Observations and interesting bits from Day 1:
-Genesis 1:30 states, "And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so."
Assuming God made all the animals to include dinosaurs... dinosaurs initially ate plants! Could that explain the shallow root system of the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex? Perhaps the extinction of many dinosaurs was caused by insufficient plant life to feed these large creatures who were not designed to eat meat? Just a question.
-Genesis 2:1 says, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them."
Perhaps this could be referring to the creation of all the angels and human souls?
-Genesis 3:14 indicates that snakes once had legs, "...upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." That would certainly account for the pair of seemingly unnecessary "hip bones" found in snakes today.
-Genesis 6:3 makes me wonder if humans were already living forever or if the breeding with angels (sons of God) was causing indefinite longevity because of what God said; "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."
Maybe another way to look at this was that God was giving humankind 120 years to straighten things out before He wiped them out in the flood. Or perhaps He knew that in 120 years, mankind would become SO corrupt that it would NEED to be completely wiped out with the exception of some choice human seed.
-Genesis 6:1-4 speaks of the sons of God taking daughters of men as wives and generating giants and "mighty men which were of old, men of renown." Could these half-human, half-angelic offspring be the fodder for numerous tales, fables, and legends of gods and demi-gods who possessed amazing powers, yet were bound with such human emotions?
-Genesis 7:1-2 very clearly indicates that there were clean and unclean animals BEFORE God directed the Israelites what to eat/sacrifice as clean... "Of every clean beast though shalt take... and of beasts that are not clean... Of fowls also of the air..."
Another interesting question pertains to the number of clean and unclean animals taken aboard. Why seven? It doesn't seem right to have an "odd man out" when repopulating the earth. Did God mean seven PAIRS of clean and two PAIRS of unclean animals?
Or maybe, just maybe, the seventh animal taken into the ark was the sacrificial animal which Noah sacrificed upon exiting the ark?
-Genesis 9:2 seems to indicate that animals had not been afraid of people up to this point: "And the fear of you [Noah and his sons] and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea;" Good call! Especially since the next verse directs Noah and his sons to use the animals as food now, instead of just plant life.
-Genesis 9:22 speaks of Ham's son, Canaan, and makes me to wonder if this son is the one whose descendants would be overcome by the post-Egypt Israelites.
-Genesis 9:25-27 has an account of Noah cursing Ham's son, Canaan for Ham's disrespectful wrongdoing. I find it interesting that Noah didn't curse Ham, but cursed his son. It is the descendants of Canaan who would fill the Promised Land (i.e., the land of Canaan) and who would become so wicked that the Israelites would drive them out.
It is interesting to note here that Noah, while cursing Canaan, also blessed Shem and said Japheth would live in his tents. Later, we find that Abram/Abraham, the father of many nations was a direct descendant of Shem. It would be his descendants that would wipe out the land of Canaan.
-Genesis 10:6 refers to a son of Ham as being named Mizraim... this is the Hebrew word for Egypt.
-Genesis 10:9-10 tells us that Nimrod, the grandson of Ham and "a mighty hunter before the Lord," was the founder of Babel - the beginning of his kingdom. I wonder if this is the same Babel where the infamous tower was built.
-Genesis 10:15 foreshadows issues with children of Heth, as bemoaned by Isaac later. Heth was the grandson of Canaan, who was cursed by his grandfather, Noah.
-Genesis 11:4-7 has always amused me. In the King James Version (KJV), the people are quoted as saying, "Go to, let us make brick and burn them thoroughly... Go to, let u build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven..." God comes down to see the city and says, "Go to, let us go down and confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." And who says God has no sense of humor?!
-Genesis 14:18 introduces a mysterious character, Melchizedek. I'm still not sure who he is, but he appears suddenly, with no lead up, and he is the high priest of the city of Salem, which means peace. Not only this, but Abraham promptly gives him a tithe of all the spoil he had just obtained. Curious.
-Genesis 15:16 states that the Amorites weren't wicked enough for Abram to destroy, but "in the fourth generation they [Abram's descendants] shall come hither again."
-Genesis 16:3 showed me something I'd never really thought of before. Previously, it seemed to me that right after God promised Abram a son (and it didn't happen), that Ishmael came along. This verse contradicts that idea, stating Abram waited TEN YEARS before Sarai gave him Hagar to be his wive.
-Genesis 16:11-12 is one of the most historically provocative verses from today's reading for me. "I will multiply thy [Hagar's] seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude... thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael... And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."
God's promise to Abram's descendants applied literally to his descendants. God kept his word, even though Ishmael was a result of human action, rather than waiting on God's timing. That simple act of impatience has resulted in one of the most turbulent and long-lasting conflicts in history; the Arab/Jew conflict in the Middle East.
Something to think about, huh?
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I wonder what Melchizadek means. Perhaps it might reveal a link to some other person mentioned in scripture? Perhaps not - it is fairly early in biblical chronology.
I really liked your thought that the 120 years refers to how long God gives man to "clean up their act." It is also humbling - because usually God shares such insights with believers, and so it becomes a reminder that our job is to go out and bring forth the gospel to all the nations - presumably this would include such notices.
Regarding Gen 6:3, I personally think they weren't living forever - predominantly because of the earlier mention of the Tree of Life.
I really like your notice of the fact that there were clean and dirty animals before the flood. I have to wonder if this is an example of some of the terminology that was "shared" chronologically, as it was passed down by word of mouth. I suppose the question might be asked - if the word "clean" used here is the same as the word "clean" used elsewhere, and how was the state of cleanliness established before it was codified in tomes? Was it, much like music/metal working/husbandry something that was directly given to mankind?
re: 7pairs/2pairs
Maybe unclean animals breed faster?
re: gen 1:30 (herb diet)
What about the teeth of carnivores? We now associate diet with teeth - perhaps they had another function? Or perhaps it's a false association?
Good questions!
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