We had a great conversation that took more than two hours. I had expected to breeze through the eight questions; the notes were pretty easy to read and the questions seemed quite straight forward…of course I was very wrong, as I usually am when I approach the Torah.
The thing that surprised me this time is when Eve received her name. It’s after the fall…I wonder if she’s the mother of the living only after death enters into the picture. Is that significant? I’m sure it is.
We also talked about light. There was illumination before God created the sun and the moon. God is light. The sun and the moon are there to mark time and the seasons…and there will again be a place where God lights it all…the New Heaven and the New Earth.
This brought us to John 1. The author is weaving Hebrew and Greek ideals together. The Jewish ears would hear stuff like In the Beginning….we have seen his glory…and think of Genesis 1. The Greeks would hear about the Logos and glory and think philosophically.
John 1:14 might be the most amazing verse in the Bible (along with Gen. 1:1)
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
The infinite became infinite. That is the thinking of the Aramaic word for “word” Memra. It’s a deep concept.
Then we also talked about Paul's view of Christ and the creation.
To wit from Colossians 1:
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
We also talked about Cain and Abel. That is a mind boggling story. Cain approached God with sin. But what was the sin and how was it worthy of death? (Aren't we all worthy of death?) But doesn't that seem harsh? But then we have the writer of Hebrews who says that Christ's blood speaks better than Abel's.
Hebrews 12
22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
I'm not sure what to make of this.
This blog chronicles the questions, affirmations, and interesting happenings that arise from studying the Torah each week. I study with a group of very interesting folks at Mars Hill church in Grandville, MI. We read the materials from First Fruits of Zion (www.ffoz.org) and discuss together. This is my second year of exploring the Very Words of God in the Torah Cycle.
