blhowes
Puritan Board Professor
I've been reading and studying the first few chapters of Genesis, from creation through the flood, for the last few days, and will be focusing on them for a while. I thought I'd start a thread to use as a repository for questions and observations.
[Edited on 9-1-2005 by blhowes]
I've never thought about it much before, but I had always assumed that before time began and God started creating the world, that there was basically 'nothingness' (whatever that is), except for God. It seems from this verse that when God started creating the world there was already a body of water in existence. I wonder in what form the water was in when God started creation? Was the water already shaped as a sphere as the earth is now? When did God create this water? These questions are purely speculative, but I wonder if any of you have thought about them before?Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Do you think Cain knew when he offered the fruit of the ground unto the Lord that it wasn't an acceptable offering? Do you think God had told Adam and Eve and their children that only an animal sacrifice would be acceptable, or do you think it was a 'learn as you go' type thing (Cain and Abel offered the best they had to God, and God chose which one was acceptable)?Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Do you think Eve was adding to what God said, or do you think Eve's response gives us insights into what God had said to Adam and Eve that weren't explicitly written?Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
I've heard some say that Adam's 'test' was probationary in nature, that it was for some specific, unspecified time period. What in the scriptures would give us the idea that it was a probationary period of some duration - as opposed to being open-ended (ie., if you ever eat of the tree, you shall die).Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Was the tree of life a physical tree, just like any other tree, or was it more 'spiritual' in nature? If its physical, does it still exist somewhere in the middle east, but we just can't see it?Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
[Edited on 9-1-2005 by blhowes]