Summer of the Bible 2014 - Week 2

Background on the Book of Genesis, chapters 3-11:

            The refrain that we hear repeated all throughout the first two chapters of Genesis is that God’s creation is good.  In fact, in chapter 2 when God creates “Adam” God says it is not good that the “adam” should be alone (the Hebrew word “adam” means “humankind” and is also the masculine form of the word “adamah” which means “earth”).  Creation begins in goodness … but it is not long before that goodness is broken by the actions and decisions of humankind.

            Throughout the Old Testament we see God’s people called, set apart, and blessed, promising to keep the covenant vows they have made to walk in God’s way.  And yet they failed to do that– and kept failing, over and over again.  As do we.

            The biblical testimony is that sin is real and pervasive and keeps us from being the people of God. Chapters 3-11 in Genesis contains stories that intend to describe how sin becomes part of God’s good creation, beginning in Genesis 3.

            Terence Fretheim, professor of Old Testament theology at Luther Seminary explains:  “The story of Genesis 3 is often referred to as the story of the "fall" of humankind, a word that the story itself does not use. In view of the severe disruption of relationships that follows upon the sin, the word may best be understood as a "falling out" or a "falling apart." All the important relationships that the human beings have are disrupted, including relationships with God, with each other, with the animals, and with the ground.”[from: www.enterthebible.org .]  

            The other readings for this week take us through a variety of texts that show us the consequences and pervasiveness of our “falling out” … as well as the faithfulness and persistence of God in seeking to restore and heal this broken relationship.

Readings for week of June 8-14:

·    Genesis 3:1-13, 21-24 – Sin and its consequences

·    Genesis 4:1-16 – Cain and Abel

·    Genesis 6:5-7; 8:21-22; 9:8-17 – A grieving God and a new way with the world

·    2 Samuel 12:7-10 and Psalm 51:1-4 – David’s defiance against God

·    Amos 5:11-14, 21-24 – what God desires

·    Romans 3:23; 7:15-20; 8:1-2 – all have sinned

Questions for reflection:

1.     How can we see sin reflected in our own time and experience?  Where are there places in our lives and in our world where we see this “falling out” or “falling apart”?

2.     How do you see God’s faithfulness reflected in these readings?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:  (you may need to copy and paste the URL in your own browser for each of the links)

• Background resources on Genesis (Explore a variety of resources on the Book of Genesis as well as related topics in Old Testament studies): https://www.enterthebible.org/oldtestament.aspx?rid=20 … 
• Commentary on passages from Genesis 6-11 http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=122 
• Bill Moyers' "Genesis: A Living Conversation"  … "Apocalypse" - a discussion of Noah and the Flood from the PBS series on the book of Genesis:  http://www.pbs.org/wnet/genesis/highlights4.html