Monthly Archives: July 2023

Session 013: Genesis 4: Cain and Abel: Eastern Perspectives

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Last session, we covered Genesis Chapter 4 at a high level. The story of Cain and Abel. This week we are looking at the same story but from more of an Eastern perspective. There are some good learnings to be found here, but there are also some traps, as we will try to point out. Discernment is an important factor here.

  • Scripture Audio:

    Presented as dramatizations from The Bible Gateway.

    Genesis 4

  • BEMA Discipleship Podcast: Master the Beast

    We have heard from the BEMA podcast before and there are several of us in the group who really appreciate the teachings that come from this perspective. In this interpretation, fear and shame are the main drivers of the story. There are some good concepts in this podcast.

    Podcast Web Page:
    Podcast Download:

  • Ancient Hebrew Research Center: The Untold story of Cain and Abel

    This article presents a few subtly different interpretations of situations within the Cain and Abel story based on the meanings of the original Hebrew words. It also shows how the Western version of the story (often told from the King James Version translation) has been shaped by a translation from 400+ years ago that may not have carried the nuance of the Hebrew language.

    Article Web Page:

  • Rabbi David Zaslow: WHAT’S IN A NAME: A SECRET ABOUT CAIN AND ABEL

    This article focuses on the meaning of the names given to Cain and Abel and dives into even more detail about possible meanings of these anmes than we see in our previous tow resources.

    Article Web Page:

  • EXTRA CREDIT (Will not be part of our discussion): My Jewish Learning: What Midrash Teaches About the Rabbis

    This article gives examples of ‘filling in the gaps’ that Rabbis have told to explain or fill in the blanks of the Cain and Abel story. For Christians, I think it presents an opportunity to show why we need to be careful about adding to scripture. Please only read this with discernment and prayer. However, it does open a window on how some non-scriptural beliefs come into our societies vernacular about the Bible.

    Article Web Page:

Here are some questions to prompt your study and/or discussion time:

  • What are your thoughts about fear and shame being driving factors within the Cain and Abel story?
  • Given how important names are within the Eastern culture, what are your thoughts on interpreting the defined personalities of Cain and Abel based on their names?
  • Inferences are made that the livelyhood of Cain and Abel, farming/working versus sheparding/nomading, are directly related to their reactions as well as God’s reactions to the situation; how far down this rabbit hole are you willing to go and does it influence your thoughts on the story?
  • Most of our Western ideas on this story are baised on the interpretation found in the King James Version (and it’s influence on following translations). Do you think that some of the Eastern ideas you heard are relevant or should be discarded?

Session 012: Genesis 4: Cain and Abel: A Traditional View

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This week we dive into Genesis chapter 4. The story of Cain and Abel. This is a short story, seemingly lacking in a lot of detail. And yet there is so much there. It also lends itself to many divergent interpretations depending on your worldview. For this session we are going to look at two rather traditional Western interpretations. yet, they are very different from each other. This will be good to look at these contrasting interpretations even if they are from a very Western perspective.

  • Scripture Audio:

    Presented as dramatizations from The Bible Gateway.

    Genesis 4

  • The Bible You Thought You Knew: The Story of Cain and Abel

    This is a well delivered explanation of Genesis 4 with particular attention to the ‘the ground’.

    Podcast Web Page:
    Podcast Download:

    • The Word on the Street: GENESIS: Cain and Abel

    This is a short podcast that takes a completely different perspective ad lesson from the story of Cain and Abel. This one focuses on relationships and sin. This is more typical of what you would hear in a Western Church rpesentation of the Cain and Abel story. The contrast in these two perspectives will be interesting in our group discussion.

    Podcast Web Page:

Here are some questions to prompt your study and/or discussion time:

  • When you read the story of Cain and Abel, what do you feel that the primary message is about? Obedience? Jeleaousy? Sin? Correction? What else?
  • What do you think about the podcast with a strong focus on ‘the ground’? Have you ever considered the implications of the ground?
  • The Word on the Street Podcast is based toward family devotionals, what did you get out of her interpretation of the story? What was your big take away?
  • What questions are outstanding for you when you read or heard the story? What details seem to be missing?
  • If you felt that there was a life application for you in this sotry, what was it? Hopefully your answer is something other than ‘don’t murder’.

Session 011: Genesis 3: The Fall: Who was the Serpent of Genesis – Part 2

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Based on the active discussion last week, our group has decided to continue the discussion of the serpant over another week. We are adding two short resources to add additional context to our discussion for the next week.

  • Scripture Audio:

    Presented as dramatizations from The Bible Gateway.

    Genesis 3

  • David Guzik: Study Guide for Genesis 3

    David Guzik is he senior pastor at Calvery Chapel in Santa Barbara, California. This study guide follows what we could consider a traditional look at the chapter, but allowing for mutliple interpretations.

    Blog Post:

  • Bnonn Tennant: Who is the serpent in Genesis, and is it an actual snake?

    Tennant does a good job of applying references to his thoughts. This is good because he looks at the spiritual beings in the Bible a little differently than we usually address them in Western though. One of the interesting comparisons that he makes is of the Garden and the Throne Room of the Lord. That leads to a broader discussion of the serpents role within the broader collection of non-human beings around God. Please read this one with discernment. It has some good points, but are outside normal thought. Throughout this post, there are links to related posts that may be of interest and add insite to what he states. This will provide solid discussion materal.

    Blog Post:

  • Wikipedia: Serpents in the Bible

    While we rarely introduce Wikipedia entries, this one does a good job of presenting an unboased view of ‘serpents’ within the Bible and other religious groups that the common public ties closely to Christianity. It includes a few perspectives that are not covered within our previous two resources.
    Wikipedia Entry

  • Don Stewart :: How Do We Understand the Serpent in the Garden of Eden?

    This is an entry written by Don Stewart for the Blue Letter Bible website. His interpretation takes a little different perspective than our groups disucssion took during our first meeting. This is provided to present another perspective for comparison.
    Blue Letter Bible Entry

Here are some questions to prompt your study and/or discussion time:

  • Do you believe that the term ‘serpent’ represents the entities physical characteristics, functional/operational characteristics, or both?
  • What are your thoughts on the Garden of Eden being representative of either the throne room or council room of the Most High?
  • Are you bothered by Bnonn Tennant’s use of the term god to represent the other spiritual beings in God’s court?
  • Why do you think that the serpent focused on Eve instead of Adam?
  • Snakes: Do you think that the serpent was literally a talking snake or that the curse resulted in snakes as we know them today?
  • What do you think happened with the curse?
  • If you were asked to explain the serpent to a non-believer, how would you explain who or what it is?
  • How would you explain the serpent to a believer?

Session 010: Genesis 3: The Fall: Who was the Serpent of Genesis

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This week we are going to look at the identity of the serpent in the Gardern of Eden. The Western Church usually assumes that the serpent was satan, but a deeper look at the identitiy of satan is rarely if ever looked at. We can dig into the origins of this serpent and obtain a better understanding of where it came from. Because of the nature of this study we are going to diverge from our normal practice of using audio or video recordings. We will using resources that are well referenced. We only have two resources, but they will take some effort to get through. This will be time consuming and require some seious mental energy, but given that this is identifying our greatest spiritual foe, it is worth the effort.

  • Scripture Audio:

    Presented as dramatizations from The Bible Gateway.

    Genesis 3

  • David Guzik: Study Guide for Genesis 3

    David Guzik is he senior pastor at Calvery Chapel in Santa Barbara, California. This study guide follows what we could consider a traditional look at the chapter, but allowing for mutliple interpretations.

    Blog Post:

  • Bnonn Tennant: Who is the serpent in Genesis, and is it an actual snake?

    Tennant does a good job of applying references to his thoughts. This is good because he looks at the spiritual beings in the Bible a little differently than we usually address them in Western though. One of the interesting comparisons that he makes is of the Garden and the Throne Room of the Lord. That leads to a broader discussion of the serpents role within the broader collection of non-human beings around God. Please read this one with discernment. It has some good points, but are outside normal thought. Throughout this post, there are links to related posts that may be of interest and add insite to what he states. This will provide solid discussion materal.

    Blog Post:

Here are some questions to prompt your study and/or discussion time:

  • Do you believe that the term ‘serpent’ represents the entities physical characteristics, functional/operational characteristics, or both?
  • What are your thoughts on the Garden of Eden being representative of either the throne room or council room of the Most High?
  • Are you bothered by Bnonn Tennant’s use of the term god to represent the other spiritual beings in God’s court?
  • Why do you think that the serpent focused on Eve instead of Adam?
  • Snakes: Do you think that the serpent was literally a talking snake or that the curse resulted in snakes as we know them today?
  • What do you think happened with the curse?
  • If you were asked to explain the serpent to a non-believer, how would you explain who or what it is?
  • How would you explain the serpent to a believer?

Session 009: Genesis 3: The Fall: A look at the Two Trees

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There are two specific trees identified in the creation story and identified as located in the Garden of Eden. While they are obviously important trees; Our churchly interactions with these treees tend to be as side characters and used to support other creation story interpretations. Should there be more there? There is. This week we will look a little more deeply at threse tree. We have two resources that will be our primary points of discussion in the class. However, if you are interested in diving deeper, we will list some additional resources that may wet your pallet.

  • Session 009 Prolog Podcast

    Podcast webpage
    Podcast Download

  • Scripture Audio:

    Presented as dramatizations from The Bible Gateway.

    Genesis 3

  • Tree of Life vs. Three of Knowlede of Good & Evil (7 Minutes)

    This is a very short podcast. What it does well is show where the trees are in relation to the relationship between Adam and Eve, and the Lord God. There are a couple of interesting perspectives that are presented that I think that you will like. But we will leave that to the discussion time.

    Podcast Home on Spotify:

  • Weird Stuff: The Trees of Eden

    The following link is for RightNow Media. You will have to log into a RightNow Media account to access it. Unfortunately, there is not another link available. This is an extensive look at the trees in the creation story. One of the members of this dialog has written a book on one of the trees. This is another link that will be enjoyed and create many discussion points.

    Series Home Page on Rightnow Media:

  • Additional Links for a deeper dive

    The following links are some of the ones looked at for inclusion in this weeks discussion. They are not intended to be part of our upcoming disucssion. They are also not leaning in one specific direction. They are literally, all over the place in terms of theology. They are here to help you if you are interested in following this topic down a rabbit hole. If you do follow these links, may God bless you in your studies.

    What is the meaning of the Tree of Life?
    What is the Tree of Life? Bible Meaning and Importance.
    The Two Trees
    YouTube Video: Playing God
    History’s Most Misunderstood Tree: Why Nothing on Earth Will Satisfy
    The Tree of Life: Lost but Not Forgotten
    Eden’s two trees: Paths of life and death (Genesis 2–3)

    • Here are some general things to think about while listening to this week’s resources:

    • Why two different trees?
    • Did God set a trap?
    • Why was God worried that we would be like “us”?
    • When do we see the trees elsewhere in the Bible (this will take some study)?

    Session 008: Genesis 1, 2 & 3: Are There Two Creation Stories?

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    For many there seems to be two acounts of creation; Chapter 1 being the first, and the Chapter 2 being the second, with many considering Chapter 3 to be a continuation of the second ‘version’ of creation. So are these two different accounts? Two different versions? Two different perspectives. This week we will look at these questions.

    • Session 008 Prolog Podcast

      Podcast webpage
      Podcast Download

    • Scripture Audio:

      Presented as dramatizations from The Bible Gateway.

      Genesis 1
      Genesis 2
      Genesis 3

    • Why Are there TWO Creation Acounts?

      This is a short YouTube video (8+ minutes) produced by ‘Masterpiece Bible’ on the two creation presentation in Genesis.

      YouTube Link:

    • Are there Two Creation Accounts in Genesis?

      This is a somewhat deep dissection of the Genesis text that looks at the literary makeup of the written text. The purpose is to understand how the first chapters of Genesis relate to each other. It is less than 25 minutes in length, but requires a little more concentration since it is taught more like a college class than a pastors sermon.

      YouTube Link:

    Here are some general things to think about while listening to this week’s resources:

    • Why are there two apparent tellings of the creation story?
    • Is the creation of ‘MAN’ and the creation of ‘ADAM and EVE’ the same people or different?
    • Is Chapter 3 tied to Chapter 1, Chapter 2, or does it stand alone by itself?
    • What to YOU see as the similarities and differences between the two accounts.