Creation - Adam and Eve

Entry - Two

Hello, I hope you found my first entry helpful. I wont’ normally write that long, but it will depend on the story I’m dealing with at the moment. This week I will finish with the Story of the Creation, and Adam and Eve. Again, I won’t comment on every chapter all the time; just things I’ve noticed as I read. Here we go: Here are a couple of words we need to consider as we read the scriptures:

We all look for excitement when we read a book. Well, the scriptures have it. To read the scriptures we need to understand the difference between Thinking and Meditating or Pondering:

Thinking is a faster process than Meditating or Pondering. When we Think, tons of question come to our mind. We literally are looking for an answer in our minds; like scrolling down a list of questions; like a computer when it’s searching for a topic we’ve requested. It can be overwhelming at times. Our minds can get boggled up with questions, with trying to weigh things out and try to reason as to why? It puts pressure in our minds and can give us headaches or just tiredness. It’s like a mental preoccupation. Get the idea? I hope so.

To Meditate or Ponder is a lot slower process. The mind is caught up in a specific moment of time. Reflecting, contemplating that specific moment. Or person. Or thing. The mind is relaxed with no pressure. To Meditate or Ponder is to contemplate, to dwell on a subject of intrigue to us. To engage ourselves in that subject in our mind. What ever it may be.

When we read a book we like, we often engage ourselves into the story. We try to imagine what is going on in the story; to picture the place in our minds. We lose ourselves in what we are reading. We are not thinking, we are just contemplating the moment that we see in our minds. We also try to understand the characters by putting ourselves in their place and wonder why they did what they did? ... We literally engage ourselves in the story. We play it out in our minds. That’s why reading can be so enjoyable, frustrating, thrilling, exciting, and relaxed in our minds. We get involve mentally, and let the author carry us into his/her world. Well, the scriptures are no different. We need to dwell, get engage in the story we are being told. Dwell, and be engaged in the characters and try to see why they acted the way they did. Not judge them, or criticize them...just play it out in our mind, and let the author carry us back in time, and tell us the story or stories..

The scriptures uses the words Meditate, and Ponder: that means they want us to reflect, to dwell, to engage ourselves in what we are reading. To play the story out in our minds. With that in mind.... Not just read.... Ponder Genesis.

To Rule over someone or some things is not the same as to have Dominion over someone or something. Here is the difference: In the America Heritage Dictionary one of the definitions says “Rule... Governing power..” Same dictionary: “Govern ... guide; direct; regulate...”

To have Dominion : Same dictionary. “Control,..Ownership of property, especially of land, and the right to its disposition.”

Help: “To give assistant; to aid... To contribute to in some way.... To give relief.”

Meet: “To come together. To come into conjunction; be joined...fit..”...”Fit... To be appropriate or suitable.”


GENESIS
In Genesis we read about the creation... Don’t think,.. dwell, play it in your mind... to see how amazing, (for lack of words).. How incredible it is! Imagine, how the Lord commanded the elements to unite themselves, one by one... and they obeyed him.. He did it with care. He took his time organizing them to be just right for us to dwell in. Before he added more elements, he made sure he approved and liked what he saw. You can tell by the wording he uses and the explanations he gives after he had added each element. Genesis 1:3-4, 16-18 ..”And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness....... And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light up on the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.” If we read the world ‘Rule over’ with the meaning that I mentioned above... It simply means that the greater and lesser light are there to govern as to what part of time we are in.. Among other things. After the elements were in place he created the living things; all kinds of creatures to live in the water and on land. Try picturing the Lord creating all those weir, strange, ugly, beautiful, scary, amazing looking animals and so forth... When I think about some of the creatures and how the Lord created them; I think of his great creativity, and imagination and how much he must’ve enjoyed creating them; plants, and trees and all kinds of creatures; and seeing them roam around the earth. It is fascinating! It gives me a glimpse of his character and how much he loves us to create all of these just for us. He loves everything he created. When he created the creatures; He blessed them.. Genesis1:22 ..And God blessed them, saying Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the fowls multiply in the earth." It wasn’t just a command. It was a blessing he was giving them to create life; That implies that he loved them. He cared about them.

When he created Adam and Eve he said: Genesis 1:26, 28: “ “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth...... And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Right here in these verses He place BOTH Adam and Eve in charge of “every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” He gave them the earth to subdue it ( to subdue is to conquer,.. To bring under control by physical force or persuasion): dominion over all living things on the earth. The Lord also blessed Adam and Eve. It wasn’t only a command, but a blessing to create life and to care for it. Before he created Eve; Adam was by himself in the garden, it doesn’t say how long. He wanted Adam to have a connection with the creatures he created, that he may appreciate and loved them like he did. He let Adam name the creatures... When we are ask to name a person place or thing, we usually don’t take it lightly. It makes us more thoughtful of the person, place or thing we are naming. It causes us to care... Think about it... Genesis2:19-20 “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet...” How amazing is that? To have all these different creatures come to you for a name? Imagine that! The last sentence implies that the creatures came in pairs; for why would it say “but for Adam there was not found an help meet...” One doesn’t just say that to say it; unless everything seemed to be in pairs except for Adam.? After this event, the Lord created a “help meet” for Adam. So Eve was to join him and come together in aid.

Eve was not an after thought; she was in the creation plan from the beginning. She was created last... Think about this! There are people that believe that women are secondary to men. Ponder this pattern: God created everything in order; first things first: He needed to create the land and the atmosphere before he placed the light in the right place: He need to create this before he created the waters and separate them from the land: He need to do this separation before he brought out the plants, and after that; the creatures both in water and on land. So, every step he created was a preparation for the next thing to come or live. No different than when we move into a place to live: We usually make sure the place is ready, livable; everything running properly before we move in. After the creation was done; Adam was created, and after everything was set and ready Eve was created. So ask yourself; Was Eve second to Adam? Everything was complete when she came along, and Adam was already extremely familiar with the garden and God had already given him instruction on what to eat and not eat. The Lord himself introduce Eve to Adam; and Adam received her as someone precious to him; to love, honor, to protect and be faithful to her. (Throughout time the human body has been sacred; therefore we protect it, and honor it and care for it the best possible way we can). Adam receive Eve as such and more. Genesis 2:23-24 “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave (To cleave means to adhere; to stick fast or being glued. To cling, to be faithful. To be devoted) unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh...." How romantic is that? He thought a great deal of her. Ponder this obvious example: Throughout time; when someone of importance walks into a room full of people...people tend to stand up out of respect, right? Well, when a woman walks into a room men tend to stand up or when she sits down at a table; a man usually helps her to her seat.... women are not required to do that for men. That’s a manner that can be trace back in time.... So again, I ask, Was Eve second to Adam?

If we read the scriptures with the definitions of the dictionary... Eve was not second to Adam she was his love, his heart. She was very much part of him, and every part of ones body is essential and crucial to its proper function. She completed him. He consider both of them as“One flesh.”

Well, I didn’t think I was going to write this much. As I read these two chapter I thought about all of these things I wrote, but writing it down is a whole different thing... it takes much longer. Well, I hope you find this entry intriguing. I have about one more entry on Adam and Eve, before I move on to Noah. Thank you.

JC