Category: Series: Disillusion – Hebrew Testament (Series)
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Melchizedek
Gen 14:17-24 NRSV 17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). 18 And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most…
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Going West
Gen 11:31-12:7 NRSV 11:31 Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The days of Terah…
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Magical City
I loved magicians when I was a kid. I remember watching Blackstone on television. Later David Copperfield came along. I remember seeing magicians at parties and events. It was always fun to watch. But then, in high school, I met a guy who did magic tricks. He showed me how a few tricks were done.…
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Between a Rock and a Hard Place
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and…
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Tale of Two Cities
The first eleven chapters in Genesis tell us about two important cities. Enoch was built by Cain, and Babel by Nimrod. Both were cities built as shelters by cursed people wandering the Earth. Cities throughout most places and times have been places not only of shelter but of power and worship. They have been the…
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Reprise
As I was thinking about this blog entry, a quote came to mind that I simultaneously read on Tim Keel's blog. Spooky. From the Princess Bride, "Let me e'splain…no, there iz too much: let me…sum up." I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago that envisioned Scripture as a six-act play. (Missing Pages) Here…
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Church of Babel
Our English word "Church" comes from the Greek word ecclesia, which means "the gathered." Genesis 11:1-9 talks about another ecclesia or gathering—the church of Babel. Gen 11:1-9 NRSV 1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east,* they came upon a plain in the…
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Cain Returns
Genesis 10 follows the story of Noah and the flood. It is possibly one the most "scintillating" chapters in the Bible, complete with Hittites, Hamathites, Girgashites, and Mosquitobites (Okay. I made up the last one.) When reading the Bible, I always considered chapter 10 to be one of those canonical speed bumps on the way…
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Starting Over
Gen 8:20-9:17 20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing odor, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for…
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Cain’s Cancer and Radical Therapy
The Genesis narrative is incomplete from the time of Cain up to Noah. What information is given is bizarre by our standards. Things like the "sons of God" married the "daughters of men" in Genesis 6:1-2 are written. Then there is a reference to the Nephilim, who "were the heroes that were of old, warriors…