I haven’t been posting much of my Bible studies as of late
(to my embarrassment and personal detriment) winding up shooting more from the
hip sometimes late at night or in some down time in the morning while eating a
bagel. This kind of posting, though, has proved exceedingly unfruitful since
I’ve wound up getting into arguments where I wouldn’t have
before.
True, I’ve done a couple of book reviews, but in all honesty who
cares about that? If anything, I’m using the reviews to try to train my
eye to look at things a bit more critical despite my agreement (or
disagreement) with the position offered.
In the middle of this I’ve taken up some brothers on their commentary recommendations. Thank God that Keil and Delitzsch’s commentary actually comes free with e-sword
and I’ve started reading. Really good stuff. The worst part is that
I’ve been reading Genesis now every three days or so (since last month)
and mid-commentary-reading alternate study thoughts start bubbling into
my head. Like the one that gripped me the other night to number the
years of the patriarchs up to Noah.
I know, it’s been done and using the Hebrew text, the Samaritan
Pentateuch and the Septuagint. Heck, I have a book on my shelf that I
read a couple of years ago that had the numbering but I had to do it
myself. I sat down and (gasp) did math again.
Yeah, before I saw the light of commercial arts, before I wanted to
live off of the fine arts, before I wanted to draw in comics…I wanted
to be a computer programmer.
So here I was, reading my Keil and Delitzsch on e-sword and
suddenly I’m in {{Genesis 5}} looking at the genealogy of Adam. Leave
me to my wondering exuberance. I’ve studied this before but it’s just
so good when you do it yourself (twice in this case since I messed up
the numbers at one point knowing that Methusaleh didn’t live no 52
years after the flood!).
I wish I could attach the chart but basically (if my numbers are
right and according to the Hebrew numbering of their lifetimes) Adam
was still alive when Noah’s father Lamech was born. So was Seth. So was
Enoch, and he was walking with God. How cool is that? There’s Lamech
naming his son while remembering the curse proven by the work of his
hands and the testimony of his fathers and the witness of Enoch who was
taken.
Also how awesome is God’s mercy? Before God ever brings the flood,
he takes away Enoch. 5 years before the flood, Lamech dies. Before He
brings the flood, Methusaleh dies…and does so as the oldest man ever. I
wonder if when God told Noah that he’s going to bring the flood in 7
days if that was the very day Methusaleh died {{(Gen 7}}). I’ll have to
ask him one day.
-r-
You might think this a bit silly but everytime I’ve ever studied
Genesis before this time it has been for the purpose of seeing the
connection with some other doctrine in Scripture or as a jumpstart to
studying revelation in Creation. This time, I’m studying Genesis just
as Genesis. So cool. I had done it with Numbers a few months back and
it opened up the book for me. Yum.