TEMPTATION OF JESUS

Matthew 4

On one level, the baptism and temptation of Jesus can be considered a coming-of-age story of the Messiah. At His baptism, Jesus formally announced he was submitting to God's call to be the Messiah and following in obedience. The weeks in the wilderness were wrestling over what kind of Messiah He would become. We know He chose to follow the path of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah, rather than the warrior king most of Israel expected.

Still, it is vital to notice this is not a normal temptation, even though “He was tempted in all points as we are.” His were the trials only the Son of God could face. Command these stones to be made bread. Use your miracle working power to feed yourself and others. Use miracles virtually to make people follow you and diminish the role faith plays. Provide a divine welfare state, and they will flock to you.

The second temptation was to embrace spectacle and showmanship. Jump off the temple and land as if gliding in on a parasail. Many today respond to pageants and the like. Consider the coronations of rulers. But remember that a short while ago we were gathering in memory around a manger in Bethlehem. God's magnificence is not from human ways. Rather He can enshrine the simple, and turn that feeding trough into a beautiful world-wide symbol.

Finally, Satan shows Jesus the whole earth, all its kingdoms and rulers. Bluntly he offers Jesus rulership over all of this globe if He will fall and worship Satan. Do you see the contrast that lies at the heart of the entire Gospel of Matthew? John and Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of Heaven, and Satan offers only the kingdom of earth. The tension continues throughout the gospel, and the challenges of the scribes and Pharisees are similar to those of Satan.

The kingdom of this world is also at hand. Consider ISIS and their vicious beheadings and almost random murders. Indeed, consider America and our movement to an “anything goes” ethics, supported more and more by law. Sex without responsibility, gay marriage, abortion, increasing drug usage,rampant government corruption. Which side seems to be winning?

Jesus fasted for forty days. Fasts then and today varied in how severe they were. Most take at least enough water to stay alive and awake. Some do total fasts for a day or so. Longer fasts may be limited with a small meal once or twice a day – again enough to stay alive and alert.

The wilderness was not a jungle, but a desert. If you've seen pictures of the Dead Sea Scroll community (Qumran), that will look more like the area Jesus retired to.

What can we take from this experience to apply to ourselves. The first thing that comes to my mind is to take personal retreats from time to time, especially at critical points in life. Too many wander through life, almost blundering into whatever job opportunity is offered, and little consideration over who to marry, or how we shall raise our kids. How about a spousal retreat as the kids leave us with an empty nest or retirement approaches. Not only at this temptation, but throughout His ministry, Jesus would withdraw to pray and meditate.

Scholars also bring out the importance of obedience. Jesus was obedient to the Father and showed his faithfulness throughout the temptations. In the NT, faith and obedience go hand in hand. Nowhere does the Book protray a free-floating faith, but one always linked to obedience. It is important to recognize that only faith brings salvation, but saving faith always, always results in obedience and good works.

THE MAGI

The Wise Men were Magi, magoi as in the original Greek characters. The most frequent characterization says they were astrologers, men who studied the stars and their supposed influence on the earth. They would have had some characteristics of present day astronomers in that they would have located stars, named them, and entered them onto star charts. Beyond that, they would have sought to tie them to historical events on the assumption that if a king were born, war broke out, or a flood came under certain celestial conditions, perhaps when they saw those conditions repeating themselves, a similar event would occur.

In addition, a wisdom movement seems to have swept the ancient world over several centuries. The Old Testament has several wisdom books, especially Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Some Psalms are wisdom Psalms, for example the first one. In the apocrypha we find the Wisdom of Solomon and the Wisdom of Ben Sirach. These read much like Proverbs, and many people would recognize little difference.

Solomon's reputation of the wisest man could well indicate he was part of the wisdom movement of his day. Since he is not the only author in the Proverbs, he may well have been a patron and collector of wisdom. We know of rulers who supported artists and musicians, so we should not be surprised that ancient rulers also collected wise men around them. Even Herod called for wise men of his own to explor where Jesus was born.

Another issue in Matthew one is the Virgin Birth. I have always accepted this belief quite easily, because I recognize as a kind of creation miracle that seven billion people inhabit this globe, and each one originated as a combination of two microscopic cells. So it the Creator of all decides to bring one child into the world with only one cell from its mother, I have no problem at all.

That said, I want to address a translation problem. When the Revised Standard Version came out in 1952, the translators of Isaiah 7:14 rendered a part of the verse “a young woman shall conceive” rather than “a virgin shall conceive.” Now most virgins are young women, so Isaiah may have indeed referred to an as yet unmarried woman who would conceive shortly. The prophet's point was that by the time a baby could be conceived and grow to the age of weaning (as many as two or three years in that time) the Assyrian threat to Jerusalem will be gone.
The Hebrew word used in Isaiah is “almah,” young woman, not “bethulah” or virgin.

For reasons unknown to us, when a group of 70 scholars translated the OT into Greek, they translated “almah” with the Greek term “parthenos” (as in the building the Parthenon), which does mean virgin. Matthew quotes that Greek translation, called the Septuagint, as a prophesy of the virgin birth. That's ok, as many prophesies have more than one fulfillment. But recognize that Isaiah was not referring to a second virgin birth in his day.

Scholars speculate on who the young woman was, whether Isaiah's wife or a passing girl he pointed out, or just who. But his point for his day was that Assyria would not conquer Jerusalem or Judea. They did, in fact conquer the Northern Kingdom and carry them into captivity. Thus, “the ten lost tribes.”

A third point for the lesson is to note that Matthew included the Gentiles in his gospel that was largely directed to influence the Jews. In the first chapter, Gentiles come from the East to worship Christ, and at the end of his book, the Great Commission sends Jesus's disciples into all the nations.

Herod was crazy, but he had been driven there by his own family plotting against him. He had a wife and mother-in-law who wanted him dead so his son could be king. Others in his family had similar ambitions. Unfortunately, slowly but surely all the plotters came to an early death. That includes the women. So you can imagine his reaction when these wise guys show up looking for the “king of the Jews.” No wonder he ordered all the boy babies under two killed. It totally fits what we know of him.

But the Lord protected His Messiah. He led the Magi to find the baby, but led them back another way. We deduce three wise men from the three gifts, but there could have been any number from 2 to 20. God warned the men in a dream to go back another way, and He also led Josept to escape to Egypt. Dreams have a significant history of divine leadership in the Bible. Some people find them useful today. My own recommendation to interpret your dreams is to identify how you feel in your dream and trasfer to where you feel like that in real life. That often leads to an “aha moment.”s

JOHN THE BAPTIST
Matthew 3

Remember how excited churches became when Billy Graham came to town? Perhaps you were able to attend one to see this phenomenon. A similar excitement spread over Israel when John the Baptist came on the scene. Because the Christmas season is at hand, the quarterly temporarily bypasses the birth of Jesus stories and will come back to them the next two weeks. But Matthew jumps straight from those birth stories to nearly 30 years later and the beginning of Jesus's ministry. Actually, we have only one other story from that interval in the gospel of Luke – the boy Jesus in the temple. This reminds us that a gospel is not a biography. Matthew was not written as a life of Jesus, but as a witness to the Messiah and His ministry.

John was nothing if not spectacular. Dressed something like a Tarzan in animal skins and preaching on the edge of the wilderness. The thrust of his message was simple: Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Exactly what Jesus began preaching.

Israel had been looking for a Messiah for years. In 160 BC Israel won its independence from Greece. A band of guerilla fighters under Judas Maccabeus took advantage of Grecian troubles elsewhere to win first, freedom of worship, and later relative independence. That's why the people of Jesus's day thought they could overthrow Rome, not realizing how much stronger Rome was than Greece. Besides, the Lord through His Messiah could bring victory. BTW, I  often recommend Bible students read 1 Maccabees, a history of that rebellion, that explains a lot of what was going on in the 175 years just before Jesus was born. You can simply google it and read the whole book online.

Part of their expecting a messiah was the expectation that the prophet Elijah would return first to prepare the way for that messiah. John the Baptist filled that role. Amid great excitement, the people flocked to John as the harbinger of God's intervention through Messiah. So they were to repent in preparation and witness that repentance through Baptism.

Through the Dead Sea Scrolls, we are pretty sure that the archaeological ruins near the caves where the scrolls were found was Qumran, the home of a Jewish sect called the Essenes. Many Bible scholars feel John had spent time in that community, and that they influenced his message. Among other things Qumran had several pools, and they put much stress on ritual bathing or baths to symbolize cleanness of soul. John's baptism was different. You were baptized only once for repentance. And that repentance was preparing for the coming of the Messiah.

John appeared preaching in the “wilderness,” a barren land south of Jerusalem near the Dead Sea. His baptizing, however, was in the Jordan River, far from a barren place, more like a small jungle in places.

He preached repentance. In the NT, the word means a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior. The OT word meant “turn,” just as a physical change of direction. Again, the Bible is not much concerned with how you feel, but how you behave. Feeling sorry for you sins is good, but repentance is being sorry enough to quit!

Books have been written and heated arguments ensued over the term Kingdom of Heaven. Israel had been a kingdom since the days of Saul, and it was their preferred manner of government. David was the hero king, their George Washington, and they envisioned a descendant of David ruling once more the most respected kingdom on earth. Jesus taught the Messiah would not be an earthly king. Though indeed a descendant of David, he was to be a “suffering servant” as depicted in Isaiah. He did indeed establish His kingdom, but of a very different sort. “Kingdom” implies a ruler and some subjects. In the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus is king, and His followers are the subjects. The Kingdom is present where two or three gather in His name. A Christian is a citizen of that Kingdom.

Some writers insist the Kingdom of Heaven is only future, a final kingdom after the return of Christ. Others emphasize that His rule begins here and now: “The Kingdom is within you.” Still others see the Kingdom as past, present, and future. The Kingdom came in Jesus, continues in his followers, and will finally be revealed in glory when Jesus comes again. I like the last view.

John's food was a bit  unique in his day, but not as weird as today. Locusts, like grasshoppers, were kosher for the Jewish diet, and desert dwellers often ate them as readily available for the gathering. I've even seen them in specialty sections of grocery stores. Haven't bought them, nor chocolate covered ants.

Verse 7: Saducees and Pharisees often hated one another. They disagreed on almost everything, but they made common cause against John and Jesus. John was not very complimentary. He called them a bunch of snakes. He called on these, the religious leaders of their day to repent. He charged they thought being born as a descendant of Abraham assured their good standing with God. He assured them that God didn't need them, He could turn the stones into His people if He chose. Rather their lives should show radical change and bring forth good fruit. He warned the coming Kingdom included judgment. Just as finding a woodsman's ax leaning against a tree, one can expect God's wrath against the wicked.

People have trouble with God's wrath. A seminary prof I respected like to say that wrath is the underside of God's love. An old saying has it that hell has no fury like that of a woman scorned. Reject her, and in fury she will reject you. God's wrath is the kickback from rejecting or refusing His love.

Then John pointed to Jesus. He was supreme, and John was unworthy. His baptism would be with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Fire here may refer to judgment, since the word has just been used in that sense. But fire is also used as a sign of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2 the disciples experiences “tongues like fire” on their heads as the Spirit came upon them. We also use the expression of excited Christians being on fire for the Lord. We sing “Set My Soul on Fire, Lord.”

MATTHEW – INTRODUCTION

The December-February quarterly in Lifeway's Explore the Bible series jumps from the first book of the Bible to the first book of the New Testament, the Gospel According to Matthew. As in the last quarterly, this new one takes only the first half of the book, and in this case it's a great thing. You could easily take a full quarter on the sermon on the mount, if not just the beatitudes!

This essay covers the introduction to Matthew. Later this week, I will add notes on next Sunday's lesson, the arrival of John the Baptist.

After the resurrection of Jesus, the day of  Pentecost, and thousands converted, the new church continued to preach Christ. Peter's sermon is a good example of that first Gospel presentation. Note that it leans heavily on the Old Testament, linking Jesus's ministry to the history of the Jews and God's dealing with them. Since the New Testament had not yet been written, the OT was all the scripture they had, The gospel of Matthew continues to point out the relation of Jesus to the ancient covenant and prophesies. I have  a Greek New Testament that prints OT quotes in bold-faced type. Much of Matthew is in bold-face, just as red letter Bibles show much of John in red type. Not only are the prophecies bold, but many sayings of Jesus are also bold, reflecting his knowledge of Scripture.

In addition to preaching, people told stories about Jesus (“I remember the time He...). They also quoted sayings they remembered. That society had few writing materials, and relatively few could read, so their memories became far better than ours. Still, many could read and write, and I'm sure some wrote down Jesus's teachings. Both the sayings and the writings got passed around, told and re-told, copied and re-copied.

As time passed, that first generation of Christians began to die out. People became concerned that the memories would fade with each generation. Plus, as the gospel spread over the world, there were not enough first-hand witnesses to go around to each church and location. So a written record became necessary, even imperative.

One church father, early in the second century, tells us that Mark wrote first, recording the preaching of Simon Peter. Matthew perhaps wrote next, the father said in Aramaic, with a Jewish audience in mind. Today, most scholars see Mark as forming a spine-like framework from which Matthew and Luke follow in their outline. Each has his own separate material though, and Matthew and Luke share a common source of Jesus's sayings known as Q (from German “Quelle,” source).
Each has its own emphasis. Mark is an action gospel, “straitway,” “immediately,” or “next” seem to recur in many verses. Luke tells more compassionate stories, lifting up women and the weak. He relates the prodigal son, the good Samaritan, and other parables.

As mentioned already, Matthew emphasizes the Jewish heritage, but also contains more teaching. The Sermon on the Mount covers three chapters that must replicate many of Jesus's teaching sessions. We don't get to it in this quarterly, but all four gospels from the beginning aim toward the cross and the resurrection as the heart of their story. I'll try to point out as we go along that the reflection of the cross can be seen all through the book.

Traditionally Matthew is the author, and some early manuscripts include his name. The work itself, however, doesn't name the author. We remember Matthew, also called Levi, as the tax collector Jesus called to follow him. Without question, he left his business, threw a party for Jesus, and became his disciple. He would have been an educated man and capable of writing such a gospel.

All sorts of dates have been suggested from about 60 all the way to 100. One writer I read recently thought the destruction of the temple in 70AD led the Jews to scatter and also resulted in the gospels being written. I prefer to think Mark wrote about 55 and Matthew and Luke ten or fifteen years later after reading Mark and feeling led to add other materials. Most believe John wrote last near the end of the century.

THE SACRIFICE

The sacrifice of Isaac is one of the most heart-wrenching stories in the Bible. The story seems to be a test of Abraham's obedience, therefore faith, in Yahweh. No reason is given for the test, and though commentators suggest this or that reason, I find only one that makes sense to me. Only one or two others allude to this idea.

The Promise in the Covenant declared a whole nation of people will arise from Abraham's seed. Yet, both he and his wife were so far past the child-bearing age, they even laughed when God promised them a child. In fact, they had tried to help God out by conceiving a child by Sarah's handmaid. AND THIS IS THE POINT! The Lord was seeking to find out whether Abraham's faith had grown since the birth of Ishmael. God was threatening to put him back in that same childless condition (so far as Sarah was concerned). Where the couple had failed to trust God to send them a son in His own time and way, can they now rely on Yahweh to fulfill His promise, even if Isaac died? The man's obvious willingness to sacrifice his son became evidence that he had indeed strengthened his trust in the Lord.

Now let's look at the passage.

The scripture here is blunt and clear.

God calls Abraham by name, and he immediately replied, “Here I am.” Two thoughts come to mind. God knows us by name. And the question is wheether we are tuned in when He calls.

God then throws on Abraham the awful challenge: sacrifice your son. Killing you own child is unimaginably horrible, but even more is involved here. For the last ten chapters Abe has followed where God led him, and still he has not seen the promised land, nor had a grandchild. Giving up Isaac means he is willing to surrender the covenant and its promise. The author of Hebrews believes he had faith that God would save Isaac or resurrect him.

Very simply verse 3 says Abraham got up the next morning and began following the Lord's instructions. Three days later they arrive at a suitable place, so the patriarch leaves his two servants, going on with just the boy. Note his comment at the end of verse 5, “we will come back to you.” You wish Genesis told us more about what was going on in Abraham's mind. How did he endure that agony. Did he really expect to come back with his living son, or was he brushing off his men?

The story slows down, becomes more detailed.

He gets Isaac to carry the wood. Thus the lad was probably a stout teenager. He carries the torch and the knife, as most commentators like to say, in order his son would not hurt himself. And the two trudge on together, father and son.

Isaac asks where is the sacrificial lamb. His father replies God will supply it. Which of course, He does. And they kept walking.

Under God's direction, Abraham built an altar, tied up his son, and laid him on the altar. The story now inches forward as the old man reaches out to take the knife to kill his son. At the critical moment God called Abraham strongly by name again. And once again, he replied immediately and simply. “I am here.” Are you ready when He calls, or do you hide or dodge?

God tells Abraham he had passed the test, showing that he trusted the Lord with his son, his covenant, and His promise. The patriarch sees a ram caught in a bush, and proceeds to sacrifice that animal instead. And God renews His promised covenant and promise. And yet, Abraham dies some time later, never owning even a piece of the Promised Land, unless it was the cave he bought in which to bury his wife!

Faith is the evidence of things not (yet) seen.

What do you suppose God is calling us toward?

LATE-LIFE BABY

You can't rush God. He promised Abraham and Sarah a baby, and they had a baby! When she was 100 years old! Apart from Sarah, the record holder known to science is 70! (The youngest mother known is 5! She was the result of a rare syndrome that brings on very early puberty. Other early births have been known to a few other girls under 10.)

Can you blame the pair for their difficulty in belief? Thomas had just been told his friends had seen a dead man walking. Not surprising he said, “Sure you did.” And three strange guys show up and tell Abe and his wife, that same elderly wife who had traveled all over the Levant with him, was going to give birth. They both laughed. But God had the last laugh – if He wanted it. She did indeed conceive and gave Abraham a son at an age he should be having great-great- grandsons!

Have you noticed how often the Bible tells of a child being born from God's intervention? Off hand, I can think of Samuel's mother promising to give her son back to the Lord. In Isaiah 14:7 the prophet predicts the salvation of Israel before a woman can conceive, bear, and wean a child. (The same prophecy was used in a heightened way to predict the Virgin Birth.) And then there were John the Baptist and his cousin, Jesus.

Could that mean that God's purpose lies behind every child? I think so, and I've never found someone who failed to find God's mission for them if they sincerely searched. It means we're unique. God has a purpose for you like for no one else. Have you found that purpose?

And what must this say about abortion?

SODOM AND GOMORRAH

Remember when Abram and Lot parted ways, the nephew going toward what looked like the good grass for his sheep and his uncle taking what was left?
When we tune back in to the adventures of Lot, we find he is now a city boy, living in Sodom, one of twin towns to the East of the Dead Sea.

Also remember the three guys in last weeks' lesson who showed up to talk with Abram and change his name? They repeated the promise of a son for Sarah and added the requirement of circumcision. In today's lesson, before they move on, they announce that the Lord was about to destroy the towns where Lot lived. The cries of the victims had come up before Him.

Two of the guys moved on, but the third one remained. To Him, Abraham expressed concern over the innocents in Sodom. What if 50 righteous or just men lived in Sodom, would they be killed along with the wicked? The Lord agreed to spare the city if there were 50. Abraham continues to bargain for fewer and fewer innocents, and the Lord agrees until they stop at 10! Apparently, there were less than that, perhaps only Lot himself. We shall see when he tried to compel his sons-in-law to come with him and escape, they refuse. Only Lot and his daughters and wife escape. Well, his wife almost escapes.

Who were these three men? My vote is they were angels of the Lord. Historically some have called these men the Trinity, but scripture says no one has seen God at any time. In the OT one or more angels of God come to earth appearing as men. Two of the men go to Sodom and meet Lot, who invites them to his house for the night.

Now you must understand that in the Middle East of that day – and in some places still – hospitality was the chief virtue. The land was mostly desert, and travelers often went a long way between stops. So the custom was that people took care of each other, even to their own inconvenience. Lot demonstrates his virtue by insisting the two men become his guests for the night.

The wickedness of the city immediately became apparent, as the men of the town surrounded Lot's house. They demanded Lot surrender his visitors, so they could rape and probably kill them. When he went outside to reason with them, they tried to seize him, and his guests rescued him! They were perfectly capable of taking care of both themselves and Lot, and they blinded those closest to the door. Note Lot had offered to bring out his two daughters instead, and the townsmen refused. Before criticizing Lot for offering the girls, use it as an example of how seriously they took hospitality as important. Caring for your guests was of extreme importance in that society. We should also notice that while their sexual lust is obvious, to that society their denying hospitality would be as bad.

The townsmen refused Lot's offer and tried to press into the house when he tried to go back in. The angels themselves intervened, shoving the men back and blinding those around the door. They then tell Lot it's time to go, to gather his family. He tries to bring his sons-in-law with them, but they refuse. So the angels grab his wife and their girls by the hand and led the four of them out of town. They escaped to a small village named Zoar, but Lot's wife looked back against orders and suddenly became a statue of salt!

The two cities were destroyed by fire and brinstone. Some believe the Lord did this through volcanic eruption, comparable to Pompeii. Others believe he rained down fire directly from heaven. This was God's response to a city whose wickedness matched the world before the flood: every imagination of their hearts was only evil continually.

Actions have consequences. Some feel our world is becoming so wicked the Lord must be ready to come back in wrath. What do you think? And what is the proper Christian response?

RE-NAMING ABRAM

The re-naming of Abram to Abraham makes three lessons on the Covenant! Is it really that big of a deal? Absolutely! From Genesis 12 to Revelation 22 the entire rest of the story unpacks out of that Covenant. Remember the Old and New Covenants would more accurately name the two major parts of the Bible instead of the Old and New Testaments.

Genesis 12 tells of the call of Abram.
Genesis 15 tells of the ritual establishment of the Covenant.
Genesis 17 tells us the sign of the covenant, circumcision, and the new covenant names.
More about the last in a minute.

First let's look at Chapter 16, where Abram and Sarai become impatient and try to help God. The Lord has promised them at least one child in order to have descendants that number, but they are crowding 100! How can the Lord possibly fulfill his promise? After our second son required two transfusions as an infant, we wanted another child. Since at that time another child would have at least that many transfusions, we opted to adopt. Ancient Palestine had no adoption agencies, but surrogate parenthood was legal. Sarai suggested Abram have a child by one of her servants named Hagar, a much younger woman. He did and named the child Ismael and thereby created a multitude of problems.

Note this event, because it plays a big role later on. The couples' faith faltered here, and that failure led directly to what otherwise is a puzzling sacrifice of Isaac.

As in the Garden of Eden, God was again on the spot to tell the couple they were out of line. He repeated his intent that their own son would inherit.

Now let's look at today's scripture verses:

The Lord identifies Himself as El Shadai. “El” can mean God all by itself, perhaps short for Elohim, the word in Genesis 1:1. Shadai could mean several things, but the majority of scholars prefer “The Mountain One,” or the God of the Mountains. Remember, this is the God who later revealed Himself as law-giver at Mt Sinai.
The challenge came to live “before My face” or in My presence and be blameless. God reminds Abram He is watching the man and expecting transparency and integrity. How open do you want your life to be? Even though they asked for it, I sometimes feel sorry for the politicians running for office. Their opponents diligently research their lives to find and expose any hidden scandals, and if they don't find enough, many will make up some. How would you stand that scrutiny?

Verse 2 repeats the covenant the Lord has been promising, including the promise of a multitude of descendants.

In verse 5 The Lord seals the promise by changing his name to Abraham, which He interprets as “father of a multitude.”The Lord promises to continue to be the God of his descendants. Then note in verse 8 Yahweh promises his descendants will own the land where Abraham is not living – and all of Canaan. Here is the root of the claim of the nation of Israel in its fight against the Palestinians today – or at least the Bible believers among them.

The lesson skips, but read the next verses anyway. As a sign of the covenant, God requires all the men to be circumcised. At 8 days old, every boy would be circumcised, including any slaves born in their house.

Verse 17: Abraham fell to the ground and prostrated himself before the Lord. But he also giggled. The idea of that elderly couple having a child was ridiculous. So much so, that Abraham asked God whether he could count Ishmael as his heir. God was clear and simple – NO. The Lord did agree to make a great nation from Ishmael's descendants as well, but the Covenant would follow through Sarah's child, Isaac.

Remember, all things are possible with God. He will do things His way. Walk with Him, follow Him, obey Him, and you will find the richest life possible through His plans.

                                                         COVENANT VISION

By now, you have figured the early OT world was very different from ours. No letup today, even by that ancient standard. In Genesis 15 Abram has a vision – the only vision in Genesis and one of only two in the early part of the OT. Many scholars like to point to this vision as the origin of God's covenant with Abraham. I prefer chapter 12, but you can take your pick.

The ancients sometimes spoke of “cutting a covenant.” Perhaps a ceremony similar to the one in 15 is what they meant. In his vision Abram was instructed to cut three animals in half and leave a path between the halves. When Abram did this (It's not clear when the vision stops and starts again), at sundown he fell into a deep sleep that invoked a terror on him in great darkness. Out of the darkness, God reassured Abram that the covenant was that his biological son (as yet unborn or even conceived) would be his heir. Then out of the darkness, he could see a furnace and a flaming torch that moved between the split animals. Apparently these fires represented the Lord's binding covenant with Abraham and his descendants.

Now let's back up and take it from the top, beginning with verse 1.

The word of the Lord came... Later, we'd expect this phrase in the prophets. The word of the Lord came to Jonah. But it is otherwise rare indeed in the Torah, the Law of Moses. Remember this is the root of the story, the origin of the People of God. Yahweh Himself spoke. He had spoken worlds into existence and now He speaks Israel into being!

The Word came in a vision. Visions too are rare throughout the Bible, but even fewer in the Law. Dreams, not so much, but visions – rare. No, I don't know the difference.”Fear not...” He begins. Remember how the first words of angels always seem to be “fear not”? Medieval art portrays angels as looking rather like females with bird wings or little naked babies. In the Bible, the word seraphim relates to a serpent, perhaps fiery snakes, and cherub is a composite human/animal mixture like those Ezekel saw. The sphinx is a kind of cherub. Whether the angel of the Lord or Yahweh Himself, a theophany, a God-appearance should scare the daylights out of you. Remember Isaiah 6: Woe is me for I am  undone, for my eyes have seen the King! We can indeed sing What a Friend We Have in Jesus, but only if we also sing Holy, Holy, Holy.

The Lord then declares He will be Abram's protector and He will make a great nation out of his seed. But the not-quite-yet patriarch replied he had no seed. The present heir was one of his slaves. The Lord then reassures him that his heir would come from his loins, have his DNA. (Perhaps He should have mentioned Sara at that point and saved a lot of grief?) Then the Lord showed him the night sky with all the stars to illustrate how many descendants he will one day have.

Verse 6 – Abram believed in Yahweh, and He counted it to him as righteousness. The Hebrew has the preposition “in” before the Lord, which some translations don't. The “in” means commitment. Abram entered the covenant God offered. A life changing moment. “Counted is an accounting term.” His commitment to the Lord made him as if he were righteous. Paul magnified this verse, underlined it, and may well have screamed it when he preached. Our righteousness comes by commitment to the Lord, now as revealed in Christ.

Although Abram was committed to Yahweh, he still had problems understanding how God would carry out this promise. “How shall I know?” and the Lord created the ceremony I described at the top of this essay. Throughout the Bible, the heroes of the faith question God, argue with God, even complain to God. If He is the way, the TRUTH, and the life, we can feel free to seek the truth without fear of where it will take us. I note that God always satisfies their search, and He leads them successfully in completing His will.                                                                            

ABRAHAM

Chapter 12

We have reached a pivot point in Genesis and the Bible. We have closed out the Pre-History and move into a new section that can be dated, or at least rationally discussed dates. I personally like around 1600 BC, but many opt for 1900. But the pivot is not merely from pre-history to dated history. It is from all humanity to the family that eventually became Israel. It is about the fundamental idea of Scripture: the Covenant.

The Bible proclaims the Lord as a covenant-making God. In today's world, we think of today's categories, like omnipotent and omniscient, all powerful and all knowing. The Bible writers would agree, but that's not their primary categories. The Covenant is one. God makes covenants with his chosen people. In that society covenants that have been discovered are always from higher to lower powers. A king will offer a covenant to a people. If the people accept, both are bound by that covenant. That's how the people of that day would have read Genesis and the rest of the Old Testament. Later all Israel would enter covenant with Yahweh at Mount Sinai, and He would also offer a covenant to the House of David. Indeed, our ancestors chose poorly when they named the Old and New Testaments. Much better would have been Old Covenant and New Covenant. Testament today only means a will to most people.

The end of Chapter 11 has Abram's father moving his family from Iraq into Turkey, from Ur to Haran. Ur was an ancient civilization from which we got the Code of Hammurabi, possibly one of two or three oldest law codes we have. Haran was poised above Palestine, but well north.

Yahweh appears to Abram and offers a powerful covenant. “Look all around you – this land, your relatives, your parents and their home. I call you to leave it and follow where I lead you. If you do, your family of descendants will become a great nation, and that will be a blessing to you. Further, the whole world can be blessed through that nation descending from you.”

And Abraham does.

We take that for granted now. It's in the Bible, and we've read it many times since we were children. But suppose God came to you now and said, “I want you for missionary service?” How would you react? I have known many adults who have gone on short-term mission trips to all sorts of countries to work with established missionaries there. My own church sends youth and college groups both to the Caribbean and the US to serve during the summer and school breaks. Are you open to even simple ministries locally. I and my class are involved in a local ministry a lady in her late 50's began from scratch five years ago. We now see members of that group joining the church. What might the Lord say to you?

But consider those in “full-time” missionary service. They spend their lives in what at first is a foreign country, but later becomes home. I have a friend who raised his children in Jordan, later moved to Morocco, and completed his work in Turkey. Another pair of friends are currently in Kenya and think of it as home before they do Louisiana. How would you feel with that kind of call coming on your life or your children's lives? That's what Abram did, with no though of coming home on vacation.

Abraham took his nephew Lot, his wife Sarai, and their family and travelled south into Canaan. Genesis tells us he camped near Shechem, then further south to Bethel, and eventually during a drought into Egypt. Along the way, an angel appeared and invited him to look around. All the land he saw would one day belong to his descendants. Remember at this point he was already an old man and had no children. And the Lord promises him so many descendants they will form a nation!

Between Bethel and Ai (which means “ruin”) Abram built an altar. The altar would have been a simple crude stone affair, and it implies sacrifice, probably of a sheep. The altar was an act of devotion and thanksgiving. Planting that altar may also be compared to staking out a flag on the moon or other new territory. Henceforth we will know this land as God's land!

As a pastor I was occasionally invited to dedicate a home or a business to the Lord. From the beginning those families wanted to stake out their lives and their business as belonging to God.

How involved is He in your life?

THE  TOWER OF BABEL
Genesis 11

This story caps off the “Pre-history section, as I have called it. When we encounter Abraham in the next chapter, we hit a period where we can discuss dates. But another purpose of chapters 1-11 is to set up why God called Abraham.

In short, sin had avalanched. From Adam and Eve disobeying by eathing the fruit, sin got worse as one of their sons killed the other. Then we read of Lamech's bragging to his wife that he had killed a man for merely wounding him and will avenge himself seventy times seven. Finally, before the flood, humans had become so wicked and sunk so low we read, “every imagination of their hearts were only evil continually.” Thus the flood.  But even after the flood, evil reemerged, and in Noah's family of all places. Of course, it spread from there.

Finally, we come to the Tower story, which we will examine in more detail in a minute. But this one is different. In most of the previous stories, God has offered mercy with punishment. Banned from the garden, Adam and Eve received fur coats. Doomed to wander endlessly, God protected Cain with a warning mark. Even in flooding the world, the Lord provided an Ark.  And after the Flood came a rainbow. But after the Tower there is punishment with no sign of mercy. Yet all the rest of the Old Testament is that sign. Next week's lesson could be called, “Abraham to the Rescue!”

Now let's look at the story.

Men traveled in the East. Often in the OT the East is away from God, or outside of the Lord's territory. Remember that from Palestine, East is desert, wasteland, perhaps a source of the original chaos coming back in.

A group of people decided to become THE people, the most outstanding on earth. Of the seven deadly sins the church created in the middle ages, Pride was number one. Indeed, many maintain pride is the root of all sin, placing oneself above God's will and commands. Pride certainly led them to build a remarkable tower.

Diversion: Buildings seem important to humanity as signs of achievement. The pyramids of Egypt, the Colosseum at Rome, the Parthenon. In our day a presidential contender keeps pointing to the Trump Tower and all the other buildings with his name on them. The wealthy oil state of Dubai constructed the tallest building in the world, not so different from Babel!

For some reason, the pyramid shape affected the ancient world. In Mexico and other countries of Central and South America we find various types of pyramids. These often seem to represent mountains, lifting priests closer to the heavens to offer sacrifice to their gods. Egyptian pyramids were tombs for the Pharaohs and other royalty. The tower at Babel was likely a pyramid similar to others found by archaeologists in that general area. They were “step-pyramids,” built in levels with a “step-like” rise between each level. They may have been meant to represent a mountain to climb to heaven literally. (Remember Jacob's ladder, or stairway to heaven. He may have slept beside the ruins of such a tower.) These towers or pyramids were called ziggurats or ziqqurats.

Another possibility that some suggest was the tower was part of a wall that surrounded the city. This would be a watchtower that would make an approaching army visible for miles, the the tower would be an impressive defensive structure. The base of such a tower was found at Jericho. Ashes within it were dated by radio-carbon to 9000 BC!

“Come let us build...” Here is the idea of unity and cooperation. This is a worthy project for us as a people. If we pitch in together, we can do this. Certainly cooperation is a need for all great accomplishments. But remember, a noble effort can be undermined by a wicked motive.

Now the Lord comes down to see what His creatures are doing. They are building to the heavens, but they are so far from the divine realm that God has to stoop over to see what they think they are doing. His coming down, underlines the futility of their pride.

The Lord's statement is certainly cynical as He speaks of nothing being impossible for them. Of course, even without the limitations He was to impose, man's finiteness limits fundamentally our possibilities.

So their language is disturbed and scattered. For the Christian Pentecost reversed the scattering to unite the followers. Think about the importance of language. We wait eagerly for babies to talk. In training for a career, the lingo of the job becomes distinctive. A mechanic uses different words than a nurse. Think how electronics have added to our vocabulary. And remember lost people may not understand church talk!

NOAH AND THE FLOOD

Critics of the Bible like to point out other ancient flood stories, such as the Gilgamesh Epic, and say Genesis got its inspiration from those pagan stories. Others have pointed out that so many flood stories must well arise from memory of a great flood.

Some Bible critics wonder about the justice of such a world-destroying event. Let's begin by looking closely at Genesis 6:5 and how sin was piling up.

EVERY inclination of the thought of the human heart
was ONLY EVIL
ALL THE TIME!

Now folks, that's bad, and that's serious. The Lord saw how great the wickedness of humanity had become.

Sin had snowballed from the garden. Eve only took a few forbidden bites, but became a missionary of sin, leading Adam to join her. Her children were infected, and Esau committed a far worse sin – murder. By the time of Lamech in 4:23, we find a guy who had killed a man for merely injuring him and boasting veangeance not seven times, but 77 times! Now we find the human mind obsessing with sin incessantly!

Note also in verse 11 that the  “earth was full of violence.” Most of us recoil from R-rated content because of sex, but perhaps we need to recognize the Lord is equally concerned with violence. Scripture also speaks of massive corruption here. When's the last time you heard the church declaiming against corruption?

God reacted first by limiting human life to 120 years, instead of the very long lives of such men as Methusaleh. (6:3) While death puts a limit to how long an evil man can continue to sin, that was not enough to turn the present situation. Note 120, not 70! Seventy years is found in the poetical books, but here the life span is set at 120. More and more folks are living longer, and the last I heard 85 was the average age of those entering nursing homes.

The KJV also says “My spirit will not always strive with man...” which has been abused by preachers and evangelists. These guys make the verse mean that if you don't come to the front tonight, the Holy Spirit may leave  you and never visit you again. If you must do that, there is a verse in Hebrews that says something that can legitimately be interpreted this way, but don't abuse Genesis, because that is NOT what God means here. He simply means that the breath of life will leave man after 120 years instead of having more Methusalehs.

Verse 9 introduces Noah, who in the midst of all this wickedness continued to live blamelessly and righteously. You may from time to time be in an environment surrounded by wickedness, but one testimony of Noah is that you can follow God's standards anywhere and anytime. As a result, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAZSs4Hz_Fs

God gave Noah explicit directions on ark-building which he followed to the letter. You are familiar with the story of his gathering all the animals and his family into the ark. Note the Lord shut them in 7:16, and Noah had no way of admitting anyone else. The Bible is very explicit that all other life outside the ark was destroyed, and all future life was derived from people and animals preserved in the ark. Everyone knows the rain fell 40 days and nights, but did you notice water covered the earth for 5 months or 150 days?

After the flood, a rainbow. Once again a new covenant – no more flood to the extent of wiping out humanity.

The story teaches clearly there are consequences for evil, that God will not tolerate it forever. It also teaches one can remain untouched by evil in  a sinful world. Above all, it is a story of salvation, God preserving the righteous through the floods of this world. Innumerable sermons have compared the salvation through the ark to salvation through the ark of Christ.

A final addition because I'm from the south and hate scriptural abuse. One of the worst abuses is the statement that God cursed Ham, and that is why black people became slaves and suffer. Everything in that statement is false and just wrong. A chapter or so later Noah raises a vineyard and proceeds to get passing out drunk. While he was out, Ham came in and “uncovered his nakedness.” That could mean he simply looked at his father while undressed, or some believe he performed a homosexual act. His two brothers were more circumspect and walked in backwards to cover up their still sleeping father.

When Noah awoke, (9:25), he cursed CANAAN (not Ham) and cursed him to be the slave of Shem. Canaan was not the father of blacks, but of the Canaanites in the land where Israel went after the Exodus. God did not curse him, Noah did. And Noah was either still drunk or with a king-sized hangover when he did it. Read it yourself, and take it as a warning not to believe everything people tell you about the Bible.

CAIN AND ABEL AND “ANGEL” MARRIAGES

The Lifeway series Exploring the Bible skips from Chapter 3 of Genesis to the middle of Chapter 6, thus skipping the two stories in the title. Since I consider them very important, I shall insert this extra set of notes in between the two lessons at no extra charge.

The very best commentary on Cain and Abel is in John Steinbeck's great novel, East of Eden. I recommend it highly and will comment on it again later in this essay.

Those who have raised children will notice immediately how the conflict between these first two brothers echo what those parents have seen in the sibling rivalry in their own homes. Psychologists have missed this important fact while immersing themselves in the effects of parental influence. Sibling rivalry is at least as important in shaping lives, and the Bible knows it. We can immediately think of Jacob and Esaau, Joseph and his brothers, David's sons, even Jesus's disciples! You might consider which life patterns you developed in dealing with your siblings. One clue: children want all – absolutely all – of their parents' love. They are never sure there is enough to go around. If they love my brother, they must love me less. As one woman observed, “Everything was fine until my brother was born.”

Cain and Abel were very different. (So were the others listed above.) Cain was a farmer, Abel a sheepherder. One day they both brought an offering to the Lord. There is no record of why they did this, no account of God's command or even request for a sacrifice. And no instructions how to sacrifice. One offering was accepted, the other rejected. Scripture neither tells us how they knew, nor why one was chosen over the other. Some have said it was because Abel offered a blood sacrifice, but if so, he had no way of knowing an animal was preferred. Indeed, later in the Law, there were also grain sacrifices.

The best clue is the statement the Abel brought an offering of the fat portions of the firstborn, and Cain brought from some of his produce. This could be a hint that Abel brought his best, and Cain brought something. Remember that's a guess. The Bible does not say.

How did they know? Maybe one offering completely burned and the other one did not. Some have suggested various ways ancients examined parts of sheep offered as sacrifice. I don't know, but both Cain and Abel did did.

Cain's countenance fell. He brooded. He blamed his brother that the Lord had rejected him. Then God spoke to him. Just as God was on the scene to deal with Adam's sin, so He was on the scene to warn Cain before he sinned. The Lord tried to comfort him by pointing out there would be other opportunities to do well, and assured Cain that he too could be accepted. Meanwhile, sin was crouching outside the door ready to devour him, but “he must rule over it.” Control your impulses, Cain.

East of Eden concludes an intense study of that warning “you must/shall/can rule over it” by concluding the best translation is “thou mayest.” In other words, it's up to you. You may. You're not foreordained to do one or the other. This is good news for those of us with besetting sins. We CAN control them. No more “I'm only human” or “the devil made me do it.” Take responsibility and build in control.

But Cain didn't. Told in a few brief words, he invites his brother to take a walk and proceeds to murder him. Again God is on the spot to ask in horror, “What have you done. Your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.” And Cain cries out first of all – as his parents did - “Why am I responsible for my brother?” And that denial echoes down the centuries, “Am I my brother's keeper?” Jesus answered that denial in the parable of the Good Samaritan, but few of us get it. Consider our reaction to the poor, to immigrants, to needy of any sort. Why can't they just leave us alone?

As God did with the parents, He both punished and offered mercy. The punishment was to leave that small society for the land of Nowhere to forever wander. But to protect him, God placed a mark on him that none could kill him without themselves being killed. Many have used the “Mark of Cain” as a curse. It was not. It was a blessing, the blessing of God's protection.

Other questions abound to which there are no answers. Where did Cain get his wife? One answer is he must have married his sister. Even if you believe in evolution, early humans must have intermarried, as there was no one else. Another possibility mentioned by some is going back to 1:26 and assuming that God created many more people besides those told about here. That would also explain where the people came from when Cain founded the first city.

ANGEL MARRIAGES?

The early verses of Genesis 6 could well lay claim to the weirdest story in the Bible. The “sons of God” cohabit with the “daughters of men” and produce a race of “Nephilim.” Let's be honest. We have no clue what any of these three are. The easiest way out is the approach some take that the passage is a folk tale that somehow got incorporated into the Bible. The only problem with that is the story is in all the manuscripts. Thus the compilers and translators over the centuries thought it belonged there. Besides, if you believe in the Bible's inspiration, do we have the right to pick and choose which part is inspired, and discard those that are difficult?

So we wrestle with it.

The most frequent interpretation is that angels slept with human women and created a race of giants. In mythology the gods are always sleeping with humans and creating demigods, half human, half divine. Nowhere does the Bible give any hint of such a belief. Besides angels are not gods, they are the creation of God. Jesus said they don't marry, presumably meaning sex is not part of their makeup. Besides, it doesn't say “angels,” it says “sons of God.” So what are they if not angels? One possibility is that men from God-fearing families married into families that worshiped other gods. One version holds that descendents of Seth married descendants of Cain.

So who were the Nephilim they created? Some actual legends outside the Bible refer to “raphaim” that means the dead ones. Zombies? Another popular theory is a race of giants, which is easy to see if you have heavenly beings involved. But again...

By the way, the assumption, whichever theory you espouse, is that this is a taboo marriage and the Nephilim are an unwanted and disturbing by-product. Must I point out this is all an assumption. It's possible to read it as equivalent to the children of Jack married the children of Jill and produced Tom, Dick, and Harry.

You may have perceived by now that I don't mind saying “I have no clue.”

Sunday's lesson; Temptation and Fall

TEMPTATION AND FALL

You've played the game: Was it heredity or environment that made this person who they turned out to be? Which is more important. Well, here's a story that throws a monkey wrench in the big middle of that argument.

Adam and Eve had perfect heredity. Made by God Himself in His image. He even commented later, “It was very good.”

They had an ideal environment, created just for them. No nosy neighbors or pollution. Just the Lord and each other.

They had only one sin they could commit.

That apple.

That apple became their whole world. And its downfall.

Only one sin, and they went right to it.

Don't miss the truth.

If we had only one sin, if you had only one sin, we would go straight to it!  Original sin means our nature is to sin, we are inclined to sin. Those sweet little babies we all love come into this world fighting to get their way. Feed me now, or I'll scream until you do. Change my diaper now, so I feel comfortable. As they get older they want what someone else has, and they want it now. We try to civilize them but with varying degrees of success. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Rom 3:23.

I like to tell the story of a couple who are house-sitting for a friend who is away on a trip out of the country. They've been told to use the house as they would their own, except for one thing. They are not to open the door to the attic. Everything else they can treat as if it were their own. Just stay out of the attic. If that were your situation, how long would it be before you stood looking at that door, wondering what was behind it?

There's a whole lot in this story, so let's press on. Note that evil was already in this newly created world, an evil that came independently of both the couple and the Lord. The serpent made mischief – and worse. The Bible doesn't really tell us where Satan came from. He just appears as a tempter. Some have created a story from Isaiah 14:12 which the KJV says “Lucifer” is fallen from heaven as meaning Satan is a fallen angel. However, if you bother to read the whole chapter, verse 12 is part of a taunt-song over the king of Babylon, who will fall before Persia and leave Israel free. What exactly was this “tree of the knowledge of good and evil?”

Amazing to me is the number of Bible students who claim this has to do with sex. Doesn't “forbidden fruit” always mean sex? Not here it doesn't. God told them to “go and multiply and fill the earth...” Sounds like sex to me? No one else was around to commit adultery or even lust with. Forget sex. (I don't mean permanently, I mean in this discussion.)

The key lies in the Biblical use of the verb “to know.” It's the same verb used a chapter later when the writer says “Adam KNEW his wife, and she conceived...” Chapter 4:1 does not mean that when Adam looked up one day and saw Eve approaching, he said, “I know you! You're that gal I married.” No. When the Bible says he knew his wife, it means he knew her by the experience of having sex with her.

VERY IMPORANT, so nail it down: In both the OT and the NT, when you see the word “know,” it almost always means knowledge by experience. My often used example is fixing cars. In one sense I understand cars well. I can describe in detail how they work and can explain it to you better than most mechanics. I know how a car works. But if you ever see me walking toward your vehicle with a wrench and a determined look in my eye, stop me. No way do you want me tinkering with your car. I understand cars intellectually, but I have done very little of it. My sons knew more in junior high when they got minicycles and proceeded to explore their engines.

The tree of Knowledge was not intellectual knowledge. They already knew it was wrong to disobey God. They had never done so. But immediately after their sin, they discovered guilt and shame. They knew by experience what good and evil are. All else that follows are unintended consequences of sin.

Note secondly that as soon as Eve ate, she became a missionary of sin. She became the temptress to Adam as Satan had tempted her. Once while working at a hospital, a nurse asked me to come talk to her while she took a break for smoking. When I regretfully declined, she decided not to smoke at that time. I wonder how often we lure ourselves into sin by going along with others or worse – promoting it!

Further, neither took responsibility for their sin at first. Eve blamed the serpent, and Adam blamed Eve. Incidentally, did you see Adam indirectly blamed God?
“The woman which YOU gave me...” Sin makes excuses, “After all, I'm only human.”

And sin divides. Adam blamed Eve and God. Eve blamed the snake. Both hid from God. Even as a child, when you knew you were guilty, you wanted to avoid your parents. Sin builds walls. Love tears them down, seeking intimacy. Sin separates from God. Forgiveness restores that trust.

Forgiveness lies through confession, taking responsibility. At the very last, Adam admitted, “I ate it.” I'm world class at rationalizing. I bet you know a little about it as well. Dodging responsibility. But we cannot get past our sin until we admit it, first to ourselves. If you have an alcoholic in your family, you know that everyone around them knows their condition, except them. Alcoholics Anonymous tells us that until you admit you are powerless to help yourself, no one can do anything for you. This concept is true of all sin and shortcomings. All have sinned. I have sinned. You have sin.

The Lord told them the punishment was death. So people ask why He let them live. Look back at the Tree of Life. If they ate from it, they would live forever and never die. In their fallen state they could not live eternally as sinners, so God took strong action: he booted them out, evicting His tenants.

Yet there is an element of salvation here. The first couple had covered their bodies with fig leaves to express their shame. God replaced those fig leaves with fur coats! And God revealed human destiny as being constantly tempted (bitten on the heel,) but finally humans will stomp on the head of the Evil One and destroy him.

Meanwhile, the Lord was on the spot. He knew, and He knows. “Where are you? What have you done? A question you and I would do well to ask at the beginning of every day.

ADAM AND EVE
Genesis 2

Genesis 1:26 and following give a wide-angle shot of God's creating humanity. Genesis 2 zooms in. Some students have even said they represent two stories. I can imagine Moses, during that 40 years in the wilderness, recording the histories from the various tribes and being led by the Lord which ones to include. Anyway, let's look at the details of the story.

THE MAIN TAKEAWAY: God created YOU. The fact that He created the human race is vitally important. Yet for you personally the belief He created you as an individual, placed you in this world and time transforms life. Suddenly you are supposed to be here. Suddenly you have a mission. God gave you certain talents, abilities, and opportunities for that mission. If you fail, no one else can do it. You are his unique creation!

Word play: The Bible is full of it. Three or four words have the consonants “dm” as their root form in Hebrew letters. Adam is both the man's name and a generic term for man, often translated in modern translations as humanity or something similar unless the word obviously refers only to a male. “Dam” means blood. “Edam” means red. “Adamah” means earth. You should see the obvious connections.

God formed Adam in great detail. James Weldon Johnson wrote a great piece called “The Creation.” You can find Johnson himself reading it on You Tube, recorded at Columbia University in 1935. I recommend it. Also Psalm 139 speaks of the closeness God has with us. The more I learn about the human body, the more amazed I am at its details and intricacy. A friend taught an introductory college course in blood. I saw the textbook once, and it looked like a large dictionary. Who knew?

The Lord formed Adam out of the dust of the ground. Formed him in detail, as I mentioned above. And then he breathed into man the breath of life. This was not artificial respiration. This was the real thing. God's own breath and spirit came into that clay human, transforming him from a doll to a human being! The Hebrew calls him a “nephish haya,” a living soul. And so he was. And so are we.

Then the Lord moved on to make a partner for Adam. We find the first anesthetic and the first surgery done by the Lord Himself. The Hebrew is better expressed by something like “a piece of his side,” rather than a “rib.” Eve was to be by his side, as a partner. Incidentally, “helpmeet” is not a word. Look at the King James. It makes two words, a “help meet,” that is, a helper fit for him or suitable for him, a partner. 

It is not good that man should be alone. Aristotle said “Man is a political animal.” We would more likely say a social animal. Man's first partner was woman, a wife. I don't know how many anxious pleas I read on Facebook from single women moaning that they have no man to share life with. And yet many of them are far too quick to grab the first man who comes along, instead of becoming deeply acquainted to discover a true partner and companion. I'm sure men do likewise, just don't talk about it as much.

She shall be called “woman” because she came from man. More Hebrew word play. Another word for man is “ish.” Ishah is the corresponding word for woman. The similarity does carry over somewhat into English.

“They were naked and not ashamed.” Their intimacy was natural, but remember this in the next chapter after they have sinned. All of a sudden they were ashamed of their nakedness. How exposed and ashamed do you feel after sin?

GENESIS

Genesis means beginnings, the beginnings of the human race and the beginnings of Abraham's covenant with God and Israel. I call the first part Pre-history, because it is difficult or impossible to date. The second part is about the Patriarchs, or Fathers of Israel and includes Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, his 12 sons, each of which fathered one of the 12 tribes. Joseph's story plays a leading role in preparing for the Exodus.

Genesis sets forth several basic ideas:
 
   Creation: only God creates. Man only makes. God also makes, but the Hebrew word, barah, only has God as its subject throughout the OT.

   The image of God: man is somehow created “in the image of God.” George Caird in  a book by that name concludes the image is man's ability to be addressed by God. Lately, I have begun to compare this to a “back door” in a computer program, a private way for the designer to get back into the program to make changes. I believe God opens the capacity for humans to hear Him and respond.

    Covenant: The Lord  is a covenant making God. In the ancient world, the greater power, such as a king, offers a covenant to his subjects. We find the isolated covenant with humanity after the flood. But the foundational covenant comes to Abraham in chapter 12. ...Leave your people to a land I will show you, and I will bless you and make your name great, even among the nations who will also receive blessings through you and your seed. All Israel adopted this covenant at the foot of Mt Sinai, and there was a similar covenant with “the House of David.” This is a foundational idea throughout the Bible, esp the OT. The NT gospel offers a new covenant.

For Sunday we have time to focus on two groups of verses. First,  the very beginning. We will not deal with the Big Bang nor evolution because both would require college courses, first to discuss the science and then to discuss theology and metaphysics. You should know that there are Christian scientists who accept both theories as being the way God created.

In the beginning – I take it to mean creation ex nihilo, from nothing. Others sometimes treat it as a title. Still a few others believe there is a gap between verses  1&2, making room for dinosaurs before a tragedy threw the world back into chaos. It doesn't read that way to me.

After creation, Genesis pictures a world “without form and void.” Chaos. Excellent OT scholars believe Israel thought they were surrounded by chaos that was eternally trying to break back in. Morally, that meant evil was always trying to overcome the Lord's way. (On their west – ocean. Other three sides – desert.)

Then God said “Let there be light, and there was light.” Note that even here God creates by speaking, by His Word. When John wrote “In the beginning was the Word,” he was referring back to Genesis. I've also been amazed that light was the first specific creation mentioned. Modern particle physics now says the photon and its cousins, the neutrino et al, are the basic building blocks of everything.

Skip now to verse 26.

God created man (Adam) in His own image. Again we find the word create. Three times the word shows up. In the beginning, in the origin of life, and the creation of humans. The word “Man” here is Adam. You might want to play with translating verses the other way. Note that He also created us male and female, BOTH in His image. 

The first blessing God gavve us was sex! He said fill the earth and gave us sex to do it. Some say sex did not begin until they were kicked out of the garden, because Chapter 3 begins “Adam knew his wife and she conceived.” Conception happened out of the garden, but there's no reason to think that was the first time they had sex.

God also gave us work to do. He put the man he had made into the garden and told him to “dress and keep it.” He expects us to take care of the earth in which He put us. The Bible is full of working people and skilled artisans.

The heavens declare the glory  of God... The book of Psalms echos the creation over and over in songs of praise and faith. Try Psalm 18.

Finally the most important take-away: YOU were created by God and endowed with specific talents and abilities. He has purposes for you that will not be filled if you don't carry them out. Once you grasp this deeply it makes all the difference.

THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN

The Gospel – Verse 11 reminds us that the Gospel in Revelation is exactly the same as in the rest of the New Testament. Even though I picture Michael fighting Satan with medieval weapons, like a sword and spear, this was spiritual warfare. They won that battle with the “blood of the Lamb.” Never get lost in the maze of symbols and numbers in the Apocalypse and forget salvation came through the cross and resurrection.

Now let's look at the rest of the chapter.

The Woman – Either Israel or the Church, take your pick. A few, however, choose Mary and have this representing the birth of the Messiah. Some combine this having Israel give birth to the Messiah. Israel emerged as a nation from Egypt, and later Matthew has Jesus fleeing to Egypt as a child and coming back to Israel. Satan attacked both Israel and Jesus, but both were protected.

Satan thrown down – Frankly, I don't get this. Satan was wandering the earth in the days of Adam, Eve “getting” to meet him first. The event could have happened in heaven before creation, but the victory (v 11) was won at the cross. I suspect his being thrown down relates to the persecution the churches were undergoing. Though many were hurt and killed, still the church continued and even thrived.

Historical note – the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 AD. Two more rebellions were to happen after this book was written, one around 135 and the second about 150. After that, the temple and Jerusalem were reduced to rubble, rebuilt as a Roman city, and renamed. Since Jewish worship had been built around the temple until then, it had to change radically, thus strengthening synagogues and rabbis over sacrifice.

The numbers – Don't worry too much about the numbers in Revelation. I take all of them as symbolic. One speculation is that 12 represents Israel (12 tribes) or the church (12 disciples), 10  is completeness, thus 1000 is perhaps eternity. Seven is a favorite number, esp in Revelation, maybe from the days of the week, or the seven days of creation. So 144,000 may represent all the people of God (12x12 plus 10x10). Nero's name adds to 666 if you do it like high school girls adding their names and comparing the numbers to their boyfriends' names.

If numbers really interest you, the technical name is gematria. A good beginning, but not much more than that, is Wikipedia entry Gematria.

Praise follows – I recommend the Hallelujah Chorus or Beethoven's Hallelujah as the best “explanation.”

Finally, the devil is  prowling as a roaring lion seeking all he can devour reminds us to be on our guard against sin and evil, both inside ourselves and also from the world outside. Remember, the only power he has within us is what we allow! Check out the armor of God in Ephesians 6.

OPENING THE SEALS
Revelation 6-9

The Lifeway quarterly only covers the beginning of Chapter 9, but we need to get the big picture first.

As the Lamb opened the seven seals, seven angels appear with seven trumpets, which they proceed to sound. The first four present the famous Four Horsemen of destruction, as first seen in Zechariah (but no relation to the four horsemen of Notre Dame in Knute Rockne days). All have to do with God's judgment unleashed on the world. They are usually interpreted as standing for war, civil war, plague, natural disaster, death, or something similar. Don't get diverted because one horse is white. The rider on the white horse does not represent Jesus or any other good guy unless you count all the riders as good because they are executing God's wrath on the unbelieving world. Remember, the book's first readers were Christians under persecution. Compare with Christians and others caught  by ISIS and killed or made slaves. They are crying out, “Where is God? How long will this last?” And the answer is the Lord is with His churches, in the midst of His people. Judgment is coming.

Now in Chapter 9 when the fifth seal is opened, a star falls. Someone gives him the key to the shaft of the abyss, presumably on the authority of God. The abyss seems to be a place where evil is kept sealed and unleashed now and then. Going back to Genesis 1:2 (The earth was without form and void – that is, chaos.) Throughout history the Bible portrays chaos as trying to break back in to destroy God's creation. Now in Revelation chaos is turned against itself. Chaos will destroy those who create chaos.

From the smoke of the abyss, locusts appear like creatures out of a horror movie. In the Middle East locusts that look like grasshoppers can destroy crops and bring on famine. For that reason, they are feared. But these “insects” are not allowed to touch the earth or its crops. They are only to afflict people, and then only for “five months.” Scholars differ on the five months. Some take it literally, but most think all of the numbers in Revelation are symbolic. Five may be a symbol of incompleteness or limitation. The pain is limited. They will torment people, but not forever. The pain will leave eventually.

The pain is likened to a scorpion's bite. In the Western US scorpions inflict people with stings that may compare to vicious bee or wasp stings. If you are allergic, you could die or require hospitalization. But the pain goes away. The pain will be so severe they will want to die, but they will not. There follows a description of the locusts that makes them appear fiercely weird. Their king or leader is Abbadon, which means Destroyer. Was this Satan or one of his minions?

Finally, we learn John has witnessed the first of three woes. Two more will come, and we shall find even those gross warnings don't cause people to repent.

What do you make of this. Some believe that one day those alive will see exactly what is portrayed here. Others take the pictures as symbolic of  the limitation of evil. Persecution is its own call to be persecuted. Witness for example what the Sunnis and Shiites do to each other, or Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland some years back.

The best takeaway I find is to remember this is a part of the overall Book of Revelation that proclaims the final victory of God. What goes around comes around, and one day persecutors will be persecuted, and evil will be utterly destroyed. Live in victory. Christ is Lord!

Revelation 5

We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. We're back in divine headquarters in the throne room. The right hand of God holds a scroll, closed with seven seals. Time out:

Scrolls were made of papyrus or parchment. Papyrus was a reed that could be stripped and woven into a paper-like substance to write on. Parchment was scraped leather, also for writing, but more durable and probably more expensive.

Seals you have seen, especially in holiday seasons, glued onto the flaps of envelopes to give them a festive appearance. In the ancient world they were made by dripping hot wax onto the overlap to close the scroll. Often the writer would impress his ring against the warm wax as a way of signing the letter or giving it his authority. Seven seals may signify the importance of the scroll or have a numerical significance relating to numerology, such as completeness or perfection.
I've often wondered why “seals”? Why not walruses – at least sometimes?

The call went out with authority, asking who had the right to break open the seals and reveal the message of the scroll. For an awful moment it appeared no one could. The void reduced John to tears. But one of the 24 elders called to John and said he could quit crying, for the Lion of the tribe of Judah had conquered and could rip open the scroll.!

Note the reference to Judah, and with it to David's kingdom. The Jews expected the Messiah to come from Judah, and so He had!

But the Lion was a Lamb. The Lion had already conquered, and the war was over because of the slaughtered Lamb. Remember I said in the introduction to this book, that the Gospel is exactly the same in Revelation as in the rest of the New Testament? Here is a clear example, in symbolic and apocalyptic language, but the Gospel is the same. The Lord triumphs through the Cross and Resurrection. It's past tense. He has already conquered. Revelation does NOT look forward to the day when Christ will overcome. He has already conquered sin and death and hell forever and ever Amen!

In the vision the Lamb has 7 horns and 7 eyes. We don't have to figure them out, because John tells us they represent the 7 Spirits of God (likely the Holy Spirit) sent into the world.
Jesus then goes to the throne and takes the scroll from His Father's right hand. Of course he could, and He did! AS He took the scroll, celebration and worship erupted in the throneroom.

Pay attention to the new song: He is worthy because of the cross that ransomed with His blood people from all the earth. Jesus won the decisive victory on Calvary. That's the only victory that counts! And in Christ, that victory is ours!

DIVINE HEADQUARTERS?

A THRONE AND STUFF

The Doxology and “Holy, Holy, Holy” may be the best commentary on Revelation 4. The details are not nearly as important as some make them. The picture inspires deep awe and reverence. It proclaims the eternal God, Creator and Ruler is on the throne of the universe and very much in control.

John saw an open door, showing the way to an inside revelation of the nature of the world. Is the door still open? In one sense it certainly is. The Bible itself is an open door of revelation to God. Reading this passage gives us a glimpse of heaven. Is it to be taken literally? Is there an actual throne room standing at this moment as John recorded? Many would say yes. But if it was a symbolic vision, the truth is no less radiant. Grasp the feeling from reading the passage, the feeling of holy awe and submission. That's the most important take-away.

The study guide's author emphasizes the words “after this” twice in the paragraph, considering that it pointed to a continuous future history. The problem I have with this is the first time was John's indicating the next step in his vision. The second time gives way, not to a historical sequence, but to an eternal vision, leading me to believe the angel is saying the equivalent of “let me show you more.”

Why does John suddenly say he was in the spirit? Wasn't he in the spirit when he saw the open door and heard the angel? Perhaps it was part of the holy awe that transfixed him on viewing the throne. But the focus is NOT on the throne, but on the One seated on the throne. There is the inspiration of precious stones and a rainbow. I have no idea how a rainbow can look like an emerald.

224 lesser thrones. Scholars have more agreement here that in most of Revelation. Two groups of 12, the Old Testament tribes and the NT disciples. They are sharing the rule. How does that work. I have no clue. Perhaps it indicates that God does not forget to honor his faithful leaders.

Lightnings and thunder speak of God's power. The seven torches coordinate with the temple lampstands indicating His presense. Many believe the seven are another way of indicating the Holy Spirit.

The sea of glass has one interpretation that stands out to me. It separates us from the throne. God is the Wholly Other, there is none like Him. We may know Him, love Him, walk closer and closer with Him, but we shall never be His equal!

The four critters are Cherubim, or Kherubs. Obviously not baby angels, as the medieval painters thought. They are divine beasts with heads different from their bodies. Traditionally, each of these four heads represents on of the four gospels. If Revelation was written near 100 AD as most scholars believe, John could well be referring to the gospels here. There presence before the throne and constant praise would then demonstrate that the message of the gospels, the Gospel, comes straight from the heart of God and praises Him as that message is preached and taught.

LETTERS TO SEVEN CHURCHES

The Lord sends letters to the angel (probably pastor or other leader) of seven churches.

There actually were churches in each of the seven cities named. So the question arises: did John actually intend seven actual physical churches, or were they somehow symbolic. Some students have said the seven represent seven types of churches. Others have said that they represent seven ages of the church. I personally prefer seven actual churches, perhaps chosen to represent seven types of churches, that is with seven different types of problems.

The lesson Sunday covers the beginnings of all seven. That's good, because we need to keep in mind the churches as a group. The seven can represent all churches and remind us that we all go through different stages, in different orders, and each letter may refer to our congregation at some time or other.

Here are the seven churches by cities. Note we don't know whether these by now had buildings or were house churches or perhaps meeting in a rented hall. The letters would have been read out loud. All of these were located in what is now Western Turkey.

In 1:12-13 John saw Christ among the seven lampstands, the churches. In the midst of persecution they may well have asked where is God. The answer is He is right here among you. Christ is walking among His churches!

In the same way, repeatedly He says, “I know your works.” He is close. He sees the good and the bad. To five churches he mentions both. To only one does he have nothing good to say, and to one other everything He says is good.

Repeatedly at the end there is a promise of victory.

Ephesus – they are enduring, working, and discerning solid doctrine, BUT they have

lost their first love – preachers love this one for sermons!

Smyrna – is the good church, faithful under intense stress against the Synagogue of Satan! The challenge is to “Be faithful unto death!”

Pergamum – Satan's throne is here – possibly HQ of a Roman department of religion, dedicated to enforcing emperor worship The bad: two heresies some members hold.

Thyatira – a working church on the rise, but a “Jezebel” in their midst, seducing to either sexual sins, idolatry, or both.

Sardis – This church has a good reputation, but is dead. Christ calls them to wake up! Still, a few are faithful, and those who become faithful will join them.

Philadelphis – the church of great opportunity – an open door! A weak church, but the power of God behind them.

Laodicea – The preacher's favorite, the lukewarm church that makes Him want to vomit!

His counsel is to buy from Him refined gold, for He stands and knocks.

At the end of each letter, the Lord challenges those with ears to hear, to listen and follow.

Truths for individuals today:

Christ is among us.

If you feel alone or deserted, still He is with you.

The church is God's people designed to show the world He is with us.

Thus the steeples, and thus the mission to represent Him where we are.

Evaluate yourself by the qualities in the churches. Your strengths and sins.

Do you have an ear to listen?