This is going to be one long document where I make notes as I’m working my way through reading the bible for the first time. It will contain vague questions and probably very few answers.
Genesis
Genesis 1:14
And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,
I think he’s talking about the stars here too. Which fits in with the idea that ancient humans knew about the precession of the stars.
Genesis 1:31
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.
Everything was good. But when he made humans, everything was very good. This hints that humans are good by nature. But that also working in harmony with nature and the earth is a major factor in what makes us good.
Genesis 2:24
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
This suggests the natural cycle of a man. A lot of people now aren’t doing this. They’re man toddlers, living with their parents in their 40s.
Genesis 3:5
‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’
Pitting Eve against God. Already planting in her mind that he’s hiding something from her.
Genesis 3:22
And the LORD God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever.’
What would happen if he did live forever? Would man become a god?
Genesis 4:5
but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Instead of working out how to make a better offering, Cain shifts the blame.
Genesis 4:7
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’
Sin is always there, ready to pounce. Are you going to make it easy for it? If you pick a noble aim, and you sacrifice what is required towards that noble aim, you will defend yourself against that sneaky creature called sin.
Genesis 4:9
Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’
He already knew. So he asked him as a chance to confess. Which hints that truth can be an option, and the best option, even in the worst scenario.
Genesis 4:12
When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.’
If you commit the biggest crime, you’ll always be restless. It’ll haunt you and you’ll be outcast from your entire society.
Genesis 4:15
But the LORD said to him, ‘Not so;e anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.’ Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
You don’t even get the privilege of being noticed or interacting with others. You are marked and they will totally avoid you.
Genesis 4:24
If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.’
Killing people over a minor issue. Hints that sin is generational. It ripples through time and can get worse exponentially.