Genesis 7

Now God changes his instructions to Noah to take aboard seven pairs of each clean animal and birds and one pair of each unclean animals.  What follows is forty days and nights of rain. Also the heavens and the fountains of the deep opened.  Asimov thinks this reference to waters other than rain may refer to a tidal wave.  The flood covers the mountains and prevailed for 150 days.

Matthew 6

More of Jesus' teachings.  I'll just hit the highlights, but you should read it for yourself.  Suffice to say hypocrites and rich folks seem to irk Jesus.  Some good things in there that those that thump the Bible the hardest seem to miss.

Don't make a big show of your piety.  If you do, your reward is on Earth, not in Heaven.

Same for your charity.  Do it in secret, God will see and that's the important part.

Same with praying.  Making a big production of your prayers earns your reward here and now.  God won't reward it.  There's a lot I could say about this from many Christians I've witnessed, but going to try to keep this even.  Suffice to say, this is one those verses that Cafeteria Christians seem to miss.

Being overly verbose in your prayers is unnecessary.  Jesus says this is something the Gentiles do.  I don't think he meant that as a compliment.

Forgive others for the wrongs they do you and God (called "Father") will forgive your wrongs against Him.

Don't make a Hollywood production when fasting like the hypocrites do.  Act normal and fast in secret.

Don't accumulate material wealth.  Accumulate treasures in Heaven.

Finally, he goes on quite a bit about anxiety regarding food and clothes.  I don't recall us ever covering this part of Jesus' teachings in the church I grew up in.  It's obviously an important issue to Jesus, because he goes on about it. So I wonder what was the issue at that time he was trying to get at.  Maybe the clothes thing is an extension of the not making a show of accumulated wealth?  In any event, Jesus counsels to not be anxious about the food you eat and  the clothes you wear.  Doing so will not extend your life.

As for Asimov, he's still on genealogy from Matthew 1.  If I ever finish this I'll condense these, but for now, I'm sticking with one Bible chapter, one Asimov section per day.

In any event, Asimov points out that in the third group of fourteen generations, there are only thirteen.  He speculates that in copying the source works a name dropped out and was lost to history.  Take this with the three missing Hebrew kings I discussed in the Matthew 5 entry, and we don't have three groups of fourteen generations from Abraham to Jesus.

Instead, there are fourteen generations from Abraham to David.  There are eighteen generations from David to the Babylonian exile.  And finally, there are thirteen generations from the Exile to Jesus.  So there's another bit to chew on, those that contend the Bible is literally true. 

Genesis 6

The "sons of God" marry the "daughters of men", but this does not make the resulting men from these unions divine.  Now this is weird, who are these "sons of God"?  The resulting men are the "Nephilian", the mighty men of old.  This seems to be remnants of an older myth, like perhaps the Enoch story of being taken to walk with God.

Man's wretchedness makes God sorry he created man and decides to blot him out, except for Noah, who is righteous and walked with God.  This parallels the other version of man's wickedness, seeming editing of two traditions into one.  God commands Noah to build an ark and take his family and two of every creature into it.

Asimov underscores that the tale of Cain and Abel may be an account of friction between nomads (Abel) and city dwellers (Cain).  In ancient Hebrew, a cognate of Cain means "smith".   And indeed, one of Cain's descendants, Tabul-Cain, literally means the smith of Tabul.

No new laws, but God seems quite peeved at man's wickedness.  Don't like where this is going.

Matthew 5

And now we get into the meat of Jesus' teachings.  He goes up a mountain and instructs His Followers.  Up first are the "Blessed are..."s.  Of note, Jesus says God blesses the "peacemakers", not just the peaceable.  That takes some effort on your part.

Jesus then has some strong instructions on divorce.  No divorce, unless it is for unchastity, because that makes the woman an adultress.  Anyone who marries a divorced woman is an adulterer.  (Verses 31-32)  So take that Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich the next time you bloviate on marriage.

Jesus then has a lot of instructions to his followers regarding being submissive to authority, the evil done against one (turn the other cheek), defending lawsuits.  Hmmm, the people I see that pound the Bible the hardest don't seem to follow many of these.  Just my observation, though.

Jesus also notes that the sun shines on the good and the evil and the rain falls on the just and unjust.  (Verse 45)  Your reward is not on this earth, that's not the reason to lead a righteous life.  As a side note, this is one of my favorite observations from the Bible.

Asimov is still on Jesus' ancestry.  He notes that for Matthew to get to his number of fourteen direct ancestors from David to Jesus, he left out some kings that clearly are in David's bloodline and are in the OT.

Genesis 5

A short chapter detailing the genealogy of Adam.  Adam has many sons and daughters, dies at the ages of 930.  The genealogy is a list the of ten generations between Adam and Noah.  Enoch, representing the seventh generation does not die, but walks with God and God "takes" him.  At 500, Noah has his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Short entry, but that's all that happens.

Matthew 4

Jesus goes to the desert to fast for forty days and nights and to be tempted by the devil.  That's right, it's written to imply the temptations were part of Jesus' plan.  The devil complies and puts various tests, threats and rewards before Him to get Jesus to say he is the Son of God.  Jesus rejects each and finally rebukes the devil, calling him Satan for the first time in the NT, and the devil leaves.

The annotations state that this is the first illustration of Jesus' refusal to allow for his personal safety or other practical concerns to sway Him from his personal mission. 

Jesus then hears of John's arrest (wha?  I missed that) and flees to Galilee.  Here he begins his ministry.  He recruits his first four disciples, of which Peter is the first, all fishermen.  His offer to them is to make them "fishers of men", and they leave their nets and follow Him.  His ministry starts to gather fame and He heals the ill and afflicted and his following grows.

Asimov's chapter is about the ancestry of Jesus and charted through the OT.  It's actually interesting, but it goes through parts of the OT I haven't gotten to yet.  One thing to note is that there is a woman the OT describes as a "harlot", Rahab, in that ancestry.  Asimov speculates that perhaps this was to show that Jesus was sent to redeem all, not just observant Jews.

Genesis 4

Cain and Abel are the first offspring of Adam and Eve.  Cain is a tiller of soil and Abel is a shepherd.  They both make offerings to God of the fruits of their labors.  God accepts Cain's offering of lamb, but rejects Cain's offering of fruit.  God does not understand why Cain is upset at His rejection of Cain's offering, since God still accepts Cain.  Commentary suggest this reflects tension between farmers and nomads.

Cain kills Abel and Abel's blood cries from the earth to God, reflecting perhaps that God considers blood to be sacred.  God gives Cain a mark so that no one takes revenge on Cain to avenge Abel's murder.  Cain goes east of Eden and founds a city.

Adam and Eve have a third son, Seth, whose son the Bible says is the first to worship the "Lord".

Reflecting on the expulsion from Eden, Asimov speculates it might reflect a nostalgia for nomadic times that are no more once agriculture is developed, which required settling in one place.

God's Law: It doesn't come right out and say it, but seems God has a problem with murder.

My ability to comply:  Hasn't bee a problem yet.

Matthew 3

Matthew 3 introduces us to John the Baptist, who preached in the wilderness as prophesied in the OT book of Isaiah.  He preached that the Jews should "repent" (which literally means "return") for the people to return to God's covenant.

John must have cut quite a character, as he wore a garment made of camel hair and subsisted on locusts and wild honey.  So don't be so quick to dismiss some of those street preachers that look and act wild, I suppose.  Despite his urging, he refuses to baptize Pharisees and Saducees (two competing Jewish sects).

John preaches that one greater than he will come.  When Jesus comes, John initially refuses to baptize Jesus as well, saying that John is unworthy to do so.  However, he does so at Jesus' urging.

Asimov, referring to the lineage of Jesus in Matthew 1, says that Matthew, as a Jew, would show that the Messiah is as well.  Therefore, the Messiah must have a direct bloodline from David.

Genesis 3

The Serpent tempts woman by telling her show won't die if she eats the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, but instead become like God, know the difference between good and evil.  She then gives the fruit to her husband, who also eats, and they see that they are naked and make aprons of fig leaves to cover themselves.

Gold walks through the garden and cannot find them.  Again, God does not appear to be omnipotent and omniscient, as He walks instead of appearing where He wishes and is unable to find those that hide.  Yet later, we are told he knows every thought of every person.

Upon finding man and woman and learning what they have done, God curses the Serpent to crawl upon its belly and eternal enmity between it and the offspring of the woman.  He then curses the woman to increases pain in childbirth and gives her to her husband to rule over her.

He then curses the ground, interestingly not Adam who is named in this chapter for the first time to toil the ground.  As Adam had already been laboring at tilling the garden in the last chapter, toil appears to be something different.  One type of labor is divine, tilling, but another, toiling, is a curse. The notes and Asimov do not posit on the difference.  Further, God curses Adam to no longer be able to eat of the Tree of Life, which eventual death and to return to the dust from which he came.

Finally, God gives Adam and Eve (who has also been named) clothes made of skins and banishes them from the garden.  The gate of the garden is guarded by a "cherubin" and a flaming sword so that man may never return.  There is another reference by God to Himself as "us", leading to the question of where the other gods are.

Asimov notes there is only one other talking animal in the Bible and there aren't many human like animals in other Jewish traditions.  Perhaps the story of temptation is also borrowed?

God's law:  Don't eat of the Tree of Knowledge

My ability to follow:  I don't know where the Tree of Knowledge is, but would probably grab a snack from it if I did.  It seems to me that God is playing a head game with his creations and eating of the Tree of Knowledge would be a way to refuse to play.  

Matthew 2

Jesus is born in Bethlehem and wise men from the east come to visit the King of the Jews, having seen his star in the east and followed it.  King Herod hears of this and assembles the priests and scribes who tell him of the prophecy of the King being born in Bethlehem to the tribe of Judah.

Herod then sends the wise men to search for Jesus.  They find and worship Him, offering gifts.  They then leave without returning to Herod, having been warned in a dream not to.  An angel appears to Joseph and tells him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod and fulfill the prophecy of the Messiah coming out of Egypt.

Herod orders the deaths of all male children under the age of two, fulfilling another prophecy by Jeremiah.  Joseph returns with his family after an angel appears and tells him Herod is dead.  Yet another prophecy is fulfilled when they settle in Gaililee, a part of Nazareth and Jesus will be known as the Nazarene. 

Asimov talks about how the Maccabbeans were of the wrong blood line to be the Messiah, although many during the revolt thought they were.