Friday, August 5, 2011

Genesis 1-3:17


Reading the Bible today, several things caught my attention in Genesis.

Genesis 1:2
...the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

It made me think of clouds, fog, or mist over the water. That is not right though. Clouds, fog and mist were not created yet (v 6). So what does that mean "the Spirit of God"? I cannot come up with a visual. Calmness? A feeling instead of a physical trait? Love? Fullness? Anticipation? I do not have an answer. God was there though, hovering over the waters.

Genesis 1:5
And there was evening and there was morning - the first day.

I discovered this passage a year of so ago. Evening came before morning. I always thought day came before night, but I am wrong. If the Bible says that evening came first, how does that change my thinking? Maybe this explains my fascination with sunsets. The sun is so vivid in the evening. It is the beginning of the day. Sunset, darkness, and then sunrise.

Sunset is the beginning of the day. Night falls. Rest ensues. The sun rises, brightness fills the world. The rush begins. The morning is the end. By switching this around it means we are rested at the end of the day, morning. Is this so we can do God's work? The light is there pushing us forward, begging for us to get started.

Genesis 2:7
...and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being.

The breath of life. God breathing into Adam. Not like resuscitation because that is breathing into the mouth, but breathing into the nostrils. Like an oxygen mask? Was the air cold or warm? Did Adam immediately come alive or did it take a moment?

I looked up the phrase and it only occurs in Genesis (5 times) and once in Revelations.
God breathed life into the animals and man. When God brought the flood, he planned for all animals on earth to perish. The animal pairs came to the ark and everything on land died. In Revelations, the breath of life enters and they ascend to heaven.

I like the phrase, breath of life. God-given to the animals and man. Breath to live.

2 comments:

  1. Amazing, Beth. Awesome thoughts. I love the picture of morning being the beginning to do God's work. I have to really work on this. And I love the picture of God's breath being like an oxygen mask. We can not live without it. Thank you for sharing and helping me learn.

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  2. Thanks Liz. That idea of night coming first really messed with my head. It really makes a lot of sense though.

    Hope you are well.
    Love,
    Beth

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