Page 14 - Pentateuch

likes and dislikes, memory, and other aspects that make a person a person supposedly are no more than
chemical interactions. With advancing techniques, perhaps someday, scientists can isolate the genetic
formula for intelligence, enabling parents to make their offspring smarter. Or perhaps the tendency to steal
can be found in a gene sequence, allowing for the possibility of injecting a thief with a chemical that will
change his genetic make-up. We can, in effect, take over our evolution and become better and better as a
race.

How very different is the Genesis account! Being made in the image of God with purpose and personality
works out quite differently from some code sequences. Science says, “The universe is, in essence, just a
simple computer program. All of its complexity, up to and including ourselves, is the product of just a few,
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as-yet-unknown instructions – the equivalent of a few lines of code in a digital computer.”

What beliefs or stories/myths about creation are prevalent in your culture, either regional, national, or
local? Is God viewed as a person who is both distant and yet personal? How do creation beliefs affect the
way people treat one another? Are some treated differently because of physical differences? Is there a
distinct concept of rest and work? When someone does not get enough rest or work, how does that affect
them?

How do people in your culture identify and celebrate marriage? Is it public? Must it involve family? Is the
practice changing? Does the church have a different view than people in general? Can you observe
differences in marriages that ignore the “one flesh” Bible view?

The dignified minister calls for the rings and then announces to the happy couple: “I now
pronounce you man and wife.”
What is the cultural equivalent for the Rendille people in the northern desert of Kenya? One might
say, “With these toenails, I thee wed.”
Among the Rendille, the best man trims the fingernails and
toenails of the bride and groom. They are mixed together and
placed on a sandal. “Can’t you tell the difference?” the best
man asks the groom. “No, of course, you can’t because now
you are one!”
Still, another Rendille wedding custom involves the sandals of
the bride and groom. The groom buys two cowhides – one for
the wall of his future home with his wife and one for their
“bed.” Before the wedding, the groom gives a piece of the hide
for the bride’s new sandals. The bride’s mother also gives a piece of hide for the groom’s new
sandals. Eventually, the bride’s right sandal is given to her mother-in-law, and the bride’s left sandal
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goes to her own mother – a touching symbolism of the union of two families.

Many other illustrations could be given, similar to the Kenyan custom cited above. In the southern region of
the Democratic Republic of Congo D.R., Pastor Thimpanga notes that white powder is a symbol of
exceptional blessing and grace. “When we have a wedding, we cover the newly married couple with white
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powder to express wonderful joy.” This leaving and cleaving is powerful by God’s original intention and
creation.

14 C.W. Petit, “The Cosmic Code,” U.S. News and World Report (Aug. 10, 2002), p. 48.
15 K. Lewis, “And Now You Are One,” In Other Words, (Sept/Oct. 1992), p. 3.
16 Lewis Nelms, Gospelink newsletter, Jan. 2012.
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