BFD, hi, how are you?
You said:
A few weeks ago I started a thread explaining that I wanted to read the entire bible for the first time. I had been reading the KJV and I read Revelation, John I, II, II and then I read John, Matthew, Mark, Luke using the KJV in that order at someone's suggestion here. I further took the suggestion of the poster and purchased an NIV Bible. Although I have many quetions regarding the NT I just wanted to read it once then seek answers to my questions after reading it again with the NIV.
So, now I have started reading the NIV from Genesis. Maybe my reading comprehension skills are not what they should be. But my question(s) are:
I am glad you got an NIV. It is definitely easier to read than a KJV.
You said:
Who is the "us" and "our" referred to in Gen 1:26? I thought God created everything by Himself. (Dare I say Trinity? again)
The Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, makes it clear that God created all things, that only God Almighty is the Creator.
Isaiah 44:24 says that Jehovah created all things alone, all by Himself. Yet, John 1:3 says that "in the beginning" the Word was with God, and that every single thing has been created through the Word (Jesus Christ), and Colossians 1:16 says that Jesus Christ created all things for Himself, and that Jesus existed before anything was ever created.
Proverbs chapter 8 talks about "Wisdom" personified. It says that God created all things through His "Wisdom" which was also His "Master Worker." Most Christian commentaries and scholars (at least from what I have read), say that "Wisdom" is the same as "the Word" from John 1:1 -- it is the Pre-Human Jesus Christ.
Then, we come to Genesis 1:26-27. It is important to read verses 26 and 27:
Genesis 1:26-27 (English Standard Version): Then God said, "Let us make man in ourimage, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27 is showing us that there is more than one Person who is Jehovah God, and that They communicate together and created together. This is in perfect harmony with John 1:1-3, Colossians 1:16-18, and Hebrews 1:2-3, 1:10, and John 17:5.
Thus, the Bible teaches that The Father is Jehovah the Creator and The Son is also Jehovah the Creator. The Father created all things through His Son.
Also, there are a few other times in the Bible where God speaks of Himself as "Us":
Genesis 3:22 (ESV): Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--"
Genesis 11:7 (ESV): Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech."
Isaiah 6:8 (ESV): And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."
BFD said:
Also, Gen 4:13 Cain tells God his punishment is more than he can bear because "whoever finds me will kill me". Who else was on the earth and how did they get there?
The Bible does not say how old Cain and Abel were when this happened. They could have been anywhere from 15, 20, 50, or 100 years old. (they had to be younger than 130 though according to other Scriptures).
God had commanded Adam and Eve to have many, many children:
Genesis 1:27-28 (ESV): So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
The Bible says that Adam had other sons and daughters besides Cain, Abel, and Seth:
Genesis 5:4 (ESV): The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters.
The Bible also says that Adam was 130 years old when he became father to Seth. It is highly likely that Adam and Eve had many children during those 130 years prior to Seth's birth, including daughters. (Genesis 5:3-4)
Therefore, Cain took his wife from among his sisters (or, depending how old Cain was, he could have even married a niece).
Cain could have been worried about his brothers or sisters (or even Adam and Eve) killing him because he murdered Abel. He also could have been worried about people in the future (after all, the Bible says that people in Adam and Eve's day lived around 800 to 900 years old).
BFD said:
I could barely get through the first 26 chapters because I have a multitude of questions. I think I am going to have to look for a bible study group near me in order to get through this. But in the meantime can anyone answer these first two questions?
I hope my answers helped you. I highly recommend the "Life Application Study Bible, New Living Translation," or the NIV Study Bible, which both provide explanatory notes at the bottom of each page of the Bible, explaining what difficult verses mean.
Also, I recommend searching Google for the following Bible Commentaries online (you can probably find these online where you can read them for free):
* Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible
* Albert Barne's Notes on the Bible
* John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
* Matthew Henry's Commentary
Here are some websites that helped me understand the Bible better (and they each have questions and answers about the book of Genesis):
http://www.ChristianAnswers.org
http://www.AnswersinGenesis.org
And, here is a web page that specifically answers the questions you had about Cain:
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c004.html
God loves you, and if you seek Him with your whole heart and soul and mind, He will let Himself be found by you.
