right off got side tracked on just what exactly was the first "real" bible?  So many people believe the King James Version of the bible to be the 'true' translation but I wondered how that could be considering that the bible was written by people way back in biblical times who didn't speak English.  I was using the New International Version and I wanted to know which one, if either, was closer to the original text so i did some research and got my answer.  Using the internet and a couple of  books I already had I was able to piece together a basic history of the beginnings of the bible.  The books I used are;  Fascinating Bible Facts: People, Places, & Events which I really like because of the tidbits of interesting information it has and the easy way it's laid out to find things, and the second one; Collins Atlas of the Bible which is not as easy to read but does offer some valuable information.  I also read the introduction to the making of the Zondervan NIV Study Bible which explained where and how they came about their translation.

Anyways, the end of my search actually revealed something interesting to me.  I had always considered the KJV of the bible the one to fall back on when in doubt.  I no longer do.  After researching, I would actually say the the KJV is definitely not as reliable a translation as the NIV translation and here is why.

Originally writings were carved in stone or maybe pottery or on animal skins and were written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic starting with the earliest known writing which is the ten commandants in 1400 B.C.   They didn't have printing presses of course and those writings were rare and important.  Eventually people started to gather them together to compile a group of books we now know as the Old Testament and was pretty much together by the time Christ was born.  Later, after Christ died, the New Testament was put together in much the same way from letters and writings of people at that time and were mostly Greek.  At some point these two were joined together to make a complete book they called "The Bible" which literally means "a collection of books".  And because the books are considered holy this collection is known as the "Holy Bible"

From here it starts to get nasty.  By 500 A.D. the Bible had been written in over 500 languages.  By 600 A.D. the Catholic Church decided to restrict the use or reproduction of all other languages of the Bible to only Latin, their language.  Anyone caught with another translation could be, and some were,  killed!  This gave the Church exclusive power and control over what was taught.  They also decided to make some changes to the Bible and they removed some books originally included in the Bible and who knows what else.

In the late 1300's the protestant reformation took place and eventually the Bible was brought back into circulation in other languages.  In 1384 the first ever complete copy of the Bible in an English version was produced.  The only problem was that they used the bible that the church had 'tweeked' so much that it didn't really resemble the original  works and so was not necessarily accurate.  Every Bible revision since then down to the KJV was an interpretation used from at least part of that changed Bible.  

In 1965 a group of over one hundred scholars got together to put together a modern day English translation of the Bible working directly from the best available Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts.  This group was made up of people from the US, Britain, Canad, Australia, and New Zealand and were from at least 12 different denominations.  Their main concern was to provide an accurate translation of the original texts and to avoid denominational preferences or personal interpretations, (basically to correct and avoid what had already happened the first time).  This was not meant to be so much a word-for-word translation as it was an accurate translation of the original intent of the writer. (Think of how words change their meaning throughout history, ie:  coke, the drink vs. coke the drug).  This new translation was called the New International Version and was  published in 1979.     .

So, I now feel confident using the NIV bible for study but I also like to remember that the supreme author is in fact the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is alive and well and that my main source of reference comes from Him.