Because it was written down first, the stories of ancient Babylon appear to some as being a forerunner to the Hebrew accounts of creation. I don’t, but I’m not a scholar.
Since Abraham was called out of that same area, I would expect the stories passed down from generation to generation to be more than similar, I would expect they did have the same roots. The differences would be in the perceptions of the story-tellers. It would be in their desires to tell the stories to their best advantage.
Sort of like the Cain/Abel story. Do you think Cain told his descendants how he disregarded God and slew his brother? Or would he, in a most human manner, place the blame on them – or on another? Did not both of his parents do the same, Adam blaming God for giving him Eve and Eve blaming the serpent?
The stories that passed from Adam downward to Noah, on then to Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob into the children of Israel as they toiled in Egypt are not newer, but were written later. Why? There is insufficient evidence to say.
Does it change the message because Genesis was put down in ink after Enuma Elis was written in cuneiform? Why would it?
Genesis clears up the creation story. In the beginning God.
Genesis sets the record straight. While there have been many fallen angels, expelled from heaven, there is but one God. Though these fallen desired there to have been another, there is but one God.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: (Deuteronomy 6:4 KJV)
This is the record that has lasted and has been lived since that time. This is the record of He who walked with Adam in the cool of the day, until sin entered:
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8 KJV)
He is described throughout the ages. He has been ignored, too. He has been prayed to, praised, worshipped and denied. Everyone who hears about him makes a decision as to what they will do with Him.
My decision was to heed His word, follow His commands and always remember what He has shown me:
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8 KJV)
Amen, I made that decision in 1974 and I have never been sorry, the best one I ever made, and I will be forever thankful that Jesus made it possible to include me in his heavenly home. Thanks for all the wonderful scriptures you use here, I so enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI heard a preacher say one time, that he would hate to live in America and have to stand before God lost. There is so much of the bible preached in this country. There will be no excuse for refusing him. Thank God that I accepted him.
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