The Cain and Abel story. Cain's mad because God doesn't regard his gift of crops the same way as Abel's gift of meat. God tells him relax and don't let sin get a hold of you by not doing your best. Cain kills Abel. God curses Cain to be a fugitive and wanderer, but shows some mercy and puts a mark on him to indicate that he shouldn't be harmed. Cain goes and settles in another land and has descendants. His great-great-grandson Lamech kills some guy in a fight and asserts that if a wrong against Cain is avenged sevenfold, then a wrong against him should be avenged seventyfold. Adam and Eve have another child.
- Why did God have no regard for Cain's offering? Cain was a farmer and Abel a shepherd, so of course they offer different things.
- Is this the same Lamech that's the father of Noah? I don't think so but the names in the ancestry line look familiar.
- Why is Lamech making random proclamations? And I don't think those are addressed again.
- The chapter ends with "At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord." What is the significance of this?
Jesus goes into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the devil. They go back and forth, scripture for scripture, as the devil tries to tempt him into using his power to create food, then to throw himself off of a cliff and let angels save him, then to receive the entire world as his kingdom in exchange for worshipping the devil. Jesus passes.
He returns to Galilee, finds John (presumably the Baptist) has been arrested, and moves to Capernaum, apparently fulfilling a prophecy. He begins preaching repentance. He calls Simon (Peter), Andrew, and James and John from their fishing jobs to join him. He went around the land preaching and teaching and became very popular.
- Why would Jesus need to be forged by temptation? I assume it's so he could experience everything that we experience to serve as a better example.
Builders of the temple are approached by others who worship the God of Israel, but are rebuffed. The rebuffed locals raise a lot of obstacles and make their job harder for several years, until Darius takes over as king of Persia. They wrote a letter to Artaxerxes (who?) another king warning them what happened the last time Jerusalem was allowed to assemble, warning that Jerusalem will again come to power and Persia will lose their sovereignty. Artaxerxes makes them stop work for the rest of his reign, and work doesn't resume until Darius becomes king.
- Did Artaxerxes rule between Cyrus and Darius?
- Why didn't the tribes of Judah and Benjamin let anyone else work on the temple?
- Not a question: Jerusalem sounds a lot like late 19th/early 20th century Germany in this.
Acts 4
The Sadducees arrest Peter and John for proclaiming Jesus's resurrection. Annas, Caiaphas, and the other high priests/elders of Jerusalem get together for an inquiry. Peter proclaims the miracles they've been doing are in the name of Jesus and that there is salvation exclusively through him. They were surprised by the boldness and eloquence of these formerly ordinary people. They are told not to preach Jesus anymore, but Peter and John say "hey, we're only talking about what we've seen. The miracle stood, so they couldn't punish them about it. They prayed for boldness in the face of persecution.
The believers lived communally, sharing all resources, which were under management by the apostles.
The believers lived communally, sharing all resources, which were under management by the apostles.
- I find it interesting that the apostles' response to inquisition is "hey, I only talk about what I saw." I find this a more compelling argument for veracity, because it doesn't make for good storytelling.
- Are we called to live communally? Is there a way to make that work on a mass scale? We've seen that Marxism doesn't work and full socialism doesn't work, but can people deny their nature en masse and truly share?
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