Bereshit Genesis 1:1-6:8
Isaiah 55 provided some perspective in this portion for me.
"Ho! Everyone...
Bereshit Genesis 1:1-6:8
Isaiah 55 provided some perspective in this portion for me.
"Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance." (Is 55:1-2)
We see after the fall life is defined by work. Then we know the commandment given through Moses is 6 days you shall work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord. It just reminds me that the Sabbath is about redemption of life and creation and that it is about intimacy with God to help me keep perspective. We also know that Yeshua gave us an easy yoke and a light burden (Matt 11:28-30), so the Shabbat itself points to Him doing the work of our redemption, and He tells us He is Lord of the Sabbath. (Matt. 12:8) Just pictures for me how much Yeshua's miracles on the Sabbath were saying and that the Sabbath is about understanding and remebering redemption. Resting in His Lordship and work for us is what it points to I think, and that goes right back to restoration as in Gen 1. I kind of think the aspect of rest is about His Lordship and our redemption through it and the aspect of work is about human weakness and dying to self and the flesh. Yeshua taught us what the Sabbath meant, and it seems we needed Him to based on the criticism He got for the miracles He did on the Sabbath. Praise God Yeshua is our teacher. He makes things so clear, it's like you can spend years looking right through it before you see it. He is a perfect teacher. How blessed to get to learn from Him. Makes this life and the struggle feel that much more worth it I think. ( when I'm in good place spiritually I see it, but easily forget too because it is a struggle we face in this life)
"And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." (Gen 1:12)
"And the LORD God commanded the man saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die' "(Gen 2:16-17)
"Then the serpent said to the woman, " You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' " (Gen 3:5)
"But Jesus answerd him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' " (Luke 4:4)
Feeling hungry, knowing the feeling of needing food, and the command to fast came together in a new way when I put these verses together. A good tree brings forth good fruit, and a bad tree brings forth bad fruit. (Matt 7:18) By fasting to rely on God and consuming life only from His Word, we can see in the physical laws God put in place, how that works spiritually. In consuming His word and statutes and depending on Him, we bring forth good fruit and refuse the tree (flesh and self) that brings for bad fruit. I think based on how my understanding is coming together with these scriptures, fasting may actually help with discernment.
I was also struck with the possible connection being made between dying and loneliness
In Gen. 2:17-18. It brought to mind God's emphasis on unity amongst His people ( spouses, families, Israel, His church). I don't know exactly, but think the spiritual consequences of death kind of look clearer to me. Besides just the connection He affirms between death and loneliness, the separation and loss reflected in our loneliness kind of helps us understand what we have done to God I think and a hint of how much our loss. We kind of get too used to a lot very wrong in this fallen world I think. It makes it hard for us to understand the gravity of the consequences we choose between, but there's times I realize there's a lot more to this than I know. We were not made to die, and in that I think there's an even bigger spiritual idea that we were not made to be alone. Separation from God and His people is more than we can yet understand. Those who belong to Yeshua, will never have to understand it. That's how much God was and will protect us from in terms of knowing good and evil. It's as simple and as sad as never having to be alone. Then you can really start to see the wisdom and grace in unity with God and fellow believers through the Spirit, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the commands to love, forgive, pray for your enemies, make peace with your adversaries before coming to God, and on and on, which also ties into Cain and Abel and the redemption we have through Yeshua. It's communal as well as individual because life is ultimately about spiritual fellowship and death about spiritual loneliness I think. It is so consistent to see that in murdering Abel, Cain brought a curse upon himself when you see that creation is about this definitive unity I think. You can also better understand why division is such a tool of the devil. That's what he is foundationally about based on these scriptures. That's how he hurts God. Think it's good to make things really simple when it comes to spiritual warfare because one way satan wins the battle is to prevent us from seeing what it's really all about. Your damnation and death is about hurting God. It's so pathetic, it's sick and unimaginable how empty it all is for the unsaved.
"Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:6-7)
He is always undoing the consequences of the fall and it's really reassuring and amazing to glimps the intricate details and multiple levels He's working on. Just makes you know, listen to Him. Don't doubt what He's doing because we cannot even begin to understand it. We see that clearly in this portion. Adam and Eve didn't know what it meant to die. They had no grounds for the concept because that's how much Gid was doing for them. The best we can do is what He Says, and that's it. Trust and learn as He reveals Himself and His ways as you simply do what He says.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than Your
thoughts.'" (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Just love seeing that how much His Word does and is doing is so great, it can only be revealed in that we can't perceive it. We just have to experience it and trust Him with what we're not meant to experience. We can't understand it because He is always protecting us from sin and what we can't handle. He is saving even the unsaved on a certain level in just preserving them through this life. I think the justice in that is that they will realize how much He did for them and therefore was there to do for them when they die. The loneliness is almost the defining aspect of it I think based on what I've seen in this portion. They've never really been alone as He's always faithful to do all He can and is completely there for them to turn to until their very last breath. I know people can fell "hopeless" based on what little we can know, but no one on this side of life has ever been without hope because God is seeking them and on some level with them to save. Yeshua's has blessed absolutely everyone whether they've accepted it or not, and I just find that really revealing about Him. He is the source of life over and over again, so if you have life, you have Yeshua to thank. And if you don't reside in His grace, you die. He blessed you whether you see it or not just to give you a choice and time to choose. God is above all reproach, and in the end everyone will know that He is not to be blamed. That's how loving He is. He wants people to know it. Just listen to Him is the resounding conclusion throughout this portion for me. We don't need to doubt, we just need to do because God is protecting us so much that He doesn't even want us to have to see or know what He's protecting us from just like good parents who love their kids, so again He has given us a way to just accept His words without explanation the way we want our kids to when we want to protect their innocent heart and mind. God is for our good.