Persecution Of God

When God proclaims that he favors Abel's gift over Cain's, Cain becomes angry and jealous towards Abel and he eventually kills him. Although God is fully aware of what has transpired, He asks Cain where Abel is, and Cain answers Him untruthfully saying, "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:2-5). After God reveals to Cain that he knows of Abel's murder, God banishes Cain to another part of the land and places a mark on him so that no man will kill him.

In Genesis, God interacts with Adam by speaking to him face to face. Whether God was giving out instructions or punishment to Adam and Eve, he was always doing it on a personal level. The usual portrayal of God as an omniscient being is instead replaced as mentor to Adam and Eve who is trying to help them understand their existence. This close relationship is shown even when man does something wrong. The only rule that God gives to Adam is that he must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve go on to break the singular rule and be punished; but not to the extent most would think. Before partaking of the fruit God says that, "the day that you eat of it you shall die"(Genesis). Instead of dying, Adam and Eve are removed from the garden and go begin their lives. God punishes them for their actions, but also gives clothes and allows them to take the knowledge they have gained from the tree. Even after breaking the one rule that he has set for them, God allowed them to keep the knowledge they gained to begin mankind. This grace towards humanity is shown once again with Adam and Eve's children, Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel after God accepts Abel's offering and not his own. Even with Cain having killed his own brother, God still does not punish Cain severally; "you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth"(Genesis). This punishment is especially seen as inadequate as Cain goes on to settle in Nod and have his own family. This mercy by God shows that he was unable to punish humanity even for the most serious of offenses. This lack of punishment shows God's sympathy for mankind because of his close relationship with them. This close relationship stems from God's close bond with mankind because of their similar image and knowledge. This relationship that began as two very similar beings, has further blossomed as God has given great responsibility to

The first thing the Lord God does after creating Adam is make a place for him to live in Eden, but Adam’s actions get him sent out of the garden. After breathing life into Adam, “the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed” (Gen 2:7-8). Eden when translated means delight, showing that the garden that the LORD God made for Adam was a divine place. Then the LORD God commanded Adam “you may eat freely of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat” (Gen 2:16-17). This is the one command the LORD God gave to Adam, but he disobeys because of his selfishness and is deserving of death. For Adam’s disobedience, the LORD God “drove out the man” so that he could not enter back into Eden to eat from the Tree of Life

When Cain killed his brother, Abel, Cain’s actions were considered a crime. The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. One of God’s commandments are “You shall not murder.”

They then say that God is just and that his sons and daughters had died because of their own sins. Then God appears before Job and curses him asking why he was not there when he created the world or why he isn't omnipotent. God goes on about how Job dares question God's power, wisdom and decisions. God continues to pound him with questions and Job apologizes for questioning God and finally repents to God. God then addresses Job's three friends and tells them that they have angered God and they have to offer seven bulls and seven rams to clear their wrongdoings against God. After all the repenting and prayers, God then gives back all of Job's losses, blessing him with twice the number of livestock he had before and blessing Job with seven sons and three daughters. Job goes on to live joyously for another 140 years before dying.

The garden he creates, Eden, is made specifically for Adam with the tree of life as well as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God tells Adam that he may eat of any tree in the garden apart from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This gives Adam a choice to continue being in union with God, or to oust himself from God’s presence by disobeying God and eating the fruit. God then makes Eve to be a companion of man, named by Adam, therefore imposing his dominion over her. When Eve gives Adam the Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he is accepting the removal of the garden, not deliberately but because of his inability to resist the temptation. The return to chaos follows the expulsion from the garden;“for you out of it [dust] you were taken; and to dust you shall return.” Immediately following the expulsion, Cain kills his brother Abel, and division of the first family occurs. The further division and confusion of families is seen in the genealogies of the later

God is mighty, powerful, all-knowing, all-hearing and has dominion over everything. He created the heaven and earth and everything that lives in it. He has the power and might to let things happen according to his will, yet he gave mankind free will and allow things to take their natural course. God described himself as merciful and compassion yet warn anyone against anyone who goes against his commandments. A good example was in exodus 20: 1-7, where God reminded the Israelites of his mercy upon them by taking them out of slavery; at the same time, he (God) warned against anyone who tries to brake his commandment. He reminded them that he is a Jealous God who punishes children for the sins of their fathers for generations to come. God has always had a relationship with mankind, but it will never be the same after Adam and Eve were expel from the Garden of Eden; He has always blessed mankind with free-will since the time of Adam but never seizes to punish when his commandments are broken. At the same time, he has always been merciful and just to forgive. In order to restore a broken relationship between him and mankind, he had a covenant with Abraham: "I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you” (Genesis 17:7).

Monotheists, those who believe there is one good, often converse about the “problem of evil”. They discuss this topic by asking questions such as, is God good and just? Is God all-powerful? Lastly, why do innocent people suffer? Although there is not just one correct answer to this question, many people aim to resolve the arguments by saying that God can in fact be unjust, He is not powerful in all cases, or innocent people suffer because they have committed sin and God is punishing them. Throughout the book of Job, the three presented questions are constantly being displayed and argued by Job and his friends.

The Creation story was quite intriguing and very confusing, according to the first verses in the book of Genesis, God first created the Heavens and the Earth, then created Adam and brought Eve to existence from Adam's rib. God even warned Adam that he would die the day he eats out of the forbidden fruit. I am quiet confused, what was the forbidden fruit all about? Why didn't Adam and Eve die as God promised? In my opinion, Adam and Eve would being an immortal but shortly after they had eaten the forbidden fruit they became mortal and was chased out of the garden of Eden.

The Garden of Eden is a biblical story in which God has formed the earth in 7 days, and after that has made human in his own likeness. He made the first human that has ever walked on this earth, and his name is Adam. Later on, God thought that man shouldn’t be alone. “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him… Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2). Adam and Eve lived in a place of paradise which is called The Garden of Eden, they were free to explore and enjoy the land but God has requested only rule from them. God has clearly said that they can enjoy the fruits from all of the trees but forbids them to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But temptation has come in Adam and Eve’s path, which lead to Eve giving into that sin in which eventually has lead Adam doing the same thing for she decided to have Adam eat the fruit as well. “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” (Genesis 3). When they have eaten the fruit, they’ve come to realization that they were both completely naked and made clothes out of leaves. Once God has seen them

God treats Job unfairly and without reason when he agrees that the Adversary can make Job suffer, as long as he does not kill him. All that Job cares about is destroyed in stages. First, the Adversary kills Job’s cattle, followed by his sons and daughters. The Adversary makes Job suffer more because he did not curse the Lord for what he lost. The Adversary believes if he directly inflicts pain on Job he will curse the Lord. The Adversary gives Job a burning rash with intense pain, however, Job still does not curse the Lord. The narrator says, “[w]ith all this, Job did not offend with his lips” (194). Though God knows that Job does not deserve to be treated in this way he still allows it. Job has served God and has lived correctly according to God. God speaks of Job when he says, “for there is none like him on

The Garden of Eden is a biblical story in which God has formed the earth in 7 days, and after that has made human in his own likeness. He made the first human that has ever walked on this earth, and his name is Adam. Later on, God thought that man shouldn’t be alone. “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him… Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2). Adam and Eve lived in a place of paradise which is called The Garden of Eden, they were free to explore and enjoy the land but God has requested only rule from them. God has clearly said that they can enjoy the fruits from all of the trees but forbids them to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But temptation has come in Adam and Eve’s path, which lead to Eve giving into that sin in which eventually has lead Adam doing the same thing for she decided to have Adam eat the fruit as well. “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” (Genesis 3). When they have eaten the fruit, they’ve come to realization that they were both completely naked and made clothes out of leaves. Once God has seen them that they

Hebrews 10:33,34 states “Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever (NLT). Whomever the author could be for it is unknown to those reminds the Hebrew Christians that they have once faced persecution before. Being persecuted for living a life of Christ instead of self, may bring pain and sorrow upon Christians. For Christ, endured pain and sorrow on the way toward to the cross or his earthly death. The author goes on to say that those that have been persecuted greater things were to come their way. All they had to do was remain faithful to God and God would be faithful to them. Those who are studying this passage of scripture must know that they too will be tested or persecuted in their faith walk, must know that God is on their side. The persecutions will bring about trust, strength, and patience. The issues that come with persecution in this passage of scripture is that Christians does not have to do anything wrong or sin against God, just claiming to be a child of God only brings about persecution. Two ways to overcome this persecution is to know that God is always with his children, and Christ will return to his children one day and carry them away with him into Heaven.

While Job maintains a variety of virtues such as righteousness, respect, and discipline, Job’s honesty is an even greater attribute to his character, because he freely expresses his sincere feelings of his hardship to the Lord, establishing a much closer relationship. As Satan came to present himself to God, the Lord said to Satan “Have you considered and reflected on my servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and abstains from and turns away from evil” (Job 1: 8). Before the event occurred, Job was already living a wealthy and luxurious life, maintaining a vice-free persona, and establishes an already healthy relationship with God, something that begins to break down later on in the parable. However, even God himself questions Job’s true loyalty to him as a follower, and this leads Him to take upon Satan’s bet to test whether Job is a faithful servant of the Lord by killing off Job’s livestock, servants, and family. The job has never done any wrong in his life(there is no indication of Job having an accurate historical background), and he laments over whether God is the final word of all justice that occurs in the world. The combined loss of his wealth and family, along with his stance on morality, has triggered his frustrations on God’s rule of Justice, and he expresses his thoughts on God. God explains (through a vision) that compared to Job, he has power over the world, meaning that Job only has enough limited

In the year 64, a fire started somewhere in the streets of Rome. Wind spread the fire across the city, burning down the palace. Following this, Emperor Nero put the blame on the Christians, marking the first record of Christian persecution by the roman government. For the next 200+ years, there have been on and off bouts of persecution, ranging from Trajan forcing suspected Christians to prove their innocence by worshipping roman gods in the early 100’s to Valerian ordering the execution of church bishops and other church leaders in 258. While there were years of tolerance for Christians, the ever-changing stance of the Roman government toward Christianity made life difficult for those who believed. The persecution reached new levels during Diocletian’s reign in the 300’s with the removal of Christians from the army and the rise of many people with anti-Christian beliefs to positions of power. In 303, a more general persecution of Christians began with a series of edicts ordering the destruction and seizure of church property and arrest of church leaders and the requirement of all people to make sacrifices to the roman gods on the pain of death if refused. These policies were implemented to varying degrees across the roman empire; however, the general persecution of Christians still took place.