Monday, 13 July 2009 00:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Two Trees

The Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed... In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9

 

In the centre of Eden were two trees. One of them offered life, while the other offered death. One represented intimacy with God, the other represented knowledge. We already know from which tree the fruit was taken, but I am still struck by how often this choice of two trees mirrors our own stories. How often do you choose knowledge about God over intimacy with him?

Tuesday, 14 July 2009 00:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Two Trees

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17

 

God does not forbid eating fruit from the tree of life… I only noticed this recently and it has added real poignancy to this story for me. Like Adam and Eve, we regularly choose to focus on what God says is unhealthy or bad for us rather on the good things he has already given us access to. Do you need to do some re-focusing this week?

Wednesday, 15 July 2009 00:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Two Trees

The Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever. So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden... Genesis 3:22-23

 

Adam and Eve begin their journey away from the garden in what could be seen as a severe move by God to banish them from Eden. However, God in his grace is actually protecting them; if they ate now from the tree of life they would have to live forever with their sin. God sends them away, but he doesn’t abandon them. It’s like God too moves away from the garden to walk in the desert…

Thursday, 16 July 2009 00:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Downward Spiral

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Genesis 4:8

 

This is the first of some horribly violent journeys in Scripture. Cain takes his brother Abel into his field and kills him.

Cain is the first man to cultivate the cursed land* and he offers God an unsolicited offering from this land.** Was he trying to “sweet-talk” his way back into the garden? Could God’s rejection of Cain’s offering be a rejection of religion?***

After all, does not religious activity bring death instead of life?

 

FOOTNOTES
* See Genesis 3:17-18
** Genesis 4:3
*** Genesis 4:5

Friday, 17 July 2009 00:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Downward Spiral

Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Genesis 4:16

 

When reading the story of Cain it strikes me that Cain did not leave God’s presence until verse 16. Up until this point God is presented in close relationship with Cain! As Cain gave into religion and envy and hate, God came and spoke to him. Have you ever known God interrupt you just before you sinned?

Did you listen?

Monday, 20 July 2009 00:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Downward Spiral

Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. Genesis 4:17

 

Cain has been told by God that he will become a restless wanderer on the earth (Genesis 4:12). Hopefully a time of reflective wandering will lead Cain to return to God. Sadly though, we find him building a city; he’s decided to settle down outside of God’s presence.

Don’t we do something similar when we refuse to say sorry for our sin? Do you need to move back towards God today by saying sorry?

Tuesday, 21 July 2009 00:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Downward Spiral

The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain… God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. Genesis 6:6 & 6:12

 

This is the first time the phrase “God saw” has been used since Genesis 1. Back in Genesis 1 everything God saw was good; how dramatically the tide has turned! God looks now and sees the impact of sin upon his creation and is grieved. “The Fall” as Christians call it, is more of a downward spiral into sin. Noah was the 9th generation after Adam. Sin left unchecked spirals out of control.

Wednesday, 22 July 2009 00:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Downward Spiral

I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens… but I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark. Genesis 6:17-18

 

Noah is told to build an ark. He and his three sons take (I’m guessing) at least a decade to build this huge vessel. So while a flood may seem a harsh response to man’s sin, God in his grace gives years of warning. Each day was another chance for people to repent and help Noah build. Instead humanity chose sin over God.

Thursday, 23 July 2009 00:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Downward Spiral

As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there… “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the… earth.” Genesis 11:2 & 11:4

 

The Mediterranean Sea formed Israel’s western border while desert stretched out from their eastern border. Moving east represented to the Israelites moving into a place of danger, hostility and enemies. In Genesis moving east is used as a picture of humanity moving farther and farther away from God’s dream.

At Babel the people are celebrating their ingenuity and God comes and disrupts their plans. In which direction (metaphorically) is your life moving?

Friday, 24 July 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Leaving Ur

Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when the came to Haran they settled there. Genesis 11:31

The direct route from Ur to Canaan was across impassable desert so Abram’s dad would have led them north and then west alongside the Euphrates River.* Just at the moment when they’re due to turn south for Canaan, they turned north and settle instead in the city of Haran.**

How easy it is sometimes to be tempted off track from God’s way by the comfort and convenience this world has to offer?

 

FOOTNOTES:
* Ur was a city situated next to the Euphrates River in what is now modern-day southern Iraq
** Modern-day Turkey

Monday, 27 July 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Leaving Ur

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1

Abram would have lived in a close-knit family community and to be asked to leave them was a big deal. So why does God ask this of Abram? In Abram’s day it was your father who showed you how to pray, appease and sacrifice to the gods. God is calling him out of this old way of living (his father’s household) and into a new life in God’s household.

Tuesday, 28 July 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Leaving Ur

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2-3

Religion has always been about staying on the right side of the gods. In the ancient world if you had a bad crop the gods were unhappy with you. Through religious rituals you tried to appease the gods and asked for their blessing.

What’s amazing here is that God blesses Abraham out-of-the-blue! Praise God that his blessing flows out of his tremendous grace! We don’t have to do anything to gain it!

Wednesday, 29 July 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Leaving Ur

So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. Genesis 12:4

Up until this point, Abram’s journey with his family had been easy. All they had done thus far (almost without thinking) was to follow the Euphrates river and one of her tributaries hundreds and hundreds of miles to Haran. But now as he sets off for “the land [God] will show [him]” (Genesis 12:1) there is no river to follow.

Journeying with God requires stepping out into the unknown trusting that God will show you the way.

Thursday, 30 July 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall [a] and posted in Leaving Ur

Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:7

 

At regular intervals on Abram’s journey he builds altars to God. These may have been a wee bit like the Cairns you find up mountains. They acted like stone memorials to remind Abram (and his descendants) of how far God had brought him.

Do you have any “altars” set up in your life to remind you of God’s love and goodness and transformative power in bringing you thus far?