Friends,
First thing, a huge announcement: On November 10th we are scheduled to discuss genealogies and the role they play in Genesis 1-11. It turns out one of our church members is something of an expert on the subject! Nancy Dawson wrote a comprehensive resource (published digitally in 2016) looking at every genealogy in the Bible. Even as I write this she is working on the finishing touches of the print version, which is to be published by Zondervan. There might be no one alive who has spent more time thinking about Biblical genealogies and what they mean than Nancy. And she has agreed to share her insight with us in our upcoming session on November 10. I absolutely love the obscure passages of the Bible, the ones that are often overlooked or shied away from because they seem challenging to most of us. What is more ignored in the Bible than what we sometimes dismissively refer to as “the begats”?! Mark your calendars - you won’t want to miss this!
But on with the recap! Below you can find links to the video recording and the slides, a recap of our discussion, a quick look at our art of the week, and a peek ahead at next week.
Resources
Recap
Sin enters the world through the deceptive questions and claims of a serpent, and the man and woman taking it upon themselves to decide what is good and what is evil - instead of trusting God and God’s judgment. Immediately the relationship between the man and woman is broken, and their relationship to God is broken too. By the end of the chapter the whole creation finds itself under this curse of brokenness, and the man and woman have been removed from Paradise.
But, through small glimmers sprinkled throughout the chapter, there is hope. We learn that one day Eve’s offspring will defeat the serpent (though it’s going to hurt). God covers their shame (but it required bloodshed - the first sacrifice). Even death itself is a kind of grace in Genesis 3 - we aren’t consigned to live in this brokenness forever.
Indeed, one of Eve’s offspring will defeat the serpent, once and for all. He’ll do so by the sacrifice of his death. But through his death he will defeat even death itself, and restore humanity - and all of creation - to God.
In case you didn’t catch that, Genesis 3 is where we glimpse, arguably for the first time in the Bible, the shadow of Jesus Christ and his saving Cross.
Art
You can find this image above my wife’s desk in our study at home. It’s also on the wall in Pastor David’s office at the church. If you want to buy a print (or some delicious caramels) you can find this image on the website of the monastery where the artist lives. And you can find a song inspired by this image on the playlist of my daughter’s favorite songs. I highly recommend you give Sandra McCracken’s “Mary Consoles Eve” a listen; it is wonderful.
The imagery here seems so modern to me: this is the story of the whole Bible told through two female (!) figures. But the idea expressed here is very old, dating back to at least the second century, when Irenaeus of Lyon suggested that similar to the way Christ is a new, better Adam, the faithful, obedient Mary is a new, better Eve. Like most good ideas about the Bible, this connection between Mary and Eve is both ancient and new.
Next Week
For next week read Genesis 4, where we meet Cain and Abel - and the first murder. The history of our world is full of murder, war, and violent death of all kinds; it’s easy to get a little numb to that. So I want to encourage you to try to come at this story with fresh eyes: what would this first murder, this first violent act, have meant in the context of God’s creative activity from Genesis 1-2?
In Christ,
Pastor Cabe
