Last week we went over Genesis Chapter 2, which Pastor explained was simply an expansion of the events in Chapter 1 and not, as one might think, a completely different story. Since he is committed to a literal view of the Bible in which there are no contradictions I was interested to see how he would handle it.
Unlike Chapter 1 which ends with the creation of humans, both male and female, Chapter 2 starts out with a bare earth. "Before the grasses of the field and the trees of the field were created," God took a handful of clay and created the first male human and set him in a garden to till it. This does not contradict Genesis 1 because what we are talking about here are plants used in agriculture not plants in general. Ok. But a few verses later we are told that the man is alone and this is not good, so then God created all the animals and brought them to him to see what he would name them. Well, I guess Pastor used up his allotted time explaining why the part about the plants doesn't contradict Chapter 1 that he didn't have time to explain about the animals. Because it is quite clear from the text that it is not just talking about domestic animals but wild animals too. At any rate, after Adam reviews all the animals and finds no mate among them then God puts him in a sleep and takes something (not necessarily a rib) from his side and makes the first woman. And Adam is absolutely delighted.
Now many scholars think that these are indeed two separate stories by two separate writers and I tend to agree. It's almost like two groups of rabbis arguing. "This is how it happened." "No, no, no, it happened this way." Both stories are trying to make the same point, that humans are special. The second story also says that we are not just another creation, but that we have work to do and also that marriage is special, it's not like the mating of the animals. Work, by the way, isn't just a 9-to-5 job in which you get paid. Work in this context means a vocation, a calling. You may or may not get paid for it. We may not all have jobs but we all have callings. Sometimes it takes a long time to know what that is. Sometimes you may already be doing it and not know what it is. Sometimes it is the same thing as your job and sometimes it is different. Sometimes you can be lucky and it can be both.
But all is not well in this newly created world. There is a tree in the middle of the garden which God tells Adam (before he has created Eve) that he is not to eat any of its fruit, because then he will know good and evil. Why this tree was put there in the first place the story doesn't say. It seems to me common sense that if you don't want someone to get into something you make sure that it isn't easily accessible. But anyway, God tells Adam that on the day he eats this fruit he surely will die.
Now, I was of the understanding that when the text says "on that day you surely will die" it means you will drop dead right then and there. Sort of like the power company ads that say don't go near a fallen power line because it will kill you. But not at all, according to Pastor. The Hebrew actually means something quite different. Well, why didn't they translate it that way? I may not know Hebrew but I do have a Jewish Publication Society translation of the Tanakh and it says the same thing, "on this day you will surely die." And I hardly doubt that the JPS is going to slant their translation to suit Christian bias. So what is going on here? Something is not right here . . .
Next, "The Troublesome Tree"
Unlike Chapter 1 which ends with the creation of humans, both male and female, Chapter 2 starts out with a bare earth. "Before the grasses of the field and the trees of the field were created," God took a handful of clay and created the first male human and set him in a garden to till it. This does not contradict Genesis 1 because what we are talking about here are plants used in agriculture not plants in general. Ok. But a few verses later we are told that the man is alone and this is not good, so then God created all the animals and brought them to him to see what he would name them. Well, I guess Pastor used up his allotted time explaining why the part about the plants doesn't contradict Chapter 1 that he didn't have time to explain about the animals. Because it is quite clear from the text that it is not just talking about domestic animals but wild animals too. At any rate, after Adam reviews all the animals and finds no mate among them then God puts him in a sleep and takes something (not necessarily a rib) from his side and makes the first woman. And Adam is absolutely delighted.
Now many scholars think that these are indeed two separate stories by two separate writers and I tend to agree. It's almost like two groups of rabbis arguing. "This is how it happened." "No, no, no, it happened this way." Both stories are trying to make the same point, that humans are special. The second story also says that we are not just another creation, but that we have work to do and also that marriage is special, it's not like the mating of the animals. Work, by the way, isn't just a 9-to-5 job in which you get paid. Work in this context means a vocation, a calling. You may or may not get paid for it. We may not all have jobs but we all have callings. Sometimes it takes a long time to know what that is. Sometimes you may already be doing it and not know what it is. Sometimes it is the same thing as your job and sometimes it is different. Sometimes you can be lucky and it can be both.
But all is not well in this newly created world. There is a tree in the middle of the garden which God tells Adam (before he has created Eve) that he is not to eat any of its fruit, because then he will know good and evil. Why this tree was put there in the first place the story doesn't say. It seems to me common sense that if you don't want someone to get into something you make sure that it isn't easily accessible. But anyway, God tells Adam that on the day he eats this fruit he surely will die.
Now, I was of the understanding that when the text says "on that day you surely will die" it means you will drop dead right then and there. Sort of like the power company ads that say don't go near a fallen power line because it will kill you. But not at all, according to Pastor. The Hebrew actually means something quite different. Well, why didn't they translate it that way? I may not know Hebrew but I do have a Jewish Publication Society translation of the Tanakh and it says the same thing, "on this day you will surely die." And I hardly doubt that the JPS is going to slant their translation to suit Christian bias. So what is going on here? Something is not right here . . .
Next, "The Troublesome Tree"
