Sunday, April 16, 2006

Day 1 - Opening Impressions

I knew it had been awhile since I'd opened my bible when I found the first pages of Genesis all scrunched together with a big creased wrinkle in them. Terrible! So my reading time began with trying to smooth out the pages.

So far I'm using my bible from seminary, which has all my notes from my Old Testament class penciled into the margins. (It's actually a great joy to go through them again.)

This time reading Genesis, I was noticing a few things: that God asks Adam where he is hiding and God asks Cain where his brother is; that nakedness shows up in Gen 3 after the fall and in 9:19 immediately after the flood abates; how quickly we get to Abram and the promise (12:3) after the creation/destruction stories; the way the tower of Babel seems to pair with the flood in the same way the second creation story pairs with the first.

Such beauty in those first pages of Genesis!

And finally, my question: what is the deal with the Nephilim (6:4)??? :)

2 comments:

cyen said...

I think I will have to keep a small notebook as I read this to jot down my thoughts. For some reason I don't like to mark in my books. Anyway, I too noticed the questions that God asked in the begining to both Adam and Cain... Again it makes me question the whole "all knowing" claim :)
Another Item that has always bothered me about the opening is how God is referred to in the plural. I've heard several explanations for this, but It's always bothered me. I wonder if it was simply like that Seinfeld episode where "Jimmy" always referred to himself in the first person ;)
Ugh, and all those names! I thought I was reading a bad fantasy novel! ;)
PS> For those who don't know me, I hope my posts don't come off as sounding too "irreverent". I have always thought that God has a great sense of humor, so I often look at things through that lens.
PS2> I did go back and finish the pages assigned for today after my nap ;)

see-through faith said...

honest - not irreverent. :) grin