Faith & Scripture

 At 99 years of age, Abram (meaning 'exalted father') was renamed Abraham (meaning 'father of nations') , and his wife Sarai was renamed Sarah - both of these changes made by God.  God repeated His promise, clarifying that the covenant people would be born of Sarah (Isaac), and laid out the terms of Abraham's obedience (and that of his descendants forever). This began the practice of circumcising males at 8 days of age, a symbol of surrendering to God the very essence of self & generations to follow.  (The Apostle Paul later writes of the importance of circumcising the heart - a metaphor for surrendering self-will to participate in the promise of God). Three men visit Abraham & Sarah, receive hospitality, and make sure Sarah hears the announcement that she'll be giving birth within the year, causing her to laugh (pregnant? an old barren woman?) .  Is anything too hard for the Lord? (no) The three begin to leave, and Abraham walks with them tow...

Through the sons of Noah, the world began to be repopulated. Chapter 10 provides genealogical information.  Being of one family, they all spoke the same language (I rather doubt it was English) .  An agreement was made that they should build a city and a tower to reach to Heaven, and so they set to the task. God, in Heaven, disagreed.  He had already given their prime directive: fill the earth...as in, all over the globe.  This concentration in one area and the pride that went with it were unacceptable, so He did the one thing that still frustrates us today - He caused them to have different languages.  Suddenly a simple request like "hand me a brick" sparked confusion from one side and an offended fight from another.  Unable to work together, they abandoned the task and started spreading out with others whom they could talk to.   From this we have derived the word 'babble' and the need for interpreters. Generations later, from Shem's lineage,...

God had told Adam that the price of rebellion would be death.  So it was, though the people remained physically alive, the souls within them had died.  Physical death came to one of the innocent animals in the garden, providing a covering both for rebellion and for their nakedness, of which they were suddenly ashamed. Cain, their firstborn, tended the garden and one day brought some of his crops as an offering to the Lord.  His younger brother Abel, who tended sheep, brought his first and best. God, who sees the heart, accepted Abel's gift, but not Cain's. In a jealous rage, Cain killed his brother, then tried to deny any knowledge of what had been done. God imposed a life sentence, and Cain, a marked man (lest any should kill him for vengeance), became a nomad. Another boy, Seth, was born to Adam & Eve, replacing their slain Abel and thoroughly disowned* Cain.  Adam & Eve had many other sons & daughters, from which Cain and Seth took wives and h...

God exists outside of time.  At some point, He decided to make people and, of course, a place for them to live. These chapters provide an account, in varying degrees of detail, of how He set about doing just that. He spoke into existence all that is... then He reached down to the surface of the planet to scoop up some dirt and hand-craft a man, who He called Adam.  He bent forward and breathed into this creature something that no other plant, animal, or object on this world has: a living soul, an essence of God Himself. Next, He gave this man one directive, one opportunity to choose obedience or self-will: Don't eat from that one tree, all others are freely yours. (Relationships aren't real if there's no opportunity to not be in them - it's the difference between love and captivity.) This man needed a companion suitable to himself, so God again reached down to the surface, and from the man's side created a separate but equal, different but same, human female.  She a...