Genesis 3
Notes
Transcript
Four views of Genesis 1
Intelligent, honest, Bible-believing, scholarly Christians believe each of these. Don’t fall into the trap of dividing Christians along these lines . . . you may find people you respect on the other sides of these lines.
Literal 6-day view
Pros
Is a plain reading
Is not undone by the rest of scripture
High value of humanity and image of God
Cons
Not historical view of the Church (rising in the 1840s and again in the 1970s)
Materialistic view of creation (Focus on God making matter)
Nobody takes it ALL literally.
Figurative approach (Literary Framework)
Pros
“The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of Man.” Westminister Shorter Catechism 3
The Bible doesn’t teach astronomy.
Good evidence in the text of literary styles (3X3 days containing 8 creative acts)
Cons
(Usually) Low view of intended audience.
Risk of undermining image of God and consequences for sin.
Not a plain reading.
Analogous Workweek (modified Day-Age Theory)
Pros
God models an Israelite workweek. See 10 Commandments.
Cohesive with chapter 2 (God made man before the rainy season).
Length of days not important. No need to try to reconcile with science.
Keeps a plain reading. Fits the overall theme of Genesis.
Cons
Materialist view of creation.
Overlooks some details.
Evolutionary Creationism
Pros
Focuses on the genre of Genesis (theological history in a figurative manner).
Preserves inerrancy of Scripture in light of scientific advances.
Compatible with what we see around us.
Cons
Not the historical view of the church.
Influenced by culture.
Less of a framework and more of a way to harmonize Genesis and science.
Materialist view of creation.
Functional view (identify accounts view)
Pros
Focus on the image of God.
Faithful to the Biblical account.
Cosmic temple theme consistent with the rest of Scripture
Cons
Not the historic teaching of the church.
Requires assumptions of ancient thought.
What do you see?
Too often, we modern folk ask Genesis to answer modern questions, like how old is this water-covered ball that spins at 1000 mph in space while orbiting a nuclear-powered fireball?
But Genesis wasn’t written to us. It was written for us, but not to us. It was written to people asking ancient questions. What are those ancient questions?
You probably didn’t realize that the birds and the bees were created on day 1 … but to tell this story, we need to talk about sex.
What do you see?
Ancient creation stories aren’t concerned about material stuff. It’s a mistake to try to figure out how “dust” fits into mankind’s chemical composition. “Dust” does, however, tell us about the function of mankind. “Dust” tells us quite a lot, actually, but nothing about chemistry or biology.
The phrase “These are the generations of...” as an introduction is used 11 times in Genesis.
Before the Patriarchs: The need for a family of God
2:4 Heaven and earth
5:1 Adam’s line
6:9 Noah
10:1 Shem, Ham, and Japheth
11:10 Shem
The Patriarchs in the Promised Land: Establishing the family of God
11:27 Terah
25:12 Ishmael
25:19 Isaac
36:1 Esau
36:9 Esau
The Patriarchs in Egypt: Incubation for the Covenant People
37:2 Jacob
As we look, let’s ask ourselves . . . is this how we would tell this story?
Chapter 1: God arranges the furniture
Chapter 2: God puts the man in the garden and creates woman—man was incomplete without her
Remember that we are still answering ancient questions. “Why am I like this?”
Do you teach your kids how to do evil?
Do you believe in monsters?
Does your boss let you side hustle on company time?
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”
“No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit 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 knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
And he said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”
So the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So the Lord God said to the serpent:
Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock
and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.
I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.
He said to the woman:
I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children with painful effort.
Your desire will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.
And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:
The ground is cursed because of you.
You will eat from it by means of painful labor
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.”
The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.
The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.
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