The author of the book of Genesis is historically considered to be Moses. And this week I got to thinking about what I would write if tasked with describing Creation, the Fall, and the Flood – the major themes of Genesis 1-9 (chapter 1 of The Story). Obviously Moses wrote a blockbuster! The Bible is the best-selling book ever; no other book even comes close.
If you’re like me, you might have added a few more details about the garden so readers could grasp its beauty; we authors like to try to paint pictures of places with words. And what about that crafty serpent? He should surely have a very nasty appearance, described right down to claws and fangs and pointy nose, don’t you think? I love to picture the people I read about in a book, so I would tell people a bit more about how beautiful a woman Eve was, and how helpful she was to Adam. But I’m something of a romantic, as you might have guessed.
On that shame-filled day when Eve was deceived, I would write the conversation God had with her in such a way that you’d need a whole box of tissues to dry the tears you would shed. Even knowing it could happen, God must have been terribly sad. And so, so disappointed in the quick way Adam blamed his wife. But most of all, I would make sure God’s anger for the serpent came across in my telling of the story; he went after him with the first curse, you know? And with that first indictment he also revealed his plan for all to see, the power of the One (Jesus) who would come later: “…he will crush your head…” (I would certainly keep that part!)
All levity aside, I’ve asked the Lord this past week to show me these stories in Genesis through fresh eyes. And one of the things I’m seeing is the pricelessness of ‘free will’. Choice is a gift God gave Adam and Eve – at great risk of rejection to himself. It’s a gift he still gives today to those of us living in the Lower Story. My prayer for all of us is that we will choose wisely, today and every day.
My take away was another deeper understand of human death and the passage from the old testament and quoted by Paul in the new testament:: Where, oh death, is your sting. Where, oh death (Or Hades), is your victory. Wonderfully more peaceful appreciation of human death as part of God ‘upper story’. God continues to be good all the time even when we are not totally paying attention.