It is often said that it is impossible to live according to God's commandments in this Generation.  It is also said that God's laws may apply to the earlier days, but now however it would be impractical what with all the sin that is all around us.  Sometimes sin presents itself and is almost forced upon us.  People in the old days must not have had it this hard...  Or have they? In Genesis chapter 6 we read about Noah.  The Holy Scripture attests to him by saying that "Noah was a righteous man, who was perfect in his generation and well-pleasing to God." (Genesis 6:9).  So far nothing special since there were many good people a long time ago.  However, Noah did not live in any ordinary times.  Just a couple of verses later, the Bible tells us why Noah was special by describing the circumstances as follows: "Now the earth was corrupt before God and filled with unrighteousness.  Thus the Lord God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh corrupted their way on the earth." (Genesis 6:11,12) Noah wasn't just righteous.  He was "perfect".  Not only that, he was perfect while everybody else were extremely wicked.  The environment that surrounded Noah was much worse than anything we're seeing today. We can only imagine what Noah must have gone through.  How much pressure to do evil Noah must hav...

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There's a very interesting expression that was used in Genesis 6:6: "So God was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and He thought this over." (Genesis 6:6) What does it mean for God to think this over?  This expression implies that God had made a mistake for Him to reconsider.  It implies that God erred and He needs to correct it.  It also implies that God is not all-knowing.  Moreover it strips God from His perfection in His plan and diminishes His wisdom.  This verse renders God prone to error which in turn would destroy our trust in Him.  What then?  Was it just poor choice of word from the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit knowingly and intentionally chose these words and there's a reason behind them.  God uses human expressions to relate to us what's in His heart.  A father explaining a complex situation to his 2 year old son or daughter would have to revert to terms familiar to his 2 year old, otherwise the message would be misunderstood or completely lost.  So too our heavenly Father trying to relate to us this situation He uses human terms.  The father of the 2 year old could chose to use adult terms in the explanation leaving his child completely lost, but that wouldn't be a loving thing to do.  Here however out of His Love, God used terms we can relate to in order to express the situation.&nbs...

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In Genesis 6, in the story of Noah, we read "Then God said, 'I will blot out man whom I created from the face of the earth, from man to cattle, and from the creeping things to the birds of heaven, for I am grieved I made them." (Genesis 6:7) But why would God destroy the creation which His hands have made?  Shouldn't God give them another chance to repent and live?  Where's God's mercy?  This seems too harsh at the first glance.  However, after careful examination, we discover the extent of man's wickedness and understand the amount of grief man caused God. Earlier in the chapter the Holy Scripture offers the explanation in the following verse "Then the Lord God saw man's wickedness, that it was great in the earth, and every intent of the thoughts within his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5)  Man's wickedness was great.  It wasn't simple offenses.  But even great offenses could be forgiven if man were to repent.  The scripture however adds that evil was in "every intent of man".  Not just some or most, but man reached a state where every intent of his heart was displeasing to God.  Not only that, but each intent was also "only evil".  It wasn't partially good and partially evil.  It wasn't good towards some and evil towards others.  It wasn't good in certain situations and evil in ot...

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In Genesis Chapter 5 we read the following: "This is the book of the genesis of mankind in the day God made Adam, whom He made in God's image.  He made them male and female, and blessed them; and the day He made them He called his name Adam.  Now Adam lived two hundred and thirty years, and begot a son according to his form and image, and named him Seth.  After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were seven hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters.  So all the days Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died." (Genesis 5:1-5) In verse 5 we read that Adam died.  However, it was not the will of God for His creation to experience death.  But if it's not the will of God, then how did it come to pass?  Can anything happen against God's will?  Isn't God the Almighty? God created mankind, and blessed them.  This is God's will.  God also gave Adam the free will to choose.  This is also God's will to grant man the free will.  However, it was through the will of man and due to the envy of the devil that death has entered into the world.  God's will was to create man and bless them.  His will was that man would live in Harmony with Him and with His creation.  God's will was for man to live forever in perfect union and communion with God.  Man, however, abused the gift of free will...

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Genesis 4 talks about how Cain kills his brother Abel.  Verse 16 describes Cain's condition after his sin by saying: "Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod opposite Eden." (Genesis 4:16) Cain could have and should have repented to God, like King David when he sinned, and say "Do not cast me away from Your presence..." (Psalm 50:13)  However, not only did Cain not repent, he also chose to live away from the presence of God.  Notice that it was Cain's choice to live in this state.  The bible says that "Cain went out from the presence of the Lord..." not that the Lord cast him out of his presence.  Never!  "'Do I ever will the death of a lawless man,' says the Lord, 'since My will is for him to turn from the evil way and live?'" (Ezekiel 18:23)  The Holy Scripture also says "Who desires all men to be saved..." (I Timothy 2:4) But what does it mean to live "out from the presence of the Lord"?  Living out from the presence of the Lord means living without the following: Love: for "God is love" (I John 4:16) and "love is of God" (I John 4:7) Protection: "But You, O Lord, are a shield for me" (Psalm 3:3)  Also, "The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." (Exodus 14:14) And "I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell i...

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In Genesis 4 verses 4 and 5 we read the following: "...The Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his sacrifices." The question is: How did Abel gain God's respect? What did he do differently than Cain? "Now Abel was a shepherd of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Now in the process of time Cain brought a sacrifice to the Lord from the fruits of the ground. Abel also brought a sacrifice from the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. The Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his sacrifices..." (Genesis 4:3-5) Abel had faith and through his faith he understood the proper sacrifice. In Hebrews we read "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain..." (Hebrews 11:4) Abel by faith learned that a blood sacrifice had to be offered. Perhaps he observed the garments of skin that the Lord God made for Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:21. The skin garments had to have come from a blood sacrifice. Perhaps also he learned from his parents that they tried first to sew fig leaves together and that wasn't sufficient (Genesis 3:7). Abel's faith was one of the factors that caused him to gain God's respect. In Hebrews we also read that "...without faith it is impossible to please Him..." (Hebrews 11:6). Abel had a discerning heart through faith to offer a more excellent sacrifice. Another factor that ca...

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