By: Susan Miller Balzer

Susan Miller Balzer — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:14:49 +0000

Some observations on Genesis 1-11
Some are serious; others just anecdotal. Comments are not researched at this time, but an accumulation of old and new thoughts on these passages made without reiterating what others have already said in this blog.
Ch.1 Love isn’t mentioned. Light and good describe God and God’s work.
1:9 let the dry land appear – Was land there all along? Would this, as well as the Flood, “explain” the geological evidence that Kansas was once under seawater?
11-13; 20-27 The order of creation in these verses somewhat follows evolution theory – first, vegetation; next, sea “monsters” and birds; followed by wild and domestic animals; then humans. We don’t have the kinds of bird-like and sea-dwelling “dinosaurs” today, but have evidence than such prehistoric life was on the planet. Did such creatures fail to “multiply”?
Humans are the only creation made in God’s image. Interesting, since “God is Light” and also we say we can find God in the creation.
Ch. 1-2 7th day Sabbath: Not all cultures have or had seven-day weeks. My missionary friends said that in Burkina Faso, the people had a five-day week based on market days. (I was waiting to confirm the information before writing it here. I didn’t hear from Loren or Donna Entz, but met their daughters who said it was a five-day week.) Weeks with other lengths are described on Wikipedia and other web sites.
Ch.2 Dust and ribs – People are made of elements found in the earth and sky. To dust we return when we die. The first “organ transplant” may illustrate our dependence on each other for our very lives. Could this scripture be used to promote the donation of kidneys, skin, etc. to help another person? Did God use stem cells to make Eve?
v.24 The placement of this verse is interesting. The only man who didn’t have a father and a mother leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife.
Ch.3 Fall: The fall led from love and connection with God to fear and disconnection. Nakedness was good in the Garden; later, in the Noah story, Ham was cursed after seeing his naked father. I John says perfect love cast out fear.
and live forever Why was God afraid that people might live forever? This concern came after God had instructed them to multiply.
First sin—Trusting the serpent rather than God; the tree was to be desired to make one wise. Why would someone in Paradise want to know anything but good? Why do people today want to know about all the evil that people do? Why do we spread evil gossip more readily than tell good news?
Second sin – murder – the most drastic and irreversible separation of people from each other.
Ch.5 Where did God take Enoch? Why?
Noah was to bring relief from toil (that was due to the ground God cursed). Was Lamech’s generation in very serious trouble with sin and its consequences?
5:2 Were Noah’s sons triplets?
Ch.6-7 The Lord regrets ever making humans. Why does all the earth need to suffer the Flood? Why not destroy only the sinful humans? It seems to reinforce the connections to the land and animals that God intended for humans to enjoy.
What a huge building and logistics project Noah had! I’d like to hear more from the women here.
Why the details on dates?
Ch. 8 v.1 God made a wind blow over the earth and the waters subsided—a new creation act?
Ch. 9 Permission to eat meat. This seems like a concession. Where before animals and humans all co-existed with each other and all were vegetation, we now have all kinds of animals fearing humans for their lives. This presents a good case for all people of peace to be vegetarians. Many of my peace friends, (whether or not they are Christians), choose to be vegetarian. We at HMC make provisions now for gluten-free foods at our church dinners, but rarely provide main dishes that are meatless, let alone being vegan.
9:6 capital punishment prescribed. Rejected later in the Bible, but why were these passages kept in the scriptures? And why the reminder here that humans are made in God’s image?
Ch. 10-11 Genealogies – Interesting that only Shem’s descendants’ ages are listed. We can see Middle East place names derived from the sons of Japheth and Ham.
v. 24 Nahor was 29 when his son Terah was born and then he lived “only” 119 more years – a total of 148 years. Nahor was the youngest man to become a father (of the men whose ages are listed) and lived the shortest life. Does becoming a parent at a young age shorten ones life?
Tower of Babel – nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them – Why was God not wanting people to be able to do the impossible? Is it because of the ambition to make a name for ourselves? These scriptures are used by those who object to the United Nations or other “world government” organizations. I think working for peace involves learning each others’ languages and working on things together. Pentecost would confirm that.

Comments on: Genesis Readings for 2010 Sermon Series

By: Susan Miller Balzer