Genesis 1-18

The creation narrative reveals God's power over the universe. I don't understand the timing of creation nor the physics of it. I believe that debates regarding the nature of creation or it's time line will always be tainted by the suppositions of the reader, so there is little value in this discussion. What is revealed here is the power of God. God is outside of time as well, so i'm not sure our framework of understanding is even capable of understanding what that might be like.

We see that one of the first commands from God is not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As soon as Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they realized guilt and shame, and their response was to first hide, then when confronted, they point the blame on others.

The next event is the story of Cain and Abel. They both bring sacrifices to God, but Cain's is rejected by God, while Abel's is accepted. As a result, Cain is so angry that he kills Abel. God then sends Cain to be a vagrant and a wanderer. Cain fears this, but God offers him protection.  But instead of wandering and relying on God, Cain leaves and settles down and has a family and builds a city where he can rely on himself.

Noah and the flood is a well known story. I thought it was interesting that after the flood was over, God tells Noah that animals are now ok to be eaten as food.

Another well known story is the Tower of Babel. After the flood God told Noah's descendants to go and populate the earth. However, they move to Babel, decide they don't want to scatter and instead they want to make a tower and a name for themselves. I think it is revealing that both this event and the case of Cain show that people tend to want to settle when they are called to go out.

I'm not convinced that God calls us to comfort. This is where the American Dream and the Christian life diverge. I don't really know what this means for me, though, but i'm trying to learn.

In contrast, we have Abram. He is living comfortably with many possessions and is an he old man. But God calls him to go and live into something greater. And Abram goes. Interestingly, we see both Abram's belief and his doubt.

25 years pass from the revelation and still Abram has no children. Then God returns and gives Abram the covenant of circumcision. Finally, three visitors come and reveal that Abraham and Sarah will have a child in the next year, and Sarah laughs at this.

Then God speaks to Abraham and tells him about planning to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. At this, Abraham pleads with God not to destroy the city if there are at least 10 righteous people in the city, and God agrees.