The Journey Begins: Genesis 1-10

My friends and I have decided to spend this summer living with the Bible in community. We will be journeying through the Old Testament from now until August when we head back to school at Bluffton University. This past semester in my Methods of Biblical Interpretation class, we learned that if we are to be shaped by Scripture, we must live with Scripture. Just as the people we live with impact our lives, the choice to live with the Bible is a choice to engage and be shaped by the biblical text. In addition, many of us took Introduction to New Testament this semester; in that class we journeyed through the New Testament together, living with the Bible and one another in an academic setting. This summer we have chosen to join together and engage Scripture from wherever we are, across the country and around the globe. I invite you to join me, and join us, on this journey!

Genesis 1-10

• Gen 1- I noticed a cyclical pattern of God making a declaration, the phrase "and it was so" (1.9, 1.11, 1.15, 1.24), and God seeing that creation is good (1.12, 1.18, 1.25, 1.31). This cycle is one I have witnessed in my own life recently, which makes sense as creation is not a one-time event but an ongoing activity of God in the midst of our lives and the world.
• Gen 1-2- I love that the two creation narratives stand side by side, indicating the diverse nature of truth in the opening chapters of the Bible.
• Gen 2.1-3- Rest is important. God rests. College students need rest. These words seemed particularly relevant in these days of much awaited rest following an intense academic year!
• Gen 4.10-12, 15- God subverts the narrative of retributive justice and redemptive violence; Cain is punished for killing Abel, but God puts a mark on Cain to prevent others from killing him. Four chapters into the Bible, God is working to stop the cycle of violence on earth.
• Gen 5.21-24- I am fascinated by Enoch. That is all.
• Gen 6.11, 13- violence is what corrupts the earth, causing God to grieve (6.6) and be sorry that God created humankind (6.7), leading to the great flood. Since I read the Bible through the lens of nonviolence and peacemaking, this caught my eye.
• Gen 9.6-7- "Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person's blood be shed; for in [God's] own image God made humankind. And you, be fruitful and multiply, abound on earth and multiply in it." Here it is clear that life-- the abundance and flourishing of humankind-- is God's will, not violence.