Genesis 4:1–26

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture. Also see: Dt.12:20–25, 15:19–23; Mt. 23:29–36; Col.1:15–20; Heb. 11:1–6; 1 John 3:11–15.

1.    First born of Adam and Eve was Cain, the second born was Abel. Abel “keep” sheep while Cain farmed the land, and from each of which they brought offerings of their produce to the LORD.

2.    Abel would have killed a sheep, the firstborn of his flock, shed its blood, in order to present his offering. Is this a prophetic event, pointing to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross?

3.    Cain’s reaction to the rejection by the LORD of his offering was one of anger, and the LORD reached out to him but then out of Cain’s anger he kills his younger brother.

4.    As a result Cain becomes a “fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” This “punishment,” and fear sets deep into his being.

5.    But the LORD issues a protection for Cain even gives him a “mark” to protect him. (The nature of the “mark” remains a mystery. The best thought is that it was something visible like a tattoo.) The need for the protection is that others may seek to harm him. Who these others are also remains a mystery.

6.    Cain and his wife have a son, Enoch, who builds a city. Five generations after Cain Lamech is born, who would have two wives.

7.    Lamech’s kills a young man for “wounding” him, a severe reaction and Lamech understands that his punishment will be greater than that of Cain.

8.    This segment of Scripture concludes with the birth of Seth, born of Adam and Eve, who would supplant Cain. After a period of time, “people began to call upon the name of the LORD.” And this is a hopeful sign of a better future.

Genesis 3:14–24

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture.

1.         Yahweh Elohim spoke to the serpent, indwelled as it was by Satan itself, and pronounced a “curse” upon it, which would be dramatized by having to crawl on “your belly.”

2.         Furthermore, and most importantly, there will be a prolonged and cosmic spiritual warfare between Satan’s offspring (the demonic kingdom) and the woman’s offspring (Christ and His Church).

3.         Indeed, the offspring (or seed) of the woman would deliver a death blow to it’s offspring while Satan’s offspring is only able to bruise the heel of the woman’s offspring.

4.         Here is the first revelation of what is called, in Latin, the protoevangelium, the first mention of the Gospel, which is the defeat of sin and Satan by means of the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus the Messiah.

5.         The breaking of the first and only commandment would also result in a disturbance in the relationship between husbands and wives.

6.         In addition, life would from then on be lived not in a paradise, but in a world full of misery and woe. Surviving would be no easy task

7.         A second looking forward to the work of Jesus on the cross in the passage is prefigured by Yahweh Elohim making coverings of the hides of animals for Adam and Eve (the name Eve means “life giver”).

8.         Sadly now, Adam and Eve are driven away from the paradise originally intended for them. The way to the tree of life is now barred.

Genesis 3:1–13

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture. Also read: Psalm 139:1–12; Isaiah 14:12–20; Ezekiel 28:11–19; 2 Cor. 11:12–15; 1 Peter 3:6–11.

1.         The story begins with a demon possessed serpent, which is somehow present even in the paradise created by Yahweh Elohim, the LORD God, speaking to the woman.

2.         A carefully crafted question is asked of the woman by the serpent. We note that the serpent did not use the full title Yahweh Elohim, only Elohim.

3.         The woman’s response is nearly correct except she adds, “neither shall you touch it,” which God had not said.

4.         The serpent contradicts what God had said and denies that death would be the result of eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge or good and evil. May we wonder how the woman even knew anything about death?

5.         The serpent misrepresents the intention of Elohim by saying that to eat of the tree will bring enlightenment even to the point of being like gods, and this rendering we find in the Septuagint, LXX, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.

6.         Now the woman, in looking at the fruit of the forbidden tree, sees it is good for food, a delight to the eyes, and will bring one wisdom—the deadly triple enticement. The meaning of “seeing” has been debated forever.

7.         The woman shares the fruit with her husband whereupon both shockingly discover they are naked. Such mystery here and with little understanding by scholars over the centuries. By some mysterious mechanism they devise a covering, and they suddenly “hear” the LORD God approaching, who calls out to the man and asks, “Where are you?”

8.         Is this an opportunity for the man to confess and repent? Perhaps it was, but the man says he was afraid and so he hid himself. And we do the same still; so then we identify with the man.

9.         He was naked: is this a way of expressing guilt? Then comes from the LORD God another chance to be honest and confess. The response is one of blaming, blaming the woman for the trouble.

10.       The LORD God turns now to the woman and asks her what it was she had done. She admits that the serpent deceived her and that she did eat of the forbidden fruit.

11.       Is this to be considered a confession or an excuse?

Genesis 3:1–13

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture. Also read: Psalm 139:1–12; Isaiah 14:12–20; Ezekiel 28:11–19; 2 Cor. 11:12–15; 1 Peter 3:6–11.

1.         The story begins with a demon possessed serpent, which is somehow present even in the paradise created by Yahweh Elohim, the LORD God, speaking to the woman.

2.         A carefully crafted question is asked of the woman by the serpent. We note that the serpent did not use the full title Yahweh Elohim, only Elohim.

3.         The woman’s response is nearly correct except she adds, “neither shall you touch it,” which God had not said.

4.         The serpent contradicts what God had said and denies that death would be the result of eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge or good and evil. May we wonder how the woman even knew anything about death?

5.         The serpent misrepresents the intention of Elohim by saying that to eat of the tree will bring enlightenment even to the point of being like gods, and this rendering we find in the Septuagint, LXX, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.

6.         Now the woman, in looking at the fruit of the forbidden tree, sees it is good for food, a delight to the eyes, and will bring one wisdom—the deadly triple enticement. The meaning of “seeing” has been debated forever.

7.         The woman shares the fruit with her husband whereupon both shockingly discover they are naked. Such mystery here and with little understanding by scholars over the centuries. By some mysterious mechanism they devise a covering, and they suddenly “hear” the LORD God approaching, who calls out to the man and asks, “Where are you?”

8.         Is this an opportunity for the man to confess and repent? Perhaps it was, but the man says he was afraid and so he hid himself. And we do the same still; so then we identify with the man.

9.         He was naked: is this a way of expressing guilt? Then comes from the LORD God another chance to be honest and confess. The response is one of blaming, blaming the woman for the trouble.

10.       The LORD God turns now to the woman and asks her what it was she had done. She admits that the serpent deceived her and that she did eat of the forbidden fruit.

11. Is this to be considered a confession or an excuse?

Genesis 2:4–25

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture. Also look at Exodus 3:13–15, Job 12:7–11; 1 Cor.15:42–49; Ephesians 5:25–33; Colossians 1:15–20; Revelation 22:1-5.

1.         It is largely understood that our passage is a second account of creation because of the difference in vocabulary, style, and order of events, plus the use of LORD God—Yahweh Elohim—in place of Elohim for God in the earlier account.  

2.         In addition, there is no day-by-day account of the order of creation, rather the author moves directly to the creation of the first human.

3.         Before there was any vegetation, Yahweh Elohim formed ‘adham from mere dust of the earth. Thereupon the LORD God brought all manner of vegetation into being.

4.         He created a paradise/garden and in the center of it was the “tree of life.” The LORD God also created the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” the location of which is uncertain.

5.         The location of the garden or park is described by giving the names of four rivers, two of which are known, the Tigris and Euphrates; the other two are unknown, Pishon and Gihon. The Tigris and Euphrates, still with the same names, are found in modern day Iraq.

6.         The LORD God put the man in the garden to work and keep it, produce food and guard it, and He warned the man not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

7.         Created a social being, the single man had no other being to relate to, so God created the animals and the birds (no mention of fish) in order to find a “helper” for the man.

8.         These did not satisfy so the LORD God put the man asleep and out of his side or rib, a being was created with whom the man could relate. And the man was indeed happy and thankful for this.

9.         So then, ever after, the man, ish, would leave his parents and hold fast to his woman, ishshah. They would be considered “one flesh.”

10.       These two, the man and woman, were naked yet were not ashamed; there was no guilt or shame attached to their sexuality. This would change, and radically so.       

Genesis 1:3–2:4

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture. Also read: Deuteronomy 4:19; Exodus 31:12–17; Psalm 33:6–9; 104:1–9; Philippians 4:2–9; Revelation 21:1–8.

1.         Following the two opening verses of Genesis, which serve as an introduction to the creation accounts, we have a majesty and poetic story of how and why God created the universe.

2.         “God said” is central and lets us know that God “spoke” the entire universe and all that is into existence. Prior to that there was no material universe at all.

3.         All that was created, light, water, the “expanse” between the upper heavens and the waters that covered all the earth, all the starry host, and all manner of living things, and all vegetation, is declared “good” by the Creator. All this on the first five days. And, as hinted at in 2 Peter 3:8, the day (yom in Hebrew) could be of any length of time.

4.         The crown of creation however is made in the image of God. All that was created prior was not so made, meaning such could not have a relationship with the Creator. But the man and the woman, spiritually made and endowed, meaning these humans could have a conscious relationship with their Creator, are created on the sixth day.

5.         On the 7^th day, the Creator God “rested.” Not that God was tired from all the work of creating, but that the creating work was complete.

6.         Down through the centuries “resting” is seen as prophetic, pointing to the finished work of Jesus on the cross. We “rest” in the salvation Jesus gives to us through His love and grace which He pours out on us.

The Word Became Flesh

Genesis 1:1–2 & John 1:1–5

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture. Also read Deuteronomy 31:24-­26; Exodus 20:11; Isaiah 45:18–19; and John 1:1–5.

1.         Both our passages in Genesis and John speak of a beginning, and intentionally so. The author of Genesis speaks of the creator God as creating all the physical universe. In John we find the Word, the Logos, was in the beginning also. The Word was not created however, but is God.

2.         The verb of being, “was” found in John 1:1 three times has no past tense to it. The verb can be translated, was and is, all three times. Thus, it is the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who created all that there is. The “was” highlights the idea of reality and certainty.

3.         Genesis 1:1–2 is often understood as the introduction to the whole of the book of Genesis. Also, it is to be noted that the Hebrew word for God here in Genesis 1:1, transliterated from the Hebrew into English, is Elohim and is the plural of El. This literary device is used to describe “majesty” or “ultimate power.”

4.         Both Genesis 1:1–2 and John 1:1–5 declare that the entire universe is created by God. The apostle John, as is made plain in John 1:14, states that the Word is Jesus when he says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

5.         We notice also that the darkness that was over all that there was hovered “over the face of the deep,” then in John’s Gospel the Word, through whom all things were created, is the Light which now shines in the darkness. And this darkness cannot overcome that Light.

6.         Reading the opening words of both Genesis and the Gospel of John we find the entire history of both our universe and the saving work of the Creator God. However fallen our world, there is the bright Light of redemption and glory.

Hebrews 13:18–25

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture. Also see: Psalm 23:1–6; John 10:1–18; 2 Thessalonians 2:13–17; 1 Timothy 6:20–21.

1. This week we are going to use the word FAT as our theme. F = faithful  A = available  T = teachable.  Let’s start by giving thanks to Heavenly Father who is in all, above all, and loves you through it all. Thank Him for what is seen and unseen. Our verses for this week are Hebrews 13:20-25. Notice the word equip in your reading, this will take you far in your understanding this week and also for next week sermon.

1.  Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep. Here we can easily see the Gospel message in a single verse. 

2. Equip you in every good thing. Much of this weeks sermon will come from this verse, notice equip. God does the calling, He does the gifting, and how the Devine mixes with humanity is our mystery to grasp.

3. But I urge you brother. Here our writer is again making his case with words that compel, he’s pleading with his listeners to get this amazing Gospel truth.

4. Take notice. Watch, see, listen. Notice the hand of God at work.

5. Grace. Isn’t it just that easy and simple. Grace. It’s by God grace that He chooses whom he will and bestow his love down upon whom he will. 

6. In ending. I ask that as you go about your busy week, try to season all you do and say with philo (brotherly) love. 

Hebrews 13:1-19

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture. The following passages can be read now: Matthew 25:31–40; Romans 16:1–16; Colossians 2:16–17, and Hebrews 13:1–19.

1.         Closing out the letter to Jewish Christians, who are likely in Rome, the author, who is probably in prison somewhere, urges his/her readers to  apply their faith in real ways.

2.         Showing hospitality to strangers, not a small thing in that day, remembering those in prison, and others who are mis-treated, is something they are urged to do.

3.         Also, all are encouraged to be faithful in terms of sexuality, and all sexual expression outside of marriage between one man and one woman, are sinful and God will judge those who do otherwise.

4.         Then the readers are to keep their lives free from the “love of money,” which indeed is behind so much pain and evil, but they are to be content with what they have.

5.         The author speaks of the leaders among them, likely pastors and preachers, that these should be respected.

6.         Also, the readers are to beware of strange teachings, which were as plentiful, and deceptive, then as they are now. And especially those diverse teachings focused on rites and rituals, which the readers were accustomed to.

7.         These readers are to no longer look to priests offering sacrifices since the one great sacrifice has been made, and so it is to Jesus they are to look.

8.         The worship now is to offer up praise to the name of Jesus; this is the true sacrifice.

9.         Leaders are to be obeyed and submitted to, not in a cultic sort of way, but these leaders are set to keep watch, or protect, them.

10.       The readers of the letter are asked to pray for “us” for they are sure their cause is just and that they desire to act honorably in all things.

11.       And the readers are urged to do so that “I” may be restored to them, which wording may even puzzle the readers.

Hebrews 12:18–29

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture. Read first of all: Gen. 4:1–7;

Ex.19:7–22; Mt. 3:4–12;  2 Th.1:5–12; Rev. 20:11–12.

1.         Not all of Scripture is comforting to read and here is a passage that illustrates this fact.

2.         Immediately following the Exodus from Egypt, God met with Moses on Mt. Sinai and issued to him His commandments. All the while those newly set free from slavery in Egypt rebelled and created the “golden calf” and worshipped it. God’s wrath was poured out on these.

3.         The contrast is now for those Jewish Christians, to whom Hebrews is written, they are part of the new Mount Zion, the city of the living God, indeed to the assembly or church of the firstborn and are forever enrolled in the Book of Life.   These are strong words of encouragement.

4.         For varying political and cultural and religious differences, there was yet a temptation to act as did those who worshipped a false god in the wilderness and who thus paid a dear price for their rebellion. Our author does not wish it to be so for his readers.

5.         Some commentators think that there was a kind of ‘shaking’ taking place amongst those he/she is writing to. It is thought that some were either falsely converted or were even walking away from the Christian assembly due to various pressures.

6.         Despite trouble some were experiencing, our author reminds them that the ‘kingdom’ they are part of could not be shaken so then they should continue “to offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.”