After the Fall and Banishment of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3), we see at least 28 problems/evils arise in the book of Genesis: (most are awful, though a few may be less than ideal in some circumstances). After reading the list, imagine what it would be like if none of these things came to pass. At a bare minimum, the new earth ahead will be without these 28!
The Bad
- Hiding from God 3:8
- Fear 3:10
- Blame 3:12-13
- Childbirth Pain 3:16
- Toiling to survive 3:17
- Physical Death 3:19
- Banishment from Home 3:23 (we've been trying to get back ever since)
- Murder 4:8
- Polygamy 4:19 (it is never represented positively in Bible)
- Wickedness and Evil 6:5
- Judgment: animals perish 7:21, and on Sodom in chapter 19
- Animals now fear humans 9:2
- Animals eaten for food 9:3
- Capital Punishment 9:6
- Drunkenness & its consequences 9:21
- Nationalism 11:4
- Polylingualism 11:9
- Disease 12:17
- Quarreling 13:7
- War 14:2
- Infertility 15:2-3
- Surrogation 16:2
- Homosexuality 19:5
- Incest 19:33
- Famine 26:1
- Rape 34:2
- Human Trafficking 37:28
- Prostitution 38:15
The Good
Despite these awful 28, at least 2 wonderful, surprising developments are initiated by God to his rebellious creation:
1. The Rainbow 9:14 (the rainbow is the shape of a bow -- like a bow and arrow -- and is now aimed upward, at God. In other words, God is saying "I will never flood the entire earth again, and as a guarantee, may this bow fire its arrow at me if I do.").
2. Substitution 22:13 (God provides a ram caught in a thicket as a substitute for Isaac, so that the ram would be killed in Isaac's place by Abraham. This became a prefigurement of Jesus, the lamb, dying in the place of us Isaacs).
Genesis may be old, ancient history, but it reads like today's news in many ways. We haven't learned much through the centuries. But God's grace in His promises and in the Substitution of Christ will never fail to be good news to those whose eyes are opened to Him.
