Forgiven in Prison, Part 2 By Andrew McChesney The next Sabbath, inmate Matías greeted Dante, a 36-year-old theology student from Sagunto Adventist College, with a flurry of happy conversation at the prison in Spain. After several minutes, however, Matías abruptly changed his tone and began to fidget nervously. He spoke about his childhood and adult … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: The repeated phrase “Enoch walked with God” (Genesis 5:22, Genesis 5:24) means intimate and daily companionship with God. Enoch’s personal relationship with God was so special that “God took him” (Genesis 5:24). This last phrase is, however, unique in the genealogy of Adam and does not support the idea of an immediate afterlife in Paradise for those … Continue reading –>
Read Genesis 4:17-24. What was Cain’s legacy, and how did Cain’s crime open the way for the increasing wickedness of humankind? Cain’s great-great-great-grandson, Lamech, refers to Cain’s crime in the context of his own. This comparison between the crime of Cain and the crime of Lamech is instructive. While Cain keeps silent about his only recorded … Continue reading –>
Read Genesis 4:9-16. Why does God ask the question “Where is Abel your brother?” What is the connection between Cain’s sin and of his becoming “a fugitive and a vagabond … on the earth” (Genesis 4:12, NKJV)? God’s question to Cain echoes His question to Adam in Eden: “Where are you?” This echo suggests the link between … Continue reading –>
Read Genesis 4:3-8. What is the process that led Cain to kill his brother? See also 1 John 3:12. Cain’s reaction is twofold: “Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell” (Genesis 4:5, NKJV). Cain’s anger was directed, it appears, at God and at Abel. Cain was angry with God because he thought that he was the victim … Continue reading –>
The contrast between Cain and Abel, as reflected in their names, did not just concern their personalities; it was also manifested in their respective occupations. While Cain was “a tiller of the ground” (Genesis 4:2, NKJV), a profession requiring physical hard work, Abel was “a keeper of sheep” (Genesis 4:2, NKJV), a profession implying sensitivity and compassion. … Continue reading –>
Read Genesis 4:1-2. What do we learn from these passages about the births of the two males? The first event recorded by the biblical author immediately after Adam’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden is a birth. In the Hebrew phrase in Genesis 4:1, the words “the LORD” (YHWH) are directly linked to the words “a man,” … Continue reading –>
Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 4:1-26, Hebrews 11:4, Micah 6:7, Isaiah 1:11, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 1 John 3:12, Genesis 5:1-32, Genesis 6:1-5. Memory Text: “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4:7, NKJV). In Genesis what … Continue reading –>
Forgiven in Prison, Part 1 By Andrew McChesney The volunteers chose slips of paper with the names of inmates who had signed up for Bible studies at a prison in Spain. But nobody took one slip of paper. “Doesn’t anyone want to meet with this man?” asked Dante Marvin Herrmann, a 36-year-old theology student at … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: Consider the connection between “the tree of life” and “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” This relation is already suggested through the fact that they are both located “in the midst of the Garden” (Genesis 2:9). But there is more between the two trees than just a geographical relation. It is … Continue reading –>
