Good afternoon.  I shared with you all a few weeks back that I had started a new job.  Well, just let me reiterate that this was God's will for me.  More confirmation of this has just been pouring in like you would not believe.  God's timing is remarkable.  He had me start this new job in the slow season.  When I say slow, I mean R-E-A-L  S--L--O--W--!  There is hardly anything to do and the phones barely ring.  I almost feel guilty getting paid to just sit there.  We are so slow that they have told me if I want to bring a book to read they don't mind.  So, I took them up on it. I have been bringing my Bible and notebooks.  They are actually paying me to sit there and study my Bible!  This is certainly a God thing.  When I am at home I have things demanding my time and I struggle sometimes with how do I do it all and so often I have made the mistake of postponing my study time.  God is allowing me to get EXTRA study time at work. This is so awesome.  I just praise Him for this time He has granted me.

I would now, like to share some of the teachings I have gone through this week.  I have done some studying in the 1st parts of Genesis.  The notes which are about to follow are NOT notes that I took from this study, but notes a dear friend of mine sent to me.  I pray you are able to glean something from these notes and encourage you not to fall into the same traps I have in the past with putting off your study time.  Make time to study....to draw near to God...and He will draw near to you.

Questions and Concepts for Parsha Berei****

(Genesis 1:1 - 6:8)

1. The first few chapters of Genesis make up one of the two foundational texts for "deeper" Torah study, (Torah is God's instructions.  The 1st 5 books of the Bible.),with Ezekiel's "chariot" vision being the other.  The Genesis account proceeds from God, through the heavenly realm, down to man on earth.  Ezekiel's vision is the converse, from man on earth, through the spiritual realm, up to God.                                                                             If one attempts to take a strict literal/chronological view to Genesis, many inconsistencies seem to appear.  For instance, in 1:2 it says the Spirit of God hovered over the waters, yet these waters are not created yet.  In chapter 1, Adam and Eve are created at the same time, whereas in Chapter 2, Eve is created subsequent to Adam.  Genesis 1:12 shows vegetation on the earth, but 2:5 says there was not yet vegetation. The aforementioned conflicts are difficult to resolve at the literal level.  The deeper level of Hebraic understanding (called the "sod") often offers the explanation.  Put in simple terms, creation emerged in "stages" each one associated with a certain "level of existence."  (Each one of these levels is called a "world" in Hebraic study.)  The first of these "worlds" is present even prior to creation (before Genesis 1:1), as man was already "created" in the "mind" of God.  This is the "image" to which man was made.Beginning with Genesis 1:1, we are dealing with three such worlds "within creation."  These worlds are distinguished as follows:                  A. Man before he was placed in Gan Edan (the Garden of Eden) B. Man living in Gan Edan                                                             C. Man after he was expelled from Gan Edan                               Man before Gan Edan (Genesis 1:1 through 2:3) did not exist in the physical realm that we live in--in fact, he did not have any "form" as such.  This only comes with his placement in Gan Edan.  (Where did Adam "reside" before God put him in the "garden"?)  Even in Gan Edan, man was still a spiritual entity--with some type of "form"however.  He did not receive his present physical manifestation until being expelled from Gan Edan in Genesis 3:24.  At the "sod" level, the "garments" God gave to Adam and his wife in Genesis 3:21 means the corporeal bodies they would need to exist in the physical world after being expelled from Gan Edan.                                                                                       These four worlds of existence for man are found within this verse: "Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him."(Isaiah 43:7)Corresponding to these worlds of creation, we see three different names for God being used.  Prior to Gan Edan, God is called by the name Elohim.  During the time Adam lives in Gan Edan, God is called by the combined name YHVH-Elohim.  Subsequent to Gan Edan, God is know simply as YHVH.The name Elohim is associated with the attributes of judgment and restrictiveness.  These attributes were necessary to "set aside aplace 'apart' from God" in order for anything else to exist, as well as setting the limits and rules of creation.  The combined name YHVH-Elohim shows the harmony between the judgmental and merciful aspects of both God and man, as existed in the time of Gan Edan.  The name YHVH by itself indicates God's mercy that permeates the physical world which came into realization, post-Gan Edan, allowing it to exist with God's provision.
2. In Genesis 1:4, God "separates" between light and darkness.  As only things that can be mixed together can be separated, and as darkness is the absence of light, it is difficult to understand how they could be "separated." At the deeper level, the term "separated" means "set aside".  This "light" is a special light that has been set aside for the righteous in the world to come. ( See Deuteronomy 4:41.)
3. There is a subtle yet significant spelling variation found in verse 2:7.  The term "create" is normally spelled "tvav-yud-yud-tzadi-resh" - with two "yuds".  The Hebrew sages interpret this as meaning that man has been created for both this world and for another world after he is resurrected.  This is the first "hint" at the idea of resurrection found in Scripture.
4. In Genesis 2:7 we are told man comes from the dust of hte earth, and that God blew into man's nostrils the breath of life.  This shows that man exists both below in the physical world and above in the spiritual world(s).
5. In Genesis 2:9 God warns Adam not to "eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil." In the Aramaic translation (i.e., Targum Onkelos) this verse is translated in a verbal form as:  "...the eaters of whose fruit would discriminate between good and evil."  Here, "discriminating between good and evil" is seen in a negative connotation.  this of course appears to make little sense.  Again, the answer is found at a deeper level.  Simply stated, everything that comes into our lives is allowed by God.  The only "choice" we have is how to react.  (The Talmudic saying is; "Everything is under the fear of heaven except the fear of heaven.")  Thus, at a "higher level" (where Adam was and where we strive to be) we should view both "good" and "evil" as having the same purpose and source--they both come from God and exist in order for us to be brought closer to God (i.e., Romans 5:3-5).  To "discriminate" between them, in the sense of attributing only "good" things as being from God, and what we perceive as "bad" as ultimately coming from anything but God, is wrong.
6. Verses 3:1 and 3:14 are the first to mention of an important principle found throughout Scripture called midah k'neged midah-- "measure for measure" (punishment or reward).  As the serpent was the more cunning than any other creature (3:1) he was punished for his transgression more than any other creature (3:14).
7. In verse 3:3 Eve replies to the serpent that she was not to eat or touch the fruit of the tree.  This was not what God said however, He only commanded not to eat.  Eve's "adding to the Word of God" was used by the serpent to deceive her.

Consider this concept:

Genesis 2:10 mentions the river that comes from Eden to "water the garden."  The river is associated with the flow of God's spiritual provision for the earth.  (Note that it reappears in Revelation chapter 22).  Genesis 2:10 contains three Hebrew verb forms, indicating past, present, and future.  Elsewhere in Scripture, God is called the one who was, who is, and who shall be and Yeshua is said to be the same, yesterday, today, and forever.  The Hebrew word for truth, emeth, is made up of the beginning, middle, and the ending letters of the alphabet (aleph-mem-tav).  The numerical value of "emeth"is 441, which is 21 squared.  God described Himself to Moses as, "I am that I am." The numerical value of "I am" (ehyeh) is 21.

 

May something said here today be a nugget for you to take with you.  God Bless You and have a GREAT week.

Regina