Day 3
Today's Reading:
Oh, that sneaky snake, how our enemies make sin cloudy. The timeless story we know from the Bible as children, where we read of the serpent and the evil, cunning deception. The serpent was tricky, there was no brute force, or threatening manner. It was a subtle question, meant to twist the truth just enough to cast doubt in Eve’s mind of what God really meant. “Did God really say…?” Eve believed the lie that she would “not certainly die” by eating the fruit. She is doubting God’s word. Adam also had a choice, yet he blamed Eve. It seems to be human nature to blame others. Our enemies, whether they are spiritual forces, manipulative influences from society, or even our own self, make sin cloudy by misdirection and half-truths. Staying anchored to God and His Word will shed light where good and evil collide and will give discernment. What “snake” is tempting you in your life today?
Welcome to the Bible, day 3 where we start off with Adam and Eve’s downfall and move on to major sin. Human sin has needed a savior since the beginning. God knows humans will fall, not IF it happens, but WHEN it happens. Note how God was with Adam and Eve in the garden in 3:8, walking among them as though it was not out of the ordinary. There was a profound closeness, God breathed life into Adam in chapter 2, and He communicated with them. He was ever present with a close relationship. After they were banished from the Garden of Eden, God placed cherubim to guard the tree of life. There are 2 main angelic beings in the Bible, Cherubim and Seraphim- which will come later. Cherubim are angelic guardians of sacred places with 4 faces (human, lion, ox and eagle) and 4 wings.
In chapter 4, Adam and Eve went on to have twin boys, Cain and Abel. While Abels offering to the Lord was accepted by God as it was the best fat portions from the very first of his flock. Abel understood that all that he had came from God. Cains offering was not heartfelt, while he did bring an offering to God, it was not the first of the crop or from the best portion. We see Gods omniscient here- where He knows the course of events, and what is in the heart because God warns Cain not to give into temptation. The Bible is not a book for the faint of heart; we read about the first murder- where Cain lied to God, indifferent to what he had done. Yet, through His grace, God spared Cains life, and his lineage was written in Genesis 4. Cain was then sent to be a wanderer on earth, living with his guilt, and God made sure he would live with this forever by putting a mark on Cain protecting him from any vengeance “7 times over”. The number 7 denotes complete and utter destruction. Even in our own weakness, sometimes we are given a second chance to make things right.
We fast forward through many generations and are given the genealogy from Adam and Eve’s third son Seth to the time of Noah which is approximately 1,000 years. The population of the earth had grown and while you may wonder about incest, there were no genetic mutations at that time. Humans were believed to be genetically pure. Later, God told His people when this is no longer allowed or accepted. What is remarkable is how long humans lived during this time. Seth lived to be 912 years old having Enosh at the age of 105. This challenges modern biological realities of human fertility and aging. The biblical narrative of human longevity is kept to the pre-Flood era.
Through the power of scripture, we read in Genesis 5:24 “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” Wait, what?! Each genealogy reported up to this point that the person “lived” for a long period of time and then died. Now Enoch, “walked” an intimate relationship with God and then defeated death. Mid-sentence, God flipped the script, there is no grave or death as Enoch embodied faithfulness. This seems nonchalant but is normal in the divine world. It is a foreshadow of what is to come in the New Testament with Jesus’s resurrection and ultimate defeat of sin. In Hebrews 11:5, Enoch is mentioned as having faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God, therefore God rewards those who seek Him. Are you earnestly seeking God?
Today's discussion question:
We closed with the challenge from Hebrews 11 about Enoch's faith and the truth that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. In this season of your life, how are you actively seeking God, and what helps (or hinders) that pursuit?
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