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A paper from 1807 by Jebediah Johnstone, a pastor at Landover of the time, has recently come to light. Little of Pastor Jebediah is known, he seems to have been an eccentric man, much given to chastising animals for lewd behaviour.
Below is a basic summary of its contents for comment:
The Two Creations?
First you need to know the following passages: if you do, skip them.
[…]
[…]
So we have God creating male and female [humans] in Gen:1:27 and God creating Adam in Gen:2:7 and Eve in Gen:2:22. Now there are those who will say that there are contradictions in The Bible (KJV1611) and that this is near to being the first. (The bit about creating light (Gen 1:3) before He created the Sun (Gen 1:16) is probably the first, but that’s a lesson for another day.)
So, our problem is to find out what Moses was saying when he wrote Genesis at God’s dictation. Now the first thing to realize is that
(i) Moses did not make any mistakes and
(ii) neither did God and that
(iii) The Bible, KJV 1611, is The Word of God and
(iv) is thus inerrant.
Let us look at God talking to Cain
And
Now we have assembled the evidence, the story becomes clear. God created man and woman on the 6th day BUT they were vegetarians (Gen:1:29) and so were all the animals (Gen:1:30)*(see note below) and they were rubbish farmers.
Now we look at Gen:2:5; everything was to hand, all the food for which you could wish but there was something lacking… a farmer.
So God created Adam, Gen 2:7 and He did something else – He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” So now we know that, in contrast, the vegetarian, non-farmers were soulless – something like Goths or Vampires (but not exactly vampires because they are not veggies.) We also see that Adam was destined to be a farmer and that being a farmer was a great and Godly honor.
God now creates Eve (Gen2:22) to help Adam. So what was wrong with the other veggie, non-farmer women? The answer is, “They didn’t have a soul and would just have wandered around all day nagging.”
How do we know that being a farmer was a great and Godly honor? (You’ve not been paying attention have you?) Let’s look at the punishment of Cain:
In other words, “Don’t even think about being a farmer.”
But did the dishonour and punishment stop there? No.
[…]
So who were the people of the land of Nod? Note first of all that the word “land” is not capitalized. Now let us refer to the meaning of “Nod”. Here we see that it really means “that part of the earth though which the Nod people wandered.”
Thus the bit about Cain being a vagabond is right (up to a point) and further the Nod women were soulless harridans. What could be worse, wandering around aimlessly stuck with a wife who was nagging you all the time? This is a just and fitting punishment. It is also probably why Cain, a useless farmer, founded a city (Ge:4:17),settled down, stopped being a vagabond and became rich and powerful. A lesson, if one were needed, as to why you shouldn’t be a murderer.
Thus it is confirmed that the people of the land of Nod (the Nodites) were not farmers (although they had dominion over cattle) and were the first people created; as per Gen:1:27!
So, two creations? Well, not really. Man, as we know him, was only created once – Adam. Man and woman, as per the Nodites, were only created once and were not particularly beloved of God because they were useless farmers but OK for living in cities.
You will see the two italicized passages: (a) Gen:1:20 – 21 and (b) Gen:2:19. A naïve glance will seem to indicate that (a) all life came from the sea (b) all life was created from the ground. I will deal with this another time.
*This is later reflected in a return to this state in the prophecy in Isa:11:6: The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. (Although I can’t see the kid, lamb, calf and fatling having a restful nights until they got used to it.)
Below is a basic summary of its contents for comment:
The Two Creations?
First you need to know the following passages: if you do, skip them.
- Ge:1:20: And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
- Ge:1:21: And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
[…]
- Ge:1:26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
- Ge:1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
- Ge:1:28: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
- Ge:1:29: And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
- Ge:1:30: And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
- Ge:1:31: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
[…]
- Ge:2:5: And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
- Ge:2:6: But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
- Ge:2:7: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
- Ge:2:8: And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
- Ge:2:19: And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
- Ge:2:22: And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
So, our problem is to find out what Moses was saying when he wrote Genesis at God’s dictation. Now the first thing to realize is that
(i) Moses did not make any mistakes and
(ii) neither did God and that
(iii) The Bible, KJV 1611, is The Word of God and
(iv) is thus inerrant.
Let us look at God talking to Cain
Ge:4:12: When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
And
Ge:4:16: And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Ge:4:17: And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
Ge:4:17: And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
Now we have assembled the evidence, the story becomes clear. God created man and woman on the 6th day BUT they were vegetarians (Gen:1:29) and so were all the animals (Gen:1:30)*(see note below) and they were rubbish farmers.
Now we look at Gen:2:5; everything was to hand, all the food for which you could wish but there was something lacking… a farmer.
So God created Adam, Gen 2:7 and He did something else – He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” So now we know that, in contrast, the vegetarian, non-farmers were soulless – something like Goths or Vampires (but not exactly vampires because they are not veggies.) We also see that Adam was destined to be a farmer and that being a farmer was a great and Godly honor.
God now creates Eve (Gen2:22) to help Adam. So what was wrong with the other veggie, non-farmer women? The answer is, “They didn’t have a soul and would just have wandered around all day nagging.”
How do we know that being a farmer was a great and Godly honor? (You’ve not been paying attention have you?) Let’s look at the punishment of Cain:
Gen:4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength;
In other words, “Don’t even think about being a farmer.”
But did the dishonour and punishment stop there? No.
Gen:4:12 […]a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
[…]
Ge:4:16: And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
So who were the people of the land of Nod? Note first of all that the word “land” is not capitalized. Now let us refer to the meaning of “Nod”. Here we see that it really means “that part of the earth though which the Nod people wandered.”
Thus the bit about Cain being a vagabond is right (up to a point) and further the Nod women were soulless harridans. What could be worse, wandering around aimlessly stuck with a wife who was nagging you all the time? This is a just and fitting punishment. It is also probably why Cain, a useless farmer, founded a city (Ge:4:17),settled down, stopped being a vagabond and became rich and powerful. A lesson, if one were needed, as to why you shouldn’t be a murderer.
Thus it is confirmed that the people of the land of Nod (the Nodites) were not farmers (although they had dominion over cattle) and were the first people created; as per Gen:1:27!
So, two creations? Well, not really. Man, as we know him, was only created once – Adam. Man and woman, as per the Nodites, were only created once and were not particularly beloved of God because they were useless farmers but OK for living in cities.
You will see the two italicized passages: (a) Gen:1:20 – 21 and (b) Gen:2:19. A naïve glance will seem to indicate that (a) all life came from the sea (b) all life was created from the ground. I will deal with this another time.
*This is later reflected in a return to this state in the prophecy in Isa:11:6: The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. (Although I can’t see the kid, lamb, calf and fatling having a restful nights until they got used to it.)