A. Marie Silver

A. Marie Silver

Genesis and the Generation Gap

If you’re new to this series, please read this first.

Earlier this week I finished reading Genesis. One book down. 65 to go.

As I mentioned in Blogging the Bible, I’m using this book for the study guide.

 

As a writer, I’m very big on citing my sources. The last thing I’d ever want is to be accused of plagiarizing, especially when it’s the Bible. So here is the exact Bible I’m using throughout this series. 

After completing Genesis, I went through the study guide. I have to be honest, I didn’t get much out of the questions in the study guide. The author of the study guide would talk about something in the Old Testament and then reference a verse from the New Testament. Maybe he did this to support or give credibility to whatever he was talking about in the Old Testament. All he actually did was confuse me because I thought the focus was supposed to be on Genesis. As a result of all the jumping around I did in both the Old and the New Testament, three things happened.

  1. I got whiplash
  2. I did get a little more familiar with the books of the Bible and where they’re located (Old Testatment v. New Testament.)
  3. The book of Hebrews stumps me every time. I always go looking for it in the Old Testament but it’s actually in the New Testament. 

Near the end of the questions, the students were asked to list who the four key players of Genesis were. The answer:

  1. Noah
  2. Abraham
  3. Jacob
  4. Joseph.

And I think the reason these are the significant players of Genesis is because it’s from them that the 12 Kingdom’s of Israel are born. But don’t quote me on that because I have no idea what I’m doing.

That was pretty much it for the study guide. Like I mentioned earlier, I didn’t get much out of the actual study guide. Fortunately, the book of Genesis had a different outcome for me. Here’s what I learned.

 

via GIPHY
 

In a nutshell, here are the stories from the book of Genesis.

The Creation

You don’t have to be a Christian to be familiar with the first two verses of Genesis, chapter 1. They’ve been cited in a lot of movies over the years. But if you’re not familiar, here they are:

Verse 1: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

 

via GIPHY
 

Verse 2: Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

In case you’re wondering why I put that gif in the middle of the those two verses, there’s a very interesting explanation. In both the study guide and the footnotes of the Bible, it has been suggested by scholars that the earth mentioned in verse 1 is not the same earth mentioned in verse 2. Scholars believe that the earth in verse 1 was actually destroyed when Lucifer fell from God’s grace.  And the earth in verse 2 was created later. Both books I’m using refer to this as a generation gap. This was something I didn’t know. If it was brought up in my confirmation classes 30 some years ago, I don’t remember. Also, I had a habit of not paying attention to anything during confirmation classes. But here I am now, alert and interested and the generation gap is very fascinating.

Adam & Eve

God created Adam and & Eve to walk the earth and they really only had one rule to follow: don’t eat from the Tree of Knowledge.

Then a long came a snake.

 

via GIPHY
 

The snake convinced Eve to eat the apple. Then she shared it with Adam. Then God came along and they tried to hide from Him.

 

via GIPHY
 

And when confronted about the big no-no they committed, they both handled it like classy adults.

 

via GIPHY
 

So God cursed both of them. And now as a result, women have monthly menstrual cramps and painful childbirth.

 

via GIPHY

Cain & Abel

Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. Eve gave birth to Cain & Abel. God favored Abel’s offerings to God because they were genuine and from the heart. Cain’s offerings were something he did as part of his routine. Every so often he’d look at the sky and go, “Oh yeah…..I have to run over and bring God an offering.” God doesn’t like it when people do things for Him out of routine and obligation. He wants us to make offerings to Him because we love Him and we’re excited to have Him in our lives.

It highly annoyed Cain that God favored Abel, so Cain killed Abel.

 

via GIPHY

Noah

Adam & Eve had another son, Seth. It was from Seth’s side of the family tree that Noah was born.

The sin that entered the world was a huge disappointment to God. He made a plan to wipe out all life and start from scratch. But God favored Noah and Noah’s family, so He instructed Noah to build an arc and plan for a flood. With the help of a few friends, Noah did as he was told.

 

via GIPHY
 

After the flood, God blessed Noah and all of his kin and promised He would never flood the world again.

 

via GIPHY
 

 

via GIPHY
 

I realize the book of Genesis doesn’t end here, but I think this is enough for this week.

Thanks for shopping Snark, Sass, & Sarcasm! I’ll see you next time.

If you like it, please pin it!

2 Responses

  1. When I was in my twenties, the college I attended offered an English course in which the Bible was read and interpreted as a novel, or any other text used in an English course. I did not take the class. My mother had a fit when I suggested it. I wish now I had. I think much of what you’re expressing here in the confusion would be fleshed out in an academic course.

    Good luck on your study!

    1. Hmmm. An academic course? That’s an interesting idea. I’ll have to check around here and see if such a course exists at the local University.

Leave a Reply

POPULAR POSTS
ABOUT ME
A. Marie Smith

Your short bio telling the story of why you are a writer and the things that you think are important.