You may be at a loss to know why He does no more to deliver you from some sin, or why He does not make you more successful in your efforts to aid others, or why, while He so liberally prospers you in one part of your condition, you get so much less in another that is far nearer your heart; but God does what He will with His own, and if you do not find in one point the whole blessing and prosperity you think should flow from such a mediator as you have, you may only conclude that what is lacking there, will elsewhere be found more wisely bestowed. And is it not a perpetual encouragement to us that God does not merely crown what nature has successfully begun, that it is not the likely and the naturally good that are most blessed, but that God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty ; and base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are?

–Marcus Dods, The Book of Genesis, pg 424 approx., as quoted in Creation and Blessing by Alan Ross, pg. 695

Genesis 48:17-22 NRSV
When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will invoke blessings, saying, ‘God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your ancestors. 22 I now give to you one portion more than to your brothers, the portion that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

1 Corinthians 1:27-31 NRSV
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29 so that no one might boast in the presence of God. 30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

I read Genesis in January and I’m finally blogging just a couple of thoughts about it.

In the beginning (sound familiar) there is day with light, night with darkness, morning, day etc. “[E]vening passed and morning came, marking the second day.” Later in the Old Testament He tells us to keep the Sabbath day holy.

I never before noticed that it repeats “produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came” twice, “each producing offspring of the same kind” and “God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind”.

He also repeats, “And that is what happened.”

I see some emphaticness here of some sort. Just an observation of what I read, no real conclusion here other than He made specific things happen each day and things that produce the same thing that they are. Worms don’t produce humans etc.

By far the most important thing is God’s sovereignty. Women would say that God closed up their wombs. Then God would say to some that He will open them. People knew God had control over everything and that He is the Sovereign Lord.

I don’t think that they used this language even though He supposedly wasn’t exercising that much control and then humored them anyway by saying things like He would open up a woman’s womb when it was really just chance.

I notice a contrast between this and how most of us think and talk today about God and how much control He has over everything. Colossians 1:15-17 is reality but I don’t think most of us really ponder, understand and believe that enough. It’s a challenge for myself.

(I reserve the right to make up words. Also anyone who happens to say that the Bible isn’t a science book will have their comment deleted. I already know that.)

Also see:
Reading the Old Testament

Nice post by Randy Alcorn.

Do you believe God created the earth in six literal 24-hour days?

Mitchell at ve’al timkor is discussing the meaning of Genesis 6:3. Please go see his post and another thought . . ..

I read this in the NLT which reads:

Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.”

So naturally at first reading I thought this is why the lifespan of Adam and his descendants living around 900 years and then they got shorter. However Mitchell doesn’t see it this way so I looked it up in other translations and found this:

Genesis 6:3 NET
So the LORD said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.”

My question is why are these translations so different? Any Hebrew people want to tackle it?

Lately I’ve been having thoughts about the genre of poetry in the Bible and how people can easily dismiss it as inaccurate or greatly embellished. I found a quote that expresses what I’ve been thinking (and is related to Genesis 1):

Second, “poetry” is not some lesser form of literature that tolerates nonsense. The Israelites did not think, “Well, it is just poetry so we can say some whacky things we would never dare say in narrative.” The opposite is the case. The Psalms were used in worship. The presence of the cosmic battle motif in Psalms actually tells us how important this notion was to them for praising the Lord. He is worthy of praise in part because of the defeat of his ancient “foes.” That is how the Israelites understood it.

–Pete Enns, The BioLogos Foundation

See the rest of the post at the link.

Disclaimer: I’m not familiar with Pete Enns or the BioLogos foundation. For all I know their basic tenets may be against mine. I just like this quote.

HT: Joel

Mitchell Powell at ve’al timkor has written a posted called some of why i think what i do about genesis 1. Take a look and let him know what you think.

He’s braver than me!

Genesis 8:21
“I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood.”

• Baker Book House informs us that “Scot McKnight and fellow blogger RJS have started a series of posts at JesusCreed.org on the book with Walton interacting from time to time.” This book has made quite a splash and having a series with the author participating is a bonus.
  Genesis One 1 (first in a series)
• I asked about the state of evangelicalism in a previous post on this blog. Phil Johnson wrote an interesting post where he writes from a perspective that’s similar to mine. He says, “Evangelicalism regularly comes under attack from all sides, and let’s face it: a lot of the criticism leveled against evangelicals is well deserved. Although I hold firmly to historic evangelical doctrine, I thoroughly despise what the contemporary evangelical movement has become.” This perspective helps me understand why I would have to say that I am an Evangelical by definition but I don’t really like being identified as an Evangelical because of what the movement has become.
  Whither Evangelicalism?
• Creation Points to God’s Greatness and Beauty – Photographs collected on Randy Alcorn’s blog
• Relevance of the TNIV:

HT: Aberration blog

John Piper points out that what Joseph’s brothers meant for evil, God meant for good. As opposed to—Joseph’s brothers meant it for evil but God used it for good. Maybe it’s semantics or splitting hairs or whatever but I think it’s interesting.

Genesis 50:20a ESV
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good,

In addition, it looks like the NLT “corrected” this in the later revision:

NLT1 (1996): As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil.

NLTse: You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.

HCSB: You planned evil against me; God planned it for good