Nuke's Blog
Periodic ramblings by an old geek…

In the interest of getting my blogging going again, I have a random, short (at least for me ;) post tonight if there is anyone out there still tuning in.  I got an email of a free video from The Berean Call folks this weekend referring to "Christian Palestinianism."  I had no idea what that meant, so simply had to check it out.  I’m going to leave you hanging, and see if you’re as cornfuzzled about this as I was after checking it out.  It fits pretty well with my thoughts on Israel which I partially included in an earlier post, Israel’s "occupation"?, but provides quite a bit more information.

 

Anyway, you can jump directly to it on Youtube here, or simply play the video below.

 

 

By the way, it says it’s only available until January 31, but I just got a follow up email that makes it sound like it will be up indefinitely… which might just be how long the break will be between now and my next post. ;)

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This is the second half of movie reviews for the past year, not the past three weeks.  That would be insane.  This is clearly not insane at all.  If you missed part one, you can get there from here.

 

Megamind (2010)

Rating:  

I couldn’t help but love this one.  Here we find ourselves rooting for the bad guy, in an interesting twist from other "hero" movies out there.  The animators did a great job bringing life to Will Ferrell’s off-screen voice antics.  The family and I watched this one several times before finally shipping back to Netflix.

 

Monsters (2010)

Rating:  

This movie reminds me of the love I had for Cloverfield, where we again have gigantic, alien monsters on the planet messing life up for everyone.  It’s simply fascinating to watch the characters work against that backdrop.  For those who rely on explosions for enjoyment, this probably won’t suit you.  It’s more of a character study than anything, being an indie flick and all.

 

Nanny McPhee Returns (2010)

Rating:  

The first movie was charming, and I suppose this one is to some extent.  However, I just found it to be a tired repeat of the original.  Check the first one out and move on to something else.

 

Ninja (2009)

Rating:  

I don’t have much to say, so will let a Netflix reviewer chime in: "The highest praise I can heap upon Ninja is that there is absolutely no fat on this thing. It’s lean and mean and gets right down to the point: ninjas! It’s a scientific fact that ninjas are way cooler than pirates and robots combined. Even dead people know this to be true. That’s why it’s hard to even muster the energy to attempt to try to bag on a movie like Ninja."

 

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Rating:  

I never did play the video game this movie is based on, but had understood a bit of the deal with the special dagger.  I thought they demonstrated the idea in neat ways, and the movie felt a bit like watching a fourth installment of the Mummy franchise… which is not a bad thing.  Worth checking out for some good adventuring fun.

 

Rango (2011)

Rating:  

I’m sorry.  I don’t get it.  It seems they tried to adapt the magic of Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns to animated animals.  Sorry, but it didn’t work.  I have too much respect for the master of the western… perhaps the only one who could take out Chuck Norris if it came to that, but I digress.

 

Restrepo (2010)

Rating:  

Fascinating documentary of a platoon in Afghanistan working to hold a deadly valley.  I think this is one you just have to see for yourself to form an opinion, which is hard to do when it’s real-life thrown at you with not much held back.  As for my middle of the road rating, I guess I expected the documentary to make some sort of statement, which I feel it never did.  I suppose that was the point… just show soldier life in the mountainous war zone.

 

Rio (2011)

Rating:  

The kids watched this several times before they let me ship it back.  I have no idea why.  I didn’t get this movie either.  I say skip the movie and check out the game version: Angry Birds Rio.  You’ll get far more enjoyment over a couple hours.

 

Robin Hood (2010)

Rating:  

Sorry for all those haters of this movie out there.  I did enjoy it, though that was probably helped by the low expectations I had going in based on RottenTomatoes’ 43% rating on the Tomatometer.  I hope to see the rest of the story told at some point.

 

Season of the Witch (2011)

Rating:  

I didn’t expect much out of this movie, as I do with most of Nicolas Cage’s films ever since Con Air appeared.  It was not too shabby, actually.  Interesting way to imagine the spiritual side to the events of the bubonic plague during the Middle Ages.

 

Shrek Forever After (2010)

Rating:  

Even though I’m rating this positively, I’m positively positive I don’t need more Shrek movies.  Could we please stop?  I dread that feeling of "there’s no way this is going to be any good, yet here I am laughing and enjoying myself once again to the tune of two green ‘monsters,’ a stupid donkey, and a really messed up cat that sounds a lot like Antonio Banderas."

 

Shutter Island (2010)

Rating:  

Gripping thriller, but I still find it so hard to deal with DiCaprio in serious roles… especially serious roles for which he has attempted to grow a moustache or anything else resembling facial hair.  It just doesn’t suit him.  Kingsley holds the movie together as he tends to do whenever he appears.  The movie definitely keeps you guessing.

 

Stone (2010)

Rating:  

Pitting De Niro and Norton against each other?  Great plan.  These two are great in these kinds of roles.  I wouldn’t call it a complete masterpiece like some of the Netflix reviewers did, but it will keep you watching to find out what happens next.

 

Surf’s Up (2007)

Rating:  

Ugh.  Skip it.  Just skip it.  It’s slightly interesting just for the idea that it is an animated documentary, if you will, but that is not enough for me to recommend it to anyone.

 

 

Tangled (2010)

Rating:  

I enjoyed this animated movie.  I thought they did a pretty decent job reimagining the story of Rapunzel as a girl who can do anything for herself, empowering all those young girls out there to kick the tar out of any guy who tries to mess with them… using only her hair.  Sorry, got carried away a bit there.

 

Thor (2011)

Rating:  

This was far superior to Captain America and The Incredible Hulk, and right on par with Iron Man 1 and 2.  The kids were able to watch this one, and we immediately threw it on the family Christmas list after their first viewing.  Here’s to hoping The Avengers movie next year, where they all come together, is tame enough for the kids to enjoy.

 

Three Kingdoms (2008)

Rating:  

Anyone who has followed my reviews for some time will probably notice I have a special place in my heart for samurai sorts of flicks.  This was very well done, but there are so many others out there to compare to that are just better enough to attain four stars over this one.  Great stuff though.

 

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Rating:  

Amazing effects.  Big explosions.  Sweet visuals of U.S. military weaponry.  What more could a movie viewer want?  I could use some better plot.  I could use *far* less of John Turtorro’s character and even far less of Shia’s parents.  Here’s to hoping #4 in the series has some redeeming quality beyond the awesomeness of the special effects.

 

Tron: Legacy (2010)

Rating:  

You know, I suppose I should only rate this three stars, but they brought the original Tron "universe" back to life beautifully.  The retro effects are simply magic.  What saddens me is probably nobody will read down this far and will miss out on this gem.  By the way, why does Jeff Bridges feel the need to reprise his role as "The Dude" from Big Lebowski no matter what part he’s playing these days?

 

The Warlords (2007)

Rating:  

Here’s another very well done samurai sort of flick.  I enjoyed this one just slightly more than Three Kingdoms.  Both are worth watching if you are into these films like I am.

 

Winter’s Bone (2010)

Rating:  

Well, I just didn’t find this movie as good as those nominating it for awards did.  You can read some other reviews and decide for yourself if you want to try it out.  There are so many I would put ahead of it though.

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This will appear slightly insane until you realize it’s actually been over a year since I last posted any movie reviews (unless you count my April Fools post).  I don’t watch movies that much anymore, so had decided not to blog about any, but I’ve received enough prodding to throw them out there.  In fact, I will split this up into two posts (in alphabetic order even).

 

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Rating:  

Loved it.  I actually watched this while preparing the rest of the two-part review blog posts, and plan to have T watch it again with me later tonight.  Interesting rabbit holes one could go down afterward if you wanted to take the bait and think of the plotline in terms of God and His sovereignty, but I would stick to the Bible for my theology over a Hollywood movie. ;)

 

Agora (2009)

Rating:  

Interesting movie, though perhaps a silly take on what might have occurred back at the end of the 4th century.  I’m surprised this wasn’t more popular as the world continues to move towards demonizing Christianity, bending historical reality to their will.

 

Ancient Aliens: Seasons 1-3 (2009-2011)

Rating:  

This History Channel series brings us some of the same things I’ve attempted to touch on in my Genesis 6 study post and another previous post.  It has far more material to work with over 15 hours of episodes, though.  Interesting stuff, though you certainly have to use some discernment before getting carried away in all the speculation.

 

Archangel miniseries (2005)

Rating:  

I have enjoyed mostly anything Daniel Craig shows up in, but this is an exception.  Here we have him as a historian roaming around Russia attempting to investigate secrets of Joseph Stalin.  Craig shouldn’t be held back by a role where he doesn’t get to use weaponry or other more interesting spy-like skills.

 

Arn: The Knight Templar (2007)

Rating:  

This period piece hovered between enjoyable and just plain boring to stay tuned in to.  It ended up going on too long with too many disjointed jumps throughout.  Though, there are tons of 4-star reviews on Netflix, so perhaps I’m just whiny.

 

Bert the Conqueror: Season 1 (2010)

Rating:  

Jake made me check out this sort of theme-park-version-of-Man-vs.-Food TV show.  It was quite funny for a few episodes, and the flashback I got to my favorite U.S. adventure park as a child, Cedar Point, was outstanding.  However, it just got a bit old to me and I had to move on to something else.

 

Camelot: Season 1 (2011)

Rating:  

I’m in the middle of watching this, but will go ahead and rate it now since I haven’t watched any episodes for several months and don’t know when I’ll get back to it.  It’s a grittier version than the Merlin series, which means it’s right up my alley.  Though, I have to admit I enjoy them about equally.

 

Captain America (2011)

Rating:  

This is pretty much a prequel to next year’s The Avengers, and it felt like that’s mostly what they shot for.  Though, it was still filled with superhero fun and the entire family enjoyed it.  It’s really too bad Iron Man 1 and 2 lived up to their PG-13 ratings, so the kids will miss out on those.  This was definitely more tame.

 

The Captains (2011)

Rating:  

You probably can’t tell from the tiny picture there, but yes, that’s William Shatner in a box.  Shatner wrote and directed this film about the actors playing Captain throughout Star Trek franchise history, including even Chris Pine.  It was so much better than I expected, and the following Netflix review was spot on: "The film is excellent if you want to listen to William Shatner talk about William Shatner’s place in Star Trek history while other Trek actors stare at him, waiting for their turn to say something, only to then be interrupted by William Shatner again. It’s Shatneriffic!"

 

Casino Jack (2010)

Rating:  

Very entertaining movie, though I didn’t go down the rabbit hole long enough to see how much is a parody of lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s life rather than a somewhat accurate portrayal.  He certainly doesn’t look too good here.  Perhaps they can do this with some of the folks out there in office and we can finally get people to vote them out on the street.

 

Centurion (2010)

Rating:  

I tend to be forgiving with flicks portraying anything related to ancient Rome.  This isn’t the best period pic by far, but I found it to be well done.  If you enjoy something like Gladiator, this is well worth checking out.

 

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

Rating:  

This third installment in the Narnia series was better to me than most of the reviews I read before watching.  Sure it may not have followed the book that well, but have the first two really done that either?  It was still filled with decent adventure action the kids weren’t completely frightened over.  That’s a win right there.

 

Despicable Me (2010)

Rating:  

Similar to Megamind (covered in part two of the movie reviews), but I didn’t find it to be quite as good.  Had I seen this first, I might have enjoyed it more, but I kept making comparisons all movie long.  So, I guess Will Farrell wins over Steve Carell in rock-paper-scissors-Farrell-Carell.  Sorry, that was dumb.  I retract it.

 

The Expendables (2010)

Rating:  

What do you get when you bring together a bazillion of Hollywood’s most popular action stars?  Chaos.  Mass chaos.  And explosions… if you love that kind of thing.  In fact, I’m pretty sure you also get a sequel with a bazillion more stars just in case they can suck in more viewers next time.

 

From Paris with Love (2010)

Rating:  

One Netflix reviewer said it best: "If you enjoy movies with total non-stop action, bullets and bodies flying everywhere, and a totally incomprehensible story, then this movie is your poster child."  I enjoy those types sometimes, but add John Travolta to the mix and it’s just too much for me to take.

 

I Am Number Four (2010)

Rating:  

Not as good as the book, but pretty well-done nonetheless.  I had a bit of trouble envisioning the characters as the ages they are in the movie in comparison to how I saw them in the book, but I got over it well enough to enjoy how they depicted the story.  If you read the book and loved it, I think you’ll enjoy the movie.

 

Inception (2010)

Rating:  

This movie was outstanding.  I might even call much of it brilliant.  The problem is DiCaprio and Gordon-Levitt in the lead.  I could scream.  Please move them off to namby-pamby, lovey-dovey movies and give me my darmatic/action stars back.  Even so, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.

 

Ip Man/Ip Man 2 (2008, 2010)

Rating:  

Interesting movies based on the life of one of Bruce Lee’s martial arts trainers.  There is outstanding fighting throughout both of these, though perhaps the plots aren’t equally interesting.  Still worth watching if you’re a martial arts movie buff.

 

Jonah Hex (2010)

Rating:  

When I saw there was another comic book brought to life coming, I immediately added it to my queue.  This was just messed up.  I didn’t bother trying to understand how well it matched the comics, as I didn’t appreciate the story in the first place.  Maybe someone else knows (and cares).

 

Kick-A** (2010)

Rating:  

Ok… there is no way this movie should have been that good.  I struggled between rating it 3 or 4 stars.  The scene where Nicolas Cage is caught on a surveillance camera going Batman on all the bad guys is top notch.  If you love hero movies, this is one of a different nature that you should check it out.

 

The Last Airbender (2010)

Rating:  

There are some cool special effects throughout, and it’s a decent samurai sort of movie even (one of my favorite genres).  But, it teetered between a movie for adults and a movie for kids far too often.  I think it would have been best to stick with one or the other.

 

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010)

Rating:  

I really enjoyed this fighting/adventure movie made with owls instead of people, though the kids wanted to send it back fairly quickly after the first viewing.  What’s wrong with my family?  I may have to revoke their movie queue privileges.

 

Limitless (2011)

Rating:  

I had no idea what this was about going in, and I think that’s the way you should approach it as well… it keeps you somewhat riveted trying to figure out what’s going to happen next.  Some cool effects and a neat concept.  Check it out.

 

Little House on the Prairie: Season 1 (1974)

Rating:  

You might be laughing a bit seeing this down here.  T had the idea to have J start watching Little House on the Prairie, and both T and I were amazed at the show now watching it as adults instead of children.  They just don’t make shows like this anymore.  You have to see it for yourself to believe it… they even talk about God quite often (*gasp*).  Ultimately, some of the shows were too realistic with people fighting for survival and losing, so J asked us to stop getting them.  Maybe we can start back up in a few years.

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Continuing our study with the rest of Genesis chapter 6 through 9, we find the details of Noah and the flood.  There are several parallels in this narrative that we will find with the life of Jesus, and our faith.  I haven’t heard any complaints about the length for a couple posts now, so this will be another "long" post.  Of course, maybe those people stopped reading.  Though, it’s not like I don’t give you plenty of time to read these in bits and pieces in between posts. ;)

 

Actually, before we move on through Genesis 6, there is one thing to catch back in chapter 5.

28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”

Genesis 5:28–29 (ESV)

In my ESV Study Bible, the marginal note with this passage states, "Noah sounds like the Hebrew for rest."  As stated in the passage, Lamech says Noah would bring them rest from their physical work.  Jesus Christ brings us rest from our spiritual work.

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV)

 

3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Hebrews 4:3 (ESV)

Heading back to Genesis 6, we find the following note regarding Noah.

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:9 (ESV)

Jesus Christ is the ultimate righteous and blameless person.

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)

As Noah walked with God, in a sense pleasing Him, Christ also pleased His Father.

17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:17 (ESV)

There is also a future parallel to this, as we will be sanctified to be blameless at Jesus’ second coming.

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 (ESV)

The next thing we find in Genesis 6 are God’s instructions for Noah.

14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Genesis 6:14–22 (ESV)

God gave Noah instructions, and we find that he carried them out.  Jesus would do the same.

4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

John 17:4–5 (ESV)

 

30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:30 (ESV)

Jesus accomplished the work His Father had laid out for Him.

 

Continuing on with the general account of Genesis 6 through 8, we find the events of the flood, and how God saves Noah and his family through the ark.

13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

Genesis 6:13-14, 17–18 (ESV)

 

1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.

Genesis 7:1, 7, 23 (ESV)

 

14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.

Genesis 8:14–16, 18 (ESV)

Peter points to this event in history as a picture of the baptism of believers through Jesus Christ.

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

1 Peter 3:18–22 (ESV)

Paul further expands on this picture of baptism in Romans.

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:3–4 (ESV)

If we take a different look at the flood event, we find that people were lost for not believing Noah.

12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.

Genesis 6:12–13, 17 (ESV)

 

17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.

Genesis 7:17–23 (ESV)

It isn’t clear from Genesis if Noah specifically preached to those who were about to be lost, but it would make sense.  Either that, or his righteous, blameless life was witness enough to them, as noted by Peter.

5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

2 Peter 2:5 (ESV)

This is a physical picture of what is going to happen to those who will be lost spiritually for not believing Jesus Christ.  As the ark saved Noah from physical death, we can be saved from spiritual death through belief in Christ.

37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Matthew 24:37–39 (ESV)

 

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:16–18 (ESV)

There is an interesting verse in the beginning of Genesis chapter 7 that I would like to look at next.

4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.”

Genesis 7:4 (ESV)

God appears to give Noah one last warning, seven days before the final, catastrophic event of flooding the world.  As suggested above, it would make sense that Noah might be preaching during this time, attempting one last time to get the people to repent of their ways and believe him.  It is possible this is a picture of the events of the tribulation spoken of by Daniel as well as Jesus Himself, where with Noah it was seven days, while the tribulation is seven years.

24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

Daniel 9:24–27 (ESV)

 

15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

Matthew 24:15–21 (ESV)

 

14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 7:14 (ESV)

It might take quite a bit more study of Daniel, Matthew and Revelation to put these things together, but I would suggest the parallel is there.  For example, isn’t it interesting Daniel uses the imagery of a flood in 9:26?  Nahum does something similar, also picturing God as our refuge (perhaps like the ark) to save us.

7 The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. 8 But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

Nahum 1:7–8 (ESV)

But I digress.  Back in Genesis 7, we find that it took a work of God to save Noah and his family.

16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

Genesis 7:16 (ESV)

"The Lord shut him in."  He shut them in the ark to guard them from the flood, saving them from physical destruction.  God does the same with us, through faith in Jesus Christ, to guard us until we are ultimately saved from spiritual destruction.  And, like shutting the door of the ark was God’s work, the faith which saves us is God’s work.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:3–5 (ESV)

 

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

The next thing I find is in Genesis 8, where we note that all those given to the care of Noah were saved.

18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

Genesis 8:18–19 (ESV)

We find the same with Jesus, that everyone given to Him by His Father would be saved.

12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

John 17:12 (ESV)

 

9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”

John 18:9 (ESV)

Moving on with Genesis 8, we find Noah making a burnt offering to God.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

Genesis 8:20–21 (ESV)

Now, I still don’t exactly understand this, but perhaps this finally explains to me what Paul was referring to in his letter to the Ephesians.

2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:2 (ESV)

The use of the word "fragrant" there hadn’t made much sense before to me, and I guess it doesn’t make that much more sense now.  However, perhaps Paul was simply making a parallel back to Genesis.  Maybe someone has a better explanation for what is going on there?

 

So moving on to Genesis 9, we find God blessing Noah and his sons.

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Genesis 9:1 (ESV)

God blesses us through Christ as well.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

Ephesians 1:3 (ESV)

We next find God telling Noah that there must be a reckoning for the shedding of blood.

5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

Genesis 9:5–6 (ESV)

That reckoning is made through blood as well.  This points forward to what is required for our own reckoning with God, which must be made through blood.  That blood is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Hebrews 9:22–28 (ESV)

Finally, in Genesis 9, we see God’s everlasting covenant with Noah.

13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Genesis 9:13–17 (ESV)

God has made also an everlasting covenant through Jesus Christ.

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20–21 (ESV)

In summary, we found the following in the narrative of Noah and the flood:

• Genesis 5:28-29 – type/picture – Jesus will bring us relief from our spiritual work
• Genesis 6:9 – type/picture – Jesus is blameless, righteous, walks with and pleases God; God will sanctify us to be blameless at Jesus’ second coming
• Genesis 6:14-22 – type/picture – Jesus completed the work given to Him by God
• Genesis 6-8 – type/picture – flood as a picture of our being saved through baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
• Genesis 6-7 – type/picture – people will be lost for not believing in Jesus
• Genesis 7:4 – type/picture – final seven days for people to repent in Noah’s time as possible picture of the final seven years of the tribulation
• Genesis 7:16 – type/picture – God guards us through faith in Christ for our salvation; that faith is God’s work, not ours
• Genesis 8:18-19 – type/picture – all given to the care of Jesus by His Father are saved
• Genesis 8:20-21 – type/picture – Jesus Christ’s sacrifice was a fragrant offering to God
• Genesis 9:1 – type/picture – God blesses us in Christ
• Genesis 9:5-6 – prophecy – blood reckoning required for the forgiveness of sins, ultimately through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross
• Genesis 9:13-17 – type/picture – God’s eternal covenant through Christ

Well, I hope you made it through that.  Perhaps the historical account of Noah and the flood means something more to you now than "just a story."  Until next time.

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Yes, I really did just use a picture of Laurence Olivier playing Zeus in the original Clash of the Titans for the next post in our study through the Old Testament.  Now that I’ve thrown you off-guard a bit, hopefully you’ll forgive me by the time I’m done.  We’re only going to work through the first half of Genesis chapter 6, so bear with me. 

 

By the way, I should mention that I never intended to go down this rabbit hole in our Bible study at home.  However, as I jumped into chapter 6 to discuss Noah, someone asked why I skipped the beginning since there were some "weird" verses in there.  I responded that while it’s an interesting passage, I had figured it didn’t really fit in with a "Jesus in the Old Testament" study.  However, as soon as I said that, T reminded me of a related study we just went through at Trekkers that week, which you can check out here if you would like to hear more on the topic.  This will be a somewhat different, and perhaps "condensed" version, if you believe I can manage such a thing. ;)  We’ll first deal with verses 1 through 4, which brought about the question.

1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

Genesis 6:1–4 (ESV)

One of the questions to ask with this passage, among others, is who are the "sons of God"?  Now, I understand there are a few interpretations of this term, but I assume if you’re reading this blog you want to know what mine is.  In this case, I choose to let Scripture interpret itself, rather than taking a wild guess.  Let’s skip ahead a bit in the Bible to Job, a book we’ll work through several years from now, perhaps. ;)

1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Job 1:1, 6–12 (ESV)

 

1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

Job 2:1–2 (ESV)

We find the "sons of God" mentioned twice here in Job, each time referring to what appears to be the angels.  I get this picture in my head of a periodic council God calls in heaven.  We find Satan is involved in these meetings as well.  Assuming you’re with me so far, what do we find the angels doing in Genesis 6?  They were taking the daughters of men as their wives.  Now, we know these couldn’t be the "good" angels in heaven, as Jesus had noted when dealing with the Jewish leaders.

29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

Matthew 22:29–30 (ESV)

So, these must have been fallen angels… those cast down from heaven.  The Hebrew word Nephilim found in the passage literally means "fallen ones," if that doesn’t make it clear enough. These fallen angels were having children through the daughters of men.  It would seem from verse 4 that these children were not even normal: "the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown."  We will later find another reference to them in Numbers, as the spies return to tell Moses and the people what they saw in the Promised Land.

27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” 30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Numbers 13:27–33 (ESV)

These men were giants.  We’ll find if we dig enough that Goliath and his brothers were in the same family tree.  The fallen angels were making a mess of things.  If we step back to Genesis, we find they were making such a mess that God brought about the flood.

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Genesis 6:5–7, 11-13 (ESV)

God determined to cleanse the earth of all life, except for Noah and his family.  Why did God do this, while saving Noah?  In order to figure that one out, let’s revisit the prophesy we read back in Genesis 3, which God gave to Satan after the fall of Adam and Eve.

14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3:14–15 (ESV)

Do you see it yet?  Recall that this was a prophesy of none other than Jesus Christ, who would eventually crush Satan under His feet.  God gave Satan a warning… that there would be a time when Eve’s offspring, or of some woman in her line, would crush him.  If we then look back at Genesis 6, perhaps we have a bit clearer picture of what Satan attempted to do.

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

Genesis 6:4, 12 (ESV)

Satan hatched a plan to contaminate humanity, and thereby prevent the possibility of Jesus Christ from fulfilling God’s prophesy.  If we jump a bit ahead in Genesis 6, we’ll find something interesting in God’s comments regarding Noah.

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:8–9 (ESV)

If you look at the Hebrew word for "blameless," you find it might be better translated as "free from defect," or "unblemished," or even "perfect."  Perhaps we are seeing here why God saved Noah and his family.  They may have been the only "pure" humans left on the earth at this point.  This makes much more sense to me as the reason for God sending the flood.  He was preserving the line of Jesus Christ, wiping out the rest of what the fallen angels had brought about. 

 

In fact, seeing as how Genesis 6:4 points out the Nephilim were "on the earth in those days, and also afterward" doing these things, it makes even more sense if we understand these sons of God to be fallen angels.  While the flood would wipe out humanity, the angels would be able to survive and create the giants the Israelites would encounter many years later.  This may also better explain why God had commanded the Israelites to kill all of the Canaanites, including the women and children.  These were once again contaminated by intermingling with the fallen angels.  If you still don’t accept this idea of these being fallen angels, I suggest you read Peter’s and Jude’s own words in the New Testament.

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

1 Peter 3:18–20 (ESV)

 

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

2 Peter 2:4–5 (ESV)

 

5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 5–7 (ESV)

If you feel so inclined, you could even check out the non-canonical Book of Enoch, chapters 6-11.  You can find a free copy here.  While this book is not part of the recognized canon, fragments were found with the Dead Sea Scrolls caves in Qumran, and were dated to the 3rd or 4th centuries BC.  Even if Enoch was not inspired by God, it gives you a fairly decent idea how people of the time interpreted what happened during the time of Enoch, Noah and the flood.

 

We should actually find it important to go down a rabbit hole like this.  Here’s why:

37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Matthew 24:37–39 (ESV)

When Jesus returns again, we should expect things to be going along as they were in the days of Noah.  I don’t think this just means people were caught unaware.  I think it also means Satan may be up to something similar again.  He’s too late to corrupt the Messianic line, but he can certainly wreak havoc with humanity… perhaps creating clones with no spirit, or perhaps part of the great deception, as you might hear ideas of aliens (in reality demons) intermingling with humans to create a more perfect type of beings.  Crazy?  Perhaps.  Then again, it’s Satan we’re talking about.

 

So, in summary, we find the following:

• Genesis 6:1-13 – chiasmus – Satan attempts to contaminate the Messianic line of humanity; God sends the flood to preserve the line of Jesus Christ
• Genesis 6:1-13 – picture – the times of Noah and the flood are a picture of Jesus’ second coming

Oh, I almost forgot… one more thing makes more sense to me in light of interpreting Genesis 6 in this way.  Remember the picture I used up above?  Laurence Olivier played Zeus, head of the Greek pantheon.  Do you remember from your Greek mythology what Zeus did often?  I can’t name all the children he had with the daughters of men.  The same goes for many of the "gods" in mythology.  What about the "mighty men who were of old, the men of renown"?  Do you remember the children of the "gods" such as Heracles or Perseus, the "heroes"?  Ever consider there to be some amount of truth behind the myths of the ancient world?  Noah and his family surely would have passed down such knowledge to their descendants as they once again spread throughout the earth.  Is history starting to make more sense yet?  I’ll leave you to ponder that until next time. :)

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Time for the next portion of our study through the Old Testament searching out Jesus.  I’m playing a bit of catch up here on the blog as we’re actually through Genesis 16 right now in our Bible study at home, so maybe the next few installments will come out somewhat quickly.  I have to mention, by the way, that at least one person pointed out the previous post on this study was way too long.  I can only point out that it’s not my fault… it was only *one chapter*!  Surely we can take at least one chapter from God’s Word at a time.  Better buckle your seat belt, because today you get to deal with *two*. :P

 

So, in chapter 4 of Genesis, we see the brief life of Abel before he is murdered by his brother.

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.

Genesis 4:1–10 (ESV)

Abel’s offering was acceptable to God, and Cain’s was not.  Though we are not told exactly why in this passage, we do find a bit more in the New Testament.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

Hebrews 11:4 (ESV)

 

12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.

1 John 3:12 (ESV)

Cain’s offering was not performed in faith.  Abel’s offering was.  We see some parallels in Abel’s brief story with that of Jesus Christ.  First of all, Christ gave an offering to God, one much greater.

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Hebrews 12:22–24 (ESV)

Christ’s sacrifice on the cross "speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."  As another parallel, Abel was hated by his brother for no good reason.  The same happened to Jesus, as it will happen to those who follow Him.

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

John 15:18–25 (ESV)

Another parallel I see is in Abel’s death, as he becomes the first "innocent" person murdered in the history of mankind.  Jesus Himself refers to this when chastising the Jewish leaders.

33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

Matthew 23:33–35 (ESV)

Jesus would be the ultimate innocent murdered, as recounted by Peter.

13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.

Acts 3:13–15 (ESV)

The last parallel I see is Abel, a shepherd, in relation to Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

John 10:11–15 (ESV)

Back in Genesis 4, I find the closing paragraph to point toward Jesus.

25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

Genesis 4:25–26 (ESV)

They began to "call upon the name of the Lord."  Paul gives us a glimpse of what that means for us in his letter to the Romans.

11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Romans 10:11–14, 17 (ESV)

Notice the implication of how one comes to call on the Lord in verses 14 and 17.  That would be a post for another day; though, I couldn’t outdo Russ’s studies (here and here if you want to check them out).

 

Continuing on to Genesis 5, we find ourselves working with a long list of "begat"’s, if you’re reading a King James Bible, that is.  Personally, this is one of those lists I might find a bit interesting to search online for a graph of their ages to get a feel for years these souls were on earth, but that would be about it before moving on.  However, in this case, I happened to have read an interesting blurb on this genealogy in a book by Chuck Missler.  Now, I’m still a bit skeptical on this particular study, but I’m going to throw it out there anyway. 

 

The basic idea flows from the many times in Scripture where you see the names of people mean something.  We see this at the end of this chapter, and we have seen it before.  In what we’ve read so far in Genesis, we’ve already encountered the following verses (notes are from the ESV).

26 Then God said, “Let us make man* in our image, after our likeness."

*The Hebrew word for man (adam) is the generic term for mankind and becomes the proper name Adam

Genesis 1:26a (ESV)

 

23 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.”

*The Hebrew words for woman (ishshah) and man (ish) sound alike

Genesis 2:23 (ESV)

 

20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living*.

*Eve sounds like the Hebrew for life-giver and resembles the word for living

Genesis 3:20 (ESV)

 

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten* a man with the help of the Lord.”

*Cain sounds like the Hebrew for gotten

Genesis 4:1 (ESV)

 

25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed* for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.”

*Seth sounds like the Hebrew for he appointed

Genesis 4:25 (ESV)

 

28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief* from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”

*Noah sounds like the Hebrew for rest

Genesis 5:28–29 (ESV)

Given all that, perhaps it wouldn’t be surprising if the names found in Adam’s line to Noah through Seth might mean something as well.  This is where I’ll jump right to Chuck’s notes, where he provides meanings for each of the names in the genealogy.

• Adam – man
• Seth – appointed
• Enosh – mortal, frail, miserable
• Kenan – sorrow, dirge, elegy
• Mahalalel – blessed/praise God
• Jared – shall come down
• Enoch – teaching, commencement
• Methusaleh – death, to bring/send forth
• Lamech – despairing
• Noah – to bring relief, comfort

Some of those meanings are straight out of the Bible, but some I can’t figure out where he came up with them.  I’m simply not adept enough at working my way through Hebrew, so maybe they are right on the money, or maybe they are a stretch.  Anyway, here’s what Chuck stated in his study what you get when you add them all together in a sentence.

Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow, (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.

If that’s really what was going on with the names in that genealogy, it sure looks like you have the Gospel message wrapped up in a nice, tidy package really early on in the Bible.  While I have to admit again of my skepticism, it certainly wouldn’t be the only time God has been clever.

 

There are a couple more things to check out if we look slightly closer in this genealogy.  We find in the beginning of the chapter that Seth was made in Adam’s image.

3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

Genesis 5:3 (ESV)

While physically we are born in the image of mankind, we are spiritually born in the image of Jesus Christ.

49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:49 (ESV)

The other thing we find in Genesis 5 is a man by the name of Enoch.

22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Genesis 5:22–24 (ESV)

We get a bit more than just a "begat" here, as it tells us Enoch "was not, for God took him."  In case that isn’t obvious enough, we find him mentioned again in Hebrews.

5 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 commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 11:5–6 (ESV)

Enoch did not see death.  God took him home before then.  I see this as a picture of the rapture, if that’s the name you want to give to Jesus’ coming for the saints.

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

1 Corinthians 15:51–52 (ESV)

 

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 (ESV)

In summary, here is where we’ve found Jesus in our study of Genesis 4-5:

• Genesis 4:2 – type/picture – Jesus is the Good Shepherd
• Genesis 4:4 – type/picture – faith in Christ is the acceptable offering to God, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the ultimate offering
• Genesis 4:5 – type/picture – Jesus was hated for no reason
• Genesis 4:8 – type/picture – Jesus was an innocent person murdered
• Genesis 4:26 – prophecy – those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved
• Genesis 5 – prophecy – genealogy possibly contains the Gospel of Jesus Christ
• Genesis 5:3 – type/picture – we are born in man’s image (physically), and Jesus Christ’s image (spiritually)
• Genesis 5:22-24 – type/picture – Enoch being taken before death points to those believers to be taken before death during Jesus’ coming

Hopefully this post wasn’t too long for you.  If it makes you feel better, I think next post will likely cover just the beginning of Genesis 6.  Happy studying.

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I’m in the middle of another evening (morning?) where I’m in too much pain to stay up and I’m in too much pain to go to bed.  I’m sitting here listening to a contemporary Christian "station" on Pandora, and one of my recent favorites just came up: Laura Story’s "Blessings."  It always seems to show up with perfect timing.  Here’s the chorus.

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

You can check out the entire song here at Youtube, and you can check out the story behind Laura’s song here and here. 

 

I’m always humbled by those in far worse shape than me.  Praise God for His blessings *and* His mercies.

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

Lamentations 3:22–24 (ESV)

So, this is all you get when I try out shorter, more frequent posts.  Now you can start categorizing my posts as spam. ;)

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Wow, has it been another long time between posts, sorry.  Have you accepted that as the "law of the land" around these here parts of the blog-o-sphere?  Can I just stop apologizing about the time between posts now?  Maybe I’ll experiment with shorter, more frequent posts this time around.  Maybe I’ve made that promise before and already failed. :)  Anyway, here are some books I’ve finished reading over the past few months.

 

Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture (Adam S. McHugh)

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I have an admission to make.  I am an introvert.  Yes, I know that’s hard to believe… there aren’t many introverted engineers out there and all. ;)  This book was written for me.  It was written for many in the church, who like me, have been discouraged for years in the face of all the energetic extroverts around us doing everything they possibly can to witness to others, to get up on "stage," to lead study groups, volunteer for anything and everything, etc.  (Ok, maybe my real problem is being a lazy person!)  The author is an introverted pastor who points out how we actually get sick or physically beat down from spending too much time in large groups of people.  He has good advice for us to get over those barriers we have around us, as well as for those extroverts out there to perhaps understand how we work just a little bit more.  There are so many examples and explanations throughout the book that I simply can’t list them all, so I will instead suggest you check it out for yourself.  After that, maybe you will understand just a bit why I’m not so talkative in public, and sort of "hide" behind this blog. ;)

 

The Façade (Michael S. Heiser)

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This fiction book, by one of the lead Biblical scholars working for Logos Bible Software, has put to words many of my thoughts related to end times and the schemes of Satan against God.  It’s a bit rough around the edges, but this isn’t meant to be your typical mainstream fictional story.  The book is based on Heiser’s own Biblical research, which is interesting to follow as the book progresses.  The great thing for me about the book was that it helped me further envision something I had recently considered briefly in a previous post, namely that the great lie of 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 would be linked to aliens.  That may still strike you as off-your-rocker-territory stuff, but come back to me after you read through this one.  You can even get if for $0.99 right now at Logos’ new Vyrso eBook website.  It’s a quick read, so what are you waiting for?  I’m interested to hear what you think.

 

Letters between a Catholic and an Evangelical (Fr. John R. Waiss, James G. McCarthy)

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I would suggest anyone who doesn’t understand the differences between Catholic and Protestant believers, yet has a slight desire to look into them more, to check this book out.  The "larger" differences are dealt with, as well as perhaps some of the more subtle differences.  Yet, we also find how much commonality there is between beliefs.  This works itself out through several back-and-forth letters between these two gentleman, which leads to interesting dialogue.  Though, in the end, neither one convinces each other to change, which I’ve seen enough in "real life" to recognize that’s probably the way things will continue to be anyway.  Good food for thought, and you’ll get plenty of Scripture to consider if you spend the time to dig into their dialogue by following their references.

 

The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Josh McDowell)

Evidence for Christianity (Josh McDowell)

Rating:  

It turns out the "New" book was published seven years before the second one.  The description in Evidence for Christianity‘s preface goes into much detail, but basically it is a condensed version of the other.  After making my way through both, I’m not sure you gain much with the shorter version, as it is still a good 700+ pages!  I really hovered between 3 and 4 stars for these two books by Josh.  They are jam-packed full of answers to many of the skeptics’ questions on Biblical reliability, the resurrection, etc.  The format is a bit difficult to get used to, however, since these are published in a similar manner to lecture note outlines.  You do get used to it, but it’s just not a simple read through the book.  You would be best off to scour the table of contents for a question you have and go from there.  The major reason I was thinking 3 stars is that I guess I don’t see that someone can completely convince themself from "facts" and "evidence" that Christianity is true.  Scripture seems to say quite often that our ability to believe is God’s work.  Can this book perhaps lead them to consider Christ when they wouldn’t have before… make them more "open?"  It doesn’t seem to jive with what I read in the Bible.  Now, can it bolster a believer’s faith, giving them more confidence that the evidence aligns with their belief?  Perhaps, but I think we all have to remember Paul’s words in his letter to the Corinthians.

          1:26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

          2:1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,

          “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

          10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

          14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:26–2:16 (ESV)

 

I Am Number Four (Pittacus Lore)

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So… I’m going to cop out a bit on this one and let you jump over to Jake’s review on his blog post last year.  This was a fun book, and I can’t wait to read the next one in the line, which Jake reviewed just last week.  The movie version of the first book is number two in my again-active Netflix queue, so I’ll be interested to see how it holds up (unfortunately, I see it was pretty trashed on Rotten Tomatoes… here’s to having low expectations going in).

 

Grace: God’s Unmerited Favor (Charles Spurgeon)

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Given Spurgeon’s notoriety in the Christian world, I suppose I’m surprised it took me this long to get around to reading something he wrote.  This was very short, but packed with good material.  He lays out a very good argument for the grace of God being behind our salvation, rather than our works.  Though, in hindsight, it seems to me someone should spend quality time in Romans and Galatians if they still don’t get it.  But, if you’ve read the epistles and still don’t follow, this would be a great little book to dig into.

 

Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God (John Piper)

Rating:  

Did anyone else notice I rated everything four stars prior to this one?  Piper’s latest book just stuck out like a sore thumb when I got to "thinking" about it in comparison to the others.  This just wasn’t as good as his other books I have read.  Maybe I just don’t get exactly what he’s arguing for in the book, and perhaps need to read it again.  The basic idea seems to be almost similar to a couple statements I made above related to McDowell’s books… namely, we Christians are maybe afraid to think to much about the foolish beliefs we have, but shouldn’t fear it.  If you don’t get what I said there, I’m not really trying to explain it anyway.  I’m just trying to give you the same feeling I had when I finished the book.

 

The Leviathan: The Nation Testifies (Steve Box)

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Wow, was this book interesting.  Don’t let the rating throw you off too much, this was a quick and enlightening read.  The author could certainly use an editor, but I don’t think the book would have quite the impact it would if someone cleaned it up.  This is authentic testimony from someone who spent way too much time in the world of drugs, especially meth.  He lays out some seemingly solid evidence that meth has ties to occult practices and the demon world.  Ever look at an ingredients list and/or instructions for creating meth?  Well, me neither, but what he notes in the book is a bit shocking.  I understand he goes into much more detail on the topic in one of his other books.  If you have teenagers, I think this would be perfect material to get them to read.  It will scare the bejeebers out of them (I hope).  And, if you don’t believe there is a demon world out there, I’ll leave you with one last piece of Scripture.

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:10–12 (ESV)

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Ok, so it appears I gave you nearly two months to read ahead.  Oops!  Maybe you’ll get about the same for the next post, since I’ll be possibly covering Genesis 4-11 all at once.  And then again, maybe I’ll be on task for the first time in recent history and you’ll only have a couple weeks.  Of course, it might take you a couple weeks just to get through this post. ;)

 

So, Genesis 3… where we see the fall of man.  We’re going to see much of this "chiasmus" today, where something occurred during the fall that Jesus has redeemed or will redeem.  We start out with a discussion between Eve and the serpent.

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 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 who was with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:1–6 (ESV)

Satan is well-versed in the Word of God.  He may be so prideful that he thinks he can beat God at His own game, but he certainly pays attention and uses it against us.  Do you see in verse 1 how he asks Eve a misleading question?  He twists what God said to her with, "any tree in the garden?"  We can look back at what God really said.

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 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 surely die.”

Genesis 2:16–17 (ESV)

It was not all trees, but a single tree.  Eve responded to Satan with that, but we see she is already adding to God’s Word, not remembering it correctly.  She adds "neither shall you touch it."  Remembering God’s Word incorrectly leaves Satan an easy way in, twisting it as he goes.  So, how do I see Jesus in this passage?  Let’s look forward to another discussion Satan is involved in.

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Matthew 4:1–11 (ESV)

Here we see Jesus going through the temptation in the wilderness.  Satan is again using God’s Word, but twisting it in an attempt to lead Jesus down the wrong path.  Let’s take a quick look at the second of the three tests.  Here’s the passage Satan is quoting:

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

Psalm 91:11–12 (ESV)

If you look back at Matthew 4:6, do you see how Satan leaves out a phrase from Psalm 91:11?  "To guard you in all your ways."  Jesus recognizes Satan is twisting this passage in order to put God to a test, rather than God’s intention that we trust Him in everything we do.  Where Eve fails in the face of temptation, misunderstanding God’s Word, Jesus triumphs over Satan, using God’s Word correctly to defeat him.  In fact, what does God do after Jesus trusts Him and passes the test? Psalm 91:11-12 is fulfilled.

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Matthew 4:11 (ESV)

Moving on, we see the first results of the fall.

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Genesis 3:7 (ESV)

I see two things here.  The first is this physical picture, in their nakedness, of a spiritual problem.  Our sinful state, our unrighteous intentions, are laid bare to God.  These secrets of our heart will be judged by Jesus Christ.

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4:12–13 (ESV)

 

15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Romans 2:15–16 (ESV)

Jesus Christ is the Word of God, as we’ve seen before.  In case you still don’t see that, John makes it even clearer in Revelation than Paul does in Hebrews.

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

Revelation 1:12–16 (ESV)

The second thing I see in Genesis 3:7 is another physical picture, in Adam and Eve attempting to cover their nakedness, of a spiritual problem.  Man attempts to attain righteousness through his own works, and it doesn’t work.  Only the righteousness attained through Jesus Christ is sufficient.

20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation 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 sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Romans 3:20–28 (ESV)

 

3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:3–4 (ESV)

In the next few verses of Genesis, we see God searching in the garden for Adam and Eve.

8 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. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Genesis 3:8–10 (ESV)

They heard the sound of God walking in the garden.  Recall from previous posts that when we see God present on earth, He is in the form of Jesus, the image of the invisible God.  Perhaps we see Jesus here, about to pronounce judgment on them, pointing to His future judgment of mankind.

22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,

John 5:22 (ESV)

 

42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Acts 10:42–43 (ESV)

Before moving on, I will just throw out a friendly reminder that we cannot hide from God, as Adam and Eve surely learned.  You could, of course, study the book of Jonah instead if you like. :)

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

Psalm 139:7–12 (ESV)

Skipping ahead to the next item I find in Genesis, we hit the verse that even the lightest of study Bibles would point to as direct prophecy of Jesus Christ.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

This offspring who would bruise the serpent’s head is none other than Jesus Christ.  He took Satan’s deceptions, his hold over us in our sins, and nailed them to the cross.

20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Romans 16:20 (ESV)

 

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

1 Corinthians 15:25 (ESV)

 

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

Hebrews 2:14 (ESV)

 

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Colossians 2:13–15 (ESV)

He will also defeat Satan once and for all.

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. 7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 20:1–3, 7-10 (ESV)

Moving on in Genesis, we again see more along the lines of Adam as a type (or anti-type, if you want) of Jesus, as we found in Genesis 2.

17 And to Adam he said, “Because you 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 pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 3:17–19 (ESV)

Adam’s sin led to death for man.  And yet, Jesus Christ leads us back to life.

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:12–17 (ESV)

 

21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:21–22 (ESV)

Adam’s sin also led to the corruption of creation.  Jesus Christ will redeem creation as well.

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

Romans 8:20–22 (ESV)

 

13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3:13 (ESV)

 

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Revelation 21:1–3 (ESV)

Back to Genesis, we see God now correcting man’s attempt at covering himself physically.  This is a picture of God later covering our sins in His perfect way spiritually.

21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Genesis 3:21 (ESV)

Do you see how God cover their nakedness?  With "garments of skins."  Where do you think He got those?  God made the first innocent sacrifice, of animals in His creation, in order to cover the physical nakedness of Adam and Eve.  This points to the innocent sacrifice He would make, of His own begotten Son, to cover our spiritual nakedness in our sins.

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

1 John 3:16 (ESV)

 

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:9–10 (ESV)

This sacrifice, this covering, was a work of God, and there is nothing we can add to it.

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Hebrews 10:11–14 (ESV)

As Genesis 3 closes, we see the great loss as a result of the fall – access to the tree of life.

24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:24 (ESV)

Jesus will one day restore our access to that tree.

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:19–22 (ESV)

 

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 22:1–2 (ESV)

I will leave you with one final thing.  We spent much time in the garden of Eden in this chapter of Genesis.  As I was studying, I started thinking about another garden, and how it is full of this chiasmus if you compare what happened in the two.  Of course, I’m referring to the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed in anguish before being arrested.

39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Luke 22:39–46 (ESV)

"Pray that you may not enter into temptation."  It was all around Jesus and His disciples in that garden, as the serpent was there with Adam and Eve in Eden.  Don’t think Jesus was being tempted?  Do you see how "his sweat became like great drops of blood?"  Wow.  And yet, Jesus did not succumb to it.  He accepted and followed His Father’s will.  Instead of running through more and more Scripture, I will simply list out some of the things we can find when making a comparison, and let you work through it yourself.  By the way, some of this list came from a decent summary I found online, but have since lost the link.  It had much more obscure thoughts, which I find too much of a stretch anyway.

• Adam began his physical life in Eden, leading to spiritual death – Jesus started down the road to physical death in Gethsemane, leading to spiritual life
• Adam succumbed to temptation in Eden – Jesus overcame temptation in Gethsemane
• Adam hid himself in Eden – Jesus presented Himself in Gethsemane
• Adam and Eve spoke with Satan in Eden – Jesus spoke with His Father in Gethsemane
• God sought after Adam in Eden – Jesus sought after God in Gethsemane
• God setup a sword in Eden to block life – Jesus has a sword put away in Gethsemane to give life (I find this to be one of the more interesting "stretches" from that website)

So there we have it for Genesis 3, short of other items you find yourselves and comment on for the rest of us.  Here is the summary for those of you who simply skipped the entire post looking for it.

• Genesis 3:1-6 – chiasmus – Jesus overcomes temptation from Satan’s twisting of God’s Word
• Genesis 3:7 – type/picture – nakedness as a picture of our sinful state, redeemed through Jesus
• Genesis 3:7 – type/picture – fig leaves as a picture of man attempting by his own works to attain righteousness, found only through the work of Jesus Christ
• Genesis 3:8-10 – appearance – Jesus walking in the garden, searching for Adam and Eve
• Genesis 3:8-10 – prophecy – Jesus coming to pronounce judgment on mankind
• Genesis 3:15 – prophecy – Jesus, seed of the woman, bruises the serpent, Satan
• Genesis 3:17-19 – chiasmus – Adam’s sin leads to death, Jesus brings us life
• Genesis 3:17-19 – chiasmus – Adam’s sin leads to corruption of creation, which Jesus redeems
• Genesis 3:21 – prophecy – Jesus is the innocent sacrifice to cover our sins
• Genesis 3:24 – chiasmus – Jesus gives us access again to the tree of life
• Genesis 3:1-24 – chiasmus – garden of Eden in comparison to the garden of Gethsemane

If history holds, you have several weeks to study up on Genesis 4-11 for next time.  God be with you.

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It was time to finally work through several books that have been collecting dust on my bookshelf for the past couple years.  These are all based on faith, science, creation, evolution or whatever combinations you want to make out of them.  I find it fun, while somewhat exhausting, to deep-dive into a single topic like this, even if it doesn’t necessarily lead me anywhere.  This round-up was no exception, and was a fine example of Solomon’s wise words:

12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Ecclesiastes 12:12 (ESV)

The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions (Karl Giberson, Francis S. Collins)

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This book is published by the BioLogos Foundation, which “explores, promotes, and celebrates the integration of science and Christian faith.”  Their basic belief is in “theistic evolution,” which the book summarizes as “the belief that God created life using natural processes, working within the natural order, in harmony with its laws.”  The book is written in a Q&A format, covering many of the basic questions one might have when trying to understand how to integrate the teaching of the Bible with what science tells us.  However, because of the nature of the book, it simply didn’t have much detail to work with.  The book serves more as an introduction to this topic, so might be used to determine where you want to go next in a deep-dive, such as Collins’ The Language of God.

 

Creation as Science: A Testable Model Approach to End the Creation/Evolution Wars (Hugh Ross)

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Now that’s a bold subtitle… ending those wars?  This book, on its own, certainly does not do that… though I should point out that the author does promote his other books to help fill that gap.  There’s some good discussion in here on the Reasons to Believe group’s approach, which is to develop a model of creation based on the Bible, with an “old earth creationism” (OEC) starting point.  In other words, yes God created everything, but no the six days were not really days.  The book lists several of the things that fall out from this, but really doesn’t provide much detail.  Again, that’s what their other books are for, apparently.

 

The Cell’s Design: How Chemistry Reveals the Creator’s Artistry (Fazale Rana)

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This is another book published by the Reasons to Believe folks, and is definitely more jam-packed with details, since it focuses on one small part of the creation/evolution topic.  Here we skip past all the debate of transitional fossils and focus in on the microscopic world of the cell.  I found it put words to some of the thoughts I had when I saw this animation provided in the documentary, Expelled.  It’s difficult to read about the complexities of the cell and believe random processes resulted in what we discover the closer we look at life.

 

Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters (Donald R. Prothero)

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I don’t like focusing on one side of an issue.  That’s probably one of the many things people find annoying about me.  It’s hard to debate with someone when they mess around with both sides of the argument. ;)  Anyway, I was disappointed that Prothero spent about half the book slamming creationists and the Bible, rather than stick to the topic inferred by the title.  If he truly felt science and all the evidence was on his side, why in the world didn’t he let it speak for itself?  There’s good detail in here, but I would have much preferred a better focus on fossils… at least a 90/10 split rather than the seemingly 50/50 split.

 

Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution (Michael J. Behe)

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I understand Behe fits in the “intelligent design” camp of the creation/evolution debate, not necessarily directly stating God as Creator, but that there is evidence life was designed.  His book does a great job detailing out his main arguments against evolutionary theory explaining everything in creation, with a major focus on his idea of irreducible complexity.  He does a good job putting things in layman’s terms, while also providing deep-dive detail where it makes sense.

 

In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood (Walt Brown)

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You can actually read this entire book at Walt’s Center for Scientific Creation website, however I found it much easier to have a copy in-hand.  Now, don’t take my 5 star rating to mean I agree with the entirety of what I read in here.  That rating reflects the sheer amount of detail Walt provides in his book, as well as the tremendous scope of all the “discoveries” of science that he attempts to explain in combination with a literal reading of the Bible.  This would be the “young earth creationism” (YEC) side of the debate, though Walt does detail out some more compelling theories than I have heard from more mainstream folks in that circle, such as Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis.  No matter what side of this debate you fit in with, I think this might be one of the more interesting books you could read.

 

I have a few final thoughts.  I’m not done figuring out exactly where I fit in along this spectrum of creationist theories.  However, I do think we lose something trying to take the BioLogos approach to fit everything in the Bible into what the scientific community has “discovered.”  What do we do when science appears to find something that goes against what God says in His Word?  Are we to force some twisted understanding on the text in order to make things fit?  If we do that in one area, how do we know when to stop?  You can’t miss God telling us in the Bible time and time again that He created the world.  Just read the last several chapters of Job, or any of the Psalms, if you want a small taste.  He also tells us He has revealed Himself in creation, so we should expect that the more and more we study the world around us, we will see the wonder of God revealed.  I don’t think we’re meant to understand everything.  He also tells us He uses the foolish in this world to shame the wise.  Well, I’m OK being a fool in this area, believing God’s Word over man’s.  Perhaps I’ll outline my thoughts from a Biblical deep-dive some day if anyone is actually interested.

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