The earth is the Lord's   

 

Genesis

Updated: June 3, 2008

.....in the beginning........


[C]2000-08 by Richard L Zorek

    An overview of Genesis can be summed up in eight words: Creation, Fall, Flood, Babel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

    The quickest way to destroy a building is to attack its foundation. If the foundation can be destroyed, the whole superstructure will fall. It should not be surprising, therefore, that some of the heaviest attacks against the Bible are leveled against its earlier chapters. If You remove the first three chapters from the Bible, the rest loses its meaning.

    The Lone Ranger & Tonto: The Lone Ranger and Tonto are camping in the desert, set up their tent, and are asleep. Some hours later, The Lone Ranger wakes his faithful friend.
    "Tonto, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
    Tonto replies, "Me see millions of stars."
    "What does that tell you?" ask The Lone Ranger.
    Tonto ponders for a minute, "Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What it tell you, Kemo Sabi?"
    The Lone Ranger is silent for a moment, then speaks. "Tonto, you Dummy, someone has stolen our tent!"

    "Take away the first three chapters of Genesis, and you cannot maintain a true Christian position nor give Christianity's answers." ....Francis Schaeffer (The God Who is There)

    • Gen 1:1: "In the beginning God Created the heaven and earth."

      In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God did it. This profound statement is statement about Him more than it is about the beginning of the heavens and the earth. There was no appointed planning committee and there was no public vote. There could have been a big bang as God spoke the heavens and earth into existence. But there was no explosion of matter from nothing.....only the creative energy of God. There are two words that describe the creative activity of God: "progression" and "power." The Hebrew words "tohu" and "bohu", used in the expression 'without form and void,' are so striking that it was apparently used to rivet the readers attention on the condition in its initial stages. That God created ex nihilo (a Latin term meaning "out of nothing") while not explicitly stated, is continually implied throughout scripture, as in Paul's statement about God 'who gives life to the dead, and calls into existence the things that do not exist.'(Rom 4:17). Apparently creation progressed from a state of nothingness through a state of formlessness and emptiness to a condition where formlessness gave way to form and emptiness surrendered to fullness.

      And there is nothing to suggest where "God" came from. He created. That is all that is reported. That, just in itself, is evidence of His ability to have always been there. We think in terms of time...beginning and end. God is not limited by time. Time is sometimes our problem and sometimes our limitation......but God is not restrained by time. He rules over time just as He rules over eternity, which can begin in time...but extends far beyond it. The significance of a Trinity for us is that before there was a universe, there was a "wholeness" and a "completeness" about God in His "three person relatedness" which made Him totally self-sufficient. Any suggestion that God needed the universe to be fulfilled or that He was less than complete without mankind misses the point of the trinity in whom love and communication is pefected. When you ask a man about themselves they usually tell you about their jobs. Identity seems to be bound up in what we do. Often women, when asked the same question, talk about their children. Human identity is discovered and displayed in terms of relationships and activities, and this leads some people to assume that God created the worlds to prove something to Himself and then created mankind to make it possible for Him to have relationships in order to complete His personhood. This would suggest that if God had not created He would have been less than He is and therefore creation served to meet some kind of need in Him. But, God did not have to create in order to feel good about Himself; neither did he need mankind to relate in order to discover His identity. The triune God has always and continues to be complete and needing nothing.

    • Gen 1:2: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."God had already created the earth. But it was without form, and void. Is it possible to imagine such a thing as being "without form?" And darkness covered this formless void and the darkness reached down into the depth of it and over the waters which were also present on this formless void called earth. Is there darkness before light....dusk before the dawn? Then, the Spirit of God moved upon the waters.
      In a document of the early church, we read, "Now, regeneration is by water and spirit, as was all creation: 'For the Spirit of God moved on the abyss' And for this reason the Saviour was baptized, though not Himself needing to be so, in order that He might consecrate the whole water for those who were being regenerated. Baptism was thus emphatically seen as the scarament of the new creation, whereby the old is purged and remade.

    • Gen 1:3: "And God said, Let there be light; and there was light." And God spoke and produced light, which apparently was a neccesity and the beginning of "forming" the "formless void." Is light a necessary part of the creative energy? God, of course, knew what the "formless void" looked like even with out light....but it is interesting that it is in this order. The light shines before the "formless void" is formed. A lesson for our lives from history. An historic principle that began with creation and continues today and tomorrow. "Light" in Hebrew does not refer to the sun. It is referring to energy and matter.

    • Gen 1:4: "And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. There was a time when light and darkness was mixed--but even through that confusion God could "see the light" and knew "it was good." And he separated the two from each other. Adding to the mix of the "formless void" was the mixture of light and dark....they were different, but not separate. I dont know that we can imagine such a sight as a visual. We can see it in other terms, such as somoneones personality who is embracing both light and dark, and they seem to be mixed up: they appear very confused and in extreme probably schizophrenic. And as in creation, only God can truly separate the two conflicts.

    • Gen 1:5: "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." It took but one day for the formless void to take form, and for the light to shine upon it and the darkness to separate from that light. Night and day were created and God named them such. And, hence, the first day..and "time" became a concept.

    • Gen 1:6: "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." The former formless void appears to have been very widespread...even as unto the heavens. God spearated that.

    • Gen 1:7: "And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so." God separated the waters and firmament and that is the way it was and the way it is.

    • Gen 1:8: "And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day." God named this spanse which was eparated from the water "heaven." And another day came and went.

    • Gen 1:9: "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so." Scientists tell us that every part of the earth of which we live on today was once covered by water.

    • Gen 1:10: "And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good." It's interesting that the word interpreted is "good." I would think that if we were writing it, we might use words like "great" or "awesome!!" But, maybe in God's terminology is is just "good," considering it is a temporal plain of existence in a spanse of time. God's "awesome" we have probably yet to see, and may not see til that day....

      According to the Skeptics Bible, The creation account in Genesis 1 conflicts with the order of events that are known to science . In Genesis, it says, earth is created before light and stars, birds and whales before reptiles and insects, and flowering plants before any animals. The true order of events was just the opposite. However, I am curious, if the order is opposite, where the animals and plants hung out if the earth wasn't created until after they were?

    • Gen 1:11: "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so." God created the tree, which then grew it's own seeds.....and has sustained itself in that way since the beginning.

    • Gen 1:12: And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. None of this was cloned. It was created, and then recreated itself through it's own seed.

    • In every way, man's becoming God will be tempered by and limited to his status as a creature; and actually, what man is by creation gives the greatest creedence to the notion that man may become God. In the account of creation in Genesis 1, all living things were created "after their kind" (vv. 11, 12, 21, 24, 25) except man. Hence, in God's creation there are species of living things, each bearing it's own characteristics that distinguish it from other species. But when the creation of man is recounted, he is not said to be created "after his kind." Instead, the Scriptures say, "Let us (God) make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen 1:26). We understand this sentence to correspond to the phrase after their kind in the other sections of the creation account; we see it as a finer, more detailed utterance of the same notion. Hence, we understand by this sentence that man was created after God's kind. The apostle Paul made the similar declaration to the Areopagus in Athens: "Being then the race (Gk. genos, 'species; kind') of God" (Acts 17:29).
      Of course, we all know the sad history of mankind's fall, by which human beings lost a great bit of their likeness to God. Because of the fall, humans are difficult to classify; it is hard to know what "kind" they are. They are obviously superior to all living things and yet appear to be so similar to many of them. On the other hand, humans are certainly Godlike to some extent and yet obviously fall short of God. Nevertheless, humans were created in such a way that through Gods economy they may become God. Before the fall Adam was not a defiled man; he was not created with God's life and nature but only with the capacity to recieve them. The fall delayed the realization of what we humans were created for and brought in negative elements that required our redemption.

    • In verse 1:26 we read "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good." Up to this point creation was described as "good." But when He looked at the over all, He said it was "very good." All of Gods creation including man and his abilities as the image-bearer of God were declared to be good, even very good.
      The old creation in itself is insufficient for the realization of that goal, and requires the redemptive work of Christ as the head of the new creation.
      The Biblical basis for the production and enjoyment of art is simply that God declared it to be very good when he created man. Music as a form of art is good in and of itself precisely because God declared it to be so. No other justification for the art of music is needed. Indeed, no other justification for art can be given that will stand up to the objective declaration of God that all of His creation is very good, including man's creativity, which is part of the image of God. All other justification for art are finally reduced to nothing but the subjective claims of man.

    • 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
    • When God said, "Let us make man in our image", we are swept back into the trinity before the creation of the world. Here is thought, because God is a personal God, who thinks, who acts, and who feels in his love. The balances here are most delicate and we must hold both sides or we lose the wealth of the Christian position. There is an external world; it is not the extension of God's essence. But while there is a true external world which is not the extension of God's essence, God thought first. These realities were in the thought of God before they were brought forth by his power, his creative fiat as the objective and external world.
      On the ceiling of the Sistine chapel in Rome there are the tremendous frescoes by Michelangelo. Among them is that magnificent picture of the creation of man. God is reaching out his finger and man, having just been created, reaches to him as well. But their fingers do not touch. This is true Christian insight. Man is not an extension of God, cut off like a reproducing amoeba. God created man external to himself, and they must not touch in the picture. However, this point must be made: That which is created out of nothing and now has objective reality, does show forth the thought of God and is therefore an exhibition of who and what he is. The external world is not an extension of the essense of God,; nevertheless, the external world does reveal and exhibit who and what God is.
      Image, in it's truest meaning, is the essence of what really is. Man is the likeness of one subject (God)--expressed visibly through another (man). This does not mean physical characteristics--for God is invisible spirit. But this image is unique to man. Only after God created the plant life, animal life, and such, and declares, them all "good," does He create man. Only humanity received the image of God, which separates man from animals and gives him dignity. Consequently--the unbeliever perceives man as equal to animals because he lacks understandoing og his special dignity as a human being. On the other hand, on the other extreme, the unbeliever can perceive God as being equal..which is an unfounded liberal perspective of "image."

    • Gen 1:28: "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" We are not to worship the creation but the Creator. We are not to be subdued by the earth, but we are to have dominion over it and to be good stewards of the resources God has intrusted us with.
      While the order established by God is a necessary condition for human knowledge, it is not sufficient. For human knowledge to be possible, the order established by God must also be comprehended by man. However, since man was created to be God's dominion agent, the basis for human comprehension is rooted in the same purposeful activity of God. Man's thinking process is preadapted to the universe by God's intelligent design. In other words, man's thoughts cohere with the world because both man and the world share a common Creator. Thus, in accounting for both universal order and human comprehension of it, Christianity provides a sound epistemological base for science and all human knowledge.

    • Gen 1:31: "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." Here the Hebrew tob expresses, not only the goodness of the creation, but also its beauty. Tob is linked with beauty, and this is the aspect the Septuagint stresses in its Greek translation. Goodness and beauty go together. The works of God are good. They reflect His kindness, good will, and generosity. They are also good in that they reflect a marvelous and intricate interconectedness. This is the only time that, after surveying what he had created, that it is translated "very good."

    • Gen 1:2: Now at last the heavens and earth were successfully completed with all that they contained." completed=finsihed.

    • Gen 2:2-3: The pattern of Sabbath rest comes from the creation rest of God. God's work has a finished character: it has no open ends, unrealized potentialities and possibilites outside of God's decree, nor any independence from His purpose. As a result, man can have rest and peace in that certain world which is in its every atom circumcized and determined by the word of God. To believe in God is to believe in the reality of rest and peace; there is no Sabbath apart from God, and to break the Sabbath is to question or challenge God's reality and government.

    • Gen 2:7: "The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" God created man in a particular way. This verse shows the tripartite being of man. The dust from the ground was formed into his physical body so that he could possess world-consciousness to contact the material universe. The breath of life breathed into his nostrils bcame his human spirit so that he could possess God-consciousness and contact the divine and mystical realm of God who is spirit. The Hebrew word for breath in this verse is neshamah. Proverbs 20:7 says that "the spirit (neshamah) of man is the lamp of the lord." This shows that the breath of life breathed into man is the spirit of man. The issue of the breath of life being breathed into man's nostrils that man became a living soul. Man's soul possesses self-consciousness for him to have his personality and contact the things of the psychological realm. The organ that makes man distinct from the other creatures is his human spirit.

      The "Smart" Scientists One day, a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell Him that they were done with Him.
      The scientist walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need You. We're to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't You just go and get lost."
      God listened very patiently and kindly to the man. After the scientist was done talking, God said, "Very well, how about this? Let's say we have a man-making contest."
      To which the scientist replied, "Okay, great!" But God added, "Now, we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam."
      The scientist said, "Sure, no problem" and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.
      God looked at him and said, "No, no, no... you go get your own dirt!"

    • Gen 2:15: And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. This was just his initial task. His wife was to assist him in his prime calling: to be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth, and excercising dominion.

    • Gen 2:16: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

    • Gen 2:17: 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. Since sin requires death as its penalty, an atonement must somehow involve death. What if God had not put that tree there? Would there be no choice? Everything would have been good and not evil if this choice for evil hadn't been there. But could man really be a free autonomous man without it? Some theorize that man had no knowledge of good and evil until partaking of the fruit of the tree. But, clearly, God uses the expressions "good and evil." And even warns them of what would happen if they partake of it. No surprise punishment for doing what is forbidden.

    • Gen 2:18: "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." God specifically created a help for Adam that was suitable for him. They were not equals (God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve) but rather complements; i.e., each possessed mutally affirming gifts, strengths and insights. Each was incomplete without the other. Each person had qualities that the other needed to fulfill his covenant duties before God.

    • The very essence of womanhood is relationalism. God's great design in creating a woman was to relate her to man (Gen 2:18). While this creation ordinance dictates subordination of woman to man in relationship, it in no way implies subordination of personhood (I Cor 11:3). In theological terms, woman is economically, but not ontologically, subordinate to man. She finds her life's joy and satisfaction in assisting man in his life's work--and principally her husband. Woman was given to man because it was not good for him to be alone; woman is called to assist man in his calling. She has no independent calling. Her life is lived out with main attention on her covenant head, ordinarily her husband. We do not hereby imply women have no direct contact with God, as though the husband is a medieval-style intermediary or confessor, only that woman's God-ordered calling in this life includes revolution around and investment in the life of her covenant head. She is primariliy a domestic creature, while her man is primarily a dominion creature.

    • Gen 2:20: And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. Adam was immediately required to expand his vocabulary and begin classifying the natural world. God made Adam into an observer of the natural world, a scientist, and a lexicographer--an expander of language, a maker of dictionaries. This was God's first step in educating Adam, to make sure he knew that he was not an animal, that he was apart fromn the animal kingdom, with gifts that allowed him to dominate the animal kingdom. However, no matter what the task was, loneliness was still a problem. Man cannot cover up his loneliness with work. It appears to have been Adams discovery that he had this "lack" in his existence.

      Adam was very lonely in the Garden of Eden and told God he had to have someone besides God to talk to. God replied that He would give Adam a companion--a woman.
      God said the woman will cook for Adam, wash his clothes, clean his house, bear his children, and take care of him
      The woman, God said, will always agree with every decision Adam makes and never argue with him. She will be full of love for him, and she will heal; his wounds. She will never have a headache, and she will always be in good humor.
      "What will a woman like this cost me?" Adam asked.
      "An arm and a leg," God replied
      "What can I get for a rib?" Adam asked.

    • Gen 2:21-22: 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. And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. And Adam 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. Eve was created in Adam at the very beginning, but was not brought into existence as a separate entity until a later point in time. Adam was put to sleep, his side opened, and from this opened side God took one of his ribs and formed Eve. Eve was taken out of Adam and then presented back to Adam for "an helpmeet." Eve was a part of the very being of Adam; and resultingly, separate from Eve, Adam was incomplete. In this respect, Eve, being presented back to Adam for "an helpmeet," completed Adam. And in the highest sense, God looked upon the existing union as "one flesh." The significance of this was that male and female are originally one. In their present separated existence each needs the other for self-completion.

    • Gen 2:24: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Neither Adam nor Eve had a father or mother. But before they had a child, before they could experience the passage of time leading to another generation begining new familes, the basic teaching was unfolded, the basic command in human relationships was set forth. The reason a person leaves father and mother is to enter into the new relationship of oneness, to start a new generation of family. The parent-child relationship was never meant to be permanent. It is striking that God took the trouble to make this clear in giving us eveidence that this was His plan for human beings before there was any fall. This "leaving" does not mean the young couple should avoid contact with their parents. Rather, they should "let go" of their former lives as son or daughter in order to cement their partnership as husband and wife.

      This verse (2:24) has three parts and mention three things which are essential to marriage: (1) a public act, "leaving" one's family with a view to establishing a new home; (2) a permanent bond, "cleaving" or being permanently bound in a new partnership as husband and wife; (3) a physical embrace, becoming "one flesh" physically through sexual union.

      Eve was not given to Adam in fulfillment of a natural or merely sexual need, although this was recognized, but in fulfillment of his need as a "helpmeet," or helper to Adam in his life work which was to exercise dominion and subdue the earth. Marriage is the normal state of man, for, "It is not good that man should be alone." Unless men are physically incapacitated, or else called by God to the single estate, marriage is their normal state of life. Marriage is seen in scripture with tenderness, but without romance. It is very clearly described as a "yoke." A yoke is a tie binding two creatures together in pulling burdens. Marriage is also described as "trouble in the flesh." Marriage is a working partnership of man and wife in the service of God, exercising dominion in their appointed spheres.

      Adam - red, a Babylonian word, the generic name for man, having the same meaning in the Hebrew and the Assyrian languages. It was the name given to the first man, whose creation, fall, and subsequent history and that of his descendants are detailed in the first book of Moses (Gen. 1:27-ch. 5). "God created man [Heb., Adam] in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

      Adam was absolutely the first man whom God created. He was formed out of the dust of the earth (and hence his name), and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and gave him dominion over all the lower creatures (Gen. 1:26; 2:7). He was placed after his creation in the Garden of Eden, to cultivate it, and to enjoy its fruits under this one prohibition: "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 first recorded act of Adam was his giving names to the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, which God brought to him for this end. Thereafter the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, and while in an unconscious state took one of his ribs, and closed up his flesh again; and of this rib he made a woman, whom he presented to him when he awoke. Adam received her as his wife, and 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." He called her Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

      Being induced by the tempter in the form of a serpent to eat the forbidden fruit, Eve persuaded Adam, and he also did eat. Thus man fell, and brought upon himself and his posterity all the sad consequences of his transgression. The narrative of the Fall comprehends in it the great promise of a Deliverer (Gen. 3:15), the "first gospel" message to man. They were expelled from Eden, and at the east of the garden God placed a flame, which turned every way, to prevent access to the tree of life (Gen. 3). How long they were in Paradise is matter of mere conjecture.

      Shortly after their expulsion Eve brought forth her first-born, and called him Cain. Although we have the names of only three of Adam's sons, viz., Cain, Abel, and Seth, yet it is obvious that he had several sons and daughters (Gen. 5:4). He died aged 930 years.

      Adam and Eve were the progenitors of the whole human race. Evidences of varied kinds are abundant in proving the unity of the human race. The investigations of science, altogether independent of historical evidence, lead to the conclusion that God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26. Comp. Rom. 5:12-12; 1 Cor. 15:22-49).

    • The Bible does not give a philosophical or speculative account of the ultimate origin of evil. It describes the mode by which sin made its way into the sphere of human experience.
    • Gen 3:1: "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God has made. And said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (The Genesis account does not name Satan of the devil as the tempter, but he is mentioned in John 8:44, II Cor 11:3, Rev 12:9) ). Satan approached Eve in an apparently friendly manner. His question implied that he was concerned about her welfare. Satan sought to draw Eve into a dialogue on his terms. The question was very subtle and clever. By phrasing the question in this manner Satan had divorced the original prohibition from its context and had given it a false emphasis. One of the important keys to this verse and the power of Satan to seduce is the word "subtle". Satans greatest "inroads" over truth are not made by full frontal attacks and chaos....but through subtle seducton. When something has been introduced into our lives in a subtle way, it seems right, it feels right, it may even look right........but it is not right. Quite often it is popular, and discovering its influence is like going against the grain. And may not seem normal. Gen 3:1. Satan did not show himself openly to the woman, but made use of a snake. Keep in mind that before the fall snakes were not regarded with fear and disgust as they now are among women. Prior to the fall the snake was a good and beautiful creature not associated with evil. The snake used by Satan may have been multicolored and very pleasing to the senses. The narrative states that the snake was more cunning than any beast of the field (vs. 1). The snake was cunning, crafty and shrewd. Satan picked a creature that corresponds to his own nature. Satan appears as an angel of light. He uses cunning, deceit and stealth to deceive mankind. Likewise, snakes do not boldly, openly attack their prey but use subtlety, stealth, and camouflage to deceive their prey. When a snake’s prey is aware of its presence it is usually too late. The speaking of Balaam's ass is a divine miracle; the speaking of the serpent is a diabolical one.

    • Gen 3:2: "And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:" And the serpent must have been a different kind of beast before the fall of mankind, because the woman is, obviously, having a conversation with one and it doesn't bother her.

    • Gen 3:3: "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." Interestingly, most people, when referring to this, suggest it was an apple. It never says what kind of fruit is is, but that it is fruit.

    • Gen 3:4: "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:"The lie had an element of truth in it which made it all the more deceptive. This was not an emphatic declaration by the serpent because then he had to go on and explain how he came to that conclusion, and had to discredit the one who gave the message as one who was giving half-truths. Sounds like modern day politics to me. Although on the surface Satan’s question appears quite innocent it implies that man has the authority to place God in the dock and judge His law-word. “Has God forbidden you to eat from all the trees? Really! Can it possibly be true?” Satan wanted Eve to think that God’s command was unreasonable and unfair. Satan’s tactic has been used by humanists for centuries. God’s word is said to be irrational, ludicrous, unfair and evil. People who believe such lies, ethically become wild beasts.Satan in the first phase of the temptation seeks to gain Eve’s trust with what appears to be an innocent question of concern. The first phase is subtle and indirect. While pretending to be compassionate and friendly toward Eve, Satan is actually just putting on a front in order to place a seed of doubt in her heart. After accomplishing the first phase of his attack Satan goes straight for the jugular. Having gained Eve’s attention and trust he delivers the knock-out blow. Satan directly and emphatically denies God’s word. “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die’” (Gen. 3:4). In the original language the negative comes first and receives all the emphasis: “NO! It is not true that you will surely die.” The Hebrew could be paraphrased: “No way, you will positively not die!” Satan also denied that sin results in judgment. “Look Eve, God lied to you. His word cannot be trusted. You’re not going to die.” If people believe that they can lie, steal, fornicate, commit adultery, get drunk, commit murder and so on with absolutely no negative consequences from God, then people will sin with boldness

    • Gen 3:5: "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Satan sounds like a good theologian. Gods sovereignty, law, power, authority, and government cannot be limited. He is Lord and Savior of all things, their total Creator and Governor. Hence, in every area of life and thought, we must be under His Law and jurisdiction. There is no sphere of life, nor any area of activity, which is outside God's jurisdiction. Men can never step outside God's government and law wherein man is sovereign. At no point in man's life or in all creation can we say, "Here is where Gods government and sovereignty stop, and here's where man's word takes over." All such thinking, however spiritual it sounds, professes assertion of the tempters principle that man is somehow, somewhere, and in some ways entitled to be his own god, kowing and determining evil. Such a view is original sin, whether in the mouth of Satan or in the mouth of a spiritual pastor. This is the plain meaning of dispensationalism and antinomionism. It limits God. It declares that God is not now soveriegn and, therefore, has no word for every area of man's life. After telling Eve that God is a liar, that sin will not result in death, Satan next explains why God has lied and why Eve will not die. “For God knows that in the day that you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (v. 5). Satan told Eve that God lied because he does not want her to have the wonderful blessing that attends the eating of the forbidden fruit. His statement to Eve clearly implies that an evil motive lies behind God’s command. Satan told Eve that God is selfish; that He is not really concerned for her welfare. “Eve, the reason God told you not to eat the fruit is not because eating it will cause you to die. The real reason is that God is selfish. He doesn’t want you to be like Him.”

    • Men tend to want to repeat the first sin. They want to "be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen 3:5). Sinners want to declare their independence from God. Wealth is one mechanism men see as conveying independence and power. With wealth man thinks he can be self-sufficient, first of all economically, then spiritually. The power that comes from wealth gives man a false confidence that blinds him to his own condition and need. Men, who tend to trust what is tangible, see wealth as a source of safety.

    • Humanism is the worship of man. It is the belief that man is supreme and autonomous. It can lead to the extremes of anarchy, where every man is supreme, to statism, where the collective voice of men is supreme, or to many variations btween the two. It has been a strong trend in human thought throughout history because man, as a rebel against the true Soveriegn of the universe, desires to declare his own autonomy. Man the sinner wants to say about some area in his life, "I am in charge." Pelegianism, semi-Pelagianism, Arminianism, and other ideas are thinly disguised by humanism and brought into Christianity. All these views share the idea that man--not God--ultimately decides his destiny. Satan could not strike at God directly so he did what he considered to be the next best thing: he struck at man, God’s image and friend.

    • Gen 3:6: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." This act was spiritual death for mankind. It preceeded the physical death. Spirtual death is the parent of physical death. The first sin was committed by a perfect creature, living in a perfect environment with no malevolent being (devil) to tempt. Combining the three: food, looks, wisdom, as motivators for the act of eating the fruit, it appears to be a desire towards power. Did discontent lead to this? The environment was perfect. Was part of the temptation the sowing of the seeds of discontent? We may be sitting in our lot in life, and the Devil may come along in order to convvince us that we are not, and in an effort to "better" ourselves, eat of some fruit we shouldn't be eating of.

    • The need for atonement is basic to fallen man as the need for food is to created man. And just as man must find his food outside himself, so true atonement comes from outside man. Devouring ones self is no act of nourishment, nor is the quest for self-atonement ever successful. Food and atonement come from outside.
      Most men willingly move toward a source of food, but our spiritual problem is such that we, by (fallen) nature, want no part of a God-provided atonement. God must compel us to accept his gracious provision. And his gracious provision is the only one the Scripture offers. The idea of self-atonement is an invention of man fleeing the true God (Gen 3:7-8).

    • Gen 3:9-10: And the Lord called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." Adam hid from God because of the guilt and shame of his sin. Many of God's people today are hiding, afraid to hear God speak.
    • Guilt and shame have been replaced by self-esteem, a highly prized late twentieth-century virtue. Self esteem goes hand in hand with irresponsibility and victimhood. When Adam was confronted by God with his sin, his answer was to blame God and the woman: "The woman thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (Gen 3:12. Adam saw himself as the innocent victim of a conspiracy by God and Eve!
    • (Gen 3:13).: Eve's response was similar; she was a poor innocent woman who was beguiled by the Evil One Self-esteem goes hand in hand with irresponsibility because it presupposes man's natural goodness. Given this good, or, at worst, nuetral state of man's moral being, it then follows that when man does wrong something outside is to blame. Deception plays an important part in satanic temptation. Satan avoids making a frontal attack immediately on God's probationary command and its threatened penalities. Instead, he sows the seeds of doubt, unbelief, and rebellion. The temptation of Eve is typical. She is made to feel that God has unwisely and unfairly withheld a legitimate objective good from man

    • The fall of man is basic to a true theory of knowledge because the fall meant the radical warping of reason that constitutes rationalism. Man as a sinner hates the truth because the truth condemns him. It is much easier for him to go by Aristotle than the Bible because Aristotle acknowledges no fall. If no fall is acknowledge, than our thinking is flawless. Because man's mind and will have been corrupted by the fall, his ability to think has also been corrupted. Failure to know God as the Lord means a failure to know ourselves as creatures.

    • Gen 3:14: "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. The serpent, the tool used by Satan to effect the fall of man, is cursed. The curse affects not only the instrument, the serpent, but also the indwelling energizer, Satan. Great physical changes took place in the serpent. Apparently, it was upright; now it will go on it's belly. It was the most desireable animal of animal creation; now it is the most loathsome. The sight or thought os a snake should be an effective reminder of the devastating effects of sin."

    • Gen 3:15 states; "And I (Jehovah) will put emnity (hostility) between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and between thy (the serpent's) seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heal." The English translation does not give the force of the Hebrew text. In the Hebrew text the word translated emnity (hostility) comes at the beginning of the sentence. The force of the statement, in the hebrew is this way, "emnity will I (Jehovah) put between the...(seeds)" The focal point of this statement is that there is an irreconcilable hostility, judicially instituted by God Himself between the two fundamental Biblical classes of men. The opposition and antithesis between followrs of God and followers of Satan is not simply predicted by God and is not simply commanded; it is sovereignly inflicted as God's judicial curse.

    • In Gen 3:15 where the first promise of the coming of the Messiah was given, we are told that the Messiah, when he comes, shall be bruised. He shall crush Satan, but he shall be bruised in the process. In Genesis 3:21, how is man to be clothed now that he has sinned? With skins, requiring the shedding of blood. In Genesis 22 we read about the great event which shows Abraham's comprehension concerning the Messiah who was to come. His son has to be placed upon an altar, as a sacrifice--and then a ram is supplied, thus giving a double picture of substitution.

    • The covenant of works was destroyed by the deliberate, free, unconditional choice of Adam and eve. In its place, by the grace of God, with the promises begun in Gen 3:15, mand was immediately given the promise of the work of the Messiah, coming in the future. Thus from the time of the fall onwards, everything rests upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, not upon ourselves.

    • The fact that Eve was placed under the rule of her husband (Gen 3:16) in no way lessens Adam's sin. Eve may have been the first to believe Satans's lie but Adam chose willingly to listen to his wife rather than obey God. Moreover, God referred to Adam as believing the lie that he would "become as one of us, to know good and evil" (3:22). All Christian theology is based on the sin an guilt of both parents of mankind. Paul's comments in I Timothy 2:11-15 specifically regarded women and subjection, so they only served to illustrate that Eve's part in the first sin was very real.

    • The subtle nature of idolatry is obscured by its inordinate relationship to people, responsibilities, and ministries that are inherently godly in origin. For example, the first manifestation of idolatry is the original sin of Adam partaking of the fruit God had forbidden. Instead of obeying God, Adam willfully chose to idolatrously submit to his wife's counsel. Eve was deceived by the serpent, but Adam knowingly violated God's command: "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife and eaten from the tree which I have commanded you, saying 'You shall not eat of it' (Gen 3:17). Most Christian men appropriately value their wives and especially their counsel. Yet, no matter how sacred and holy the marriage covenant is, it is a subordinate relationship to the Lordship of Christ. Like Adam, we too can make an idol out of our spouses.

    • Genesis 3:19 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." The original decree of death was only the death of the body. (see Eccl 12-7). The Spirt, "the breath of lives," was blown into Adam by his God, and was dust. The spirit, therefore, was not doomed to dust with the body at death.
    • The tree of life is the Word of God and is also Christ. The wicked never seek God. They are frustrated because when they attempt to read the Bible they cannot understand its deep spiritual, symbolic meanings. It is only fair for God to hide His Word from sinners who think they are hiding their sins from God. God is not mocked, the sinner is. God's word mock the sinner for mocking God: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal 6:7). By hiding their sins they cut themselves off from the ability to hear, understand, and receive God's words, Gods life, Gods power, and the rest of Gods blessings. It is a code they cannot break without confessing their sins, and continuing in God's service by walking in His Siprit till the end, never faiting in well doing. This codes is purposely placed so that the wicked cannot eat from the tree of life, Christ, the Word of God, lest they put forth their hand "and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." (Gen 3:22).

    • Gen 4:1: "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord." Eve understood very clearly where Cain came from, though her sexual relation was with Adam. "Adam knew Eve," to me, suggests an important intimacy. It wasn't just "sex" or a "screw"....instead, he "knew" her. Eve also looked beyond the baby that had been born to her, and saw a man, exclaiming, "I have gotten a man from the Lord."

    • Gen 4:2: "And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." Anyone ever wonder why their "vocations" or callings were different? One was not better than the other, because both had to be done.

    • Gen 4:3: And in the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord It is not said here that the offering was based on any divine institution. It may have been a spontaneous act of gratitude and recognition of God. The exact origin or reason of the offering is unknown.
    • Gen 4:4: "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: Abel made a real sacrifice and brought the firstlings and fat...the best of the flock. Cain just brought fruit from the ground. Yes, he tilled and grew it, but was it his best?

    • Gen 4:5: "But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell." Not an unusual reaction for one who knows how God wishes us to responds but doesn't.

    • Gen 4:6: "And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?" The Lord knew, of course, but was giving Cain an opportunity for growth.

    • Gen 4:7: "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. The poor attitude going to lead him to sins door?

    • Gen 4:8: "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. In Genesis Chapter 4 we read about the first murder. Cain had offered an unnacceptable sacrifice and Cain was upset that God insisted that he do the right thing. In other words, Cain was peeved that he could not do his own thing.
      Cain decided to kill his brother rather than get right with God. There were no guns available, although there may well have been a knife. Whether it was a knife or a rock, the Bible does not say. The point is, the evil in Cain's heart was the cause of the murder, not the availability of the murder weapon.
      Gods response was not to ban rocks of knives, or whatever, but to banish the murderer. Later (see Gen 9:5-6) God instituted capitol punishment, but said not a word about banning weapons.
      The one thing that so-called "gun-control" laws do not do is control guns. They disarm potential victims. People who do not care about the law can always get guns in a country with 200 million guns and more coming in, both legally and illegally.
      We cant even stop millions of human beings from coming into this country illegally--and a handgun is a lot smaller than a person. That basic reality is not changed by politicians and media loudmouths who appeal to emotions and symbolism by crying out for more gun laws. You can always pass feelgood laws and ignore their actual consequences. In fact, we have already done that on to many other issues.
      The biggest hypocrites on gun control are those who live in upscale developments with armed security guards--and who want to keep other people from having guns to defend themselves. Affluent homeowners pay to have private armed security patrols cruising their neighborhoods. Many of them are also for gun control. Of course you dont have to have a gun yourself when you are paying other people to carry guns for you.

    • Gen 4:17: And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. The first form of human goverment may have been in that "city" built by Cain, for we would have to presume they has some form of leadership and organization. But what it was--tyranny, democracy, or Communism--is pure conjecture.

    • Gen 5:1: "This is the book of generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;" God is no man's debtor. Those who, called to a one-track life, respond with wholehearted devotion live life most fully, and most interestingly, too. One of the lessons to be learned from some of the seemingly boring genealogies in the Old Testament (these long lists of people whom litte or nothing is said apart from the recording of their names) is that there is in fact little to record about lives that are outside the covenant purpose of God. They are dull and lifeless, even boring, figures, lacking substance and vitality. It is the life committed to the divine purposes that is really full and meaningful.

    • Gen 5:2: "Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." Two different sexes.

    • Gen 5:10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: Can you imagine the length of time a lot of these people loved? Hundreds of years on the earth. That is an unfathomable time in the flesh. In our day, infirmities would make a lot of that time unpleasant for many. So mankind must have been strong and pure.

    • Gen 5:32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And all these hundreds of years of generations later, this group was born and would fulfill an important mission in the existence of the world.

    • Gen 6:3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." The days are shortened for man.

    • 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD . What a wonderful thing for any man to have these thoughts from God toward.

    • Gen 6:13: So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. With all the evil that is going on in the world today, God has not put an end to the world. How much more evil was going on back then? The decription in Matt 24;38 suggest they "were eating and drinking, marrrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark." They appeared to be a normal active society. Yet, God says they were filled with violence. But Gen 6:5 clarifies. every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." As any drug addict can tell you, the habit is in the mind. The Hebrew word for "violence" mean "vicious dealings, mistreatment, wrongful imaginings, cruelty." The fruit being produced in society was a fruit of the peoples minds and hearts.

    • Gen 6:18: "But with thee I will establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons wives and thee." Noah, like Adam, becomes with this the representative of humanity. The covenant becomes God's gift to Noah of the grace, mercy, and law of God. Mankind must look to Noah (as to others) as their father in the covenant of God.

    • Gen 7:1: And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. The Lord did not see Noah as perfect, but He did see him as "righteous." Noah pursued "righteousness."

    • 7:4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. If something is destroyed from the face of the earth...it probably doesn't come back. How many different things might have been here before the flood?

    • 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. The waters came from the depths of the earth, as well as from above.
    • Gen 7:12: And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Just one day of nonstop rain would cause a lot of flooding. Could you imagine 40 days of it?

    • Gen 7:13: In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; This was, in essence, the new lineage that would repopulate the earth.

    • 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. This paints a different picture of a God who is often percieved as nothing but happy "love." But, if God is love, then this action....the indignation...has to be a part of it. Was the destruction just a rambling act of anger, or was it a necessary pruning, in order for mankind to go on and survive?
    • 8:1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; God had not forgotten Noah, nor His promise to him.

    • Gen 8:21: And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. A promise from God that he would never smote the entire world again.

    • Gen 8:22: While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. the seasons as we know them will continue until the world ends.

    • Gen 9:3: Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. From the beginning it was God's design that men harness his creation to make it fruitful. The ultimate end of this work was to support human life and in so doing facilitate multiplication of mankind that the earth may be populated for the glory of the Lord.

    • Gen 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. The blood, which signifies life, is sacred.

    • Genesis 9:5-7: "And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of a man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. The Bible makes it clear what is justly required of those who shed man's (innocent) blood--death. The Bible is pro-capital punishment. Nobody who takes human life seriously could support anything less for premeditated murder. If human life is precious, it is worth protecting; and if it is worth protecting, it is worth exectuing justice against those who violate it.

    • Gen 9:7: "As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it." This very first command to not kill, with the penalty of death for a death to demonstrate the preciousness of life, was given in the context of the command to have babies, who would be of course these human beings increasing in number, made in the image of God, precious to Him, having value in history. Not only was the command given to be fruitful and multiply, but so often the picture of utter emptiness is spoken of as barren, as with a "barren womb," in many places in the Bible. In the Bible, birth is used to picture the entrance of the family of the living God, the company of believers forever. Birth is a beginning that is meant to have a continuity with life of a certain length on earth, and the new birth indicates a spiritual birth into everlasting life.

    • Gen 9:10: And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. God established covenant with Noah and with the animals with him.

    • Gen 9:13: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. The rainbow. A reminder of God's covenant with mankind.

    • Genesis 10 gives us the earliest table in existence of the origin of the nations. Shem, Ham, Japheth, the sons of Noah, became the founder of the three great racial families of the earth. The Semitic tribes descended from Shem; the dark-skinned African and the Canaanite races descended from Ham; the other nations descended from Japheth.
    • The building of the Tower of Babel was an attempt by man to build a united world society from which God was to be excluded. It ended in judgment, It ended in judgment, the confounding of human speech, and the scattering of the human family to the ends of the earth.

    • Gen 10:9: "He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord." Nimrod was a leader of a kingdom, the beginning of which was Babel. He is called in "a mighy hunter before (in defiance of; in opposition to) the Lord." He led a great rebellion against God.

    • Gen 11:1: And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. Now what happened to the different languages from the previous chapters, or is this chapter out of sequence?

      11:2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

    • Gen 11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. The purpose of the Tower of babel was to rival heaven, to exalt the glory of man, and to defy God to dare to rival their tower, a world center of government.

    • Gen 11:4: And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. I don't think the intent was to reach God, as some would surmise. I believe the idea was to become like God. A strong union of strength to reach into heaven...not reach God. Had they wanted to reach God, there may have been some honor in it, though misguided.

    • Gen 11:6: And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. There is strength in numbers, it is just rarely ever used for righteous purposes.

    • Gen 11:7: Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. A simple breakdown in communication is all it takes to confound any "plan."

    • Gen 12:2-3: "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you: I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Faith is knowing that God will do what He has promised in His word. What is notable about God's covenant with His people are His promises. Abraham believed and was justified. We can be assured as Abraham was, that God will keep what He's promised--He guarantees them with an oath. We can be confident that through faith, what is promised, will be done. (Rom 4:21). God was always the God of all nations. Israels particular role was not to hinder salvation for all people. In Abraham, "all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen 18:18).
    • Gen 12:7: And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. Seed? Could be a next generation or even farther than that.

    • Gen 12:20: And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had. God sees things the way they are and reacts accordingly. Our motive could be wrong or right. God, apparently, will still react according to the way "it should be."

    • Gen 15:5: And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. It was Gods great promise to our father Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. Though one man, he created a family that within just a few generations became a mighty nation.

    • Gen 15:6: And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. If we modify the translation slightly, it is possible to read, "And he discovered the Lord's will, and the Lord attributed the discovery to him as righteousness." Righteousness can be understood as living the humanity which God wishes us to live.

    • Gen 17:1: I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect The fact that God repeatedly identifies Himself in Scripture as "the Almighty" is a part of the assertion of total sovereignty and hence His call to obedience. It is possible to walk before the Lord with a perfect heart.

    • Gen 17:7: "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and they seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to they seed after thee." The Bible stresses covenental inclusion as based not on birth, but on re-birth, without in any way negating the glorious promises to the elect, that their physical seed stands in a special relation to God, and that they may presume their seed to be elect, and therefore should train that seed in the gospel and the Faith (I Tim 3:15).

    • Gen 18:14: Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Sometimes the Lord's miracles do not conform with the average reality of life..but they serve His purpose.

    • Gen 18:23: And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Abraham was beginning his plea for the righteous. He pleaded and intereceded. A man of great compassion.

      18:24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

    • Gen 18:25: That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? It is not that whatever God does will be right because He does it, it is because it is right and ought to be done.

    • Gen 18:32: And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. What a tremendous statement! God said He would spare those wicked cities for the sake of ten righteous people! Sodom and Gomorrah were so sexually impure that their sin gave us the term "sodomy" (see Gen 19:1-11). Yet because Abraham asked, God said he would spare those cities if He found in them ten righteous men.

    • Gen 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. Many of the struggles we are soon to face "come to pass." Temptation is the act of tempting or the state of being tempted. In the OT the specific verb indicating the act of tempting is the Piel form nissa. In Gen. 22:1 nissa characterizes God's command to Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering in the land of Moriah. The term nissa is rarely, if ever, applied in the OT to Satan's act of enticing men to sin. And understanding is established between the writer and the reader; we know more than Abraham could have known.

    • Gen 22:8: And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. Jesus doesnt overturn the Old testament religion, he completely and entirely justifies it, vindicates it, gives sense and glory to it. Apart from him a modern observer might view it as just shy of barbaric. But in him it is spectacular grace on every page. "God will provide the lamb"? Yes! It is the theme of scripture.

    • Gen 22:12: And he said "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God; seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me The test was between fear of God an disobedience.
    • 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

      22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

      22:15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

      22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

    • Gen 22:17: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; This prediction appears in the Lord's word of promise to Abraham in response to his faith and obedience in being willing to follow the Lord's command to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. In context, this prophecy is part of the comprehensive plan for the seed of Abraham: Abraham's seed shall multiply and be as the stars of heaven in number; Abraham's seed will be the means of blessing to all nations of the earth.
      The Hebrew word for "possess" (yarash) means to take, to take posesion of, to inherit, dispossess, or to occupy. The word was commonly used in reference to Israel's possession of the land of Canaan by conquering the inhabitants and occupying their land (Dt 31:3). The specific object to be possessed in this prediction is the gate of their enemies. The word "gate" is filled with significance in the Old Testament. The gate was important for war, commerce, and civil government. In war, if one could penetrate the gates of a city, his victory was virtually assured; control of the gates determined the otcome of the conflict. In commerce, those who controlled the gates determined who could and who could not enter the city to do business. In civil government, the gate was the place where the elders and rulers of the people would sit to hold court and carry out the other aspects of civil ruling. Therefore, to "possess" the gate" of your enemy is to conquer him and take control of his city, commerce, and civil government. Ine New Testament perspective, it promises the church complete dominion over the heathen and possession of all the nations of the earth, i.e., all nations will be conquered by the gospel of Christ and be discipled in the Chrstian faith. Believers in Jesus Christ will disposess the enemies of God and control the "gate" in all nations.

    • Gen 24:53: And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. When Abrahams servant gave Rebecca gold and silver jewelry, they werent given her to put in a display case.
    • Gen 27:43: My son, obey my voice; and arise, flee Jacob ran for twenty years--and those were twenty years of heartache and trouble.

    • In I Timothy Paul names only food and clothing as conditions necessary for contentment. After fleeing Esau's wrath and seeing the vision of the ladder at Bethel, Jacob promised to serve God, asking just food, raiment, and a return to his father's house Gen 28:22).

    • Gen 31:13: No arise, get thee our from this land, and return unto the land of they kindred God was telling Jacob that he will never know fullness in Him until he turns and faces the problem head on.
    • Genesis 32:1,2: "And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him, and when Jacob saw them he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of the place Mahanaim" The Hebrew name "Mahanaim" means "two hosts" or "two camps." And one camp is as real as the other. One is not a shadow and fiction, a product of Jacob's mind. They were two equal hosts; in the first place his own, made up of his own family, and his animals, and all the rest; and the second one, angels, who were just as valid and real, and just as near at hand.

    • Gen 35:2-3: Put away strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments; and let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there and altar unto God." The phrase "change your garments" in Hebrew means a moral and spritual purification of the mind and heart.
    • Gen 37:3: "Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors."

    • Gen 37:4: "And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him." It is the internal hate that is the root of the whole thing. Then, "they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words." (Gen 37:8) The hate is piling up, and the hate is an internal thing. It has already produced its fruit, in that they cannot speak peaceably with him. And now it is piling up, like a great wave ready to break. Then: "And his brothers envied him." (37:11)

    • Gen 46:18: These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls How about 16 kids????
    • God purposing an action so that it shall be sinful is not the same as God purposing an action as sinful. God purposed that some actions shall be sinful for the sake of the good that he will cause to arise from the sinfulness thereof. God purposed sin for the sake of the good that shall be accomplished. On the other hand, man purposes for the sake of the evil in wicked men.

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