NEXT WEEK
Genesis 4-5; Moses 5-7
GENESIS
The New International Version Study Bible
AUTHOR: Moses
AUDIENCE: God’s chosen people, the Israelites.
DATE: Between 1446 and 1406 BC
THEME: God creates the world, and after the world falls into sin, he enters into a special relationship with the people through whom he promises to bring redemption.
PURPOSE OF THE CREATION ACCOUNTS
“I think what He's trying to do is explain who He is, what His nature is, explain who people are, our relationship to each other, how do we relate to God and what's our purpose here on earth. Those are the doctrines that Genesis 1 is trying to teach and it succeeds beautifully. It does its job.
For the authors of Genesis, these stories are really written as a prologue to the main story. The one they're really interested in, which is the story of Israel. That's where they're excited to get to. That's why there are so many chapters on Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca and Jacob and Rachel, Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah. That's the real story, is Israel. So all this stuff here for all the attention and the interest that we in the modern world have with these early chapters, they're not spending a lot of time here nor do they go back and talk about it a lot.”
Dr. Joshua Sears, Follow Him Podcast
THE FOUR RIVERS OF EDEN
“I think it's interesting that these rivers are flowing out of Eden and going to these places bringing life and blessedness from Eden out into the world. And maybe it's not a coincidence that these are all places where the Israelites are going to end up enslaved, in captivity, Egypt and Babylon are right there. This is one of many links in these creation stories to the story of the House of Israel later.”
Dr. Joshua Sears, Follow Him Podcast
CREATION OF ADAM AND EVE
Genesis 1:26- 27 Genesis 2: 7, 21-22 Moses 3: 7 and 18, 21-22 Abraham 5: 7, 14-16
ADAM AND EVE
“While the text offers detailed information about the mechanics of Eve's creation, it is silent about what these details signify, particularly as they pertain to the nature and role of Eve. Does Eve's secondary creation, for instance, denote inferiority? Or, does being created last make her the crowning glory of God's creation? Does being formed from man's rib mean the woman is derivative and thus subordinate to him? Or does it indicate a relationship of intimacy and mutuality between the man and the woman?”
The Gospel According to Eve, A History of Women’s Interpretation, Amanda W. Benckhuysen
IMAGE
“What does it mean that man and woman are created in the image and likeness of God? Do the man and the woman image God in rationality, moral sensibility, creativity, dominion, or some combination of these? Do they image God as man and woman together or as individuals? Do they equally bear the image of God or does man image God in a way that woman does not (see 1 Cor 11:7 -12)? And to what extent, if any, was the image of God in human beings lost after Adam and Eve's disobedience? Again, how one answers these questions affects one's understanding of human beings.”
The Gospel According to Eve, A History of Women’s Interpretation, Amanda W. Benckhuysen
HELP MEET
‘Genesis 2:18 says God made for Adam an ezer k’negdo (an phrase which means a helpmate opposite or against him); but the word ezer connotes strength and is usually used in reference to God’s power to help (Psalms 33:20, 70:6, 115:9 and 146:5); so a better understanding of the term is that woman was created to be a parallel helpful force equal to man.”
"The rabbis further taught that the term ezer k’negdo was used to teach that when her husband was right, his wife would be there to support him with her strength.... and when her husband was wrong she would be there with her strength to oppose or restrain him. . . Of course, if a husband does not treat his wife with respect, she may still be his help mate but she will not be his blessing. The Rabbis were cognizant that many husbands disrespected their wives and expounded: “I will make a fitting helper [beside or a restraint] for him”: If he merited, she is a helper; and if not, she should restrain him.’
“Now, isn't that interesting? Part of being a support to one's husband is to oppose him when he is wrong. You try to prevent him from stumbling into the ditch. You don't collude with him in evil, or in laziness, or in hypocrisy. That is actually a deep form of love. That is the way God loves us. God supports us in all our righteous endeavors, and God hedges up our way when we begin to walk amiss.”
V. Hudson, https://www.squaretwo.org/ldcrone/Post12_28_2021.html
AMBIGUITES
1. What was the motive?
2. Who was present when Eve ate the fruit?
3. Who was given the commandment?
4. Who is to blame?
WHO WAS THERE?
“Rather curiously, Jerome omits from the Vulgate [the Latin translation] the phrase "who was with her" in Genesis 3:6, making Eve doubly culpable for the fall and responsible for Adam's sin. By implying Adam's absence during the serpent conversation with Eve, the Vulgate portrays Eve as the seduced who becomesthe seducer, beguiling a naive Adam to eat the forbidden fruit".
The Gospel According to Eve, A History of Women’s Interpretation, Amanda W. Benckhuysen
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”
NIV Study Bible, pg. 17, Genesis 3: 6
MOTHER EVE
“We need women who have the courage and vision of our Mother Eve.”
President Russell M. Nelson, “A Plea to My Sisters, October 2015
