| Leaves
from the Tree
Studies from God's Word

In 2005, Pastor Tim Bourgeois
began a daily bible reading to encourage Tree of Life Christian
Church and the larger body of Christ to read the entire Bible cover
to cover. The reading schedule was four chapters per day; three
from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. Every day
through 2005, Pastor Tim sent an e-mail to everyone who had subscribed
to the mailing list that included his comments on key portions of
that day's reading. Readers were encouraged to e-mail Pastor Tim
questions they had pertaining to that day's reading. He would include
the question and a biblically based answer in the follow day's e-mail.
It was an enriching year for everyone who participated. Many people
who had never read the entire Bible did so that year; others were
taken to a deeper knowledge of God's Word than they had ever been
before.
Pastor Tim continued the daily
bible reading and e-mail in 2006, but this time through the New
Testament only. The schedule was one chapter per day giving Pastor
Tim the ability to comment on a deeper level in each day's e-mail.
A more in-depth explanation of each chapter proved to be a tremendous
blessing to everyone participating.
In 2007, Pastor Tim sensed the
Lord directing him to lead people through a reading of the Old Testament
in the same way. Knowing there was no way of reading the entire
Old Testament one chapter per day in a year, he decided to begin
the journey and simply take as long as it takes.
The following series of articles
are transcripts of Pastor Tim's original e-mails. Please use these
articles for meditation, personal devotion, Bible study, or your
own daily Bible reading.

 |
Leaves from the Tree
Studies from the Old Testament
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness..."
— II Timothy 3:16 |

Genesis
1
1:1 - "In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth."
One of the most important things all people must
learn is taught from the very first verse of the Bible. There is
here both a declaration and an implication. God declares that before
all other things He alone existed. I think that it is profitable
to stop and just think for a few minutes about what that describes
for us. There were no stars in the sky. There was no sky. There
was no earth or sun. No human beings, no angels, no demons, or any
other thing yet existed. Then, out of nothing except Himself, God
created all things. The conclusion we should draw regarding Him
is that He is great beyond comparison, wise beyond comprehension,
and powerful beyond imagination.
The implication from this simple declaration that
in the beginning God created all things is that everything exists
by and for His purpose. Nothing that exists brought itself into
existence. Therefore nothing can determine its own purpose for existence.
Human beings spend entire lifetimes wondering about their life purpose
and questioning the meaning of their existence. Many come to the
end of their lives having never discovered the answer to life's
most important questions, "What is this all about and why am
I here?" Yet, the answer, not just a guess or supposition,
but the answer to those questions was here in Genesis 1:1 all along.
What is this all about? The heavens and the earth are all about
His eternal purpose! Why am I here? I am here for His purpose not
some purpose that I have decided gives my life some kind of meaning
and significance. I only exist because of Him, therefore I exist
for His purpose, not my own. My life purpose is fulfilled to the
extent that I discover from Him, what I am to do with my life here
in this world that He made. "For from Him and through Him and
to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen."
(Romans 11:36)
1:3-5 - "Then God said, "Let
there be light"; and there was light. God saw that the light
was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called
the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening
and there was morning, one day."
God's work of creation begins with His Word. Throughout
this chapter when God creates a new thing He speaks and it is created
as He spoke it. This connection between the Word of God and the
creation of God is critical for us to understand, not just as a
history lesson of how God made things in the beginning, but to establish
an understanding of how God still works today. This description
of the original creation of this present universe in which we live
is the actual way that God created, but it also symbolizes God's
work in our lives. Paul intentionally referred to this verse when
he described the spiritual work of God in the New Creation as He
causes a person to be born again. "For God, who said, "Light
shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our
hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Christ." (II Corinthians 4:6) The parallel Paul
draws is between the first creation of the universe and the new
creation of a believer. Both were in darkness before God spoke His
Word of creation. For the original creation the Word was a simple
"Let there be light!", or more literally, "Light
be!" For the new creation which every true believer experiences,
the Word of creation is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The power to
create a new thing is in the Word of God spoken.
In the same way, God continues to change areas
and aspects of our lives as believers by speaking His Word into
our hearts. Think for a moment about any area of your life that
you know needs to change. How will it change? Where will you find
the power to change? The power to transform is in the Word of God.
As we read His Word together this year, keep in mind that in every
chapter we read, there is contained in it the power to transform
our lives. The written Word is still the Word of God and God's creative
power is invested in His Word. The Word of God is life changing.
1:14-18 - "Then God said, "Let
there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day
from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for
days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the
heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. God made
the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the
lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed
them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and
to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from
the darkness; and God saw that it was good."
There is a principle in these verses that influenced
our interpretation of the book of Revelation as we saw in our recent
reading. The principle is that God's creation has both a practical
function and a symbolic function. God introduces this concept in
these verses in reference to the sun, moon and stars. No one would
argue that the sun, moon and stars have no practical function in
the universe. The sun for instance, as these verses affirm, gives
needed light to the earth which both warms the planet and causes
the plants to grow through photosynthesis. All of that is a huge
practical benefit. What is not as widely understood is that God
designed the sun to also serve His spiritual teaching purpose as
a symbol, or "sign." This passage included in chapter
one is a clue that God is going to use the sun, moon, and stars
throughout the rest of His written Word as prophetic symbols. We
saw that all three were important symbols in Revelation. A simple
study using a concordance to list the mentions of sun, moon, and
stars throughout the Bible will turn up dozens of places where they
serve as symbols. This does not mean that every time they are mentioned
that it is always symbolic, but that we should always at least consider
the possible symbolic connection.
In what sense do they serve as symbols? In this
passage God gives us a hint of how He will use them later in the
Bible. Here they are identified as being made to "govern the
day and the night." We should notice that later in Genesis
1 that human beings are also made to govern or rule. The sun, moon
and stars often are used by God to symbolize human rulers. One of
the first examples of this is found later in Genesis in the life
of Joseph. He had a dream in which he saw the sun, moon and eleven
stars bowing down to him. This was a prophetic symbol of his father,
mother, and eleven brothers bowing before his future greater authority
as the ruler over Egypt.
1:26-27 - "Then God said, "Let
Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them
rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and
over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping
thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own
image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created
them."
We are meant to pay attention, not just to the
various things created in the six days of the creation week here
in Genesis 1, but we are also meant to notice the order of their
creation. There are important principles of God's purpose revealed
in that order. In this case, we see that the creation of humanity
is the last thing created by God before He rested. The order of
the creation of mankind is significant. There are only two possible
conclusions to draw from when humans were created. One possibility
is that humans were created last because of all that God created
they are least important. The other possibility is that humans were
created last because they are the most important of all of the creations
of God. Which point do you think we are to draw from this order?
Mankind was saved for last creation by God on purpose.
Our creation could be compared to the grand finale of a symphony.
The entire week of creation builds up to this final, greatest act
of creation. We represent the greatest of the creations of God because
of the awesome purpose He attaches to us. We are identified as made
in God's image and likeness! God says this about no other thing
that He created. This alone gives human beings; every human being,
supreme value above any other thing in the world. It also answers
the third question every person born into this world eventually
asks. After asking "What is this all about?" and "Why
am I here?" as I mentioned above, people ask, "Who am
I?" Here is the answer. Who we are is defined entirely by our
connection to God. Our meaning is found in our purpose to bear God's
image and likeness. No other answer to that question will satisfy.
Genesis 2
2:2-3 - "By the seventh day
God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh
day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh
day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work
which God had created and made."
While for most Christians, it is no longer the
divisive controversy it was to earlier generations, there remains
some disagreement over which day is most proper for worship. This
passage very clearly identifies the seventh day as the day of rest
following the pattern that the Lord Himself established by His own
rest at the end of the creation week. On the week's calendar, Saturday
is clearly the seventh day, so why is it that most Christians worship
on Sunday, rather than Saturday, and is it Biblically allowable?
Throughout the Old Testament the seventh day pattern was followed
by the people of God. The Law of Moses even commanded the seventh
day and there were serious consequences under the Law for working
on the seventh day.
In the New Testament a shift of days for the purpose
of the gathering of the church to worship occurred. This shift to
the first day of the week rather than the seventh day for the worship
of the church was intentional and spiritually appropriate. The seventh
day served in the Old Covenant to emphasize the conclusion of God's
creative work in the original creation. In the New Covenant we encounter
a new spiritual creation in addition to the old natural creation.
The new creation reflects the resurrection of Christ from the dead
as the beginning point of a new creation that has no end. Since
Christ rose from the dead early Sunday morning on the first day
of a "new" week, immediately following the end of the
"old" week, the church from the beginning recognized the
symbolic importance of moving our day of worship from the day symbolizing
the end of the old creation to the day symbolizing the beginning
of the new creation.
2:15 - "Then the LORD God took
the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and
keep it."
God placed Adam in the garden and gave him two
primary responsibilities. In this simple description I see a pattern
that extends to each one of our lives and still speaks to us about
God's purpose for our lives. First, God custom designs a set of
life circumstances for each one of us. He "plants" each
of us where we belong to fulfill our purpose. Second, from the beginning
our purpose in life is tied to our God assigned responsibilities.
True fulfillment is found in identifying and embracing the responsibilities
God has assigned to you. We are designed to bear responsibility.
Our lives are meaningful when we are handling the responsibilities
God has given to us and empty when we are not. People who avoid,
shirk, or run from their responsibilities are the most frustrated
people in the world. At the same time, filling our lives with responsibilities
God has not given to us or more than He has assigned only burdens
us beyond what we can actually bear.
The specific responsibilities God gave to Adam
are also symbolically helpful for us. His two jobs toward the garden
were to cultivate and keep it. The order of these responsibilities
is purposeful. To cultivate implies that Adam was to take what God
had given him and improve it by work. He was made responsible to
improve the garden that God had given him. This translates to our
lives in various areas of God's provision. If God has given you
a marriage, then you are called to cultivate it. If He has given
you a children, a job, a church, friendships, etc., then we are
to work to improve each one of those areas of our life garden and
bring greater fruitfulness into each aspect of our life. Adam's
second responsibility was to keep the garden. The word translated
"keep" is literally to "hedge about". It means
to guard something valuable by setting boundaries around it. The
increased fruitfulness resulting from his work on the garden creates
a value to the garden that must be guarded against intruders and
any thing that would undermine or steal its fruit. Living in this
world there will always be threats to our marriage, family, church,
job, friendships, etc., that we must vigilantly guard against.
2:18 - "Then the LORD God said,
"It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a
helper suitable for him. Out of the ground the LORD God formed every
beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to
the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called
a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all
the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the
field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him."
Adam was made directly by God and without flaw.
Yet, following his creation, God evaluated Adam's life situation
and recognized a lack in his circumstances that needed to be addressed.
The problem was that Adam was alone. Now, He was not completely
alone. God was with Adam, and of course God was not what we would
call a poor companion. Yet, there was something in God's design
of Adam that another like him was necessary to meet the desire for
relationship built into Adam. There were also animals that could
provide Adam some measure of companionship, yet, the animals were
not able to fill that particular relationship gap. Only one like
Adam would be able to fill that gap. This, of course, led to the
creation of Eve. Before she is named following her creation, her
role is identified for us in this passage. This role was not determined
by Adam (in spite of the claim that many make that this role is
culturally imposed on women by men). This role precedes any culture
or tradition. The role actually precedes Eve herself. The spiritual
concept here is that the Lord had her role in mind before He even
created her. In a sense she was made to fill the role He ordained
for her. The role is found in the phrase "a helper suitable
for him." There is a classic confusion to clear up about this
based on the old King James translation of this phrase. It was translated
then as a "help meet for him". The word "meet"
was old English for suitable, but it was combined in an unintended
single word that has become kind of a Christian tradition in the
term "helpmeet" and some have changed that further to
"helpmate". The concept God communicated in this passage
is actually that Eve was designed to be a helper that was fitted
by Him to help Adam in every way.
We should anticipate that this role designed for
Eve in relationship to Adam has more than a practical concern tied
to it. The relationship of Adam and Eve is purposefully pointing
forward toward the spiritual relationship between Christ and the
church. The church was designed by God to be Christ's helper. We
are fitted to Him. His life purpose defines our life purpose. We
exist for no greater reason than to come along side Him and work
with Him in the fulfillment of His mission.
2:21-23 - "So the LORD God
caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He
took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The
LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from
the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, "This is
now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called
Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
Following the concept of the Adam and Eve / Christ
and the church connection, the description of the creation of Eve
from Adam is awesome to consider. The deep sleep of Adam is a type
pointing forward to the cross and the "sleep of death"
that Christ experienced for us. God the Father created the church
from Christ's side just as He created Eve from Adam's side.
"but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He
was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers
pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came
out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true;
and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may
believe." (John 19:33-35)
Question from Genesis
1
Question: When God created man...he was MAN only,
one human, but containing also the female (male and female He created
them). Why does he first say he created HIM then say He created
THEM...why didn't He say just one or the other both times?
Answer: The Lord did it like this and described it like this on
purpose as you might suspect. From a practical standpoint, God first
made Adam, and then out of Adam's rib He formed Eve. The reason
Adam's creation occurred first and is mentioned first is to establish
a pattern of greater authority (I Timothy 2:12-14). So the description
in chapter one is the same as saying, "God created Adam in
His own image, in the image of God He created him, Adam and Eve
He created them." It is the perfect way to introduce the creation
of the man while emphasizing that the woman was created second to
and out of the man. From a spiritual perspective, the way it is
described properly emphasizes both the similarity between Adam and
Eve, while preserving the intentional distinction between them.
The greater issue at stake in the creation account of mankind is
that for God's eternal purpose, Adam serves as a type or symbol
of Christ and Eve serves as a type or symbol of the church (Ephesians
5:22-32). This is why of all the creatures that God created, it
was only for humans that the female of the species was created out
of the body of the male. It portrays for us that the church is created
from Christ.
Genesis 3
3:6 - "When the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the
tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and
ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate."
This verse gives us the beginning point of all of the problems
in the world today. It seems at this moment to be fairly small and
insignificant compared to all of the evil these simple choices and
actions unleashed. A good illustration of what happens here is found
in Greek mythology with the story of Pandora's Box. When Pandora
opened the box all of the evil contained in the box was unleashed
into the world. This passage is the account of what theologians
have labeled the Fall of Man. It captures the moment of the first
sin in this perfect world that God had created. An important distinction
should be drawn here too. It is clear from the account here that
Eve was the first person to take the fruit from the forbidden tree
and eat it, and that Adam was the second person to eat it. Nevertheless,
the Scriptures identify Adam as the one responsible for the Fall.
"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world,
and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all
sinned-- " (Romans 5:12). The reason that Adam is held ultimately
responsible for the Fall and not Eve, is on two important principles
of God's Word. First, Adam was the one originally given responsibility
by God and placed in charge of the Garden. God specifically commanded
Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
(Genesis 2:16). Second, we later learn that Eve was completely deceived
by the serpent's lies when she ate from the tree, while Adam was
not deceived and yet chose to eat. "And it was not Adam who
was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression."
(I Timothy 2:14) In the Genesis account here, we should notice that
Adam was with Eve during her conversation with the serpent and watched
her eat the fruit without protest. Then, even worse, when he saw
she did not drop dead after eating the fruit, he took some of the
fruit she offered him and he choose to disobey the Lord and eat
it himself.
Another important aspect of this passage that becomes a pattern
affecting all of our lives is the description of the inner working
of temptation and sin. We are given a glimpse of the internal perspective
of Eve as she was considering whether to eat. The three specific
thoughts that occurred to her are actually the three basic temptations
to the three basic sins a person can commit. In one sense we can
say that all sin is the same because any sin violates God's standard.
We should also understand though that there are basic categories
of sin and temptation. We learn here, and find it confirmed later
in God's Word that there are only three basic sins. Those sins are
identified for us in this verse. "For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful
pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."
(I John 2:16) Every sin a person may commit is a form of one of
these three basic sins. Eve was tempted in all three categories
at once. The three things she saw that tempted her to eat from the
tree correspond exactly to these three categories of sin. When Jesus
spent forty days in the wilderness to pass the test of the devil's
three temptations He faced and defeated these exact same three temptations.
These are the same three categories of temptation that we face on
a daily basis.
3:12-13 - "The man said, "The woman
whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate."
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have
done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and
I ate."
Adam and Eve have sinned. The Lord has tracked them down in the
garden as they were attempting to hide from His presence. Who does
the Lord confront first? He confronts Adam, because Adam is most
responsible for what has happened. Adam's response, and then Eve's
response after Adam are the first examples in history of a pattern
with which we are all familiar, and in which we have all indulged
on our own behalf. When the Lord confronts Adam, the response Adam
should have made would have been along these lines, "Lord,
I alone am responsible for what has happened here. I was the one
You commanded to not eat from the tree. I knew it was wrong when
the serpent tried to convince Eve to eat. I should have stepped
in and stopped her from eating, but I stood by and did nothing.
It is my fault that all of this has happened!" Do we see Adam
offer any acknowledgment of his responsibility like this? No, instead
we see the first example of blame shifting. All Adam admits is that
he did eat from the tree. He implies by his response though that
the reason he ate was because of the woman. Adam attempts to buffer
his own accountability by placing the woman squarely between himself
and the Lord. It really is her fault, not mine, is the implication
of his answer. Then compounding that attempt to shift the blame
to Eve, Adam actually implies that the Lord Himself is to blame
for what he did in eating. It was "The woman whom You gave
to be with me..." The insinuation Adam makes is that if the
Lord had not given him the woman, none of this would have happened.
Adam is not alone in this cowardly way of avoiding responsibility.
When Adam shifts the spotlight of accountability from himself to
Eve, she immediately picks up on Adam's blame shifting trick and
follows his example. She shifts the blame from herself to the serpent.
Her response is in essence the classic, "The devil made me
do it." Of course, the devil has his own responsibility here
and in every other temptation, but Satan has never once in all of
human history caused any person to sin. No one will be able to say
on the day of judgment that they are innocent because their sin
is all the fault of the devil. What Adam and Eve had not yet learned
here, but we should understand, is that the Lord is never fooled
by any attempt to shift blame to another. He knows exactly who is
responsible for what. It is far better to simply own up to what
we have done when we sin and swallow the bitter pill of full responsibility
for our own transgressions.
3:15 - "And I will put enmity Between
you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall
bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."
This is a key verse in understanding the bigger picture of how
God planned to one day fix what Adam broke. This is part of the
conversation between the Lord and the serpent (Satan). The Lord
declares the first of all of the prophesies of the Bible here. This,
like most prophesies is focused on the future coming of the special
person identified later as the Messiah. In this first prophesy of
the Messiah we learn of two key elements of His coming. One, He
is identified as "her seed." This is intentionally out
of the ordinary and meant to catch our attention. Biblically and
physically the woman has no seed. This is a prophetic hint about
the unusual nature of the Messiah's human nature. It anticipates
what we understand as the Virgin Birth. Jesus was not born from
the seed of any man. The second important element of the Messiah's
coming highlighted here has to do with His mission. He will bruise
the serpent on the head and in doing so, will Himself be bruised
on the heel. The image drawn here by the Lord is of the Messiah
stepping on the head of the serpent and in the process being bitten
by the serpent. This anticipates the cross of Christ. Jesus crushed
the head of the serpent, but was Himself hurt at the moment of His
great victory! We should see from this first prophecy that the plan
of God to send Jesus was not a much later afterthought in the mind
of the Lord. The coming of Jesus into the world to resolve the problem
Adam caused was the plan of God from the very beginning of history.
3:24 - "So He drove the man out; and
at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and
the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way
to the tree of life."
As the Lord drove Adam out of the garden (implying that Adam did
not leave readily or willingly) He stationed cherubim to guard the
way to the tree of life. The idea here is that there was an entry
point or doorway back into the garden. Since Adam did not want to
leave the garden, the Lord anticipated Adam attempting to sneak
back into the garden later. The Lord established an special angelic
guardian, not to guard Adam, but to guard the tree of life from
Adam. In a sense, the history of all of the religions of the world
from this point forward are a history of man's attempt to regain
the garden and the tree of life by sneaking in some way of their
own making. The tree of life representing salvation is on the inside
of the garden and man is on the outside and desperate to reach the
tree that is beyond his reach. God will not allow Adam or any of
his descendants to sneak in and take from the tree of life. There
is a way to the tree, but it is the way God has ordained and any
other attempt will meet with the cherubim armed with the flaming
sword.
This image of the cherubim carries forward through the Bible and
this theme established here continues as part of the story of salvation.
The next appearance of this image is found in the construction of
the tabernacle, and then again later in the construction of the
temple. In both versions of God's house the structure constructed
represents (pointing backward in history) the garden of Eden. The
tree of life corresponds to the ark of the covenant found in the
Holy of Holies, the innermost room of those structures. In both
cases, God commanded a great curtain to be woven to separate the
ark of the covenant from the people. On that curtain, representations
of cherubim were to be woven into it. It was to be a reminder that
the way to eternal life was guarded by these guardian angels. No
one in history is free to walk back into the garden and eat from
the tree of life on their own. The reason they cannot is because
of their sin. Only when God's Messiah has provided the solution
to our sin are we given access to the tree of life through Him!
Question from Genesis 2
Question: 2:9 - God is the giver/creator of life, why is there
a tree of life? What was its purpose?
Answer: God made the tree of life, along with the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil and planted them in the garden as both symbols
and tests. The tree of life is one of the first great symbols in
history and the Bible of God Himself. It also served as the first
great test for man along with the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil. Remember God had given this permission to Adam and Eve,
"From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in
the day that you eat from it you will surely die." (Genesis
2:16-17) The Lord had granted them access to any tree of the garden
except one. That meant they were free to eat from the tree of life,
but instead they chose the one tree that was forbidden to them.
The test functioned more effectively by giving them the choice of
symbolic trees to eat from rather than saying "You can choose
Me, or you can choose to know things you should not know."
God often communicates to us through similar symbols to make His
points more vivid to our understanding.
Genesis 4
4:2-5 - "Again, she gave birth to his brother
Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of
the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought
an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his
part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat
portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;
but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became
very angry and his countenance fell."
The two brothers Cain and Abel developed different "careers"
as they grew into adulthood. Cain became a farmer while Abel became
a shepherd. They approached the Lord to make an offering to the
Lord from their labors. Cain offered some of the fruit of the ground
that he had grown in his farming. Abel offered the firstlings of
his flock. As they made their offerings, the Lord had an unexpected
response. The Lord has "regard" for Abel's offering, but
He has no regard for Cain's offering. As a result, Cain becomes
very angry and his downward spiral toward the eventual murder of
his brother Abel begins. Christians have read this passage and speculated
as to why one offering was accepted by the Lord and the other rejected.
One popular theory is that the Lord was concerned about the specific
things offered by Cain and Abel. They theorize that Cain offered
fruit from the cursed ground which was displeasing to the Lord,
and that Abel offered a lamb which points forward symbolically to
Christ and therefore the Lord was pleased. This explanation seems
to make some sense, but it depends on Cain and Abel knowing more
information than they had apparently been given. There is no previous
or subsequent passage in which the Lord says He does not want any
offering of the fruit of the cursed ground. In fact, later in the
Law of Moses, the Lord commands His people to bring for different
offerings both lambs and firstfruits of their harvest. He does not
reject offerings of the fruit of the ground.
The Lord has provided us with an answer to this mystery later in
the Scriptures. The reason why the Lord rejected Cain's offering
and accepted Abel's offering had nothing to do with what they offered
and everything to do with how they offered them. "By faith
Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which
he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying
about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still
speaks." (Hebrews 11:4) Abel's offering was acceptable because
he offered it by faith. Cain did not make his offer by faith. The
difference is externally subtle, because both seem to be doing a
similar activity. Internally, as they offered, there was a huge
difference in their hearts. Abel was focused upon the Lord as he
made his offering and concerned with pleasing Him. Cain, as we see
confirmed by his reaction after his offering was rejected, is primarily
concerned with pleasing himself, not the Lord. His heart was not
right before the Lord even as he made his offering. This principle
still applies to us today. When we bring our offerings to give back
to the Lord, He looks first at how we are making our offering to
Him.
4:5-7 - "but for Cain and for his offering
He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance
fell. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why
has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance
be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the
door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."
The Lord reveals through Cain's struggle the progression of the
development of sin in a person's heart and life. Before this day,
Cain was not spiritually healthy in his heart, but outwardly, sin
was contained and his life was "normal." This situation
with his offering being rejected by the Lord brought to the surface
the issues in Cain's heart. Once those issues came to the surface
the question was what Cain would do in response to his own reaction.
Would he recognize the spiritual danger of giving himself fully
to his own fleshly reaction and turn in a better direction before
it was too late? Or, would he give himself over to his fleshly inclinations
and follow sin to its bitter end? We see the Lord, in His graciousness,
speaking to Cain at the moment of truth before he makes a final
decision either direction. The Lord provides Cain with a way of
escape through His warning. "No temptation has overtaken you
but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not
allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation
will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to
endure it." (I Corinthians 10:13).
The way of escape the Lord offered to Cain was in a strong exhortation
to adopt a different perspective and attitude toward temptation
and sin. Cain was struggling with a perspective common to people
when they sin in which he saw himself as a victim of his circumstances.
God was urging him to not see himself as a victim of the circumstance,
but instead as responsible for his own circumstance. He pictured
sin to Cain as a predator seeking to devour him. Rather than meekly
yielding to the predator as a victim, he called Cain to take control
of the predator. By telling Cain that he "must master it"
He was making Cain fully responsible for whether or not he chose
to sin in his circumstance. The story is the same for each of us.
No matter how difficult our circumstances, we are never victimized
to the point of the circumstance causing us to sin in response.
We are always responsible to master our temptations rather than
meekly yielding to them.
4:16-17 - "Then Cain went out from the
presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth
to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch,
after the name of his son."
This passage has stimulated questions from Christians in every
generation, and also provided fodder for those who are seeking to
undermine the credibility of the Bible. The issue is simply this;
if Cain and Abel were the first two children of Adam and Eve, then
where did Cain's wife come from? Young believers ask about this
with honest confusion, while the opponents of the Bible pounce on
this like they have discovered some unanswerable gap in the story
that "proves" that the Bible was not inspired by God.
The truth is that the resolution to this issue is very simple and
not nearly as mysterious as you might imagine at first glance. Cain
married another of the descendants of Adam and Eve. She might have
been his sister, or she might have been a niece. We do not know
for sure. The one thing we can be 100% certain of, is that she was
descended from Adam. "and He made from one man every nation
of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined
their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,"
(Acts 17:26). The Bible is consistent in its declarations that all
human beings that have ever lived are directly descended from Adam.
The reason people are initially confused by the question of Cain's
wife is that they assume that this all took place within a very
short time period and that it was not possible for there to be other
children born to Adam and Eve yet. There is nothing in the text
that tells us how much time had elapsed before Cain took a wife,
or that Adam and Eve had only had two children. Cain and Abel were
the first children born to them, but they most likely had many other
children after that. Their children grew up and also had many children.
At some point, Cain married one of his sisters, or one of the women
of Adam's descendants. The additional question is often raised about
the prohibition later in the Law about marrying close relatives.
That became prohibited when the Lord said it was prohibited, and
not before He declared it. At this point in early human history,
it was necessary and acceptable in order to populate the earth from
one set of parents.
Questions from Genesis 3
Question: The man first heard the Lord in the garden after they
sinned....is a man supposed to more readily hear from God...say
in a husband wife relationship?
Answer: Actually, they both heard the Lord in the garden after
they sinned. "They heard the sound of the LORD God walking
in the garden..." (Genesis 3:8). What is important to notice
is that when the Lord spoke following their sin, He chose to speak
first to Adam. "Then the LORD God called to the man..."
(Genesis 3:9). To answer your question, I would have to say no,
there is no indication that the husband is designed to more readily
hear the from God if by that you mean his spiritual hearing is greater
than the wife's. However, it is clear that when the Lord does speak
to a marriage to bring correction that He will deal first with the
husband because of the greater authority and responsibility the
husband bears in the relationship.
Question: In meditating on these passages the question of what
Adam's original sin (causing the fall) was. It seems to me that
Adam placed Eve before God in the way he allowed her to eat and
then decided to take from her and eat himself of the forbidden fruit.
Is this not a violation of the first commandment (even though the
law had not been given yet)? I have always thought of the original
sin as being Adam eating the fruit. What are your thoughts?
Answer: What you are considering are the possible internal motivations
and perspectives of Adam's heart as he sinned. The Lord does not
share with us in the story what Adam was thinking so we are left
to speculate. Your idea that Adam was putting Eve before the Lord
in an idolatrous way is possible if his main motivation in the circumstance
was that he just wanted to please her more than anything and that
he chose to compromise the Lord's standard rather than disappointing
her. However, another scenario is also possible. Adam could have
been primarily thinking of pleasing himself and not Eve. Adam may
have been curious to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, but was afraid to try it because of God's warning.
If this was the case, he may have allowed her to eat first when
the serpent made his suggestion in order to "see what would
happen" if she ate. Once she did not immediately die like God
had warned, then Adam may have been emboldened to go ahead and taste
it for himself. Either way, we can be certain his motive was sinful,
because the passage in I Timothy 2 declares that he was not deceived
by the serpent as he ate.
Genesis 5
5:1-3 - "This is the book of the generations
of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness
of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and
named them Man in the day when they were created. When Adam had
lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son
in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth."
There is a very important theological connection in this passage.
So far, the account of Adam's creation, testing, and fall into sin
have been detailed for us. The question is to what extent has Adam's
sin affected all who have descended from Adam. To this day, many
people (if not most) believe that while the human race has its issues
and problems, that people are born into this world as basically
good, and that they only turn bad if subjected to really bad family,
cultural, or environmental influences. They believe that left to
develop on their own, that children will tend to turn out good because
by nature they are good. Is this the true spiritual condition of
children born into this world? Are children born spiritually "good"
only to be influenced by an evil world around them? If this was
the case, that all children are born essentially good, it would
be difficult to account for the amount and degree of evil that is
filling the world today.
We know that when Adam was created, that he was created good. When
the Lord finished the last of His creation work, He observed it
as a completed project and evaluated it. "God saw all that
He had made, and behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31).
Since Adam was originally made in the image and likeness of God
Who is good, Adam as God's image bearer was also good. Adam's fall
into sin also permanently affected him. Even Adam's spiritual capacity
to bear the image of God was affected. He is still identified as
an image bearer, but now that image in Adam has been marred by sin.
When we look at Adam after the fall we do not see a perfect reflection
of God as we would have before his sin. However, the big issue is
whether this consequence of the fall was limited to Adam and Eve,
or whether it is somehow passed on to all of Adam's descendants,
which would include every person that has ever lived. The key phrase
that answers this question is, "he became the father of a son
in his own likeness, according to his image..." While Adam
was made in the pure unspoiled image of God, Seth is born like Adam's
present condition. Seth is born like Adam is now, not as he was
before the Fall. This is the spiritual condition of Seth from the
moment he is born, not after he is later influenced by the world
around him. Now, this does not minimize the importance of outside
influence in the life of a child, but it does make clear that nature,
rather than nurture is the beginning point of evil in human beings.
5:4-11 - "Then the days of Adam after he became
the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons
and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred
and thirty years, and he died. Seth lived one hundred and five years,
and became the father of Enosh. Then Seth lived eight hundred and
seven years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other
sons and daughters. So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and
twelve years, and he died. Enosh lived ninety years, and became
the father of Kenan. Then Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen
years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons
and daughters. So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five
years, and he died."
People often read the account of the life spans described in this
chapter and decide that it must be an exaggerated or possibly symbolic
use of numbers. The reason they find it so hard to believe that
this is describing real history is that it is so different from
our own experience now. I do believe that these numbers mentioned
here are literal records of actual history as these men lived it.
Trying to evaluate what happened then using our own experience as
a starting point is a mistake due to the significant difference
of the world at that time. The first thing to consider is that the
Lord originally made the human body with the capacity to live forever,
and that if Adam had not sinned he would have lived forever. As
strange as it sounds, death only entered the world through Adam's
sin, and God's judgment in response to his sin. So, a much longer
life span than we are accustomed to is daunting compared to our
present life span, but not compared to the original capacity of
the human body.
The other factor we must consider is the great environmental difference
in the world today compared to the world then. Later, when we read
of the people following the great flood of Noah, we will see a diminishing
average life span. After the flood people still lived significantly
longer than today, but immediately, the life spans shorten drastically
from before the flood. All indications point to a tremendous change
in the world environment that affected the life expectancy of the
human race. One dramatic difference post-flood from pre-flood was
in the atmosphere. There was a protective covering over all the
earth before the flood identified as the waters above the expanse.
"God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were
below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse;
and it was so." (Genesis 1:7). Some have described this as
a vapor canopy. This canopy fell as rain in the flood and was not
restored after the flood. It would have caused a greenhouse effect
on the earth before the flood and at the same time protected people
from greater ultraviolet radiation. We now know that the ultraviolet
exposure is a significant factor in the aging process on the skin
for instance. So, yes, people who lived before the flood lived for
amazing lengths of time.
5:22-24 - "Then Enoch walked with God three
hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had
other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred
and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for
God took him."
Enoch is a special figure in the record of the early generations
to follow Adam. We saw back in Genesis 4:26 that people had begun
to call on the name of the Lord. Yet, Enoch had a relationship with
the Lord that set him apart from everyone in his time. That relationship
is described for us in simple terms. "Enoch walked with God..."
That implies that his relationship extended beyond an occasional
acknowledgment of the existence of God or even honoring Him periodically
in worship. It implies that Enoch and God shared a daily relationship.
Wherever Enoch went and whatever he did, God was with Him and Enoch
lived out his life in that awareness of God's presence. A detail
that speaks to my heart is that he walked with God "three hundred
years..." I have been walking with God now for 28 years this
month. My heart's desire and hope is that if I live another 28 years
that I will still be walking with Him then. I believe it is possible
to enjoy a long term relationship with God without growing tired,
burning out, losing interest, falling away, or in any other way
growing apart from Him. Enoch's relationship with God over the course
of three hundred years gives me hope for my own relationship with
Him.
What was Enoch doing during those three hundred years? We know
from one New Testament passage that he was the first in a long line
of prophets of God. He was the first to proclaim the coming judgment
of the flood against the ungodly. "It was also about these
men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied,
saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy
ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly
of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way,
and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against
Him." (Jude 1:14-15)
The other fascinating aspect of Enoch's story is the unique ending.
Enoch is one of only two men throughout the entire Old Testament
that leave this world without dying. Elijah the prophet is the other.
Both men come to an end of their life on earth, and rather than
dying as all other people do, the Lord took them from the earth
while still alive. These two examples are prophetic previews of
the experience that will be shared by every true believer that is
alive on the earth on the day that the Lord Jesus returns in His
Second Coming. Those believers will not die, but be "caught
up" to meet the Lord. "Then we who are alive and remain
will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." (I Thessalonians
4:17).
Questions from Genesis 4:
Question: Genesis 4:26b says that, "At that time men began
to call on (proclaim) the name of the LORD." Does that imply
that there was now a greater understanding or revelation of God?
Certainly they were worshiping God before that as evidenced by Abel's
sacrifice.
Answer: Good question about an interesting verse. It does imply
something new or additional took place at that time. It is difficult
to determine though exactly what was new. One possibility is that
prior to this time all human beings knew about God and when they
referred to God they used the more generic term "Elohim"
which is the equivalent of our word God. For our culture the word
God means the supreme being, but it does not convey much detail
beyond that. The word translated "Lord" here is Yahweh.
It is the same name that the Lord later gives to Moses as His covenant
name to Israel. The only problem with the interpretation that no
people called on the name of Yahweh before this verse is that earlier
in chapter 4:1, Eve proclaimed when she gave birth to Cain that
she had done so with the help of Yahweh. The birth of Cain was a
number of years prior to 4:26. Instead of strictly interpreting
the meaning of this verse as this being the first time that any
person called on Yahweh, I think it is describing for us a time
of significant advancement in spiritual understanding of the Lord.
The Lord's pattern throughout history is one in which He causes
leaps forward in spiritual understanding at specific times. Prior
to these leaps forward, certain spiritual principles may be known,
but not widely understood. For instance, in the period we call the
Reformation, it had already been known to a few that justification
was by faith, but during that time, the Lord caused the entire population
to grasp the concept of it in a way that only a few understood until
then. What may have happened in 4:26 is a new grasp of the revelation
of God as Yahweh by most everyone in the world then, and not just
one or two like Eve.
Genesis 6
6:1-4 - "Now it came about, when men began to
multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,
that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful;
and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the
LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because
he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and
twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days,
and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters
of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men
who were of old, men of renown."
This passage remains the source of controversy among Bible scholars
to this day. The issue revolves around the interpretation of the
phrase "sons of God" and the word "Nephilim"
and what the connection between two is. There are three interpretations
of the meaning of the sons of God. They are: 1) the godly descendants
of Seth, 2) the ancient rulers of that time, 3) fallen angels. In
the early generations of church history the predominant interpretation
was that this passage described the unholy mixing of fallen angels
and human women and their resulting offspring. In modern times,
the first two interpretations have become more popular as many scholars
struggled to find some natural explanation that fit the passage.
Having studied this text and its background extensively, I am convinced
that the third interpretation is the correct one. Both of the first
two interpretations see the sons of God as human beings. This fails
to take into account how the phrase "sons of God" is used
in the Old Testament, and also fails to take into account how Nephilim
would result from the union of humans. Below is a brief description
of both issues.
The key phrase sons of God is used in the New Testament to describe
human beings, who, through the new birth are now considered to be
part of God's family. However, in the Old Testament that phrase
is never applied to human beings because Christ had not yet come
and provided the way of salvation. Instead, the phrase is only used
in describing angels. This passage in Job 38:4-7 describing the
scene at creation when the angels of God observed as God created
the earth uses this exact phrase referring to the angels. "Where
were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you
have understanding, Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or
who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who
laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all
the sons of God shouted for joy?"
The word Nephilim is translated as giants. The union of the sons
of God and the daughters of men produced giants that became "the
mighty men who were of old, men of renown." A union of humans
does not explain the birth of giants. The union of angels and humans
does offer a reasonable explanation. Their offspring became what
the world's ancient myths and legends sprang from. All of the ancient
cultures have versions of "mythology" describing the union
of "gods" with human women that produced the great heroes
of the ancient world. Probably the most famous of these stories
is Hercules. For those who are not familiar, Hercules was the offspring
of the union of Zeus (the chief of the Greek gods) and a human woman.
While the details of these "myths" were modified in each
culture, the core story that gave rise to the myths was based in
fact and actual ancient history.
6:5 - "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness
of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually."
This verse is the tragic culmination in the progression of the
Fall of Man that began the day Adam ate from the tree God had forbidden
in the garden. The sin of Adam was not just an unfortunate and exceptional
bad choice. Mankind did not recover itself following Adam's sin
and begin an evolution of humanity becoming more noble and virtuous
over time. In the hundreds of years between the garden and the flood,
humanity had digressed spiritually, not progressed. Man's created
purpose was originally to bear God's image and likeness in the earth.
Now, as God observes His crowning creation of humanity He sees only
a greater and greater corruption of that original design. It was
not just a growing pattern of bad behavior, but with good hearts
buried down deep in the hearts of men. The hearts of all mankind
are seen here as reaching the depths of perversion of God's design.
The key words, "every" and "only" and "continually"
emphasize the extent, degree and habitual nature of sin in the hearts
of all men. What we are meant to understand from this is that this
is not an exaggeration of the heart condition of the human race.
It is not an exceptionally bad moment in history, but that today
people are far better than they were then.
Jeremiah diagnoses the same common spiritual condition of the human
heart. "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately
sick; Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9) The problem of
the human heart is too deep and too extensive for anyone to fix
or cure. No human efforts at changing for the better are sufficient
to change this condition. The only cure for such a sick heart is
a heart transplant. The old heart is beyond hope. A new heart is
the only hope. Since this heart is not physical, but spiritual,
only God can perform this operation which we call salvation.
6:6-7 - "The LORD was sorry that He had made
man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said,
"I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the
land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the
sky; for I am sorry that I have made them."
As the Lord observes the progression of wickedness in mankind,
He is affected by what He sees. Keeping in mind the awesome original
purpose of God for man to be His image bearer and contrasting that
with how perverse humanity had become will help us understand God's
response to what He sees. The phrase describing the Lord's reaction
to what He observes is "grieved in His heart." God is
affected by this in His heart! We can easily fail to comprehend
that God has a heart and that He has very strong feelings. Our ability
to feel things in our hearts is derived from Him and our being created
in His likeness. Have you ever experienced anything that was so
evil, so wrong, that it wounded your heart and hurt worse than any
physical pain could? What God experienced would be similar to us
having a child who we loved with all of our heart. If we surrounded
that child with good things, taught him with great parental concern
the right principles for life, spent time with them and only ever
treated them right, only to have that child grow up and spurn us,
our teaching, and the good things we had provided; then what impact
would that have on our hearts. This is not a capricious, petulant
reaction of Lord wanting to cause the same pain to the humans that
had hurt Him. This is an absolutely holy, righteous and loving God
responding in the one way that was necessary in light of the how
wicked humanity had become.
6:8-9 - "But Noah found favor in the eyes of
the LORD. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah
was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God."
In the midst of this wicked generation, we are introduced to one
lone shining exception. Noah is a righteous and blameless man in
his time. Now, we know that Noah was not a perfect man, and as we
will see later after the flood, when he has a serious personal failure.
Yet, Noah here is identified by the Lord Himself as righteous and
blameless. In his spiritual purity as well as his special ark building
assignment from God, Noah serves as the next great Old Testament
type of Christ. A type is a symbolic spiritual connection between
a person, event or thing of the Old Testament and Christ or His
work in the New Testament. The type pictures some key element of
the person or work of Christ and represents it as a foreshadow.
The types point forward to the fulfillment of God's plan in Christ
in some significant way.
Here Noah is a type of Christ. In order to fulfill the plan of
salvation, Christ had to live His entire life on earth without once
ever sinning. His righteousness is the qualification for His role
as Savior. Noah, pointing forward to Christ becomes in the flood
the "savior" of mankind. The only humans to survive the
flood did so because of Noah. Those who were saved from the flood
were only saved because of their relationship to Noah as part of
His family. In the same way, only those in right relationship to
God through Christ will be made part of God's family and eternally
saved. As God's ordained way of salvation, Noah builds an ark. This
points forward to Christ's declaration "...I will build My
church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." (Matthew
16:18). Only those who are in Christ's church will be saved from
the judgment of God on the final day.
Genesis 7
7:1-3 - "Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter
the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to
be righteous before Me in this time. You shall take with you of
every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the
animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; also of the
birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring
alive on the face of all the earth."
One of the details of the ark story that is commonly overlooked
in the distinction made by the Lord between clean and unclean animals,
and the different numbers gathered of each category. This is the
first mention in the Bible of "clean" animals. The Law
of Moses later expands upon this concept by naming which animals
are considered clean, and which are considered unclean. The reasons
why they clean and unclean are also given in the Law. At this point
all that we are given is that the Lord makes such a distinction.
The concepts of clean and unclean here do not refer to physical
cleanliness, but spiritual cleanliness. Since animals are incapable
of sin, we are meant to understand these categories as symbolic
categories for purpose of spiritual instruction. There is a reason
there are only two spiritual categories of animals. They represent
the two kinds of people there are in the world. The two kinds of
people are those in covenant with God and are therefore clean, and
the people outside of covenant with God and are therefore unclean.
God instructs Noah to take two of each of the unclean animals,
but seven of the clean animals. The greater number of clean animals
enables Noah to offer sacrifices to God after the flood without
endangering the survival of their offspring. Of course, the Lord
could have had Noah take only three of the clean animals and that
would have left a third for sacrifice, but by taking seven He provides
a corresponding symbol for the seven people Noah saved on the ark
beside himself. This number seven in the Biblical number of completion.
God made the world in a complete seven day week. Here it corresponds
to the perfect number of the redeemed that will be saved.
7:16 - "Those that entered, male and female
of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed
it behind him."
I love this detail we are given here. Once all of the food had
been loaded into the ark, and all of the animals had been brought
on board, and Noah's family went into the ark, the Lord Himself
closed the door behind Noah. This is a perfect picture of salvation
from the Lord's perspective. On the final day of history when it
is time for the Lord Jesus to return in His Second Coming, there
will be a last person on earth that the Lord has chosen to believe
the gospel and be saved. When that last person believes, the Lord
will return and the door of salvation that right now is wide open,
will then be closed. It will be the Lord Himself that closes the
door on any one else being saved. Once Jesus returns there will
be no further opportunity for salvation for anyone left alive. Only
those already saved will be saved when He returns. In the days of
the flood, once the Lord closed the door of the ark it sealed the
people inside the ark into the security of salvation from the coming
flood. It also at the same time sealed every other person outside
the ark into the judgment of the flood. There were no last minute
changes. This emphasizes for us that it is God Who is in charge
of salvation from beginning to end.
7:19-20 - "The water prevailed more and more
upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under
the heavens were covered. The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher,
and the mountains were covered."
I believe that there was in Noah's time a literal flood that covered
the surface of the entire world. I know most of the world scoffs
at this. Even among believers there are many that struggle to believe
this and have come up with a more "reasonable" explanation
of this event. They offer the plausible explanation of a "local
flood" theory. The local flood theory suggests that only the
region surrounding where Noah lived was actually flooded. They suggest
that since the population of the world had not spread far on the
earth that the flood of a region bordered by mountains accomplished
the purpose of the flood. They believe it is a ridiculous fantasy
to imagine that the entire planet was covered with water.
I believe the entire planet was covered with water because the
text describes it exactly that way. There is no other way to interpret
this phrase, "so that all the high mountains everywhere under
the heavens were covered" without mangling the clear meaning
of the passage. The Bible is consistent on this if you remember
the opening verses of Genesis 1:2. "The earth was formless
and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the
Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters." The
earth was originally completely covered with water in the first
phase of God's work of creation. For God to cover it again is no
problem for Him. Keep in mind that this is the God Who created the
entire universe with a Word. Flooding the entire earth is no impossibility
for Him. I have read accounts of sea fossils being discovered on
high mountain peaks by mountain climbers without any other logical
explanation available for how those fossils got there. Those who
struggle to believe that the flood covered all the mountains usually
are thinking of Mount Everest. This phrase from verse 11 explains
that there was more than just rain falling in the flood. "...on
the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open..."
The flood also involved tremendous geological upheaval. The surface
of the planet today is not identical to the surface of the planet
prior to the flood.
Questions from Genesis 6
Question: Genesis 6:6-7 - "The LORD was sorry that He had
made man..." - did the Lord not know this was going to happen?
Answer: Yes, the Lord knew in advance that man was going to sin
in the garden. He knew that after Adam fell that the entire human
race was going to spiritually spiral down to such wickedness that
He would have to respond with the world wide judgment of the flood.
This description of he Lord's response is difficult for us because
we tend to think about it first from the perspective of if we were
the one responding. Some theologians identify this verse as an example
of anthropomorphism. In this case it would mean to ascribe human
qualities to God even though He is above those qualities in order
to add a dramatic element to the story. I don't agree with that
interpretation. Instead I see this as an example of the transcendence
and immanence of God. Allow me to simplify those terms. The transcendence
of God refers to Him being above all things (even time and history).
His immanence refers to God being fully engaged and involved in
every moment of time and history. I believe the Bible teaches us
that God is both above history and fully engaged in history at the
same time. You and I would not be capable of doing both at the same
time, but God is. He knew in advance man would become so wicked
(transcendence), and He was fully affected by man's wickedness when
it actually happened (immanence). This passage shows us that just
because God knows the end of history from the beginning, he is not
detached and unaffected by what occurs in history.
Question: I was curious about the "sons of God" being
angels. If angels are only spiritual, not spiritual/physical as
we are, how were they able to create offspring? Wondering what your
thoughts were on this.
Answer: Your question captures the main objection some have to
the interpretation that the sons of God in Genesis 6 are fallen
angels. The concept followed is that angels are spiritual beings
that are incapable of taking physical form and interacting with
human women in the way that would produce offspring. This objection
is usually based on an interpretation of Matthew 22:29-30, "But
Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not understanding
the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in
heaven." The thought is that Jesus was telling us that angels
are incapable of this. However, this is not a statement of the capability
of angels, rather a description of the boundaries that the angels
in heaven follow and that the redeemed will also follow in heaven.
We have a number of passages throughout the Bible that show that
angels are fully capable of taking physical form. They have the
power to do so, but were only supposed to use that power to carry
out their missions from God. This passage is just one example of
angels taking on physical human form. "When morning dawned,
the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up, take your wife and your
two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment
of the city." But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand
and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for
the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out,
and put him outside the city." (Genesis 19:15-16) The two angels
that rescued Lot are also identified as "men". They seized
the hand of Lot, his wife, and daughters. Earlier, these same two
men visited Abraham with the Lord in the form of men and were served
a meal by Abraham.
Question: You wrote that, "Here Noah is a type of Christ."
I always thought that the ark was a type of Christ. Are they both
or was I mistaken in my understanding? If they are both, how can
that be?
Answer: No, you are not mistaken. The ark is a type of Christ since
it provided the means of salvation for humanity. It points forward
to the work of Christ on the cross. Yes, Noah is also a type of
Christ. He functions as a type more for the person of Christ while
the ark is a type of the work of Christ. We have many examples throughout
the Old Testament of what we might call layered types. The reason
for this is that it is difficult for any person or thing to picture
the fullness of Christ and His work. Therefore, the Lord assigned
specific symbolic aspects of Christ and His work to different people
and things. One type does not contradict or intrude on the symbolic
territory of the other. An example of this layering is found in
the tabernacle and temple. Christ is typified by the entire structure
of the tabernacle, by the various items of furniture within it,
by the high priest who serves in it, and by the sacrifices that
are offered there. All of these types are overlapping each other
at the same time. It is the responsibility of the teachers in the
New Covenant to be able to identify these types and distinguish
the boundaries for each type and how they spiritually relate to
Christ properly.
Question: Genesis 6:3 "Then the Lord said, "My spirit
shall not strive with man forever, because he is also flesh; nevertheless
his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." Whose days
are numbered 120 years? It seems that the Lord is no longer allowing
men to live beyond 120 years, but further in Genesis, we read that
Noah's descendants lived 300-400 years and more. Who or what is
being referred to as being numbered 120 years?
Answer: Your confusion on the 120 years is shared by a lot of people.
The way it reads in our translation it is easy to interpret it as
a new limit the Lord is imposing on human lifespan. Actually, the
120 years is aimed in a different direction completely. It identifies
the number of years left before the flood. From the time that the
Lord made this declaration there were 120 years until the rains
of the flood began. This 120 year time period served two purposes.
It gave Noah sufficient time to build the ark with the tools and
technology he had available to him, and it provided a generous amount
of time for Noah to preach the Lord's message of impending judgment.
"and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a
preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a
flood upon the world of the ungodly;" (II Peter 2:5)
Genesis 8
8:1 - "But God remembered Noah and all the beasts
and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused
a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided."
There are two important principles in this verse; one is a clarification
and one is hidden in the translation. The clarification is regarding
what is meant that "God remembered Noah." When we remember
something important it is in relationship to having previously forgotten
it. Because our minds and memories are finite and fallible, we are
capable of forgetting even important appointments and events. Ask
any man who has ever forgotten his anniversary how important it
is for us to remember things that matter. Here, God remembers Noah
as well as all the animals with him in the ark, but it is not implying
God had forgotten them only to have the inhabitants of the ark suddenly
pop back into His mind. God's mind is not like ours. He never inadvertently
forgets anything. Th |