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Introduction to the
Bible This introduction to the study of Holy Scripture is meant to be a short guide to the study of the Bible for both those who are new to the Bible and also to more knowledgeable students, who are looking for a clearer understanding of it's meaning and structure, and why God gave us this knowledge in the way and in the stages in which He did. The outlines of this brief study I first developed in a Bible study at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Cheyenne, Wyoming in a Sunday School class of 7th, 8th and 9th grade students. I have decided now to publish it on the Internet for those who may be interested. I have expanded the study to a certain extent, so that it is more oriented now to adults, but the basic course is still the same. Since, in the Socratic sense, I do not claim to be a teacher who simply dispenses knowledge, but rather someone who wishes to learn along with his students, the class was in a similar form to the Catechism, with questions and answers. One of the wonderful things about teaching, is that the teacher ends up learning as much if not more than the student. This is what I hope for this web site. Simply, that it is blessed by God and grow, so that everyone can learn.. If anyone thinks that it is a simple thing to teach 7th, 8th and 9th graders, he has never taught knowledgeable curious and smart 7th, 8th and 9th grade students. I was blessed because I had very curious and smart students, who asked me some of the most sophisticated questions. It was not always this way, I must admit. So, from these roots, my own knowledge of Holy Writ, and the questions and input of others, I wish to begin this initial course, as an Introduction to the Bible. In order to begin, but not to necessarily "Teach" as it is ordinarily understood, I wish to make some beginning remarks concerning Holy Writ. In Holy Scripture, God reveals Himself, how He chooses to relate to man and how He wishes to be worshipped. He reveals a great deal of the history of the world before written history existed, and most importantly, how we may be reconciled to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. He also gives us an insight into the coming end of the world. In Holy Scripture, God chooses to reveal Himself in stages, and sometimes in very obscure and mysterious language, such as in Daniel and Revelation. All people of God are given the ability to understand Holy Scripture to some extent. And throughout history, God has given us teachers and prophets who are able to interpret and explain what He reveals in Holy Writ more fully. These are people whom God has called and appointed as teachers and prophets and witnesses to His church. This is why I will refer to such people as Augustine, John Chrysostom, Martin Luther, and Soren Kierkegaard. These are people whom God has used to help us understand and develop our understanding of His will as revealed in Scripture. I know that I have left out many others in the history of the church. They all lend knowledge and understanding to what God has revealed in His Word. Question: Where do we begin in the study of the Bible? Answer: Anywhere. Just as in this written Bible study, find something that interests you and start from there, and let God do the teaching. He will begin to lead the way. Luther said that Holy Writ is the "Holy of Holies." It is through Holy Writ that we find our way to God and to Salvation. Holy Writ, the Bible, is the way to the understanding of God, the Creator and how we should relate to Him. St. John Chrysostom once said that all errors in the Church occur, due to a lack of understanding of the Bible. The Bible is completely clear on all the major doctrines and practices of the church, and the better that the Bible is understood, the fewer the errors and dissensions in God's church. With this, let us begin our introduction to Holy Writ, the Bible, the Word of God! Question: What is the
Bible? This is what Luther called the First Principle of Christianity: that the Bible is the Word of God in written form, and is also witnessed to by our conscience before God to be the Truth. This is the source for all teaching, beliefs and practices in the Church, and the ultimate authority for Christianity.
Question: What is necessary for understanding this
Word?
Question: Martin Luther once said that the Word of God is so deep and complex that a person could study it for all of Eternity. Why? Answer: As St. Paul says: "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How un-searchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!" (Romans 11:33) Also, in Isaiah 40:28: "The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is un-searchable." Also, John said, concerning Christ: "But there are also many other things which Jesus did, were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." (John 21:25).
Question: To what extent can we rely on God's Word? Answer: We can a put a total and absolute reliance on God's Word. Proverbs 8: 8-13: "All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. They are all straight to him who understands and right to those who find knowledge." This means of course that the Word of God is perfect in everything it says and teaches. We can always follow it and rely on it. Also, Psalm 119:105: "Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." And then, finally of course, Proverbs 30:5: "Every word of God proves true." This is incredibly profound, because it has to do with God's foreknowledge, immutability and omnipotence, which is a subject for a whole new study, which I will later include in this website. (This Bible study is now on this web site. WARNING, this is very deep theology, (what Luther called, Deep Theology), and only for those who are ready for the meat and strong drink of Holy Scripture: www.holywordofgod.org/electiondoctrine.
Question: How can we be sure that the world, or Satan does not corrupt the Word of God as written in the Bible? Answer: Jesus Christ Himself gave us the assurance that the "Gates of Hell will not prevail against God's church." God will not allow the corruption of His Word, upon which the church is based. To be sure, at times there are many liberties taken with it, and many ungodly people try to explain it to their own advantage or in their own ignorance. But even though God allows a certain amount of this to take place, He preserves the Word for His church, especially in the giving of the Holy Spirit to those entrusted with the preservation of the Bible. How the Bible should be translated from the earliest extant copies in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek is a whole science in itself, and is beyond the scope of this Bible study. The version of the Bible used in this Bible study is based on the original English translation by William Tyndale, The King James Version, and the Revised Standard Version.
Question: What are the two major divisions of the Bible? Answer: The Old and the New Testaments.
Question: What is the main emphasis of the Old Testament? Answer: The Law.
Question: What is the Law? Answer: The Law reveals to us what sin is: "For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:20)
Question: Would we know what sin is if we did not have the Law? Answer: Only in a general way. "All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." (Romans 2:12-15) The Law gives us an exact and definite understanding of what sin is: "What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the Law, I should not have known sin. I should not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.'" (Romans 7: 7).
Question: What is the major emphasis of the New Testament? Answer: Grace, which means God's forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
Question: What is grace? Answer: Grace is God's free, unmerited forgiveness in Jesus Christ: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
Question: Can we earn grace? Answer: No. Question: Why? Answer: Because we all fall short of the glory of God and none of us can earn God's love and forgiveness no matter how good our works might be: "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:21-23) In Psalm 14:3: They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt; there is none that does good, no, not one." Therefore, we can only be saved through faith as a gift in Jesus Christ. In Romans 3:28 St. Paul says: "For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law."" Romans 3:20 "For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin."
Question: Why then did God require that His only Son be sacrificed in order to atone for the sins of mankind? And isn't it interesting that God asked Abraham, the father of faith, to sacrifice his son? Answer: Excellent question, and one I wondered about for a number of years. Here is the answer: God is a righteous Judge, and with all good judges, he does not overlook wrongdoing. He requires that a penalty should be paid for wrongdoing. Because in the ultimate sense, sin is not measured by the sin itself, but by He who is offended, God. There was no other way to pay this penalty. The work had to be very great in order to pay this penalty. Adam's sin, for example was eating from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This was the Sin that lost the entire human race. Why was this such a serious sin? It was a serious sin because it offended God. And because it offended God, the entire race of mankind was lost. Now, the Work to redeem man from this Sin had to be very great. The only work that was acceptable to God was the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, who by that sacrifice earned Salvation for all of mankind, and in the end will end Satan's rule over the world. It is very interesting to me, that God asked of Abraham the same sacrifice, in order to become the Father of Faith, that he sacrifice his son Isaac.
Question: Can a bad tree produce good fruit? Answer: No. If you understand this distinction, you will understand one of the major differences between Christianity and every other religion in the world. All other religions in the world teach that a person must do good works in order to become good. Christianity teaches that a person must be good first in order to produce good works, or fruit. Every other religion in the world puts works before righteousness. Christianity puts righteousness before works.
Question: If we are justified by faith, what is the purpose of good works, if any? Doesn't the doctrine of justification by faith mitigate against works? Answer: No. Christian works are the natural fruit and outcome of faith. The works or fruits of Christians are acceptable and pleasing to God for these reasons: (1) In the performance of good works, there is no reward expected by the Christian who does the work. The reward, salvation, was already given as a free gift by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Christian does not perform the good work in order to receive a reward, except that by doing the work he knows that he is pleasing God. It can be compared to a son who receives an inheritance from his father and does good works in order to please his father. He has already received the inheritance, he does not need to work or earn it, and yet he works simply to please his father from whom he has already inherited the gift. (2) The Christian who performs the work sees the work insofar as he has done it, to be of no more value than a "filthy rag." To whatever extent there is good in it, it is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and God deserves the credit. God, however, still rewards this work. This is why there will be various glories of the saints, compared in Scripture to stars. There will be great glorious stars such as St. Paul and St. Peter, Mary, the mother of Christ (not to worshipped on account of that great gift given to her, as is the same with all the saints), Mary Magdalene and many other saints of the Christian church who will shine according to the glory that God will give them due to the works performed through Him, by the Holy Spirit, and the greatest work of all that will be rewarded Eternally is Love: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, (very interesting-my comment) but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. "Love never ends: as for prophecies they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, ever as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy." (1 Corinthians 13:1-13). So, we should always be anxious to do good works, as long as we do them in a Christian way, as described above: "For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election , for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance in the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (Peter 1:5-11).
Question: Given that the main emphasis of the Old Testament is Law, and the main emphasis of the New Testament is Grace, is only Law in the Old Testament, and is only Grace in the New Testament? Answer: No. For example, the promise of Grace in Jesus Christ is also in the Old Testament. Question: Where is the first time that the promise of Jesus Christ is found in the Bible? Answer: Genesis 3:15: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" God here, is speaking to the serpent (Satan) and the prophecy is that Jesus will bruise the head of the serpent although Satan will also bruise the heal of Jesus (the church through persecutions.) The Seed of the Woman who would crush the serpent's head is the first mention of Jesus in the Bible. Just as we are saved by Jesus Christ who has already come, the people of the Old Testament were saved by their faith in Jesus Christ who was to come. In fact, the revelation given to Adam, as Luther points out, was the first "Bible" the world had ever seen. (Genesis 3 14-19) These passages are all that early man had to go by for Salvation and the worship of God.
Question: Where else is the promise of Jesus Christ found in the Old Testament? Answer: In such passages as these: Genesis 15: 5-6: "'Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.' And he believed the Lord and it was reckoned it to him as righteousness.'" St. Paul later interpreted this passage as follows: "What then shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? 'Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.' Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as unrighteousness.'" (Romans 4:1-5) Jesus Christ is also prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:15: " The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren --him you shall heed." Compare: Acts 3:22: "Moses said, the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren as he raised me up. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.' And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came afterwards, also proclaimed these days. Your are the sons of the prophets and the covenant which God gave to your fathers, saying to Abraham, and in your posterity shall all the families of the earth be blessed. God having raised up his servant sent him to you first, to bless you in turning every one of you from your wickedness." Jesus Christ was also prophesied in Psalms 118:22-23: "The stone which the builders rejected (the Jewish people who God first elected) has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." Compare the New Testament: "Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God's sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame." To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe, "The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner," and "A stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall"; for they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do." (1 Peter 2:6-8) Jesus Christ was also prophesied in Proverbs 8:22-31: "The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth; before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world, when he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the sons of men." Compare this passage to the New Testament: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:1-5)
Question: Where else is the promise of Jesus found in the Old Testament? Answer: Isaiah 28:16: Therefore, thus says the Lord God, 'Behold I am laying in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: He who believes will not be in haste." Isaiah 53:1-6 Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our grief's and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." Also in Isaiah 9:2-7: " The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. Thou has multiplied the nation, thou has increased its joy; they rejoice before thee as with joy at the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou has broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulder, and his name will be called 'Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.' Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." Also in Isaiah 11:1-5: "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord."
In fact, as Luther said, the Subject of the entire Bible centers around Jesus Christ, from beginning to end.
Question: So, then, how were people saved in the Old Testament? Answer: As we have said above, by their faith in Jesus Christ, or the Word of God, Who was to come. In fact in Hebrews 11:1-40 it says that all who were saved, were saved by faith in Jesus Christ: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval. By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he received approval as righteous, but bearing witness by accepting his gifts; he died, but through his faith he is still speaking. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was attested as having pleased god. And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, took heed and constructed an ark for the saving of his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Please read on in the book of Hebrews. Everyone in the Old Testament was saved, through faith in the Word of God or Jesus Christ.
Faith in God and in Jesus Christ is the most powerful and enduring and lasting powers that the world has ever seen or will ever see.
Question: How were people saved during the history of the world who have had no knowledge of either the Old or New Testaments? Answer: The True answer is: We simply don't know for sure. Christ said, "He who believes and is baptized will be save and he who does not believe will be condemned." Later on, St. Paul left the door open a little bit on this issue: "They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." Romans 2:15-16). In this passage he says that "their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them." In this passage, it does not say they were excused, but that perhaps they were excused. So we have no certain knowledge of this. Since we have no certain knowledge we should not try to establish Christian Doctrine. The Catechism of the (Roman) Catholic Church (Part One, Section Two Chapter 3) goes way too far in speculations concerning this issue, and is in my opinion tending toward a sort of Pan-Theistic religion . Which I too, in this time, see the Pope supporting.
Question: Since all men are saved through their faith, why did God give us the Law? Answer: As we have said before, in order to reveal sin. There was also another reason as St. Paul says ":It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained by angels through an intermediary. (Moses of course - my comment) Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith." Therefore, the Law also acted as a Custodian until God would begin to rule in Christian hearts with the Holy Spirit during the time of Christ.
To summarize: There were then two reasons for the Law: first to reveal the nature of sin, and secondly, to act as a restraint, or Custodian, until God, in His time and His good pleasure decided to present the true and final religion, Christianity, and salvation in Jesus Christ.
Question: Is the Spiritual Law or any other law still binding on Christians? Answer: No. Christians do by nature what the Law requires, due to the Holy Spirit working within them, insofar as they hold to their faith: "But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise". (Galatians 3:25-29) Now here, it must be added, that the old Adam, the flesh and the desires of the flesh constantly weigh us down, so that the struggle never completely ends in this lifetime. It is a struggle that St. Paul spoke about in Romans 7:21-25: "So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." This is St Paul speaking, the greatest Apostle of them all. So we, who are mere mortals, in comparison, can take it to heart that if such a great Apostle had this struggle, we will also have to struggle with the flesh. Christians do by nature what the Law requires: "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:16-24). Ezekiel 36:25: "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your unclean nesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances." (Ezekiel 36:24-27)
Before this, in the Old Testament, faith in Christ was as yet incomplete for two reasons: 1) It was not until the New Testament that the Holy Spirit began to perfect the conscience of believers: "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves, but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For, if the sprinkling of defiled persons (as far as the ceremonial law was concerned--my comment) with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Hebrews 11:1-14) Hebrews 10:1-4: For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered? If the worshipers had once been cleansed, they would no longer have any consciousness of sin. But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. 2) It was not until the New Testament that the Holy Spirit and faith began to perfect the will also. Even though the Holy Spirit was present in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit had not begun the work of perfecting the conscience or the will. This is why John said that the Holy Spirit had not been given: "On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed. "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." Yet, we know that the Spirit was active in the Old Testament as well: "The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation; they inquired what person or time was indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them when predicting the sufferings of Christ and subsequent glory." (1 Peter 10-13) As we have said before, and need to repeat, the sacrifices of animals in the Old Testament could only forgive sins against the ritual law: "For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God purify you conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Hebrews 9:13-14) Although here, I admit that a deeper study is needed.
To do all the comparisons of the Old Testament and New Testament would be very fascinating and involve a very long Bible study, which perhaps we can do at some future time. But here are a few more observations which should suffice for this Bible study:
In Holy Scripture, the Old Testament is described as a "shadow" of the New Testament: "Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Colossians 2:16-17) Therefore the New Testament is a higher and more perfect revelation of God's will than the Old Testament.
Question: Does the Old Testament include the teaching of the Trinity? Answer: Yes. But this knowledge was very indefinite. It is included in such passages as these: Genesis 3:22: "The Lord God said, " Behold the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever." Proverbs 30:4: Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!" Genesis 18:2: (speaking about Abraham) "He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth and said, "My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant." Genesis 19:24: "Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord."
The teaching concerning the Trinity of God's nature is clarified in the New Testament: John 10:25-30: "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness to me: but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep." John 14:26: "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." Also, 2 Corinthians 3:17: "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
What are some other differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament? The Old Testament is commonly referred to as the Old Covenant. Genesis 17:1-4: " When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 'Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations."
The New Testament is referred to as the New Covenant: Matthew 26:27: "And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
As far as the religion itself is concerned, Christianity is a completely non-violent religion: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to him who begs from you and do not refuse him who would borrow from you." (Matthew 5:38-48)
Christ here and in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount is correcting the misunderstandings concerning the Law as found in the Old Testament, not at all changing the Spiritual Law. However, because God ruled by Civic, Ritual, and Spiritual Laws in the Old Testament, there was a lot of misunderstanding concerning the nature of the Spiritual Law. (more about this below). To get into questions concerning as to whether or not it is ever permissible for a Christian to defend himself or whether it is ever permissible for a Christian to go into the armed forces (to both of which questions most Christian authorities say yes, under the right circumstances), is beyond the scope of this Bible study. Certainly, it is not permissible for them insofar as they are serving the Church. Hopefully, we can get into this in depth at a later time. The spiritual war that Christians as Christians are involved in is in the spiritual realm which Christ indicates would take place even within families: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's foes will be those of his own household." (Matthew 5:38-48) This has to do with the battle in the world which goes on in the spiritual realm.
Question: As we saw when reading Hebrews, God gave us numerous examples of faith in the Old Testament. Why? Answer: Romans 15:4: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope." Also, 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." Deuteronomy 8:3: "And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord."
Question: What are the three types of Law in the Old Testament? Answer: The Civic, the Ritual, and the Spiritual. In the Old Testament, God chose to rule over the Jewish people, (the people chosen by God to bring mankind the True religion), with three kinds of Law. An example of the civic: Exodus 21:1-35, especially in that chapter, verses 23-26: "If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." An example of the ritual (or ceremonial) Law: "Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. And you shall observe the feast of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. Three times in the year shall all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel." If you read through all the Old Testament ceremonial laws, you will easily be able to see why St. Paul was so relieved when Christ and Christianity did away with them. Up until the New Testament, they were a part of the Custodian for the Jewish people as described above.
Question: Are the Civic and Ceremonial laws of the Old Testament still binding on Christians? Answer: No. Colossians 2:16-23: "Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God."
Question: If the Jewish civic laws are no longer binding on Christians, do Christians still have civic laws? Answer: Yes. For Christians, the laws of the sovereign in which a Christian lives still apply: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities: "For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority. Then do what is good and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience." (Romans 13:1-5). Now, it must be said that there is a deeper study of the Bible as to when the actions of the civil authorities are pleasing to God. Oftentimes, God uses evil to punish evil. Another good question is whether it is ever permissible for a Christian to participate in the overthrow of a government. These are fascinating questions, but are beyond the scope of this Bible study.
Question: Are the spiritual laws the same in the Old Testament as in the New Testament? Answer: Yes, and Christ summarizes them in this way: Love God above all things, and Love your Neighbor as yourself. This is the summary of the Ten Commandments and historically in Christianity referred to as the First and Second Tables of the Law.. Christ also mentions that there is an exception in the Old Testament concerning divorce, because Christ said that Moses allowed a certificate of divorce, because of hardness of heart. Whether that is something that still applies, I am not sure and whether it should go under the civic or the spiritual law, I am not sure.
Question: Does the New Testament represent a higher righteousness than the Old Testament? Answer: Yes, in a certain sense. Because God now expects obedience from the heart, whereas He did not require obedience from the heart in the Old Testament, even though the Spiritual Laws are the same. It is, in a sense, a more strict requirement that God requires, and yet at the same time, God gives us grace and the Holy Spirit so that we can achieve this higher requirement: "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Mathew 5:17-20) St. Paul, for example was righteous according to the standard of the Old Testament, but not according to the standard of the New Testament: "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sin; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:21-26) And Philippians 3:1-11: "Look out for the dogs, look out for the evil-workers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh. Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law a Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."
Question: What are the three "Witnesses" to the Holy Christian faith? Answer: The Word of God, Baptism and Holy Communion. As John says in 1 John 5:6: "This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth. There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water and the blood; and these three agree." Question: What is the witness of the "Water" that John is referring to? Answer: Baptism Question: What is Baptism? Answer: Baptism is one of the two Sacraments (or outward signs and means of grace) of the Holy Christian faith. It is the immersion or sprinkling of water which is a sign or seal of righteousness for all new converts to the Christian faith. God first instituted Baptism with John the Baptist in the Christian faith, even though the practice of baptism had been seen in the Old Testament.): "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.' Now John wore a garment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins." (Matthew 3:1-6) Baptism was prophesied in the Old Testament in Ezekiel 36:25: "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances." (Ezekiel 36:24-27)
Question: Does Baptism in and of itself impart grace and forgiveness? Answer: No, I don't personally think so. As Christ said, He who believes and is baptized will be saved, he who does not believe will be condemned. So it is faith and belief that saves, and Baptism, as circumcision before, is a "sign or seal of righteousness." As St. Paul said of circumcision, that it is a sign or seal of righteousness. (Scriptural reference will come later). It is the conversion of the heart that matters, and Baptism is an outward sign of the conversion for whoever experiences a conversion of the heart to Christianity. Conversion can certainly take place at the same time as baptism, but often it does not. Conversion can happen with or without baptism. If a person was already baptized as an infant and then later renewed his faith as an adult, he need not be baptized again, because St. Paul said, there is one Baptism. .(Scriptural reference will come later) If, as an adult the person wishes to re-baptized, I don't think that it would be wrong, although it is not necessary.
Question: Should infants be baptized? Answer: Yes. We can learn a lot about Baptism, from circumcision, the sacrament that circumcision replaced. It was required in the Old Testament that Infants who were 8 days old were to be circumcised. Baptism replaces circumcision as a Sacrament. The children of Christians are already righteous and should be baptized as an outward sign of righteousness: For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean,' but as it is they are holy." (1 Corinthians 7:14) St. PAUL DECLARES: THAT IF EVEN ONE OF THE PARENTS IS CHRISTIAN THEN THE CHILD IS HOLY AND SHOULD THEREFORE BE BAPTIZED. An infant whose parents are not Christian is saved by Baptism (Scriptural reference and analysis will come later) All infants who are brought into the church should be baptized. They are covered by God's grace in Baptism. At a later time in life they must repent and be reborn as true Christians, as Luther also says. Also, it was a common practice in the early church to baptize whole households and there were certainly infants in these households. (We now have a full explanation of Infant Baptism on our web site at: www.holywordofgod.org/infantbaptism.)
Question: What is the "Witness of Blood" that John is referring to? Answer: Holy Communion Question: What is Holy Communion? Answer: Holy Communion is the spiritual participation or communion in the real flesh and real blood of Christ by the believer when he partakes of it. Holy Communion was instituted by Christ Himself at the Last Supper, to be a Sacrament for the Christian Church: "When it was evening, he sat at table with the twelve disciples, and as they were eating, he said, 'Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.' And they were very sorrowful, and began to say to him one after another, 'Is it I, Lord?' He answered, 'He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for the man if he had not been born.' Judas, who betrayed him, said, 'Is it I, Master?' He said to him, 'You have said so.' Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin."
Christ, Who is God, clearly said that the bread is His flesh, and wine is His blood. There is no arguing with this. Unfortunately, many teachers have rejected the real presence in Communion because it exceeded their grasp of understanding. For how could Christ possibly give his flesh and blood to so many people? Because they follow their own reasoning, they disbelieved because they think that it is impossible. But nothing is impossible with God. The Real presence is a crucial aspect of the Christian faith, because later, St. Paul stated, that whoever does not believe in the real presence, should not take Communion, and if he does so he will receive a penalty: Any church which does not believe, practice or teach the real body and blood in Communion, is not a true Christian Church and should not be dispensing Communion. Luther made the great argument at the Marburg Colloquy on this subject. When the Great Reformer was sitting at the table at this debate he inscribed in table before him: THIS IS MY BODY, THIS IS MY BLOOD. (I would give anything to have that table today, because the Great Reformer Martin Luther is one of the foremost pillars in the Holy Christian Church.) And so it is. Zwingli and other reformers, (and even Melancthon!) questioned or wavered. But Luther did not. That is one of the main reasons that Luther is such a great Pillar of the Holy Christian Faith. "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it, and say, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as your drink it, in remembrance of me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. This is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened, so that we may not be condemned along with the world.." Communion is a participation or communion in the true flesh and blood of Christ, although the flesh and blood have the appearance of bread and wine, or as in the Lutheran interpretation, the Flesh and Blood are in, with, or under the bread and wine and the bread and wine do not lose their existence. St. Paul later explained this Sacrament in further detail (which we will investigate later) It is not the carnal eating of the flesh and blood, as some have supposed, but it is a spiritual participation or communion in the true flesh and blood of Christ. How, or when the bread, and wine become flesh and blood is not explained in Scripture. According to Christ, it just is, when Christians perform this ceremony.. Should infants or young people take Communion? (Right now, we will have to deal with this in future Bible Study)
Question: What is the "Spirit" that John is referring to? Answer: The Word of God. Throughout the theology of John, Spirit and the Word of God are used interchangeably. The Word of God brings us and is the "Spirit of God" in written and spoken form.
Question: In what languages was the Bible written originally? Answer: The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and Aramaic and the New Testament was written in Greek. Question: If we do not understand these languages, does this undermine our knowledge of the Bible? Answer: No. "For we write you nothing but what you can read and understand; I hope you will understand fully" (2 Corinthians 12-13) And as we have mentioned above, the Holy Spirit gives us the understanding, and God preserves the Word in written form through those who are entrusted with the preservation of the Bible. Of course it would be great to read the Bible in the original languages. That would be an extremely worthwhile goal. But God through the centuries has provided translators of his Word, entrusted with the Holy Spirit to preserve the Word in various languages. For those who are not serious and committed to preserving the Bible, they should avoid it completely, as Luther often said.
Question: Should the church charge money for the Word of God? Answer: No. Christ said, "You received without pay, so give without pay." (Matthew 10:8) No one has any right to charge money for the Word of God. Unfortunately, as Kierkegaard points out, like Judas (who betrayed Jesus of 30 pieces of silver), there are many people who want money or fame and fortune from Christianity. Judas is the prime example. Judas betrayed our Lord not only for the 30 pieces of silver, but also because he anticipated that Christ would bring about a worldly empire and the Apostles would share in the power, fame and fortune that it would bring about. It is interesting that the final straw for Judas and the event that finally led him to betray Christ was when Christ praised Mary Magdalene for pouring an expensive ointment upon the feet of Jesus. Finally Judas saw that Christ was not interested in wealth, power, fame and fortune, and in the end, all Judas obtained was a pathetic 30 pieces of silver. This is all he received, because he misunderstood that Christ was not about worldly success, but Eternal success. Christ said that we cannot serve God and mammon. Naturally, the members of the church are obliged (as they are able) to support the Church through contributions including the ministers and priests for their livelihood, and money can be charged for the production, (i.e. the printing etc. of the Word) If a great fortune or fame comes to any Christian in his service to the Word, as Kierkegaard also pointed out, he should accept it as a very very dangerous temptation and he should examine himself very closely to determine if he is serving God or his own personal interests. It is a very dangerous temptation, because when the Word of God is taught truly, in its purity, it is not usual popular in the world, but hated and persecuted. The Word of God Himself, Jesus Christ was not loved and accepted by the world at large, but instead, hated and persecuted. Until the end of the world, this will be the fate of the Word. Christ even wondered out loud, if there will be faith on earth when he returns in Glory with the Angels.
Summary: In the "Fullness of Time" God chose to rule in His people with the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament faith was "reckoned as righteousness," in the New Testament God chose to rule in the faithful with the Holy Spirit. There will never be a higher or more perfect religion than Christianity, the one final religion for man.
Question: Does the New Testament include a Liturgy for services? Answer: No, not really. God did not give us a Liturgy in the New Testament. Later St. John Crysostom gave us a liturgy that is used with variations in many Orthodox Christian Churches throughout the world, including, those in the Greek Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheran Church.
Here is an example of the earliest churches and how they practiced: "Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; be babes in evil, but in thinking be mature. In the law it is written, 'By men of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord. Thus, tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. If, therefore, the whole church assembles and all speak in tongues and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. What then, brethren? When you come together each one has a hymn (i.e. Johann Sebastian Bach-my comment), a lesson (i.e. Martin Luther -- my comment), a revelation (i.e. St. John-my comment), a tongue or an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silence in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn, and all be encouraged; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. What! Did the word of God originate with you, or are you the only ones its has reached? (Disagreement has arisen in the Church as to whether women should be allowed to be Ministers or Priests. Here was Luther's rule, which should suffice for the church: If men are not willing or available, then women should be allowed to be ministers and priests, but ordinarily and in most circumstances, God wants the leadership role in the church to be given to men, according to His inscrutable judgment) If any one thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge what I am writing to you is a command of The Lord. If any one does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So, my brethren, earnestly desire to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues; but all things should be done decently and in order." (1 Corinthians:14:20-37)
Let us now, (God willing) dive into this Great Ocean of the Bible, the Word of God!
Genesis
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.
Comment: God created the heavens and the earth. In Scripture, there are three heavens referred to: The sky itself, the stars and planets, and the Eternal Heaven of God. In Scripture, there is nothing revealed about the creation of the Eternal Heaven and the fall of Satan and his followers. Here it simply says that the mass of the universe (and we must assume space) was created by the Word, without form and void and was made out of water, and the Spirit of God was moving over the "face of the waters."
And God said, 'Let there be light;' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
Comment: Genesis is very careful to record the days of creation. With absolute precision, God chooses to tell us what happened in the beginning and on what day. This first Day, God created the universe as a mass made out of water and then created light. He then separated Light from Darkness. It is interesting to note, that He did not "create" darkness. Darkness existed (the philosophers would say as a "negation") as soon as He created Light. Now, there is much speculation about the period, or extent of the days of creation. Obviously, time as we know it, did not exist on the first day, because there were no reference points, such as the sun and the stars, so we really can't be sure how long these "days" lasted. Furthermore, since God is omnipresent there is not such thing as "time" for God, and since man had not yet been created, for whom did this "Day" exist? The only answer there could possibly be would be the Angels in Heaven who witnessed creation. There could not possibly be "time" for any other creature, (except Satan and his followers also.) It would only be the Angels in Heaven who witnessed "evening and morning," (a rotation of some sort I assume between Light and Darkness) but the extent of the time involved we have no reference points to measure. So as far as "time" as we know it is concerned, the first day cannot be measured as far as we can understand "time." Here is another interesting issue: The astronomers tell us that light from the farthest galaxies has taken "billions" of years to get to us, and so the Universe is also billions of years old. If they would only read Genesis, they would find out that God created light first, and then the stars and planets. There is no mystery here. The light existed before the stars and planets, and then later God attached that light to the stars and planets for "signs" and "seasons." The astronomers assume, mistakenly, that the light was created by the stars and planets, when in Truth, the Light existed first. So, therefore the conclusions of the astronomers about the age of the Universe, based on the speed of light and distance from earth cannot help but be wrong, since their fundamental assumptions are wrong.
And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it separate the waters from the waters." And God made a firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
Comment: Beginning on the second day of creation, we have three elements: Water, Light and Darkness. And then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." Firmament means, in the original Hebrew, "Expanding Sky." The New Revised Standard and other versions of the later translations of the Bible translate Firmament as "Dome" A dome is a poor and very static translation. Firmament means an expanding Sky, not at all to be compared with a "dome." So then, on this Day, God created the Firmament, or expanding sky which separated the mass of water created on the first day with a Firmament, or expanding sky. God then gave a name to this Firmament to be Heaven (or heavens as will be shown in the next passage). Also, time as we know it did not exist and the only creatures that would have observed Evening and Morning, would have been the Angels, and/or Satan and his followers, as we have said above. And here again, is an interesting issue that Genesis has with astronomers. Astronomers in the 20th Century discovered that the Universe is expanding. Here, we see in this passage, that Genesis long ago revealed this phenomenon of Firmament, or "Expanding Sky."
And God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear.' And it was so. God called the dry land Earth and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, 'Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth. And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
Comment: Here God describes the creation of the Earth. On the third day He gathered together the waters under the Firmament, and he made two more elements of it, the dry land, Earth, and the seas and oceans of the Earth. Then, as it were, He planted the vegetation of the earth with plants and fruit trees, both of them producing seeds according their their own Kinds (or geneses). Once again, time as we know it, did not exist. As yet, there were no temporal creatures to witness time and as we have said above, since God is omnipresent there is no such thing as "time" for God. Therefore, the duration of this Day also, we cannot measure since it could only have been witnessed to by Angels, as a rotation of Light and Darkness.
And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let there be lights in the Firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth. And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the Firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Comment: On this Day, the Fourth day, God separated the Light from Darkness into planets and stars. These Lights were first in priority to be "Signs." This is very interesting, because it reveals to us, that God uses the lights in the sky for "Signs," to presage certain events and happenings. There are comets, and alignments of stars and planets that predict to us coming events. This, however, is not to made into a sort of religion such as Astrology. The study of the signs in the Heavens that God has given us through the centuries would be a very fascinating study. Because one would have to compare the signs with events on Earth. But that's what God said. The Greatest event of all as a "Sign" in Heaven was the star over Bethlehem, that indicated our Savior's birth. How the alignment of the stars and the planets took place to indicate our Savior's birth, the scientists will have to figure out. The next usage of Light and the planets and the stars was for Seasons and for days and Years. Now, finally, time as we know it existed. God made two great lights (the Sun and the Moon, of course). The Sun would rule the Day, and the Moon would rule the Night. God also made the stars. God set them in such a way as to give light upon the Earth and to rule over the day and over the night. Time, as we know it, now existed. There was evening and morning. Since time existed, there was evening and morning according to any reference point you want to measure on Earth with respect to the Sun and the Moon. Now, here is an interesting question: Do empirical events such as Time require an observer in order to exist? It reminds me of the philosophical question: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to observe it, did it actually fall? In my opinion, yes of course. Not only in the premise has it been assumed that it fell, but empirically with any reference point you want to measure, the tree fell. Let us assume, for example, that in the forest in which the tree fell, there was someone very acquainted with that particular tree. One day he happened to pass by and saw the felled tree, after the event. He would rightly conclude that the tree fell, even though no one was there to observe it. In a later study of Soren Kierkegaard, we will examine both classical Greek Skepticism and modern Idealistic Skepticism.
As soon as the empirical reality of time existed with regard to reference points on the Earth in relationship to the Sun, the Moon and the stars, time, as we now know it today, existed. Time, before this, did not exist as we know it. Before this, there were no reference points for time as we understand it today. The rotation of Light and darkness that existed before this is an empirical reality, it is true, but only one that God and the Angels in Heaven could understand. Since God is omnipresent, it could have only been experienced by the Angels in Heaven, although God would understand it. On the fourth day, the twenty-four hour clock, is now ticking empirically.
And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the Firmament of the heavens." So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on earth." and there was evening and there was morning, fifth day.
Comment: On the Fifth day, God created out of the "waters" the creatures that from that day to this day inhabit the planet in the seas and in the air, according to their "kinds." He said, that the waters bring forth "swarms" of living creatures, and He said, "Let the birds fly above the Earth across the Firmament of the heavens." God is THE POET OF THE WORLD EXTRAORDINAIRE. The "Sea Monsters" might be a reference to the dinosaurs, I am not sure, but in any case, all living creatures in the seas and in the air were created on this Day. "Kinds" means geneses and species, and it would be a very interesting study to discover what geneses and species God originally created. Noah, after the flood that destroyed the first world, repopulated the planet with the same geneses and species. God saw that it was good.
And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds; cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Comment: On the first part of the sixth day God brought forth the living creatures that live on land, and not in the seas or in the air. He brought forth first: "cattle and creeping things (insects) and beasts of the earth (such as the dinosaurs, and the major mammals such as elephants, giraffes, hippopotamuses, etc.) It was so, because God commanded it by His Omnipotent Word. Everything that God created on this day was created "According to their Kinds." God made the beasts of the earth on this day and everything that creeps upon the ground, "According to their Kinds."
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them,; 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
Comment: On the second part of the sixth day of Creation, God created Man. God created man in the image of the Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost. God created man according to the "Likeness" of the "Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost. God gave man dominion over the fish, the birds, the cattle and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. Holy Scripture reiterates that God created Man in His Image. So man is totally separate and apart from the rest of the Earth and Creation. Man, by God's own design is unique and distinguished from the other creatures of His creation. God furthermore created Man to be Male and Female on this day. Furthermore he told Man " to be fruitful and to multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, to have dominion over the fish, the birds, and every living thing on Earth. And God gave every plant yielding seed and every tree with seed in its fruit for food. It was not until after Noah that animals were given to Man for food.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all of host of them. and on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.
Comment: On the Seventh day of creation, God rested from all the work that He had done in the prior six days. On this day, Adam, the only perfect human being to ever live, (besides Jesus Christ), in perfect Utopia. We cannot imagine what this day was like in pure perfection and bliss. But Adam and Eve, were the only two human beings to experience this bliss and perfection, in the history of mankind. Now, it is very interesting to note, that God is omnipotent and as we quoted above from Scripture, in Isaiah 40:28: "The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is un-searchable." so then, why did God rest on the seventh day? As with many questions concerning the book of Genesis, we can only speculate about the answer. According to Luther, God rested on this day, in order to give mankind an example, to rest from work. One can only speculate, but to me this seems to be a good answer. In any event, on the seventh day of creation, God rested and Adam and Eve lived one Day in pure paradise. God hallowed the seventh day. This does not mean necessarily that we cannot work on this day, since there is nothing at all sinful about work. But nevertheless, God hallowed this day. Now, here is another interesting observation about this passage. The passage clearly states that: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." This passage clearly states that the entire host of the heavens and earth were created by this day. This means that the creation of all creatures which have ever come into existence, or will ever come into existence were created as of this day. In what form did creatures yet to live exist at this time? We can only speculate, but according to this passage the entire host of the heavens and earth existed. Socrates claimed he could recollect himself back into eternity and that all truth was really an exercise in memory and he set his goal to help people recollect themselves back into eternity. Socrates was one of the great geniuses of history, so Socrates probably could find eternity by recollection. I myself have not such a recollection. Another explanation is as follows: Insofar as all creatures, including man would evolve from those which had been first created in the first six days. Therefore, all creatures (as far as the potential for procreation is concerned) had been finished. Of these two interpretations, I really don't know which one is correct.. I lean toward Luther's interpretation, which is the first one, although I can't understand it.
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord god made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and herb of the field had yet sprung up -- for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground -- then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. And the Lord god planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Comment: Here Genesis is still describing the events which happened on the sixth day, before God rested. Here Genesis goes into further detail as to what happened on this day. As yet, even though vegetation existed, there were no "plants" or "herbs" of the field, for God had not caused rain, and man did not exist to cultivate and till them. Then God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man came to life as a living being. God also planted a garden in Eden which was located in the east. From everything else that follows Eden would most probably have been located in the Middle East somewhere near Israel, and possibly in the Mediterranean Sea. In my opinion, the Garden of Eden was located in what we now know as the Mediterranean Sea.
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon, it is the one which flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good: bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is ghihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush. And the name of third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
Comment: There is much we cannot understand about the geography of the world prior to the Flood, as Luther says. Where the Garden of Eden was, we can only speculate. We know that Adam was driven out of the Garden of Eden and sent east of the Garden of Eden by God: "He placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life." (Genesis 3:24) From the later history of Genesis, it is clear that the cradle of civilization was in the area of Iran and Iraq. We will examine this more fully later. Therefore, I speculate that the Garden of Eden was probably somewhere in the area of the Mediterranean sea. As we have said before, after the Great Flood, the entire geography of the world was radically changed. I believe that the Mediterranean sea was formed as a result of the Great Flood and totally destroyed the remnants of the Garden of Eden.. The Garden of Eden was an especially fruitful and luxuriant place on the planet. There are many other geographical formations which also can be explained by the Great Flood, as for example, the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon in the United States of America did not take millions of years to form, as the geologists have imagined. It was formed in the relatively short time of 40 days by the receding Waters of the Great Flood. Also, the Great Salt Lake in the United States of America is a remnant of the Great Flood, in my opinion. There are many other geographical phenomena which can be explained by the Great Flood. But we will have to leave this for a future study. So, what happened to the dinosaurs? Excellent question. They died in the flood. It wasn't a comet or anything else that destroyed them. They never came back to their prior state after the Great Flood, because the vegetation that once supported them no longer existed. So, why didn't' Noah preserve the dinosaurs? Noah did preserve the dinosaurs, but note carefully, as it is explained in Genesis, he preserved all life, :according to its 'kind.'" Today, for example there are alligators, crocodiles and other forms of the dinosaurs But they could never come back to their prior state of existence, because, the vegetation that once supported them was no longer available. Carbon 14 dating and the rest of scientific speculations, we will have to address at another time. Ok so, what are these rivers that the book of Genesis is referring to? Tigris and Euphrates. These rivers are very well known and exist to this day. The river Pishon: According to Luther (a great interpreter of Hebrew and Greek) This river flowed around the land of India, today it is called the Ganges river. The river "Gihon." The river Gihon is known today as the Nile river, and Cush today is known as the nation called Egypt. How were these four rivers which were connected to the one river, which according to Genesis, flowed out of the Garden of Eden connected?" Excellent question. I personally have no idea, but according to Scripture, they were at one time.
The Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying 'You may freely eat of every tree of the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. and the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.
Comment: God put man in the Garden of Eden, and this as we know from above was on the sixth day. According to Luther, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was given to man to be a Church, and a way that man could show obedience to God. It was a form of religion which God asked of the first man. And God declared that in order to fulfill the commandment of this religion, anyone who ate from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would die. Why God put this Church here and allowed this trial for Adam and Eve, I don't know. But that is what He did.
Then the Lord god said, "It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him a helper fit for him. so out out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of the ribs and closed up it place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of man. Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Comment: God saw that it was not good that man should be alone with the other creatures of His creation, so He made a helper fit for him. First He brought all creatures made up to this time to Adam, in order for him to give them names. Adam named all of these, (and we can only speculate on the names that Adam gave them). Adam, according to his wisdom gave names to all Cattle, all Birds and all Beasts. But for Man himself, God created Woman. He did this by taking a rib out of Adam while he slept and He made this rib into a woman and brought her to Adam. Adam, after looking at and naming all the Animals, said: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh) she shall be called Woman. (From Man or Womb Man) And then the Book of Genesis concludes that: "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife." When Genesis says: His Wife, it is clear that God selects a mate for each person on Earth: :What God has joined together, let no one put asunder." Those who are fortunate in marriage, marry and stay married to the one whom God has chosen for him or her. This can also be proven later as we shall see below when God in Genesis 6:2: the sons of God saw the daughters of men were fair; and took to wife each of them as they chose..." It is also interesting to note that "They were not ashamed." Meaning that as yet, "carnal knowledge" as yet had not come into existence.
Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?' And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the Garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. But the serpent said to the woman: You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together made themselves aprons.
Comment: Some interesting questions arise based upon these passages. First of all, is it possible for a 'serpent' or snake to talk? It happened, because the Word of God says that it happened. Satan can possess people, as we know, so that it is certainly possible that he can possess animals, and speak through them. The serpent, possessed by Satan, tempted the woman, because she was the weaker of the two, overall. Man has, on the whole, been given relatively greater gifts in the area of intellect, reason, faith and reflection. However, woman has been given greater gifts in the areas of intuition, humility, humbleness and control. Both have been given their particular gifts by God. Now, here is a question that I have never even heard asked, let alone answered: Eve was the first to disobey God's commandment not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and yet throughout Scripture, this Original Sin is referred to as the sin of Adam, and not of Eve. Why this is, I don't know. Perhaps, God would not have held this sin against Eve herself, in light of her weaknesses, and that it was only when her husband agreed and participated in this disobedience, that the sin was counted against them. Later in Genesis it is revealed that the sin of Eve would result in women from then on suffering greater pain in child birth. So that, it is possible that, if Adam had not sinned by following the example of the woman, only women would have been condemned to suffering, and not men. It was only until Adam sinned that the entire human race, both women and men, were lost. This is what I speculate, even though I really have no certain idea. This is, as of right now, my opinion. Satan attacked the Word of God saying: "You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Notice the way that Satan attacks the Word of God. First of all he tells Eve that she will not die, even though God said above that if she disobeys the commandment, she will die. Satan always wants us to believe that when we go against God's commandments, that we will not die. Satan wishes for us to disregard the fear of God. To give a modern example, the terrorists in the Middle East in the year 2001 have been convinced by the Satanic Religion of Islam, that if they go against God's commandment: "Thou shall not kill," they will not only not die, but also be rewarded in the next life. Satan always wants us to ignore the punishment of death that comes with sin. Secondly, Satan claims to speak on behalf of God. This is very interesting. Satan says: "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." This again, is a very clever devise of Satan, he pretends to speak on behalf of God. The Koran is an example of where Satan pretends to speak on behalf of God. Also, the Book of Mormon, in the United States of America, is an example of where Satan pretends to speak on behalf of God and tries on behalf of God's authority to give instructions to man. That is why St. Paul, later in the Bible says that we should test the spirits. And we test them by seeing if they adhere and teach the Word of God. Satan, speaking on behalf of God, tells Eve that not only will she not die but that if she eats of it, she will know Good and Evil. This also is very interesting, because God did not mean to keep Adam and Eve uneducated and in ignorance, except with regard to the knowledge of good and evil. All other knowledge was open to Adam and Eve and man would be infinitely more intelligent and educated today, if it were not for this sin. But the knowledge of Good and Evil, was the knowledge God wished to keep from man. Eve also saw the fruit of the tree as "good for food and a delight to the eyes" Eve is letting her weaknesses take over and not following the Commandment of God. She looks at the fruit as good for food and a delight for the eyes. This is also a very often used tactic of Satan. Sin always looks good on the outside. This is how Satan always embellishes temptation. But when we eat of it, it is raw, putrid and brings death upon us. This is what happened to Adam and Eve. Finally, Eve concluded that it would make her wise. This has often been remarked upon by many theologians. The temptation to be "wise", beyond what God has given us to know. She took of the fruit and ate, and gave some to her husband. Her husband ate, and the Sin was complete Original Sin, the Sin that lost mankind. Why this Sin was so serious is discussed above. The first result of this Sin, was that their eyes were opened and they saw that they were naked, (carnal knowledge.) They immediately sewed fig leaves and covered themselves.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him: "Where are you?" And he said, " I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree and I ate. Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate."
Comment: A really fascinating question arises from this passage. We know that God is omnipresent, all knowing and omnipotent, but here, Genesis says that Adam and Eve "Heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day." Normally, these sort of passages can be explained in this way: When God is said to speak or do things temporally, God is speaking and doing them through some sort of intermediary, such as Moses, but here, there is no intermediary. Therefore, we must conclude that in some miraculous way, God took on the appearance of a recognizable form to Adam, (presumably the appearance of a man) and was walking through the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day. The cool of the day would be in the morning. The man and wife hid themselves, due to the sin that they had just committed. (because, sin causes fear and alienation from God). So here we see clearly that the result of disobedience to God results in the fear of God. In Innocence they had no fear of God, but lived joyously and with the full approval of God. But now, everything has changed, due to this sin that Adam and Eve had committed. They now fear and hide from God. Adam says to God that he was afraid, because he was naked and therefore had hidden himself. And here we see the result of eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was carnal knowledge, the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This was the only knowledge that God wished for man to be ignorant of. God wished for man to stay in Innocence and be ignorant of this one sort of knowledge. All other knowledge would certainly be available for him to investigate, whether it be in astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology or botany. It was just this one sort of knowledge that God wished that man should remain ignorant of. However, as with all things, God uses evil for ultimate good. In the end, this knowledge will serve the Elect, in that, by living in this world, they will come to understand evil and what it is, and want nothing to do with it in Eternity. And then we see the "blame game" begin. Instead of accepting full responsibility, Adam blames his wife, and his wife blames the Serpent.
The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed, he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." To the woman he said "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing, in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." And to Adam he said, "Because your have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, "You shall not eat of it," cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life: thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you: and you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Comment: As Luther points out, in these passages we have the first Bible that was ever delivered to man. In this case, it was a revelation from God to Adam. In what form God made His appearance we can only speculate, but it is clear that God, in whatever form, (probably in the form of a man) addressed the Serpent, the Woman, and Adam. (It is curious that Adam is never assigned his name, it simply shows up in these passages.) Adam is a truly great saint and prophet in the history of mankind. He is blessed with this Revelation from God, concerning the future of mankind at that time. And here is the Revelation: To the Serpent: The serpent was the wisest and most subtle of all the animals on Earth. Because Satan used the Serpent to speak to the woman and seduce her into sin, the punishment would be that the serpent (which once walked around on legs) would be forced to crawl on its belly, day and night and eat "dust." This is according to God's Wisdom and Justice. And to this day, we see serpents or snakes crawl upon the ground and eat dust. And now here is a great and amazing passage, one of the greatest in the whole of Scripture: God says that: He will put enmity between the seed of the serpent and the Seed of the woman, and that the Seed of the Woman would bruise the head of the serpent and that the serpent would bruise the Heel of the Seed of the Woman. In many ways, this passage must have seemed extremely mysterious to the very earliest of mankind when they tried to interpret it. In the same way that the book of Daniel seems mysterious, and so does the book of Revelation. This takes understanding, and the gift of prophecy, but the Seed of the Woman is Jesus Christ and the Prophecy is that the Seed of the woman (Jesus) would bruise the head of the Serpent (Satan), but that the Serpent (Satan) would bruise the heel of the Seed of the Woman (Jesus Christ). This would happen and is still happening to this day. Christ, through the Preaching and Teaching of the Word of God, bruises daily the head of Satan, by revealing the Truth and shining the light on Satan's works. Satan, through his agents in the world, persecute and kill Christians throughout the world, in their effort to "bruise the heal," of Jesus. Those Christians, whom Satan is able to kill, become Christian Martyrs and immediately, upon their death ascend into Heaven and rule with Jesus Christ in Eternity. In the the book of Revelation, it is revealed that there will be 140,000 such individuals, who became Martyrs who gave their life to Jesus Christ. Individuals, such as John, the beloved Apostle, did not become a Martyr. This is why Jesus said about John, that he would remain, until Jesus came back, at the end of the world.
To the Woman: Before Original Sin, woman was the equal in man almost in every way. But, as a result of sin, the woman is told that God would first of all, multiply her pain in childbirth. Secondly, that her desire would be for her husband and that her husband would "rule" over the woman. So, this is the state of affairs, even to this day, that the husband rules over the wife, and has been given the ruling authority for the family. Nevertheless, the husband is also obligated to rule with compassion and caring for the weaker sex, woman and not to lord it over her in any way. Which we will see later in this Bible study.
To Adam: Because Adam had been convinced by his wife to also eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of good and Evil, God says to Adam that therefore the ground is cursed and in toil he will eat of it all the days of his life, and that it will bring forth thorns and thistles and that man would not eat the "plants of the field" (that is to say, plants growing naturally in nature). Furthermore, in the sweat of his face, he would "eat bread," until man returns to the ground, from which he came. Thus, these are the penalties for original sin. And this is what the world has had to face from then, until now. The Serpent is condemned to crawl on its belly all the days of its life and eat dust. The Woman would have greatly multiplied pains in child birth and her "desire would be for her husband." Finally, the man would, as the bread winner, have to toil with labor, and only in the sweat of his face would he able to eat bread and to dust he would return.
The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.
Comment: Now this is very interesting. God somehow made actual garments for Adam and Eve. As we have said above, somehow God appeared in the form of some appearance such as a man. He, Himself made garments of skins. Now here is another interesting question: Where did these "skins" come from? Presumably from some animal. But yet it is not attested anywhere that as of yet, that any animal had been killed in order to provide "skins." This is just very fascinating. I presume it was the skin of a snake. I hope someone wiser than I can explain it. Then God, Himself, in whatever form He appeared, (presumably in the image of a man) clothed Adam and Eve with these skins.
Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever'--- therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden, He placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Comment: In Genesis 2:9 God made to grow all trees that are pleasant to the sight, and also the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. In the passage above, God now, using derision, says: 'Behold, the man has become like one of us." Here is the first passage in the Bible which indicates the Trinity of God's nature. Here, He is indicating the Threefold Nature of God: God the Father, God the Son (Who was born of the Father from Eternity) and God Almighty, the Holy Spirit (a Manifestation of the Speaking of the Word by God the Father). In this passage, God is mocking man in a way. Since Adam and Eve had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, God says that man now has become in certain sense like God, Knowing the difference between Good and Evil. Now, lest man should also eat from the Tree of Life, which was meant to keep man alive eternally, God sends man out of the Garden of Eden, and "sets a "cherubim" (or angel) East of the Garden of Eden, with a "flaming sword" to guard the way to the tree of life. Many people have supposed that Genesis is a myth or a fairy tale. But this is the way God chooses at times to deal and speak with man since God is so far greater than man, it becomes like an adult, speaking to a child. Genesis is no Myth or Fairy tale. It is the honest to God Truth of what happened during the earliest days of the world. As I said before, I personally believe the Garden of Eden to have been somewhere in the vicinity of the Mediterranean Sea. The Cherubim, to this day would therefore be placed somewhere on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean sea. Probably in the sea itself, guarding the way to the original Garden of Eden, into which no man can enter in, due to the "flaming sword" which is in the possession of the Cherubim and guards the way to the "Tree of Life."
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying 'I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.' And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.
Comment: Here Adam copulates with his wife Eve. The reason that, in the Hebrew language the word "knew" is used, is because in the act of copulation, man and woman become one, and therefore in this act, both can see into the spirit and soul of the other, and therefore, "Adam knew Eve," by this act. As St. Paul later indicates, even if a man copulates with a prostitute or other person they become "one." Whether this constitutes a marriage in God's eyes, I don't know and something we will have to investigate later. According to Luther (a great interpreter of the Hebrew language), the name "Cain" was a very prestigious and important name, while the name "Abel" essentially meant "feeble" or weak. The parents of the first born human beings on the planet, therefore imagined "Cain" to be the superior to "Abel." Also, there is speculation that they thought that Cain would prove to be the "Seed of the woman" who would crush the Serpent's head. So, both Adam and Eve had very high hopes for Cain, their first born, and they had little regard for Abel.
In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it."
Comment: When God says, "In the course of time," God does not tell us how much timed evolved. However, it is apparent that a religion had now grown up around the original revelation to Adam. Whether by internal impulse or by some other command from God, sacrifices were now to be given to God. The Bible simply does not state why these sacrifices were at this time acceptable to God. As Luther often said, there is a lot in the Old Testament we do not understand. In any event, God accepted Abel's sacrifice, but rejected Cain's sacrifice. The reason for this is simple, as we later understand in Hebrews. Abel did not expect a reward from God for his sacrifice. Cain did expect a reward from God for his sacrifice. Abel did not rely on a reward for his work, but relied on faith in order to please God. There is also a much greater and deeper mystery concerning God's predestination, which we will only touch on at this time: Abel was elected by God from eternity, Cain was not. We have a fuller analysis of the election doctrine at: www.holywordofgod.org/electiondoctrine. In this story of the Cain and Abel, we see how the New Testament always shines a light upon the Old Testament, and helps us to interpret it. The reason that Abel's sacrifice was acceptable, and Cain's was not is not revealed in the Old Testament, but it is in the New Testament. That is why we always have to look to the New Testament in order to truly understand the Old Testament. Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. When it is said that "The Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen'" this must be understood as God speaking through Adam to Cain, because God usually uses intermediaries, such as superiors and does not usually use Revelations and Angels. Then we have this ominous warning from the Lord: "If you do not do well sin is couching at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it." Here, we have in short, the task that God gives to all men in order to become spiritual beings and thus live a life in Eternity with God and the Angels: Sin is couching at the door and its desire is for you, but you must overcome it and master it, instead of it mastering you. This happens through faith in Jesus Christ in humility and repentance. Cain, of course as with all men, had a conscience, and he knew what sin was. He did not need to have the Law, which was added later, and which served to illuminate sin. So "sin" was a word that really did not have to be defined for Cain. It was intuitive for Cain, and its meaning was immediately obvious once God through Adam said it. The essence of this sermon which Adam delivered to Cain is this: If you do well by living a life of faith in God you will be accepted. But if you neglect faith and therefore, do not do well, sin is ready to take over at any time. But it is very important to note, that in light of the New Testament, it is faith that is extolled and not the actual work of the sacrifices. Also, Luther has an interesting observation. God can swing open the door of sin and reveal it to the world at any time, and bring it to light for the whole world to see. Often sin can go undetected for years, decades and even centuries, but ultimately God can open the door, and reveal it to the entire world. Which should be an added incentive to live a life that is pleasing and acceptable to God in every way, through faith. Here is an interesting question: Why was Cain so angry? It can only be explained by the rebelliousness that was a part of Cain's nature. Also, Cain had undoubtedly given himself over to Satan's control and Satan had in fact come to occupy the spirit and soul of Cain, because as we see below, the crime that Cain committed was Satanic in nature. It was really a crime of the worst kind. Now, God, through Adam gave Cain a very solemn warning. The way Cain responds to this warning really gives us an insight into the rebelliousness and the Satanic nature of this person.
Cain said to Abel his brother, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother? He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" And the Lord said, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
Comment: First of all, this is one of the most extremely vivid and powerful passages in the Bible and in the history of the world. For one thing, Cain invites his brother Abel, out into the "field," which was obviously some location outside of where they lived. Undoubtedly, Abel accepted this invitation from Cain totally unaware of what was about to happen. On Cain's part, without any doubt, this shows premeditated murder, the worst kind of murder. Cain, had, because of his Satanic anger planned a way to murder Abel. In their walk in the "field", when Abel was totally unsuspecting, Cain "rose up" and murdered Abel. When Genesis says that he "rose up" and murdered Abel, the most likely scenario for the murder would be that Cain, somehow took Abel by surprise, and took a large stone to beat Abel on the head and killed him. Here, at the very beginning of the world, the first two brothers on earth get into a fight, and one kills the other. Abel had done nothing whatsoever to Cain. All Abel had done was give a more pleasing sacrifice to God than Cain had given. That is all. Cain is filled with Satanic rage and hatred. It shows how evil proceeds when Satan begins to control things, and it is evident that Satan is in control of Cain. Cain was the first born of Adam and Eve and presumed himself in every way to be the superior to Abel. This heightened his arrogance and pride, just as to this day, many first-borns think that they are superior to their siblings. Cain had a very mighty ego on account of this. Now, there is a lot of speculation about the rest of this passage. Here is my opinion: Abel, after the fatal blow on his head is left unconscious and dying. Blood is flowing from Abel and seeping upon the ground, until he dies. Presumably, Cain hides the body somewhere. In some way, Adam comes upon the evidence of blood and the disappearance of Abel, and puts the evidence together and concludes that Cain has murdered Abel. Then he confronts Cain, already knowing what has happened, "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain, wishing to avoid the consequences of his murder, responds: "I do not know, am I my brother's keeper?" Here Cain does not want to accept the consequences of his murder, and in order to soothe his conscience, he excuses himself and asks: "Am I my brother's keeper?" The rest of the Bible answers, "Yes, you are your brother's keeper" because all human beings are sisters and brothers. But, at this time, Satan, having control of Cain begins to challenge this idea, and we have seen the consequences of this in murder after murder after murder from that time to this time. Then the Lord, through Adam accuses Cain: "What have you done?" This, really is a thundering lightning bolt, aimed at Cain. A very, very harsh accusation against Cain. If Cain had had an active conscience, it would have struck him to the heart and he would have been terrified. Then, Adam adds, "The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground." Now, here is my understanding of this passage. Adam, in some way, not explained in Scripture, came upon the blood of Abel, and in light of Abel's absence or other evidence, came to the conclusion that Cain had murdered Abel, and now Adam is confronting Cain with this evidence. Adam is extremely upset and confronts Cain with the evidence, as if to say: "You murdered Abel, didn't you?" Adam is at this point a very very upset father full of a broken heart to know that his son has murdered Abel. It is an extremely sad event, one that is lived on through history. And thus, he said upon this evidence that " The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground." Here, I believe was Adam's response when he saw Abel's blood on the ground and realized it was his son. This is why he is so upset and angry at Cain. This is truly a very great heartbreak that Adam and Eve suffered. Many people have commented on it. First of all, they fall from Paradise, in pure Utopia, by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, then they do certainly see the result of their sin in Cain's murder of Abel. Their hearts were certainly broken into a thousand pieces.
And now you are cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the Earth and whoever finds me will slay me."
Comment: God, through Adam's Spirit speaks to Cain, and continues His judgment of this sin. God says through Adam that Cain is "cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand." As I have commented above, I believe that Adam came upon the blood of Abel that had saturated the ground and had concluded the death of Abel. Now, here is the judgment: "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." Now here, there is much speculation. Later, God will give the commandment to Noah, that "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed." (Genesis 9:6) Why did not God require at this time that this punishment should be done? The reason is very simple. This commandment could not have been instituted at this time for the simple reason that the only one to execute this punishment would have been Adam himself, the father of Cain. To have a father execute his own son would not have been feasible. Therefore God declares that Cain, when "he tilled the ground," it would no longer yield "its strength," and that Cain would be fugitive and wanderer on the earth. Actually, we see that Cain got off pretty easily in light of what God later in the Bible has prescribed for murderers. But Cain does not see this leniency and only laments that: "Behold thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the Earth and whoever finds me will slay me." Here, it is apparent that Cain understands that the ultimate penalty for murder is death. Therefore, he exclaims, that whoever finds him will slay him. God, in His ultimate wisdom, has given Cain mercy and says:
Then the Lord said to him: "Not so! If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord put a mark on Cain lest any who came upon him should kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Comment: Wow! A lot of fascinating questions arise from these passages! I don't really think I have the ability to answer all of them, but I will try. The Lord put a "mark on Cain." As we have said above, God almost always works through superiors on earth, so that He undoubtedly put this mark on Cain by means of Adam. What sort of "mark" Adam placed upon Cain can only be speculated. (Probably some sort of "mark" upon the forehead). It was a mark known to the earliest peoples on earth, the knowledge of which spread throughout the world at that time; that the mark showed every man that: "If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." This, once again is according to God's Infinite Wisdom. Since the earliest men knew of the true punishment for death, God did not want any vigilante groups going after Cain. God, as always, wants everything done in the temporal world according to: "Due Process of Law." So, He warned everyone, through His word, that whoever would kill Cain would have the punishment (of death presumably) exacted upon him sevenfold. Truly a horrible punishment, because God did not want vigilantes who were trying to exact punishment upon Cain. So Cain went away, and "dwelt in the 'Land of Nod,' or 'wandering' which is the Hebrew word for "Nod." What exact land was this, we do not know, only that it was "East of Eden." As we have speculated above, this land was probably some place East of the Mediterranean Sea. So, that is where Cain dwelt, at least for a time.
Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael the father of Methushael, and Methushael the father of Lamech. And Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zilah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. Zillah bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamh.
Comment: Now, here we have a lot of things to examine. As we have said above, in the Hebrew language, when it is said that "Cain knew his wife." it means that when Cain copulated with his wife, they became "one," and each "knew" the other through copulation (because through copulation they became "one," as we have described above.) The name of Cain's wife is simply not mentioned in Genesis, it just says that he copulated with his wife. Now, here there is much flurry and consternation as to the female mate that Cain may have copulated with. The answer is easy: Throughout Genesis, for whatever reason, female births are not recorded. And yet, we are sure they happened. Adam and Eve bore females, which are not recorded in Scripture. Because, if they had not, there would have been no female on earth for Cain to copulate with. It is as easy as that. All answers in Scripture are actually very simple. It is true, that at this time, Cain, according to our understanding was committing incest with one of his sisters. Oh well, this is the only way that the planet could be populated from the seed of Adam and Eve. So, this was not a big issue at the time. Later on, it would be, and God would punish incest, but at this time, it was not a sin to be punished, because the planet had to be populated. In a similar way God also allowed polygamy later in history, under certain circumstances. (There is a lot to examined and explained on this topic.) So, God allowed a dispensation for this sin of incest at this time. But let no man think that He still allows such a dispensation in our current day and age. Then Cain built a city and called the city "Enoch," after the name of his son. There was a land somewhere called "Nod" or a "land of wandering" as it was described by the earliest people on earth. I believe that this was a true, geographical land in which Cain established this city and it was "East of Eden." I believe that it was a description of this land that people used at this time, (presumably because some of the earliest people, when they ventured forth from the Garden of Eden, were "wandering" out into land they did not know.) And so it is. Now, this is very curious. Out of nowhere, Cain "builds a city." There were very few people who were inhabiting the planet at this time, so this passage must mean that at this time Cain, as it were, started a community which would eventually evolve into the city named "Enoch." because there could be no city until there were people to inhabit it. The following people are the people who later inhabited this first "city" on the face of the planet: First, according to Genesis there was Enoch the son of Cain. Then, there was the son of Enoch, named Irad. Then, there was the son of Irad, named Mehujael. Then there was the son of Mehujael named Methushael. Then there was the son of Methushael named Lamech. Genesis then records that Lamach took "two wives." This is interesting because it is specifically mentioned by Genesis to point out an unusual case. Lamach was the first polygamist in history. Genesis does not either condemn or condone this, but simply states it as a fact. Later in the Old Testament we will see that under certain circumstances, God did allow polygamy to exist, although this was not the normal relationship between man and woman. There really is no justification that I can think of for this relationship, perhaps I will think of on later on.
(This is all the further I got today, there will be more tomorrow.)
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