Bible In a Year - Genesis 4 to 7 (#2)

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*Based on ESV.com's Chronological Bible In a Year schedule. If anyone would like to join in, this blog's comments sections would be a good forum in which to share insights from the text.
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Genesis 4 Reading about the world's first murderer sobers me up. Two lessons: (1) sin crouches at the door and desires to have me, and I need to rule over it through strict discipline, being ever watchful lest my own sinfulness should it take its opportunity and rule over me; (2) sin carries on through many generations - what started as Cain's sin became Lamech's greater sin in the seventh generation, just as King Solomon's sin became Ahaz' greater sin many years later. Our sins can destroy generations of those who come after us.

Genesis 5 Genealogies in the Bible are not boring. Three lessons, just from this particular genealogy: (1) Sin results in separation from God's blessings. Without access to the healing leaves of the Tree of Life (see Revelation 22.2), human death became a certainty and overall life expectancy deteriorated. (2) This genealogy connects the growing sin of Cain's family tree and fast-forwards to a time when that sinfulness had grown to the point of consuming the entire earth's populations. (3) The genealogy of Seth, as opposed to the earlier genealogy of Cain, shows that godliness and virtue can be passed through generations as well: "train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Cain's line ends with a greater sinner in Lamech, but Seth's line produces Enoch (who was taken up to the throne of God without experiencing death) and Noah (who alone was righteous in his generation).

Genesis 6 Noah seems like a definite Messiah candidate; not only was he born with the expectation that he would "bring relief from work and painful toil," but God used him to start over again with the creation of the world. Ultimately, Noah was not the Messiah and made mistakes like every other man. Still, it's worth noting that from the very earliest days, those who knew God were awaiting a flesh-and-blood savior to deliver them. SECOND, Kendra and I had a really interesting discussion about whether or not the "sons of God" who slept with human women were demons, and whether these same unions might still be happening, and whether this might be the reality behind some of the demi-god stories of some Greek mythology. I'd encourage you to do a study on Nephilim in the Bible; you'll find some interesting things.

Genesis 7 Noah could distinguish between clean and unclean animals before the Old Testament law even came into effect that told which was which. I wonder whether there were only certain animals that God accepted as sacrifices before the Flood, and whether God limited Israel to that diet in an effort to make them live to be "holy, as [He is] holy." Not only would they live out his character in godliness, but they would eat only the foods that he had declared acceptable for sacrifice - Israel would truly be a holy nation.