The Mark of Cain

As I was reading in the Bible today (I was in Genesis 3-4 and Malachi 1-2), the Lord was accusing Israel of doing a lot of stuff that the Lord didn't like so much. It seems like Malachi's prophetic lot was to be a messenger of repentance, only. From the little text that we have from this guy, he just tells Israel what they're doing wrong, and how to fix it. Some interesting thoughts came to mind as I read the Garden of Eden debacle, with the serpent persuading Eve and Adam to partake of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I was revisiting a thought that my former mission president said during a mission reunion. Since the temple discusses the Garden of Eden thing in detail, and discusses the covenants that they made with the Lord, he said that the majority of the Garden of Eden thing is figurative, and not literal. I can't help but disagree. There is nothing I can base my assertion off of, except a feeling within my heart, telling me that these events actually happened.

As for the Cain/Abel sibling rivalry, I thought it was interesting that God put a mark on Cain. I think about myself, when I do things wrong, and as I have spoken to people who feel guilt for transgressions, I know that we taint ourselves. Our guilt gets the better of us, and our faces, demeanors, and countenances bear the mark of shame. Cain, who felt a vendetta against God and against his brother, Abel (whose sacrifice was accepted by God), lost all guilt with his evil action. He, obviously knowing that God knew of his crime against his brother, blatantly spat on God with his remark, "I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?". He was despicable. He knew what he did was wrong, he knew that God knew, and yet he still defiantly resists against his Father, who previously told him to try again with making a sacrifice. Since Cain did not feel the "Godly" sorrow for his action, God had to place something on him, to show the people of the world that sin does not pay off.

Our sorrows, our grief, our guilt, and our shame are worn on our faces, our countenances. I'm sure you've felt it before. I know I have, when I walk past someone and I just know that they have done something truly despicable in the eyes of God. I don't care about the physical mark that was placed on Cain as a result of his evil. But something that we have inherited from our forefathers is the vibe, aura, feeling (or whatever you want to call it) that we permeate from ourselves. When we are good, when we are caring, when we are generous, we emit an aura of confidence and trust. Maybe even a charisma that causes others to want to do the same. However, when we're evil, selfish, or devilish, a vibe of hatred, fear, and discomfort permeates from our being, and people can feel it. That is the true mark of Cain.

“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!

Busy, Busy, Busy

This summer just seems to keep piling on the work! I really love it, though. Our office at BYU Conferences and Workshops is hosting two workshops this week: Intermuse Academy and Young Musicians' Summer Festival. So, as a result, I've been busy making deposits, journal entries, balance sheet reconciliation reports, and things like that to account for the expenses being incurred. And that's only a part-time gig. The other 20 hours a week (in actuality, it's more than 20), I'm doing serach engine optimization for a web marketing company locally called Industry Forge. I asked the boss to give me a normal workload, so that I could get used to everything through a trial-by-fire sort of experience, and boy, is the work coming!!! He's having me write articles to be published online, create lots of web content on social media websites, build inbound links to client websites, and much, much more. Now, I'm also doing link wheels, experimenting with other SEO techniques (and developing some of my own), and building monthly reports for our clients. It just seems like I have so much to do, and not enough time in the week to get it all done. But somehow, a higher power is giving me the ability to complete things on time. For instance, I was having a writer's block with some of the articles that I was writing for my companies (which are just content for inbound links, but I can't write something that's crap; I was just built that way), until today. My problem was that most articles that I was writing ended up being about 1,000 words long, and the articles need only be like 300. I had the brilliant idea today to make article series, where I break down my 1,000 word topic into 3 or 4 articles, so that people will be looking for more and following the articles more closely.

Chey's working a lot, too. She works for a security alarm company called APX Alarms. She's in the technician scheduling department, and she really likes their work environment. She works about 40 hours per week, so she's tired a lot when I pick her up from her work.

Basically, we're super busy this summer, and it's only gonna get more intense. We're having fun, though. At least, I keep trying to convince Chey that (sometimes I don't believe myself, but she seems to be taking the bait). ;)

How's your summer going? I'd like an update in the comments list, if you don't mind taking a minute to let me know. Thanks!