Category: Bible

Genesis 2. Adam and Eve.

 

And this is the reason we are having a seven day week, starting with what we call Sunday, or more precisely Saturday evening after sunset, and ending the seventh day with a day of no creative work. This is called sabbath.

This is the second name of God, the covenantal name Jehovah, or Jahwe.

Jews and Christians have Jahwe or Jehovah as the main name for God, since Elohim just means “the strongest strong one” and is valid for any God. This is where Islam parts from Judeo – Christian belief, not accepting Jehovah, only Allah, (and 98 more names for God, the hundredth being known only to Allah himself.)

 

We are still in the early days of a functioning eco-system, and rains have not started yet. Yet there is plenty of water on the earth, the earth was formed before the sun was turned on. Yes, water was created before the luminaries.

So, the question is, where was the garden of Eden?

The river Euphrates and Tigris are mentioned, so the simplest guess is it must be between the two rivers.

And indeed, some early map puts the garden downstream of Babylon, a vast marshy land with meandering rivers between Euphrates and Tigris. On the map below the lower river is Euphrates.

But, the Muslims have another explanation, placing Eden nearer the Red Sea, this time in Ethiopia and Sudan.

And they place importance on Pishon and Gihon, being the Blue Nile and Atbarah river

The problem with this interpretation is manifold, Eden is East of the promised land, not south, and Euphrates is the most prominent of all rivers in the middle east.

So this will place Eden south of Babylon. An alternate location, is near the beginning of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris,

Tanotherhis interpretation is favored by the Kurds, a proud people living in Eastern Turkey and Syria, Northern Iraq and North West Iran. They are very proud of being the cradle of civilization.

The garden of Eden is still a picture of ideal conditions, peace and prosperity.

Only one restriction. I see trouble ahead. More to follow.

It means Adam named all the birds and beasts as he encountered them. His offspring continued the process, and it is still going on.

I have chosen to take this description spiritually. Feel free to take it literally, remembering, this is easy for God to do, compared to the rest of Creation.

Yes, Jesus himself took the spiritual lesson and applied it to mankind. God’s idea is, one man, one woman, one lifetime. This indeed would abolish a whole host of diseases, not to mention the hurt that comes from breakups, betrayals and falsehood.

 

 

Genesis 1. The Creation.

Now it must be said, it is attributed to Moses. He did not write it all down himself, but had help from the local scribes. After Moses death it was completed, including even his burial.

 

Yes there was a beginning. The question is, before energy and matter does time and space even make sense? Since we are bound in space and time, and all observations we can make are from our experiences in space and time. Yet the Bible is clear: Before Creation there was God!

Which leads us to

 

This is the first hint of the triune aspect of God, three, yet one. God the Father creator, God the Son – Jesus Christ is also called the Word, and the Holy Spirit – God’s spirit.

Footnote: Elohim is Hebrew, the corresponding Arab word is Allah, which is also plural.

 

Notice God omitted saying it was good – for the second day only! Why?

It takes time, and a full cycle to build a stable eco-system.

Clouds are God’s way of stabilizing temperatures. If there were no clouds, temperatures in the tropics would be as high as 140 degrees F.  There are many different cloud types:

Of these cloud types the cumulus clouds and the cumulonimbus (Thunder storms) are the most important in stabilizing the temperatures. They appear during day and afternoon if temperatures are rising enough, there is enough humidity and some form of aerosol or cosmic radiation to form a condensation point.  These clouds cool significantly, mostly by reflecting incoming sunlight back into space.

 

Footnote. We are all created into God’s image, male and female.

A man has an X and a Y chromosome, a woman has two X chromosomes. There are a few other combinations with an extra chromosome, rare, but they do exist. Total combinations, XX, XY, XXY, XYY.

 

Yes, it was very good. Time for a day of rest.