Genesis 4-6

This year, I plan on reading the Old Testament of the Bible within the 2012 calendar year. Follow me on this journey! Please, if you have questions of comments... let me know!

Genesis 4-6

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 4: Cain and Abel

                Adam and Eve "knew each other", or in other words they were no longer innocent as children, and because of that... they were able to conceive a child, and they conceived Cain. They also had Abel who was Cain's brother.

                Cain gets upset with his brother Abel and kills him in the field. The Lord asks Cain where his brother is, and Cain essentially denies that he did anything.

                The Lord curses Cain and sets a mark upon him, so that people will know that it is him. Cain is banished to the land of Nod, which is east of Eden. There, Cain conceives many children with his wife. Their first child was Enoch and after him did they name the city they started in the land of Nod.

                Adam and Eve have another child named Seth to replace the loss of their son Abel. Seth has a son and calls his name Enos, and from that day forward men look unto God.

Chapter 5: The Generation of Adam

•          Adam lived until the ripe old age of 930, and then he died.
•          Seth was 105, when he conceived Enos.
•          Seth died at the age of 912.
•          Enos, conceived Cainan when he was 90.
•          Enos died at the age of 905.
•          Cainan conceived Mahalaleel when he was 70.
•          Cainan died at the age of 910.
•          Mahalaleel conceived Jared at 65.
•          Mahalaleel died at the age of 895.
•          Jared conceived Enoch at the age of 162.
•          Jared died at the age of 962.
•          Enoch conceived Methuselah at the age of 65.
•          Enoch walked with God for 300 years after Methuselah was Born. (Enoch was a righteous man).
•          Enoch died at the age of 365.
•          Methuselah conceived Lamech at the age of 887.
•          Methuselah died at the age of 969.
•          Lamech conceived Noah at the age of 182.
•          Lamech died at the age of 777.
•          Noah was 500 years old when he conceived his sons: Shem, Ham and Japeth.

Chapter 6: Noah and the Ark

"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, the daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw that the daughters of men that they were fair..." 

(Genesis 5:1-2)

                I get out of this scripture that it is NATURAL for a MAN to like a WOMAN and VICE-VERSA. No where do I see that it says "the sons of God saw the sons of men that they were fair", God did not make men or women to be gay. That is not love, it is simply lust.

                But, just like in today's time we see wickedness... God was upset to the point where he said he wished he hadn't made man on the earth. God was saddened by the wickedness of men! Therefore he decided to destroy mankind and their wickedness by using the earth to flood the earth.

                "And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with  violence through them, and, behold I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window thou shalt make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lover, second and third stories shalt thou make it." (Genesis 6:13-17)

The Ark:

Width: 50 Cubits= 22.5 M OR 73.8 Ft.

Height: 30 Cubits=13.5 M OR 44.2 Ft.

Length: 300 Cubits-135 M OR 442.9 Ft.

Three Floors: 4.5 M in each floor 14.7 FT (the floor to ceiling had almost 15 ft tall rooms)

The Ark had 1 Single Window.

*Drawings by Harold Santos of El Salvador.

                God tells Noah that he is going to flood the earth and that it will be his responsibility to save mankind and all life on earth through him building an ark, stocking it with animals and food and surviving through the flood.

                God commands Noah to have 2 of every sort "male and female", because without male and female there is NO LIFE. 

Genesis 1-3

This year, I plan on reading the Old Testament of the Bible within the 2012 calendar year. Follow me on this journey! Please, if you have questions of comments... let me know!

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 1: God creates the earth and its heaven and all life on earth and heaven in six days.

             

   "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1)

Day 1: "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:3) , God separated the light from darkness and "...called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night..." (Genesis 1:5)

Day 2: "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters... And God called the firmament Heaven..." (Genesis 1:7-8)

Day 3: "...and let the dry land appear...And God called the dry land Earth..." (Genesis 1:9-10) "...Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit..." (Genesis 1:11-12)

Day 4: "...Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years..." (Genesis 1:14) And God gave us two lights, one to rule over the day (the sun) and one to rule over the night (the stars/moon).

Day 5: "...Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth..." (Genesis 1:20) and God commanded that all life in the sea and above the earth in the heaven to multiply and replenish after its own kind.

Day 6: "...Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth..." (Genesis 1:24) God creates all life on the earth.

                "And God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created them" (Genesis 1:26-27)

This part is very interesting to me, we all know that we were created in the image of God, right? Almost every single religion will attest that YES, we in fact were created in his image! So why does the world believe that God is a great "spirit"? Wouldn't God himself have a body of flesh and blood, like us? After all we are created in His image, right? Let's be clear, that I am not suggesting that God is on the same level with us, His children. He is our Heavenly Father and we must not seek to take his position or suggest that we are on the same level as Him. However, if we are created in his likeness, my guess would be that he looks like us, meaning he has a body, he has hands, feet,  eyes, a heart...etc. But His body is perfect, whereas His children are not perfect.

                We are his children and we should strive to be just like Him. One interesting part that gets me is where it says:  "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created them" - Does that mean that God, our Heavenly Father has a Wife? Our Heavenly Mother? It says, created "male and female" and just before that he says "Let US make man in our own image", was God talking to his Wife? Our Heavenly Mother? Now, this is not doctrine of the LDS church, per say. But it is my TRUE belief that this is SO. After all, it would make since that we had a Heavenly Father and Mother! Right?! I like to think so.

                God commanded "them" (most likely Adam and Eve)... "...Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Genesis 1:28)

                This tells me a few things, We have control over the earth... we as humans ARE supposed to USE the earth, "subdue" it and have "dominion" or control over everything that natural has to offer. BUT we are supposed to respect the earth by "replenishing" it. Interesting, if tree hugging hippies were actually religious they would know to use this scripture on people that say they are "religious" that may not care about the environment. Not saying that I am a hippie, tree hugging environmentalist. But I do believe that we should respect what God has given us!

AND GOD SAW THAT EVERYTHING THAT HE MADE WAS "GOOD".

Chapter 2:

Day 7: "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day... And God blessed the seventh day, and he sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work..." (Genesis 2:2-3)

                God essentially created everything Monday-Saturday and then took one day from his labors to rest, Sunday. That is why we must also rest on Sunday's and not permit that others work. We should avoid having to go to the store, or a restaurant... so that everyone has one day of rest a week. He "sanctified" this day to be a day, we celebrate our Heavenly Father, and his Son, our Redeemer; Jesus Christ.

                God planted a garden "eastward" in Eden and there, He put the man that he had created from the "dust of the earth". God then brings Adam every beast of the field and of the earth in general and has Adam, "name" them.  Adam gives a name for all of the animals and life in the earth. God sees that it is not good for man to "be alone", so God causes a great sleep to fall over Adam, and he removes a rib from Adam to form a woman.  Woman, because she was taken out of man.

                God commands Adam and Eve to stay in the garden and "tend" to it, and that they can freely eat of all trees and plants, except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

                "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Genesis 4:24) - God marries Adam and Eve.

                But we learn that Adam and Eve, were both naked and were "not ashamed", therefore we learn that they were like little children, without knowledge of good and evil... they were innocent.

Chapter 3:

                God leaves and Adam and Eve alone in the garden to tend to it, when the serpent (the devil), tries to beguile Eve.

The Devil: "...Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (Genesis 3:1)

Eve: "...We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die" (Genesis 3:2-3)

The Devil: "...Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5)

Eve, saw that it was desirable, and she ate. She also did give the fruit to Adam and he did eat as well.

                After eating the fruit they gained knowledge of good and evil, and knew that they were naked. God was walking in the garden, and when Adam and Eve heard him coming they hid themselves. When God asks them why, they tell Him, that it was because they were ashamed they were naked.

                God finds out (even though he already knew), that Adam and Eve partook of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and because of this Satan (the devil/Lucifer/the serpent) is cursed above all living things of the earth.

                God multiplies the "sorrows" of child-birth. He commands that by the "...sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread..." (Genesis 3:19) - We are commanded to work, and for our sustenance we must work, no such thing as a "free lunch".

                Adam and Eve are banished from their paradise and forced to the world to work, suffer; pain and sorrow... experience joy and happiness. Evil, good... light and dark.

                God said: "...Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:" (Genesis 3:22) In the Book of Mormon, we learn more about what this particular scripture means: "For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated" (Alma 42:5)

                So we learn something SUPER IMPORTANT, if God would have allowed Adam and Eve to live in the Garden of Eden, they would have NEVER experience JOY or HAPPINESS! Because how can you feel joy, without knowing what pain is? OR VICE-VERSA.

                God had this plan from the beginning to let US decide, to let Adam decide for his own. So that we could keep our agency, learn from our mistakes... experience JOY, experience PAIN and learn in this giant classroom I call "EARTH", so that we can learn to LOVE GOD, and his creations and learn from our MISTAKES that we can REPENT and RETURN to live with our Heavenly Father and Mother, once we have completed our missions here on earth!

                How great is the LOVE of God?