Studying the Bible… session 2

Gen. 5:21-24

When Enoch had lived sixty five years he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty five years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.

It makes me curious, what was so special about Enoch that he got to walk with God? This man, Enoch, lived the shortest life of all his family, shortest by approximately 500- 600 years. He was also the only one to have been mentioned “walking with God” and the only one to have been specifically “taken” by God.

Gen. 5:28-32

This verse is also curious because Lamech lived to be a holy age. To be specific, 777 years. He was also the father of Noah, the man who became known as Noah of the Ark. Noah is the first man to have multiple sons whose names are mentioned since Cain and Abel / Seth. The sons of Noah are: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Studying the Bible (NRSV)

This will be the first in a series, I’m going to read the bible and whenever a particular section speaks to me I will write about it here.

Gen.3:22-24

Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

 

Some people claim that humanity lost our immortality when we were drove from the garden of Eden. This I find to be impossible, humanity was never immortal, otherwise God would not have feared us eating of the tree of life, we would not have been driven from the garden. Sure we lost the potential to be immortal, but you cannot lose what you do not have to begin with.

Why does he?

Tonight I approach a question that has been asked many times and answered many times but never to my satisfaction.

Why DOES this all powerful god of ours allow pain and suffering?

I think he gave us free will, he gave us the ability to carve our lives the way we choose, but in doing so and accepting that freedom comes a price, it means that other people can affect our lives. Just remember though… we are the only ones who have control over ourselves… we are the only ones who can decide whether or not it will effect us.