“In the beginning…” and “…before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord”

Sorry that I haven't written in a few days. My brain has been elsewhere, and I couldn't figure out what I should write about. My bad. This writing exercise will only work if I decide to discipline myself and continue to write, even through brain farts or writers' blocks. Lately, I've felt like my life is losing meaning, and the tasks that I was doing was just to stay busy, rather than for a purpose. I just now realized why. I've been lax in my scripture reading, my meditation time has been replaced by hours of work and playtime, my prayers are becoming vain, and my soul and mind are becoming shallow as a result. It's hard for me to live a life without meaning or purpose. I don't understand why, but it just is. So, in an attempt to keep myself in check, I am going to start reporting a little of what I learn or notice from my scripture reading, and in so doing, I hope to be kept accountable for my time every day. Hopefully it works. If you notice that I don't write something for a while, please call me on it with a comment on my last blog post. I am going to need your collective help with this change in my daily life. In so doing, I'm going to try an interesting experiment, and I'll update you with how that experiment goes. I read the Holy Bible all the way through once, just months before my mission when I was 19 years old. I noticed that as I went through that Holy Writ, I began to grow an appreciation and love for the Bible, and its contents. Most people can't stand reading the Bible for extended periods of time, because they find it drab and boring. As I read it through that first time, the stories really came alive to me. I understood the historical significance and background of things that I never before counted as relevant. I learned a lot about the symbolism of the Law of Moses, I understood the reasoning for certain strange behaviors among the people of the Israelite nation, and I found that a lot of stories apply to things that we face in our time, and that would help us rise from the slums of "civilized" life. I was able to use many of these Bible stories to help people improve their lives. Reading it from cover to cover was a great experience, one that I cherish even today.

My experiment is I would like to start reading a few chapters from either side of the Old Testament. So, if I read four chapters from the beginning, I'll also read four chapters at the end. And then, once my readings meet, instead of stopping, I will continue to the end and the beginning. I am hoping that I might be able to understand things differently or maybe see some passages in a new light by reading in this way. I'll let you know. So, today, it's Genesis 1-2, and Malachi 4-3. Reading along would be cool, too. I would love to see someone else's point of view as they follow my footsteps, too. I'll be reading from the King James Version of the Holy Bible, and as I recall them during my study, I will also make references to The Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price (these are canonical texts of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; I am a Mormon).

MALACHI –

Reading Malachi, chapters four and three was an interesting reading session for me. Malachi 3 discusses "the messenger", who is this guy that will go to God's temple, but he'll be a purifying agent among those around him. There are some allusions to him making things right, that the temple will finally start doing things the way God wants them, and he'll make sure that the priests are worthy to officiate in those ordinances. The Lord will pass judgment on those who define themselves through wicked acts, or in other words, people that refuse to change their selfish ways. The Lord makes some neat promises in this section that I'll briefly reference here. Honestly, these are short chapters, and easy reading. Pick up the Good Book and read it for yourself. Maybe you'll get some different insight than I do.

God says that our first step in bringing ourselves back into God's graces is to pay our tithes. He says that we have robbed him of his tithes and we're cursed because of it. But, He gives us a second chance, saying that if we start today, He'll bless us a ton!!!

He also says that we've talked crap about Him. "How?", I ask. We talk smack by accounting wicked people as blessed people. We esteem them with high regard, when in reality they do not deserve it. He says we are shallow and vain. Those that remember God in word and deed, however, will be remembered, protected, and prospered by the hand of God. Once the day that messenger comes, we'll be able to easy tell between the two groups of people.

(As a side note, I like to lump ideas together. I don't believe that the scriptural authors wrote their words into chapters. The topics typically flow too well to need a break like that. So, please disregard this break in protocol that I have included here, too. I'm just saying that for future reference, I will be reading chapters together that I feel are part of the same thoughts and string of prophecy.)

The wicked will be as stubble, and nothing will be left for them that will last or grow. I love the symbolism in that verse ("…the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble…"). I can imagine these proud, high-necked people having to bow for the first time in their lives. They will really be "as stubble", so broken that they will not be able to stand on their own two feet (figuratively speaking).

I also love the imagery of "…the Sun of Righteousness" coming to heal the righteous.

Also, in the end the Lord will send Elijah to bind descendants and posterity together by their hearts.

What on earth?!? That's the last thing Malachi says. Basically, he's saying "watch for Elijah". I personally think this is interesting, because Elijah is my favorite prophet in scripture. A man who stands for what he knows is right to the end. His end was awesome! He was so ready to go, God took him to heaven before he could die…AND ON A FLAMING CHARIOT!!! I want one of those!

GENESIS –

I love the start of the Bible: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth". It's because it is such a powerful, yet ambiguous statement. What does he mean? God did not come into existence in the beginning. The heaven and the earth were created in the beginning. So, this doesn't really chronicle the beginning of everything as we know it, just the beginning of the heaven and the earth. He's saying the heavens and the earth weren't there at first, so He made them. Simple.

Something that has been in debate for as long as I can remember, and back throughout the millennia, is the question about whether the creation should be taken literally or not.

He does say that the earth was there, but it was not formed, it was void (I'm assuming he's referring to void of life), and the deep was dark. Then an interesting phrase in verse 2: "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters". Wait, what?!? There's water?!? I never noticed that passage before. That furthers evidence of God not creating the whole universe during the Seven Day ordeal. In fact, things didn't just poof into existence, either. God must have been looking around, and found something that would be suitable for life. Really interesting.

I will now chronicle God's activities during the day:

1. Light is called forward, and is separated from darkness, or Night.
   
2. God divides the two different kinds of waters with firmament, and calls firmament Heaven. So, in other words, clouds form.
   
3. Liquid water congregates, and dry land comes up; God calls dry land Earth, and the gathered liquid water Seas. He then gets Earth to grow plants and stuff, and calls the day good.
   
4. He puts lights in the Heaven, to help us divide Day and Night, to help us keep track of time, and to help us have light on the earth. The greater light (Sun), the lesser light (Moon), and stars are made.
   
5. God gets creatures to come out of the waters, has creatures fly in the sky, created huge whales, birds, and moving creatures. He tells the creatures to multiply and fill the seas and the earth.
   
6. Then land animals are created. And then man is created in the image of God, and given dominion over the creatures of the earth. God commands man to multiply and "subdue" the earth, and tells man that they have dominion over the creatures on the planet. He tells them that plants are for food. At the end of this day, God says that the things that were done on the sixth day "…were very good".
   
7. God ends his work and rests from his labors and sanctifies that seventh day.
   

I think it's really interesting in Genesis 2:4 where the biblical translators decided to use the word "generations" to describe the "days" of the world being prepared for life.

Then, I guess Moses decides that it's important to talk specifically about the creation of man on the sixth day, because he then discusses how God formed man, brought him to life, put him in Eden, then talks about what Eden is like, where it lies on the ancient map, and what precious stone were in the area. Moses also talks about the two trees in opposition to each other: the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

God lets Adam name the animals, and then creates Eve as a wife and companion and help to Adam in his role to rule over the creatures of the earth.

I really think it's interesting to see what is promised for the last days and what was created "in the beginning".

Some thoughts that I have drawn:

• 
  
  The earth was chosen because of the water being an essential part of life. So, the beginning was because of water.
  In the end, "the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven". Typically, when I think of burns, I think of heat and fire. I think that it is interesting that the beginning is marked by movements of water, but the end will be marked with burning and fire.
  
  
• I think it is interesting that light, or Day, came before the greater light, or the sun. What is the source of that light? The source of that light is Jesus Christ. Something happened before things were prepared and organized, and for some reason, Christ needed to be ready to help the Father out. So before the preparations for life on earth, the light of Christ is cast, and then things were put in motion. This is also referenced when "the messenger" in Malachi is referenced as the "Sun of Righteousness", who comes "with healing in his wings" for those who remember him and keep the laws that God declares.
  
• God wants us to start by sacrificing some of our earthly sustenance to Him. Interesting.
  
• What is up with this whole binding of "the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers"? I would like to know what some people outside my faith think of that, because I believe I have an answer for that one, but it revolves around assertions of my own faith.
  

Please comment, ask more questions, and let's have a great Biblical Discussion. Thanks!