Day 11: The Sacrifice of Isaac

 Today's reading: Genesis 22-23, Job 11-12, and Proverbs 2:9-15.

I. Today's reading in Genesis begins with one of the most heart-wrenching episodes of Scripture: the sacrifice of Isaac. God commands Abraham to take his beloved son to Moriah and "offer him there as a burnt offering" (22:2). For a modern reader especially, this is just gobsmacking, as the Brits might say. In our minds, we have to wonder if Abraham feared that God was like the pagan deities of his time, which demanded child sacrifices to satiate them. Further, if Isaac is sacrificed, how will God fulfill His promises to make a great nation from Abraham's descendants (17:19-21)? Just on the personal level, Isaac was long anticipated by Abraham (not to mention Sarah), that he loved as even God Himself acknowledges (22:2). This has to be soul-crushing to Abraham, as it would be to just about any father who loves their children. Imagine also having to tell Sarah about all this!

Yet, it seems that this is the exact point of the test given by God. As the Ignatius Bible notes:

Abraham learns the lesson of trustful surrender to the Lord. As each stage of the process, more is asked of him than before, until all that Abraham holds dear is given over to God and nothing is held back. Each time he is summoned to sacrifice, he is asked to love the Creator more than his creatures and to esteem the divine Giver above his most precious gifts. Even when God's promises and credibility hang by a thread, the only acceptable course is to entrust ourselves to him in faith. (p. 86)

Further, Isaac is seen by Christians as prefiguring Christ. As the Ignatius Bible also notes:

Isaac is a type of Christ, for he was a son as Christ was a Son, and he carried the wood of his sacrifice just as the Lord bore the wood of the Cross... The Lord carried his Cross as Isaac carried the wood; the ram, caught by its horns in the thicket, prefigures Jesus crowned with thorns and then slain in sacrifice... (p. 84-85) 

Even so, I thank God that I have never been tested like this. Abraham may have thought that God would resurrect Isaac if necessary, but bravo to him for his strong faith. I confess that I'm too much of a "modern man," and my faith would have probably wavered from such a command.

The story ends today with the death of Sarah and her burial (23:19-20).

II. In Job, we find his friend Zophar gives one of the harshest rebukes so far, making one wonder what kind of "friends" he really has! The Ignatius Bible notes:

He thinks that Job, by declaring his innocence, is guilty of arrogant and foolish presumption, as if a man could outsmart his Maker by hiding his sin. Job is thus urged to repent and find restoration (11:13-20). Among other problems, Zophar overstates his accusations: Job may have questioned God's ways, but he never stooped to the level of mockery (11:3); also, Job is not aware of having committed serious wrongdoing, but he has never claimed to be absolutely pure in God's sight (11:4). (p. 798)

Job's reply shows that he isn't pleased with what his friends have been telling him, those in whom "wisdom will die with you" (12:2). Contrary to what Zophar has said, Job firmly acknowledges that God is sovereign over all (12:7-25). 

It is here that today's reading in Job ends.

I do like this gentle reminder from BIY Companion, Vol 1, for those left unsettled by today's readings in Genesis & Job:

The book of Job, too, reminds us of God's genuine care for us and that he is not our enemy. (p. 28)

III. In Proverbs, we are given another tiny morsel. With verses 9-15, the father continues giving advice to his son that "wisdom will come into your heart... [and] discretion will watch over you..."

That's it for today.

Day 10: Hagar & Ishamel

 Today's reading: Genesis 20-21, Job 9-10, and Proverbs 2:6-8.

I. Today's reading in Genesis begins with Abraham again using deceit by telling the local king of Gerar that beautiful Sarah was just his sister (20:1-2). Again, she is taken to be wed to the king, but Abimelech is warned by God in a dream not to touch her, and he with his household are cursed as long as Sarah remains with him (20:3-7). Somewhat horrified at being deceived like this, Abimelech called Abraham and asked him why he would do this to him (20:8-10). Abraham replied that he thought "there is no fear of God at all in this place," so he would be killed over Sarah if the king knew she was his wife (20:11-13). Abimelech may have been an unsavory character, but the warning from God got through to him quite clearly. Once again, the somewhat wily Abraham makes out grand as Abimelech gifts him many things to demonstrate that Sarah was untouched by him and invites Abraham to stay wherever he pleases (20:14-16). The chapter ends with Abraham praying for Abimelech and his household to be healed (20:17-18). On the surface, Abraham's deception seems understandable, but he doesn't come off as a very honest man when it suits him.

The BIY Companion, Vol 1, comments on this story like this: 

In so many of these early stories we see Abraham walking in faith, but we also see him faltering. He submits to circumcision and enters into the covenant with the Lord. But when he goes to Egypt and again with Abimelech, he seems to falter in his courage. He passes off Sarah as his sister twice out of fear. (p. 26)

So fear and a lack of courage are his reasons for the deceit.

In the next chapter, Sarah finally gives birth to a son, naming him Isaac (21:1-4). She is very pleased, and the child is circumsized as per the covenant (21:4-7). Next, we see the first recorded example of why man should never have more than one wife: Sarah becomes jealous of Hagar and Ishmael, and fearful for her son Isaac, asks Abraham to cast them out (21:8-10). Now that seems excessively cruel, especially back then, casting a woman and her boy into the wild with no visible support. Abraham isn't happy about this, but God assures him that it's okay because through Isaac the covenant will run, and Ishmael will still be blessed (21:11-13). Abraham consents to this, though this must have been hard since he probably never saw them again, and Hagar, with Ishmael leave (21:14). They undergo some difficulties, but an angel assures them God will care for them, and He does (21:15-21).

Finally, we get to the last act of Genesis for today. Abraham and Abimelech, with his army commander Phicol, make a covenant with each other. Given Abraham's previous conduct, I find it amusing how Abimelech puts it:

God is with you in all that you do; now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but as I have dealt loyally with you, you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned. (21:22-23)

The importance of this kind of covenant is noted by the Ignatius Bible: 

A covenant of mutual peace between Abraham and Abimelech. It follows the pattern of a Near Eastern kinship or parity covenant between equals. Both parties swear a solemn oath during the ratification ceremony (21:31), invoking God's name (21:23), and expressing their mutual commitments through a verbal declaration (21:30) and ritual action (21:28). (p. 84)

II. We see that Job is still very much in despair over his suffering, believing that God has abandoned him, though he knows not what sin he may have committed to anger Him. His utter despair is clear to me in these verses:

 Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;

    he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

Behold, he snatches away; who can hinder him?

    Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ 

 The Ignatius Bible notes on Job's despairing plea:

He "desires a day in court" to settle the matter of his innocence (9:15), and yet he dreads the prospect of lodging a formal complaint with the Almighty (9:32-35). So he is left to complain to his friends (10:1) and to wrestle with the mystery of why he is made to suffer (10:2). He ends with a plea for a short respite before death (10:20). The language of juridical dispute permeates the discourse. (p. 796)

So in his anguish, he wishes for death but also seems to question God's justice (9:14-24). Indeed, he "seems to despair of fair treatment, as though God were indifferent to his guilt or innocence" (10:15; p. 798).

It's probably intended at this point in the story, but it is rather difficult not to really feel sorry for Job and ask God, "Why?" like many of us have done in our own lives during tough times.

It is here that today's reading in Job ends.

I do like how the BIY Companion, Vol 1, puts it for today's reading:

Job expresses questions that many of us have: Why did you, Lord, allow me to come into existence and then abandon me like this? Though I am striving to be righteous, why does it seem like you do not care? Lord, do you not care that I'm hurting so much? I thought living righteously mattered to you. It now seems like it doesn't matter at all... there is so much we do not understand about this life. But the closer we stay to him, the more we grow in wisdom and the more clearly we see things, even in the midst of suffering. (p. 26)

III. Finally, Proverbs. I've resigned myself to just getting small pieces each day, but nevertheless, I must say this morsel is rather good from the father to his son:

 For the Lord gives wisdom;

    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

    he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

guarding the paths of justice

    and preserving the way of his saints.

That's all for today.

Day 9: Sodom & Gomorrah

 Today's reading: Genesis 18-19, Job 7-8, and Proverbs 2:1-5.

I. Well, today in Genesis we arrive at the famous incident in Sodom & Gomorrah, when both cities were destroyed by God for their sins. First, "three men" appeared before Abraham. This is one of the very first theophanies of God on earth to a man.

The Ignatius Bible states in the footnotes:

Identified in the context as Yahweh (18:1) and two of his angels (19:1). Following this encounter, the two angels are sent off to inspect Sodom (18:22; 19:13), while Abraham is left to haggle with the Lord over the fate of the city (18:22-23). Christian tradition often saw the three visitors as an image of the Trinity. Abraham saw three figures but worshipped only one, for there is one God, one Lord, and one Spirit. There is oneness of honor because there is oneness of power (St. Ambrose, The Holy Spirit, 2, 4). (p. 80)

The scene with Abraham haggling with God over the fate of these cities for the sake of potential righteous men is amazing. Pretty bold of him, and it shows how loving God is that He allowed this. In His mercy, God had sent two angels to rescue Lot as well as check on Sodom & Gomorrah. Whether Lot recognized them as angelic beings or not, he invites them into his home to stay the night out of fear of what could happen to them. 

Then there is an odd episode. All the men of Sodom, "both young and old" (19:4), came to Lot's house to demand these visitors be given to them so that they could "know them" (19:5). All of them? That seems a bit excessive. I have to wonder if there is some kind of exaggeration here, akin to how some ancient writers inflated numbers to signify "a lot". Regardless, the angels strike them all blind and warn Lot to flee with his family, for they were going to destroy the place (19:11-13). Lot does, the angels destroy the cities, but his wife perishes when she looks back (19:26). The reason this happens is generally seen as because she not only disobeyed a direct command of God (19:17), but she probably still had an attachment and longing for the sinful city. One thing that should be clear from this story, homosexual relations do seem to be one of the causes of the destruction, contrary to what some have claimed. The element of rape may factor in, but given the rest of Scripture, it seems more likely that the relations themselves were seen as sinful, worthy of destruction.

Today's reading closes with a really weird episode. Afraid of staying in Zoar, Lot and his daughters fled to a cave nearby. No doubt they were terrified after what had happened to Sodom. The daughters did an incredible sin, giving the excuse of fearing that no man would ever give them children, so they got Lot drunk and then had sex with him (19:36). The children of their diabolical incest are said to be the ancestors of some of Israel's later enemies: the Moabites and Ammonites (19:37-38).  

The BIY Companion, Vol 1, gives some interesting commentary on this:

Lot's moral compass fails, though, when his obedience to the custom of hospitality outweighs even his natural concern for his own daughters. He thinks it better to offer them to the perverse men of Sodom than his guests. This is a glimpse into a very ancient and primitive way of thinking. The disregard he shows for the welfare of his daughters comes back to haunt him when he is in flight with them and essentially at their mercy. (p. 25)

II. Job speaks of his suffering, despairing of ever recovering, and believes he has been targeted by God for a reason unknown to him. The verse in 7:17 is interesting, as the Ignatius Bible notes:

What is man: The Psalter uses these words to marvel at the dignity conferred upon man by God (Ps 8:5), and this despite the shortness of his life... Job, on the other hand, has allowed suffering to warp his perspective on divine beneficence, as if God looks after man only to pounce on his every act of wrongdoing (7:18-20). (p. 796)

Job's despair here almost sounds like something from "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". God's wrath is just, but ordered toward healing in Catholic teaching, which this Puritan sermon differs from greatly.

Another friend of Job's, Bildad, gives a speech like the earlier one from Eliphaz. He is somewhat harsher, though, and certainly less compassionate. With friends like these...

III. Finally, in Proverbs, we get more advice from the father to his son in verses 1-5. Basically, he advises to "receive my words" and make "your ear attentive to wisdom". All good advice again, but I'm still at the mercy of "the process" since we're only given 5 verses out of 22 here.

That's it for today.

Day 8: The Surrender of Abraham

Today's reading: Genesis 16-17, Job 5-6, and Proverbs 1:20-33.

I. The reading in Genesis begins with the birth of Ishmael. Sarai was distressed over being old and not having had children like God promised Abram, so she convinced him to have sexual relations with her servant girl, Hagar, instead. Ishmael was the child born from their union. 

Sarai chose poorly, especially not trusting God in what He had promised.

The Ignatius Bible states in the footnotes:

Sarai makes a fateful decision to give Hagar to the embrace of her husband. The fallout is tension in the home (16:4), retaliation (16:6), and the birth of a wild and contentious son (16:12). Archaeological finds have shown that surrogate motherhood by a servant girl or concubine was indeed practiced in the ancient Near East. (p. 78)

Interestingly, God doesn't express anger over Abram's lack of trust but instead speaks of His covenant with him! He changes Abram's name to Abraham, or from "exalted father" to "father of a multitude" (p. 79). Sarai becomes Sarah, with both being "variations of the same name, both meaning 'princess' but with the latter being more "prominent with the promise that Sarah will be the mother of "kings" (p. 79-80). God insists His covenant will be through Abraham's future son by Sarah, and not Ishmael (17:19). He does bless the latter, though (17:20). As a sign of God's covenant, Abraham and all males in his household are circumsized. Something interesting to note here is the name changes. This is the first instance where God changes the name of His chosen one to signify their destined importance.

With this, today's reading in Genesis ends.

II. In Job, his friend Eliphaz continues to insist that Job must have sinned, which is why he is being punished by God. The Ignatius Bible notes:

Suffering is sometimes a corrective action of God in response to sin. Divine discipline aims to promote moral and spiritual maturity, just as parental discipline aims at forming children in proper behavior... When we accept the Lord's reproof, he is always ready to heal and restore (5:18). In saying this, Eliphaz enunciates a true principle, yet he wrongly applies it to Job... (p. 794)

 Job is grief-stricken, feeling abandoned by his friends (6:14-21) and deeply wounded by God's judgment (6:4). He pleads to know what sin he is guilty of (6:24). It is with this heartfelt plea that today's reading in Job ends.

The BIY Companion, Vol 1, had some good commentary on this:

Sometimes the people who love us the most understand us the least. Job's friends have answers for him, but he just wants them to be with him in his grief. Sometimes the people in our lives do not need our answers as much as they need us simply to be present. It can be the same with God. We think we need God to give us an answer, but maybe we just need God to be with us in our confusion and pain. (p. 22)

III.  Finally, in Proverbs the final verses of Chapter 1 are given. The father finishes his advice to his son, focusing on the importance of wisdom for learning in life and avoiding calamity. Still "trusting the process," but I'm glad to have finally been able to finish this chapter! Dividing it up over 3 days seems a bit too much.

That's it for today.

 

Day 7: God's Covenant With Abram

Today's reading: Genesis 14-15, Job 3-4, and Proverbs 1:8-19.

I. Today in Genesis begins with an alliance of four petty Mesopotamian kings making war against five petty kings in the Dead Sea Valley, subduing and plundering the region (14:1-11). Lot is among those captured and taken away, but is rescued by Abram, who leads a raid to rout the Mesopotamian kings (14:12-16). 

Not being a specialist in this region's history or era, I assume that these kinds of bloody raids were a regular thing in the area back then.

Next, we have a mysterious scene that Hebrews in the New Testament will return to much later. The king of Salem (later Jerusalem), Melchizedek, brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram (14:17-20). Who was this Melchizedek? Was he yet another minor king? An angel? Who, exactly? That is where the mystery lies, and numerous theories have been proposed over the millennia. The Ignatius Bible states in the footnotes:

Melchizedek: A royal title or throne name meaning "king of righteousness" (Heb 7:2). He is the first person in the Bible to be called a priest and is mentioned elsewhere in the OT only in Ps 110:4. The identity of Melchizedek is a mystery... in the actions of the priest Melchizedek the sacrament of the Lord is prefigured; for Melchizedek is a type of Jesus Christ, who offered the bread and wine of Melchizedek, that is, his body and blood (St. Cyprian, Letters, 63, 4). (p. 76)

So, in short, to the Fathers, whoever he really was, Melchizedek was seen as a Christ-like figure who blessed Abram with something that prefigured the Eucharist.

Abram then despairs of having promised children, fearing that an adopted slave will inherit everything once he dies (15:2-3). God assures him that he will fulfill the promises made to him, and commands Abram to make a sacrifice, upon which God then strengthens His promises to Abram by making a covenant with him (15:4-20). And it is here that today's reading in Genesis ends.

II. In the third chapter, Job begins to break somewhat in his grief, asking why the day he was born isn't cursed. He has been severely tested, and one could argue that he has much to be grief-stricken about, but he doesn't yet turn this on God Himself. In the next chapter, we see Eliphaz react in some astonishment, as noted in the Ignatius Bible:

He argues that Job has no grounds to claim himself innocent because no man is perfectly righteous before God (4:17). He adheres to the traditional doctrine of retribution, which holds that a man reaps from God whatever he sows by his actions - sin brings suffering; righteousness brings him rewards (4:7-8).

And with this, today's reading in Job ends. This must have been difficult for Job to hear his friend talk like this in the midst of his suffering, as it certainly is to read of it. I do like how BIY Companion, Vol 1, gives us this reminder:

We will discover later why God allowed Satan to strike Job down, which seems cruel of the Lord. But God is never unfair. He always loves us, even in the midst of suffering, even when we do not understand his will. (p. 20)

III. Still "trusting the process," but I must admit I'm not exactly liking the breaking up of Proverbs like this thus far. At any rate, today we go through verses 8-19, leaving the rest of the first chapter for tomorrow. It reads like a father warning his son to avoid a violent, selfish, and hedonistic lifestyle of essentially "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (Is 22:13). All good advice and proper for a father to give to his son. 

That's it for today.

Day 6: Trust in the Lord

Today's reading: Genesis 12 & 13, Job 1 & 2, and Proverbs 1:1-7.

I. In today's reading, we begin in Genesis. Abram is an old man, seemingly of some wealth already, who is called by God to leave the ancient city of Haran (in modern Turkey) to the land of Canaan (modern Israel). In the previous chapter, he had already relocated from the ancient city of Ur (in modern Iraq) to Haran, where his father died. God promises to greatly bless him, make a great nation from him, and that through him "all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (12:2-3). This story is remarkable in itself and shows the trust that Abram placed in God. He was an old man at the time, yet he left behind all that he knew to undertake a long journey to a foreign land, trusting in God to keep him safe and fulfill what must have sounded like incredible promises to him. He wasn't a Jew, for such had not been founded yet, and may have been something of a pagan, judging from the area he was in at the time. Yet God, for some reason that only He fully knows alone, had other plans for Abram and his family.

Upon entering Canaan, he sets up altars at Shechem and Bethel, no doubt to make sacrifices to the Lord. Yet Canaan was in the midst of a famine, so he journeyed on even in his old age to Egypt! It's there that we learn, in an interesting episode, that even this patriarch isn't free from the sin of deceit. Fearing that he would be killed so Pharaoh could take his beautiful wife, Sarai, he lies and says that she is his sister (a half-truth; 20:12) and not his wife. We then have a foreshadowing of sorts of the events of Exodus. Pharaoh's household is plagued by the taking of another man's wife as his own, which he later discovers. Interestingly, he doesn't kill Abram for this deceit but banishes him, with all the goods he had already given him! He and Lot travel from the Negeb back to Canaan, but are forced to split up since "the land could not support both of them dwelling together" (13:6-7). Lot goes to the Jordan Valley, a choice that will figure in tomorrow's reading. In fact, the Ignatius Bible states in the footnotes that:

Abram and Lot divide their company and go their separate ways. The point is that Lot, of his own free will, chooses to put himself outside the land of promise and into a land of moral corruption (near Sodom, 13:12). (p. 75)

Today's reading in Genesis ends with God repeating His promises to Abram, which include that Canaan will also be given to him (13:14-17). 

II. In Job, we get a remarkable story. Job is a wealthy man with a great family. Satan is allowed to test his loyalty to God through various sufferings that remove the man's wealth, kill his progeny, and leave his body covered in sores (1:13-2:8). It's not clear to me why God would allow Satan in this amazing scene (1:6-12) to do this, even when his bitter wife calls on him to curse God for all this. He refuses (2:9-10). The Ignatius Bible states in the footnotes:

Although the Adversary exercises authority over Job's well-being, he is entirely subordinated to God, for he can exert his influence only within the limits that God allows (Job 1:12; 2:6) (CCC 391, 395). (p. 790)

I also like this from BIY Companion, Vol 1:

When Job is afflicted with great loss and suffering, his response is not to curse God but to worship him... This is our call. Life is not always going to make sense, but we know God is always present. The Lord is faithful and steadfast, even when we are not - and he calls us all to belong to him. (p. 18) 

Today's reading in Job ends with a visit from three friends of Job's, who had come to "condole with him and comfort him" (2:11). 

III. In Proverbs, we are given a small portion of the first chapter, just verses 1-7. Personally, I think it should have been more, but will "trust the process," so to speak. I did like how it ended with this marvelous verse:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

    fools despise wisdom and instruction. (1:7)

Introduction to the Patriarchs

No readings today, just an introduction video for the next period:

So today is just an intro video for the next period after the Early World, that of the Patriarchs. Rather interesting take on this by Fr. Mike Schmitz and Jeff Cavins. 

As the BIY Companion, Vol 1, states about this period:

The period of the Patriarchs begins with Abram (later Abraham) and his wife, Sarai (later Sarah). God calls Abram to trust him by moving to the land of Canaan, where God promises him three things: land, a royal dynasty, and worldwide blessing. As a foundation to these three promises, God makes a covenant with him. (p. 17)

This era continues down through Isaac and his son Jacob, when it technically ends, but the story of how God works through Joseph's son Joseph "to save Israel during a difficult famine" will figure prominently in ending this age. To me, this is probably the most exciting part of Genesis, where we see some action and real movement towards God's salvation plan, beginning with the Abrahamic Covenant. Sure, we can trace this plan all the way back to just after the Fall, but here is where novices such as myself can really begin to see things start take shape. The geography become smore focused, for as the BIY Companion notes:

The Early World period ends in Mesopotamia, while the Patriarchs period takes place primarily in the land of Canaan. It is within this narrow, fifty-mile-wide "land bridge" that Israel will struggle to trust God and be obedient to his will. (p. 17)

The end of this period will find Israel in Egypt, setting up what comes in Exodus with another of God's chosen, Moses.

I look forward to tomorrow when Abram, not yet Abraham, first encounters God.

Day 5: Tower of Babel

Today's reading: Genesis 10 & 11; Psalm 2.

In today's reading in Genesis, we get a listing of the descendants of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Through Shem, the "eponymous ancestor of all Semitic peoples" (10:21; p. 71), we can note that his grandson Eber becomes "the eponymous ancestor of all Hebrew peoples," from which Abraham is descended (14:13). The latter will obviously take a prominent role in Genesis. What I did find interesting is the descendants of Ham, who may not have cursed directly by Noah for some kind of sexual deviancy, but his progeny certainly were. As the Ignatius Bible states in the footnotes:

Ham is depicted as a progenitor of Israel's traditional enemies: the Egyptians (10:6), the Canaanites (10:6), the Babylonians (10:10), the Assyrians (10:11), the Philistines (10:14), and the Jebusites (10:16). (p. 71)

 Next, we have the story of the Tower of Babel. This explains how man came to spread all over the earth and how languages came to differ from one another. It should be noted, though, that it is a story of the effects of sin. As the BIY Companion, Vol 1, notes:

Ambition for excellence rather than power is a truly great thing. Ambition for excellence is what makes us strive to be great saints. God puts this desire in our hearts... Nimrod's people could have created a beautiful structure to honor God, but they chose to build a tower "to make a name for [themselves]" instead. They chose to glorify themselves instead of God. (p. 14)

We are then given another list of descendants, down to Abram, with his wife Sarai, and Lot (11:27-31). It is here that today's reading in Genesis ends.

In Psalm 2, we have another short psalm. It is one, though, which speaks of the Davidic covenant, which Jesus would later fulfill.

With this, what Bible in the Year calls the Early World ends and we move into the Patriarchs tomorrow.

Day 4: The Flood

Today's reading: Genesis 7-9; Psalm 1.

In today's reading, we get the story of the Great Flood and the immediate aftermath. Noah and his family, along with the animals he had brought in the Ark, were all saved, but God "blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth" (7:23). So basically, total destruction and the survivors had to begin everything anew once they left the Ark. 

An ancient nonbiblical account from the Sumerians also survives, the Epic of Gilgamesh, which has many similarities but also notable differences from the Genesis account. Scholars have argued over these since it was discovered in the late 19th century. While it is entertaining, one of the biggest differences is that in Genesis, God makes a covenant with Noah after the Flood, the Noahic Covenant (8:20-9:17), which is not found in Gilgamesh. God promises that "never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth" (9:11). He establishes that man can eat animals, but murder is prohibited. The rainbow becomes a sign of this covenant (9:12-16).

As the BIY Companion, Vol 1, notes:

God's prohibition of murder reminds us of the gift of human life and the dignity of the human person. There is a distinction between animals and human beings: animals may be killed and eaten, but human lives - because of our distinct dignity - may not be taken. Our dignity comes from being made in God's image and likeness. (p. 12)

So sorry, vegan activists, but meat is definitely remaining on the menu!

The last part of today's reading in Genesis is an odd one on the surface. Noah gets drunk and Ham is said to "saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside" (9:21-22). Shem and Japheth enter the tent and "covered the nakedness of their father (9:23). After this, Noah curses Ham's son Canaan, while blessing Shem and Japheth. What are we to make of this? The Ignatius Bible states in the footnotes:

Variously interpreted to mean that Ham looked perversely upon his naked father (voyeurism), that he emasculated his father (castration), or that he sexually abused his father (homosexual incest). More likely, the expression is an idiom for maternal incest... So understood, Ham is guilty of having sexual relations with his mother, and this explains why a curse falls, not on himself, but on his son, Canaan, who would seem to be the child conceived of this sinful union. (p. 70)

The last does seem to be a reasonable explanation, though it does seem unfair that Canaan, even if he were the product of an incestual union, would bear the curse for his father's sin. Different times, different culture, I guess. And with this, today's reading in Genesis ends.

Psalm 1 is a short one, more like a meditation on the way of the righteous and that of the wicked than a hymn of praise like the previous ones. It's a brief, good read.

Day 3: Noah's Ark

Today's reading: Genesis 5 & 6; Psalm 136.

We get a listing of the descendants from Adam to Noah, about 10 generations. Adam himself is said to have lived for 930 years total (Gen 5:5). His descendants are said to have had slightly lesser lifespans, but still far greater than our own today. The "sons of God" (either the godly line of Seth or possibly rebel angels) married "daughters of men" (6:2), and we see the mysterious Nephilim who were mighty warriors of old (6:4). God ends the extremely long lifespans of man and fixes his years to no more than 120 (6:3). It's honestly difficult for me to know what to make of all this. I enjoy a good myth, but how this figures into Scripture is beyond me. It's enough, I suppose, to accept what was passed on, and perhaps I'll gain a better understanding in the future or in the hereafter. 

Next, we see that "the wickedness of man was great in the earth" (6:5), with it only getting worse. God decided to end all life through a Great Flood, save for Noah and his family, along with a selection of animals, to begin anew. He instructs Noah to build an ark to carry them all in during the coming Flood, and Noah "did all that God commanded him" (6:11-22). We know from St. Paul that all of Creation was corrupted by the Fall (Rom 8:19-22), which means that Adam's sin not only impacted humanity but also affected nearly everything in this life. Given the low state of man at this time, along with the corruption of Creation, all of this may have influenced God's decision about the Flood.

At this point, today's reading in Genesis ends.

In Psalm 136, we have a beautiful hymn of praise. As the Ignatius Bible states in the footnotes:

It is a litany of the Lord's marvelous works in the past, all of which reveal his goodness and mercy and love... Its dominant theme, which gives hope to the People of God in all ages, is repeated 26 times in the refrain: "his mercy endures forever," which was probably an antiphonal response sung or chanted in the Temple liturgy... Psalm 136 is known in the Talmud as "the Great Hallel" and is sung today at the Jewish feasts of Passover and Hanukkah. (p. 947)

This Psalm closes with:

O give thanks to the God of heaven,

    for his mercy endures for ever.

Day 2: The Fall of Adam & Eve

For today's reading: Genesis 3 & 4; Psalm 104.

In today's reading, we learn of the Fall of man, when sin entered the world, and death first began to stalk us all to end our lives in this world. Whether what is told in Genesis is meant to be taken literally or not, it is notable that the eating of the forbidden fruit by our primeval parents is about more than just a tree or fruit. By their sin, Adam & Eve bought Satan's deception and broke their covenant with God, and, ignoring His authority, put their will above His.

As the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible notes in the footnotes for Genesis:

Satan was driven by envy to rob man of his blessings and bring death into the world... Jesus thus refers to him as "a murderer from the beginning" (Jn 8:44)... Notice that Satan uses half-truths to seduce and mislead: he claims that the couple will not die (3:4), that their eyes will be opened (3:5), and that they will become like God (3:5)... However, in light of God's intentions, these promised gains turns out to be painful losses (CCC 392, 2847). (p. 62)

A somewhat amusing episode is related where Adam & Eve try to hide from God, as if He wouldn't know where they are at all times (Gen 3:8). I suppose this shows their innocence even after the Fall because in this act, they are rather like toddlers.

We do see the immediate effects of the Fall, with the first murder when Cain slew his brother Abel out of jealousy. We still deal with this curse of Cain to this day, with life being cheapened and murder seemingly being a favorite pastime of ours. It has been said with good reason that the most dangerous predator of man is his fellow man. Cain began this vicious cycle ages ago, but why? Jealousy, to be sure, but over what? This from the BIY Companion, Vol I, is a good possibility and a note of caution for us:

One possible explanation for why God accepts Abel's sacrifice but not Cain's is that Abel offered God the firstfruits (that is, the best) of his flock. We should also ask ourselves if we are offering God our best. When it comes to prayer, do we offer God the "firstfruits" of our day? (p. 8)

 With this, today's reading from Genesis pretty much ends.

In Psalm 104, we find a hymn of praise for God as Creator and Sustainer of life. He not only creates everything, but it is through Him that all is nourished and sustained. God is not the "Watchmaker" but is active in His creation and "renewest the face of the ground" (104:30) , as Scripture attests. This is a beautiful meditation upon Creation in Genesis, ending appropriately with praising God.

Day 1: In the Beginning

For today's reading: Genesis 1 & 2; Psalm 19

In the first two chapters of Genesis, we are given the story of Creation. This is not intended to be a scientific textbook, but rather a basic account of Who God Is and how Creation came about. We see what has always struck me as different from all the other stories of that time: a single God creates us ex nihilo simply by His word alone: "God said". Not from violence, jealousy, or domination, but because of His goodness.

In the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, we see this in the footnotes about creation stories from Near East paganism:

According to the pagan myths, a pantheon of deities existed in the beginning; the gods were embodied in nature and had humanlike needs and imperfections; the world was born out of a struggle between the gods; and man was created only to be exploited by the gods. (p. 57)

Yet, we find something completely different in the Bible. As the BIY Companion, Vol 1 notes: 

Unlike other creation stories, Genesis shows that God did not create human beings to be his slaves or entertainment - he created us to share in his own life. No religion or worldview apart from the Judeo-Christian believes that human beings have been created in God's image and likeness. (p. 6)

Our primordial parents, Adam & Eve, are introduced. With that, today's reading from Genesis ends. 

In Psalm 19, we find the psalmist rejoicing in "telling the glory of God" in what He did by  creation; the will of God as revealed in the Law; and the mercy of God to forgive transgressions against His law (Ignatius, p. 845). 

The last is summed up in this last verse:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of

        my heart

    be acceptable in your sight,

    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (Ps 14)

The Sundered Road Rejoined: Introduction to the Early World

Today ends the introductions to the Bible in a Year podcast series with this third, and last,  installment! Fr. Mike Schmitz talks with Jeff Cavins about the early world as it is described in Genesis.

We will see figures like Adam & Eve and their children, along with the Great Deceiver, the Serpent. The Fall of our primordial parents brings sin into the world, and everything changes. We will become estranged from God and Creation by sin. Death also begins to stalk humanity, claiming each one of us at some point in our lives. Growing strife erupts as sin takes hold in the world after Adam & Eve, on up to the days of Noah.

The BIY Companion, Vol I, tells what happens:

The entire world is destroyed by the Flood. Noah, his wife, and his three sons and their wives are saved in the Ark, which is a type (or, figure) of the Church - a place of protection and life-sustaining provision. Finally, due to sin, one language becomes many at the Tower of Babel. (p. 5)

And it all starts tomorrow on Day 1. The Tolkienesque titles will stop, I promise! I couldn't resist for these intro days...

The Fellowship Reforged: Preparing for the Bible in a Year Journey

Today is the second of three(!!!) introductions to this Bible in a Year podcast series. This one is an additional introduction he added a year after the initial one, incorporating tips he learned along the way. It's pretty good. I like the explanation of how the Bible in a Year reading plan was inspired by the work of Jeff Cavins. I liked his work in how it leveraged our cultural preference for narrative in reading. Smart of him to take this from Cavins and apply it to reading the whole Bible. Fr. Schmitz also gives good advice on knowing our motivations for doing this, as well as establishing a daily habit.

One other thing Fr. Schmitz spoke about in this video are the BIY companion books. I've purchased all 3, based on how useful I found the ones for the Catechism when I did that. I'm eager to use them when I start Day One for this journey. This is the first one:

That's it for the prep intros. Tomorrow is the Introduction to the Early World, or the world that existed for the earliest books of the Bible, and then finally on to Day One!

The Journey Continued: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics

Today I'm going to start the Bible in a Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz. I don't know yet how much I'll blog about this, but I do know that I may not blog every day, as I'm currently also doing St. Augustine's Confessions with Catholic Classics. Then there are the normal events that life brings that one cannot necessarily predict. So basically, I'm trying to say in my usual meandering way that I doubt I'll finish this on December 31, 2026.

While I go through this podcast series, the same as I said at the beginning of the Catechism in a Year series will also apply here:

For this journey, I will be open and free with my thoughts, not dwelling on making apologetics or scholarly points, but simply taking the [Bible] on its own at face value. I'm using this blog mainly to record those thoughts, not to convince anyone of anything, and Twitter/X is too limiting for that.

That, of course, does not mean I won't make "apologetics or scholarly points" when something catches my interest or if I think it's warranted, but only that this won't be my primary focus.

You can use any Catholic Bible for this second journey, but I have chosen the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. With all due respect to Ascension Press for their Great Adventure Catholic Bible, which I also own, I've been eager to use this one from Ignatius Press more in-depth for the footnotes and commentary alone! They both utilize the RSV2CE translation, so that's not an issue. I do like the indexing tabs from Ascension and have those on my Ignatius Study Bible. All in all, though, I would say whichever version you fancy more, use it.

Here is a pretty good review of the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible:

You can also find a pretty good review for the Great Adventure Catholic Bible here, if you prefer that version. I rather like the note-taking features the new edition has (I have the older one), but I'm still going to go with Ignatius for this.

Ok, with all that said, let's start with the first of three(!!!) introductions to the series:

I'm really glad to see Jeff Cavins in this, because I first got turned on to his stuff about 20 years ago and really enjoyed it! I'll be using the 365 Day BIY Reading Plan inspired by the work of Cavins for this series.