Genesis 12:1-9
Imagine yourself as a nomad temporarily camped at the edge of the urban world in Mesopotamia. How would you react to a message from God to pack up and head south to someplace yet to be determined?
How would you even know it was God who had spoken to you?
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Babble, Babel, Babble
Genesis 11:1-9
The Tower of Babel
A few study questions:
3. In what way is the desire of the builders of the Babel tower similar to that of Adam and Eve?
5. By dispersing the people of Babel over the face of the earth, did God accomplish something more than just punishing them?
The Tower of Babel
A few study questions:
3. In what way is the desire of the builders of the Babel tower similar to that of Adam and Eve?
5. By dispersing the people of Babel over the face of the earth, did God accomplish something more than just punishing them?
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Genesis 8:21 Is evil the same as sinful?
Is “evil” the same as “sinful”? What’s your opinion?
According to that august source of all knowledge, the internet, this question is not settled. I guess it mostly depends on the meaning you assign to the English words “evil” and “sinful.” My MS Encarta dictionary gives the first definition of evil as
1. profoundly immoral or wrong
and goes on to list five other definitions.
For sinful the dictionary says
1. engaging in or characterized by behavior that goes against the law or teachings of a particular religion
2. morally or ethically wrong
So meaning 2 for sinful is the same as meaning 1 for evil.
Here’s a little investigation of the original word we were discussing in Genesis 8:21. This will probably serve to further confuse or bore everyone, but, maybe not.
Gen 8: 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though [a] every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. (New International Version)
The Hebrew word used here for evil is “ra” (Strong's H7451).
This is the same Hebrew word used earlier in Genesis chapters 2 and 3, to talk about the tree in the garden: the “tree of knowledge of good and evil. Sometimes this Hebrew word is translated “wicked” or “bad.” In all, the Hebrew word is used 663 times. I didn’t look them up.
In all the English translations I checked, the word is translated as “evil,” not as “sinful”.
The Hebrew word for “sinful” is “chatta.” This is as it used in Genesis 13:13, which I picked because it uses both Hebrew words “ra” (evil) and “chatta” (“sinful”).
Gen 13:13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked (“ra”) and sinful (“chatta”) against the LORD.
If you even got this far, after reading about all this evil, wickedness, and sinfulness, you probably feel a great need to wash your hands. Not a bad idea.
According to that august source of all knowledge, the internet, this question is not settled. I guess it mostly depends on the meaning you assign to the English words “evil” and “sinful.” My MS Encarta dictionary gives the first definition of evil as
1. profoundly immoral or wrong
and goes on to list five other definitions.
For sinful the dictionary says
1. engaging in or characterized by behavior that goes against the law or teachings of a particular religion
2. morally or ethically wrong
So meaning 2 for sinful is the same as meaning 1 for evil.
Here’s a little investigation of the original word we were discussing in Genesis 8:21. This will probably serve to further confuse or bore everyone, but, maybe not.
Gen 8: 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though [a] every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. (New International Version)
The Hebrew word used here for evil is “ra” (Strong's H7451).
This is the same Hebrew word used earlier in Genesis chapters 2 and 3, to talk about the tree in the garden: the “tree of knowledge of good and evil. Sometimes this Hebrew word is translated “wicked” or “bad.” In all, the Hebrew word is used 663 times. I didn’t look them up.
In all the English translations I checked, the word is translated as “evil,” not as “sinful”.
The Hebrew word for “sinful” is “chatta.” This is as it used in Genesis 13:13, which I picked because it uses both Hebrew words “ra” (evil) and “chatta” (“sinful”).
Gen 13:13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked (“ra”) and sinful (“chatta”) against the LORD.
If you even got this far, after reading about all this evil, wickedness, and sinfulness, you probably feel a great need to wash your hands. Not a bad idea.
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