Hey guys! This week’s scripture study covers:
Genesis 5
Moses 8
If you are new to this series you can find the first in the series here.
Genesis 5 is mainly a family tree of early man. It shows that people lived a great deal longer than they do today and that Adam’s family grew to be both large and diverse. We also learn that by the time of Noah, God has cursed the ground and the people were looking to Noah for comfort. We also learn that Noah had three children.
This passage, for me, speaks to the universal desire to know where we come from. We all long, at one point or another, to feel like we know the names and personalities and stories of those who came before us. I know it means a lot to me when I learn new stories about my ancestors. I know the feeling of comfort when I can draw parallels between our lives and I would imagine early man would have felt the same way.
Moses 8 goes more in depth, as seems to be the case with the LDS scriptures, it adds more depth and color to the story. In Moses 8 we learn that Noah was sent to preach the gospel to the people and to try and get them to repent. The Lord claimed that people had become evil. There is not a lot of explanation as to why people were evil enough that God felt the need to cleanse the planet. How in a relatively short amount of time had people gone so off course that God wanted a do over? I don’t have answers to these questions because I do not have the knowledge of God but it seems odd to me. Odd and harsh.
Here is the part that I had to read twice, Moses 8:18 “And in those days there were giants on the earth, and they sought Noah to take away his life; but the Lord was with Noah, and the power of the Lord was upon him.” Giants. I read it twice. Giants. Huh? Ok let’s go with this for a while. I have two thoughts. Part of me, the part that loves folklore, thinks yes of course giants that’s awesome. The cynical side of me thinks, and yet we have found no archeological evidence of giants?! I do not know how to process that information. Giants. I will be thinking on this for a while.
This week I am still struggling with my hippie side being like- nah, all these rules are ridiculous. However, I am not ready to toss the baby out with the bath water and I’m going to continue reading and pushing my understanding to new levels. I’m left wondering why God needs such vengeance? Why was the evil of the world then different than the world today? Where is the explanation of where the giants came from? Why do the giants want to kill Noah? I just have so many questions. Some I hope to find answers to and I hope to be ok with the knowledge that I won’t have answers to it all.
If you want to follow along with the study we are following this Scripture Timeline.
Next week we will be discussing The Great Flood.
Urban Rooted Mama 