Robert C Green II .com

Though I’m against resolutions of any sort when it comes to the New Year, I’ve decided that I want to read through the Bible in 90 days and possibly share some of my thoughts, questions, and concerns that I come across throughout my reading.

Day 1 was yesterday and required the reading of Genesis 1 – Genesis 6. A few verses struck me as either odd or powerful. Those verse are Genesis 3.22, 4.7, 4.26, and 6.3.

The first of these verses is Genesis 3.22:

And the Lord God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, what if he should stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever!”

Now what interests me here is that it seems that God wants to prevent man from eating from the tree of life because man would become more like God, not only knowing good and evil but also living forever. Now why would God want to prevent man from living forever? Initially man was created as an eternal being (death is part of the curse) and, in retrospect, Christ died in order to clear the path for those who trust in Him to approach the Father while entering into eternal life. Obviously God is not attempting to prevent man from remaining eternal while in his current stae. Maybe God fears that man will be too God-like and dangerous if he now lives forever. But why would the omnipotent fear the limited? This is obviously not the case. Maybe God is jealous and desires that there be no created beings that resemble Him in such a manner. This cannot be the case because we are created in the Imago Dei, the Image of God (Gen. 1.26-27). Something does not make sense here.

Now, let’s think about this logically: Man ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This disobedience is referred to as the fall and brings about the curse of sin and death. This brings man into a corrupted state where he is fully aware of his nature and sinful desires. These will lead to the experiences of guilt and struggling to fulfill and follow God’s law. Living eternally in this state would not be desirable, let only bearable, for most. God, in His great mercy, prevents man from eating for the tree of life in order to spare him the difficulty, pain, and guilt of bearing the knowledge of good and evil for all eternity while in his corrupted and sinful state. Instead this experience is limited to man’s earthly lifetime. So, basically, preventing man from eating from the Tree of Life does not occur out of jealousy or fear but out of a sincere desire to free and protect His creation from the struggle of sin, death, and guilt.

The second verse to consider is 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 master it.”

This verse is simply powerful and a recommendation to master the sin in your life and control it. This also gives me hope that while I am a sinful being I can still struggle and fight against sin with God’s help. I can master sin and I can do what is right and I can be acceptable to God – but only with His help. Isn’t it wonderful that His help turns out to be Christ – the great intercessor between God and man that has purified those who come to Him?

The third verse is Genesis 4.26:

At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord

What an interesting verse. At first I thought that this was referring to some kind of personal or corporate worship. But after reading some commentaries (here) I believe that this refers to the idea that men, for the first time, were distinguished by who they believed and worshiped. Those who worshiped God were called by His name and others were not.

The final verse is Genesis 6.3:

Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

I find this interesting because in the verses immediately following it man still lives for more than a 120 years! It must be that, after doing some research, that I still am not sure exactly how to take this verse. Go figure!