Genesis and Matthew IV

God blessed them . . .

"Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt . . . "

In Genesis, God creates humankind, and blesses them. From the moment that God blessed Adam and Eve, it meant something unique and permanent for the human race. He had created them in His own image. They were made to dominate the earth. With good follow-through, it was an excellent arrangement.

How does God go about blessing people? That is, what does this mean, to be "blessed" by God? It means something like receiving His favor. It means we need not worry. If God has blessed us, all is, (or will be) well.

God blessed our original ancestral parents.

God gave them dominion over all the earth, including all living things (except other humans, and this is an important point!)

So, what happens when these people, whom God has blessed, conduct their rulership over the earth in selfish, ungodly, or even wicked ways? What happens when we interpret it to mean we can rule over other humans? (If we rule over someone else, it means that the other person does not have full dominion over earth - someone else is prohibiting their duty to be a steward over earth).

Well, to follow-through on His blessing of us, God needs to teach us, to train us, and like any good educator, to let the learning roll out as we are ready for new lessons. And this is what God's plan, its sequence and timing, is all about! He is not slow - we are!

He also must be active and involved in human history - just enough to keep us alive, and just enough to keep us moving forward, as a people. So - He does little things like protecting the baby Jesus from King Herod.

It is always just enough. He has not withheld His command to us, to have dominion over the earth. He is just keeping us from destroying ourselves! To make it all work - He has to get involved every now and then!