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NOTE: On the surface, one might wonder why I have placed this post in a section on Adventist Issues. If you read this post through, and think about it, you may understand? Derak Black seemed preordained to play the role in society that he took. His godfather was David Duke a former grand wizard of the KKK. His father created Stormfront, an Internet headquarters for racist hate groups. While holding to the following listed three beliefs, he was elected to a Republican committee seat in Florida, at the age of 19: * Black people have lower IQs than do White people and are more likely to commit crime. * The Jews controlled the media and the banks, and unfairly defamed Hitler. * Immigration and affirmative action were leading the US toward a White genocide. Wanting to further his education, Derek Black enrolled in The New College of Florida, in Sarasota. Due to posting a message related to his beliefs on a college message board, he became the center of attention. More than 1,000 replies took him on. One reply was different. An Orthodox Jewish student simply invited Derak Black to join with him and a group of friends for a Shabbat dinner, where all could talk. Black accepted and that meal became a weekly tradition. For two (2) years Black shared in the baked salmon and challah. [NOTE: Baked salmon was the only dish the Jewish student knew how to make.] By the 2nd year, Black was beginning to question his beliefs. As he continued in his college education he took classes in medieval history and in Jewish scripture. In 2013 he visited his parents and made a decision to distance himself from their beliefs. So, at that time he wrote a letter to the Southern Poverty Law center in which he disavowed his prior beliefs and renounced his white nationalist ties. Today, Black continues on in his graduate studies in history. The preceding came am article written by Molly Simms, titled, "We Need To Talk," and published in the April 2018 issue of O, Magazine, on pages 116 & 117. I wonder: What If: An Orthodox Jew had not reached out to Black to enjoy a meal of fellowship, talk and friendship?

People can study things into the ground, and still not be wise. True wisdom comes from God; not from the ability to take random scriptures and history and twist them into a web of deep conspiracy that no one else can see. If we see something that no one else appears to see - especially after being mistaken so many times - does that make us wiser than anyone else or just wrong? Time will tell.

how can you judge your mom? distaste for religion is not the same as distaste for God. I can't imagine thinking myself so much like God that distaste for me would equate distaste for God. Jesus and God have been so poorly represented i think few who think poorly of those words and names know enough of the genuine personages to have an informed opinion of them by those experiences. was your mom kind. if a stranger needed help did she care? not all have the same gift. it is a sad commentary on the religious world, though i imagine it is richly deserved. yet there are individuals who are shining beacons of light by their walk with God and they are not necessarily religious people. i honestly don't think Lot was a religious man yet he sat by the gate watching for travelers coming into town to protect them, well knowing the dangers. only God can see into the heart and what the heart response was to the light given and if they would love heaven or not. if you would not want enjoy heaven god would not force it on you. He is too kind.

Cease from anger

i used my privilege and cleaned it up wanderer. it was what you would have done if you could have. always appreciate your posts.

Praise our God

Lord deliver me ?

They probably had their own place, and Seth being born after they lost Abel made them feel a special replacement.

I read one person's estimate of the population of the earth at the time of the flood to be on the order of 175 million. Adam/Eve may have had many children, but before or after Seth becomes irrelevant because Seth was the male in the patrilineage of which we are all descended from. The others siblings became of no value to the writer of Scripture (Moses) and/or the oral history that remembered genealogy.

KEVIN H I was pointing out to JOEMO that ADAM AND EVE have more sons and daughters I will agree that the bible does not say when the other sons and daughters were born but since in GEN chapter 4 verse 25 it says that ADAM knew his wife and she bare him a son and call his name SETH if other sons and daughters were born before SETH then maybe they were to replace ABEL but the bible does not say when the others were born dgrimm60

JOE MO in GEN chapter 5 verse 4 says that ADAM begot sons and daughter after he had SETH dgrimm60

Genesis 5:4 says "And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:" Notice that it does not say when he begat the other sons and daughters. The texts talked about the 3 important ones. Cain, Able and Seth, but mentions that there were more than these three. What was important was that the law of relative avenging the blood meant that everyone Cain was to meet was his close relative and the blood avenger for Able. That is why God had to give him the sign to protect him. As for the offerings; In Leviticus the animal offering is the sin offering, and the produce offering was the thank offering. Able's offering said "Lord have mercy upon me a sinner" Cain's offering was "Thank you that I'm not like other men, like my brother over here..." Jesus updated the story. Also, have you ever noticed what Cain's punishment was? Cain loved having a permanent home and working the soil. Able loved wandering the world with his animals. Cain's punishment was that he had to live the life of Able. If it was Able who killed Cain the punishment would have been to give up his wandering and live in one place. If God wanted to make an eternal hell he does not have to impose any other punishment but to make the lost live the life of the redeemed in heaven. The land of Canaan was known as a land flowing with milk and honey. To the ancient world these were geographical terms. Honey was not just what the bees make but any kind of preserved foods. Thus indicated a piece of land used for agriculture. A permanent home, plenty to eat (as honey was made of the left over food). It was a life predictable, fairly easy (as the land owners could hire workers) and with then free time you can create excitement/entertainment. And this would turn into the great highways for commerce and for the trade caravans. But also where the invading armies will pass through. If you lived in a land of honey the question is not "Will destruction come" but "When will destruction come and will we be ready?" Milk came from mostly goats, kept out in the desert. moving around looking for food. Not sure if you will eat from your garden or plough it under and hope for a better garden next year. Sometimes having lot to eat other times going hungry. A life hard, unpredictable and lonely. But you tend to be safe from invading armies, probably have nothing that people would want to steal, and you are focused on you day by day dependence on God. The pagans divided their gods as milk gods and honey gods. You hoped to appease the milk gods to leave you alone and to appease the honey gods so that as they are doing good that you get to enjoy some of their prosperity. But the God of the Bible is the God of the land of milk and honey. Another interesting thing is that in Cain's line was a man named "Lamach." In Genesis 4:24 there is a very common poetry rhythm that is ruined. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. We don't notice this until it's been pointed out as we also have Bible texts that follow this structure, the verse should have read one of two ways either: "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy plus one fold." or "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech eight-fold." If the verse read one of these two ways Lamech would have been asking for God to give him the same protection that he promised Cain, God's sevenfold or perfect pretection. But the poem is ruined in saying "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold." and the message there is that Lamech was not asking for God's perfect protection, but that he was so full of hate that God's perfect vengeance is not good enough for Lamech. He wanted his enemies to suffer far more than the worst that God could give. In Matthew 18:21-22 they did not have numbers in mind. Peter asked if he should forgive perfectly, completely. He wanted Jesus to know that he was listening when Jesus said "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors". Should he forgive as he wanted God to forgive him. (maybe he was hoping that Jesus would leave perfect forgiveness to God and allow Peter to hold a little resentment for his pain). But Jesus said to forgive 70 times 7 or seventy and sevenfold. Jesus was telling Peter that forgiveness was so important that our goal is to try to out forgive God. To be so forgiving that God should be baffled at our forgiveness. A lot if information in this chapter.

GREGORY this is sad dgrimm60

Lord help me

In those early chapters of Genesis, only the important people to the story were named and mentioned. IOW, certainly Adam and Eve had other children to include both males and females. They were told to populate the Earth. We must assume that they know how to do such and that they regularly took part in the activities that would result in the Earth being populated, probably beginning on that 1st Friday evening. If we believe that Adam lived some 900 + years, we should assume that he had many years of child-making and therefore fathered many sons and daughters. Yes, that leaves the sons of Adam and Eve marrying their sisters. So, be it. That is just as how it probably was.

God shall come