Enoch followed God all the time, and God had taken him away (Genesis 5:24).

When Enoch saw how his son Metushelach come into the world at the age of 65, he decided to live in the presence of God (Genesis 5:22). The root of his name חנך ḥnk means “inaugurated”. His name can be translated as “the inaugurated“.

Jesus was also inaugurated. “The Son can do nothing of himself except what he sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, the Son also does“ (John 5:19).

Jesus also inaugurated his disciples: “I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father“ (John 15:15).

God wants to share his thoughts with us. He reveals himself to us through the Bible. Continue reading Living in the presence of God →

Advent images in the Torah / 6

In the story of Cain and Abel we encounter a paradox. The just man dies, the rebel survives.

Abel realises that accepting the death judgment is the key to a relationship with God. He expresses this through a sacrificial lamb, and God is present (Gen 4:4).

Jesus calls Abel a prophet (Luke 11:51). We do not hear a word out of his mouth. But with his sacrifice, Abel prophetically proclaims that God’s view on our lives makes all the difference.

Cain, on the other hand, wants to come before God with his achievements. God corrects him, because he has no open eye for God (Gen 4:7). Cain wants to serve God as he pleases. He is not willing to be corrected. Continue reading A world upside down →

God does not leave man alone in his need but gives him a divine clothing to cover his transgressions.

For this purpose, God takes a skin (Genesis 3:21). The death of an innocent animal, the first death in the Bible, reveals the catastrophe, the terrible reality of sin, of rebellion against God’s order of creation.

For the first time, man sees and experiences death. He sees the consequences of his actions.

In recognising the death sentence and accepting God’s solution, man lives.

It is an image of the divine Lamb who lays down his life to enable man to live a new life with God. Continue reading A divine clothing →

The serpent has turned the heads of men. Now the head of the rebellion is to be crushed by a man. A man is to bring about the devil’s downfall.

God says: “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

In Hebrew, the word ” bruise” in this verse is in the masculine third person singular. It must therefore be translated: “I will put enmity between your descendants and their descendants; he will crush your head”. This opens up the outlook of a Messiah who will break the power of evil.
Continue reading God’s master plan →

“They knew that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7).

After man himself determines what is good for him, he suddenly realises that he stands naked and uncovered before God. Suddenly he sees all his need for redemption and how holy God is. Man wanted to be like God – now he realises weakness and dependence.

When we begin to look at our lives from God’s perspective, we see our need and the neediness of the world. Continue reading Neediness instead divinity →

God gives man a choice. There is the tree of life and the tree of death (Genesis 2;9+17).

The tree of life is nourished by a close relationship with God, the living source. The path of death is the decision not to rely on God’s guidelines.

Man wants to decide for himself what is good for him. He begins to mistrust that God means well for him. As soon as the basic trust in God is lacking, the relationship with him is destroyed. Continue reading The possibility of a choice →

God created man as a corresponding person with a soul. Like God (image), we have the ability to discern spiritual things. The breath of God is in us (Genesis 2:7).

Unlike animals, humans can learn from the experiences of others outside their own senses (intergenerational records), think philosophically, create music and have the ability to make independent decisions.

God seeks contact with human beings (Genesis 3:8). He speaks to them and shares his thoughts and feelings with them. He also shows them the consequences of their choices (Genesis 2:17).

God calls: Adam, where are you? (Genesis 3:9). This is the first indication of the “Adventus Domini” – the “coming of the Lord”. It is not man who seeks God, but God who seeks man.

Continue reading God seeks us →