♰ Bible Study by Abouna Angelos 2018 Sep 26 Review 1. Creation Sequence How things were made Order and wisdom Six days 3 + 3 Chatoic + Empty = taho + baho 1st three: solution to chaos: creating domains Five domains out of chaos 1. darkness - night 2. light - day 3. sky + 4. sea 5. land + sea First three light, sky, land Second three baho = empty 4-6 Stuff to fill sun moon + stars birds to fill sky sea creatures to fill the sea dinosaurs to fill both of them day 6 focused on land: animals to fill the land humans to be on top of everything else day 7 has no counterpart god blessed and sanctified where do you hear that you hear that in the liturgy he took bread and gave thanks sanctified and broke bless = to bring back to original status santicifed = to bring back to god we saw god workign as a priest, setting borders blessing, be blessed multiply and fill the sky, earth, seas that is the work of a priest to bless and sanctify 2. science and the bible who can tell that there was water on earth before anything else created science now agrees about this science found molecules of water in the depths the most ancient speck of zirconium in australia 4.3 billion years ago with water in it sequence of creation follows what science tells us follows kenin on the fifth day dinousaurs tenin = great whale translateed to great whale becuse KJV was finihsed before the discovery of dinosaur fossils 1611 or 1612 KJV 1680 first dinosaur fossil discovery 3. idea of good and evil (last time) active about this good = tob it doesn’t mean righteous it means pleasant it means something I like it is a relative, subjective term this is a “good” dress another person “yuck” BIG QUESTION: what is good for god? form and function 1) good to look at 2) fruitful god has the quality to differentiate between good and evil does a baby have the ability to differentiate? no: story of the lizard how about an animal? no - he is directed by instinct no discernment the quality of discerning is only in God in the 1st 2 chapters god puts this quality in a tree to give the humans the possiblity to differentiate for themselves away from god why is god giving that tree that ability? while we watch god’s work, he is helping adam to acquire that quality the process of creating eve for him, what did he do? he saw that it was not good for hiim to be alone he showed him the animals so adam would distinguish and say i want that to teach adam that he is lonely when god found that adam got the lesson, he gave him eve the FIRST lesson in the differentiation betwen good and not good teaching his son how to differentiate Hebrews 5:14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. God training adam to discern between good and evil we also went a step further, when god planned to create adam, he said “let us make man” in his image and likeness but he made him in the image but not likeness the likeness is to come to the maturity (HEB 5:14) of coming to know good and evil satan gets very angry at this process he wants to cut that process before adam becomes mature bring him into a different discernment that is corrupted, so he will be like a god, when a child says, i think it is good for me to have a girlfriend, and the parents say this is the worst thing, and the child says this is the best thing, but the child feels I am as old as them, I am one fo them, I can make my own decisions now, they are as an adult, but are they mature as an adult, no, but the set of good and evil that makes them feel mature is not the real set, so they are like a god but they are not god, before that they were dependent upon god to make the distinction; the devil says take things into your own hand, make a decision for yourself, you’re naked and you don’t know, he’s keeping you naked, you don’t need him; that’s why we find in the narrative: aroum and arom rabbinic teaching: these were close words because the actions of the serpent were directed at the nakedness of the couple; that was their first discovery; why is he leaving us this way; this would lead them to suspect god’s intentions; he’s not really as interested in our well-being as I thought consequences of the fall two words for subtle Genesis 2:25 25 And they were both NAKED, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Genesis 3:7 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were NAKED; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. seven levels of intimacy TODAY INTIMACY Gen 1:26 Language of the creation of man is in plural The Plural construction: plurality of god man is plural everythin gthe father has is mine vice versa i and the father are one same language when we take that to mean jesus is the fatehr = heresy when we say the fatehr is the son or is the spirity= heresy they are three distince persons in unity in onenes that my uncle shaves, she used to touch your cheek, get your hand off -- no that’s her body the woman has power over his body the man has power over her body i want your body blood spirit the father has completely authority over teh son the son ownes everything the father has there are no bank accounts in different names in the trinity the best image is the family the problem of the family is there is a time adam was, eve was not there’s a time adam was, cain was not but in the trinity there was not a time the father was but son was not three distinct persons without separation no line where one begins and one ends no container outside of which one is not everything one has belongs to the other if you can swallow that that is why god intriduced nakedness to man first so they can differentiate ther eis no need to be covered if there is complete trust and love place that leads to unity is the place of weakness the subtleness is on this point you can apply this to anything you’re going to be saved by the weakest spots in you the fight between devil and god are these spots pay attention to them isaiah: lion will sit next to the lamb when they hide themselves, they do not want to be intimate with each other or with god that relationship god is looking for is destroyed, completely annihilated jesus goes to the cross completely naked becasue we are going through a new creation from byzantine holy week: about joseph the serpent found the second even in the egyptian woman and sought the fall of joseph but joseph fleeing from sin he was naked but not ashamed like adam before the fall his intimacy was with god there was no shame in it he went back to the status where adam and eve were not ashamed the devil was not able to shame him so he would have to cover himself our shame comes from not engaging with god for us to be one with god, we have to leave everything, to be naked and go back to god we have to be like the prodigal son, to “come back to yourself,” “I have sinned against heaven, against you, no more worthy to be called your son, but consider me one of your hired servants.” That is as naked as you can get. I know where I belong now. The reason we don’t have a better prayer is that we are covering ourselves with excuses. This is where you have to develop intimacy: not the strong things, not the whatever we do. How do I get naked? What am I running away from? Failed at? Ashamed of? Might be deeper than actions. Might be some things about us that we are avoiding. Remember how they were ashamed of their own bodies. But wait a second, their bodies were created by god. Did God create something bad? Things that are not really bad, but we are ashamed of it, because the world has said is bad. Sometimes we put on emotions that are not really us. Someone might think: I’m failing, I’m not doing a good job at what I’m doing, or I’m behind. How about the others, they moved on. They were good students, parents, teachers, business people, and i’m not. I don’t want to thinka bout that stuff. It’s a shame. Maybe this is a weakness that I will have an intimacy with God. Saints come closer to God through that spot. Skeletons Jung. Undesirable, undeveloped, unwanted things in me. Stumbling block: desire, human natural prideful way of dealing with my shadows. Example: I have a nagging feeling that I’m a failure. I dring alcohol. Stumbling block is my coping mechanism. I keep doing a lot of relationships, flirting. Which is the stumbling block? It is not th efeeling or shadow. It is the way I deal with it. But the sahdows, I don’t want to think about it. I don’t have th ecourage to look at it. These are things that need to be in front of my eyeys. That is the cross. David sees his sins. This is the way I see intimacy, and many of the commentators including patristic fathers felt about that arom. Summary: Refusing nakedness, no intimacy, no true union. NT How Jesus said John 17 John 17:21-22 21 “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: Who is goign to receive the gift of Christ? The Church Therefore the Church has to be one as the trinity is one “so that they are one” is repeated again and again Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:23-27 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:28-32 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:33 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Father and Son and Spirit Church and Christ Husband and Wife = Family without that we have no salvation love one another as I have loved you