400

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
Genesis 15:12-14 (NASB)

Genesis 15:12-14 echoes Genesis 1:1-3.

The number 400 is represented by the Hebrew letter “tav,” which is the final letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It points to a finality; perhaps captivity in Egypt is a picture of something larger.

It is the past. It is the future. It is now.

Seeds in the Dirt

And the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your [a]descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12:7 (NASB)

[a] Lit seed

I’m charmed by the imagery of “seed in the land” that ties us back to the third day of creation.

Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit according to their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:11 (NASB)

After the water was separated from land, plants began to grow.

Yes, “seed” refers to descendants and offspring, but the word choice gives us an echo.

Great

And I will make you into a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing;
Genesis 12:2 (NASB)

In Genesis 12, God mentions this word “great” twice to Abraham, and if you’ve been following along, you know this means we should look more closely. Perhaps there is something here.

God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
Genesis 1:16 (NASB)

The very first time this word shows up in the Scriptures, it also shows up twice: the two great lights. And there is a mention of governing. Ruling. Something you expect a great nation to do well. So this feels related.

And God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:21 (NASB)

But in the same chapter, this word comes up again. The great sea creatures. Or perhaps great sea creature, which the rabbis suggest is the Leviathan: the great trouble of God’s people. And yet… given greatness. Authority. Like a kingdom of the sea. Or of darkness.

So we have these links between greatness and authority, and that all makes sense, although some will scratch their head at the Leviathan, unwilling to accept that the Serpent was also created by God. That’s fine.

But it’s the next instance of great that caught my attention.

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure!
Genesis 4:13 (NASB)

Cain murdered his brother, and God assigned a punishment: the ground will no longer yield fruit. You will wander forever.

The verse says: וַיֹּאמֶר קַיִן אֶל־יְהוָהגָּדוֹל עֲוֺנִי מִנְּשֹׂא

“My punishment is too great to endure!”

We read this in English, and it feels like a complaint: “You are too harsh!” And then it appears that God provides a protection over Cain, to prevent anyone from killing him.

The rabbis see something else here. Something greater.

The word “punishment” is an odd translation choice. It is the Hebrew word עָוֹן (“ah-vone”), which means “iniquity.” It is almost always translated that way in the rest of Scripture.

So in actuality, it reads: “My iniquity is too great to endure,” and in these words, the rabbis see a question, not a statement.

Cain is not saying that it is too great for HIM to bear. He is asking God: “is my iniquity too great for YOU to bear?”

Cain knows the story: his father Adam brought death to ALL humanity through disobedience, yet God covered him. He continued to bless him. He continued to loved him.

So Cain asks God: Is my sin too great? Can I not also be redeemed?

And in response, God covers Cain, this time with a mark to protect him from death.

Perhaps this is God’s greatness: Even though Adam brought death to us all, God has authority over death to redeem. Even though Cain brought death to his brother, God has the authority to restrain death from seizing Cain.

You have not met someone God cannot redeem. He can save you. He can even save me.

Authority to Rule Rightly

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.

Immediately after God blesses Noah and his sons in Genesis 9, we are given this strange and dark change: the animals of the world will view humanity with FEAR and DREAD.

In the Midrash, the rabbis note the change from Genesis 1, where humanity was blessed, told to be fruitful & increase and fill the earth, but were specifically given the authority/dominion over the animals. To RULE over them.

This authority to RULE appears to have been lost.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Genesis 1:28 (NIV)

This word “rule” (רָדָה, “radah”) is used a few more times in the Scriptures, but it isn’t shown to be restored or given back to humanity until Numbers 24, in the oddest way. It’s from Balaam, when he tries to CURSE Israel, and God turns the curse into a blessing:

“I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;
a scepter will rise out of Israel.
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls of all the people of Sheth.
Edom will be conquered;
Seir, his enemy, will be conquered,
but Israel will grow strong.
A ruler will come out of Jacob
and destroy the survivors of the city.”
Numbers 24:17-19 (NIV)

The Christian sees Jesus in this, whereas some Jews point to King David or future Messiah.

In the Messiah interpretation, it points to a future when God’s own hand empowers a star to rise from Jacob’s bloodline with the scepter of authority. To rule RIGHTLY.

This Ruler will not rule creation with FEAR and DREAD the way humanity will wield it, as expressed in Genesis 9. The Ruler will rule creation the way God intended in Genesis 1.

Of course, someone will note that the Balaam prophecy looks a lot like “FEAR” and “DREAD” for the enemies of God’s people.

Yes. But the “enemies of God’s people” are spiritual things, not nations or tribes or people. This is a parable.

Food for Everyone

And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 8:3 (NASB)

As for you, take for yourself some of every food that is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and them.
Genesis 6:21 (NASB)

The word “eat” shows up 21 times in Genesis 1 and 2, and it should tell us something. It’s made explicit in Deuteronomy.

When our spiritual hunger for God’s words matches our literal hunger for food, then we will be satisfied. Comforted.

Noah brought food on the Ark for everyone.

See how He Loves Us

This is how I read the scriptures:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 (NIV)

See how he loves us!

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.
Genesis 1:2 (NIV)

See how he loves us!

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:3 (NIV)

See how he loves us!

If I can’t see how He loves us in the passage, I stop and look for it. And I will never stop looking and listening until it all rings and echoes with this singular truth: See how he loves us!

A Foundation

Genesis 3 introduces sin and death, and it’s understood to be tragic. In some ways, terrifying. But if you’ve spent time pouring over Genesis 1 and 2 and see that a foundation has been laid down by God, you can trust the God of the story to fix what has been broken.

So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who relies on it
will never be stricken with panic.

Isaiah 28:16 (NIV)

Ish and Isha

The big question in Scripture I’ve chewed on for years is this: Why does shame not enter the world when Eve eats the fruit? Their eyes are not open and they don’t realize they are naked until ADAM eats.

Every answer I’ve heard has been untenable.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Genesis 3:6-7 (NIV)

The structure of the answers often start with this: “Adam was told the instruction before Eve existed.”

From this starting point, we get answers like this:

Eve was deceived. Adam should have told Eve & stopped her, but Adam was tempted by Eve.

It’s gender/marriage focused.

In this view, Adam failed in his responsibility, so men must take charge and lead. However, we’re still stuck with a question: If Adam didn’t eat, what happens? Why is there no shame yet?

But also, in the absence of sin, how does Adam “fail?”

This is a broken answer.

Another view suggests this is not a gender/marriage story at all. It’s a story of those hear God’s words directly vs those who don’t. Those who know the rules are accountable; those who don’t get more grace. But we all experience the consequence of the former’s disobedience.

In this view, Eve isn’t accountable; she didn’t hear the words from God directly; she only heard second-hand. The explains why she might have added to the law (“nor shall you touch it.”) It’s ignorance, and while it’s not sin, it makes you more vulnerable TO sin.

But…

While this view is more palatable (it helps answer “What happens to those who never hear the Gospel?”), it only roughly aligns with certain spiritual/religious views of the world, but NOT AT ALL with our lived reality: ignorance doesn’t prevent a consequence. It can cause it!

So both of these views, although interesting, are unsatisfactory. They fall out of alignment with the rest of scripture and our perceived reality, so I’m forced to reject them and keep studying. And in my studying, I’ve noticed a few things that are hard to ignore.

At the end of Gen 2:24, the text says something important: “… and they become one flesh.” They are ONE. In the Gen 1:27 creation account, it says the same thing.

(NIV breaks the translation and says “them” in both places, but it’s IT/HIM and THEM. It says they are one.)

וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם׃
H853: אֹתָם (‘ēṯ)

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

And while they are one, they don’t have names. I know you think Adam & Eve, but early in Genesis, Adam is actually “the adam/human” and is called by a noun and NOT a name.

In the Hebrew, Adam isn’t used as a name until Gen 3:17. Eve isn’t given a name until Gen 3:20.

For both, they don’t have names until after they both eat the fruit. Until then, they are the ish (אִישׁ – man/husband) and the isha (אִשָּׁה – woman/wife).

In Gen 2:23, the ish doesn’t say that the isha is simply a female version of him. He says the isha is FROM him.

“In the image of God He created him (the human).”
“Male and female He created them (the individuals).”

Despite now being split (ish/isha), they are still… one. And while we want to view them as a literal man and literal woman, there’s something else to see here.

Immediately after the text shows us the isha, it tells us what she is like in Genesis 3.

She…
hears/speaks to the serpent.
knows/speaks WHAT IS TRUE
builds a fence around the Law
sees FRUIT
shares FOOD
desires WISDOM & being like God
gives to the ish

This feels… spiritual.

And this is interesting: The Spirit (רוּחַ) of God in Genesis 1:2 is a feminine noun.

And “Wisdom’s desire” of Proverbs 8 sounds familiar:

Feminine (v1)
Knows the truth and can speak it (v6)
Knows good fruit (v19)
Shares food (v5)

What I see is that “the isha” of the human being is /like/ the Spirit of God; she is built with similar characteristics.

Let me be clear: I’m not making a statement about /women/ or /Eve/. Remember: at this time, the ish and the isha are ONE. One flesh. Of the same thing.

…but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
James 1:14-15 (NIV)

If the isha represents the part of humanity that is in tune with the spiritual world, able to see and hear the serpent/temptation and to know how to interpret and even safeguard the law (“nor shall you touch it”), perhaps the isha is our spirit. Perhaps the ish is our flesh.

In that, perhaps Genesis 3 is not merely a “how sin entered the world” sort of story, but it’s also a “how sin enters the world always” sort of story.

This way of framing the human condition also gives another message of hope from back in Genesis 2.

“It’s NOT GOOD that the man is alone.”
“In the day you eat of it, you will surely die.”

God doesn’t say “if.” It isn’t a conditional statement. The man will eat it. He will die. The only way to save him is to split him in two. The flesh WILL die, but the spirit will live.

The isha was built so the human could live.

When Adam gets a name, God tells says “to dust (‘adam’) you will return.” You will surely die.

When Adam names his wife, he calls her “Eve,” which means LIFE. This is why there is hope in her, and why her curse carries a promise.

Finally, their definitions (that is, the flesh and the spirit) are established, they have names, and God covers them in skin.

Going forward, it’s a story about a MAN, Adam and a WOMAN, Eve. Prior to having a covering, perhaps it was a story about our spiritual selves.