Tag: Adam

Adam’s Redemption

Posted on by jovial_cynic

This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.
Genesis 5:1-5 (NKJV)

Perhaps the story of Adam’s redemption is found in Genesis 5, verses 1-5.

Wandering

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And it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’
Genesis 20:13 (NASB)

Wandering may feel aimless, isolating, and hopeless. Lonely. But at this time in the story, Abraham has been wandering for 24 years, never settling. But look at who causes this wandering. It is God, who made a promise to bless Abraham and lead him to a land he would show him.

So when you read that God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, understand: He caused them to wander, too.

But not alone.

To Suffer with Us

Posted on by jovial_cynic
If Adam’s first words about Eve in Genesis 2 echo God’s heart towards humanity in Genesis 1, perhaps Genesis 4 is saying something: “And then Adam knew his wife.”

After sin, God said: I will know them. I will experience them. I will suffer with them.

And then Cain kills Abel.

Perhaps God is saying to Abel: I’m going to suffer your senseless death.

Perhaps God is saying to Eve: I’m going to suffer your heartache and loss.

And perhaps God is saying to Cain: I’m going to suffer being rejected and hated.

Corruption of Knowing

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And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
Genesis 19:5 (KJV)

The rabbis agree that Genesis 19 refers to homosexual relations, but it’s clear that this isn’t the “to know” that Adam and Eve experienced in Genesis 4:1. It’s not a union of two who become one flesh. And it’s not like the “to know” that God experiences with Abraham in Genesis 18:19, where spiritual intimacy and oneness is presented to us.

It’s a threat of violence against unwilling participants. In that regard, it’s more like Genesis 6:4, with similar consequences.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of mankind, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:4 (NASB)

After this, the Flood. After this, the Fire.

The Story of the Woman

Posted on by jovial_cynic

But God said, “No, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
Genesis 17:19 (NASB)

There is something so sneaky and subversive about the way Genesis talks about women, you miss it if you read it too quickly.

For starters, while Abraham is the “father of our faith,” the story about the miraculous birth is really Sarah’s story, not Abraham’s.

Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.
Genesis 11:30 (NASB)

Remember, the inability to have children wasn’t Abe’s problem. He was able to have a son with Hagar, which meant he was perfectly capable of having children.

But Sarah was barren, and there is a sense of grief and desperation that surrounds her.

Though she is abusive towards Hagar, she reacts from a place of hurt and shame. It isn’t excusable, but it is understandable. She feels diminished and small, but God elevates her and changes her name.

The thing is, the name change for Sarah seems a bit subtle. Some translations (the NASB, for example) say that the words Sarai and Sarah are the same, but just in different dialects. But most translation commentaries state that going from Sarai to Sarah is going from “my princess” to “princess,” so there’s at least a sense of enlargement or increase in scope of her princessly responsibilities, whatever those may be. But what is a “princess,” exactly?

As it turns out, it has nothing to do with being the “daughter of a king,” but it does have everything to do with royalty and authority.

Both versions of her name are the feminine version of a word that means ruler. Chief. The one in charge. The shot caller.

I. prince, ruler, leader, chief, chieftain, official, captain
1. chieftain, leader
2. vassal, noble, official (under king)
3. captain, general, commander (military)
4. chief, head, overseer (of other official classes)
5. heads, princes (of religious office)
6. elders (of representative leaders of people)
7. merchant-princes (of rank and dignity)
8. patron-angel
9. Ruler of rulers (of God)
10. warden
Strongs: H269 (שַׂר): sar

Now, if you have gender-roles and leadership expectations in your head that precondition you to place a man in higher authority than a woman, you might think that Abram was wrong for listening to his wife in Genesis 16:6, but consider Genesis 21:12. Who tells Abraham to listen and heed his wife? It is God.

But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and your slave woman; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.
Genesis 21:12 (NASB)

And actually, any statement about the consequences of men “listening to women” fall rather flat when you realize that nothing Eve said was wrong back in the Garden of Eden. Look at Eve’s words!

The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”
Genesis 3:2-3

Perhaps Adam should have listened more closely, actually.

Sarah is elevated from being royal leadership with Abram to being royal leadership with Abraham: the leadership and authority tied to the father of nations. She is, in a way, wisdom, personified.

By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
By me princes rule, and nobles,
All who judge rightly.
Proverbs 8:15-16 (NASB)

(In Hebrew, “by me” can also be read “with me.” It’s a connective preposition.)

And to make it even more clear how much Sarah is elevated, God says it twice in one verse!

I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
Genesis 17:16 (NASB)

So blessed!

And why not? God made it clear that the Son of the Promise will be through her. Yes, through Abraham, but *also* through Sarah. Because God does not view her lower than him, or higher than him, but with him.

And that’s how it is meant to be.

Listen to Eve

Posted on by jovial_cynic
If you think God said “because you have listened to the voice of your wife” to mean what we should not heed the voice of our wives, you have misunderstood.

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
Cursed is the ground because of you;
With hard labor you shall eat from it
All the days of your life.
Genesis 3:17 (NASB)

Look more closely!

The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”
Genesis 3:2-3 (NASB)

Go back to the start of the chapter and look at exactly what Eve said. What are her words? What would have happened if Adam had listened to her and heeded her words?

Can you see it? The problem isn’t that Adam listened to his wife’s voice and obeyed her. The problem is that Adam did NOT heed his wife’s voice.

Look at it more closely: The charge against Adam was not that he obeyed his wife, causing him to eat the fruit. The charge is that he HEARD his wife speak the truth and he STILL ATE THE FRUIT ANYWAY.

He heard her. Her words were true.

The problem is that after hearing God tell him not to eat it, and then hearing his wife say that they were told not to eat it, Adam disobeyed God and ate it anyway.

Fear Not

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He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Genesis 3:10 (NIV)

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
Genesis 15:1 (NIV)

If you study it from the beginning, you’ll see that Genesis 15 is speaking directly to the things of Genesis 3.

These are the first two instances of this word “afraid” in scripture.

Adam’s Language

Posted on by jovial_cynic
If Genesis is meant to be read literally, this is a fun thought: Eber, great-grandson of Shem, son of Noah, refused to help with the Tower of Babel, so the Hebrew language didn’t get confused during God’s action on humanity’s languages. Therefore, Hebrew is the same language Adam spoke.

It doesn’t have to be true. But it’s fun!

From the Wikipedia article on the word/name “Eber:”

The 13th-century Muslim historian Abu al-Fida relates a story noting that the patriarch Eber, the great-grandson of Shem, refused to help with the building of the Tower of Babel. As a result, his language was not confused when the tower was abandoned. He and his family alone retained the original Adamic language, which he identified as Hebrew, a language named after ʿEber.