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Genesis 25 – Abraham Left Everything that He Owned to Isaac!

08 Sunday Dec 2013

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The details of Abraham’s death are recorded, as well as the accounts of the family lines of his sons Ishmael and Isaac. Isaac’s wife became pregnant with twins.

Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.

Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. Genesis 25:1-6

Keturah was the woman whom Abraham, the patriarch of the Israelites, married after the death of his wife, Sarah. Keturah bore Abraham six sons.Keturah is referred to at different times as either Abraham’s wife in Genesis 25:1 or Abraham’s concubine in 1 Chronicles 1:32. While Abraham left everything to Isaac, he made grants to his sons by his concubine during his lifetime, and sent them east away from Isaac.

One of the sons of Keturah was Midian, the father of the Midianites. Some of the descendants of Keturah went to Persia while others scattered into Assyria.

Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD. Isaiah 60:6

This prophecy from Isaiah speaks of the descendants of Abraham and Ketura. Midian was Keturah’s son and both Sheba and Ephah were her grandsons. Bearing gifts of gold and incense, those from Sheba would proclaim the praise of the LORD. It is interesting that the Magi, who are also known as the “Wise Men,” brought gifts of gold and frankincense to the newborn Messiah. According to Matthew 2:3, the presence of their great caravan caused a great disturbance in Jerusalem and like the sons of Ketura, they came from the east with many camels. The visit of the Magi may have been the fulfillment of Isaiah 60:6.

Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi. Genesis 25:7-11

Abraham lived 175 years. He lived seventy-five years after Isaac’s birth and thirty-eight years after Sarah’s death. There is no record of any of his sons through Keturah attending his burial.

This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.

These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa,  Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them. Genesis 25:12-18

God is faithful to fulfill his promises and the prophetic word of the LORD is sure to come to pass. In Genesis 21:14 God made the following promise to Abraham: And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. The twelve sons of Ishmael became the twelve tribes that comprise the Arab nation. According to Genesis 16:12, Ishmael was prophesied to be, “… a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” Genesis 25:18 records that Ishmael’s descendants lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them. As a wild donkey is accustomed to live, and run, and range about the wilderness, so the Arabic peoples were nomadic and many Bedouins still exist today.

This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. Genesis 25:19-20

As recorded in the first four verses of Genesis 24, Abraham had his senior servant swear an oath that he would not get a wife for his son Isaac from the daughters of the Canaanites but would travel to the country of Abraham’s own relatives to get a wife for his son. This was to insure that the lineage that would produce the Messiah would descend from the blessed line of Shem and not the cursed line of Ham.

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. Genesis 25:21

Although Rebekah had been barren for 20 years, Isaac did not do as Abraham his father did and take a second wife to have children by her. Instead, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife and the LORD answered his prayer.

The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” Genesis 25:22-23

Within Rebekah’s womb were two sons from whom two nations would descend. From Esau, the first born or older son, the Edomites would arise. From Jacob, the younger son, the Israelites would emerge. These nations would be comprised of two different types of people separate and distinct from one another. The Edomites and the Israelites would not only differ physically, but in their lifestyle, locale, and most importantly, in their religious practices.

The prophecy stating that one people will be stronger than the other people initially spoke of the Edomites, the posterity of Esau. They were a very powerful people and had a succession of princes and kings, while the Hebrews, the posterity of Jacob, were slaves in Egypt. But when the nation of Israel was birthed out of the furnace of affliction in Egypt and took possession of the Promised Land, the Israelites became the stronger of the two nations.

It is recorded in 2 Samuel 8:14 that the older (the descendants of Esau or the Edomites), did serve the younger (the descendants of Jacob or Israelites) during the time of King David’s reign:

He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The LORD gave David victory wherever he went.

There is a time spoken by the prophet Obadiah when the descendents of Esau will totally be destroyed by the offspring of Jacob:

But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance.Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” The LORD has spoken. Obadiah 1:17-18

The great and terrible “Day of the LORD” will be a great day of victory for Israel and a terrible day of calamity for the posterity of Esau.

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. Genesis 25:24-26

The first born son of Isaac and Rebekah was either ruddy in complexion and covered with hair, or covered with red hair. They named him Esau which means, “hairy.” His wild appearance may have been an indication of the coarseness of his character and roughness of his nature.

His fraternal twin brother Jacob emerged from his mother’s womb grasping the firstborn son’s heel. Jacob is the English translation of the Hebrew name, Yacob.  Jacob means “heel holder” or “supplanter.” Jacob’s name both denotes his character and was prophetic. Jacob was to be a usurper eventually not only taking the “right of the firstborn” but also Esau’s blessing by treachery.

 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Genesis 25:27-28

Esau was a hunter, like two notorious hunters in the Bible who lived before him.

He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” Genesis 10:9

Nimrod is traditionally considered the leader of those who built the Tower of Babel in the land of Shinar. Nimrod is described as a “mighty hunter before the LORD.” This description implies ruthlessness and a lust for power. Nimrod is closely associated with the Hebrew word meaning “rebel.”

God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. Genesis 21:20

Ishmael became an archer. Ishmael became skilled in the use of the bow and arrow for hunting, for protection against wild beasts and in waging warfare. All Arabs, following Mohammed’s example, claim descent from Ishmael. Ishmael’s descendants are Muslims who seek the annihilation of the descendants of Jacob.

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. Psalm 91:3

Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers, from the snares they have laid for me. Psalm 141:9

Hunters often use traps and snares to capture their prey as do evil men who look to ensnare godly men. Nimrod, Ishmael and Esau were hunters which symbolized their wild and ungodly natures. Their power and ability was in the arm of flesh and they opposed the things and people of God.

Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau because Esau was a hunter who loved the outdoors. Jacob, on the other hand, was content to stay at home among the tents and was loved by his mother Rebekah.

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) Genesis 25:29-30

Esau was also called Edom which means red. Esau’s descendents were called the Edomites. Esau, who was an outdoorsman and walked in the flesh, was not merely hungry. He was famished – desperately hungry. Satisfying his fleshy desire was not to be postponed but immediately satisfied.

Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25:31-34

The right of the firstborn to a double portion of the inheritance and a leadership position in the family when the father passes was Esau’s by birth but Jacob’s by promise. It entailed more than material blessings. The birthright had an important spiritual significance as well. The Messiah would descend from Isaac’s son who held the birthright. Jacob who now had the birthright would also insure that the future possession of the land of Canaan would be by his children’s children.

There is another account of two sons and the division of their father’s inheritance that is found in the New Testament. It is the parable of the prodigal son. Why did the prodigal return? It was because he was hungry. But why was he hungry?  It was due to a famine in the land. The sovereign LORD caused the famine. Why was Esau famished? Although he was a skilled hunter, the LORD prevented him from finding any game.

The prodigal responded to his hunger in humility and repented.  While Esau cared more about filling his belly than fulfilling the responsibilities of the firstborn son. The LORD knew that Esau was carnally minded and unworthy to receive the birthright.

Although Jacob was manipulative and deceitful, he believed in God’s promises to Abraham. Jacob also was willing to also take on the responsibilities that the birthright entailed. These responsibilities included the patriarch to provide for and to protect the family as well as teach his children the ways of the LORD.  

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

Jacob would eventually have to endure many years of hardship and testing because of his manipulative actions and deceitfulness. Eventually the LORD would not only change Jacob’s name but his character.

Esau refused to take on the responsibilities of the first born and treated his birthright with disdain. That is why Paul writing to the church at Rome reminds that God proclaimed, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Romans 9:13 b

The Fall of Man, the Curse of Sin, and the Promised Redeemer

17 Monday Jun 2013

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The Fall of Man, the Curse of Sin, and the Promised Redeemer

Genesis Chapter 3

The serpent was crafty. His devious plan would cause the fall of man. His scheme to deceive Eve to sin was to first have her question the word of God.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. Genesis 3:1a

The NIV describes the serpent as “crafty,” meaning that he was cunning, shrewd and devious. The King James Version calls the serpent “subtle,” which portrays him as cleverly indirect and ingenious. His devious scheme to deceive Eve was first to have her question the Word of God by perverting what God had said.

He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1b

In Genesis chapter two it states in verse 9: And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In verses16-17 of chapter two God’s restriction is clearly stated: And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” The LORD God gave this command to Adam before Eve was formed from his rib. God did not say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden.” In fact, God had given Adam access to a variety of eye pleasing trees that were good for food. God had only forbidden Adam from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” Genesis 3:2-3

Eve’s response was not accurate. Actually, there were two trees that were in the middle of the garden – the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. The LORD did say that man must not eat from the tree of the knowledge, but He did not say that if you touch it you will die.

See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it. Deuteronomy 12:32

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. Revelation 22:18-19

Both the Old and New Testament warn against adding to or taking away from God’s Word. Eve had done both. God had spoken his command to Adam before Eve was brought forth. Either Adam did not clearly convey God’s Word to Eve or Eve misunderstood it.

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5

God is first called a liar because the serpent asserts that God will not fulfill His Word and the woman will not surely die. Then the serpent questions God’s motives. God is portrayed as mean and selfish by keeping her from knowledge. The serpent also appealed to the woman’s pride by claiming that she will become like God. The serpent declared that by an act of disobedience, Eve would become like God – knowing good and evil. The Father of Lies knew that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). God is Holy and set apart from evil. Lucifer sought to be like God through an act of rebellion and sought to deceive the woman into following in his evil ways.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Genesis 3:6

Incredible as it seems, Adam was with Eve during the time she was being deceived by the serpent and stood by passively. He did not speak out to correct her misunderstanding of God’s command or reach for her hand to stop her from taking of the fruit. Instead, when she gave some of the forbidden fruit to him, he ate it.

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. 1 John 2:16

The forbidden fruit was good for food – lust of the flesh, was pleasing to the eye – lust of the eyes and desirable for gaining wisdom – pride of life. All the other trees in the garden were pleasing to the eye and good for food, but this tree’s fruit appealed to man’s pride.

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! Isaiah 14:12

As Satan’s pride caused him to fall, so also was man’s pride a major element in his fall from grace.

The King James Version of chapter two, verse 17 reads: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The sentence for breaking God’s command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge was to die the very day the act of disobedience took place.

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:1-2

Surely Adam did die spiritually in the very day that he disobeyed God. His iniquities separated him from the LORD and the man and the woman were cast out of paradise. Yet, Adam did not die a physical death until he lived 930 years, “and then he died.” (Genesis 5:5).

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 2 Peter 3:8

The length of our days is seventy years- or eighty, if we have the strength. Psalm 90:10

Not only did Adam die spiritually in the very day he disobeyed God, but he also died physically within one lifetime (70 years) short of a thousand years (1,000 years – 70 years = 930 years).

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked… Genesis 3:7a

After they sinned, the man and woman had died spiritually, were separated from God and realized that they were naked.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. Exodus 34:29

When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD. Exodus 34: 33-35

Before the fall, the man and woman spent time, as did Moses, in the presence of the LORD. As the unveiled face of Moses radiated from the shekinah glory of God, the unclothed bodies of Adam and Eve may have radiated from God’s glory as well. When they ate in disobedience, God’s presence left them, their eyes were opened, and they could see that they were naked.

…so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:7b

The man and woman attempted to cover over their sin by the work of their hands.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:8-9

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. Psalm 139:7-8

Darkness is as light to God. He is omnipresent. Although the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” – It was a rhetorical question because God already knew the answer.

He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” Genesis 3:10

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31 KJV

Before sin entered into the world, there was no fear of punishment.

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Genesis 3:11-12

The man did not confess his sin. Instead, he not only tried to shift the blame to the woman but even suggested ultimately that it was God’s fault.

Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:13

Likewise the woman did not confess her sin and seek God’s mercy but shifted the blame to the serpent.

So the LORD God said to the serpent, because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:14-15

The King James Version of Genesis 3:15 reads: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed.”

This is the first promise given after the Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Theologians call it the protoevangelium–or first gospel because these words spoken by God contain the first promise of redemption in the Bible. A woman’s sex cell is an egg or ovum. It is the male sex cell which is usually referred to as the seed. The seed of the woman is a prophecy of the virgin birth of Messiah. His heal will be struck at the crucifixion when his feet will pierced through by a spike. But Satan will be totally defeated (his head crushed) when Messiah rises from the dead and conquers death and the grave. Also interesting is that the seed of the serpent – the “son of perdition” also known as the Antichrist will seem to have a fatal wound to his head and will have a counterfeit resurrection.

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Genesis 3:16

The word translated “desire” refers not to sexual desire, but desire for control of the relationship. A better translation would be, “Your desire will be for (to rule over) your husband, but he will rule over you.” The battle of the sexes started after the fall.

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:17-19

Adam’s act of rebellion brought a curse on both mankind and upon the earth. Adam had listened to his wife who has disobeyed God and instead they both had obeyed Satan.

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? Romans 6:16

The authority and dominion over the earth and its creatures that had been given to man was now transferred to Satan. He is the god (with a little g) of this world and the prince of the power of the air.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— Romans 5:12

Adam’s sin brought both physical death (for dust you are and to dust you will return) as well as spiritual death (separation from God) to all of humanity. The “Fall” resulted in mankind becoming a slave to sin and in need of a redeemer.

Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:20

The Hebrew name Chava or Chaya is translated As Eve and means, “giver of life.”

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Genesis 3:21

In order to make garments of skin for Adam and his wife, an animal had to be killed and blood spilled. This is a prophetic picture of the need for a blood atonement to cover sin and also foreshadowed the atoning death of the promised Seed of the woman.

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:22-24

God is the English translation of the Hebrew word, Elohim which is a plural verb. The LORD God said that the man has now become like us. The word “us” is the object of the phrase and a plural personal pronoun which is a reference to the Trinity.

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:22a

How could a holy and righteous God know evil? To know evil means to have experienced evil.

All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. Revelation 13:8

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus Christ the spotless Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world. He became sin for us. Jesus drank from the cup of God’s wrath and knew the evil of sin by enduring the cross as our substitutionary sacrifice. God is love. He does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6). Yet, God knows good and evil for our sake.

The placing of the cherubim and the flaming flashing sword to guard the way to the tree of life was an act of God’s mercy. If sinful Adam had eaten from the tree of life, he would have become an eternally lost immortal with no hope of redemption or participation in the resurrection of the righteous.

The Account of Cain, Abel and Seth: the Sons of Adam and Eve

17 Monday Jun 2013

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The Account of Cain, Abel and Seth: the Sons of Adam and Eve

Human history is a record of the battle of the ages. Typified by Cain and Abel, there have always been forces of good being opposed by forces of evil.

Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Genesis 4:1-2a

Cain is translated from the Hebrew word, !yq (Qayin – kah’-yin). He was the first-born of Adam and Eve. He was named “Cain” (Qayin) because he was “brought forth” or “gotten” (the root word in Hebrew, Qanah – kaw-naw, means to get) “with the help of YHWH.” Cain means “possession” or “acquisition.”

When Cain was born, Eve said that she had gotten a man from the LORD. She may have called this newborn infant a man because she saw the human race renewed, which both she and her husband had marred by their sin. Since Eve said that this man was brought forth with the help of the LORD, she may have thought that Cain was the promised seed, the Messiah. But she was sadly mistaken.

Abel is translated from the Hebrew word lbh (Hebel – heh’-bel) and means “breath.” The Hebrew word “hebel” can also mean “vapor” or can be taken figuratively meaning “vanity.” A breath or a vapor is something that is brief and fleeting. Abel may have been a prophetic name indicating that his life would be cut short.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. Genesis 4:2b

Abel was a shepherd while Cain cultivated the soil and became a farmer.

In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Genesis 4:3-5

The phrase, “in the course of time” (marginal note: “at the end of days” or understood as the end of the week) indicates that probably it was on the Sabbath that the two brothers presented their offerings to the LORD.

Some people have suggested that Cain’s offering was unacceptable because he offered plants while Abel offered animal sacrifices. Of course, without blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). While this passage foreshadows salvation by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God and that we cannot be saved by our “works,” I don’t think that necessarily this is the reason that the Cain’s sacrifice was unacceptable. Although the grain offering was a bloodless sacrifice, God not only accepted grain offerings when the sacrificial system was instituted but in some cases required them. In fact there was a time in Israel’s history that because of the rebellious attitude of the people that animal sacrifices were meaningless in the eyes of the LORD.

“The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the LORD. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals, I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. Isaiah 1:11

The passage does give us some insight into what made their sacrifices pleasing to the LORD or not. It says that Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn. He not only offered the “firstfruits” of his flock, he also offered the choicest parts. Abel was clearly giving the best of what he had to God. Cain, on the other hand, brought some of the fruits of the soil, and not the firstfruits. The portion he offered may have been damaged or what Cain considered “leftover.” Abel’s and Cain’s actions were a reflection of their attitudes towards God. Was the LORD God worthy to receive their very best offering or not?

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:6-7

When Cain’s sacrifice was rejected by the LORD, he became angry. He looked sad, depressed and dejected. He was obsessed with self. The LORD responded by saying, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” In other words, Cain’s unacceptable offering was a reflection of his unacceptable hard heart. Cain was told what was necessary to be accepted – to do what is right. Cain also was warned that if his anger was not mastered that he would be consumed by it.

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Genesis 4:8

The downward spiral for following one’s own evil desires is explained in the letter by James:

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:13-16

Due to pride and jealousy, Cain ended up murdering his brother by first harboring hatred in his heart.

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9

Not only did Cain lie to the LORD about his sin of murder; he then replies sarcastically by saying, Am I my brother’s keeper? According to the Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, “Cain displayed a shameful tone of presumptuous impudence in his insulting reply to the LORD God.”

The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” Genesis 4:10-12

When Adam sinned, the ground was cursed and it produced thorns and thistles. Instead of tending a garden, through painful toil man had to work to cultivate the plants of the field. Now after Cain defiled the land with the blood of Abel, he was no longer permitted to farm the land. He was to leave home and family and would become a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth.

Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Genesis 4:13-14

Cain is horrified with the notion that he was to spend the rest of his life as a degraded outcast in perpetual exile. His fear is ironic. Cain who murdered his brother now fears being murdered.

But the LORD said to him, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Genesis 4:15-16

The LORD is gracious to Cain. First, Cain is not put to death for the murder of his brother but is exiled. Second, Cain is also given a protective mark. The Hebrew word does not identify the exact nature of the mark God put on Cain. The English word, “mark” is translated from the Hebrew word, twa (owth) which is most often interpreted as a sign or token. Although the Scripture doesn’t identify the exact nature of Cain’s mark, it was a sign or indicator that Cain was not to be killed. Cain could have embraced God’s grace and repented but instead bemoaned his punishment as more than he could bear.

Cain finds himself as wanderer who has left the presence of God and become a fugitive. In fact, the LORD drives him from his home, just as years before He had driven his parents from their home. The LORD had placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life. Just as Adam and Eve were driven out from God’s presence to move east out of Eden because of their sin, Cain is driven from the presence of God because of sin and he moves east to live in the land of Nod.

Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech. Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. Genesis 4:17-20

Here we see the first mention of polygamy. God tells us in Genesis 2:24 that for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, in order that they will become one flesh. Notice that the word wife is used, not the word wives.

Initially man depended on God and on the food that came from the earth. Now that the earth had been cursed and farming was a sweaty toil, they began to raise cattle. They had to go where there was water and pasture. They did not have God, so their living depended on their own effort and struggle.

His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. Genesis 4:21

God had created man with a soul. One aspect of the soul was man’s emotions. When our emotions are impacted by our relationship with God we are joyful. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were filled with the joy of the LORD, because in His presence is the fullness of joy. Abel found contentment when he shepherded his flock. The flocks were not being raised for food, but to offer sacrifices to God. However, because the descendents of Cain did not have God, they were dissatisfied and they felt empty. Then they began to play flutes and harps, not for the worship of God, but created music to make themselves happy.

Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah. Genesis 4:22

Another group of Cain’s descendents created weapons of bronze and iron for defense. When wild beasts came, they could kill them. If enemies attacked, they were armed to fight against them. Why did they do this? The entrance of sin into the world brought death and destruction. Cain’s was cast from the LORD’s presence and so were his descendants. Cain was an unrepentant murderer and so were his offspring.

Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” Genesis 4:23-24

The descendents of Cain became progressively increasingly wicked. Lamech is prideful of his evil doings. He mocks the mark of the LORD’s sign of protection that was given to Cain. While Jesus taught us to forgive seventy-seven times; Lamech boasts of being avenged seventy-seven times over.

Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD. Genesis 4:25-26

In order to discredit the book of Genesis as a true historical record, many of those who challenge the divine inspiration of Scripture have asked the question, “Where did Cain get his wife?” In fact, this question was discussed at the famous Scopes Trial and mentioned in the movie Inherit the Wind. Christians were mocked and the cause of evolution was furthered because no credible answer was given during the trial.

Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve recorded in Scripture. His brothers, Abel and Seth, were part of the first generation of children ever born on this earth. Even though only these three males are mentioned by name, Adam and Eve had other children.

When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Genesis 5:3-4

The Bible does not record when they were born. Many could have been born in the 130 years before Seth was born. During their lives, Adam and Eve had a number of male and female children. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that, “The number of Adam’s children, as says the old tradition, was thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters.”

The Bible does not tell us how many children were born to Adam and Eve. However, considering their long life spans (Adam lived for 930 years), it would seem reasonable to suggest there were many. Remember, they were commanded to “Be fruitful, and multiply.”

At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD. Genesis 4:26b

The devil may have breathed a momentary sigh of relief when Abel fell dead to the ground – thinking that the seed that was to crush his head may have been snuffed out. But God’s plans are thwarted by no one. Eve called her new son “Seth,” the “appointed”, and recognized that it would be through this son that the promised seed of the woman would come and redeem mankind from the effects of sin’s curse.

“At that time,” there was a distinction being made between the descendants of Cain and the descendants of Seth.

Seth named his son, Enosh. This name means weak, faint, and frail. There was a great sense of human inadequacy at that time for those who were appalled at the wickedness of the children of Cain. The children of Seth began to “call upon the name of the Lord,” sensing the poverty sin had brought into the race. It was a sense of their weakness that provoked them to call out to God. They were asking for His involvement with them, His help and blessing. Thus they “called upon the name of the LORD.” This is viewed in comparison with Cain who “built a city,” thereby relying upon the things of this world and his own cunning instead upon God.

Looking Back to Day Six of Creation and the Garden of Eden

17 Monday Jun 2013

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Looking Back to Day Six of Creation and the Garden of Eden

Genesis chapter 1 through Genesis 2:3 comprise an orderly and progressive account of the creation week and then Genesis 2:4–25 refers back to day six.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:1-3

In understanding the end from the beginning, it is helpful to be familiar with the story telling technique of the ancient Hebrews.

The verses of Genesis chapter 1 through Genesis 2:3 comprise an orderly and progressive account of the creation week through day seven and God’s Sabbath of rest. Genesis 2:4–25 then refers back to day six with specific details, and Genesis 3 moves forward again to the account of the fall of man. In other words, an overall view of the creation week is presented first, and then the specifics concerning the creation of man are presented.

To better understand the chronology of the events prophesied in Revelation, we must realize that the end time chronology of the Book of Revelation is not a strict linear account. Utilizing the Hebraic story telling technique, Revelation gives an overview of events followed by specifics that disclose the future of the Jew, the Gentile and the body of Messiah through visions that spiral and recapitulate events in increasing intensity.

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens— and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground— Genesis 2:4-6

In chapter one of Genesis, God is said to have created plants on the third day (Genesis 1:12-13), with animals being created on the fifth and sixth day (Genesis 1:20-25). Man was made after all these, on day six (Genesis 1:26-31). Genesis 2:5 is often cited by critics to claim that there is a contradiction between Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 2, since the order of events appears to be different. In Genesis 1 man was created after the plants but in Genesis 2, man was created before the plants sprung up.

Critical scholars have suggested that these first two chapters of Genesis are two distinct creation accounts which flatly contradict one another and therefore must have been written by two different authors and pieced together. These higher critics are liberal theologians who do not believe in the divinely inspired nature of the Scriptures. They investigate the structure of the various books of the Bible based of the author’s style and supposed literary qualifications. They claim the plurality of authors is proved by well-marked differences of diction and style or contradictions in the text.

This historical-critical approach is supposed to improve one’s understanding of Scripture, but it has actually been used to undermine belief in the Bible. The modern biblical critic assumes that:

• Miracles and genuine prophecies do not occur

• Biblical material involves internal contradictions

• Bible editors often came long after the events described

The truth is that, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Genesis 2:5 clearly offers two reasons for why there were no shrubs or plants of the field – there was no rain and no man to work the ground. There is no contradiction with the account of the third day of creation because Genesis 2:5 is only dealing with specific types of plants (shrub of the field and plant of the field), and Genesis 2:5 is only dealing with a specific location – the Garden of Eden. It is only these particular plants – plants designed for mankind to tend – that were to spring up after man was created.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:26-28

Man was created in the image of God. Adam and Eve were to have dominion over the earth and they and their offspring were to increase in number and fill the earth. Prior to the fall of Adam, God expressly gave Adam (and therefore mankind) charge to rule over all the creation.

What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Psalm 8:4-8

Man was given authority and dominion over all of earth’s creatures and to be fruitful and multiply. After the fall, this command to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” is reiterated and given to Noah and his sons as recorded in Genesis 9:1.

Man is unique among all living creatures on earth. Only human beings have been made in the image of God. To better understand the meaning of the phrase, the image of God, we must examine what the Scripture declares about God’s nature.

“… God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24

God is a supernatural spirit being.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14

Paul’s closing remarks in his second letter to the church at Corinth speaks of God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. This verse is one of the many biblical proof texts of the triune nature of the Godhead.

The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly. Proverbs 20:27 KJV

The spirit of man [that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God] is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. Proverbs 20:27 AMP

The Bible speaks of the spirit of man. Man was created in the image of God who is spirit.

–the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 NIV

The King James Version of this verse reads:

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7

Man is a created being in the image of God who is spirit. The body of the man was formed from the dust of the ground. The Hebrew word – aw-dawm means red or ruddy. This Hebrew word is translated as Adam in English. The Hebrew word, aw-dawm is also related to aw-dawm-ah, which means red earth, or red clay – indicating the natural earth elements that composed Adam’s body. The breath of God (the Holy Spirit) breathed life into Adam.

I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Humans are tripartite beings created in the image of God having a body, a soul and a spirit.

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9

After God planted the Garden of Eden, he placed Adam in it. Not only did God provide trees that provided food to sustain Adam, the trees and their fruit were pleasing to the eye. The existence of beauty in the world cannot be explained by evolution. Only mankind can appreciate the beauty of sunrises, sunsets, waterfalls, craggy snow-covered peaks, cumulus clouds, ocean surf, gemstones, quartz crystals, and weathered sandstone cliffs.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1

A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. Genesis 2:10-14

The Bible says that a river flowed out from the Garden of Eden and then does something that rivers ordinarily do not do – a single river split into four separate rivers. These rivers that flowed downstream were all fed from a common single river source. Almost all rivers start from a single source or are fed by multiple sources (tributaries).

… but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground Genesis 2:6

The streams of waters that came up from the earth were underground waters under pressure that gushed upwards. This would certainly be a logical source feed to feed a single river that branched into four headwaters.

The first named river, the Pishon was described as winding through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold and onyx. The Pishon probably flowed down what today is the Gulf of Aden south of present day Yemen (southern tip of Arabia). Yemen has both gold and onyx and there would been a natural riverbed there in the days prior to Noah’s flood (when sea levels were lower than today).

The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. Cush is known today as Ethiopia which is the African land area west and southward of the Red Sea. And if a river formerly flowed down what is now the Red Sea basin and southward into Africa at the Afar Triangle, it would certainly fit the description of a river which winds through the entire land of Cush.

The third and fourth rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates currently originate out of Turkey.

All four of these rivers have one thing in common. All are connected to the Great Rift system. This continuous geographic trench is a result of fault lines where the earth’s tectonic plates push against each other. It is 3,700 miles in length and runs from northern Syria to central Mozambique in East Africa. Two rivers that flowed out of Eden presently originate out of Turkey to the north. The two others are now fossil rivers that flowed south of Israel. The geographical center of these four points of flow is somewhere near present day Israel and Jordan.

But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel. 2 Chronicles 6:6

For this is what the LORD Almighty says: “After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you–for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye– Zechariah 2:8

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. Revelation 21:1-2

It was upon one of the mountains in the land of Moriah (Genesis 22:2) where Abraham was told to sacrifice his son (a foreshadowing of the crucifixion of Jesus). Solomon was told to build the Temple in Jerusalem on mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1), and Jerusalem was where the Lord Jesus was actually crucified. Jerusalem, the apple of God’s eye, is the eternal, holy city where the LORD God has put his name. I believe that it is also the location of the Garden of Eden.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17

Another strong indication that the Garden of Eden was located in close proximity to the city of Jerusalem is that the Garden of Eden was the location of the tree of the knowledge

.

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. Genesis 2:8

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” Genesis 3:11

The first Adam had sinned by being disobedient to God concerning a tree located in a garden in the east. That tree became a tree that brought death to mankind.

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” Matthew 26:36

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42

Gethsemane is a peaceful garden among a grove of ancient olive trees, looking back at the eastern wall of the City of Jerusalem. Jesus Christ, the second Adam, was obedient to God in a garden located east of Jerusalem and was nailed to a tree. That tree became a tree of life for mankind.

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. Genesis 2:18-20a

According to William J. Spear, Jr. in his article, Could Adam Really Name All Those Animals? -Adam (perhaps Eve also) was not only fully capable of adult thought within a mature mind at creation, but also pre-informed or pre-programmed with knowledge essential not only to his own survival, but also to carrying out his Creator’s multiple purposes. This information would include, among other things: (1) language—the ability to place into spoken words mind-integrated sense experiences, as well as rational thought about the world around him; (2) physical coordination and strength reflective of an adult age; and (3) awareness of other things that were not perceived and learned via the senses (such as an intuitive sense of an absolute power and absolute perfection within a personality beyond us—intuitive knowledge implanted within us by God!).

Adam had most of the daylight hours of Day Six in which to complete his task. Note that this task did not include his searching out the animal, because Genesis 2:19 tells us that God brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. Presumably this was in some sort of reasonably orderly procession. The animals brought to him by God included livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field—that is, those animals that would live near him and might be possible candidates for companionship or usefulness to man. Not included were the fish of the sea, the beasts of the earth, or the creeping things. Furthermore, only the created “kinds” of these animals were included, not the multitudes of varieties that later proliferated from them. For example descendants of the canine “kind” would include dogs, wolves, jackals, and foxes while descendants of the feline “kind” would include the lions, tigers, jaguars, and wild and domestic cats.

According to the Creation Magazine article entitled, “How Could Adam Have Named All the Animals in a Single Day?” – Adam had to name only a couple of thousand of these proto-species—a task which could easily have been achieved in a few hours. Assuming Adam had to name 2,500 genera (plural of genus – taxonomic category ranking below a family and above a species), and he named a single proto-species every five seconds, it would have taken him approximately three hours and 45 minutes to complete the task if we include a five-minute break every hour.)

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he 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,’ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:20b-24

Eve was not made out of Adam’s head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side, to be equal with him. Man is to leave and cleave. He is to leave the home of his parents and be united with his wife so that they may be one in spirit and purpose.

But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. John 19:33-34

Just as the bride of Adam was birthed from his side, so was the bride of Christ (the second Adam) birthed from His side. When Jesus was pierced for our transgressions, out of his side flowed an issue of blood and water.

And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.Revelation 5:9

It was the blood of atonement that flowed from his side; the purchase price of His bride. The water that flowed represents the Holy Spirit who is the bridal gift that was given at Pentecost.

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. Genesis 2:25

Shame implies guilt, and before the fall Adam and Eve were innocent and unashamed. The Garden of Eden was truly paradise on earth until sin entered in.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

Jesus, the second Adam, came in obedience to do the will of the Father. He endured the cross and scorned its shame to restore what the first Adam had lost through his disobedience.

God’s Blessing, God’s Covenant with Noah, and Canaan’s Curse

17 Monday Jun 2013

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God’s Blessing, God’s Covenant with Noah, and Canaan’s Curse

God blessed Noah and his sons. God promised that never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood. Cursed were Canaan and his descendants.

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. Genesis 9:1

The command to be fruitful and multiply was given to both the man and the woman in the Garden of Eden. After the flood, the command was given only to Noah and his sons and not to their wives. After sin entered into the world, part of the curse was that the husband would rule over the wife. Man was given authority over the household. He was not only to take on the responsibility of fathering children but then to provide for and protect the family.

God blessed Noah and his sons by saying that they should have children and populate the earth.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5

Although Scripture emphatically asserts that children are a blessing from God, today many men are impregnating women and then pressuring them to abort their unborn children. Another tragedy occurs when these unplanned pregnancies do come to full term, but men fail to fulfill their duties as fathers. The children born to an unwed mother are under a curse.

A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD. Deuteronomy 23:2

When a child is conceived by unwed parents, the pregnancy is a result of an act of lust and not love. A child conceived by parents who love one another enough to sanctify their relationship through holy matrimony will more likely protect and provide for their child. When an illegitimate child is birthed, demons of lust will follow all children of this line.

The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Genesis 9:2

In the Garden of Eden before the fall of man, the animals were docile and ate plants. Adam and Eve had dominion over the animal kingdom but could rule them with gentleness and love. After the flood, in order to protect the reestablishment of mankind on earth, God puts the fear on man upon the all the animals. Animals can be domesticated because of their fear of man. The animals then can serve as modes of transportation by being ridden, as sources of labor for plowing or treading out grain, and for companionship as pets.

Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. Genesis 9:3-4

Both clean and unclean animals were taken upon the ark. There was a distinction made concerning animals that were deemed fit for sacrifice to God and those which were not. God declared that all animals would be food for man after the flood. Yet, there would be a future distinction made between God’s Chosen People and those who were not His. The diet of the Israelites who would descend from Shem would be restricted to clean animals while the diet of Noah’s other two sons would include unclean animals.

The restriction concerning not eating meat with blood in it was later stated as a command of the Torah according to Leviticus 17:11-12: For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood.”

Deuteronomy 12:23 states: But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.

The life of both men and animals is in their blood. The animal to be sacrificed was to have its life blood drained out to be poured upon the altar. Therefore, the Israelites and any foreigners residing among them were forbidden to eat blood.

Concerning prohibitions for the new Gentile believers the Jerusalem Council restated the restriction according to Acts 15:20: Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.

The prohibition against eating blood originally spoken to Noah and his son’s was later given to the Israelites and to the Church.

And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.” Genesis 9:5-6

Once again, the restrictions and penalties that were given to Noah and his sons were reinstated in the Law of Moses:

“‘If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death. Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution—life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured. Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a man must be put to death. Leviticus 24:17-21

The phrase, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth represented a principle and was not actually required nor is there any record of it have been literally carried out. The concept was that the penalty should fit the crime and not exceed the offense. The penalty is not a matter of extracting vengeance but of administrating true justice.

When an animal belonging to another person was killed, the offender made restitution by replacing the animal with another of equal value or paying the price for the animal. But when a man who was made in the image of God was murdered, the offender was to be put to death. There is no price that can equal the life of a man except the life of another man.

“As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” Genesis 9:7

God’s blessing to Noah and his sons was so important that it is also restated as a direct command to them.

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” Genesis 9:8-11

The promise of God clearly evidences that this was not a local flood. Never again will ALL life be cut off by the waters of a flood. Never again will there be a flood to destroy the EARTH. If it were only a local flood as skeptics claim, why didn’t Noah and his family just move to another location? If it were only a local flood, why were the dimensions of the Ark so large that it could accommodate such a large number and variety of animals?

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” Genesis 9:12-17

A sign is of a covenant was a visible seal or an emblem that served as a reminder of the covenant commitments and promises. Circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant and the Sabbath day was the sign of the Sinaitic Covenant made with Israel. The rainbow was the sign of the Noahic Covenant. Since there have been many local and regional floods since the days of Noah, the rainbow must be a sign that there will never again be a worldwide flood.

and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Genesis 2:5-6

There were no rainbows before the Flood because the earth had never experienced rain until God’s judgment. Up until the time of the Flood, the earth was watered by underground streams.

The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth. Genesis 9:18-19

Shem means name or renown in Hebrew. In fact, observant Jews not wanting to use the name of the LORD in vain will refer to Yahweh as HaShem which, when the Hebrew is translated, literally means “The Name.” Shem would be renown since through his line would come both the nation of Israel and the Messiah.

Ham means “warm” and may be prophetic name because many of the descendants of Ham would occupy Africa as well as the land of Canaan.

Japheth means “to enlarge.” Japheth was indeed “enlarged” to an exceptional degree in his descendants, both in the number of nations ultimately derived from his family and in their very wide spread over the face of the earth.

Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father’s nakedness. Genesis 9:20-23

Nakedness in the Old Testament was from the beginning a thing of shame for fallen man. As a result of the Fall, the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened, and knowing they were naked, they covered themselves. To them as sinners the state of nakedness was undignified, shameful and vulnerable. The covering of nakedness was a sound instinct for it provided a boundary for fallen human relations. Nakedness thereafter represented the loss of human and social dignity. To be exposed meant to be unprotected; this can be seen by the fact that the horrors of the Judah’s exile to Babylon are couched in the image of shameful nakedness.

Nakedness is also a punishment to be meted out to the enemies of God:

You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. Habakkuk 3:13

Rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. But to you also the cup will be passed; you will be drunk and stripped naked. Lamentations 4:21

To see someone uncovered was to bring dishonor and to gain advantage for potential exploitation.

When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.” Genesis 9:24-25

The curse of slavery was upon Canaan and his descendants. The curse would rest upon the Canaanites who dwelled in ancient Palestine, Phoenicia, and Carthage. The Canaanites detestable practices included idolatry, fornication with temple prostitutes, divination and child sacrifice. The prophecy was fulfilled when the Canaanites were enslaved because of their wickedness by the ancient Israelites – first by Joshua (Joshua 9:23) and later by Solomon (1 Kings 9:20-21). Afterwards, the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Egyptians were enslaved by the Persians, Macedonians and finally the Romans.

But why was Noah’s grandson Canaan cursed because of the sin of his father Ham? I think that there are at least two reasons that the curse fell on Canaan. First of all, God foreknew Canaan’s wickedness and how Ham’s disrespectful and dishonoring attitude would wax even worse in Canaan. Secondly, children are to be a blessing and are to honor their parents. Just as Noah’s son Ham did not bring Noah honor but shame, so would Canaan bring dishonor to Ham and not blessing.

He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave.” Genesis 9:26-27

Noah blessed the LORD who would be the source of Shem’s blessings. The blessing was stated as, “May Japheth live in the tents of Shem,” which is an idiom for, “May Japheth share in the blessings of Shem.” Shem and Japheth were blessed for honoring their father by loving him enough to not ogle at his nakedness but to cover it.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

After the flood Noah lived 350 years. Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died. Genesis 9:28-29

There are a number of proposed explanations for the decrease in human life spans after the Flood. They range from an increase in the amount of harmful radiation reaching the Earth’s, to changes in the atmosphere’s pressure or composition, or a combination of these factors.

Noah, who was born 600 years before the flood, lived only 350 years after the flood but had a total life span of 950 years, which was only 19 years less than Methuselah. His son Shem, who was born only 98 years before the flood, lived 500 years after the flood but had a total life span of only 598 years, or about 2/3 the life span of his father. This data suggest that the level of physical body maturity at the time of the flood may hold the key to understanding the long life spans of antediluvian mankind. In other words, children remained children for much longer, reached puberty much later, and their bodies stayed much healthier through a greatly extended adulthood.

Support for this assumption comes from the Bible chronology and the notations of when pre-flood men fathered their first offspring. Observe in the “Book of the Generations of Adam” (Genesis chapter 5), the age of listed men and how old they were when they fathered their first children: Seth 105 years, Enos 90 years, Cainan 70 years, Mahalaleel 65 years, Jared 162 years, Enoch 65 years, etc. The pattern tends to indicate that men did not become sexually mature until at least 60 or 70 years of age. Pre-flood men of the age of 50 to 60 years were physiologically equivalent to today’s teenagers.

The Book of Genesis gives us insight on knowing the end from the beginning. Knowing about the Garden of Eden and the life spans of the patriarchs before the Flood will give us insight into the lives of people living during the Millennium.

Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:27-29

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Revelation 20:4

Jesus promised his disciples that at the renewal of all things, all those who have left family or possessions for His sake would receive a hundred-fold as much and inherit eternal life. The Garden of Eden was shut off to mankind and eventually destroyed in the worldwide flood of Noah’s day. Even the oldest person ever to live, Methuselah who lived for 969 years, died short of a thousand years. But when the Lord returns, He will set up His kingdom on earth and we, who are born-again from above, will reign with Him. At that time:

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. Isaiah11:6-7

During the Millennial Reign of Christ, the holy mountain of the LORD will be the location of the renewed Garden of Eden. For a thousand years, Nation will not take up sword against nation (Isaiah 2:4), because the Prince of Peace will rule with a rod of iron from Zion (Psalm 2:6, 9). For a thousand years, the sovereign LORD declares that Jerusalem, which has been the location of over fifty wars, will finally be a “city of peace.”

I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Isaiah 65:19-21

For a thousand years, the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9b). For a thousand years, the elect will receive a hundred-fold blessing as we rule and reign with Christ.

Asteroids in Bible Prophecy Reveal End Times and the Rapture

17 Monday Jun 2013

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Asteroids in Bible Prophecy Reveal End Times and the Rapture

Since End Time Bible Prophecy Reveals that Asteroids are a Sign that Precedes the Rapture, Can NASA Really Protect Us from a Dangerous Asteroid Strike?

Although John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy claims that NASA will play a leading part in protecting the United States and the world from the threat of a dangerous asteroid strike, the Bible clearly reveals that asteroids are one of the end time signs that precede the Rapture.

According to Matthew 24:29: Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken

The word “star” that is found in the New Testament is translated into English from the Greek word aster. One of the signs in the heavens that will take place after the tribulation is that asteroids will fall to earth.

During the judgement of Noah’s day, all the springs of the great deep burst forth. Just as the waters beneath the earth were held in reserve as an outpouring of God’s judgement, so the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is held in reserve awaiting the outpouring of the final plagues of Revelation.

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:30-31

Jesus replied to his disciples’ inquiry concerning the sign of his second coming and the end of the evil world system by telling of the signs of his return. After the time of great persecution commonly known as the Great Tribulation, the signs in the heavens will include asteroids falling from the sky. After those signs, God’s elect will meet the Lord in the air as they are captured out at the Rapture.