Genesis

From the first section of Chapter 1 (currently pages 7-8) There’s this great old story about a rabbi who traveled to a remote village to teach all day. As the sun began to set he started his journey home. As the sun went down, the world got dark, and the rabbi began to have a difficult time making out the path ahead of him. Eventually he came to a fork in the road, and he chose left when he should have gone right. The path brought him right to a Roman military outpost; this imposing structure with massive walls, crawling with guards. The rabbi was scared, but unsure of what else to do, he knocked on the big iron gate at the front of the outpost. From up on top of the wall a well-muscled, gruff roman soldier yelled down: “Hey! Who are you and what are you doing here?” The rabbi’s confidence was wavering, and as he questioned his choices (how did I end up here?), something struck him, and he said: “Guard, how much do they pay you?” Confused, the guard grumbled back: “What do you mean, how much do they pay me?” “I mean how much?! What’s your daily wage?” The guard replied: “Well, they pay me 10 silver coins a day.” “Great,” said the rabbi, “I will pay you twice that if you come with me and ask me those same questions every morning when I leave the house.” Who are you? What are you doing here? These are fundamental human questions. Maybe the most human questions we can ask. And, these are the questions that Genesis, the first book in the Bible, helps us answer.