Genesis 7
"And the Lord shut him in"
'Noah’s flood has numerous parallels in ancient Near Eastern literature.' There is the 'Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh .... the Babylonian story of Atrahasis' and 'Sumerian text known as the Eridu Genesis' (Faithlife Study Bible, Jason C. Kuo). It is likely that some huge ancient deluge is remembered in all these accounts.
The biblical account warns of God's judgment of sin and of God's concern and ability to save. 2 Peter 2:5,9 ESV says, "[5] if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;...... [9] then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment."
The eight human beings who got saved "went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood" (Genesis 7:7 ESV). God had promised to save Noah and his family from the flood (Genesis 6:17-18), but they needed to actually go "into the ark" to experience this salvation. God has promised His people salvation in Christ (Romans 8:1), but to experience this great salvation, we need to be "in Christ" by believing into Christ (Ephesians 1:13).
People ponder how all those many animals were captured and brought into the ark, but the text of Genesis 7 indicates that God was at work to enable Noah to do what God had commanded him to do. The text says that animals "went into the ark with Noah (or literally 'went to Noah into the ark') as God had commanded Noah." (Genesis 7:9 ESV). It seems to imply that God caused them to go to Noah and into the ark. (In a similar way, the Lord will enable us to do the things He has commanded us to do. See Matthew 28:19-20; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:29).
Genesis 7:16 ESV says that the animals "went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in." What a beautiful picture of the Lord's care and concern to save as He personally shuts the door of the ark behind Noah, his family and the many animals.
It is noteworthy that two of God's names are used in this verse. It is as Elohim ("God ") that He "commanded", but it is as YHWH ("the LORD") that He "shut Him in". The NIV Study Bible notes that God 'closed the door behind Noah and his family ... in his role as redeeming Lord.' The name YHWH is connected the the Hebrew verb, hayah, which means to be. In Exodus 3:14-15 ESV we read of how 'God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel: 'I AM (hayah) has sent me to you.'" [15] God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel: 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.' This saving name of the LORD (YHWH) was given fuller meaning when God redeemed His people from slavery in Egypt (See Exodus 6:3,6). It was given its fullest meaning in Jesus who said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58 ESV).
Friday, 6 January 2017
Great Wickedness!
Genesis 6
Great Wickedness!
By the time we reach Genesis 6, the awful effects of the Fall (in Genesis 3) have increased to the point where "the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5 ESV). By the way, this is the world in which we currently live. No wonder it can become such a mess and a misery at times. And it's not God's fault. This is not what He willed. See Genesis 1-2 for a picture of the world as God wills it to be.
One illustration of humanities great wickedness is given in verses 1-4. It contains a pattern of sin that is similar to the pattern of sin first seen in Genesis 3:6, where Eve saw, delighted in and took what God had forbidden. In Genesis 6:2 (ESV) we read of how "the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose." It is not clear who these "sons of God" and "daughters of man" were, but it seems that these "sons of God" were taking any women that they wanted. This exploitation of women (who, by inference from this text, should not be taken or forced into marriage against their wills) was seen by God as so bad that He speaks of withdrawing His Spirit from mortal man (v3). Here we see Scripture revealing a very high view of women and challenging to accepted Ancient Near Eastern attitudes.
In His sorrow and heartfelt grief at sin (v6), the Lord speaks of "blotting out" the creatures He has made (v7), except for the one obedient man (v22), Noah, who "found favor in the eyes of the Lord" (v8) and who, like believing Enoch (Genesis 5:22-24), "walked with God" (v9).
Whether the flood was global or local, what is clear is that it was universal in relation to the judgment on humanity (v11-13, 17). Only Noah and his family and a certain number of animals would be saved though the construction of an ark (v14-22). This message of judgment and salvation becomes a foundational theme of the Bible, and entering the ark becomes a picture of believing into Jesus Christ for salvation from the judgment on sin (1 Peter 3:18-21).
Great Wickedness!
By the time we reach Genesis 6, the awful effects of the Fall (in Genesis 3) have increased to the point where "the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5 ESV). By the way, this is the world in which we currently live. No wonder it can become such a mess and a misery at times. And it's not God's fault. This is not what He willed. See Genesis 1-2 for a picture of the world as God wills it to be.
One illustration of humanities great wickedness is given in verses 1-4. It contains a pattern of sin that is similar to the pattern of sin first seen in Genesis 3:6, where Eve saw, delighted in and took what God had forbidden. In Genesis 6:2 (ESV) we read of how "the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose." It is not clear who these "sons of God" and "daughters of man" were, but it seems that these "sons of God" were taking any women that they wanted. This exploitation of women (who, by inference from this text, should not be taken or forced into marriage against their wills) was seen by God as so bad that He speaks of withdrawing His Spirit from mortal man (v3). Here we see Scripture revealing a very high view of women and challenging to accepted Ancient Near Eastern attitudes.
In His sorrow and heartfelt grief at sin (v6), the Lord speaks of "blotting out" the creatures He has made (v7), except for the one obedient man (v22), Noah, who "found favor in the eyes of the Lord" (v8) and who, like believing Enoch (Genesis 5:22-24), "walked with God" (v9).
Whether the flood was global or local, what is clear is that it was universal in relation to the judgment on humanity (v11-13, 17). Only Noah and his family and a certain number of animals would be saved though the construction of an ark (v14-22). This message of judgment and salvation becomes a foundational theme of the Bible, and entering the ark becomes a picture of believing into Jesus Christ for salvation from the judgment on sin (1 Peter 3:18-21).
Wednesday, 4 January 2017
Walking with God
Genesis 5
This chapter moves the narrative from Adam to Noah and sets the scene for the next huge event in world history (the Flood). The chapter is a "Linear genealogy" which "focuses on one person in each generation" and connects "one individual to one specific ancestor in a previous generation" (Faithlife Study Bible). The great ages recorded for these people, between 700 and a 1000 years, are similar to an ancient list of Sumerian kings who also predated a huge flood. It is not clear whether these ages are meant to be taken literally and they may have symbolic significances. For example the 365 years of Enoch (v23) "corresponds to the number of days in a solar year, so Enoch became a central figure in later Jewish calendrical mysticism" " (Faithlife Study Bible).There are two exceptions to the formulaic description of each generation, Enoch and Noah.
We will see more of Noah tomorrow, as we consider this "one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands" (v29).
Let's think for a moment about Enoch. Genesis 5:22 and 24 (ESV) say that, "Enoch walked with God"; then verse 24 says "and he was not, for God took him." The usual formulaic ending, "and he died", is omitted.
Here is a believer in God, who lived his whole life by faith, in close communion with God, and then was taken to dwell with God in heaven. It is possible that the meaning here is that Enoch went home to God without passing through the experience of physical death. (See Hebrews 11:5). The prophet Elijah is another who went home without dying (See See 2 Kings 2:1,5.9,10). The Apostle Paul says that believers on earth at the time of Christ's return will be changed into their resurrection bodies instantly and without dying (1 Corinthians 15:51-55). Wouldn't that be great!
The letter the the Hebrews draws an important lesson from the life of Enoch, saying:
[5] … Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. [6] And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:5-6 ESV)
And what a challenge for us to walk our entire lives with God by faith, meaning that we not only "believe that he exists" but that we also "seek him" and "draw near to God".
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
Ruined lives
Genesis 4
The ruining, spreading rule of sin
Genesis 4 is the story of how the first rebellion against God (in Genesis 3) led to a sad and sorry and sick state of ruin and misery on the earth.
Verse 7 is a key to understand this gloomy chapter. God counsels Cain saying, saying, "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it" (ESV).
'Sin is being personified here as a demonic force, waiting to pounce on Cain' (Faithlife Study Bible).
If people do not resist sin, it will "rule over" them and ruin everything. We see this ruining rule of sin as it spreads through Genesis 4:
Sin ruins worship making it substandard
(v3-7)
The difference between the offerings of Cain and Abel was a matter of value, cost and sacrifice.
The Faithlife Study Bible comments on verses 3-4 saying that 'the Hebrew word order here may hint that Cain brought whatever was close at hand while Abel brought the best of what he had'.
Cain's offering had little or no real value. It was just any old "the fruit of the ground" (v3). It cost him little, was not missed and was not a real sacrifice. It was substandard worship that showed he did not highly value God or seek to honour Him very much.
On the other hand, Abel's offering was the very best he had to give to the Lord of his life. It was "the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions" (v4). It was a costly sacrifice that showed his love and reverence for his God. "And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering" (v4).
Sin ruins relationships making them murderous (v8-10)
This is the first of a long line of sinful murders recorded in the Bible. Though people may refrain from physically killing, Jesus warned of the anger, insults and contempt that are just as sinfully murderous (Matthew 5:21-22).
Sin ruins everything increasingly making life difficult and dangerous and disobedient (v11-24)For Cain and his family and his descendants, sin results in poverty and a struggle to get enough to eat (v11-12).
Sin makes them vulnerable and likely to be attacked and killed in a hostile, sinful world (v12-14).
Sin leads to inventive ways of doing marriage and the first mention of polygamy is found in verse 19. This was a departure from God's intention for monogamous marriage revealed in Genesis 2:24.
Sin increases down the renerations and the violence of Cain explodes into the vengeance and arrogance of Lamech (v23-24).
But sin is not the only thing in Genesis 4, because God's mercy never gives up.
We see God's mercy in His protection of Cain (v15) and in the growth of families (v17-18, 25-26), the development of farming (v20), music (v21) and metal work (v22).
We especially see the mercy of God in His allowing and enabling people to begin to pray. We are told that "at that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord" (v26).
Monday, 2 January 2017
The biggest disaster of history
Genesis 3
This chapter records the biggest disaster of history. It explains why the world is a risky, sometimes miserable place in which much that is not God's will happens. It also contains the first recorded glimpse of the Gospel of salvation and gives the reason why the story of salvation (which is the great story of the Bible) is needed.
This chapter records the biggest disaster of history. It explains why the world is a risky, sometimes miserable place in which much that is not God's will happens. It also contains the first recorded glimpse of the Gospel of salvation and gives the reason why the story of salvation (which is the great story of the Bible) is needed.
In this chapter, the dreadful Fall from the original goodness of God’s creation, is presented in three dimensions:
Firstly, we are introduced to the Satanic Dimension
Before the fall of humanity, a fall must have already occurred in the spiritual realm. We can deduce this from the fact that when Satan first shows up in the story he is already in rebellion against God.
A brief glance through Genesis 3:1-5 shows that the serpent is the enemy of God. In the Book of Revelation this serpent is clearly identified as Satan, the fallen opponent of God (Rev. 12:9). Other Scriptures hint at this rebellion within the ranks of the angelic creatures. It seems possible that this rebellion occurred during the process of creation and had some negative influence on the earth as it was being formed in those earliest stages (See Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 2:4).
Satan, the serpent, concentrated his attack on the content (Gen. 3:1-3) and truth (Gen. 3:4-5) of the Word of God and successfully tempted the first humans to disbelieve and disobey God’s Word.
This leads to the Sin Dimension
Sin is disobedience to God’s Word, motivated by selfishness (See Genesis 3:3, 6, 11). Sin may also be seen as siding with the enemy of God (Gen. 3:1-6).
The results of sin are separation from God (Gen. 3:7-10), misery (Gen. 3:16-19), death (Gen. 3:19) and the removal of the possibility of eternal life (Gen. 3:22-24).
Thankfully there is also the Salvation Dimension
Even in this bleak story of the Fall, there is already a hint of the promised Suffering Saviour. Genesis 3:15 is the first reference to Jesus in the Bible, hinting at His Human Birth as “the woman’s offspring”, His Resurrection Victory for “he shall bruise the serpent’s head” and His Saving Death, for the serpent “shall bruise his heel”.
And here in Genesis 3 we also see a picture of humanities failure to achieve their own salvation by their works (Genesis 3:7) and God's gracious provision of salvation (Genesis 3:21). The idea of salvation as a covering or garment is developed in the Scriptures (See Isaiah 61:10; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9).
God’s provision of "skins" from a dead animal as the covering for sin also hints at the blood sacrifice of the cross that will achieve our salvation (Heb. 9:12).
Sunday, 1 January 2017
Priests in God's Cosmic Temple
For a long time people have pondered how the first two chapters of Genesis fit with a modern scientific understanding of the creation of the cosmos, but it seems that Genesis 1 and 2 are intended to help us see the cosmos as God's Temple with Adam and Eve as the first priests.
John H. Walton has written about this way of understanding the creation accounts of Genesis, saying that 'Temples are built in the ancient world for the gods to rest in, which does not refer to relaxing, but to enjoying and maintaining security and order. With the mention of God’s rest on day seven, we can see that Genesis 1 (and 2) is also thinking about the cosmos as a temple".
This is an interesting way of understanding what Genesis 2:2 is referring too when it speaks of how "God .... rested on the seventh day". The idea of rest as God coming to dwell in His Temple is also seen in Psalm 132: "( 8] Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might ..... [13] For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place: [14] "This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it." (Psalm 132:8, 13-14)
John H. Walton shows how the seven days of creation relate to the idea of the cosmos being God's Temple. "In the ancient world temple dedications were often seven days in duration. During those seven days,the functions of the temple would be proclaimed, the furniture and functionaries would be installed, the priests would take up their role and at the end, the deity would enter and take up his rest." (John H. Walton)
John H. Walton has written about this way of understanding the creation accounts of Genesis, saying that 'Temples are built in the ancient world for the gods to rest in, which does not refer to relaxing, but to enjoying and maintaining security and order. With the mention of God’s rest on day seven, we can see that Genesis 1 (and 2) is also thinking about the cosmos as a temple".
This is an interesting way of understanding what Genesis 2:2 is referring too when it speaks of how "God .... rested on the seventh day". The idea of rest as God coming to dwell in His Temple is also seen in Psalm 132: "( 8] Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might ..... [13] For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place: [14] "This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it." (Psalm 132:8, 13-14)
John H. Walton shows how the seven days of creation relate to the idea of the cosmos being God's Temple. "In the ancient world temple dedications were often seven days in duration. During those seven days,the functions of the temple would be proclaimed, the furniture and functionaries would be installed, the priests would take up their role and at the end, the deity would enter and take up his rest." (John H. Walton)
In the cosmic Temple, Adam and Eve were the priests of God. John Sailhamer has argued that it is not coincidental that the two verbs “to work it” and “to care for it” (or "keep it") used in Gen 2:15 are the same verbs as those used in reference to the service of the priests in the temple. The idea of believers being priests is expanded in Scripture (Exodus 19:4-6; Isaiah 61:6; 1 Peter 2:9; Rev. 1:5b-6).
As obedient priests, who obey God's commands (Genesis 2:16), we live out a fourth aspect of the image of God which also speaks of our RESPONSIBILITY to obey God. The human image bearer would be a reflection of God, a ruler under God, in a relationship with God, and responsible to obey God.
As obedient priests, who obey God's commands (Genesis 2:16), we live out a fourth aspect of the image of God which also speaks of our RESPONSIBILITY to obey God. The human image bearer would be a reflection of God, a ruler under God, in a relationship with God, and responsible to obey God.
What the Image of God means (Genesis 1)
Happy New a Year!
As I start my new Bible reading journey, using the Carson adaption of the McCheyne reading plan, I read Genesis 1 this morning and here are a few thoughts on this great chapter
As I start my new Bible reading journey, using the Carson adaption of the McCheyne reading plan, I read Genesis 1 this morning and here are a few thoughts on this great chapter
Genesis 1
'The point of creation accounts in the ancient world (of which Israel was a part) is to explain the meaning of life and how we are to live.' (J. Richard Middleton)
In a most wonderful way the human dignity is explained as being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28) and these verses show that the image of God is firstly to REFLECT God (v26-27).
Image means 'to reflect another who comes first...this means we are not number one , but number two.' (M. Guinan, in Joshua, Judges, Ruth Commentary , understanding the bible commentary series, p126). Sadly people prefer 'to be god rather than reflect God' (Cheryl Brown, in above commentary p126)
The second aspect of being in the image of God is RULERSHIP like God over the earth under God (v28).
The third meaning of being made in God's image is RELATIONSHIP with God. There in Genesis 1, it is only to the humans that God speaks directly and personally. In verse 28 we read that "God said to them...." and in verse 29 we read that 'God said, “Behold, I have given you ..."' Then in verse 30 when God has a word about the other creatures, He speaks indirectly. From this we learn that it is the image bearers alone of all God's creature who share in the possibility and privilege of a personal relationship with God. This is what makes us fully human, to know our Creator in a personal, word based, relationship.
Sadly this personal intimacy with God was lost in the fall (See Genesis 3:8f) and gloriously, it can be restored through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16; 17:3; 1 John 5:13).
Image means 'to reflect another who comes first...this means we are not number one , but number two.' (M. Guinan, in Joshua, Judges, Ruth Commentary , understanding the bible commentary series, p126). Sadly people prefer 'to be god rather than reflect God' (Cheryl Brown, in above commentary p126)
The second aspect of being in the image of God is RULERSHIP like God over the earth under God (v28).
The third meaning of being made in God's image is RELATIONSHIP with God. There in Genesis 1, it is only to the humans that God speaks directly and personally. In verse 28 we read that "God said to them...." and in verse 29 we read that 'God said, “Behold, I have given you ..."' Then in verse 30 when God has a word about the other creatures, He speaks indirectly. From this we learn that it is the image bearers alone of all God's creature who share in the possibility and privilege of a personal relationship with God. This is what makes us fully human, to know our Creator in a personal, word based, relationship.
Sadly this personal intimacy with God was lost in the fall (See Genesis 3:8f) and gloriously, it can be restored through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16; 17:3; 1 John 5:13).
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