Genesis

Introduction | 1 | 2  | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 |

Genesis Introduction – The more I read the Bible, the more I realize the extreme importance of the Book of Genesis. The term “genesis” means “beginnings,” so this is the Book of Beginnings. All the foundation stones for Christianity are laid down in this great literary work (even the Gospel of Jesus Christ as you will see later). It clearly is a narrative that has so many details lending credibility to a literal interpretation, i.e. there really was Noah’s Ark and Adam was a quickly created first human. Sadly, too many Christians have been so evolutionized that they reject the historicity of Genesis. True history is God’s story (HIS story), not ours. When fallen, sinful man rewrites it, bias and error enter the work (Romans 1:18). Pagan groups and civilizations, along with their beliefs about many gods (who were all limited in power), had to have developed from Adam and Eve’s backslidden offspring. I firmly believe they did not develop from some ape-like ancestors millions of years ago. If they did, how then could “Adam and Eve” be determined? How could two “humanoids” of the opposite sex evolve at the precise same time to have sex relations? How could the gender differences just happen? For that matter, how could any life form that requires opposite sex relations to survive as a species all have this same timely precision over that great time span? Logic tells me they had to come into existence quickly and at the same time. In the Book of Genesis, we find what no other historical account contains – a detailed revelation about the beginning of mankind and why things are the way they are today. For example, this Book explains:

1. Why humans die
2. Why we wear clothes (even if it’s warm outside)
3. Why women have severe labor pains when giving birth
4. Why we have a 7-day week
5. Why we have marriage
6. Why we must work extra hard to earn a living
7. Why human effort cannot cover sin
8. Why we cannot see God face to face
9. Why man has dominion over animals
10. Why most animals are naturally afraid of man
11. Why we have morality and a conscience.
12. Why Jesus’ blood had to be shed for the forgiveness of sins.

The Book of Genesis contradicts the theory of evolution (fallen man’s idea) so much that strong indication is given in God’s Word that renders creationism and evolution as being incompatible, despite the fact that many modern-day Christians believe they are compatible. It’s so sad to me that some believers think that God actually used the Darwinian concept to bring forth various species on earth (Darwin never addressed the origin of life in his book, “The Origin of Species”). This would mean that God used the process of death and suffering to create His “masterpiece humans.” I really do not desire to worship a god that would do it that way. My God did it right the first time and then humans wrecked it. There was no death of humans or animals before the first man sinned. Evolution asserts there was. Both assertions cannot be true, therefore, the God of the Bible could not have used evolution as His creating process. It is inevitable that people, in their fallen state, will make up their own gods based on what they think is “reasonable,” and this is tragic. However, I do not feel they can successfully pervert what God has plainly stated in His Word (Psalm 119:130). If the God who authored the Bible wants people to know Him, then why would He communicate in endless and difficult to understand metaphors about our origin? Jesus consistently quoted Genesis as literal history. A good example of this is Mark 10:6 when He agreed with Genesis that Adam and Eve were formed in the beginning of the creation, not separated by billions of years from other life forms (species). Are we going to trust Jesus or fallen man? The exact middle verse of the entire Bible is Psalm 118:8 and it contains the obvious answer: “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”

Many Christians have not looked deeply and carefully into this fascinating Book called Genesis. It is my hope that my Genesis commentary will be a tremendous blessing to you, and that your love for our wonderful and awesome Creator increases.

Genesis 1 – Since this Chapter is attacked by scoffers more than any other part of the Bible, I need to have an unusually lengthy commentary.

v1: “IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.” The first words from God to mankind are in this verse, and it leads the list of “Most Attacked Verses in the Bible.” Surprisingly, this verse was recently quoted in a very respectful manner in the hit movie “The Book of Eli” starring Denzel Washington. In his personal life, Denzel believes in the Bible and conducts Bible Studies with others. It is unusual for Hollywood to present the Bible in a good light. Satan vehemently attacks the very first words of God spoken for all mankind to believe via man’s rebellious ideas masquerading as science. The more scientific facts man discovers, there is a tendency to rely more on these facts rather than the Creator. Religious faith begins to be viewed as “ignorant superstition” rather than truth. Furthermore, when these facts are seen through biased eyes, people do not see God in creation in spite of the Bible saying that gazing at things made should turn people to God rather than away from Him (Romans 1:20).

The media attempts to make certain political candidates look bad. One way they’ve tried to do this is by quoting a certain candidate as stating that “evolution is a myth.” While I do not necessarily endorse all that this candidate has done or said, the media’s biased belief in favor of evolution slams believers in their face. They have no idea that many intelligent, non-Christian people have also rejected evolution. So, either God made the world or the world made itself. The spirit behind evolution is trying to eliminate the need for a supernatural designer…even though skeptics see advanced design here…uh, what?

Finally, this verse contains three essentials that must co-exist in order to exist – “In the beginning” (time), “the heavens” (space), and “the earth” (matter). In other words, time, space, and matter had to be created at the same time. Without space, where would matter be put?  Without time, when would this work be done? Without matter, time cannot be measured since it depends on matter motion. All three depend upon each other for life as we know it to exist. Many people think the Bible is not a science book, but you will find many verses that are very scientific if your “eyes are open.” One last thought – since God created time, He exists outside of time, hence He has always existed, no beginning. This  may be impossible for mankind to ever comprehend in our fallen state.

v2-5: Day 1 = God first made a formless earth in a void with darkness covering the waters. Light came forth before the sun was made and was separated from darkness. So there was “morning and there was evening” equaling one 24-hour day. If it was morning & evening then “day” did not mean “a long period of time” as the Day-Age Theory asserts. Besides, plants & trees were made on Day 3 but the sun came on Day 4. If each “day” meant millions of years, how could those plants live for millions of years without the sun? The only reason some feel pressure to jam millions of years into God’s creative process is the assumption that evolution is true. These Genesis days were 24-hour days as the Hebrew word states (“yom”).

v6-8: Day 2 = He seemed to get rid of the void by creating an expanse (or atmosphere) and this separated the “waters from the waters.” Few people realize this but God made waters above and below the atmosphere (sky). Perhaps this “upper level water supply” collapsed during Noah’s Flood. It may have prevented harmful sun rays from hitting earth. If so, this may have had extreme affects upon the flora, fauna, and man’s aging process. The Bible makes it clear that men lived hundreds of years BEFORE the Flood but within a couple of generations AFTER the Flood they lived only about 70 years. Something dramatically changed suddenly on earth. I have just described the “Water Canopy Theory” and some of its possible effects on life on earth. However, most creation scientists reject this theory (it gets complicated, and I’m not a scientist).

v9-13: Day 3 = God created separate seas, dry land, and vegetation, trees, and seeds for all these life forms.

v14-19: Day 4 = God created the sun, moon, and stars for lights and the marking of seasons.

v20-23: Day 5 = God made sea creatures, birds, great sea monsters each FIXED AFTER ITS OWN KIND (1 Corinthians 15:38-39). Evolution asserts that these kinds sprung off from simpler organisms over a long time period. Biblical Creationism maintains that all the “kinds” (species may be a close synonym) were created suddenly all having the genetic make-up for some degree of adaptation or minor physical changes (micro evolution; adaptation) over the centuries. Evolution, however, claims that life came from non-life (abiogenesis) despite science’s failure to demonstrate this, and that first living, single cell gradually over billions of years formed all the species (diversification) we see today. It is based on the erroneous assumption that earlier life was more simple and later life was more complex. The truth is that if something is alive, it is complex and depends upon many tiny “machines,” chemicals, and systems that are already fully functional to keep the organism alive. If these “inner necessities” were also evolving with the organism, they would not yet be fully functional and therefore would fail at keeping any organism alive. Lehigh University professor Michael Behe in his book, “Darwin’s Black Box,” outlines this serious problem with evolution from the bio molecular level. Critics of this “irreducible complexity” idea gloss over the concept by simply claiming that those “evolving inner necessities” would have different functions during those “more primitive” years of development. They do not, however, explain how these “different functions” could keep the organism alive which is the essential point for evolution to have a ghost of a chance of being true.

In 1952 at the University of Chicago, Stanley Miller and Harold Urey conducted what is considered by evolutionists to be the classic experiment on the origin of life, that is, how life came from no life in a naturalistic manner (no Creator). At first glance, it was impressive as they manipulated several conditions and produced some amino acids which are the building blocks of life. After hundreds of replications and modifications using techniques similar to those employed in the original Miller–Urey experiments, however, scientists were able to produce only small amounts of less than half of the 20 amino acids required for life. Without all 20 amino acids as a set, most known protein types cannot be produced. The rest require much more complex conditions. In addition, equal quantities of both right- and left-handed organic molecules were consistently produced by the Miller–Urey procedure. In life, nearly all amino acids that can be used in proteins must be left-handed, and almost all carbohydrates and polymers must be right-handed. The opposite types are not only useless but can also be toxic (even lethal) to life. Oxygen is also a major problem when trying to demonstrate how life came from non-life. Oxygen is necessary for life, but it actually inhibits chemical evolution, and it is chemical evolution that is required in evolution theory. Furthermore, the experiment only indicated that a higher intelligence is required to produce highly organized, controlled, and systematic conditions! Necessary, intricate complexities cannot form on their own. For an in-depth look into the scientific problems with the Miller-Urey Experiment and abiogenesis, go to: http://creation.com/why-the-miller-urey-research-argues-against-abiogenesis

v24-31: Day 6 = God made animals and everything that creeps (insects for example) upon earth and man. Man was made in God’s image which places him in a much different category than all other life forms. The meaning of “in God’s image” is not explained in the Bible. Some say that man resembles God’s appearance, others say we have a tri-une nature like God (body, soul, spirit – Father, Son, Holy Spirit). In v29 God tells us that food came from fruit trees and plants along with their seeds. “The green plant” was given to all animals to eat for food. There was no meat-eating then. No killing then. No death for man or animals then. Plants died because they were food and the Hebrew word for “alive” used for plants is different from the word “alive” for humans and animals. Sin caused animals and humans to eventually die (Romans 8:22). God did not originally create a “dying” breed of life on earth.

Just to give you an idea of how diametrically opposed evolution is to what the Bible says, consider these examples of creation contradictions:

Evol-Sun before earth / Gen-Earth before sun
Evol-Dry land before sea / Gen-Sea before dry land
Evol-Atmosphere before sea / Gen-Sea before atmosphere
Evol-Sun before light on earth / Gen-Light on earth before sun
Evol-Stars before earth / Gen-Earth before stars
Evol-Earth at same time as planets / Gen-Earth before other planets
Evol-Sea creatures B4 land plants / Gen-Land plants B4 sea creatures
Evol-Earthworms before starfish / Gen-Starfish before earthworms
Evol-Land animals before trees / Gen-Trees before land animals
Evol-Death before man / Gen-Man before death
Evol-Thorns and thistles B4 man / Gen-Man B4 thorns & thistles
Evol-TB germs/cancer B4 man* / Gen-Man before TB germs & cancer
Evol-Reptiles before birds / Gen-Birds before reptiles
Evol-Land mammals before whales / Gen-Whales B4 land animals
Evol-Simple plants B4 fruit trees / Gen-Fruit trees B4 other plants
Evol-Insects before mammals / Gen-Mammals B4 creeping things
Evol-Land mammals before bats / Gen-Bats before land animals
Evol-Dinosaurs before birds / Gen-Birds before dinosaurs
Evol-Insects B4 flowering plants / Gen-Flowering plants B4 insects
Evol-Sun before plants / Gen-Plants before sun
Evol-Dinosaurs before dolphins / Gen-Dolphins before dinosaurs
Evol-Land reptiles B4 pterosaurs / Gen-Pterosaurs B4 land reptiles
Evol-Land insects B4 flying insects / Gen-Flying insects B4 land insects

*Dinosaur remains have contained TB and cancer

Some Christians, especially at the Christian college level, are continually seeking to mesh the Bible with evolution, but most have not looked well enough into the Word to realize there is no compatibility. They both cannot be correct.

The Gap Theory – All Christians need to understand this one. It was first proposed in 1814 by Thomas Chalmers of Edinburgh University in Scotland. It has been modified several times by others over the years, but the gist assumes that evolution is true, therefore the earth has to be millions of years old and since the Bible is also true, there must be room for these years somewhere in Genesis. The only options to insert millions of years into Genesis are: 1) before creation week, 2) during creation week, or 3) after creation week. The latter being rejected easily because the genealogical records in Genesis are regarded as quite accurate by Bible-believers and there is no room for millions of years from that point on in our history. The Day-Age Theory fits option #2, but that contradicts the Genesis account.

That leaves option #1 for the Gap Theory – millions of years of earth’s history, including the fossils and dinosaurs, had to have occurred before creation week. The Gap Theory postulates that between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 there was a gap of millions of years. It claims that Satan so effectively destroyed God’s first creation (1:1) that God wiped it out (along with the dinosaurs) and re-created things in 1:2. It believes that a pre-Adamic race of humans lived and were destroyed (modifiers of the theory say there were no people). The “waste and void” in 1:2 describes the result of Satan’s victory. Then God recreates earth and life as described in 1:3ff.

A lot of creative thinking went into this one! I’ve never seen a piece of Scripture bent this far. The problem is the main driving force causing Christians to make this guess was their erroneous belief that evolution is a fact. Scripture does not support it. Finally, the Global Flood Model, as described in Genesis, and later confirmed by Jesus and Peter, can explain the existence of dinosaurs, what happened to them, and how most fossils formed.

SPECIFIC PROBLEMS WITH THE GAP THEORY:

1. Adam was THE FIRST MAN – 1 Corinthians 15:45. There was no human race before him.
2. Referring to the 6-day creation, Exodus 20:11 says that “everything was created” in those 6 days. In other words, nothing before.
3. All Hebrew scholars reject the interpretations of gap theorists, especially since they modify certain Hebrew words meanings to fit their theory. For example, the Hebrew word for “day” is “yom” which means a 24-hour day, not a “period of time.” Furthermore, the context of this word reveals there was “morning and evening” for each day. One cannot insert millions of years between a morning and an evening.
4. Gap theorists claim that Genesis 1:28 has God “replenishing” the earth which means “to fill again.” However, the Hebrew word for “replenish” means “to fill” or “to fulfill” not to refill. In addition, the use of the English word “replenish” in King James’ day simply meant to fill, not “to re-fill.” That meaning evolved over time (yes, there is a proper use for the “e-word”).
5. The Scriptures plainly state that sin and death entered the world after the 6-day creation. There was no death or destruction or Satanic victory in the past.
6. Finally, if Ezekiel 28:12-18 is referring to Satan, and most scholars agree that it is, then Lucifer was created during that 6-day time period and was placed in the Garden of Eden as a “nice guy.” This description of “whoever” reveals he had not yet fallen into sin. The Gap Theory, of course, has Satan fully fallen and evil before the 6-day creation.

Conclusion: Sadly, the Gap Theory has been accepted by many Christians and Christian clergy. I think for two reasons: 1) they believe that God used the evolutionary process to create (but then we have death before sin and a god who uses suffering as a creative process), and 2) they do not know how to defend the Truth with the Scriptures. The attempt to add millions and millions of years into the Biblical record takes quite a stretch of imagination and twisting and bending of the Scriptures. While it is true that some parts of the Bible are allegorical or figurative, people go too far if they perceive millions of years in Genesis. Jesus was an eye-witness to all our history, and He treats the creation Adam and Eve, Noah’s Flood, the 6-day creation as literal, historical events. One cannot take scissors and snip a small portion out of Genesis because it makes no sense and not expect to pervert something in the New Testament. One reason many scientists and lay people reject the “young-earth” Biblical position is because, if true, evolution falls flat. Without eons of time with no witnesses, science falsely so-called (1 Timothy 6:20-21) claims that many things happened. The spirit behind the deception of evolution knows that “millions and millions of years” is the cornerstone of the theory. Hence, they will fight tooth and nail against the idea that the Bible is literal history (HIS-story).

Feedback Discussion so far:

Dave J: (high school physics teacher and former student of mine): Before I ask my question, I would like to thank you for your daily Bible studies. They have been a constant provider for discussion, growth, reflection, and inspiration. Does the translation of the Bible that you use (I use an NIV study Bible) say how God created? Does it state the method or means that God used?

Dave S: I use the King James Version, the New King James Version, and the New American Standard Version. As far as I can tell, the Bible just says that God spoke things into existence by saying, “Let there be…” However, that does not mean He did not employ something further. If so, I do not believe that our scientific minds would be able to comprehend it. Hebrews Chapter 11:3 sheds further light: “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out things which are visible.” I’m not sure what “things not visible” means – microscopic things or things from another dimension that humans could never see while alive on earth.

Finally, in the Book of Job, God ‘s rebuke to Job involved the notion that man cannot fully understand how God created His wondrous things. Evolutionists constantly study visible things to explain existence. So according to the Bible, they are at a serious disadvantage and perhaps may fulfill this Bible passage in 2 Timothy 3:7: “…always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Also in Romans 1:25, it says, “For they exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped the creature and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” Now “creature” may refer to something the Creator has made and therefore would include matter which would be more relevant to evolutionists (since they don’t go around worshiping animals). Finally, Romans 1:22 says, “Professing themselves to be wise they became fools….” Ironic note: “Homo sapien” which is the label scientists have given us, means “wise man.”

Tim: I would be interested in your thoughts concerning Neanderthals and other non Homo Sapiens. Origin, time line – purpose?

Dave S: Great question. The short answer is that Neanderthals are fully human beings that suffered much from rickets (a bone disease from lack of vitamin D) and arthritis giving them the appearance of being “bent over” (and therefore have been misinterpreted by those with the evolution bias). Modern evolutionists have been shocked to discover that the Neanderthals may have mated with modern humans! This is no surprise from the Biblical perspective. All so-called “ape men” have been either totally ape or totally human. No true missing links have been discovered. The supposed missing link drawings (and they ARE DRAWINGS) have been one of evolution’s biggest “smoke and mirror” shams on this issue.

For an in depth scientific look into this issue form the Biblical perspective – “Buried Alive” by Jack Cuozzo is a good, but rather technical book. Jack is a dentist that studied actual bones from Neanderthals. Most scientists study replicas.

Genesis 2 – Missing Ribs, Belly Buttons, Yankee Fans & Nudists?

v1: Everything was created in the heavens and the earth. I believe this means any physical matter in our universe and beyond. Interesting note: “universe” literally means “single spoken sentence.” Chapter One reveals that God “spoke” and things became. Humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created (Humanist Manifesto I, Tenet #1, 1933). The man-made philosophy called “humanism” denies power or moral value superior to that of humanity; it is the rejection of religion in favor of a belief in the advancement of humanity by its own efforts. It is this very spirit that rules our public education system, most colleges, and most media. Evolutionists, on the other hand, have at least come to the conclusion that the universe had a beginning. But make no mistake, humanism is the spirit that drives the Theory of Evolution.

v2-3: God establishes the Sabbath Day. God did not rest because He was tired. I believe He simply completed His creation. He certainly has done more “work” throughout Old and New Testaments by orchestrating events and intervening on mankind’s behalf. The “rest” on the Sabbath, however, is to show humans they need to contemplate on God and physically rest, probably to prevent burn-out and an inordinate inner drive to work or earn more money. Jesus is currently preparing places for us with no hint that He needs to stop to rest every 7th day. Back on earth, however, if fields are not artificially fertilized, even the soil needs to be laid barren (nothing planted) every seventh year. People who labor hard 24-7 will have something go wrong physically eventually. Verse 3 says that God actually blessed the 7th day and sanctified it. “Sanctify” means to set apart from worldliness by focusing on Him. When sanctified (set apart for God’s use), we become more holy (and healthy).

v4: This, I believe, describes the contents for the rest of this chapter. It is a more specific or “bird’s eye view” of what God had done.

v5-6: All the seeds of plants and trees were still in the ground because they were not exposed to any rain yet. But at this time of our history there was a mist that covered the ground and served as rain because it made things grow. Actually there is no mention of rain until The Flood. The earth needed someone to cultivate it, so man would be the cultivator.

v7: Man was made from dust, and that’s what we turn back into after death. So this makes scientific sense. What science will never understand is how God can get you and me from mere dust. I can understand how Yankee fans came from there, but not Red Sox fans! (Uh-oh, I just exposed a bias).

v8-9: God plants the Garden of Eden and puts the man in there as a caretaker with two important Trees. I think the Tree of Life represented Jesus (grace) and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil perhaps represented the Law, or man’s own way, or perhaps the opportunity to convert evil from a concept to a reality. If the latter is accurate, then maybe this is one of the reasons God made man knowing all the while that he would fall into sin. As evil became a reality, God then could conquer it forever via the Cross. In the meantime, He would have His Bride (all believers) and could move on to Phases 2, 3, 4, 5, etc of His glorious plan that none of us can even imagine (Ephesians 2:7 does mention “ages to come,” not just “age” to come).

v10-14: A major river divided into four separate ones to irrigate everything. Precious gold and stones were identified.

Note: During the Flood of Noah, earth’s topography changed dramatically. All the earth was covered with water for a little over one year. Without the continents exposed, there was nothing to reduce the lunar tides. There was most likely quite a lot of shifting and sifting of sediments before all was settled. Furthermore, I think the current plate tectonics began with the Flood when the fountains of the great deep burst open on the same day. Soon after, mountain ranges and deep oceanic trenches would form. This indicates that Mt. Everest was not yet formed at the time of the Flood’s beginning, so it is feasible that the water could cover all elevations. In fact, if we could flatten all mountains and heave up all oceanic trenches, all land masses would be covered by water. So it makes sense that all four of these rivers do not exist today with all the cataclysmic upheavals and sediment shifting. So I think the four became two after the Flood. Further insight: Psalms 104:8-9 indicates that mountains and valleys formed to prevent the world from being flooded again by capturing it, so to speak. This, of course, would ensure God’s “rainbow promise” to us.

v15-17: God’s orders to man were to eat from anything but the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The penalty was death.

Note: When Adam and Eve ate from this, they obviously did not die immediately, but the death process that we have all inherited began to work within their physical bodies eventually killing them both. Make no mistake, the concept of sin causing human and animal death is a major tenet of both Old and New Testament doctrine, and therefore is a major contradiction to the theory of evolution. Evolution insists that death of animals was happening for millions of years BEFORE any human being did something immoral. In fact, evolution asserts that death is our friend because it weeds out the inferior. They mistakenly believe that the power engine of evolution is natural selection (survival of the fittest). But in fact, this only keeps a species strong. There is no evidence that it can create new or advanced forms of life. The Word of God states that death is our enemy, not our friend. The “death before sin” tenet of evolution is yet another reason the Bible and evolution are incompatible.

Another reason why God did not kill Adam and Eve immediately ties into what He did to cover their sin. First, there was a human response to this problem, fig leaves. If this human effort was worth anything, god would have reacted in a way that would have given it some credibility. But nooooo! He didn’t even bother to mention what they did. This human effort merely covered their sin physically but spiritually they still ran away from god when He came. Not cool. So God sacrificed an innocent animal and covered the sin-stained humans with its skin. This reveals the mercy of God in the beginning of life. Instead of immediately destroying everything, He provided a temporary cover…and, of course, it was a foretaste of what He Himself would accomplish on the Cross of Calvary many years later. Animal sacrifice was a temporary cover for humans while Jesus’ sacrifice became the permanent solution. What a loving God we serve! No other religion or philosophy contains this concept that the all-powerful Creator intervenes, visits us in human form, suffers, and dies in our place to bring back eternal life to undeserving humans.

v18: Note to the guys..”we can’t live with them and we can’t live without them.” :-).

v19: God brings forth every animal and bird so Adam can name them. This suggests that Adam was instantly programmed with language at his creation. He was not some dumb looking half ape with a small cranium and big jaw. This stuff is artistry based on weak assumptions, not science. I saw one whole ape man “reconstructed” from just a tooth (the infamous Nebraska Man). Later that tooth was found to be from an extinct pig. The evolution promotion even gave the ape-man an ape-wife squatting next to him near their cave. When science depends on artist conceptions rather than facts, it’s in trouble. The truth is that Adam and Eve may have been the most intelligent humans ever because they were created sinless. They did not have any defects before the curse of sin hit them. Just the opposite of what the false science of evolution teaches (1 Timothy 6:20-21). Educators say that we use only 10% of our brains. I never quite figured out how they could arrive at any percentage value on this issue (especially if they were only using 10% of their brains to come up with that figure). But I think it is safe to say that we do not use our full potential. There could be several reasons why, but at least one big one is the effect of sin.

v20-22: Adam needed something more than animals and birds to live with. So God took one of his ribs and fashioned a woman from it. We can assume that all the necessary DNA was contained in the rib. But how he got female sex organs to form from that sample I’ll never know (maybe He just spoke to the DNA). All men and women have 12 ribs. Adam’s missing rib grew back. We now know from true science that any rib can grow back if removed properly. As long as the periosteum (the membrane that covers the bone) is left intact, the rib will return. So do not go digging up all human graves searching for the male skeleton with a missing rib and claim that it is Adam. He did not have a belly button, however. But good luck finding that evidence.

v23-24: Adam is satisfied with his new mate and the concept of marriage was born and well defined by The Creator.

v25: Adam and Eve were not ashamed of their nakedness because they had not yet sinned. They were the only nudists who were ever in right standing with God. Why aren’t modern-day nudists ashamed? I think they have a seared conscience. This occurs when we repeat sin so many times that we stop feeling guilty about it. I’ve never heard of a person who has humbled themselves before God and has received His merciful forgiveness who suddenly became a nudist. The Bible says He has given us a “sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Genesis 3 – From Eden to The Cross
v1: “The serpent was more crafty (or subtle) than any beast of the field.” I do not know why Satan took on this form, but it may not have looked exactly like snakes of today. The main thing to be gleaned here is the method he used to deceive – craftiness or subtlety. In other words, not obvious. Then he questioned God’s Word. Satan’s first words to mankind were questioning whether or not God said what He said. We must be on guard for that today. When people today question the authority of God’s Word, the Bible, then we know the source behind it.

v2-5: Once he had Eve’s attention, Satan then lied about God’s Word.

v6: The appeal to selfishness and ego worked on Eve. Adam was also standing there, but we do not know if he heard all that the serpent said to Eve. If not, she probably told him what was said. So the woman was definitely DECEIVED, the man was certainly DISOBEDIENT. There is a difference. This is one reason why God put man in charge of the woman. It didn’t mean that women are inferior to men in God’s eyes, but just have different weaknesses (and strengths). Having authority over someone does not mean being better than that person. That is what this fallen world tells us, not the spirit of God.

v7-8 and 21: Suddenly everything was different. They had shame and tried to cover that shame (sin) through their own efforts (fig leaves). This effort did NOT work because they still hid themselves when God showed up. Their effort represents man-made religion which attempts to be good through self effort. But in v21, God provided a temporary solution – He took skins and clothed them. It is safe to assume that God did not skin the animal alive. Therefore, it is safe to assume He slew the animal (shed its innocent blood) to cover man’s sin. The purpose and meaning of the Christ shedding His innocent blood on the cross was being foreshadowed in early Genesis. The prototype was temporal while the real thing effectively washes away sin forever. If this event in Genesis did not literally happen, then the Cross loses significance. Man learned very early what sin was and how to deal with it. The spirit behind the theory of evolution attempts to destroy this basis of Christianity.

v9-12: When God confronts with Adam’s sin, Adam sort of blames God and the woman (the genesis of finger pointing…still alive and well on the planet).

v13: God confronts Eve with her sin. She blames the serpent.

v14-15: The serpent’s penalty for his role – cursed, and he would crawl on his belly (no more legs?) and will eat dust. Enmity (hostility) was placed between him and the woman (between his seed and the woman’s seed). “Seed” probably refers to future people that hate God and the seed of the woman would be Jesus, or the entire Messianic lineage. For example, consider Abraham’s two sons. Isaac was born in the Messianic line whereas Ishmael was born of a fleshly (man-made) attempt to fulfill God’s promise. One might also say that Ishmael was a “fig-leaf” attempt. So we have the conflict between the spirit and the flesh. This was the genesis of the Arab-Israeli hostilities which rage to this day. This is NOT to say that Jews are good and Arabs are bad. They are both sinful like anyone else.

He (Jesus) will crush (bruise) Satan’s head (the resurrection), but Satan will bruise Jesus on His heel (crucifixion). Some scholars believe that the Romans pounded the nails through the heel bones on each side of the cross post. This would enable victims (criminals) to push upward to get breath without tearing tendons and ligaments of the foot bone structures. Their chests would sag and breathing became difficult or impossible after time. Modern pictures of Christ’s feet crossed in the front of the cross post with a nail driven through the feet bones seems unrealistic therefore unlikely. More likely was that each foot was placed each side of the post and nailed through the heel bones. This, of course, would fit the prophecy in v15 more closely.

v16: The woman’s penalty – more pain in childbirth, a desire for her husband, and he shall rule over her.

v17-19: The man’s penalty – ground becomes cursed (sorrowful toil will be needed to produce food), thorns and thistles will appear and apparently be bothersome.

v20: Eve was the mother of all the living – modern geneticists have somehow discovered via studying genes that all females came from one woman sometime back in history. Believe it or not, they’ve called her “Eve.” Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), as it is called, is passed from moms to daughters. True science is awesome!

v22: “…man has become like one of Us,” God said. Not sure what “Us” refers to. Probably the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God, in His wisdom, reveals that fallen man could also eat from the Tree of Life and live forever in this fallen, cursed condition. Not good! This is why God placed powerful angels in front of the Tree of Life. There would be only one “healthy” way for fallen man to regain eternal life.

23-24: So God sent Adam and Eve out from the Garden of Eden to cultivate the ground. God also stationed powerful angels (cherubim) and a flaming sword which turned in every direction to guard that Tree from being touched. I believe Adam and Eve never saw God face-to-face again on earth.

Comment: No one can tell where the original Garden of Eden was located. We cannot get hints from the current Tigris and Euphrates Rivers because those are post-Flood waterways. The pre-Flood rivers were probably in different locations and with possible different flow directions. Noah’s Flood did a huge number on the earth’s topography. Post-Flood people would naturally use the original names for new rivers. I believe, however, that the general location was somewhere in the Middle East.

Feedback Question:

KENT: Is there any reply that you’ve found particularly useful when people suggest that the Genesis story is just another type of tribal fable to explain why a snake has no legs? You know, like the stories about how the leopard got his spots, or a zebra got his stripes.

DAVE: Yes, I think the key to a good response is the context of each story. With leopard and zebra stories there are no contexts. Whereas in the Genesis account we have several more credible points to consider: 1) an entire book claiming to be God’s Word, 2) people in the account were later cited by Jesus Christ Himself as being actual people, 3) the account is surrounded by other key issues of truth and life, i.e., deception, supernatural power, the Fall of man, make-believe stories do not contain so much substance, and 4) no one is saying for sure that this serpent beast had legs as we understand the term. There is much we still do not know from the Genesis passages. I believe that the perfect Garden of Eden was radically different than the fallen world, so it is sometimes difficult to figure out all the specifics of man’s environment and fall.

Genesis 4 – Ancient Man Smarter? Evolution Says No, but….

v1-2: Cain (tiller of the ground) and Abel (keeper of the flock) were born.

v3-4: Abel brought an offering to the Lord based on the previous chapter (blood sacrifice) whereas Cain brought some crops from the ground. God accepts Abel’s sacrifice but rejected Cain’s.

Comment: This underscores the importance of what God was saying to sinful mankind, that is, we cannot atone for our sin through our effort. Abel got that, Cain did not. Unfortunately, there are far too many “Cain’s” alive today who think they are good enough to merit heaven’s eternal life. They trust in their own good efforts in life to gain eternal favor with God. This is a total diss to what Jesus experienced on that painful Cross.

v5-7: Cain gets angry rather than finding out why his sacrifice was rejected (or maybe he knew but just did it his own way). God tells him that he is about to do something wrong and that he must fight it and over come it.

v8: Cain murders Abel. Cain apparently rejected God’s notion of innocent blood sacrifice to cleanse human sin. He most likely had his own mindset about how to deal with adversities in life. Not good.

v9: When confronted about Abel, Cain lied to God and said he did not know where he was (the now famous line – “Am I my brother’s keeper?”).

v10-12: Cain’s punishment – ground was cursed for him. He could no longer get things to grow well, and he would become a vagrant and wanderer.

v13-16: Cain says his punishment is too much to bear and that other people will try to kill him. So God put some kind of mark on Cain and said if anyone killed him vengeance against them would be 7-fold. Then Cain went out and lived in the land of Nod.

Comment: Here we must assume that much time had elapsed in these few verses in Genesis because there were already other people living in surrounding towns. Furthermore, Cain had no problem finding a wife. His wife had to be a close relative of the Adam and Eve family, however. Today, this would pose a problem genetically because mutations would more likely match on the chromosomes and cause deformities. Back then, however, sin had not yet been long upon the earth and it probably took mutations many centuries of development to become problematic. The forbidding to marry close relatives did not appear in Bible history until Moses. This makes scientific sense.

v17: Cain fathers Enoch who turned out to be one of the most righteous men in human history! A city was built and named after him.

v18: Enoch’s offspring are listed here. Four generations later, Lamech, Noah’s dad, was born to Enoch’s lineage.

v19-22: More generations from Lamech included tent dwellers and raisers of livestock, musicians, and metal workers.

Comment: Evolution asserts that man did not work with metals for hundreds of thousands of years, but in Biblical history we find not only their discovery, but knowledge of how to work with metals as well. Humans have never been dumb like an animal. As long as the life is human, it has great intelligence. The early generations may have had higher IQs than us. The big difference is that we have more of a knowledge base to work from and therefore technology increases faster. Just because we have advanced technology does not mean that we a smarter than our great forefathers of the Bible. I think if Adam had our knowledge base he would have out shined us all.

v23-24: Even Lamech, Noah’s dad, killed a man and a boy, and hopes that God will protect him more than Cain. He felt somewhat justified because the man had wounded him and the boy struck him. Remember, there was no Law from God yet but sin had invaded all. The Law came via Moses years later.

v25-26: More children from Adam and Eve. Seth, who replaced Abel in Eve’s eyes, had a son named Enosh. These called upon the name of the Lord – a breath of fresh air.

Comment: This whole chapter is about after Adam and Eve were banished from Eden. Because of sin, I’ve always assumed that they could no longer see God face-to-face. But in this chapter we have God speaking directly to Cain. Furthermore, in verse 16, it says that Cain “went out from the presence of the Lord.” I think that “the presence of the Lord” meant there was an invisible Holy presence there that included an audible voice. I do not think Cain could see God face-to-face. If Moses couldn’t, why should Cain be allowed to and not perish after the experience?

Genesis 5 – Did Humans Really Live Several Hundred Years?

This chapter accurately outlines the descendants of Adam down to Noah. One strange incident happened when Enoch was taken up by God because he walked well with God. Almost every Christian believes that Enoch did not die, but it doesn’t say that. His body was gone and never seen again, but he still might have died in that “taken up” process. We cannot say for sure either way. The early men of Genesis fathered children when they were over 100 years old, and they lived some 800-900 years. Methuselah lived 969 years (the oldest recorded in the Bible). His name means, among some other things, “when he dies, it shall come.” He died in the year of Noah’s Flood. Soon after this Flood, longevity was cut down to 70 years within a few generations (400 to 200 to 70 years).

Skeptics have ridiculed Genesis for containing what seems to be impossible tales, but we judge too often on only what we know to be true now. Scientists assume more things than they should. Despite the fact that they have discovered human potential to live much longer, they refuse to believe the Genesis account of people living 900 years. Could this be possible scientifically? I believe so.

Consider the following:

1) Our cell division and replacement ability indicates potential for long life (perhaps eternally). All cells have different life cycles but do have a replacement operation. We shed skin cells continually (a small amount forms dust in our houses).  These cell cycles stronger indicate potential for eternal life on earth in fleshly bodies.

2) Genesis 1:7 says that God created waters above the “expanse” (firmament or atmosphere). If there was a water canopy above our atmosphere before the Flood, it would filter out harmful UV rays from the sun. These harmful  rays can cause skin cancers and may increase aging.

3) If there was a water canopy above our atmosphere, it would have increased the air pressure, kept the whole planet warmer from a greenhouse effect, and would have prevented winds and storms due to the equalization of air temperature and air pressure world-wide. If this occurred, plants would grow much bigger. The remains of them have been found. Insects, since they breathe through their skin and since the air pressure was greater, would grow bigger. Their remains have been found. Lizards, when conditions are right, never stop growing. This may explain how some dinosaurs grew so huge (the average dinosaur was about the same size as a sheep, however). Perhaps dinosaurs were simply Pre-Flood lizards and most of them perished during the Flood. Scientists have also found air bubbles in amber that pre-dated the Flood and they contained 30% oxygen compared to 21% today. More oxygen, especially under pressure, may have good effects on longevity.

This is not to say that all humans or animals were that big at one time, but all this points to the conclusion that our good, young earth was radically different at some time in our history. I think that the Flood was the turning point. We do not actually know if these factors alone would allow for extra long life expectancy, but at least it should open some closed minds. There are probably other factors that were different before that Flood, but we just do not know them all.

Were those 900 years literal years? Of course they were. If not, what were they? Why or how could someone just make up those numbers, especially when the writer wanted people to believe him? If not literal years, why would they suddenly be drastically reduced after the Flood? If they are not literal years, then the accounts make no sense. I don’t think God is messing with our minds on this issue. Either we assume man is right or the Bible is right. Should we “bend” the Bible to fit man’s ideas or do we “bend” man’s ideas to fit the Bible? It’s impossible to be without bias on this issue. Some people say, “I’m not going to believe the Bible until it is proven true.” Others say, “I’m going to believe the Bible until it is proven false.” Man’s ideas constantly change. The Bible does not. It has not been proven false. If it was, then no one in their right mind would believe it anymore, and yet many intelligent people believe it today. Man in general, however, tends to be more closed-minded than he thinks, especially if he is full of knowledge. Be weary of a spirit of egotism or elitism among very intelligent people because the Bible says that knowledge puffs up (1 Corinthians 8:1-2). It’s always refreshing when I meet a humble, smart person.

Genesis 6

Genesis 6:1-4 Only: These verses are perhaps the most difficult to understand in the Bible. The following discussion represents various theories Bible scholars have put forth. In truth, I do not think anyone can say for sure that their theory is correct.

Genesis 6:1-4 refers to the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men.” There have been several suggestions as to who the sons of God were and why the children they had with daughters of men grew into a race of giants (that is what the word “Nephilim” indicates). The four primary views on the identity of the “sons of God” are:

1) They were fallen angels, 2) They were powerful human rulers, 3) They were godly descendants of Seth intermarrying with wicked descendants of Cain, or 4) They were extraterrestrials.

Giving weight to the first theory is the fact that the Old Testament the phrase of “sons of God” always refers to angels (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7). A potential problem with this is in Matthew 22:30, which indicates that angels do not marry. The Bible gives us no reason to believe that angels have a gender or are able to reproduce. The other two views do not present this problem.

The weakness of views 2 and 3 is that ordinary human males marrying ordinary human females does not account for why the offspring were “giants” or “heroes of old, men of renown.” Furthermore, why would God decide to bring the flood on the earth (Genesis 6:5-7) when God had never forbade (assumed) powerful human males or descendants of Seth to marry ordinary human females or descendants of Cain? The oncoming judgment of Genesis 6:5-7 is linked to what took place in Genesis 6:1-4. The obscene, perverse marriage of fallen angels with human females would seem to justify such a harsh judgment.

As previously noted, the weakness of the first view is that Matthew 22:30 declares, “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” However, the text does not say “angels are not able to marry.” Rather, it indicates only that angels do not marry. Second, Matthew 22:30 is referring to the “angels in heaven.” It is not referring to fallen angels, who do not care about God’s created order and actively seek ways to disrupt God’s plan. The fact that God’s holy angels do not marry or engage in sexual relations does not mean the same is true of Satan and his demons. although I still find it difficult to believe that any kind of angel can reproduce with a human. The Holy Ghost did it once, but He is no angel!

However, while angels are spiritual beings (Hebrews 1:14), they can appear in human, physical form (Mark 16:5). The men of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to have sex with the two angels who were with Lot (Genesis 19:1-5). But I assume those evil men did not realize that they were angels. It is plausible that angels are capable of taking on human form, even to the point of replicating human sexuality and possibly even reproduction? If so, why do fallen angels not do this more often? It seems that God imprisoned the fallen angels who committed this evil sin, so that the other fallen angels would not do the same (as described in Jude 6). Earlier Hebrew interpreters and apocryphal writings are unanimous in holding to the view that fallen angels are the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4. This by no means closes the debate. However, the view that Genesis 6:1-4 involves fallen angels mating with human females has a strong contextual, grammatical, and historical basis. Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/sons-of-God.html

Who were the Nephilim? The Nephilim (“fallen ones, giants”) were the offspring of sexual relationships between the “sons of God” and daughters of men in Genesis 6:1-4. According to Hebraic and other legends (the Book of Enoch and other non-biblical writings), they were a race of giants and super-heroes who did acts of great evil. Their great size and power may have come from the mixture of “demonic DNA” with human genetics. It is difficult for me to believe there is such a thing as demonic DNA. All that the Bible directly says about them is that they were “heroes of old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:4). The Nephilim were not aliens, they were literal, physical beings produced from the union of the sons of God and daughters of men (Genesis 6:1-4).

If “sons of God” were demons, why would they do such a thing? The Bible does not specifically give us the answer. Demons are evil, twisted beings—so nothing they do should surprise us. As to a distinct motivation, the best speculation is that the demons were attempting to pollute the human blood line in order to prevent the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God had promised that a Messiah would come from the line of Eve (Genesis 3:15) who would crush the head of the serpent, Satan. So, the demons were possibly attempting to prevent this by polluting the human bloodline, making it impossible for a sinless Messiah to one day be born. Again, this is not a specifically biblical answer, but it is plausible and not in contradiction to anything the Bible teaches.

What happened to the Nephilim? The Nephilim were one of the reasons for the great flood in Noah’s time. Immediately after the Nephilim are mentioned, God’s Word tells us this: “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them’” (Genesis 6:5-7). So, God proceeded to flood the entire earth, killing everyone and everything (including the Nephilim) other than Noah and his family and the animals on the ark (Genesis 6:11-22).

Were there Nephilim after the flood? Genesis 6:4 tells us, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days — and also afterward.” When the Israelites spied out the land of Canaan, they reported back to Moses: “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:33). Now, this passage does not specifically say that the Nephilim were genuinely there, only that the spies thought they saw the Nephilim. It is possible, however, that the spies witnessed very large people in Canaan and mistakenly believed them to be the Nephilim. Or perhaps the Nephilim had become a phrase meaning big people in general rather than literal Nephilim. A very remote possibility in my view is that after the flood demons again mated with human females, producing more Nephilim. Whatever the case, these “giants” were destroyed by the Israelites during their invasion of Canaan (Joshua 11:21-22) and later in their history (Deuteronomy 3:11; 1 Samuel 17).

If Nephilim were demons, what prevents them from producing more Nephilim today? Perhaps God put an end to demons mating with humans by placing all the demons who committed such an act in the Abyss. Jude verse 6 tells us, “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.” Obviously, not all of the demons are in “prison” today, so there must have been a group of demons who committed further grievous sin beyond the original fall. Presumably, the demons who mated with human females are the ones who are “bound with everlasting chains.” This would prevent any more demons from attempting such an act. Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/Nephilim.html

Were the Nephilim Extraterrestrials? According to the History Channel, yes. But I do not trust the spirit behind those programs. They are not at all interested in telling people what God was saying to mankind during those cited episodes in the Bible that seem to be describing ETs to them. The programs just want to divert from any notion that there is ONE GOD who is a Loving Boss. Their definition of ET would be a life form that is NOT spiritual but physical, and has evolved farther than humans and may have produced us as an experiment. There is never a message of love for us or intervening on our behalf as God has done through the centuries. The Bible-believing Christian could define ETs as angels or demons simply because they are not from this earth. Jesus defined God, who is the ultimate “ET,” as being a spirit, not a physical entity simply with superior DNA. If Satan can get people to believe that God is nothing more than a physical entity that’s more evolved than us, then there is less desire to worship him….and this could be the bottom line behind this deception. Who are we to trust, the History Channel along with its evolutionary bias, or the Word of God?

Genesis 6:5-22: Noah Builds the Ark – Let’s Rock the Skeptics!

5-8: Every intent of man’s thoughts were now evil continually and God experienced the sorrow that came from man’s downfall. From this sorrow God almost killed everything and everybody, but Noah found favor with Him. Where would we all be if Noah did not have integrity?

9-10: Noah was “a righteous man” (i.e., a man of integrity, not sinless) and he “walked with God.” I think this means that he meditated on God and prayed or talked with God often throughout each day and knew in his heart that he was not righteous apart from God’s mercy. Perhaps he even worshiped Him in the spirit. No mention of what Noah’s wife or sons or daughter-in-laws were like or what they believed.

11-13: Corruption filled the earth with violence and God tells Noah about the impending doom of mankind.

14-16: Instructions for building this huge ship were specific:

1.  Gopher wood and pitch (possibly bituminous pitch – a tar like substance for water proofing). “Gopher wood” is unknown today, even in the ancient Hebrew language. Some scholars guess that it was any kind of wood that was pitched with that pitch.
2. Dimensions: length = 300 cubits, width = 50 cubits, height = 30 cubits. A cubit was the length from a man’s elbow to his tip of his longest finger. Considering men’s arm lengths today, that would be 18 inches (the boat would then be 450′ x 75′ x 45′). If, however, Noah was taller, a cubit would have been longer. Nevertheless, the boat size ratio of 300-50-30 is perfect for keeping afloat. These dimensions are so superior to any other ratio that WWII ships used it. It is extremely difficult to capsize a ship with these dimensions. One critic of the Biblical account of the ark said a boat that size could never support a mast and sail (the boat would split under the pressure). Uhh, it didn’t have to sail, it just had to float! If the Noah story was a fable, why the specific dimensions? Why have a precise dimensional ratio that is so perfect?
3.  For a look-see of a full-scale model is: http://www.patandjerry.com/2008/10/noahs-ark-to-scale.html and http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/ and

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20121120/NEWS06/311200035/A-full-size-Noah-s-Ark-will-built-Kentucky-biblical-park

4. So the shortest length (cubit=18 inches) would be 150 yards. It also had 3 levels. The question is, could all of earth’s animal pairs fit? A Christian author rejected the idea that the Flood was global because snails would not have enough time to migrate into all parts of the world in just 4500 years. Didn’t he read the Biblical account? Most life forms did not go on the ark; only birds, animals and creeping things that have the breath of life in them (7:15). So all aquatic life forms did not go on. Worms and snails were not included. Insects were not included because they breathe through their skin, plus they could survive on the water top or on floating trees (log mats) and other materials from the mass wreckage. This leaves only about 8,000-15,000 animals that had to go on the ark. Also keep in mind that every variety of “kind” was not needed. Just two dogs for example, would contain all the genetic info necessary to produce the 250 dog varieties of today (including coyotes, wolves, and others). The dimensions provide plenty of space for each “kind” of animal as well as the food supply.

5. A window was near the top and a door on its side.

Since the Flood lasted a whole year, how could all those animals be cared for by only 8 people? Many animals, when confined, especially when it is stormy outside, tend to slow down until things settle. Some or all may have gone into hibernation. In any case, the human work load would have been reduced to a doable level according to John Woodmorappe in his book, “Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study.”

Why wouldn’t some animals attack and eat each other? First, there was no meat-eating ordained by God yet. This came after the ark landed. Second, animals were most likely separated physically.

Wouldn’t the whole story of the ark need to be supernaturally pulled off? I don’t think so. All is scientifically feasible except for two occurrences: 1) God brought the animals to Noah, and 2) God shut the door of the ark, not a human. Many people do not realize the size of this boat. Pictures in kids’ books are ridiculous. The ark looks like a floating bathtub with giraffe heads and necks sticking out far above it.

Hasn’t the ark been discovered? I’ll deal with this in Chapter 8.

Were there dinosaurs on the ark? Some Christians say no and some say yes. It all depends on how you interpret the Bible. If one believes in the Gap Theory or in the Day-Age Theory, then there were none on the ark because dinos would had lived millions of years before God made man and had died off. If one believes that the earth is about 6,000 to 10,000 years old, then yes they would have to be on the ark. Keep in mind that the average dinosaur size equaled a sheep. Only a few were big. And of the big ones, younger ones may have been chosen to get on board. After all God wanted them to live long enough to reproduce.

If the earth is that young, then man and dinosaurs lived together. If so, shouldn’t the Bible mention them? It probably does in Job Chapter 40. “Behemoth” is described in detail – its strength, size, eating habits and habitat. “Evolutionized” Bible translators have footnoted “behemoth” and suggested it was an elephant or hippo. Not with tails like a cedar tree! The profile fits a sauropod to a tee. Sauropods are the family of dinosaurs that were the biggest. “Leviathan” is another strange creature, but no one really knows what it refers to. Perhaps the biggest “dinosaur shock” to evolutionists occurred in 2005 when Dr. Mary Schweitzer discovered soft tissue in a T-Rex thigh bone! During excavation, this bone had to be broken in order to get it out and up via a helicopter. Normally scientists keep all bones in tact. So more fossils may have contained soft tissue, but the evolutionary mindset asserts this would be impossible to last for 70 million years…and they are right, that aged tissue would not. For the Young-Earth Biblical Creation mindset, however, this comes as no surprise. Rather than admitting that man and dinos lived together, the evolutionists are trying to figure out how such tissue could last for millions of years. You see, they can NEVER give up the idea that the earth is billions of years old because if it is only thousands of years old, everyone knows that evolution would not have time to occur, and they will not give up that paradigm because Scripture would gain more credibility. Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0324_050324_trexsofttissue.html

Does the Bible explain what happened to the dinosaurs? First, this question assumes that all dinosaurs are extinct. How does one prove that any life form is extinct? I think it is safe to say that 99% of the dinosaurs were killed by Noah’s Flood. Some of the ark-surviving ones perhaps could not adjust to the radically different atmosphere and climatic changes that the Post-Flood Era wrought. Some may have survived even to this day (although I think it is still safe to go out shopping). There have been “dinosaur sightings” world wide – Congo swamp, fresh water lakes in Canada, Japan, United States (Champlain, Erie), and, of course, the infamous Loch Ness. Caves have been found where humans drew pictures on walls of dinosaurs (with their flesh still on). Pterodactyl birds (piasaws) are part of native Americans lore out west. These have also been reported seen in parts of Africa. I know this may be difficult for some of you to believe, and it certainly is not the first thing I talk about when telling people how great and true the Bible is, but the more you look at what is out there, there more it makes you think that our current paradigm needs a big shift. Fortunately, our salvation does not depend on what we believe on these issues.

17-20: Although terrible and complete destruction would soon occur, God makes a covenant promise to mankind via Noah. So Noah had reassurance from God Himself that he and his family and the animals would make it.

21-22: The food supply was the same for both the people and the animals. The Pre-Flood diet was different than Post-Flood. Noah obeyed perfectly all that God had commanded.

Genesis 7: Here Comes the Flood!

v1: Of the different versions of the Bible that I have, only the King James Version has God telling Noah to “Come into the ark.” The others say “go into” or “enter the ark.” There is a big difference here. I believe God was in the ark and invited Noah and his family into it. Furthermore, it would mean that God was in the ark with him, maybe for the entire time on the water.

v2: Some animals numbered more than two (seven). Maybe they would be needed for sacrificing later.

v6: Noah was 600 hundred years old when he built the ark. Using other verse references, it can be determined that it took Noah (and probably his sons and maybe others who later perished) about 100 years to build this great ship.

v7-10: All got into the ark, and after 7 more days, the flood started. I think God gave Noah and his family time to settle the animals and start a routine care plan.

v11-20: A very specific date given for the start of the Flood – Noah’s 600th year, 2nd month, 17th day. If this was a fable, why be so specific? Bible scholars estimate from Scripture that this was about 4500 years ago. On the same day “all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky (windows of the heavens) were opened.” It rained 40 days and 40 nights. A careful examination of other verses reveals the Flood lasted a little over a year. The water covered all the mountains. Skeptics mock this part of the account because if water covered Mt. Everest, they ask where did all that water go afterward? They assume that Everest was there. It was not. Our current mountains were formed during and after the Flood, and the Bible reveals the purpose of these mountains was to prevent any future flood waters from covering the earth again (Psalms 104:5-9). In fact, if you could push up all the trenches and valleys and push down all the mountains, the current seas would easily cover the whole earth again. All this goes hard against progressive creationists who believe that Noah’s Flood was just a local one. Note: If Noah’s Flood was merely a local one, then God’s promise of never sending another one has been broken hundreds of times.

So the amount of water needed to cover a flatter earth posed no problem, and when God rearranged the topography, the water simply assuaged down into the valleys and deep oceanic trenches thus exposing the continents. These continents, however, probably had their continental shelves above sea level. Furthermore, these shelves formed land bridges connecting all of them (allowing for animal migration after the flood). They were eventually covered as the abundant ice from ONE instant “ice age” during and after the Flood was slowly melting and raising the sea levels. This would explain how cities in the Black Sea were destroyed about 4500 years ago by a big flood. Critics of the Global Flood belief mistakenly cite this as “Noah’s Local Flood.” I believe it was simply water overflowing in through the Gibraltar Strait, into and flooding the current Mediterranean Sea, and finally into the current Black Sea. It is truly amazing how much history we can determine if we simply take the Bible at Its word.

Since the water beneath the earth “burst,” we can assume it was under great pressure. It may also have been very hot. Marine life located near these crust cracks would be killed and buried immediately forming many of the sea fossils we find today. Fossils cannot form slowly. Carcasses would rot away or be eaten by scavengers. In order to preserve the soft tissue, it must be buried and pressurized immediately. The Flood Model better explains the fossil record and current topography (especially its unconformities) than the evolutionary model that leaves no room for sudden catastrophes.

Water containing various soils, sediments, and material has the ability to sift the compositions by weight and density as it sinks. This process is called “hydrologic sorting.” The result is that sediments are laid down in clearly defined layers. They dry into solid rock over time. So if a global flood hit our planet, we should expect to “find billions of fossilized dead things buried in rock layers which were laid down by water all over the earth,” as Ken Ham from answers in Genesis always says. This is exactly what we find. Unfortunately, before we realized all of this great evidence for Noah’s Flood, evolution with its erroneous interpretations blinded many scientific eyes to the truth of the Bible. Now all they see are long time periods and repeated local flooding laying down the layers over millions of years. Both sides share the same evidence but each have different spins. While looking at the Grand Canyon, for example, the evolutionists say, “Wow, look what a little bit of water did over a long time.” The Bible-believing scientists say, “Wow, look what a lot of water did in a short time.” Interpretation depends on what one believes. The battle is NOT “Faith” vs. “Science” as the media and the evolutionists would have us believe. It is “Faith” vs. “Faith.”

So how did the Grand Canyon form? Creationists believe that a very large suspended lake formed during the flood’s recess. Natural uplifts formed dams to contain all the water. Meanwhile, the water was sorting the sinking sediments from the flood water into layers. As time passed there was a breach in one section of the dams. As water poured through it, erosion quickly widened the flow. Soon mega tons of water were surging through the breach. At this point, water has cavitation power, meaning it creates a suction so strong that it takes apart solid rock. At the time of the breach, the sediments were most likely not solid rock yet, but instant cavitation probably sucked out that canyon in about a few days to a week. It was not billions of years of moving water knifing through solid rock layers. There is a book entitled, “Grand Canyon – A Different View” explaining how the Bible gives us hints as to how this great feature formed. Its author, Tom Vail, is a canyon river guide. When his book went on state park shelves in that area, the evolutionists had a fit and demanded that it be removed! So much for freedom of speech and open-minded scientists. This indicates there are supernatural powers behind the two opposing sides. If the Biblical Creationist position is so scientifically lame as its opponents claim, then it will fall on its own lack of merit in a short time. But the fact that the opponents get SO UPSET at this information indicates that there is a real war going on and it is not fought with physical weapons.

Rock layers cannot represent millions of years. The top of each layer in the Grand Canyon, for example, has no erosion marks. If that layer top was exposed to the earth, wind, sun, and rain for years before being covered over with sediments from a little flood, weathering marks would be found. Furthermore, there are petrified tree trunks running vertically through several layers of rock! If evolution is true, then those trees grew through solid rock looking for the sun for many years, or they stayed alive for millions of years while many mini floods gradually covered them over with sediments. I like the Global Flood Model better. Dr. Steven Austin (Ph.D. from Penn State University) has excellent DVDs demonstrating how the Grand Canyon formed quickly by revealing what happened at Mount St. Helens Volcano in 1980.

v24: The water prevailed on the earth for 150 days, but as we’ll see later, it was still not yet safe to leave the ark. All life on earth that breathed via nostrils was dead. Once again, the insects (breathe via skin) were exempt from this death sentence, and they could easily survive above the waters for a year, especially if there were many giant-sized floating log mats.

Comment: Most people’s knowledge about what the Bible actually says is poor. Few evolutionists read it. They may depend on skeptics’ remarks over the years to formulate their opinions. Not good or fair. This ignorance can help them jump to erroneous conclusions about Biblical claims. I think the creation scientists offer deeper insight as to what actually occurred in history.

Genesis 8

v1-2: God protected all that were in the ark. The underground water bursts stopped, the rain stopped, and God caused a wind to bring the water level down. I don’t think this wind alone could make the flood recede. It could increase evaporation, but I doubt this would cause a significant change in a relatively short period of time. This is why I think the lowering of the water level is linked to Psalm 104, because it makes more sense that the water would swirl down into those low places caused by the “wrinkling” of the earth’s crust. When the water burst out of the earth, I think the crust cracked in several places causing the deep fissures we now see on the sea floors. This in turn caused the beginning of the crust plate tectonic phenomena causing plate collisions resulting in an accordion effect on topography (mountains arose and valleys sank down as Psalm 104 states). Many major mountain ranges have parallel deep fissures under the oceans. Psalm 104:9 says that God did this “wrinkling” in order that the water could never return to cover the earth. It has been calculated that if you raise up all the deep oceanic trenches and lower all the mountains, all land would easily be covered by water.

v3-5: After 150 days, the water began to decrease and in the 7th month and the 17th day of that month the ark rested on the “mountains of Ararat.” On the first day of the 10th month, mountain tops began to appear. If this was a fable, why be so specific? Putting together these verses we can determine that the flood lasted for a little over a year.

Comment: Has Noah’s Ark been discovered? Today there is a Mt. Ararat in Turkey, which scholars believe could be the site where the ark landed. However, the Word says “mountains of Ararat” (plural). If this is the location, then it may not be right on Ararat itself but rather in the general mountain area. To date, there have been two sites that some people claim to be the ark, or what’s left of it. One is on Mt. Ararat while the other is miles away. First, let us not assume that Noah left the ark in tact. He may have had to chop it up to make shelters and firewood for warmth. All trees were gone and wood may have been needed for other purposes. Nevertheless, even if he did take it apart, there still is a good chance that some remnants would be left behind.

Exploring Mount Ararat is dangerous. It’s very cold, icy and some have died going up there. If the ark is there, it could be buried deep within a glacier making it’s discovery difficult. In addition, politics have sometimes hindered exploration. At one time the communist regime in Russia forbade entry. The communists did not want anything in the Bible verified. Years later, the Turkish government had problems with foreigners coming into that area. Many teams have gone into that area over the years only to come back with nothing sighted. The 2010 Chinese claim of discovery was a hoax.

But there have been several intriguing stories over time. In 1952 French explorer Ferdinand Navarra found a 5-foot plank of wood which containing pitch in a glacier cravasse. He cut the piece in three separate pieces so he could carry it away. It was studied in five universities and it was dated back to Noah’s time. During strong melting times, some claim to have seen have of it through the ice. Some think ice movements over the years have torn it and two halves have been separated at different heights within the glacier.

Years ago Russian fliers allegedly took pictures of a big boat incased in ice, but this material was allegedly destroyed by the communist government.

Controversial explorer Ron Wyatt, now deceased, also claimed that he discovered the ark but in a sort of valley. There seems to be some sort of a wooden outline that, he thinks, may have collapsed open over the years. Metal detector have located nails beneath the surface and some distance away huge “anchor stones” have been found and can be seen today. These are stones with a man-made hole at the top where a rope would attach and their purpose was to keep a floating boat more stable in waves. Since Ron’s passing, several expeditions have surveyed this area and some believe it is the actual ark. However, there is no conclusive evidence so far.

There is, however, lots of evidence for the World Flood. The story is found written in about 290 cultures around the world. The names and some details are different, but the gist of the Genesis account is in tact. For example, there are always 8 humans in a big boat with lots of animals while all other life on earth was destroyed. Even the Chinese language has some roots in the Noah’s Flood story. For example, the symbols for vessel, eight, and people are combined to make the word “boat.” The symbols for dust, breath, alive, and walking combine to form “to create.” These symbolic meanings seem to originate in the Genesis accounts of how God created Adam and of the Flood.

v6-12: After 40 more days, Noah opened the window. For the next several days, he sent out birds to see if there was any exposed land. Finally a dove never returned.

v13-14: Noah removed the covering of the ark (first time this covering is mentioned) and he saw that the ground was now dry, and a little later the whole earth was dry.

v15-19: God tells Noah to take all off the ark. God wants the animals to breed abundantly on the earth (so we trust that this occurred). Every animal left the ark “by their families.” This may indicate that the original “twos” had babies while on the ark.

v20: Noah built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed “clean” animals and birds to the Lord. God was pleased. Critics may view the God of the Bible in a horrific manner due to verses such as this. But I view it as God was pleased that Noah was thankful, obedient, and grasped the importance of the innocent blood sacrifice rule. I don’t view our God as deriving pleasure from animal pain or death. Unfortunately, pagan groups such as the Aztecs and Incas would pervert this and offered human sacrifices to their gods. Unfortunately, they were not the only groups to do this horrible act. This is why some satanic groups are obsessed with blood sacrifice. It’s all a perversion of what God has established.

v21: Because of Noah’s obedience to all that God had commanded, God promises to, in spite of man being totally evil, never curse the ground or destroy every living thing.

v22: God promises that day and night, seed time and harvest, and the seasonal changes will not cease. I guess we don’t have to worry about global warming destroying the planet. Yes, this planet will be destroyed, but it will be by the hand of God, not man.

v23: The changing of the seasons are mentioned for the first time. An interesting theory asserts that the earth was not tilted when created, therefore there would be no change of seasons. It would also cause a very tranquil atmosphere because there would be no extreme air temperature differences therefore no strong winds or storms. Why, then, would God mention change of seasons at this point in history? Perhaps the earth was struck by a large ice meteor resulting in a tilt. Since the earth is spinning on an axis, this strike would also cause earth to wobble much like when a spinning top is struck. Any struck spinning object will try to right itself. In other words, the wobble lessens over time, although I don’t think it can ever return to its previous no-wobble state. George Francis Dodwell (1879-1963), BA Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, Government Astronomer for South Australia from 1909 to 1952, studied the earth’s wobble and the rate of wobble decrease. In his carefully constructed manuscript entitled, “The Obliquity Of The Ecliptic”(the axial tilt of the Earth), he calculated that earth was struck with something around 2345 BC which is when creation scientists believe Noah’s Flood occurred. (Source: http://ed5015.tripod.com/SkepticsObliquityEcliptic33.htm) That strike could have been strong enough to break the protective water canopy (if it existed) causing rain, and also crack open the crust of the earth causing pressurized subterranean water to gush forth. Ice meteors are super cold and many pieces would get sucked to the poles due to magnetism since ice becomes magnetized at minus 300 degrees F. This would have caused an instant ice age. Since then the ice has been receding and gradually raising the sea levels perhaps covering continental shelves and land bridges thus dividing them. Genesis 10:25 states that earth was divided in the days of Peleg who lived about 200 years after the Flood. Maybe this is how it all happened.

Genesis 9 – Coal Formation in Biblical & Scientific Terms

v1: God blesses Noah and sons and commands them to have lots of children to fill the earth with people.

v2: God puts the fear of man into the animals, fish, creeping things, and birds. This means that it wasn’t there before.

v3: Gods tells humans they can now eat animals for food. No wonder He put the fear of man in them. He didn’t want them to disappear from the earth. God also mentions that the “green plant” was the former food. Animals and humans were vegetarians before the Flood. Animals did not go around killing each other yet. My guess is that climatic and atmospheric conditions changed so dramatically on earth after the Flood, that the green plants lost significant protein, hence the command to change our diets. Critics may say, “What about all those canine teeth in animals, doesn’t that prove they were meat-eaters? No, the panda bear has the same teeth but they are for tearing bamboo shoots for food to this day. Still, God knew the future need of meat-eating within the animal and thus created such teeth. If there was plenty of protein in “the green herb” that God created in the Garden of Eden and the rest of the world, there would be no need for meat in a diet. One mistake scientists make today is that they assume that what is true today, must have always been true in the past. For example, all the radiometric aging processes are assumed to have had the same break down rates today as yesteryear. New evidence is calling this assumption into question. If rates were much faster before the Flood, then rocks, carbons, and radioactive substances would all have a false appearance of long ages.

There is much more to say on this topic for what we are doing here, but I must mention one study. On November 5, 2005, a creation science group published an incredible finding. To read the details if interested, key word search “RATE, Baumgarten, carbon dating.” Anyway, carbon-14 enters living bodies and is then changed to nitrogen-12 at a certain rate. Once a body dies, the C-14 ceases to increase while it continues to breakdown. Its half-life is 5730 years. This means that once a body or plant dies, the amount of C-14 will be halved every 5730 years. If some living thing died millions of years ago, then the amount of C-14 remaining would be so small that scientists could not detect it. If, however, it died a few thousand years ago (keep in mind that the Flood occurred about 4500 years ago), then they would find some C-14 left in the sample. The RATE (Radio Isotopes and the Age of the Earth) group dug deep and obtained many organic samples from various depths. They sent samples to labs for C-14 testing but they did not tell the technicians the samples came from creationists because evolutionary bias can destroy evidence for the Bible. All samples were found to not only contain C-14, but they all had similar amounts. So we would conclude that these once alive samples died only a few thousand years ago AND AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME! If evolution is true, no C-14 should be found in the lower samples. The Flood is a better scientific explanation for these facts.

How has the scientific community responded to this? It does not appear that many have given it serious thought or scrutiny. The ones that have simply reject it (“because it can’t be true”) by claiming that there must have been contamination in all the samples. To be fair, contamination is a remote possibility in this type of research, but the RATE group did their best to prevent it and therefore was highly improbable. Still, there is never a guarantee. So this is the evolutionists’ loophole. Their proper scientific response should be to try to replicate the findings because chances of repeating contamination is even more improbable. To my knowledge, they have not done this.

v4: God commanded them not to eat animals alive, that is, with their blood still present because that contains the animal’s life. Leviticus 17:11 states that “The life of the flesh is in the blood.” If more scientists took the Bible seriously rather than thinking they are above It, those “blood-letting” doctors would not have killed George Washington in 1799. These men were not ignorant. They were highly intelligent. They were simply wrong. Just like some scientific ideas today.

v5: This seems to be saying that if an animal kills a human, then that animal is to be killed. Also man should not murder man, and if he does, he too is to be killed.

v6-7: Murdering a human is defined as such a horrible sin because a human is made in the image of God, therefore there should be automatic awe and respect given to man above all life forms on the planet. Today, forces are at work trying to bring humans down to an animal status. Murdering a human is total disrespect for God. Punishment for murder is commanded by God to be execution. This time period is before the Law (Ten Commandments) which contains the murder issue among others. I think God had to set down some kind of law at this time to ensure the multiplication of the human race on earth. This may have been His concern, hence harsh penalty and early warning. People needed to fear God and death, and I suppose they did, at least for a while.

v8-17: The Rainbow Covenant – God promises man and beast that He will never destroy the earth again by water and that the rainbow in the sky will serve as a constant reminder to both Him and mankind regarding this covenant. As a boy I wondered why a rainbow would be such a big deal to Noah because I had assumed he was like me, that is, he saw many before in his long lifetime. But if we read Genesis carefully, we can also assume that before the Flood this earth was very different than today. For one thing, rain was never mentioned as a phenomenon until the Flood rain came (a mist and ground water watered everything). If there are no water droplets in the sky, no rainbow can form. So I think this was the first rainbow that appeared. It must have impressed Noah and his family. As I was awaiting the start of my son’s baseball game years ago, a rainbow formed. I told one of the other dads where the origin of it came from and why. He looked surprised and maybe thought I was nuts. But God was telling me that today’s people are extremely ignorant of God’s Word. Many use the erroneous excuse of “science has disproved the Bible, so why read it. It has no credibility in the real world.” I beg to differ.

v18-19: Noah’s three sons – Ham, Japheth, and Shem. Through these three men the whole earth was repopulated. Again this phrase “the whole earth was populated” by these men is strong Scriptural evidence that the Flood was not just a local one. Furthermore, if Noah’s Flood was local, then God has broken His promise of never sending another one like it.

v20-23: Noah drinks too much wine and falls asleep naked. Ham tells his brothers about it. They lifted a garment and turned away their faces so as to not see their father’s nakedness, and covered Noah. Why did Noah get drunk? Well, that sea float was a bit rough…. Seriously, I do not know. He may not have intended to do so, however.

v24-27: Noah cursed Ham’s son Canaan (would become a lowly servant) for Ham’s actions. I think Ham showed disrespect to his dad, and maybe literal nakedness bore more shame in those early days (today with nudists and lots of “flesh flashing” this embarrassment has waned over time, sadly). I’m not sure why Noah would curse Ham’s son rather than Ham himself. Perhaps it would increase Ham’s guilt.

v28-29: Noah lived 350 more years after the Flood and totaled 950 years then he died.

Comment: Noah and his family probably never saw the gross carnage from the Flood because bodies of animals and humans were most likely rotted, torn apart as they rotted, and swiftly buried by fast moving water and sediments.

If trees were huge in Pre-Flood time, and there is evidence for this, then huge log mats consisting of torn out trees, would bump together and scrape off tons of bark which would float to the bottom and in many cases be swiftly buried with sediment. Therefore, the global Flood Model of Noah’s day can explain the formation of coal seams buried under the earth.

Steven Austin presented his research and evidence for this theory to Penn State University and earned his Ph.D. in geology. The panel thought the idea of Noah’s Flood being actual history was ridiculous, but his research was deemed as good science and even considered to be a better model than evolution regarding the coal formation issue. So they awarded this creation scientist his degree. It is rare for a prestigious, secular university to award a high degree in science to a creationist. I’ve heard Dr. Austin speak. He is humble and loves Jesus. I was impressed with him. Oil deposits can also be better explained by the creation model. With the amount of oil there is under the earth’s surface, there must have been a lot more animals (and people?) alive on earth when the Flood hit than most would think. We now know that it does NOT take millions of years for oil (or coal) to form. Under the right conditions it can form within days in a lab (or safe to say a few thousand years naturally).

Genesis 10 – Continents Divided? Was the Black Raced Cursed?

v1: The specific names of men within the family trees of the three sons of Noah are listed. Again, if Genesis is a bunch of fables, why interject information as specific and as specific as this?

v2-4: The sons and further descendants of Japheth are listed.

v5: Nations and languages eventually formed from these families (this mention is a jump ahead in history because the languages were not yet confused).

v6-20: The sons of Ham and further descendants leading to Nimrod are listed. The curse on Ham was working. Canaan, his son, became the father of the Canaanites who were not too fortunate in life. Tradition claims that Nimrod lead a humanistic movement against God’s command to spread out over earth. Nimrod, a mighty hunter and builder, allegedly persuaded the people to hunker down, stay in one place, and build a tower to heaven. The great Jewish historian, Josephus, claimed that he became the leader and incited (via intimidation, for he was physically strong) people to reject God and strive on their own in life. If so, this may be the spiritual root of humanism. According to Josephus, the Tower of Babel was constructed to protect them from another flood, if it should come. It is believed that Nimrod started Babylon which was always anti-God. It seemed that he thought trusting in God was a coward’s cop out in life.* Many wrong spiritual seeds were sown back in these early years that would plague the earth’s people for centuries. Nimrod may have been the kingpin.

*I remember one of my high school students who was a good varsity soccer player. After one road win, she began giving praise to God for the victory while on the bus ride home. This incensed the coach, and she went back and yelled at Donna for not taking the credit herself! This is an example of the “Nimrod spirit” being alive and well on planet earth.

Ham’s genealogical tree is also believed to be the line to black people. It is believed that some of his descendants settled toward Africa. Unfortunately, some also believed that the blacks were part of this curse, since the cursed descendants were doomed to be lowly servants. Ham was not cursed but only his son Canaan was. Historically, the Canaanites went through a lot of slavery and had a reputation of being quite evil over the centuries and they were not black.

How did the human races begin? First, according to Scripture, there is only one race – the human race – “(and God) made from one blood, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth….” (Acts 17:26). Within the genetic code of the 8 survivors of the flood was the potential for human variation, and when small numbers of people multiply within their own small group for several generations, these variations are more apt to be expressed genetically. I think from the Tower of Babel scene, groups of people speaking the same language tended to travel and settle in three primary directions – toward Europe, Africa, and China. As the Chinese developed, some crossed the land bridge to Alaska and developed “Eskimo” variations (similar eyes and cheekbones as Asians). Some from the Eskimos migrated over time into North America and developed into native American Indians (similar eyes and cheekbone structures). Close-cultured interbreeding fostered wider variations within humankind. The reverse is also true. If we took the various “races” and interbred them generation after generation, all or most of the eventual offspring would appear to be of the same “race” probably within a few generations. In other words, they would look similar. Now in extreme cases, some genetic traits can be lost forever and those descendants would never return to a more “generic” race. In conclusion, from a literal Biblical perspective, the various human “races” present no great mystery. God, being the creative genius that He is, designed some wonderful variations within each kind He made.

v21-31: The sons and further descendants of Shem are listed. Interesting note: In verse 25 it says, “….Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided….” Scholars have discussed what “divided” meant here. Some say the different languages took hold and they went there separate ways. Others think that since Peleg lived about 200 years following the Flood, the huge ice caps caused by the Flood had been melting and could have raised the sea level some 300 feet which would be enough to cover all the land bridges thus covering all continental shelves and isolating the continents. Then the continents would have been divided, perhaps after some significant human migration.

v32: From these nations, formed by these three families, the earth was separated.

Genesis 11 – The Meaning Behind the Tower of Babel

v1-2: Mankind was unified with one language and they settled in the Plain of Shinar (probably somewhere in the Middle East). They were not supposed to settle together but rather disperse and fill the earth as God commanded more than once.

v3-7: Instead, they built, via human effort and unity against God’s Word, a city and a tower that would “reach into heaven” to have something to be proud about as well as preventing them from being scattered over the whole earth. The reference to the tower’s height may simply mean “high in the sky” rather than a literal spiritual heaven. They may have desired height in case another flood hit. It would be a safe place for them. No one knows for sure, but it is safe to say they were not following God. God told them to scatter along with promising no more wipe-out floods. They apparently did not believe His Word, and this is the crux of the human problem.

Furthermore, this may be the emergence of the humanistic spirit that prevails today. This spirit ignores God and does not wish to glorify God. It does seek to glorify itself through humans. They placed their confidence in bricks and mortar and the work of their hands as human pride grew. I believe that God recognized this and knew it would lead to premature destruction that would prevent the Messiah from doing His great redeeming work and therefore greatly reduce the number of saved souls. It is not good that man’s intelligence and ingenuity run amok devoid of God direction. Yet we see this all over the world today, especially since the Renaissance and the Age of Reason. We trust in our technology and feel that if we can put a man on the moon, nothing can keep us from solving any problem. Aren’t all sci-fi movies built around this theme? Man begins to be overcome by alien forces only to figure out how to defeat them in the end. Human accomplishments on the surface are extremely impressive, but in the light of God and His accomplishments they pale into insignificance and will be burned up on that Big Day. This does not mean we throw away our computers or our intelligence. It means we must keep Jesus Christ and His Kingdom first in our hearts.

Speculation: Some scholars suspect that Nimrod was the “go-to guy” in this rebellion. Some suggest that he led all sorts of demonic worship and marked the genesis of many demonic activities and active spirits of today. Bob Deffinbaugh suggests some more gems that we can glean from the building of the Tower of Babel:

1) Unity is not the highest good, but purity and obedience to the Word of God is. Ecumenism is the watch word of religion today, but it is a unity at the cost of truth.
2) Artificial activity will inevitably miss the meaning of life.
3) The Word of God, and not the works of our hands, is the only thing worthy of our faith. The men of Babel began to look at work as the cure rather than the curse. They believed that the work of their hands could assure them of some kind of immortality beyond the grave. Here, I suspect, is the driving force behind the workaholic. He cannot ever rest because he (or she) is never certain that a large enough monument has been built. http://bible.org/seriespage/unity-unbelief-genesis-111-9

v8-9: So God scattered the people abroad over the whole earth and the building stopped. No one knows HOW God did this scattering. We know from previous verses that groups who spoke the same language stayed together, however we do not know how many languages formed. I think He drove a quick migration in various directions. However it happened, I think each group was isolated from the others for a long time in order to give rise to different cultures, customs, dialects, and language offshoots. This result would almost necessitate a rather quick separation along with much time of isolation.

10-32: Specific genealogy from Noah’s son Shem to Abram (who became Abraham) is listed. Some of these names are included in the New Testament account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Luke 3:23-38).

Genesis 12

v1-3: God calls Abram (later to be called Abraham) to be someone extremely special. Abram was told by God to leave his father’s house, his country, and his relatives and go to a land where he would become the father of a great nation. I think that because Abram was willing to forsake all to follow God, he was made great. I also think God was on the verge of starting something big and had to find the right person with the right heart to do it.

Application for Today: The more we are willing to give up for God’s sake (time, thoughts, money, future, etc.) the more God will honor that and anoint us to do what we thought we could not do. God’s blessing went so far as to bless the people who bless Abram and curse the people that curse him.

v4-6: Abram leaves at age 75 with his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot, and many possessions and came to the land where the Canaanites lived.

v7: God promises Abram to give him this land (Canaan) and Abram built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him there. No one knows what “appeared to him” means. We can assume from the Moses experience with the burning bush that Abram did not see God face-to-face. I don’t think anyone who has sinned can see God face-to-face without perishing. Anyone who demands that God make a face-to-face appearance to prove His existence is ignorant, arrogant, and is not willing to follow Him even if He did (assuming God allowed him to survive). The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

v8-10: Abram traveled beyond Canaan then to Egypt due to a famine.

v11-13: Because Sarah was beautiful Abram worried about how the Pharaoh of Egypt would treat him. He feared for his life so he told Sarah to lie and to say he was her brother. I guess his experience with God wore off by now for he did not trust that God would preserve him. Or, perhaps he just didn’t have much revelation about God yet. In any case, all God’s servants in Scripture had flaws. So do not feel God will not use you because of your flaws.

v14-20: Because of the lie, Pharaoh took Sarah into his house for himself (leaders could do things like this in those days). But God struck him and his house with plagues causing Pharaoh to discover the cover up. He rebuked Abram and returned Sarah to him, and let them go in peace with all their belongings.

Genesis 13:

v1-4: Abram left Egypt with much wealth and returned to the area of Bethel, where he was prior to going to Egypt.

v5-7: Strife arose between Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s herdsmen, for they both had much livestock and needed more space.

v8-9: Abram initiates a peace plan and gives Lot the choice of what land to take. This shows good character in Abram.

v10-13: Lot took the best looking land (selfish choice). Unfortunately for Lot, it was near Sodom and Gomorrah before their destruction. Now at this time the men of these cities were exceedingly wicked and sinners against the Lord.

Application for Today: Selfish decisions have a price later.

v14-18: God shows Abram the land given to him along with a marvelous promise – “I will make your seed as the dust of the earth so that no one will never be able to number them.” This speaks all believers from Old and New Testament times. Abram probably did not understand the depth and breadth of what was just said to him. At this time, God was making Abram the very first Jew (the father of a chosen race)…and he would be tested soon.

Genesis 14: Good Message for Today

v1-11: Several kings formed alliances into two opposing groups and they made war against each other. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were defeated so their cities were plundered.

v12: Since Lot lived in Sodom, he and his possessions were taken by the victors.

v13-16: Abram gets word of the tragedy concerning Lot and assembles 318 of his trained men to rescue him. They succeeded and returned not only Lot, but all his possessions and people as well.

v17-20: In the midst of all this violence and strong emotion, a mysterious man named *Melchizedek, who was a priest of the “Most High God,” suddenly appears and blesses and anoints Abram. Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of his wealth. This generated the concept of tithing – giving one tenth of our earnings to God and started before Moses gave The Law. Our willingness to give to others with a cheerful heart is a measuring stick of our humility and trust in God.

*Melchizedek (translated means king of righteousness, king of Salem, king of peace) is identified in the Book of Hebrews. He is “without father or mother, without genealogy” which may indicate he was Jesus appearing before He was born into the world. Or, perhaps it means simply that no one knew his background. Since Hebrews further states that he abides a priest perpetually, I think this is a theophany (a “cameo appearance” of Jesus). In any case, Jesus’ rank equates with the rank of this Melchizedek, according to Hebrews 6:20.

v21-24: The king of Sodom demanded that Abram take all the goods, but leave the people with him. Abram refused to take anything belonging to this evil king, and he took back his people as well. Abram’s character was again being tested by God. He passed this one. No doubt in my mind that this is one of the reasons Melchizedek appeared to Abram – to give him an anointing and grace to do what God wants done. It was a turning point for Abram.

Application for Today: If we are called by God to perform important things for His Kingdom, we may find ourselves being tested and refined more than an average person. So if this is going on in your life now, rejoice. There is a good reason. He is probably creating something inside you that will be needed at some future time. Keep your eyes on Jesus and seek the anointing of the Holy Spirit through it all and you will do fine.

Genesis 15

v1: The Lord came to Abram in a vision and told him not to fear and that He would protect him. He also spoke of a reward, either it was the Lord Himself or the promise of many children.

Note: In the OT, the word “LORD” (all caps) is a translation from the Hebrew word “YHWH.” The are no vowels in the original Hebrew tetragram style of writing. So scholars have applied an educated guess as to what vowels were most likely included in the name of God. In Hebrew, they have rendered the word as “Yahweh” and pronounced it “Ya-way” with the accent on the first syllable. Translated into English it reads “Jehovah.” The ancient Hebrews took the commandment of not taking the Lord’s name in vain extremely seriously, to the point of never speaking it aloud to assure them of never being guilty of this sin. This also carried over into the writing of His name. To this day, no one really knows the exact spelling or pronunciation of His name. The Jehovah Witnesses make a big deal about “making the name of the Lord known.” They insist on “Jehovah” yet they cannot guarantee us that this is correct. Fortunately for us, the name of Jesus Christ makes this whole issue moot (see 1 John 2:23).

v2-3: Abram becomes a little confused and asks how this blessing would come about since he was childless and therefore having no one to be an heir to his wealth.

v4: But God tells him that the seed will come forth from his body. Note: This “seed” can easily be thought of as Isaac who came forth rather miraculously from an aged wife Sarah. According to Galatians 3:16, however, the “seed” refers to Jesus Christ. In short, a certain line of Isaac’s descendants would become Mary thus forming the Messianic lineage linkage, and Satan was determined to destroy it.

v5: God had Abram look at the stars and said that his descendants would be as numerous as those stars (uncountable). It is easy to jump to the conclusion that these descendants would be the Jews. It includes all Jewish believers in the OT and the NT as well as all the Gentiles who are saved from OT and NT times as well. As we will see, Abram becomes the “father of faith.”

v6: Because Abram believed what God had said to him, God looked upon him as a righteous person, even though he was a sinner like anyone else. Here we see how powerful faith in God and His Word is to the human race, and what can be accomplished when we do believe. In Romans Chapter 4, Paul underscores this concept because the Jews of his day thought that Abraham was righteous because he was good and was circumcised. Paul, however, points out that God pronounced Abram righteous BEFORE he was circumcised because of his faith in God and His Word. Again, this emphasizes that faith, not works (or rituals), saves us.

v7-11: God tells Abram that he will possess a certain land (Canaan), but Abram doesn’t know how this will happen.

v12-17: Abram falls into a deep sleep and a terror-filled darkness fell upon him. God then tells him some bad news – Abram’s descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs where they will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years. God assures him that the nation will not go unpunished for this and that Abram’s people will come out with many possessions. But before all this takes place, Abram will die in peace at an old age. Then in the 4th generation, his people will come back to this place because “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” This gives us a brief glimpse into the realm of God and why events or promises are sometimes delayed. Apparently, sometimes sin has to grow worse to more fully benefit God’s plans for good – only God could orchestrate this. His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8).

v18-21: God seals his covenant with Abram by promising him the land between the Nile River (I assume) and the Euphrates River. There were pagans in these lands and they would have to be dealt with later. The stage is now set for further drama and difficult times, but God is in the Plan.

Genesis 16: One of the Most Tragic Human Plans in History

v1-3: Sarah was childless and beyond the age for women to bear children. So she connived a plan to fulfill God’s promise to Abram by suggesting he have sex relations with a young maidservant from Egypt named Hagar. Unfortunately, he thought that was a good idea. When humans strive in their own thinking and their own strength to serve God, it can do more damage than we realize. In those days, God was speaking directly to Abram, therefore Abram should have sought the Lord for advice regarding his wife’s idea, but he did not.

v4-5: Hagar gets pregnant by Abram and Sarah despised her when Hagar became proud of being pregnant. Consequently, Sarah becomes angry with Abram for letting this go on. No happy family here.

v6: Abram gives Sarah permission to do with Hagar anything she wants. This was not nice of Abram. So Sarah treated her so harshly that she fled away.

v7-14: Then an angel of the Lord found the runaway slave girl Hagar and told her to return to Sarah and submit to her authority (we do not know why). He also told her to name her son Ishmael, meaning “God hears” (Hagar was treated poorly and God had mercy on her). Although she would be blessed with many descendants (the Arab race started here), Ishmael would be a “wild donkey” and would be against everybody, and everyone will be against him. The horrible strife between Jews and Arabs began here.

v15-16: Ishmael was born to an 86-year-old Abram.

Genesis 17: Circumcision and Modern Science

v1-8: At age 99, God appears to Abram to put His final stamp on the everlasting covenant between He and Abram. God tells Abram to walk before Him with integrity because he would be the father of many nations and many kings. God also changed his name from Abram, which means “exalted father,” to Abraham, which means “father of a multitude.” Canaan was given to him by God as an everlasting possession and that He would be their God. I think this last part actually indicates that God wanted to form a people that would reflect who He is, and that there is only one God, not many. His final goal was, of course, to produce the Savior of the world through this lineage. Therefore, the Jews became the “apple of God’s eye,” not because they were better than Gentiles but, I believe, because God chose to reveal Himself by dealing with a small group of people while keeping all other people in mind, i.e., He would draw others to Him though the Jewish history. It has worked! Just think about the great numbers of non-Jewish Christians in the world today! There are a good number of Jewish Christians as well. To me, these Jews are special because they have both the lineage and have responded well to God’s plan. With God, however, there is no partiality (Romans 2:9-11, 28-29).

v9-14: God demands circumcision. All males in the Jewish lineage had to be circumcised on the 8th day of life. This practice indicated that God’s people were to be a different people from the rest of this world. It further represented the idea of cutting off sin and worldliness and becoming separated from the ways of this sinful world so that other nations could also “see the light” and be blessed of God and saved eternally.

Interesting note: Two substances essential for blood clotting are Vitamin K and prothrombin. Both are at the highest levels on the 8th day of life and gradually decrease until death. So rather than looking at this practice as barbaric, it is actually the best time in life to be cut. Granted, other cultures, such as some African ones, pervert this and demand it done to females. This is NOT Scriptural or of God. This is mutilation and performed from pagan beliefs.

If circumcision was so important in OT times, is it important now? Not from a spiritual viewpoint because people need to be circumcised in heart to obtain eternal life. What God did in the natural during OT times, He does in the spiritual in NT times (1 Corinthians 15:46). Simply from a hygienic perspective however, there can be advantages. For example, the male organ can be kept cleaner and it may reduce the risk of cervical cancer in women who marry circumcised men. Jewish women have had low cervical cancer rates. They also usually marry Jewish men who have been circumcised. Sometimes germs can cause cancer. The most common cause of cervical cancer today is HPV (Human Papilloma Virus). Whether or not to circumcise a male infant today is usually a decision made between parents and doctors.

v15-16: God changes Sarai’s name to Sarah and gives her the same blessing and prophecy as He did to Abraham – she will become pregnant with a son of the promise and be the mother of nations, and kings will come her.

v17-22: Abraham falls on his face laughing in his heart and blurts out about him being 100 years old and Sarah being 90, well beyond the years of having kids. Then he seems to fear for Ishmael, perhaps still thinking that he was the “child of the promise” and maybe now God would kill or curse him. Then God makes it abundantly clear that the child of promise will be born the next year and he would be from Abraham and Sarah, and his name is to be Isaac. God also assures Abraham that Ishmael will be blessed and a father of a great nation, and be the father of 12 princes. I assume “great” means “many people.” This was the birth of the Arab nation. The Muslims believe that Ishmael is the promised child and that it was he whom Abraham offered as a sacrifice, not Isaac.

v23-27: Abraham, Ishmael, and all the men in Abraham’s household were circumcised.

Coming Soon! The birth of the Promise!

Genesis 18

v1-8: It says the LORD appeared to Abraham, but then there were three men also. Abraham seemed to know that they were holy men. He made sure they had good food to eat, and they did eat.

v9: They asked about Sarah.

v10-15: The Lord said He would return next year at this time and Sarah will have a baby son. Sarah was listening and silently laughed inside because she was far beyond the child-bearing age. The LORD knew of the laugh and called her on it, and stated that nothing is too difficult for God. Sarah denied that she laughed, but the LORD insisted and knew that she did laugh.

v16-19: The 3 men rose up and looked toward evil Sodom. Then the LORD spoke with the 3 men, so they were perhaps angels with the LORD during this visitation.

v20-22: God says He’ll look into the evil in Sodom.

v23-33: Abraham probes God’s intention for the evil city of Sodom. He is concerned that good people will die because of the wicked ones. He finds out that God would spare the whole city if 50 righteous people lived there. Then Abraham kept lowering the magic number that would activate God’s mercy to spare the city. Abraham went from 45 to 40 to 30 to 20 to 10, and God said He would spare the city even if only 10 good people were there. Each time Abraham cautiously approached and spoke to God about that number. It gives us a glimpse into God’s deep mercy and love for those He knows will be saved (and He allows us to talk and reason with Him – Isaiah 1:18).

Genesis 19: Rated XXX

1-3: The two angels in male human form came to the gate of Sodom where Lot met them and invited them to his house for the night. The angels planned on staying in the open square for the night, but Lot insisted on having them come to his house. Perhaps Lot knew what the men of the city would do if the two guests stayed away from his protection. I assume that the mission of the angels was to rescue a righteous man (Lot). When the Scriptures describe Lot as being “righteous” it does not mean sinless, but rather “just.”

4-8: Vile men came to Lot’s house from every quarter of Sodom and demanded to have sex with the two male guests. Lot goes out his front door and pleads with the men to not do that. Perhaps out of desperation, or strong allegiance to a strong cultural norm of hospitality, or fear for all of their lives (himself, family, and his guests), he offers his two virgin daughters to the vile men. This was appalling! It goes against every parental instinct God gives us. I assume that Lot did not realize these two guests were angels from the Most High God for if he did, I assume he would have had faith that they would protect everyone involved. Originally, Lot had set up his residence (tent) just outside the city, but at this point he had moved into the city. Sin’s influence had to become stronger.

Application for Today: Do not hang with people who oppose God with their lifestyle.

Note: Gay activists claim the sin of these Sodomites was not homosexuality (or anal intercourse) but rather their desire to rape someone. They further claim that the Bible never condemns homosexuality, but does condemn lust. They also believe that two of the same sex can love each other with a pure love. They are wrong on all counts. Genesis, Leviticus, and Romans Chapter 1 clearly describe homosexuality and condemns it as an abomination before the Lord. While it is important to us today not to yell and scream condemnation at gays, it is still paramount that we defend God’s Word. HOW and WHEN we do this is critical (Ephesians 4:15). I personally don’t think that holding protest signs that say “God Hates Fags!” at a Gay Parade or anywhere is proper, OR EVEN TRUE! It worsens how others view Bible believers and more deeply entrenches the deception in others. God does not hate any human being. He hates sin. Big difference. If we are His offspring, we will reflect His love.

9-11: Lot’s appeasement effort fails and the evil men were about to overtake him when his guests pulled him into his house, shut the door, and struck the evil ones with blindness.

12-14: The guests told Lot to gather up his relatives and get out of Sodom because God was about to destroy it. Lot’s future son-in-laws thought he was joking. They did not make the trip.

15-16: Lot hesitated to leave, so the angels seized him and his wife and daughters by the hand and left. His daughters probably needed something like this to get them to go with their dad after what he did to them. Why did Lot hesitate? Perhaps he realized he would be leaving his house and all his belongings behind or maybe he lacked some faith. In any case, this is somewhat of a type of salvation – God does the initiating and the work to rescue us, warts and all (and Lot had his “warts”).

17-23: The angels give specific orders to flee and not to look behind them as they flee. The escape route was supposed to be to go beyond the valley into and up the mountains, but Lot did not like that option and had the angels agree to have them flee to a small town far enough away (Zoar). The angels agreed not to have that town destroyed.

24-25: God rains fire and brimstone “out of heaven” and destroyed both the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. All humans and plant life were killed. Much evidence has been discovered to verify this horrible event: “Mud brick structures were discovered to have all of a sudden vanished, leaving just scorched stone structures. Bricks revealed indications of incineration. Skeletons lay mangled. Clay pottery pieces were found to have actually melted into glass. Zircon crystals in the pottery, upon analysis, were revealed to have actually formed within 1 second, the outcome of superheating to temperature levels possibly as hot as the surface area of the sun. A “giant wave” of boiling hot salt had actually swept over the land. There was archeological evidence that mineral grains had actually poured down, brought by sweltering, high-force winds. Ash and particles, multiple feet thick, were left within the broader 193-square-mile location of devastation– a scene of utter carnage of biblical proportions. The approximated local population of 40,000 to 65,000 men and women would have been eliminated instantaneously by the unusual occurrence.”   Source: https://evidence-for-the-bible.com/archeological-evidence-for-the-bible/archeological-evidence-for-the-destruction-of-sodom-and-gomorrah/

26: Lot’s wife disobeyed the angels and looked back during the destruction and the Lord destroyed her as she became a pillar of salt. Why did she look back? Perhaps her heart loved the things of this world and was not transformed into the newness of life that God creates via conversion.

Application for Today: Some people today have quite a conversion experience, only to backslide into oblivion because they love the things of this world. Why are these things wrong? They are identified as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life” and the love of the Father is not in them (1 John 15-17). We need to abide in His love because the things of this world are constantly vying for our affections. Watch out for this deception, especially in America where materialism rules.

Comment: Why a pillar of salt? There are many great deposits of rock salt in that region today, probably formed by massive precipitation from thermal brines upwelling from the earth’s deep mantle during the great Flood. Possibly the overthrow buried her in a shower of these salt deposits blown skyward by the explosions. There is also the possibility that she was buried in a shower of volcanic ash, with her body gradually being converted into “salt” over the years following through the process of petrifaction, in a manner similar to that experienced by the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius. (Henry Morris, taken from: “The Defenders Study Bible,” p.67).

27-30: Abraham gets up the next day and views the great destruction. Lot became too afraid to stay in Zoar (even though the angels promised to spare it), so he took his daughters to the mountains (the original order) and lived in a cave.

31-35: More perversion, this time from the daughters. They feared never getting husbands, probably because their fiancees were killed in Sodom. Why they could not believe they would meet someone else in this world is a mystery to me. Apparently they weren’t choosing to trust God for their mates. Since their main fear was never having children, they conspired to get their father so drunk that he would not realize the daughters were having sex with him in order to bear children. I guess the perversion of Sodom softened them to think this was okay to do. But we also must realize that the God’s Laws given to Moses did not exist at this time of history.

36-38: Unfortunately, they did become pregnant and had sons. It was the genesis of the Moabites and the Ammonites, who were always opposed to God’s people. So just as the “human conniving” caused the birth of Ishmael and the Arabs who oppose the Jews, we have another example of the human race going astray. I can now more fully appreciate God saying, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever because he is also flesh (tending to stray), nevertheless days shall be 120 years.” Our longevity has been shortened in the End-Times, despite all the medical breakthroughs. Maybe the more generations of sin that are piled up, the more life toll is taken. In spite of early, great human failure, God is faithful…and the birth of the promised child is about to miraculously occur.

Feedback Question from Genesis 19:

Renate R: I know that God is sovereign, and that His ways are higher than our ways, however I have always struggled with the fact that God never seems to address these men regarding their actions when they put women in harms way. Lot’s willingness to send his daughters out to be gang raped and killed, Abraham’s willingness to send his wife into the hands of another (…twice!), the story where the servant girl/concubine was sent out in place of the male traveler where she was gang raped and beaten to death… I generally don’t dwell on things that I don’t understand; just give it to the Lord so they don’t become a stumbling block, but I’d like to know what you think.

Dave: Your question is one I’ve wrestled with for years, and it is a good one. In his Epistles, Peter describes Lot as “righteous.” I think this is only because he alone had some kind of faith in the true God whereas no one else in Sodom and Gomorrah did. This was also before the Law of Moses was given and depravity of mind was setting in. I did notice that the two angels at Lot’s place prevented the abuse of the two girls, but they did not rebuke Lot for offering them to the men. They had a mission and they did not divert any energy from that. Still, you have to wonder. In Judges 19, there were no angels, just warped men. Abraham’s behavior was before The Law too, but he showed no regard for his wife and, as you point out, no rebuke from God. God did not rebuke many important people, especially kings of Judah and Israel. According to Deuteronomy 17:17, those kings were not supposed to multiply wives unto themselves, yet every king did so and they were never rebuked for it (although it caused trouble later). I also have wondered why God did not reveal more about Satan and demons in the OT. He gave people only a little glimpse into this advanced evil power source. All of a sudden when Jesus appeared on earth, those demons started screaming and speaking through people! It seems to me that if we do not know who the enemy is, we are sitting ducks. Perhaps during OT times there were not many demons on earth but when the Messiah came, they came in swarms.

With Genesis 19 and Judges 19, we could easily say that this overall problem with men’s attitude toward women was merely a cultural thing many years ago, but that attitude led to some horrible things and I, too, wonder why God did not say more about it. Like you, I cannot throw the baby out with the bath water. But it is difficult to respond to critics who pick on these episodes. Much criticism wrongly accuses Scripture, however. For example, they claim that God condoned rape and this is easily refuted.

Genesis 20: Abraham Treachery 2

1-2: Abraham travels to another area where Abimelech was the king. Once again, Abraham feared for his life and made it known that Sarah was only his sister. The king took her but did not ever get to the point where he physically touched her.

3-7: God came to Abimelech and threatened to kill him because Sarah was a married woman. But the king plead his innocent case before God and God agreed he was innocent. God said that Abraham is His prophet and He prevented the king from touching Sarah, and ordered Sarah to be returned to Abraham if the king wanted to remain alive. Note: the king’s proper attitude toward adultery catches me off guard because of the abundance of immorality. Even the Pharaoh from Egypt had this same attitude as Abimelech, which is quite remarkable when you consider that these kings could do anything they wanted. Their word was the law. They had no Congress to answer to and the people had no ACLU to which to appeal.

8-13: Abraham explains the reason for lying: he thought the place was a godless place in the same way he thought about Egypt.

14-16: The King gives Abraham Sarah plus animals and supplies and sent him away. He also said Abraham could settle anywhere on the King’s land he desires.

17-18: After Abraham prayed. God restored fertility to the king’s family so that they had children.

Genesis 21:

1-8: As God promised, even to the specific time, 100-year-old Abraham fathered Isaac, the child of the promise. Sarah had a good laugh over it again. 🙂   Issac was circumcised on the 8th day of his life, then later grew and was weaned from his mother.

9-13: Ishmael was mocking and it angered Sarah. The Bible does not say what or who was being mocked. But certainly strife between Arab and Jew was brewing early. She asked Abraham to drive away both Hagar and Ishmael. God told Abraham to listen to Sarah because it will be through Isaac that his descendants will be named. God also said to Abraham that He will make Ishmael the father of a great nation because he is of Abraham’s seed, but that nation (Arab) would not be the promised lineage of the Messiah.

14-19: Abraham sends them away with some water and bread and they went into the wilderness. The sun got hot and the water ran out, and Hagar, assuming they both would die, cried out in desperation. An angel delivered a message from God to her. She was shown a well of water and the promise of God to make her son the beginning of a great nation.

20-21: Ishmael grew up and became an archer, and married a woman from Egypt.

22-34: King Abimelech came to Abraham to make an agreement, since the king recognized that God was blessing Abraham. The king wanted Abraham to never lie to him and wanted good treatment to his offspring. The king reasoned that Abraham should do this because the king treated him nicely when Sarah and Abraham first entered his land. Abraham agreed and sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days. He continued to call upon the name of the Lord, so his spiritual walk was doing well. Note: The Philistines were later haters of Jews and often were at war with them, but at least for now, they weren’t.

Genesis 22: The BIG Test

1-2: God commanded Abraham to take “his only son” (Isaac) whom he loved dearly to Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice on a certain mountain. How can this verse claim that Isaac was Abraham’s ONLY son when he also had Ishmael and later more from other wives after Sarah’s death? The only thing I can think of is that Issac was the ONLY SON OF THE PROMISED MESSIAH. Perhaps Abraham understood this better than today’s Bible critics who claim there is a contradiction here. In the context, Issac was the only son that “counted.” That sounds a bit crude out of context and I do not mean to slight the others, but the fact is that if Isaac died before having children, the promised Messiah could not come to earth.

3-5: Abraham travels the next day and finds the place. He orders his men to stay behind while he takes Isaac further up the mountain. Then Abraham says a revealing statement. He says to his men, “I and the lad will go yonder, and we will worship and return to you.” Notice the phrase “return to you.” This strongly indicates that Abraham, though he had full intentions of killing Isaac, knew that God would bring him back to life as Hebrews 11:19 states.

6-14: As father and son walk up to the designated place, Isaac asks where the sacrificial lamb is. Abraham assures Isaac that God would provide the lamb. As Abraham binds his son and raises his knife to kill him, an Angel of the LORD stops him. God speaks through the angel saying, “I now know that you reverence God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.” Abraham sees a ram caught in the thickets and uses it for the sacrifice. Indeed, God did provide the animal for the sacrifice.

15-18: God tells Abraham the greatness that will follow his lineage and also his spirit. Because Abraham did not withhold the most precious thing in his life and was willing to give it (him) to God, Abraham’s “seed” will emanate into all the nations of the earth. God is not just talking about the Jewish lineage here. He is describing all future believers that will reverence Him above all that this world can offer. Why? Because Abraham “joined the very heartbeat of God” due to his willingness to give his only son. This is just what God did concerning Jesus Christ – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). Abraham had in him what God is. This bring tears of joy and excitement to my eyes as I type these words. This is HUGE, my friends! We are true sons of Abraham because we have responded in faith to God’s Only Son. We get saved when we surrender our soul-lives to God, which is basically saying, “Lord, take over my life, do with me whatever you want, You are now the most important thing in my life” (Luke 9:24). As a child, I believed in God and the Bible, but He wasn’t first in my heart. At age 21, I surrendered all to Him. That changed me. God is a Giver. He withholds no good thing from us (Ps.84:11). He will give us His whole Kingdom! (Luke 12:32). We lose nothing that is good. The more we give of our things, skills, and time, the more eternal reward we have. If we have a giving spirit, then the Holy Spirit is more free to move through us. All this is at the Center of God Himself!

19-24: Abraham returned to his men and traveled to Beersheba and lived there. Abraham was told that his brother Nahor had had several children by his wife Milcah and his concubine Reumah.

Genesis 23:

1-20: Sarah dies at age *127 and is buried in Canaan. Abraham goes and buys land to use for a cemetery for his family. He is willing to pay a rather high price because he recognized that he was an alien to that region and he respected the people there who owned the land.

*God spoke earlier in Genesis that he would not strive with man but his days would be 120 years. So Sarah fit in with what God ordained for this time period. Within about four generations after the Flood, however, longevity was down to about 70. Something had changed.

Genesis 24:

1-9: Abraham orders his oldest servant to find a wife for Isaac. She must NOT come from the land of Canaan because they were godless. She must come from Abraham’s homeland and his family, but Isaac was NOT to settle or even go there because God told Abraham to leave and go to the promised land (Canaan). An angel would help the servant.

10-28: The servant arrived at a well and prayed that God would have the right woman say a certain thing, and this would be the one for Isaac. Rebekah said that certain thing. What this servant did was not putting God to a foolish test which is forbidden in Scripture. It was a reflection of true faith in God and a close relationship between the two. We can pray prayers like this at times as well. While the Scripture reveals God’s will for us, sometimes in certain situations we need to hear from God to make a right decision.

How does God use to communicate with us? (1) The Word, (2) Us getting alone before the Lord in prayer, (3) Pastors and other church leaders, (4) Spouse, 5) Authority Figures (bosses, policemen, judges, etc.) whether or not they are saved (this does not mean they are always right), (6) The Spirit within us, (7) People, even unbelievers sometimes, and (8) Situations.

29-54: Laban, Rebekah’s brother, invites the servant in. The servant tells his entire story to Laban. The servant waits for a response. Both Laban and Bethuel (Rebekah’s dad) saw that this whole event was set up by God, so they could not object. They said, “Take her and go.” The servant gives many gifts to Rebekah, her mom, and Laban, her brother.

55-67: Her mom and brother wanted her to stay another 10 days, then have her go with the servant, but Rebekah was willing to depart immediately, so she went with her family’s blessings. Rebekah makes it back to Isaac safe and sound, and Isaac loved her. They got married and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. Their first two children would be very different from each other.

Genesis 25

1-8: At age 175, Abraham, satisfied with life, breathes his last. After Sarah’s death he had taken another wife and had several more sons and grandsons. While alive he gave much to these relatives, but in death, he gave all he had to Isaac. Furthermore, he sent all these other sons away from Isaac.

9-20: Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham with Sarah. God blessed Isaac’s life. Several of Ishmael’s descendants are listed. He died at age 137. Ishmael’s sons settled just east of Egypt. A brief review of Abraham and Issac’s lineages are listed.

21-24: Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, was barren so Isaac prayed and she conceived. But the twins were struggling within her and she was distressed about it. She then sought the Lord, and He said that two nations were in her womb and one will be stronger than the other while the older shall serve the younger.

25-28: Esau, the first twin born, had red hair all over. Then Jacob was born clutching Esau’s heel. “Jacob” means “one who supplants.” Isaac was 60 when they were born. Esau grew up to be a skillful hunter and a man of the field while Jacob was a peaceful man living in tents. Dad loved Esau and mom loved Jacob – typical parents.

29-34: One day Jacob cooked some stew and Esau came in from the field famished. When he asked Jacob for some food, Jacob demanded Esau’s birthright first (the first-born always had a great inheritance from the father). Because Esau had no regard for spiritual or customary things, he agreed. One meal was more important to him than future blessing. Jacob lived up to his name as a supplanter – he “took the place of” Esau.

Note: I see similarities between Jacob/Esau and Cain/Abel. One was worldly-minded while the other was more spiritually-minded. It shows how humans are totally individuals even though they are born from the same parents, even twins.

Genesis 26: An Encouraging Lesson for Us today

1-6: Due to a famine, Isaac traveled to King Abimelech of the Philistines for help (probably because of his dad’s relationship with him). But God told him not to go on to Egypt. Isaac was to stay where the Lord wanted him. Then God makes the same promise about “the seed” to Isaac as He did with Abraham.

7-11: Isaac tells the same lie to Abimelech about Rebekah as his father did regarding Sarah out of the same fear. Abimelech finds outs and is deeply bothered by it as he was with Abraham.

12-14: God blessed Isaac’s crops and animals in the land called Gerar and he became rich, but the Philistines envied him.

15-22: Abimelech orders Isaac to move out of town because he was becoming too powerful among the Philistines. Isaac moved out into the valley of Gerar and dug water wells that the Philistines plugged up after Abraham’s death (they were Abraham’s original wells). But the Philistines quarreled over the wells claiming they belonged to them. So Isaac finally dug a well that no one fought over.

Note: The Philistines were beginning to show their colors regarding God’s chosen people. There would be many wars between the Israelis and the Philistines. Goliath and his four giant brothers were all Philistines.

23-25: Isaac moves to Beersheba and God appeared again to him and encouraged him with the same prophecy. I guess God saw a need in Isaac, so He kept reinforcing the promise.

26-33: Abimelech and his officials came to make an oath with Isaac. He wanted to have peace with Isaac for he feared Isaac’s God that obviously was with Isaac. Isaac agreed.

34-35: At age 40, Esau married two women who brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah. I think the grief that Isaac experienced was due to the calling on his life by God. Satan does not stand by idly watching God’s great promises unfold.

Application for Today: I think this is true for us today. We, as believers in His Son, are now the apple of His eye. Satan and his cohorts do not ignore us (2 Corinthians 2:11). Furthermore, the fact that God allows this harassment should indicate to us that it can bring about good things (Romans 8:28). As King’s Kids, we are always in a win-win situation.   🙂

Genesis 27: The Big Deception

1-29: Isaac is old and could not see. He was not sure if he was going to live much longer, so he wanted to give his blessing to his first-born and the one he loved, Esau. Rebekah, however, was privy to this and wanted Jacob to get this blessing. So she made Jacob to appear to be Esau in front of Isaac. Jacob went along with the deception. The ruse was successful. Jacob lied three times to Isaac to keep the deception going. Jacob gets the blessing – people will serve him and nations will bow down to him, cursed be those who curse him and blessed will be those who bless him.

30-35: Esau returned to Isaac and Isaac discovered the ruse. Esau was furious. According to Isaac (and maybe tradition?), Jacob took away Esau’s blessing. In other words, Isaac was not going to bless Esau too. In Isaac’s mind, it was one and done.

Comment: At first glance this all seems unfair, but remember that Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for one measly meal. Esau was reaping what he had sown.

36-45: Isaac pronounced that Esau will serve Jacob. He would also live away from fertile ground and live by the sword. This would not last forever, however. When Esau gets restless, Jacob’s yoke over him will be broken. Esau held a major grudge against Jacob and plotted to murder him after Isaac dies. Rebekah finds out what Esau was planning and told Jacob to flee to Laban in his land. She hoped Esau’s anger will settle down over time and make things safe once again for her beloved son Jacob.

46: Rebekah complained to Isaac about those daughters of Heth (forefather of the Hittites) who were striving against her. She told Isaac that she does not want Jacob to take a wife from that group. She was adamant. Now it would soon be Jacob’s turn to be deceived – what goes around comes around. God says you reap what you sow. In spite of all the unrighteousness in these main characters, God’s Holy Promise stayed in place…quite amazing.

Application for Today: Don’t ever feel so condemned that God would not use you. Quote Romans 8:1 and keep serving Him.

Genesis 28

1-9: Isaac sends Jacob to his mom’s brother Laban in order to find a wife. Isaac blesses him with the promise of Abraham. When Esau discovered that Isaac did not want Jacob to marry women from Canaan, he went over there and took another wife from that group (out of spite?).

10-19: On his way to Haran, Jacob had a dream. A ladder reaching from earth to heaven appeared containing angels going up and down on it. Then God spoke prophecy over him giving him the same promise of protection and posterity as Abraham. Indeed, the promised seed would be kept alive. Jacob awoke and was full of awe about the place where God appeared, so he marked it with a stone and called the place “Bethel” meaning “House of God.” The previous name of the city was Luz. I think Bethel has a better ring to it. 🙂

20-22: Jacob vows to let God be his God if he is protected and given sustenance, and also throws in a promise to give a tithe from all that God gives him.

Comment: It is at this event when I think Jacob becomes “born again.” That is, God is no longer a religious tradition that his parents gave him, but now God is real to him and he wants to surrender his life to God.

Application for Today: This act of surrendering our life and will over to the Heavenly Father is still the key to salvation today. Many people believe in God and many of those attend churches. But neither of these make someone saved. To be saved we all must first be humble and admit we cannot save ourselves with works, then receive God’s saving grace by faith provided for us by Jesus Christ, and also believe that God raised Him from the dead. In the OT, they did not have Jesus Christ or the Gospel to respond to yet, but this act of surrendering all to Him still worked I believe. So no matter which covenant people lived under, it is always FAITH that saved (Habakkuk 2:4), not obedience to the Law. In this case with Jacob, the Law had not yet been given.

Genesis 29: Pregnancy – Blessing or Health Malady?

1-13: Jacob arrives in Laban’s land and sees Rachel. Laban welcomes Jacob warmly. Jacob then tells his story to Laban.

Note: Rachel was Jacob’s cousin (the daughter of his mom’s brother). For them to marry in those days was neither wrong nor a danger to their offspring. Keep in mind that Adam and Eve had perfect genes, no mutations. I assume that mutations began forming after sin. I also assume that it would take several generations of sin to corrupt enough genes to create a higher risk for deformities. I don’t think the mutation progress was very advanced at this stage. It wasn’t until Moses’ time period when laws were set down about marrying within families. So I also assume that the genetic risk became apparent then.

14-25: Jacob agrees with Laban to work 7 years for Laban in order to marry Rachel. After the 7 years, Jacob asks to wed Rachel. Laban puts on a feast. Later that evening, Laban brings his oldest daughter Leah to Jacob, and Jacob has sex relations with Leah thinking she was Rachel (I assume he must have been very drunk and in the dark). How these OT guys can have sex with women and not know who they are is quite amazing to me! I recall Lot’s two daughters…he apparently didn’t realize he had sex with them (his daughters got him drunk). Anyway, the next day Jacob sees that it was Leah with him and he demands an explanation from Laban.

26-30: Laban explains the custom of marrying off the oldest first (I think he was more worried that Leah would never marry, maybe due to her appearance or poor eyesight rather than obeying customs). In any event, Jacob agrees to work another 7 years for Rachel (he really loved her a lot). They were married at the end of those 7 years.

31: God blessed Leah’s womb for He realized that she was not loved by Jacob. Rachel remained barren. In those days, it was VERY honorable for women to have children. Those who did not felt abandoned or cursed. This honor still exists today, but it is also thwarted by with abortion rights attitudes that measure “success” by earning power and independence rather than having children. The world has changed. As self-centeredness grows, children become more of an inconvenience rather than a blessing (Psalm 127:3-5).

32-35: God blesses Leah with 4 sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. With these, she surely thought that Jacob would now love her. Those names should ring a bell with you. They are the beginnings of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Leah’s child-bearing was now put on hold. Leah and Rachel viewed children a blessing from the Lord. Today, many people do not share this view. Consider these quotes from the Rochester D&C Newspaper, (11/1/10), p5A: Article Title: “Contraception Could Be Free Under New Law” Quotes: “There is clear evidence that family planning saves lives and improves health. Contraception rivals immunization in dollars saved for every dollar invested. It is a prototype of preventative medicine” – Dr. David Grimes, international family planning expert who teaches medicine at the University of North Carolina. Note: When Dr. Grimes says “family planning,” he includes abortion.

I wonder if this expert has considered that Muslims do not believe in abortion and they are having many more children than Americans? In just a few generations, they may outnumber all these Americans who follow his economic advice. Has Grimes considered all the loss of social security and income tax revenue from limiting children’s birth? I really do not think that his answer will help our economy one iota in the short or long run.

In response to this awful mentality, the U.S. Catholic bishops say that “pregnancy is a healthy condition, not an illness.” John Haas, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia says, “We don’t consider it to be health care, but a lifestyle choice.”

Genesis 30 – Faith or Scheming?

1-8: Because Leah had children but Rachel had none to this point, Rachel became jealous and complained to Jacob, who offered no sympathy. Bound and determined to have children, Rachel resorts to the same thinking as Sarah. She offers her maid to Jacob. This maid had two sons named Dan and Naphtali. Rachel considers them to be hers, probably due to her status with Jacob.

9-13: When Leah stopped getting pregnant, she offers her maid to Jacob, and she had Gad and Asher. This rivalry between Rachel and Leah is almost comical! In an attempt to outdo each other, they kept throwing other women at their husband Jacob to have sex with (I never heard him complain).

14-24: Over a trivial matter Rachel makes a deal with Leah thereby telling her to have sex with Jacob. She did and a son named Issachar was born. Zebulun followed. Then a daughter was born from Leah – Dinah. God finally opens Rachel’s womb and she delivers a son named Joseph. This totals 11 sons. Benjamin, the twelfth, comes later from Rachel.

25-43: Jacob wants to leave Laban and work for his own family, but Laban wants him to stay because there was an anointing of prosperity upon Jacob that Laban was cashing in on. Jacob probably wanted to leave to return to the promised land described in Genesis 28:10-22 and his 14-year service was most likely over. He also must have resented Laban for the trick he did regarding Leah. Laban had to do something quickly to keep Jacob around so he “re-negotiated.” In this new agreement, Jacob thought he could deceive Laban. Jacob manipulated the way in which the animals mated thinking that more would become his and less would become Laban’s. The trouble was that Jacob did not understand what science tells us today about genetics and breeding. Maybe mating the stronger sheep and casting aside the weaker sheep helped a bit, because we can observe natural selection maintaining the strength within a species (natural selection, however, cannot produce new and “superior” species from “more primitive” ones as Darwin postulated). Jacob wrongly thought that by placing spotted and striped visuals in front of mating animals they would produce those traits in their offspring. God wanted him blessed anyway and he prospered where Laban did not. We learn later why Jacob was prosperous, and it had nothing to do with his schemes. It is important that we realize that God does not bless carnal effort…..ever.

Feedback from Genesis 30: Renate, a woman at my church who I deeply appreciate and respect in the Lord, offered some good comments on my last commentary from Genesis 30:

“I believe that Rachel’s request for the mandrakes was not trivial to these women. Rachel had not been able to have children and the mandrake is considered to be an aphrodisiac and to induce fertility. Rather than having faith that the Lord would help her, I think she felt it was worth the sacrifice. Also, I have not found anything in their actions that indicate that these women loved Jacob. It seems that their main interest is in having children. In that day, a woman’s identity was in childbearing and it was considered shameful to be barren, but there doesn’t seem to be any relationship between Jacob and any of his wives. It was tradition that if a woman gave her servant to her husband as a wife for the sake of bearing children, the children would belong to her not to the servant. What a life for the servant. The family dynamic is so sad…like a modern day soap opera! My husband, John, and I spent some time this morning trying to think of examples in Scripture of godly marriages after the Law was given. I was encouraged to find some. As John said, it is such a picture of God’s grace. How he works through us even though we are sinners and fail when we do things our way instead of His. He redeems all for His plans and purposes. Also, in my notes regarding Jacob’s plan to manipulate the way the animals bred it says ‘Jacob was not practicing superstition; he was exercising faith which he somehow associated with the rods. God, having designed the laws of genetics, intervened and honored Jacob’s faith.'”

My response: Your comments about the mandrakes and “child ownership” were great ones, thanks. Regarding your last comment from your Bible notes, I do not believe that Jacob based his beliefs about animal breeding on superstition either. I get the feeling that he erroneously thought his method would work, but it was simply not based on good science. The “scientific method” was not even established yet in history. I would compare it to the doctors (and personal friends) of George Washington who wrongly believed in blood letting, which eventually caused his death. They were not superstitious, but simply wrong. The assertion that Jacob was truly exercising faith resulting in God rewarding him may be a stretch, however. It does not seem like faith to me that would manipulate physical things thinking that there is a natural cause and effect. On the other hand, if Jacob believed that God would cause that natural effect, then your Bible notes may have a good insight. My “gut feeling,” however, is that there was no faith in God from Jacob considering the context (motives) of his actions.

Genesis 31

1-8: Jacob gets revelation from God to return to his dad’s land in Canaan. He supposedly convinces his two wives to come with him because Laban has been often times unfair to him. So they were willing to leave their dad and most everything behind.

9-13: God points out that the reason Jacob obtained more animals than Laban was not due to his pole routine (human effort based on faulty science) but rather God’s directing only Jacob’s animals to mate. Now this goes beyond the science even of today, hence it is supernatural, and therefore God gets the glory. It was God’s mercy and grace that was blessing Jacob, not Jacob’s conniving.

14-21: Rachel and Leah realize that their father was not going to give them any inheritance because of the other wives and sons he had. So they were more than happy to leave Laban and cling to Jacob. Without telling Laban, Jacob loads up all his wealth and family and takes off for Canaan. Without telling anyone, Rachel steals some household idols that belonged to Laban.

Comment: What would motivate Rachel to do this wrong? Maybe she was greatly afraid of poverty. In the Syrian culture (Laban was a Syrian), having possession of these types of idols represented the power of inheritance. I don’t think Rachel took them to bow down and worship them. She probably thought they would somehow help them obtain wealth or sustenance. Just a guess. If so, obviously it was still wrong. Stealing is wrong because it is not trusting God for our sustenance (more importantly, His Word says it’s wrong).

22-32: After 3 days, Laban finds out about the departure and takes off after Jacob with some kinsmen. Just before catching him, Laban is warned by God in a dream to be careful how he talks to Jacob. Laban catches up with Jacob and is angry about his deceiving him, and not even giving him a chance to kiss his daughters goodbye. Although he had the power to do Jacob harm, that dream restrained him from doing so. Laban accuses Jacob of stealing his idols. Jacob, not knowing anything about this, said whoever is found with them, shall die.

33-35: Laban searches all tents and camels for his idols, and then he comes to Rachel who was sitting on them in her camel’s saddle pockets. Thinking fast, she claimed she was in the middle of her menstrual period and could not rise up at that time. Laban backed away and did not search her saddle. Oh, the advantages of womanhood! 🙂

36-43: Enraged that Laban has found nothing, Jacob goes on an anti-Laban rant citing all the hardships he as endured and the unfairness of Laban over the 20 years Jacob had served him. Laban still claims all that Jacob has belongs to Laban, but also he realizes that he cannot harm his daughters and grandchildren. So he agrees to make another covenant with Jacob. They piled up some stones and agreed that neither one of them would cross that line to do the other any harm. Laban also demands that Jacob never mistreats his daughters and that he takes no other women as wives. After sealing the agreement and eating a meal, the two parties went their separate ways and Jacob continued onward to where God told him to go.

Genesis 32
1-2: As Jacob went on his way to the land where God told him to go, some angels met him. He recognized immediately that these were supernatural, not just ordinary persons.

3-8: Jacob is very concerned about how his brother Esau will greet him, so he sends messengers ahead to Edom where Esau lived with the message that Jacob has prepared many gifts for Esau in the form of animals. The servants return to Jacob saying that Esau is coming with 400 men. This terrified Jacob. You may recall, that these brothers did not part on good terms. Esau really did not like Jacob. He viewed him as a conniver that stole his birthright.

9-12: This is the first recorded prayer in the Bible. Jacob humbles himself before Almighty God and asks for protection, reminding God of His promises to Jacob. So one part of Jacob feels he’ll be okay because if Esau kills him, then God’s promise cannot come about. But those 400 men and the mental picture of Esau’s wrath creates much fear in him. Much like us today – we know God’s promises to us, but worldly circumstance can make us shudder.

13-23: Jacob camped for the night where he was currently located. He sent servants with three separate droves of animals to appease Esau’s anger and show respect to him with these generous gifts. They must have arrived to Esau in waves. I think Jacob’s hope was that each group would work to soften Esau’s heart more. Jacob carefully takes his family across a stream safely, but then stays alone on the previous side.

24-31: A very long and mysterious wrestling match occurs. God, in some kind of form, meets Jacob. The form is said to be ” a man.” I think this would mean that Jacob may not have realized who he was dealing with at first. He probably knew something was up because of the earlier visitation of the “two angels.” Jacob apparently wrestled well enough to not be defeated by this “man.” At the end, Jacob’s thigh was simply touched by the “man” and came out of joint. This shows that Jacob could have been easily wiped out by this “man” if desired. But God probably wanted Jacob to “wrestle” with Him for a while for some beneficial reason. Jacob clung to the “man” and demanded to be given a blessing. Now the “man” asked Jacob his name. I don’t think the “man” was ignorant of his name, but rather was in the process of making a spiritual point to Jacob. That is, Jacob, which means “supplanter,” is not a very nice name. A new name of “Israel” would reflect the nature change that God had wrought from this experience. Israel means “a prince with God.” Perhaps Jacob’s wrestling with God represented how the nation of Israel would wrestle with God and be damaged over the years. God not only protected Jacob in the near future from Esau’s revenge, but also changed him inwardly. Furthermore, to keep him humble when he finally realized that he “met God,” he would walk with a limp. This may be similar to Paul’s “thorn in his flesh” which was given so that he would not get too proud about revelations from God, and that he would know God’s grace (Him giving us ability to do things). It is very humbling, and Jacob needed this. I think the fact that Jacob prayed that prayer showed that he was finally realizing that conniving and scheming were not going to help him any more.

Application for Today: Each of us must experience this inner change and God will orchestrate different scenarios for each person. He knows what each one of us needs for us to be changed, and then be able to be used by Him.

32: Due to this factual story, the Jewish people began a tradition  – to not eat the meat from the hip joint in any animal. This was not in any Law from God.

Feedback Comments/Questions:

Peter M. – Nice stuff here Dave, thanks. The whole “Jacob wrestling with God” story is so bizarre it’s hard to wrap my head around. God doesn’t deal with anyone in this physical a manner anywhere else in the Bible, does He? Other Scriptures that talk about “no man has seen God and lived” and “no man has seen God face-to-face” (I may be paraphrasing here a bit) seem to contradict this Jacob scenario. I do like what you wrote about it having a profound effect on Jacob/Israel’s character, though. Maybe this was a special case.

Dave to Peter: Thanks. I don’t think Jacob saw God face-to-face literally because of the points of Scripture you cited. I think that God chose some sort of “safe form” to deal with Jacob’s inner character. Now Jacob’s impression was that he “saw God face-to-face,” but I think that was merely his thoughts, not a statement of fact. You are right about this being an odd case.

The following comment is from a long-time Christian friend named Tom Haschmann (now with the Lord):

“When the Scriptures say that “No man has seen God,” the Greek word for “see” is from the root word eh-o-ra-o. This word is used regarding comprehension and not merely the biological function of sight. Therefore the intent is that “No man has seen and fully comprehended God.” The Greek word bleppo refers to the biological function of sight. Moses saw God’s hinder parts – his eyes beheld God in part. God went down and met with Abraham….”

The following comment is from retired pastor, Bruce Plummer from my church:

“Job “saw” God, heard God directly in the whirlwind.

Abraham had the Lord show up in a very personal way. That’s when he gained the name Abraham.

Moses met with the Lord face-to-face, like friend-to-friend, often. Saw God’s “back” on the Mount.

Joshua met the Lord in some form in Joshua 5. He worshiped, sandals off, and wasn’t rebuked for it. Must’ve been Him.

Elijah had a very personal meeting with God when he fled from Jezebel. God was in the still small voice after the dramatic earthquake, etc. side effects of God’s Presence.

And then there’s Jesus, in Whom dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily. There were quite a few who saw the “express image of God” face-to-face that way. “Show us the Father,” said Phillip and Jesus said back to him, basically, “How long have I been with you and you haven’t noticed?”

Paul was caught up into the “Third Heaven”, and claimed to have been instructed by Jesus personally.

John saw the Throne and the Lord, in an amazingly similar way in which Ezekiel saw the Throne and the Lord. Those are just the ones I can think of.

You’re exactly right – God does show up in a form that won’t destroy us, but when He does show up this way, no one stays the same. It isn’t the average experience, but it seems to me that God does this more regularly than we might think! No wonder His Kingdom keeps growing; He’s “current” with His people!

No, there wasn’t any more wrestling, but certainly there were a number of face-to- face meetings in some form.”

Genesis 33 – Jacob and Esau finally meet, and Esau’s attitude toward him was good. Jacob’s attitude toward Esau was good – he presented a wealth of gifts and actually bowed to him with Rachel at one point. So it appears that God had done a good number on both these guys’ hearts. Now if only our politicians could do the same. Jacob settles in Canaan.

Genesis 34

1-24: Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, was raped by Shechem son of Hamor, a Hivite. Shechem liked her so much that he asked his dad to get her for his wife. Later, Hamor and Shechem approached Jacob and his sons (after they found out about the rape). Hamor asks Jacob for Dinah to wed Shechem and offers a multi-daughter swap deal to Jacob. Jacob’s sons say no unless the Hivite men get circumcised. Seeing a good deal (more livestock wealth coming their way), they agreed.

25-31: Two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi sneaked into the city and killed all the men, including Hamor and Shechem because of the rape of their sister. Jacob is very displeased by their actions and fears for his life at this point. The sons adamantly justify the killings because their sister was treated like a prostitute.

Note: God’s Word of “Vengeance is Mine sayeth the Lord, I will repay” had not yet been given to mankind (but this does not justify what they did). In fact, God later states, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls…lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and He turn away His anger from him” (Proverbs 24:17). Our righteous God takes care of business, there is nothing that escapes His notice in the affairs of mankind.

Genesis 35
1-4: God told Jacob to go up to Bethel (still within the land of Canaan) and dwell and make an altar before Him. He obeyed. He also told everyone to leave idols behind, to purify themselves, and to change clothing. This shows that he had great awe and respect for God now.

5-15: No one tried to hassle or attack this traveling group because they were afraid of them. He arrived at Bethel and built that altar. God again appears to Jacob and changes his name to Israel and prophecies over him concerning his future seed – nations and kings would come from him.

16-20: Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin, the twelfth son and tribe head.

21-22: Israel journeyed on. Reuben had sex with his dad’s concubine Bilhah and Israel found out. (Don’t these guys ever learn?).

23-26: The twelve sons of Israel are once again listed identifying their mothers – Rachel, Leah, Bilhah (Rachel’s maid), Zilpah (Leah’s maid).

27-29: Israel travels to his father Isaac who dies at age 180.

Genesis 36 – This simply lists all the descendants of Esau. He took wives from the Canaanites and a daughter of Ishmael. Due to livestock multiplication, there was not room for both Israel and Esau to live together so Esau moved away. Esau basically became the father of the Edomites. They became known for being cave-dwellers. This group became enemies of Israel over the centuries although they went into obscurity for about a 400-year long segment of time. Just before Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, 20,000 Edomites (then called Idumaeans) were allowed into the city which they filled with robbery and bloodshed. I think the Romans just used them to do some dirty work for them. If so, this implies that the Edomites had a reputation of hating the Jews. After this point in history, we lose track of them. The OT consistently characterized them as idolaters, not good people. I am always amazed about how many things that occurred in Genesis were set in motion for centuries. Genesis is truly a Book of beginnings.

Genesis 37: Symbolic Relevance

1-11: While dwelling in Canaan, Jacob (Israel) loved his son Joseph more than the other eleven sons because he had him when he was quite old. Jacob also made Joseph a multi-colored robe as a result of his fondness for Joseph. Joseph was 17 years old at this point and he brought home a bad report to his father about his brothers. The hatred Joseph’s brothers had for him was fueled so much that they could not speak with him on friendly terms. Little did they know how God would use this. To make matters even worse, Joseph had two dreams from God that revealed he would rise above his brothers and they would bow to him. So he tells his father and brothers about the dreams, which was probably the last straw with the brothers. Even his dad rebuked him. So the brothers hated Joseph for all these things, but Israel kept the dreams in his mind. This gives us a hint that Israel might have regarded the dreams to be from God.

12-28: Joseph was sent by Israel to check to see how the brothers were doing while tending their flocks some distance away from home. When the brothers saw him coming from a distance they began to plot his demise. Their first thought was to kill him then throw him into a pit and say that wild beasts ate him. Reuben objected and offered a different plan – to throw him alive into the pit in the wilderness. Later, Reuben hoped to rescue Joseph himself and restore him to Israel. When Joseph arrived, they tore off that robe and threw him down into the pit without water. When some traders passed by they decided to make a little money off him, so they sold him for 20 shekels of silver to some Midianites, and they took Joseph off to Egypt.

29-30: Reuben apparently was not in the immediate area when the sale went down because when he returned to the pit he was shocked to see that Joseph was not in it. I assumed the brothers told him what they did at that point.

31-33: They now dipped Joseph’s tunic in goat’s blood, brought it back to Israel, and asked him to identify it (they knew he would). Then they let Israel draw the wrong conclusion allowing him to think that wild beasts ate him. This shows us what a powerfully evil emotion jealousy is because these brothers were willing not only to get rid of their brother forever, but also to let their dad, whom they knew loved Joseph much, believe he was dead.

34-35: Israel’s grief was so deep that nothing his children would do could lessen it. He was in torment. He believed with all of his heart that he would mourn this loss until his death. Our God, however, has a habit of turning our mourning into joy, and Israel would live long enough to see it.

Application for Today: Keep your eyes on the prize for no matter what happens during our brief time in flesh and bones, there will be inexpressible joy in His promised Kingdom for those who love Him (Philippians 1:6,21; John 16:20, 22, 24).

36: Meanwhile in Egypt, the Midianites sold Joseph to Pharaoh’s bodyguard captain, Potiphar. The stage is now set for an incredible chain of events that God would orchestrate and gives this world a glimpse of what the Messiah would do years later. Joseph becomes a Christ-type. The OT is full of typologies. A typology is a symbolic representation in the OT that has a real fulfillment in the NT. A quick example is the story of the exodus: Egypt represents “the sinful world.” The Jews held in bondage by Egypt = the Church. Moses = the Deliverer (Messiah). Giants in the Promised Land = strong obstacles and adversities the believer must overcome in this new life in Christ. The Promised Land = the victorious life in Christ or Heaven itself. When we read the OT with NT eyes (Holy Spirit revelation), it gets more exciting!

Genesis 38: 1-10 Only – Controversy about masturbation

1-10: One of Israel’s twelve sons, Judah, left the area and took a wife and had some children by her. Judah later took Tamar to be the wife of his first-born named Er. But Er died because he was evil in God’s sight. Judah tells Er’s brother named Onan to have sex relations with Tamar in order to raise up sons for Er. This was the custom of the day, quite foreign to our culture. Apparently Onan did not like this custom because the offspring that he would produce would not be considered his. So when he had relations with Tamar, instead of letting his semen go inside of her, he withdrew himself and let his seed spill onto the ground. This displeased God so much that He took Onan’s life.

Controversy: Some people believe that this passage makes both coitus interruptus (withdrawal) and masturbation a sin. Others do not. Already I have raised three separate issues:

1) Is masturbation and/or withdrawal a sin, and
2) Is this the reason God killed Onan, and
3) Does this condemn all birth control methods?

1) Is masturbation a sin? Christian leaders disagree on this.  Some claim that it depends on the context (motivation behind the act). The OT law made it clear that if a man or a woman had “leakage” (menstrual or seminal), they would be “unclean” for a certain amount of time. Being “unclean” does not mean that the person has sinned necessarily. It is simply a bodily state. In those days people had no clue about germs. Science tells us that these human “leakages” can foster pathogenic growth (disease-causing bacteria). Any doctor will recommend washing up if this occurs. Masturbation is most often accompanied with sexual lustful fantasies which would make it a sin according to Jesus. For males, a nocturnal emission (wet dream) is God’s built-in way to rid the body of excess sperm and semen which are both produced at a fairly high rate when males are younger (16-28). Some Christians think that if masturbation is done only once in a while to relieve sexual tension that builds up in the male’s body, then it is not sin. But one could argue that he should wait for the natural flow to take place. While I firmly believe that Jesus never had sex, He must have had seminal emissions since He was a natural, physical male.

Masturbation, on the other hand, can certainly become addictive, and many (including females) have fallen into this trap. The results of this habit can be feelings of inadequacy, loneliness, guilt, and low self-esteem. If these are occurring, then there is something wrong with it. The Holy Spirit does not produce these kinds of things in humans. Some argue that masturbating rids the male of urges so he will not have pre or extra-marital sex which can benefit himself and others. This may be true in some cases but not all. I would argue that some would be more apt to commit immoral or criminal sexual acts if they are not in a sexual control mode. Wouldn’t the “higher  road” be exhibiting self-control? We cannot say that something is not sinful if we find a benefit or two. I can see humans justifying everything using that logic (“my overeating will help the food industry” or “My road littering helps people have jobs”). The Lord wants us to achieve that higher road. If believers never achieve this, I do not believe they will go to hell, but they will miss out on some benefits in this life and in the Life to come.

When I was in my first year of teaching (1971), I wrestled with this question about masturbation. I prayed to God to reveal to me whether or not it was okay or wrong. I asked Him to make a loud noise in my bedroom if it was wrong. Now, looking back, I can see that I stacked the deck in favor of it being okay, despite really wanting to know the truth. God must have seen my sincere desire to know the truth because within 15 seconds there was a significant crashing noise in my bedroom. I turned on the light and saw that my belt that was sitting on top of a stool, fell to the floor and the metal buckle hit a license plate from an old car of mine. So I guess I got my answer! Probably not what you wanted to hear :-). The higher road is always “the one less traveled.” For those who want to stop masturbating, pray against the spirit of Succubus and confess it is stronger than you and only Jesus can cast it away. Ask Jesus to keep it away form you each day. Key = you really have to want to stop. If you don’t, ask God to give that desire to you. The last thing to do is strive within your own will power to stop.

2) Onan did not masturbate in this passage, but he did waste his seed which is the end result of masturbation. So the masturbation issue probably is not valid from this passage. Reports from surveys claim 61-90% of males masturbate and about 31-60% of females do. While reports may vary, I think it is safe to assume that the practice is common. I also think it is safe to assume that in OT times it was fairly common, but perhaps not as much as today. Today, we have more visual stimulation and people who advocate it, as well as a decline in moral fiber. My overall point is that if God killed Onan for “wasting his seed” only, many more people should have been killed by God in the OT times. Since this did not happen, God had another reason to kill Onan. Onan blatantly disobeyed his father Judah and did not want to reproduce. He also was selfish by denying offspring to his brother’s widow. Most importantly, he refused to carry the Messianic lineage of Judah to David. I think it is safer to say these latter reasons were why Onan was killed. Genetically, he DID carry the DNA and RNA of Judah. He was killed because of what he did before he committed coitus interruptus. That is by penetrating her, he consummated the marriage. Because Judah had married a Canaanite woman, Onan was half-Canaanite. Thus he blocked Judah’s name from the tribes of Israel. The object of the story is to have Judah produce offspring with pedigree bloodlines. If you look at the genealogical trees of Jesus Christ in early Matthew and Luke, you will find that Judah was the son of the 12 from Jacob who carried the “seed” of the Messiah. Hence, God took Onan’s attitude and actions very seriously.

3) Birth control. Again there are many different opinions among Christians on this issue. We live in a much different culture than OT people, but God is still God and He has His standards. His charge to humans in Genesis was to “be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” Well, we have already done that, so is He still expecting us to do that? The Bible does not say.

There are two major categories of birth control: mechanical and chemical. With chemicals, there are physical risks. With all man-made methods, there are failure rates, some higher than others. Instead of making a blanket “one-rule-fits-all” for the Christian Church, I think it is better to put the responsibility on each individual to press into God and seek answers for their own lives in prayer (even fasting). Personally, my wife and I sought the Lord and believed that having two children would be a blessing for us. I was up in years (I got married at 38). There is 40 years between me and my son and 44 between me and my daughter. I also knew that I had a calling on my life to influence and persuade people to trust the Bible for their lives. Having many children would make that difficult. I know the Bible says that we can do all things through Christ, but this Promise, I believe, has limits (I cannot fill the Pacific Ocean with dirt for example). I think this verse means we can do a lot more things than we realize with Christ working through us, as long as they are in line with His will. In conclusion, I do not see this passage in Genesis as condemning birth control methods. This issue is somewhat of a gray area that needs sensitivity to the desires and spiritual walks of individual believers.

Side note from my “Health Office”: Coitus interruptus is not considered to be a birth control method because before a man ejaculates semen, fluid (pre-ejaculate) which aids in lubrication, is released into the woman and it contains millions of sperm that can cause pregnancy. Also, the birth control pill and the morning after pill may not always prevent conception but will end the pregnancy. The intrauterine device (IUD) often allows conception but prevents the zygote from implanting on the uterine wall which is an essential step to continue its life. So based on these facts, some people may believe that not all birth control methods are right to use.

Genesis 38:11-30 Only:

11-23: Judah’s daughter-in-law, Tamar, remained a widow for a considerable time. Judah promised her to marry his son Shelah after he grows up. When Shelah finally grew up, Tamar veiled herself and sat by the gate of a city (hoping to catch Shelah’s eye?). But Judah saw her not knowing her identity and thought she was a harlot. He ends up having sex with her still not knowing who she was. As part of the deal he gave her his seal (ring), cord, and staff. Why didn’t Tamar speak up at this point? Maybe she was too afraid of embarrassing Judah, or she did not want him to think she was a prostitute. If so, she may have thought that the truth would never come forth….but she did not count on the pregnancy.

24-26: Three months later Judah was told that Tamar played the harlot and is pregnant because of that. Judah, with all hypocrisy rearing its ugly head, was so angry that he wanted her to be burned to death. When she showed his staff, seal, and cord to him, he admitted his wrongdoing and never had sex with her again.

27-30: Tamar gave birth to twins. As they were being born, the mid-wife tied a scarlet thread around Zerah’s hand to identify that he would be the first-born. But his arm withdrew and Perez came out first. Perez, we find out later, contained the Messianic promised seed. I am always amazed how God can preserve something so Holy and Righteous in spite of sinful people.

Genesis 39 – God Can Use Injustice

1-6: A now gown-up and rather handsome Joseph was sold to Egypt’s Pharaoh’s body guard named Potiphar. God blessed and prospered Joseph and Potiphar’s household as well, and Potiphar saw this connection. So Joseph was put in charge of everything this man owned.

7-16: Potiphar’s wife tempts Joseph to have sex with her. He flatly refuses because it is against God and the fact the Potiphar was trusting Joseph. Excellent reasons. Day after day she persisted, but Joseph said no and stayed away from her. But one day no one else was around and she grabbed his clothing and demanded sex. He fled but his piece of clothing remained in her hand. Right after he fled, she called her servants in and claimed he tried to force himself upon her, and she had his clothing to “prove” it.

17-20: She tells the same lie to Potiphar later and he is naturally furious and Joseph is jailed.

21-23: God gives great favor to Joseph to the extent that the chief jailer put him in charge of the rest of the prisoners putting the responsibility upon him for anything that happened in there.

Note: God is setting the stage for a great Joseph “comeback.”

Application for Today: In Christ, we are the apple of God’s eye. He knows all that we experience and He is involved in every single thing that happens to us. We are NEVER forsaken. There is a purpose for ALL things that happen to us. God is at work within us for our benefit and others round about us. May we pray that the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to this realm. It will be of constant encouragement because we realize that no matter what happens, we gain in Christ. Look at what Paul accomplished while in prison – jailers were saved, prisoners were saved, and some anointed letters were written for us today. God will produce fruit through us if we abide in Him, even if we feel our circumstances are unjust as were Joseph’s.

Genesis 40 – When We Feel Neglected

1-23: Two servants of the King of Egypt got into trouble and were placed in the jail where Joseph was. They both had different dreams one night but no one to interpret them. Joseph proclaims that only God gives the right interpretation of dreams. Joseph goes on to give an interpretation with a happy ending for the man. Joseph tells the man when he sees that the interpretation comes true, to put in a good word for him to Pharaoh. The second man also wanted an interpretation for his dream. Joseph gave one but it was not favorable (the man would be put to death by hanging soon). Both interpretations came true. The first man did not remember Joseph or his request.

Application for Today: When we might anticipate something favorable from God and do not get it, all is NOT over. If we abide in Christ, He will take good care of us.

Genesis 41 – God is Active, Awesome, and Successful in Carrying Out His “Plan A”

1-14: Pharaoh had two dreams with similar events – something fat and healthy was consumed by something lean and ugly. Despite calling in all those who might be able to interpret his dreams such as wise men and magicians, no one could. Pharaoh’s chief cup bearer remembered being in jail and Joseph helping him and another man with dream interpretation, so he told this to Pharaoh. Joseph is brought out of jail to Pharaoh.

15-16: Pharaoh tells Joseph that he heard that he could interpret dreams. The first thing out of Joseph’s mouth was that it is only God who does this, not him. Very humble.

17-32: Pharaoh repeats the details of his two dreams to Joseph. Both his dreams represent the same thing: 7 years of abundance followed by 7 years of famine, and the famine will wipe out those good years. Furthermore, the fact that God repeated the dream means that the fulfillment will happen quickly.

33-37: Joseph boldly advises Pharaoh to find a man who is “discerning and wise” to be put in charge of preparing the nation for this. I think Joseph had himself in mind here. He was, I believe, setting himself up for his own promotion. His plan included storing up food from the abundant years and guarding it for when it would be needed. Pharaoh agreed.

38-44: Pharaoh gives Joseph almost as much authority as Pharaoh over all of Egypt. This was quite a radical, swift change – from prison to almost king. With God, all things are possible.

45-46: Joseph is bestowed with a new Egyptian name that meant “God speaks.” In addition, a woman was given him for a wife. He was 30 years old at this point (similar to Jesus at the beginning of His powerful ministry).

47-52: The 7 good years pass by and plenty of surplus food was stored. Joseph had two sons at this time: Manasseh and Ephraim.

53-57: The famine hits hard, even beyond Egypt, but Joseph was able to feed all who came for food. Soon the word of Egypt’s plenty would reach the ears of Joseph’s father, Jacob.

Note: This chapter reveals how God orchestrates situations in order to bring about something greatly beneficial to people. He can work through a sin-cursed world. He is an active and awesome God! He does not sit back a become irrelevant to the human race as the agnostics think. He is a nurturing father.

Genesis 42: The Plot Thickens

1-8: The famine extended into Canaan where Jacob and his other 11 sons lived. Jacob hears that Egypt has food, so he orders his sons (except Benjamin because he was probably too young) to go and buy food from there. They had to come to Joseph because he was the only one selling the food. They entered where Joseph was and Joseph recognized them immediately, but he disguised himself and spoke harshly to them.

9-17: Joseph recalls his dreams he had concerning his brothers and then accused them of be spies against Egypt. The brothers vehemently deny the charge and claim to be honest men. But Joseph continues to assert they are spies. The brothers tell Joseph about their family, and even included the fact that one brother was no more (of course referring to Joseph). The charge stands, but Joseph demands that one brother return home and return with the youngest to “prove their story to be true.” So he put them all together in prison for 3 days.

18-20: On the 3rd day, Joseph changes the deal. Now only one brother would stay in Egypt as ransom until the other brothers return with Benjamin. Servants fill their bags with grain to take home, but secretly returned their payment money into the top of each sack.

21-25: The brothers began talking to one another about the new deal and they started feeling very guilty about how they treated a young and terrified Joseph who pleaded with them not to sell him. Now Joseph could hear and understand what they were saying. They had no idea that he spoke their language because an interpreter was used from the beginning, which helped Joseph keep his identity secret. At this point he had to leave the room to weep. When control returned, he came back to his brothers. I cannot imagine the emotions Joseph experienced here!

26-28: They departed and later found the money in the sacks. Now they were terrified that God was punishing them. I guess they feared being accused of never paying for the food. Clearly, these guys were shaking over the guilt of their past dealings with Joseph. I believe Joseph set up this deal so his brothers could go through the stages of repentance resulting in a true good work by returning with Ben.

Application for Today: Perhaps what Joseph’s brothers experienced parallels our life experience on earth, that is, God allowing us to go through trials in order to bring us to repentance and eternal life.

29-38: The brothers arrive home and tell Jacob everything. Jacob becomes angry and spews out resentment against the sons blaming them for Joseph’s “death” and now Simeon is gone…and now they wanted to take Benjamin away?! But Reuben said that Jacob could kill his two sons if he doesn’t return Ben to him. If you recall earlier, it was Reuben who spared Joseph’s life by convincing the brothers to sell him rather letting rot in that pit. And here, he makes a wonderful plea to Jacob. But Jacob still says no. Remember that Joseph and Benjamin were full-blooded brothers both having the same mother (Rachel, who Jacob really loved) and the same father (Jacob). These two boys were very special to Jacob.

Note: What will eventually happen? Will they return to Egypt, and will they meet Joseph’s demands? This is all leading up to a fantastic New Testament message. Stay tuned…..

Genesis 43 – Joseph Has Many Cards to Play

1-14: The famine continued and Jacob’s family was once again without food. Because Joseph insisted on Benjamin coming, Jacob reluctantly gave in to the brothers’ demands, and Judah took sole responsibility for Benjamin’s safety. Jacob also told them to bring goods as presents and double the money so that the first bunch of money would go to the seller in case the return of that money was a mistake.

15-18: Now the brothers, including Benjamin, are standing in front of Joseph still not realizing who he is. When Joseph saw Benjamin, he told his steward to prepare a great meal for them all at his own house. This frightened the brothers because they thought Joseph was planning their execution.

19-25: Immediately upon seeing the head steward at the house, they began explaining what actually happened with their first payment. The steward eased their tension by saying that God took care of that money and it was not an issue. The brothers prepared their present for Joseph.

26-31: They finally meet and pay respect to each other and Joseph asked questions about the welfare of their father. They told him he was alive and well. When he saw Benjamin he said to him, “May God be gracious to you my son.” Joseph again quickly leaves the room to weep, then returns when under emotional control, and had the meal served.

32: Due to cultural prejudicial restraints, Joseph ate at a separate table, the brothers at another table, and the rest of the staff at yet another table. Egyptians did not like Jews so they would never eat with them. At this point Joseph had to maintain the ruse.

33-34: Much to the brothers’ amazement, Joseph had them seated in order of their age at the table, from oldest to youngest. Benjamin got 5 times as much food. From this time on, they had a good time bantering.

Note: Joseph is not yet done with his masquerade. He has another trick up his sleeve in order to make this episode come to good fruition.

Genesis 44 – The Final Stage for Spiritual Surgery is Set

1-2: Joseph orders his steward to fill the brothers’ sacks with food and once again return their money that they paid for the food, but to also slip his valuable silver cup into Benjamin’s sack.

3-13: They left at dawn with all their sacks and donkeys. When they got a bit beyond the city limits, Joseph sent his steward out to intercept them and accuse them of stealing the cup. The brothers couldn’t believe that anyone stole that cup so they said that if someone is found to have it, they will die and the rest will become slaves to Joseph. The steward found the cup in Benjamin’s sack, and the brothers became so distressed that they tore at their clothes. They all returned to Joseph’s house.

14-17: When Joseph confronts them, they were without excuse and were willing at that point to becomes his slaves. But Joseph said only Benjamin was to stay as his slave but the rest of the brothers could go home.

18-34: Judah comes to Joseph and tells him the entire story about how precious Benjamin is to his father Jacob and that Jacob would probably die if Ben does not return. Therefore, Judah offers himself in the place of Ben to become Joseph’s slave.

Note: God is doing major “spiritual surgery” on the brothers at this point through Joseph’s plan. Their hearts are changing for the better. (All humans need this same change). Finally in the next chapter, Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers.

Genesis 45 – Hollywood Gets It?!

1-2: Joseph has just seen his brother Judah volunteering himself to stay as a slave in order to keep Benjamin free to return to his father and he starts to lose emotional control, so he orders all his servants out of the room leaving him alone with all his brothers who still do not know his identity. He wept so loudly that his people could still hear him.

3-4: Finally, he tells his brothers who he is, and his first and immediate question was whether or not his father was still alive. His brothers were so drained of courage that they could not say anything. Joseph tells them to come closer and again tells them who he is. Once they were convinced, they probably feared for their lives, for they did not realize what was in the heart of their brother whom they betrayed.

5-8: Joseph tries to comfort their fears by saying that it was God’s doing that brought him to Egypt in order to preserve life. He further states that it wasn’t his brothers that sent him to Egypt but God Himself did it. Great attitude here. By realizing God’s hand in the affairs of men, Joseph was free of grudges.

9-14: Joseph sends his brothers back to fetch Jacob in order to bring him to Egypt to live off land in Goshen that he would give them. He would also make sure they survive the next 5 years of famine. Note: This remarkably sets the stage for another huge undertaking by God – Moses delivering God’s people out of the bondage of Egypt. The Jews would later multiply rapidly in the Egyptian land of Goshen and would soon need to get out and settle in the Promised Land of Israel.

15-24: He kissed all his brothers and they began to talk with him finally. When Pharaoh found out that all those guys were Joseph’s brothers, he gave them tons of goods and money and animals for the trip home and told them to come back and they would have the best Egypt has to offer. This is because Pharaoh loved Joseph so much – mostly because he saw that Joseph’s God was blessing him. We cannot assume that this Pharaoh believed in the true God and that his heart was clean and forgiven. He probably just liked the blessing from God rather than God Himself. Many are like that today.

25-28: The brothers reach home and told Jacob everything. Jacob did not believe it. But after hearing more and seeing all the wealth they brought back from Egypt, Jacob’s spirit was revived and he believed them.

Note: Joseph was a type of Christ. Christ was rejected by His own people yet returned triumphant ready to give blessings to them and was full of grace and forgiveness. God uses this type of scenario often: The good guy gets put down with no hope of things getting better…but they always get better. Movie producers and writers get this. Have you ever noticed that the good guy will always get beat down first and then come back whether it’s the Lone Ranger or Captain Kirk in a fist fight, the unfortunate ones trapped in Jurassic Park, or planet earth being invaded by aliens. Hollywood is full of this theme that originally comes from the Scriptures (I don’t think they realize this though). We’ll see a similar theme with Moses later.

Genesis 46

1-4: God speaks to Jacob (Israel) in night visions and told him not to be afraid of Egypt because He would bless his nation while there, but he would die there with Joseph at his side. Note: Jacob is only the second generation from Abraham, who was his grandfather. All of Abraham’s seed was about to travel to Egypt to be blessed in number and prosperity, but also to become captives…all for God’s glory (more people on earth would hear about the true God because of all this).

5-27: All Jacob’s descendants came to Egypt as well. A magnificent listing of all the children born to the twelve sons of Jacob that comprised of a very young nation that would be called Israel.

28-34: They all arrive in Goshen safely and Joseph finally meets up with his father Jacob. He wept for a long time. Jacob is so elated that he feels his life has been fulfilled and can now die in peace. Joseph tells his family to say to Pharaoh that they are shepherds by trade. Since Joseph knew many Egyptians despise shepherds, he knew his family needed to reside separately from Egyptian culture in order to have peace. Goshen was to be that place. Note: The division between Arab and Jew is increasing and will quickly rise further in the near future.

Genesis 47– The Jews Prosper

1-10: Pharaoh agrees to allow Joseph’s family to shepherd their flocks in Goshen. He also wanted some capable men to look after his flocks as well. Joseph presents his dad, Jacob, to Pharaoh and Jacob blessed the Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked Jacob his age. He said 130 difficult years. Before leaving, Jacob blessed Pharaoh again.

11-26: People from Egypt and Canaan kept starving and bringing their money to Joseph until they had no more left, so he started to take livestock in turn for food. People still needed food because the famine was severe. They agreed to sell their land to Joseph and become his slaves. Joseph turned all over to Pharaoh and gave seed to the people. Joseph dictated that at each harvest the people had to give Pharaoh 1/5 of the produce. The people were more than willing to do so because it saved their lives.

27-31: The Jews became prosperous and numerous in Goshen, but Jacob was nearing his death at age 147. He made Joseph promise to bury him by his ancestors, not in Egypt.

Genesis 48

It is interesting that a dying Jacob noted that Joseph’s two sons would be unto him “as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.” The comparison is made because Reuben lost his birthright because of his flagrant sin against his father. I Chron. 5:1 – Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but for as much as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel (Jacob): and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. Simeon was his second born, but Jacob was also disappointed in Simeon’s cruelty in the matter of Joseph and of Dinah. Remember Genesis 34 tells of how Schechem, a Hivite, took Dinah; Simeon’s and Levi’s sister, and defiled her, and wanted her to make her his wife. Simeon and Levi told him that they would consent to this, and other marriages between them, if all the males of the city would be circumcised. Circumcision was a required for the Jews by God, but Simeon and Levi used it as a weapon against those Hivites. The men consented to this, and then on the third day afterwards when the men were unable to fight, Simeon and Levi walked into the city and slew all the men and took all they had – riches, cattle, wives, and children. Thus Jacob refers to this heinous act of his two sons. So instead of his own first two sons, Jacob made Joseph’s two sons as his first and second born. Jacob also made clear that even his two grandsons (Manasseh and Ephraim though born in Egypt) would in the future be called by his name Israel.

The middle eastern custom was that the right hand symbolized the greater blessing. Joseph sought to intervene and change his father’s hands. He assumed Jacob did not realize who the older was. Yet, Jacob refused and replied, “I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.” Indeed, the tribe of Ephraim had 8,300 more than Manasseh when coming out of Egypt (Numbers 13:33,35). Jacob concluded his blessing to Joseph by prophetically revealing how that after his death, God would eventually bring them again into the land of their fathers. Source: Mike Wells (http://cornerstonebaptist-tyro.com/Documents/Genesis%2048.pdf)

Genesis 49

1-27: Just before he dies, Jacob gathers in his sons to prophecy over them:

Reuben – will not have any preeminence because he defiled his father’s bed (by having sex with one of his concubines).

Simeon & Levi – violent men, they kill men in their anger and by their self-will lame oxen, curse this anger, they will be scattered in Israel.

Judah – brothers will praise and bow to him, lion-like, “Shiloh” will come via Judah’s lineage. Comment: This term is mentioned 31 times in the OT, but only in this verse the Hebrew word is “Shiyloh.” The other 30 “Shiloh” words all refer to a place. Most Christian theologians and Jewish scholars believe “Shiyloh” is a reference to the Messiah. We do know that Judah genetically led to David as the promised “seed” was moving toward Christ.

Zebulun – will dwell near the sea and be a haven for ships.

Issachar – physically strong and will enjoy good land and work it well.

Dan – will judge people.

Gad – he will be raided by bad men but will raid them back.

Asher – will produce great food fit for kings.

Naphtali – will have a good way with words.

Joseph – will be blessed and fruitful, a stone of Israel. Comment: I think because he was so rejected by his brothers and kept a good attitude about it and had forgiveness ready toward his brothers, God blessed him and his offspring and they became “rock personalities,” meaning a stabilizing force in the midst of tough times.

Benjamin – eager and successful at destroying his enemies (“a ravenous wolf”).

28-33: After telling his sons to bury him back home with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah, Jacob (Israel) died.

Genesis 50
1-14: Joseph, his family, and many Egyptians mourned the death of Jacob (Israel). He was buried in Canaan.

15-17: Joseph’s brothers now fear that Joseph will get even with them since their dad has died. They claimed Jacob’s desire was that Joseph would forgive them. I’m not sure if they made this up or not. In any case, it made Joseph weep once again.

18: The brothers bowed to Joseph and were willing to be his servants.

19-21: Joseph had a perfect attitude with forgiveness and conveyed a spiritual principle that Romans 8:28 shares with us by saying to them, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”

22-26: Joseph continued living in Egypt to see his sons and promised that God would take care of his brothers, and said God would also deliver them from Egypt to go to the promised land of Abraham. His last request was that they bring his bones to that land. He died at age 110.

The Israelis were about to flourish in Egypt, and Joseph was quickly forgotten by a new King which set the stage for the oppression of the young Israel. I will explore this part of history by examining the Book of Exodus next. Hope you enjoy it.