Selected Essays And Book Reviews

A. Genesis is a book of generations (Hebrew word toledaw')

A. In Psalm 51:10, the Hebrew word used for "create" was "bara'," and the interesting thing about that word is that it means "to shape, fashion, or create (always with God as the subject)." "Bara'" is used five times in Genesis, Chapter One and several times in Genesis, Chapter Two. The implication in Psalm 51:10, then, is that David was asking God to create in him something that only God can create in a person. And even though "bara'" was not used in the Book of Jonah, the same principle of people being changed by God, in ways that only He can do, is still there.

A. Hebrew 'adam means man.

B. Hebrew 'adamah means ground. Genesis teaches that man has a kinship to the ground.

C. Genesis 2:24-25 means that God was starting a new family unit and that divorce was never meant to be part of His plan. When later generations got into bigamy and polygamy, those lifestyles were never intended by God.

A. The steps to sin are DOUBT (with Bible), DESIRE, and DISOBEDIENCE.

B. Note that man could only gain knowledge about good and evil by doing wrong. God knows all things, and He does not have to do anything wrong.

C. The result of sin: "dying, you will begin to die" or "you will surely die."

D. In Genesis 3:17, God cursed the ground for man's sake because hardship is supposed to turn people back to God.

E. Divine conversion cannot happen without divine conviction. God was trying to bring that about in Genesis 3:9 when he asked where they were. He asked them both questions individually, and they both made excuses (Genesis 3:11-13). They would not take responsibility for their actions.

F. Genesis 3:15 is the first mention of the solution for sin.

G. In Genesis 3:7, Adam and Eve tried to cover their sins. Knowledge of evil brought knowledge of shame.

H. In Genesis 3:21, God made coverings for them to hide their shame. They accepted His coverings. That was the first animal blood sacrifice. In order to put on His covering, they had to take off their fig leaves.

I. In Genesis 3:20, Adam called Eve the mother of all living, even though she had not birthed any children yet. This probably shows their acceptance of God's words.

A. I John 3:11-12 = Cain's offering was evil. He was of the serpent's seed. Abel's offering was righteous.

B. Hebrews 11:4 = Abel offered a more righteous offering.

C. The covering for their sins was the animal sacrifice. The Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world.

D. I Peter 1:18-20 = people are redeemed by the blood of Christ as was foreordained before the foundation of the world.

E. Genesis 3:21 = God revealed His plan of salvation to Adam and Eve through their covering for sin. That was a picture of the future work of Christ. By accepting God's covering, Adam and Eve accepted His plan. Cain and Abel would have known about the plan because Abel was obedient to it.

F. Genesis 4:1 = "from the Lord" for Cain means that he had the "capacity" to do right and live for the Lord. He chose to not serve the Lord.

G. Hebrews 11:4 = there was a contrast in their offerings, but there was also a contrast in their attitudes. Abel offered his by faith.

H. Genesis 4:3-4 = Cain's offering was never complete (in the process of time, Cain began to bring). Abel simply brought his offering.

I. Genesis 4:10 = Abel's blood continuously cried from the ground. In Genesis 4:12, God gave crop failure to bring Cain to repentance. All of the hardships were for Cain's benefit. God tried to get Cain to come back, but Cain chose the path that led further and further from Him.

J. Genesis 4:16-24 = Cain's descendants got worse and worse, and that continued the separation from God.

K. Genesis 4:19 was first instance of bigamy by a man named Lamech.

L. Genesis 4:26 shows that God replaced Abel with Seth. Enos means "mortal one," and that is an indication that people realized that death was hanging over the human race. That is why the verse ends by saying that people started to call upon the Lord.

A. The godly line was not automatic. John 1:12 emphasizes that individuals choose to receive God.

B. Genesis 5:15 = Mahalaleel means "praise of God."

C. Genesis 5:24 = "Enoch walked with God" is better interpreted as "Enoch himself walked with the one, true God."

D. Procreation is an important part of succession.

E. Long life might have been for the purpose of getting the world going. God also used death for the purpose of cessation. Enoch was the exception. Death shows the ultimate penalty for sin. Death carries a person into the life after death.

F. Genesis 4:26 - Death is a divine provision to turn people to God. When Enos was born, which means mortal "man," people began to call on the Lord.

G. Adam had the capacity to know God. He chose sin. He was redeemed. Then, he had a good godly influence on his children.

H. Seth is built from the verb "shith." The noun would be "sheth." In English, the "h" was dropped to give Seth. "Shith" means to appoint, so "sheth" would mean the appointed one and suggest the appointed one for Abel.

I. Genesis 5:22 = Enoch means "trained one" or "dedicated one." He was trained to serve God, and he was dedicated. Enoch himself chose the godly way of life. The Hebrew is reflexive to show something very deep and intense. He was consistent (Genesis 5:24 = continued to walk with God). His walk was intensive and intimate (with God is different than behind God). Enoch had a separated walk. He was in the world but not of the world.

J. God preserved the line of true believers.

A. Job 1:6 and Job 2:1 suggest that Genesis 6:4, the sons of God, means angels. This is the primary reference.

B. Numbers 13:33 suggests that the giants in Genesis 6:4 (Nephilim) were really giants, but that is not necessarily true. The "also after that" suggests that the Nephilim existed after the flood, too. That would have been Noah and his family, too. They may have been spiritual giants, not physical giants (See Psalm 112:1-2).

C. "Bene Ha Elohim" - In Genesis 5:1-6:8, Enoch and Noah both walked with "Ha Elohim." This is strong contextual evidence that "Bene Ha Elohim" were men walking with God and not angels. This represents a corruption of God's godly line.

D. "Ha Elohim" is the article for "THE" God or the one true God. The intermarriages corrupted the godly line.

E. Nephilim does not have to mean "giants" in Genesis even though it does mean "giants" in Numbers. Using the transliteration in the NIV means that the translators did not feel comfortable saying "giant." They left it open.

F. Deuteronomy 9:18 says that Moses fell down (naphal - to fall) before the Lord. In Joshua 7:6, Joshua fell to the earth to worship. The same is in Job 1:21. These examples are consistent with the godly line of true believers in Genesis. Nephilim meant "violent" or "causing to fall," and in Genesis 6:4, the context could have been falling down to worship.

G. "Men of renown" in Genesis 6:4 in the original text was "shem" and translated men of "the Name," as in God.

H. In Genesis 6:3, one hundred twenty years was time before the flood, not the years of man's life.

I. In Genesis 6:4, the intermarriages were by the godly men of Seth with the ungodly women. So, God found Nephalim (Noah) to preserve the line of true believers.

J. Conclusions: (1) "Bene Ha Elohim" refers to men that were worshippers of God and Nephilim were godly men like Noah and his sons, (2) the "same" in Genesis 6:4 referred to the Nephalim and the Lord preserved the righteous line through Noah, and (3) wrong relationships corrupt

A. Genesis 6:5-8 introduces Noah.

B. Universal wickedness before the Flood was a serious threat. It was a growing moral decline. From chapter four to six, the transition is from individual sinners to group sin.

C. By Genesis 6:5, God had stopped trying to protect sinners and started to preserve the righteous.

D. Matthew 24:37-38 about the days of Noah (marrying and giving in marriage)

E. Hebrews 11:7 about Noah was pre-Flood.

F. II Peter 2:5 about God saving Noah and destroying the ungodly.

G. Noah was in sharp contrast to the wickedness of his day (Genesis 6:8). That statement was made with strong emphasis. In Genesis 6:9, Noah was righteous and mature, and he was a man of faith. He walked with God (Ha Elohim). The emphasis was on his life as a whole, rather than a continual walk like with Enoch.

H. The evidence says that the Flood was worldwide (Genesis 7:19).

I. The Flood came to preserve the animal kingdom, the righteous, and Yahweh worship. It also came to destroy the wicked. This was the only universal Flood.

J. Genesis 9:6 - capital punishment = the basis for capital punishment is that murder destroys someone that was created in the image of God. God dealt with the threat of murder by establishing Government to perform capital punishment.

K. The curse on Canaan was brought about because of Ham, his father.

L. Noah repented: (1) he chastised Ham for repeatedly seeing his father's nakedness (the Hebrew suggests a prolonged stare without a sense of embarrassment or shame. Ham also did not try to help his brothers.), (2) he thanked his sons for covering him, (3) he hated what he had done, and (4) God gave him a prophetic gift concerning Ham.

M. Most Canaanites were reprobate. They were into male and female prostitution and even burning their own children. The curse punished the wicked, but it also preserved the righteous.

N. In Genesis 11, God dealt with the threat of an ungodly state religion by confounding the tongues. They wanted to build a city state (ziggurat) to have political control of the regions of the area. They were ungodly.

O. The rainbow dealt with the threat of another universal, worldwide flood.

P. Ham did not listen to the godly instruction of his family. Canaan took his father's evil a step further.

Q. God's true worship will not be wiped out. He will always raise up the person to carry on his worship.

A. Genesis 12:1-5 says that God called Abraham out of Ur. Acts 7:2-3 says that he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran.

B. These verses, based on the continuous tense of the verb, means that the call was persistent and ongoing.

C. His call was very emphatic, very personal, and very logical. God was speaking, and He used strong language.

D. God's second call or continuous call came after Terah's death (Genesis 11:32).

E. The three promises from God were land, a seed, and a blessing, if Abraham would step out on faith.

F. Terah had been the physical link to Abraham, and Eber had been the spiritual link.

A. God called Abram in Ur and in Haran. He gave Abram a promised blessing in Genesis 12:1-3, a promised land in Genesis 13:14-15, and a promised seed in Genesis 15:4-6.

B. Abram struggled with the promised seed. At different points, he seems to have thought that it was Lot, Eliezar, Ishmael, and finally, Isaac. His faith gradually grew over time.

C. Abram understood that God was the God of life, death, and history.

D. Genesis 16:3 says that Abram had answered the call ten years earlier. They were wondering if God really meant all His promises, so they went by the custom of the day, meaning Hagar, rather than let God work it out. It was out of God's will, but the Hagar thing was not illegal.

E. Genesis 16:9-11 says that THE angel of the Lord came to Hagar. It was not just any angel. It was a theophany or Christophany, not an angel. This also shows a second member of the Godhead, so it supports the Trinity. THE angel of the Lord knew all about her difficulty, and He promised to multiply her seed.

F. Genesis 48:15-16 == Jacob blessed Joseph, and he referenced THE angel of the Lord, too (see Genesis 32:24). In Genesis 48:15, he said "THE God."

G. In Genesis 32:24, Jacob wrestled a "man," which was "ish."

H. Once again, Abram needed reassurance, so God comes to him in Genesis 17:1 as El Shaddai (the Almighty God - the all sufficient One). El is a short spelling of Elohim, and it means Elohim. At this point, God changed his name to Abraham (Genesis 17:5). Abram meant "exalted father," and Abraham meant "father of a multitude." Sarai meant "contentious one," and Sarah meant "princess." She became a mother of nations, and kings came from her (Genesis 17:15-16).

I. Circumcision was instituted to symbolize the promises of Abrahamic Covenant.

J. Genesis 17:17-18 shows Abraham's doubt. He still tried to suggest that Ishmael be the promised seed.

A. Genesis 19:29 = God remembered Abraham and spared Lot.

B. Genesis 19:30-38 = Lot committed incest with his own daughters. One daughter became the matriarch of the Amnonites and the other of the Moabites. Ruth was a Moabite, so God even somehow blessed the line through Lot to some degree.

A. Genesis 20:1-18 = Abraham did wrong, and God came to Abimelech in a dream to protect him. Abimelech responded correctly, and Abraham became a blessing to him.