Genesis 2: 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Adam’s choice – do you have any thoughts or insight about this?

Adam had a choice and he blew it. He was told not to eat from the tree of knowledge.

Genesis 3:1-7 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

So Adam and Eve ate from the tree, drawn into temptation by the serpent. I’ve often wondered, what would have happened if they’d NOT eaten from the tree of knowledge? Would all of us be in paradise right now, eating as much fruit and veggies that we wanted, not having to toil in the soil? Would we be happy, carefree, birthing children with no pain?

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Or would someone, one of Adam’s and Eve’s offspring, mess everything up by eating from the tree of knowledge? I think about Cain murdering his brother Abel. If Adam and Eve had obeyed God, later, would Cain have eaten from the tree?

I also wonder about Adam’s and Eve’s salvation? Their disobeying God was blatantly wrong. In the Old Testament, people must abide by strict rules. If those rules are broken, they could die, with no hope of salvation? Christ’s coming is foretold in the Old Testament. Yet, I’m unaware as to if Adam and Eve can be saved since they were perfect?

All of us are sinners and we have the hope of salvation through our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

If we were perfect, in the Garden of Eden, would we have been tempted, and made the wrong choice, like Adam and Eve?

What would it be like to wrestle with God, face to face?

Genesis 32: 22-31

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

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My goodness, when I think about Jacob, wrestling with God…makes me stop and wonder….

Wrestling is a sport that takes a lot of strength and endurance. I remember watching wrestling matches back in high school. The cheerleaders would do their cheers sitting on the floor. I suppose that made things more authentic since the wrestlers were struggling on the floor.

I just can’t imagine wrestling with…God…all night. I think Jacob was stronger then men nowadays. Also I don’t think Jacob really knew with whom he was wrestling, or why?

God reveals himself, letting Jacob know that he has been blessed. I’m not sure why God asked Jacob his name? I guess He just wanted to hear Jacob speak his name.

I wonder what God looked like while wrestling with Jacob? I believe he physically resembled Jesus in the New Testament.

Another thing that was weird, Jacob was able to overcome God, until God damaged his tendon. Why did he damage his tendon?

So, read the scripture below and let me know if you have any thoughts about it.

What do you think it would be like to wrestle with God all night?

Have you ever read a scripture that made you angry?

Well, reading the Old Testament makes me angry – sometimes. It’s so difficult, trying to make sense of scriptures, well….that make no sense! Read Judges 11:29-38:

29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

32 Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”

36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

38 “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. 39 After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite tradition 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Jephthah was obviously not very smart. He asked the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

But making a deal with the Lord, such as this, he must have known that SOMEONE would be coming out to greet him when he returned home. Can you imagine, making such an offer to God? Could he not have offered to slaughter his entire herd of sheep or goats….something or someone other than a human being who would come out to greet him?

It’s not as if a chicken or a cow was going to come out of the house to greet him, right? Did Jephthah think that the Lord would not accept an alternate sacrifice?

Jephthah’s daughter…she stated: 36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

She wants to weep because she will never marry??

I’d be weeping because I don’t want to be dead! Imagine if someone was going to put a gun to your head and pull the trigger…as a sacrifice to God. Yeah, I realize guns did not exist back then, but, I’m just using this as an example – so that we can try to relate to the situation.

If you knew you were going to die….I’d be weeping because my life would be cut short. I don’t want to be dead! I’d be mourning the loss of my own life, mourning all that I’d be leaving behind.

After two months… 39 After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

So, he killed his daughter? Sacrificed his only child? Is Jephthah’s daughter in Heaven with Jesus? After all, she told her father to obey the Lord: 36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.

Jesus had not yet come to earth, but, his coming was foretold in the Old Testament. Since He’d not yet come, do those, such as Jephthah’s daughter, have the gift of eternal life in Heaven with our Creator?

I also thought about Abraham and Isaac. Why did God stop Abraham from sacrificing his son, but, he did not grant the same to Jephthah?

So, do you have any scriptures that make you angry, sad, or just make you wonder? Maybe wonder that some questions won’t be answered until we get to heaven?

Judges 7:4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

Can you hear God’s voice?

When I read through the book of Judges, I notice Gideon, fighting battles with his army, obeying God’s word. As stated in Judges 7:4, Gideon seems to hear God’s voice as clearly as you might hear a friend talk to you on the phone. Or, he may hear God’s voice as clearly as you talking to someone at your own kitchen table, in person.

I’ve always wondered why those in the Old Testament, the saints of God, seem to hear Him so clearly. They seemed to have a deeper connection to the Lord, deeper than what we have today. Yes, we pray to Jesus, ask for His advice, but, it’d be nice to hear a clear voice, straight from Heaven, just as Gideon heard when he went into battle with his army.

God gave Gideon directions, and in spite of God’s strong, clear voice, Gideon was still doubtful. If God told him that he were going to overtake his enemies and win the battle, Gideon wanted more proof, sometimes he wanted proof twice or three times. He doubted God, in spite of His clear, strong voice.

Does God speak so clearly to us now? Since Jesus has come and died for our sins, saving us, does God feel that he no longer needs to speak directly to us, in a clear, strong physical voice? Does Jesus want us to pray and have faith – and that’s enough?

Perhaps, since those in the Old Testament were known to doubt God, in spite of His strong voice, perhaps God doesn’t want to waste His time speaking clearly, in a physical voice to us, since we continue to doubt Him?

How clearly do you hear God’s voice? Have you ever felt that God were speaking to you, directly from Heaven?

keywords: Noah, Noah’s Ark, flood, Old Testament, vegetarian, vegetarianism, Bible, ark, animals, Bible story, Bible stories, Sunday School

Why were humans vegetarians before the flood?

Genesis 9:1-3

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. ² The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. ³ Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

After Noah and his family exited the ark, the Lord told him that the beasts of the earth would fear him and that they were given into his hands as food. I’m assuming, at this point, the birds and animals would run away when approached by humans and we’d need to start hunting then down to eat as food. I’m also assuming, before the flood, animals would willingly come up to humans much like domesticated pets? What do you think?

My main question is, why did the Lord let us eat meat AFTER the flood? I’m assuming before the flood, everyone ate a vegetarian diet? Was it possible that the earth changed after the flood and it’d be difficult for man to receive all of his nourishment from plants?

Why do you think humans were vegetarians before the flood?

~Cecelia Dowdy~