10.27.24
Good morning!
In a few minutes I will be driving down to Kansas City to work for a week. Prayer appreciated! I'm leaving at 5:00 a.m.
As with the new Torah cycle, many of you have begun your studies in Genesis/bereshit all over again. The cycle of life and beginnings continues. For me, back from Florida, my new beginning is officially living in Michigan, but heading back to KC for some work opportunities. A new cycle begins; a new chapter is to be written.
Commercial: Shabbat morning's zoom call: A strange beginning. This isn't your typical children's story: An inquisitive look into the Garden of Eden, the temptation and the consequences like we've not seen before (Gen. 2&3)
Personally, I think we are all confronted and/or presented with opportunities for new beginnings on a regular basis, but more times than not, we (speaking of me, myself and I), find ourselves sliding right back into the old patterns, a default setting, even if new opportunities arise before my eyes.
Part of my daily study, throughout the year is to spend time in Genesis/Bereshit, the book of beginnings. It seems to me that no matter how far into the Scripture one reads that every story has a connecting thread to the Garden of Eden; a story that has become too familiar through my 'hooked on phonics' reading ability.
When Adam, and his honey bunny, not yet named, eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they run to the trees (trees in Scripture are pictures of men (Deut.20:19,20)) and try to hide from God because they are naked and afraid (Gen. 3:10).
As I reflect on Adam's response to God, 'where are you' (Gen. 3:9), I look at his response (Gen. 3:10) and think, as it reads in English, it's in the past tense...
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
...but it's actually not in the past tense. It's an imperfect tense which means that his action of the past is continuing in the present. In other words, instead of reading this as a past tense statement, I was afraid, I hid and I ate, it actually says...
I will be afraid, I will hide and I will eat.
As with the new Torah cycle, many of you have begun your studies in Genesis/bereshit all over again. The cycle of life and beginnings continues. For me, back from Florida, my new beginning is officially living in Michigan, but heading back to KC for some work opportunities. A new cycle begins; a new chapter is to be written.
Commercial: Shabbat morning's zoom call: A strange beginning. This isn't your typical children's story: An inquisitive look into the Garden of Eden, the temptation and the consequences like we've not seen before (Gen. 2&3)
Personally, I think we are all confronted and/or presented with opportunities for new beginnings on a regular basis, but more times than not, we (speaking of me, myself and I), find ourselves sliding right back into the old patterns, a default setting, even if new opportunities arise before my eyes.
Part of my daily study, throughout the year is to spend time in Genesis/Bereshit, the book of beginnings. It seems to me that no matter how far into the Scripture one reads that every story has a connecting thread to the Garden of Eden; a story that has become too familiar through my 'hooked on phonics' reading ability.
When Adam, and his honey bunny, not yet named, eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they run to the trees (trees in Scripture are pictures of men (Deut.20:19,20)) and try to hide from God because they are naked and afraid (Gen. 3:10).
As I reflect on Adam's response to God, 'where are you' (Gen. 3:9), I look at his response (Gen. 3:10) and think, as it reads in English, it's in the past tense...
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
...but it's actually not in the past tense. It's an imperfect tense which means that his action of the past is continuing in the present. In other words, instead of reading this as a past tense statement, I was afraid, I hid and I ate, it actually says...
I will be afraid, I will hide and I will eat.
In verse 12, we see the use of both perfect past tense and imperfect continuous tense. What God had given and what the woman gave to him are in the past, but his eating is continuous.
Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.
As strange as it sounds, it's most likely too familiar for all of us. Our past negative decisions have taken root and it continues to prompt us in the future...living afraid, hiding, and eating from the wrong tree. Adam projects his past ino his present, which ultimately will determine his future: what he will continue to do—be afraid, hide and eat from the Tree. The innocence is gone and the self-awareness and self-consciousness has arrived.
It sure helps me understand myself and my desires why I keep moving forward in the same direction as my past. Adam was given a fresh start outside of the Garden of Eden with Cherubim and flaming swords guarding the path to the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:24).
Will we continue to project our past into the future? Will we keep eating from the tree of knowledge in fear, nakedness and hiding, or will we pursue the path to the Tree of Life?
Have a great 1st day of the week!
Shalom
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