ello! So, before I commit to doing this daily, I'm doing a trial run to see how long it'll take. I plan to cover 10 chapters of the Bible daily so that I can complete it before registrataion for the 2012 National Bible Bee opens. We'll see if that actually works......
So, without further ado, here are my notes for Genesis 1-10, as well as reasons to praise God that I've found while reading.
Genesis 1
1st Day: light and dark
2nd Day: Divides waters above from waters below
3rd Day: Dry land appears; grass and herbs and fruit created
4th Day: Sun, Moon, and Stars
5th Day: Ocean creatures and fowls of the air
6th Day: Earth brings forth living creatures -- cattle, creeping things, etc. God creates man in his own image, and gives them dominion over the earth.
I thought it was very interesting that God created man in his own image. It makes me realize that whenever I look at another human being, I get a small glimpse of what God looks like -- amazing. I'ts also very....humbling....to realize that God gave us dominion over everything on earth. It shows that he must trust us greatly, to give us that much responsibility. It makes me wonder what he thinks when he sees all of the pollution, and how we've driven some species to extinction. Here's hoping we can turn things around.
Genesis 2
I actually memorized the first four verses of this chapter, as part of this years Bible Bee Memory verses.....
vs:1-4 -- Heaven and earth are finished; God rests, and thus blesses the seventh day.
vs5-6 -- God made everything before they had grown; He causes a mist to go up from the ground.
vs7 -- Man is formed of the dust of the earth; the breath of life is breathed into his nostrils, and he becomes a living soul.
vs8-14 -- God plants the Garden in Eden (hmm....was the earth formerly called Eden? makes you go hmmm.....); rivers go out from Eden -- Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates.
vs15-17 -- don't eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil
vs 18-25 -- God forms the woman; Adam names all creatures; man should leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife.
I thought it was very interesting that God realized that man should not be alone, but that he needed some help. I noticed that it was a woman that he created, rather than another man. Right from the start, you get an idea of what God's idea is about homosexuality. The best thing to help a man is a woman, and, we can infer, vice versa. It gives me more insight into why He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah -- they went against the order that he had established since the very beginning. I imagine that He felt as though they were acting like they knew better than He did. As if that could ever happen -- what do we know, compared to an omniscient God? Praise God that we have scriptures so we can know his views.
Genesis 3
vs 1-5 -- the serpent beguiles the woman, telling her that if they eat the fruit, they'll be like God.
vs6-7 -- They eat, realize they're naked, and cover themselves with fig leaves.
vs8-13 -- God calls for Adam, who hides from him because Adam knew that he was naked; God asks him if he ate the fruit -- he blames the woman, who in turn blames the serpent.
vs14-15 -- serpent is cursed, and there's enmity between the serpent's seed, and the woman's seed.
vs 16-19 -- Eve will bear children in her sorrow; Adam will till the ground, which will bring forth thorns and thistles; eat bread in sweat of face.
vs20-21 -- Adam's wive is Eve, because she's the mother of all living; God makes them coats of skins.
vs 22-24 -- God drives them out from the garden, lest they should eat of the tree of life, and live forever. A flaming sword was placed to keep them from the tree of life.
I thought it was very interesting, in vs 14-15, that God says the serpent will bruise man's heel, and man the serpent's head. I remembred that in most stories of snake bites, the snake usually bites near the bottom of the leg -- aka the heel. Also, in killing snakes, people will usually hit it on the head, or cut off the head. I know there was more symbolism than that, but it's still interesting. I know, in terms of symbolism, 'bruising the head' refers to Christ, who has ultimate victory over Satan, or the serpent. I'm so grateful that Christ was willing to die for us, and that God loves us enough to give him up.
Genesis 4
vs 1-8 – Eve bears Cain and Abel; God respects Abel’s offering, but not Cain; Cain is angry – Lord tells him that he should do well – instead, he kills Abel.
Vs 9-12 – the Lord asks Cain where his brother is, and tells him that Abel’s blood cries out to him from the dust – Cain is then cursed – the earth won’t yield it’s fruit fully, and he’ll be a vagabond.
Vs13-15 – Cain realizes that anyone who finds him will kill him; the Lord says that if anyone kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him 7 fold.
Vs16-18 – Cain’s wife bears a son; they build a city; Enoch has children and grand children.
Vs 19-24 – Lamech, Cain’s grandchild, kills someone; he has 2 wives – Adah, and Zillah, and sons Jabal and Tubal-cain; Lamech will be avenged 70 and 7 fold.
Vs 25-26 – Eve bears Seth, who’s son is Enos – after Enos is born, men call upon the Lord.
The story of Cain and Abel illustrates a basic principle – if we do well, God will bless and accept us; if we don’t do well, if we sin, we will be punished. If only today’s world would realize that – there would be much less evil in the world. If people realized that all of their acts have a consequence attached to them, they’d be much less likely to do wrong. It’s cool that this principle has been illustrated since almost the beginning of time – it helps prove it’s truthfulness.
Genesis 5
Vs1-32 – the generations of Adam, until Noah, are detailed. We learn that Methuselah, at 969, is the oldest person to have ever lived. Noah’s sons are Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Not much to comment on in this scripture. Praise God that we have a record of these generations. I’m guessing that this is where the idea of a “book of remembrance” comes from. It’s a good idea -- it’s amazing that although these people lived forever ago, we still have a record of them, and of how old they are.
Genesis 6
Vs1-3 – the Sons of God marry the daughters of men(sounds like marrying outside the covenant….); God’s spirit will not always strive with men, whose days will be 120 years.
Vs 4 – giants are in the earth
Vs 5-8 – God sees great wickedness, and it repents that Lord that he made men; He says that He’ll destroy man; however, Noah found grace in God’s eyes.
Vs 9-13 – God tells Noah that he’ll destroy the earth, because the earth was corrupt and filled with violence.
Vs 14-16 – a description of the ark.
Vs 17-22 – God will bring a flood on the earth, and establish his covenant with Noah. Noah should bring 2 of all animal into the ark.
I love the story of Noah. It illustrates God’s mercy. It shows that, if there are even a few people who are righteous, God will show mercy to them, and save them. It also shows that God can use people to show forth his power. He could have easily just taken them from the earth, and from the wickedness. Instead, he chose to show forth his power by saving them in the ark. One awesome example of God’s power – he truly is omnipotent.
Genesis 7
Vs 1-6 – God has found Noah and his house to be righteous; every clean beast and fowl taken by 7’s, and ever unclean beast by 2, into the ark. God will cause it to rain from 40 days/nights. Noah fulfilled God’s commandments.
Vs7-9 – the flood came 7 days after Noah had done this.
Vs 11-24 -- the flood comes; destroys all; Noah was 600 yrs old and 2 months. God shut them into the ark. The waters prevailed 15 cubits upward, and were on the earth for 150 days.
I love how this chapter points out that Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. It shows that even after we’ve obtained God’s favor, we should still continue to obey his words – especially if not doing so could cause us to be killed. However, I doubt that Noah obeyed God’s words simply because he was afraid that he’d be killed in the flood. No, I believe that Noah truly loved God, and sought to please him. It reminds me of a question that Brett Harris asked in one of his presentations at this year’s Bible Bee. He asked how often we did the right things simply because we trusted in God. I imagine that Noah’s answer would have been “often”, if not “always.”
Genesis 8
Vs 1-3 -- God remembers Noah, and the waters recede.
Vs 4-5 – the waters decrease daily, and the ark rests on the mountains of Ararat.
Vs 6-12 – Noah sends out a raven, and then a dove in order to see if the waters were receded enough so that they could come out of the ark. He sends the dove three times.
Vs 13-19 – Noah sees that the earth is dry – God tells him and his family to go out of the ark, and multiply abundantly. They, and all the animals, go out.
Vs 20-22 – Noah builds an altar; the Lord smells a sweet savor; he promises to never again smite every living thing. Seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.
I love the first verse of this chapter. “And God remembered Noah, and every living thing….” I imagine that after close to 200 days, Noah would wonder if God had forgotten about him. He must’ve been really happy then, to see the waters begin to go down. This teaches me that God may allow us to go through hard times, and it may seem as though he’s forgotten us. However, God will never forget, and he’ll eventually come through for us. It may not be when or how we expect or want, but he will help us, and remember us.
Genesis 9
Vs 1-7 – God blesses Noah and his sons, commands them to multiply, and gives them all things; however, those who kill will be punished. God made man in His image.
Vs 8-17 – God makes a covenant with Noah, to never bring such a devastating flood on the earth again. He sets his bow in the cloud, as proof of this covenant. Whenever God sees the bow, he’ll remember his covenant.
Vs18-29 – Noah begins to be a husbandman, and has a vineyard; he get’s drunk, and is uncovered in his tent; Ham tells his brethren – they go and cover him up. God curses Ham and Canaan, but blesses Shem and Japheth. Noah lives 350 years after the flood – a total of 950.
One lesson that I learned from this is that we should not take advantage of others. Ham took advantage of his father – probably intending to make fun of him. By looking at the example of Shem and Japheth, we learn that we should not take part in ridiculing others. Rather, we should stand up for them. We’ll be blessed if we do well to others.
Genesis 10
Vs 1-32. Hmm – another chapter with 32 verses that details generations. The generations of the sons of Noah are detailed. One note of interest – Eber had two sons – Peleg, and Joktan. In the days of Peleg, the earth was divided…..I wonder what that means….
As with before, I’m grateful that we have the chance to know all the generations of Noah. It’s interesting to look at the different names. One name is Havilah – if we go back to Genesis 2, it’s interesting to see that Havilah was encompassed about by the river Pison. Within Havilah, there was gold, bdellium, and onyx. It makes me wonder what type of person Havilah was….
Well, there we go – the first 10 chapters of Genesis. Looks like this'll be longer, and take longer than I expected. Oh well -- we'll see how it goes! Sorry if I offend anyone with my comments. I’ve found that it’s better not to “fear man more than God” (Doctrine and Covenants 3:7)
Coming Tomorrow: Genesis 11-20.
~Praise His Name!
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