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Bible
Stories & Parables |
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Creation |
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In the beginning when God
created the heavens and the earth, the earth was
a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the
abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the
waters. Then God said, "Let there be light," and
there was light.
God saw how good the light was. God then
separated the light from the darkness. God
called the light "day," and the darkness he
called "night." Thus evening came, and morning
followed--the first day.
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Cain and Abel |
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In Chapter 4
of Genesis is the short story of Cain and Abel. In
this story the LORD gives Cain a warning to master
his anger and resentment. Cain chooses not to and
commits the first murder by killing his brother
after God rejects his sacrifice, but accepts Abel's.
Genesis puts some emphasis on the occupations of the
brothers; Abel tends flocks while Cain is a farmer.
Abel is
not mentioned in the Old Testament except in Genesis
4. St. Augustine makes him as one who loves ideas of
justification, and Cain a man of nature. Cain, he
tells us, gave God a part of his goods, but he did
not give Him his heart (De Civitate Dei, XV, vii),
alluding to the evil disposition of Cain's heart.
St. John says that Cain slew Abel because his works
were evil, while those of his brother were just (1
John 3:12), and we read in Hebrews that "by faith
Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain" (Hebrews 11:4).
The descendants
of Cain were wicked, but, as nothing is said about
those of Abel, it is supposed that he had none; or
at least that no son was alive at the birth of Seth,
"whom God has given me for Abel", as Eve expressed
it (Genesis 4:25).
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The Tower of Babel |
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The story
of the tower of Babel appears in the first nine
verses of Genesis Chapter 11. It's brevity
belies its significance centered on man's pride
and arrogance. God thus confused their languages
that they were not able to understand each
other, and dispersed them around the world. In
contrast, at the Pentecost all understood each
other and they were united.
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Sodom and Gomorrah |
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The story
of Sodom and Gomorrah is found in the middle
of the narrative of the life of Abraham. It
begins at the end of Genesis Chapter 18:20,
when the LORD first mentions the outcry
against Sodom to Abraham, and ending in
Genesis Chapter 19 in the incestuous plotting
of the daughters of Lot on him.
The
contrast here is that the foretelling of the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, along with
their people, is preceded by the promise of
the LORD of the making the descendants of
Abraham as numerous as the stars in the skies.
This
is a relatively short story but the moral
implications and applications are staggering
and relevant then, as indeed they are now.
The
story of Sodom and Gomorrah begins after
Abraham meets with the LORD and the two
angels.
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