I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 4-7.

Before I continue with what my thought experiment means for understanding this passage there is something important I want to point out, actually two things.  At harvest time, Cain presented some of what he had harvested as an offering to God, while Abel presented the best portions of the firstborn lambs.  Cain then got upset because God was more pleased with Abel’s offering.  Why was God more pleased with Abel’s offering?  The passage does not make it clear, but I believe the difference was that Cain just offered some of his harvest, while Abel offered the best of his increase.  Then, when Cain was angry, God gave Cain a piece of advice we should follow ourselves.  If we do what is right we will be accepted by God.  As importantly, if we do not do what is right it will leave time for us to do what is wrong.  Let us fill our time doing what is right so that we do not have time to sin.

Now continuing my thought experiment, although now I will extend it to the idea that for the most part the Bible is true.  So, if the Bible is true, the flood story is true.  Which would mean that everything we know about what happened before that comes through Noah and his family.  It would also mean that the our oldest common male ancestor can be no further back than Noah, while our oldest common female ancestor could be Eve.   Interestingly enough, modern genetic science posits that the common male ancestor of all living humans was significantly more recent than the common female ancestor of all living humans.  I also find this interesting.  God had already established a list of animals which were the only ones approved for human consumption.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 1-3.

And a new year begins.  I want to begin with a thought experiment I have referred to parts of from time to time.  Let us assume that God as described in the Old Testament exists (I may talk about if and how the New Testament changes our understanding of God later).  So, this God created the Universe and everything in it and takes a personal interest in humans.  And that interest is not just in humans in general, or just a few humans, but each and every human.  I will expand on this as we go along (unless God directs my thoughts in another direction).

Which brings us to my understanding of today’s passage and what I think it means for us.  Part of the above assumption means that God could communicate to humans what happened that they had not witnessed.  However, nothing in my understanding of God suggests that He had any reason for humans to know in detail what happened before He created them.  So, there is no reason to expect that the description of what happened before the creation of human beings is correct in the details.  But there are a couple of things to take from it.  Entropy and death happen because of mankind’s sin.  And what was that sin?  The desire to know the difference between good and evil so as to be like God.  Ultimately all sins come down to attempts to substitute ourselves, or our desires. for God.