Tag: Genesis 03

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Renewing our taste: Messiah transforms our desires to crave God above all else (Leviticus 11; Genesis 2–3; Acts 10)

Renewing our taste: Messiah transforms our desires to crave God above all else (Leviticus 11; Genesis 2-3; Acts 10). AI artwork by Adobe Firefly showing a woman's hand grasping fruit on a tree.

The distinction between “clean” and “unclean” animals in Leviticus 11 and Acts 10 echoes the choice between the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad/Evil in Genesis 2–3. By eating from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve sought to determine good and bad for themselves, instead of trusting in God’s provision and boundaries.

In this study of Torah reading שְׁמִינִי Shemini (“eighth,” Leviticus 9–11), we’ll see that learning the underlying lesson of distinguishing clean from unclean teaches the commonwealth of Israel to accept God’s designations rather than relying on their own understanding. Those who “eat” what God deems “unclean” place themselves outside of His blessing and life, just as Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden. But by obeying God’s instructions on diet and ritual purity, Israel can enjoy communion with the holy God and partake continually of His life-giving presence, prefigured by the Tree of Life.

Peter’s vision in Acts 10 teaches this fundamental lesson of how “cleaned” believers in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) are elevated/separated from the “unclean” way of the world.

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Discussions Torah

Seed of hope is planted in the hearts of humanity groaning in a world of hate and violence (Genesis 1–4)

Seed of hope is planted in the hearts of humanity groaning in a world of hate and violence (Genesis 1-4)

The origins of not just the universe and creation but also hatred and violence in contemporary and ancient society are revealed in the first Torah reading, בְּרֵאשִׁית B’reisheet (“In the beginning,” Genesis 1:1–6:8), reveals. What makes the difference in not going down that dark road is listening to God’s voice in a world filled with confusion and disobedience.

This study explores the nature of sin, highlighting the responsibility individuals bear for their actions and how the Age of Ignorance is over with the revelation of the Creator through Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ). This exploration also touches upon gender and marriage in the context of God’s design, with an emphasis on the covenant of marriage and its role in humanity.

The origin and purpose of Israel are discussed, stressing its role as a light to the world. Additionally, we delve into the symbolic connection between nakedness and shame, relating it to the account of Adam and Chavah (Eve) and their choices that lead to judgment. It concludes with a message of hope centered around the Seed of the woman and the need for unwavering faith — trust — in God’s healing and salvation.

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Torah readings

Torah reading Beresheet (בראשית): Genesis 1:1-6:8

Studies in Torah

These days, a Creator Who made the heavens, Earth, plants, creatures and people is scoffed at by many, including ever more in the Body of Messiah. But this week’s Torah portion, בְּרֵאשִׁית B’reisheet (“In the beginning,” Genesis 1:1-6:8), reminds us why Yeshua (Jesus) taught that this is important real history undergirding our faith.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Jacob’s ladder vs. Babel’s tower: Choose what’s true; reject what’s false (Genesis 28)

Jacob's ladder vs. Babel's tower: Choose what's true. Reject what's false. (Genesis 11 and 28; John 1)

Ever since the beginning, people have been trying to connect with the divine, that which transcends the drudgery of the common, that which helps us divine truth from falsehood.

The account of Jacob’s ladder in the Torah reading ויצא Vayetze/Vayetzei (“he went out,” Gen. 28:10–32:2) is a foreshadowing of Heaven reaching to Earth in Immanuel (“God with us”), Who is fully realized in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus).

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Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

Heaven in our likeness: Adam & Eve’s revolutionary views on God (Genesis 2–3; Isaiah 42)

Adam & Eve's revolutionary views on God: A timeless warning against creating Heaven in our likeness (Genesis 2-3; Isaiah 42)

God made mankind as the pinnacle of creation. He created us to aspire to do things beyond our reach, to learn about the world beyond our horizons and to change our environment.

Men and women are pre-programmed to seek out our purpose in relation to each other and to the world at large. This gives us the ability to either accomplish great good in the world or great evil.

And that’s where the lessons come in from Adam and Eve’s choice between the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life, recorded in the Torah reading רֵאשִׁ֖ית Beresheet (“in the beginning,” Gen. 1:1–6:8). We can learn from them to choose the path that leads to life, rather than the one that leads to death.

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Discussions Torah

Eden’s two trees: Paths of life and death (Genesis 2–3)

Eden's two trees: Paths of life and death (Genesis 2-3)

It could be easy to dismiss as myth the Bible account of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2–3). Can god-like wisdom come from eating fruit from a special tree? How could the fate of humanity be tipped toward toil and sorrow just because Adam and Eve selected fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad versus the Tree of Life?

But this passage from the beginning of the Book of Beginning — בְּרֵאשִׁית Beresheet (“in the beginning,” Gen. 1:1–6:8) really directs us to the key question the Creator asked the first couple before and after their fruit selection: Will you choose life or choose death? Appeal, similar to what Moshe posed in Deut. 30:19 and what’s seen in the Book of Revelation, was presented physically in the form of two trees, both of which the Holy One created.

And this choice of the path toward life versus the path toward death is one that each of us have to keep making from one moment to the next.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

Hosea 1:1-2:4: Mercy in God’s uncovering our sin

Painting of the The Prophet Hosea and the Delphic Sibyl Fresco Borgia Apartments, Hall of the Sibyls, by Pinturicchio.

The promiscuous wife of a prophet of Israel and the mother of mankind walk into a Bible lesson…. The joke is on us if we don’t catch why the Hoshea (Hosea) was told to marry a harlot and connect her predicament of being discovered to the test given to Chavah (Eve) at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad (Genesis 3–4).

Here’s a hint: “Nakedness” is an important symbol of a spiritual condition used in teachings in the Hebrew and Apostolic scriptures.

You and I are similar to Gomer. When we sin, we want to “get away with it.” We don’t want our sin revealed. We still have to have control over our desires.