Questions about the Beginning of Life

After Eden Comics

Question:

I have 2 questions regarding the Book of Genesis:

1. Why would God monologue to himself about the humans eating the fruit of life, if he isn't doing a monologue to himself, who is he talking about when he says "us";
2. If Adam and Eve really are the first two people, when one of their sons kills the other and gets exiled, who is he talking about when he says "anyone who may see me may kill me"?

  

My Reply:

Who God was talking about when He said, "Us"

1)    Notice in Genesis 1, that in the beginning, the Spirit of the Lord was hovering over the waters (that's the first mention of the Holy Spirit).

2)    Later in the OT, when it mentions "the angel of the Lord", the person often first recognizes it as an angel, but then calls it "Lord". It's believed that this is because the "angel" was really "God the Son" (a.k.a., Jesus). Also about Jesus, John 1 tells us that Jesus was the one who created everything that exists.

3)    The word for God in the Hebrew is plural, yet always used with a singular verb.

What all this suggests is that the writer of Genesis was already familiar with the Holy Trinity. So when God was speaking about creating in "our" image, it's believed that He was speaking to His 2 other parts.
Granted, some believe that God was speaking to the angels, but then, Paul tells us that we'll one day judge the angels...so we can't be made in their image, also.

In terms of Cain's exile:
The genealogies of Gen. 5 mention that Eve also had "many other sons and daughters".
It's also believed that the reason Cain would fear the people in the other lands who might kill him is because, since they were all siblings, they'd also have known Abel. Plus, as you research the geographies of migration, you'll see that in the beginning, nobody really branched out too far. In other words, everybody was still pretty closely knit, and would've heard about the murder. So then after recognizing Cain's sin of killing Abel, these other siblings and/or their descendants may kill Cain for what he did to their brother/uncle, Abel.

---Pastor Andy

Christians' Views on Cavemen and Dinosaurs

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Question: Do Christians think cavemen, dinosaurs, and other prehistoric creatures existed? I wonder, since obviously most don't believe in evolution, how fossils of such creatures are explained? Especially Neanderthal fossils?

  

My Reply:

Actually, even though many of us don't believe in evolution, we do believe that cavemen and "prehistoric" creatures existed...not only because of the evidence though, but also because the Bible even mentions them.

Cavemen:
In Genesis when Lot and his daughters were running from the destruction of Sodom, they asked the Lord if they could instead live among those in the caves, for safety from those in the surrounding towns. Also, in Judges 6, due to the continuous attacks from surrounding nations, the Israelites were forced to live in the caves.

Dinosaurs:

1. "Answers In Genesis" has done several reports on this.
2. During creation, God created all the creatures, and brought them to Adam to name. They also lived together in the garden, and no doubt outside of it once everybody and everything was kicked out.
3. Several dinosaurs are mentioned throughout the Bible, only they don't have names like T-Rex, or even the name "Dinosaur". Instead, they have names from back then. Check out Job 40:15-24 for details on the "Behemoth", and Job 41:1-34 for the "Leviathan". Granted, scientists have tried relating them to modern day hippos and crocks, but if you'll look at the description, such is not actually possible. In fact, many Christians are beginning to believe that even dragons (flying, fire-breathing, etc.) once existed, some having to do with the descriptions of such in the Bible.
4. The Bible also says that the animals were created before humans.  Some have suggested the idea that dinosaurs were before man, and that this part in Genesis 1 confirms such a possibility.
5. The Bible also mentions that God created the world, and that there was a place called, "Eden", and that in it, God had placed a garden.  In this garden was where humans and all the animals brought to humans lived.  But since fossils have been found worldwide, some have also suggested the idea of dinosaurs living OUTSIDE Eden's garden at a time, whether before or during the existence of humans, and whether before or after humans were kicked out of the garden.

Some other online resources you could check out include:

http://www.bible.ca/tracks/b-dinosaurs-mentioned-in-bible.htm

Where Did Cain's Wife Come From?

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Question: In the bible it talks about Eve bearing 3 sons but it also says that eve and Adam were the only two ever to have no earthly father or mother, so when Cain went to live in nod, where did his wife come from?

My Reply:

Yes, the Bible does talk about Eve bearing 3 sons, but it also tells us that they had many other sons and daughters. And being the 1st parents created, Adam and Eve surely made many and many children!

Remember, Adam lived a really long time, and I doubt they only had 1 child a year...they were commanded to fill the earth with people (paraphrased), so I don't doubt the Lord caused Eve to give birth to like, quintuplets or something, at least several times in her life.
Also, we don't know how old Cain and Abel were when the murder took place...so it could've been well over enough time for other children to grow old enough to move away. 

I used to wonder why Cain was afraid of being killed after being sent away. I read recently that these other sons and daughters no doubt knew their brother Abel. So their wanting to kill their other brother Cain would be due to their knowing of what he did to Abel (or more if he ticked them off beforehand).  So Cain's wife was either a sister, niece, or child of a niece (or child of the child of a niece).  That information though is not explained basically because it's not needed to understand the lineage of the patriarchs, the experiences of God’s people, or the prophesies or lineages connected to the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Plus, everybody connected with Cain died in the flood anyway, so there's no need to go back and figure out her part of Adam's lineage.

---Pastor Andy

Order of Creation?

Question:

 If the Bible is true, then whom did God create first, the animals (as it says in Genesis 1) or humans (as it says in Genesis 2)?

My Reply:

Actually, the Bible IS Truth, and I've heard this argument before. Basically, you're reading the scriptures for the wrong purposes if you think they're different. Let me explain.

Reading Genesis With the Right Purposes

God created the animals first, as Genesis 1 says. But you have to understand the purposes for the writings of each, and the order of the animals' creation isn't for Genesis 1 nor 2:

Focus of Genesis 1

Genesis 1 focuses on the creation story and the first mention of the Holy Spirit, but most of all, the Sabbath. In the same way that God worked 6 days and rested on the 7th, so it should be also for us.

Focus of Genesis 2

Genesis 2 focuses on the uniting of opposite genders, and the reason for creating the female.

 ---Pastor Andy

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