Daily Bible Reading for January. (Eden, punishment, woman, sin)

[NCN]

January 1......Genesis Chapters 1-4

[DRob4JC]

From my blog... I only did chapters 1-3. The purpose is for this to be a quick paraphrase of the contents to get a feel for the content.

Of course this is the beginning of everything. God, being self existent, created the heavens and the earth. In six days, He put things in place so that humans can live on the earth. He created daytime and nighttime, the atmosphere, oceans, land masses, trees, vegetation, the sun, the moon, stars, animals, and finally human beings. Man was created by God in His own image to rule over the animals, and to sustain himself with the fruit from the vegetation. On the seventh day, God separated and blessed that day, and rested from His work.

From Gen 2:4 through the remainder of chapter 2, the text focuses on the creation of the first man and woman. Man was created physically from the ground, and spiritually from the breath of God. The man was put into the garden of Eden and was to work and maintain the garden. He was told to freely eat from all of the trees except one. Death (separation from the source of life) would result from him eating fruit from the forbidden tree. God thought is was not good for Adam to be alone, so He created the first woman, Eve, directly from Adam. The principle of marriage of a man and woman being “one flesh” originates here.

Genesis 3 is probably the most destructive chapter in the Bible since it is from here the whole human race is transfered from life with God to a cursed existence, full of sin and death. In brief, the serpent (which I suppose was an upright being before it was cursed by God) deceived Eve into eating fruit from the tree from which Adam was not supposed to eat. The deception of Eve turned into the disobedience of Adam when he decided to eat from the tree also. After Adam ate the fruit, they became knowledgeable of good and evil (like the serpent said). They hid themselves from God both physically (behind the trees) and spiritually (through blame). God set a series of curses in place for the serpent, woman, and man – and eventually they were removed from God’s presence. They were separated from the source of life, which is spiritual death. Eventually, they would experience physical death because of God’s curse. All people physically born are subject to these deaths.

[DRob4JC]

January 2 - Genesis 4-7

Adam and Eve have their first children in Genesis 4, and the effects of sin are evident. Sin effects everyone. The first part of chapter 4 recalls the murder of Abel. Abel gave an animal offering to the Lord, while Cain offered fruit from the ground. The Lord was not pleased with Cain’s offering. He warned Cain concerning his feelings, and how sin can be facilitated when people lead with their emotions. Do what is right and your feelings will follow. Cain did not listen to the Lord, and murdered Abel. The Lord punished Cain by cursing his work of the ground and making him a wanderer (no home) on the earth. The rest of the chapter is about the lineage of Cain (which ended up being wiped out in the worldwide flood in Gen 7).

In Genesis 5, Adam’s lineage through Seth is listed. It covers a period of approximately 1650 years – from Adam to the time almost to the worldwide flood. Note that Adam had other sons and daughters also – yes, they actually married their sisters in that day. It was not sin at that time. We see all of these generations – but it’s interesting to note that Adam was alive when Methuselah’s son Lamech (Noah’s father) was born near the end of the chapter. Enoch is noted as the sole person whose spirit was taken directly from the earth by God.

Genesis 6: The Lord was not pleased with the humans on the earth. At that time, people lived to be over 900 years old, the Lord decided to reduce that lifespan to 120 years max. Mankind was evil. Their hearts were incined to do evil continually and the Lord was sorry He made man on the earth. Only Noah found favor with the Lord. The Lord planned to destroy the earth and its inhabitants, with the exception of Noah. He planned a worldwide flood, and gave Noah plans to build an ark and to provide enough food so that all in the ark (his family and the animals) would be saved from the destruction.

In Genesis 7, Noah built the ark, and at the proper time, God gave Noah instructions concerning the details of entering the ark, the animals that would be included, and the rain that would submerge the earth. Noah followed all instructions. The inhabitants entered the ark and after seven days, the flooding began. The flood waters came from both above and below. It rained for forty days. All inhabitants, both humans and animals were killed in the flood. Those who were inside the ark were delivered from the wrath of God. The water covered the highest mountain for 150 days.

[DRob4JC]

January 3 - Genesis 8-11

Genesis 8 involves the flood waters receding from the earth. The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, which is now north of Turkey. They waited for the earth to be dry, and for God’s instruction before they exited the ark. 371 days after they first entered the ark, God gave Noah the command for them to leave the ark. Noah built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord. The Lord was pleased, and said He would never destroy every living thing as He had just done. He also said as long as the earth remains, day and night, cold and heat, seedtime and harvest, and the seasons will not cease.



The are two parts in Genesis 9. The first part is God spelling out some details of how life will be after the flood.

• They are to populate and fill the earth.

• Animals will not be fearful of humans. This did not used to be the case. Animals came to Adam in Genesis 2. They came to Noah to inhabit the ark. This will no longer be the case.

• Animals (not living) could now be food for humans.

• Whoever kills a man, should be killed by a man (capital punishment for murder).

• God also established a covenant with Noah and all descendants after him. The appearance of a rainbow in the sky is a sign the God would never again flood the earth and destroy all of mankind. This is still active today.

The second part of Genesis 9 focuses on a brief account of Noah and his sons. Noah had gotten himself drunk and was naked inside of his tent. His son Ham saw him and told his two brothers. I assume there was a bad intent or bad spirit behind Ham’s actions. The two brothers respected Noah, so they walked backwards and covered him up. Noah was apparently aware enough in his drunken state to realize Ham’s behavior. So he pronounced a curse on Ham’s son Canaan to be a servant to his brothers. Noah blessed Shem and Japheth. Noah was the last on the earth to live over 900 years on the earth. He died at 950.



The genealogy of Noah is listed in Genesis 10. Shem’s family line dwelt in the Middle and Far East (Asia). Ham’s line dwelt south towards Africa. Japheth’s line dwelt more towards the west in Europe.
One other note about chapter 10 is that the earth was divided. If you take note of the coastlines, especially between South America and Africa, you can see how they could actually be attached at a point in time.



The first part of Genesis 11 is about the Tower of Babel. At that time, the whole world spoke one language. They decided for themselves to build a city and a tower into heaven and to make a name for themselves. The Lord said nothing would be impossible for them since they were unified and spoke the same language. Remember from the days before the flood that the Lord understood that man’s heart was inclined to evil. The people are focused on pride. Instead of scattering and filling the earth from chapter 9, they decide to stay in one area and make a name for themselves. So He decided to confuse their language, and they scattered abroad on the earth.

The second part of Genesis 11 lists the specific lineage of Shem through Abraham. It covers a period of about 300 years. The last part of the chapter details Abraham’s family. His wife was Sarai and his nephew was Lot. They settled in the land of Canaan.

[NCN]

January 2--Genesis 5-8
January 3--Genesis 9-12
January 4--Genesis 13-17
January 5--Genesis 18-20
January 6--Genesis 21-23
January 7--Genesis 24-25
January 8--Genesis 26-28
January 9--Genesis 29-31
January 10--Genesis 32-35
January 11--Genesis 36-38
January 12--Genesis 39-41
January 13--Genesis 42-43
January 14--Genesis 44-47
January 15--Genesis 48-50

Thanks for the posts. I didn't think anyone was reading so I am late in posting the days readings. I will try to do better.

[DRob4JC]

I am switching over to Job since I am doing a chronological read. Will start another thread tonight or tomorrow. I haven't posted it, but I am thru Job 9 already.