Tag: resurrection

The Irrevocable Decree

Posted on by jovial_cynic
One of the recurring themes in Scripture is the instances of various kings making an irrevocable decree that someone wicked uses to lead the people of God into doom.
The primary example: “Whoever doesn’t bow down and worship will die.”

Each time, the people of God are spared. Either the king makes a subsequent decree (Esther: the people may defend themselves) or a miracle happens (Daniel: the 4th man in the furnace; the lions den).

The whole Bible is set up this same way:

But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:17 (NIV)

The Irrevocable Decree: “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. In the day you eat it, you will surely die.”

Humanity eats the fruit and is doomed to die. Like the advisors/governers of the kings, the serpent brings the people of God into death.

But like the people of God who cry out for rescue, Adam cries out for Life by naming his wife Eve, which means life.

Like the Kings, God leaves the decree of death in place.

But God makes a new decree: the Resurrection.

The Gardener

Posted on by jovial_cynic

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:15 (NIV)

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
John 20:15 (NIV)

If you study Genesis first, the Gospels will make more sense.

The Midrash has a saying: when God made Adam in His Image, the angels suddenly couldn’t tell which one was God and which one was Adam. It wasn’t until God made Adam fall asleep that they knew which one was God.

Separating

Posted on by jovial_cynic
Genesis 1 and 2 show us God creating through a process of separating: light from dark, land from water, Isha from Ish. I think the pattern here in Genesis 15 is related.

Here, it’s Abram who cleaves the animals. We might agree that this is a destructive act, rather than a creative one. However, we see that God dwells even in those separations, shown as a torch that passes between them. It’s quite powerful imagery: God in the spaces between.

I like to think that God healed those animals that were cleaved, and He brought them back to life so Abram could see that God is Lord over death and life as well.

Sleep and Death

Posted on by jovial_cynic
When we read that God made Adam sleep in Genesis 2:21, the Rabbis tell us that sleep is a microcosm of death. It points to an end.

Perhaps Adam’s waking revelation of another life made from him tells us that in waking from death, we will be joined with another. Complete.

And perhaps the waking tells us another thing: If Adam is like God, his own sleep/death tells us that God will die and rise to be united with his bride, too.