Day 1: Genesis 1:1-Genesis 16:16 - 90 Day Bible Challenge
And so it begins!
Our journey through the Bible begins right here, at the creation of everything.
What a busy reading. So much happened! Let's break it down...
- The Earth, heavens, animals, and man were created.
- The first sin happened and God cursed the first man and the first woman (Adam and Eve).
- Their child killed his brother and was banished.
- The generations leading up to Noah became corrupt and made the Earth an evil place.
- God commanded Noah to build an ark and collect two of each animal.
- God flooded the Earth to cleanse it of evil, and Noah was trapped on an ark with his family and thousands of animals.
- God made a covenant to never flood the Earth again. Making rainbows a sign of his covenant.
- Noah had three sons, and from each of them there was a new nation.
- Some of the nations tried to build a tower to reach the heavens and rule over the Earth, so God created many languages to make evil plotting more difficult.
- Abram, Sarai, and Lot took a vacation to Egypt. Where they lied to a Pharaoh to avoid death, since Sarai was so beautiful.
- Abram and Lot began quarreling, so they went separate ways.
- Abram rescued Lot from Sodom, where all of his possessions were taken and he was kidnapped.
- God promised Abram he would have a child, even though Sarai was barren.
- Sarai didn't believe God and told Abram to have a child with her maid.
- Abram had a child with Hagar and then Sarai started treating her badly and blamed Abram (even though it was her idea).
- Hagar ran away from Sarai and was visited by an angel of the Lord who told her to name her son Ishmael, and that many nations would be born of her, and that she needed to return to Sarai.
Wow. That was a whirlwind, right?
It's okay if you missed some of it! It all happened so fast!
It's also okay if you had a hard time reading the Bible! Try using this free audio Bible to go along with your reading. You can go chapter-by-chapter up through Genesis Chapter 16 for today's reading. I will say though, reading the Bible does get easier. It just takes a few days to get used to it.
My favorite part of today's reading was without a doubt Genesis 9:12-17, where God creates a covenant with the Earth. He leaves a reminder for us: Rainbows. To show his promise that he will never flood the entire Earth again. (I wish there was a reminder He would never bury the entire Earth in snow, am I right?)
It took me about 32 minutes to read today's passage, about two minutes per chapter. And that was with taking notes and highlighting. You can do it!!
Do you have any thoughts? Any questions? Want to share your favorite verse from the reading? Concerns you'd like to share? Need some motivation and encouragement to get reading? Leave some comments! Respond to each other! Build each other up because we are all in this together on our journey to becoming better disciples for Jesus Christ.
Have a wonderful and blessed day! Tomorrow's reading: Genesis 17:1-Genesis 28:19.
Jill Jafarace
Director of Youth Ministries
New Leaf UMC
It says in Gen 4:2-8 that God was brought forth a sacrifice from Cain that came from his toils of the land and also a sacrifice from Abel which came from the slaughter of the stock of Gods own living creatures. Why would God look upon Abels sacrifice with favor?
ReplyDeleteIn Genesis 1 29-31 God says "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the Earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food." and it was so."
Here it seems to me that he is saying that we are meant to be herbivores and not slay our fellow living creatures that have been given the gift of life. It makes sense as we drink from the same rivers and feed from the bosom of mother Earth. So why would he look upon Abel's sacrifice with favor?
Interestingly, many biblical scholars believe that animal sacrifice was used in the Old Testament as a means of foreshadowing the sacrifice of His son, which occurs in the New Testament.
DeleteGod himself actually sacrificed animals in Genesis when He provided clothing for Adam and Eve.
The reason animal sacrifice is carried out is to atone for sins. There are very specific requirements for the animal sacrifices (or “burnt offerings”) which are further touched on in Exodus and Leviticus.
Fortunately, because of the circumstances in the New Testament—ultimately the sacrifice of Jesus, the Son of God—we no longer have to make animal sacrifices to God.
The reason Cain’s sacrifice was not viewed as highly is because God required animal sacrifice. At the time, it was more difficult and labor-intensive. Essentially, Cain took the easy way out.
I also think it’s imprtant to remember that when God created Adam, he gave him all the animals as helpers or servants (Genesis 2:18). Although none of them were suitable, God intended animals to serve mankind.
While we currently take a much different approach to animals, and are no longer required to provide animal sacrifice, this section of the Bible takes place thousands of years ago. The mindsets and requirements of people were much different at the time.
Hope that helps!
Thank you! It definitely did help and I have fallen a little behind but am trying to catch up.
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