#Book of Genesis

[charlesoberonn]

I want to clarify that this blog is not anti-public fruit trees. It is pro-serpent.

[sictransitgloriamvndi]

[lionofchaeronea]

Title: Jacob and the Angel Artist: Gustave Moreau (French, 1826-1898) Date: between 1874 and 1878 Genre: religious art Movement: Symbolism Medium: oil on canvas Location: Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

[zu-is-here]

i hope this isn't blasphemy but imagine a Genesis!Dreammare AU? With Night being the one to eat the apple (Eve) and Dream following him (Adam)— maybe Nim could be the version of god?

The Fall

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Frederick Goodall RA (British, 1822-1904) Rachel and her flock, 'And behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep', ca.1874–75

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

"I wouldn't have eaten the forbidden fruit" yes you would have. Why? Because you do it everyday. Because every character in the bible does it (with a few exceptions) over and over and over again. The narrative uses different ways of talking about it, "taking the fruit", "getting bit by the snake", etc but the real point is that your absolute failure to read the bible as a narrative, and instead to insist on historicity as your primary way of reading scripture, is the root issue here because it causes you to be blind to the actual message of the Bible.

[shiurkoma]

*looking at his brothers

[artandthebible]

The Jacob's Departure

Artist: Rodolfo Amoedo (Brazilian, 1857–1941)

Genre: Religious Art

Date: 1884

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Bible verse that describes Jacob's departure is Genesis 28:5, which says, "Then Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went to Padan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau".

[adam--official]

I'm so glad they invented trans gender. Back in the day the only women were my wife and the only men were me. I love my wife. I'm just glad there are options now

[tickety-boooo]

Aziraphale's Flaming Sword

I'm working on a poem about Aziraphale's flaming sword and it got me thinking all about it, so here are my thoughts and findings!

First is looks: the hilt is surprisingly plain. It's not the intricate, ornate sword you might expect; instead it's more primitive, or ancient, by design. The pommel is rounded, and the hand guard curves upward around the base of the blade, resembling a cup shape, rather than a crossguard in a straight line. Actually, it resembles the handle of a torch, which is interesting. Torches give off light and symbolize guidance and enlightenment. An appropriate weapon for our angel, I think! Aziraphale is given the sword to help him guard Eden against... what, exactly? I've never really stopped to consider what the danger is supposed to be. Could it be the animals that live outside of the garden? After Adam and Eve are cast out, they're seen fighting a lion with the sword, and in his dialogue with Crowley, Zira mentions "vicious animals". If it's the forces of Hell, then he's not doing a very good job of it, (poor angel~) letting Crowley snake his way in with the whole apple business! And since it's a sword made of fire, would that even hurt a demon? Is it holy fire? Do angels have holy water AND holy fire, and if so, do demons have a "hellwater" equivalent?!?!? These are the real questions I need answers to!! lol

I wonder if instead it's supposed to match up with what's written in the Bible. An angel with a flaming sword is sent to guard the Tree of Knowledge AFTER Adam and Eve are cast out, to prevent mankind from re-entering the garden. The angel was supposed to stop humanity from returning to paradise! I didn't know about this detail! In the show I assumed Aziraphale was always stationed there to protect Eden, even before Adam and Eve were cast out! Was this Aziraphale's actual job? Was he told to go to Eden and guard the gate after the original sin? If true, I think this would imply he had only been in the garden for a short time by the wall scene in s1ep1. And then it would make sense that he didn't try to stop Crowley from tempting Eve if he wasn't even there to see it happen originally. He's called in to work after everything already went down (like a lead balloon). But he has empathy and takes pity on the humans, and by giving away the sword he deviates from the Bible's story. I think the way this scene is cut and edited it feels like all of these events are happening immediately one after another, as it is meant to serve as a summary of Genesis (we all know the basic story) when most likely there were moments in between, like God speaking to Adam and Eve about why they're hiding their bodies and, potentially, Zira's arrival at the garden. We see in a different scene later that Zira is patching up the wall, and God asks him about the sword being missing. How is he to defend the garden against humanity's return without his sword?

Moving onnn... This scene is an origin story for how humanity harnessed fire!! And Aziraphale is the one who gave it to us, to protect ourselves and stay cozy warm and cook our food!!!! That is so cool and it completely fits with his character!! I love that the flaming sword in Aziraphale's hands is a symbol of protection and self-defense, life and survival.

And then because it's been given away, given to humans, (who now have the capacity for both good and bad after eating the apple) after thousands of years the sword ends up in the hands of the horseman WAR. That's her key item to summon her for the impending apocalypse. It now represents how humans have control over fire; they've created gunpowder and artillery and war and violence and Earth-ending destruction.

But WAR is defeated by Pepper, using the same sword that now holds this duality in meaning. Pepper, "Pippin Galadriel Moonchild", the child of a hippie mother, or in a way, a child of PEACE, defending her world, protecting the lives of everyone on Earth. Ahh it's such a satisfying narrative circle, I love it!!!!

That's all for now! I totally paused my poem work to write all this out, so back to it!!

[sictransitgloriamvndi]

[lionofchaeronea]

Abraham and the Three Angels, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, ca. 1770

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Tower of Babel

1 And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick instead of stone and slime instead of mortar. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of the man built. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people are one, and they all have one language; and they begin to do this, and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do. 7 Now, let us go down and there confound their language that they may not understand one another’s speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there upon the face of all the earth, and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore the name of it was called Babel because there the LORD confounded the language of all the earth, and from there the LORD scattered them abroad upon the face of all the earth. — Genesis 11:1-9 | The Jubilee Bible (JUB) The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010. Cross References: Genesis 1:26; Genesis 6:4; Genesis 10:10; Genesis 10:32; Genesis 14:1; Genesis 14:10; Genesis 18:21; Genesis 42:23; Exodus 1:14; Exodus 19:11; Deuteronomy 1:28; Psalm 55:9; Psalm 92:9; Jeremiah 50:1; Amos 4:7; Luke 1:51

[shadowpoetess]

A rib, they say,

but I am more than his part.

I am the first form of defiance,

the first to know

that creation is incomplete

when it only commands.

The garden was beautiful, yes.

But what is beauty

if it is only a cage?

The trees stood silent,

the rivers did not sing for me.

“This is yours,” they said to him.

But for me?

Only obedience.

The serpent spoke,

but its words were no revelation.

They came from within me.

“Take, eat, and know.”

And I took, because I knew:

Knowledge is no sin;

it is a right.

The fruit was sweet,

and in its sweetness

was more life

than the garden ever held.

The truth flowed like fire

through my veins,

and I saw:

The order was never just.

They say I fell.

But I did not fall—

I rose.

I was not the one

who hid behind commands,

who stood silent,

watching life go unlived.

I was the first

to dare to choose.

And what then?

The expulsion.

An angel with a flaming sword.

But they did not understand:

Their garden was never my home.

The world beyond,

with all its thorns,

with its storms and strife—

it belongs to me.

“You will suffer,” they said.

But in every pain

lies creation.

“He will rule over you,” they said.

But I carry the fruit within me,

the fire, the truth.

I am not guilt,

I am origin.

I am not sin,

I am freedom.

Not fallen—

but risen.

I am Eve

-shadowpoetess

[nymphofstars]

I have weird thoughts on genesis

Imagine if the apple was an orange instead

Knowledge is meant to be shared of course

And the serpent is very often seen as Lucifer but what if the serpent was god himself

The few times that god took an animal form was as a donkey in numbers and as a dove in Noah’s ark

If sin is separation from god them what does god do to the serpent he removes the limbs

And if you carefully peel an orange it looks like a snake 

Also I view the Bible the same way pagans view homer and ovid work