Bible Observation
After reading Genesis 1-10 my observation of the reading was that this was one of the beginning stories of man. In addition this was when God created the heavens and the earth including the light, water, land, and creatures. It took God six days to make the earth, and on the seventh day God rested. In addition Adam and Eve were the first two humans that God had created they were the first couple, and first to sin. Adam recognized that Eve was his wife by marriage, and has verse 24 suggested this is the basis for marriages today in the present.
In the Garden, the myth tells of how God places a serpent within Eden. The serpent knows that God has given all the fruits of the trees except one. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This particular tree is forbidden to be eaten by man. The serpent is crafty though and gets Eve to think she will be as knowledgeable as God by eating this fruit. She falls into temptation and eats of the tree. She then convinces Adam to also eat. He follows and the result is the final and horrible downfall of man.
After Adam and Eve committed the first Sin this was a disobeying by God, and that’s why they had become ashamed of showing their bodies. The serpent is forced to travel on in belly which explains why they were not created with legs. To women, the explanation of child birth and the extremely horrible pains of labor are answered. Woman is also given a place in society as now having to be under the control of man. Women are seen here as the evil seducers and left to be put in the role of future “housewife”. Men are given a feeling of having a deserved power over women. Laborers in the field now had a reason for bad crops; an answer for weeds, thorns and unwanted insects. Man from this point on was no longer in the Garden of Eden. He would be forced to work in the field for his food and toil over the land to produce crops. Adam and Eve later on had two children first a child named Cain, and letter Abel. Cain was filled of Anger, and killed his brother Abel in a filed. In addition God did not want anyone to hurt Cain even though he had hurt Abel.
Text Book Observation
The Pentateuch or "Torah" (meaning The Law) consists of the first five books of the bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Moses, the hero of the Pentateuch, was traditionally assumed to be the work’s author because he received the Ten Commandments and the laws from God. However, modern scholars describe the Pentateuch as the time-worn product of four ancient writers and editors, who each revised and expanded existing work. Different parts of the narrative and laws in the Pentateuch are ascribed to each contributor based on differences in the style and theology of the text. The Pentateuch covers the history from the beginning of time and includes Israel’s conquest of the promise land. Genesis covers Pre-History and the Patriarchs. Genesis comes from a Greek word meaning origins. The first eleven chapters of Genesis describe the beginning of the universe, humanity, sin, and punishment. Genesis contains the story of Adam and Eve and how sin was brought into the world. Genesis 12-50 tells the story of Abraham and his families journey of faith. Exodus is about the deliverance of the Israelites. Exodus means departure. It tells the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and to the promise land. The story of Exodus in the Old Testament is equivalent to the cross in the New Testament. Also in the book of Genesis contains information of the beginning, and is the foundation for life as humans. In addition there is no known author to the book, however it is referenced to Moses. The background of primeval history is also outlined in the book the Egyptians believed what is called ma'at. It represented truth, justice, and balance of all things in the universe. In a sense, ma'at required Egyptians to have conscience and be aware of their actions. Egyptians believed that they are to be judged after death for their sins in the underworld.
Faith Reflection In conclusion, I do think that the Hebrew ideas constitute a fundamental religious revolution. Although they do have some things in common with the ideas of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the difference is far greater. The Hebrew Bible is by far the most original with emphasis on moral values and love that enables it to be more influential than other primary sources. It also focuses on people; past, present, and the future fate of the Jews. It even contains prophesies, which makes it even more intriguing. When I read from the Old Testament it makes me reflect my faith that I can know the history of the making of the world, and mankind. To better understand what was the message that God left for us, and to intrigue my curiosity with how we are who we are today.
On many occasions I have questioned was mankind mad from evolvement of the planet, and if perhaps we evolved from a perhaps a living cell then I realize how detailed we are including the planet we live on, and truly have faith that it was Gods doing of making us who we are. I would have loved to see a time when Adam & Eve were so pure of sin, and before a life of hardships would not be known.
In addition I hope to continue to learn from Gods teaching that he left us his word in a written from that was written by man that was inspired by God. We have such a great gift, and I am so glad that I have the ability in class to learn about such wonderful information of our beginning.