From
LECTURE 1
The Beginning
A well-watered garden.
“IN THE BEGINNING.” There have been many beginnings in the history of men
and nations. To which event or period, do we refer in our use of the quotation,
“In the beginning”? Obviously as our theme is God’s Plan, our appeal is to the
Bible- to The Beginning, and development, presented and outlined
therein.
Whilst some profess to disbelieve, and therefore
reject, the Bible record, such rejection does not necessarily disprove the
account given in the Book of Books. Which, to many
people, is still a revelation from God to man.
No more satisfactory account of the formation, or creation, of man is to
be found than that which the Bible presents with a definiteness which commands
the attention of all men.
“At what epoch of
Creation did man make his appearance upon the earth? Hardly more than half a
century ago unlooked for discoveries shattered all the old systems of
chronology, and proved that man himself had part in the geological evolutions
of our globe. Flints and bones shaped
into axes, knives, needles, arrow heads, and spear heads; bones of huge animals
cleft lengthwise, so that the marrow might he extracted for nourishment; heaps
of shells and the debris of repasts; ashes, the evident remains of antediluvian
hearths; even pictures traced on shoulder bones and slate rocks, representing
animals, now extinct or seen only in places very distant from those they then
inhabited; finally, human remains found unquestionably in the deposits of the quarternary epoch, and traces of human industry, which seem
to be detected even in the tertiary strata, prove that man lived at a time when
our continents had neither the fauna, the flora, the climate, nor the shape
which they have today.”-Durny's General
History.
Interesting as this
quotation, from the historian, is- and hailed by some people as superior to the
Bible account- it, nevertheless, does not tell us when “man made his appearance
upon the earth.” Read then another quotation, from Maclear's
Old Testament History. “In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. With these simple words begins the History
contained in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, teaching us that the
world did not exist from all eternity, or, as some have thought, owe its origin
to chance, but was called into existence by the will of an Almighty Creator.”
Many people have
rejected the Bible account of “the beginning,” affirming that it does not agree
with, what are termed, scientific facts. The beginnings of the universe, the
creation of the earth and of man, the purpose for which they were created, and
their ultimate destiny are themes that have occupied the minds, and engaged the
energies, of men upon the controversial platform. Creation
stories have been submitted, amended and rescinded in the field of controversy;
whilst the simple, yet definite, statement of the Bible has been disregarded as
though unworthy of serious consideration. A notable writer and speaker once said, “Show
me a man who objects to the Bible, and I will show you a man who does not
understand the Bible.”- Thos. Williams.
Prejudice against, and ignorance of, the true interpretation of the
Scriptures, undoubtedly has much to do with the world- wide opposition to the
Bible. It would be well for those who
object to the claims of the Bible to consider this question: How is it that the
Bible, although circulated by the millions, is so little understood even by
those who profess to believe and accept its claims?
The many sects and
denominations extant, with their varied and opposing interpretations,
demonstrate the accuracy of the statement made in the above question. The
opponent often looks upon the claims of the Bible in the light of a divided
Christendom, and concludes that out of
In
1850 AD, Dr. John Thomas wrote as follows: “Revolving upon its own axis, and
describing an ample circuit through the boundless fields of space, is a planet
of the solar system bearing upon its surface a population of nearly a thousand
millions subject to sin, disease, and death.
This orb of the starry heavens shines with a glory similar to that of
its kindred spheres. Viewed from them, it is teen sparkling ‘like a diamond in
the sky’; and, with the rest of the heavens, declares the glory of God, and
shows forth the handy work of Him that did create it. This celestial orb, which
is a world or system of itself, is styled THE EARTH. It is the habitation of
races of animals that graze its fields, lurk in the forests, soar through its
atmosphere, and pass through the paths of its seas. At the head of all these is a Creature like
themselves, animal, sensual, and mortal.
He is called MAN. He has replenished the earth and subdued it, and
filled it with his renown. He has founded dominions, principalities, and
powers; he has built great cities, and vaunted himself in the works of his
hands, saying, ‘are not these by the might of my power, and for the honor of my
majesty’.”-Elpis Israel, p. 1.
Consider now the
opening words of the Bible, as we have them in the A.V. “In the beginning God
created the heaven and the earth. And
the earth was without form, and void, and darkness upon the face of the
deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
(Gen.1: 1-3). Another statement,
from the work of Dr. Thomas, is worthy of quotation: "The general account
of the work of the six days is contained in the first chapter of Genesis; while
in the second is presented, among other things, a more particular narrative of
the work of the sixth day in the formation of the first human pair. Let the reader peruse the history of the
creation as a revelation to himself as an inhabitant of the earth. It informs him of the order in which the
things narrated would have developed themselves to his view, had he been placed
on some projecting rock, the spectator of the events detailed. He must remember
this. The Mosaic account is not a revelation to the inhabitants of other orbs
remote from the earth of the formation of the boundless universe; but to man,
as a Constituent of the terrestrial System.
This will explain why light is said to have been created four days
before the sun, moon, and stars. To an
observer on the earth, this was the order of their appearance; and in
relation to him a primary creation, though absolutely pre-existent for
millions of ages before the Adamic Era.”- Elpis Israel, p8.
So we repeat the
simple, definite proclamation that has come down the ages, and which has
survived the onslaughts of critics and opponents: “In the beginning God
created.” Blind “chance”
fades away before the rising sun of creation’s morning, and we rest secure in
the acceptance of the Word of the Infinite, whilst we try to grasp the
finite. A thought provocative of further
comparison is to be found in the following:
"Gen.
1: 1. ‘created’; bara, to bring into existence, to concrete. Rendered, ‘made’, Psa. 89: 47; ‘make’,
Num. 16:30; ‘have been done,’ Ex. 34:10; ‘and cut down.’
Josh.
“Originally Elohim brought into existence the heavens and the earth.
And the earth became wasteness and voidness and darkness upon the face of the deep and a
spirit of Elohim hovering upon the face of the
waters, and Elohim said, Let Light be!
And light was.”
Verse 16. ‘Made’; (not bara, ‘brought into existence,’ but) asah- to
do, a word having as wide a use as our own ‘do’ has. Elohim
made it so that the ‘two great lights’ previously existing should become
the rule for day and night to the earth’s coming inhabitants.”-The
Investigator, 1882, p. 13.
Consider now the Bible
Claim Concerning “the heavens and the earth.” We read:
“Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s,
thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.” (Duet. 10: 14)
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened; or who laid the corner stone thereof; when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38: 4).
“Bless
the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest
thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest
out the heavens like a curtain; who layeth the beams
of his chambers in the waters; who maketh the clouds
his chariots; who walketh upon the wings of
the wind; who maketh his angels Spirits; his
ministers a flaming fire; who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should
not be removed forever.” (Psa. 104: 1-5).
“But our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” (Ps. 115: 3, 15, 16).
“When
I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which
thou has ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful
of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him to have dominion over the
works of thy hands.” (Psa. 8: 3-6).
The
prophet asks, “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and
meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a
measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who
hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor hath taught him?
With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and
taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him in the way of understanding? Behold, the
nations are as a drop of the bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the
balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very
little thing.” (Isa. 40: 12-15).
“To
whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your
eyes on high, and behold who hath created these, that bringeth
out their host by number; he calleth them all by
names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. Hast thou not known? hast
thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of
the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.” (verses 25, 26, 28).
But
that is not all. Hearken again, “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there
is no God beside me: I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace and
create evil; I the LORD do all these. I have made the earth and created man
upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens,
and all their host have I commanded. For
thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God
himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he formed it
to be inhabited; I am the LORD: and there is none else. I declare things that
are right.” (Isa. 45: 7, 12,
18, 19).
“The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth
his handywork.” (Psa. 19:
1).
Is it any wonder that the Psalmist exclaimed, “O LORD, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.” (Psa. 104: 24)?
AN early development of God’s Plan, “in the beginning,”
is to be noted in one of the quotations from the prophets, a phrase of The Plan
with which we are now particularly interested. “For thus saith
the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made
it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, HE FORMED IT TO BE
INHABITED: I am the LORD.”
Fresh from the hands
of the Creator we see man- “formed,”
“created”- presented to us in the simple language of Genesis. “So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them.” (Gen. 1: 27). “And the LORD God formed man of
the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2: 7).
Theories abound on
every hand concerning the origin, nature and destiny of Man, speculations
originating in the minds of men- both “religious” and “secular.” Yet, whether
these theories profess to be based upon the Scripture record,
or in opposition thereto, they are contrary to- and out of harmony with- the
Divine record. Hence, even the supposed,
or professed, acceptance of the Bible account unfortunately interferes with the
reception and acceptance of the true creation story. “Created in the image of God” (Elohim) speaks to us of the form of that which was
created. There is nothing in the term
“image” which suggests, or requires, equality of nature. The “man” was a formation “of the dust.” This basis did not guarantee continuity of
life. The “man” was formed before the
“man” was alive. After his formation he
became “a living soul.” This was accomplished
by the application of something not previously mentioned, or given, in the work
of formation. For, as we have read, God
“breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”; and in consequence of its
operation upon the “man,” or dust-formation, he became- what he was not
until then- “a living soul.”
Much misunderstanding
concerning the Bible Record, and the nature of man, arises from the fact that
theories which conflict with the Truth are prevalent in the world; held and
advanced by many people in the various sects and denominations of the religious
world. Were it not for such theories,
which for centuries have held captive the minds of men, the simple truth of the
Bible account could more readily be discerned and received. Let me emphasize this thought- that whatever
entered into the constitution of “the man,” before he was made alive by the
breath of life, was that which became the “living soul.”
The Bible does not teach here, or elsewhere, that a “soul”- a separate entity
from the body, and immortal by nature was put into the body. Dr. Young's Literal Translation of the
Bible gives a different rendering of the verse, under consideration, as
follows: “And Jehovah God formed the
man-dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils breath of life, and the
man becometh a living creature.” If you ask why one
translation gives “soul,” and the other “creature,” the answer is that the
latter more accurately describes the meaning of the term so translated. Whilst
“soul” is the usual translation in the A. V. there are other texts in which
the same word is translated “creature.” Reference to a concordance will
demonstrate this to be so. The following
quotation, from Notes in The Emphatic Diaglott, is
worthy of consideration.
“SOUL.
The Hebrew word, nephesh, of the O. T.
occurs about 700 times, and is rendered soul 471 times; life and living, about
150 times; and the same word is also rendered a man, a person, self, they,
me, him, anyone, breath, heart, mind, appetite, the body (dead or alive), lust,
creature, and even a beast; for it is 28 times applied to beasts,
and to every creeping thing.”
Dr.
Young, in his Analytical Concordance, gives a list of words translated
from Nephesh, in which we have, “any,
appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, dead (body), desire, ghost, heart,
life, lust, man, mine, one, own, person, pleasure, self, soul, thing, will.”
Dr. Young gives "Breathing creature,” as the meaning of nephesh: also "animal soul."
From
the 30 times in which nephesh is
rendered “person” let us take one illustration. “Whoso killeth
any person.” (Num. 35: 30). As
this “person” is nephesh, the same as
“a living soul” is nephesh, the nature
of the soul must be the same as that of the person. Any “person” who can be killed, obviously
cannot be immortal!
We
must now pass on from this phase of our subject, dismissing it for the present-
with the words of Paul, “There is a natural body.” “And so it is written, the
first man Adam was made a living soul.” “The first man is of the earth, earthy
. . . As is the earthy, such are they also that are
earthy.” (I Cor. 15: 44-48).
CHAOS HAD REIGNED: for how long we are not informed. We are not told
why the earth was “without form, and void” of life. We may speculate and make
deductions, for such is the way of the human mind, but we find little in the
record upon which to build. The Bible Message has to do with the world as we
now know it; what we may term The Adamic Era. Its
testimony does not go before this period. It shows there was a “before,” and
speaks of a “beyond,” but its revelation is confined to the period between. It
confines itself with a message to the sons of men; God’s dealing with the Adamic Race. This is The Purpose of God with man on
the earth. And this brings us once again to the word of God from Isaiah; “God
formed the earth, not in vain, but to be inhabited.”
Man having been
created, we are next informed that, “the LORD God planted a garden eastward in
Josephus states: “Now the garden was watered by one river,
which ran round about the whole earth, and was parted into four parts. And Phison, which
denotes a multitude, running into
“We read in Gen. 2: 10, 14, that of the
‘four heads’ of the river of Paradise, one was called Phrat
and one Hiddekel, and that the
latter goes to the east of Assyria. The
former is still called by those who live in the neighborhood EI-Frat, ‘the
good’ or ‘abounding stream.’ The Greeks called it Euphrates, but the Hebrews
very often applied to it the title of ‘the river,’ ‘the great river,’ in
distinction perhaps to the less important streams of their own country (1
Kings 4: 21; Josh. 24: 2; Zech. 9: 10). From the manner in which the
Euphrates and Hiddekel or Tigris are mentioned
together in Gen. 2: 14, many ancient writers- and some even of not very distant
date- supposed that the two rivers are derived from the same source; but the
passage is to be explained in a different sense from this, at any rate as
regards the two rivers in their present condition . . . first of the Euphrates,
which has its source, or rather sources, in the high lands of Armenia . . . At
a place called Domlu, about 25 miles N. N. E. from Erzeroum, is found the stream called Kara-Su (‘black
river’), but also called Frat, and thus regarded, though perhaps erroneously,
as the true head-stream of the river. At
a point about 130 miles E. S. E. of Erzeroum is a
small town called Diyadin, lying on the north side
near the foot of a mountain range called Ala-Tagh,
some 20 or 30 miles from Mount
Ararat. Not far from the Kara-Su
mentioned above, is the source of the other headstream, regarded in the time
of Xenophon as the true
“The river
“The
Garden of Eden! It is from this
that the two great rivers, whose courses we have described, are said to
proceed; and not only they, but two others, also derived from the same origin, the
Pison and the Gihon
(Gen.2:10-14). We remark in passing that the word ‘paradise,’ by which
the Septuagint translation expresses the word which we render ‘garden,’ is not
found in our version of the Old Testament. What does the Book of Genesis tell
us about its situation? That God planted, i.e. placed, and also furnished- a
garden in Eden, on the east side; and further, that ‘a river went out of Eden
to water the garden’; and that from that place it was divided, and ‘became into
four heads’ (2: 10). It then names the river-heads, and two countries, Havilah and
As
We cannot, however,
depend upon dictionaries to elucidate Bible themes which are behind, or
embodied in, Bible words. “Heaven, as a place for souls after death” is a
popular doctrine, but is it declared to be so in the Bible? If
The writer in Bible
Educator, from whose articles on Eastern Geography of the Bible I
have already quoted, says of Paradise “It is a word of Persian
origin, meaning a park or garden- i.e., a space enclosed either for pleasure or
profit” (Rev. H. W. Phillcott, M.A.).
“Concerning
When therefore, we
think of
I
think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree that
looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray.
Poems are made by fools
like me
But only God can make a tree.
Joyce Kilmer
And so we read, “Out of the
ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and
good for food.” (Gen. 2: 9). Two outstanding trees arrest our
attention. They are represented to us in the garden scene on the chart, nearby
the illustration of the mountainous region out from which flow the
Passing on to the
third chapter of Genesis we have the record of,
THE SUBTILITY
of the serpent is brought to bear upon the mind of the woman. A question; a
suggestion; false reasoning and a lie were all part of this subtlety. “Hath God
said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
The restriction of the Edenic Law was remembered, for
the woman said, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst o£ the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye
die.” Whereupon came the lie- the serpent’s lie, “Ye shall not surely die.”
Next: the false reasoning. Is it not a
tree of knowledge? Therefore, “When ye eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” There was truth in the
statement, but it was intentionally misapplied. The woman was lured thereby.
The Law of Eden was temporarily forgotten. Influenced by what the mind said in
anticipation the creature became more effective for the moment than the
Creator. How often when we “see” something particularly appealing,
or alluring, other things (perhaps more enduring and determining) are
forgotten!
“When the woman saw that the tree was good
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to
make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also
unto her husband with her and he did eat.” Thereby the Law of God in
“And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
And
the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that
thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent
beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD
God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt
thou eat all the days of thy life: And I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed:
it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
heel.
Unto the woman he
said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to
thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
And unto Adam he said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the
tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt
not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also
and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt
eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen. 3: 9-19.)
Lasting effects and
world-wide results were the outcome of heaven’s condemnation upon the sinners.
The sentence being passed, we are told, “The LORD God said, Behold, the man is
become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his
hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore
the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from
whence he was taken.”
Thus were the sinners
cast out of Eden- out of “paradise”- out from the place of delight, favor, and
communion with God, into the outer world to experience therein the loss of
those blessings which were to have been theirs as long as they continued to
walk with God, and to enjoy that felicity which cometh only to those who truly
are in fellowship with God.
To prevent their return “at the East of the garden
of Eden” were placed “Cherubims, and a flaming sword
which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
ONE important factor, having been passed by without
comment and explanation, now requires attention. In Genesis 3:21, we read,
“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and
clothed them.” This statement must be compared, and contrasted, with verse 7,
where we read concerning Adam and Eve, “they knew that they were naked: and
they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” The knowledge of
human nakedness, with the desire to cover the same, came after transgression,
when, as we are told, “the eyes of them both were opened.” The human
contrivance was rejected and discarded by God, for though it seemed all that
was necessary “for a covering,” it was an early illustration of what was
afterward definitely stated. “There is a way which seemeth
right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of
death.” (Prov. 14: 12). That God rejected
their contrivance is manifest, being made known by the fact that He provided
them with another covering, altogether different from that of their own
devising. To profit by this change they, and we in our own time, must discern
the principle underlying the necessity for the same. That
their own device was faulty, and more required, is obvious even though not
stated in this manner. Would there have been such a change if the
circumstances had not called for it? Whilst not stated in detail the reason for
the change can, and must, be deduced from that which is given in the record.
The significance of the coats of skins- an element entirely lacking in the fig
leaf garment- most probably gives the clue.
To quote one able
expositor of Bible doctrine: “The intention of God to remove sin from the world
was made known at a very early stage in the disobedient career of Adam and Eve.
Before they were turned out of the garden, the LORD God addressed to the
serpent the following words: ‘I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Gen. 3: 15). To modern
eyes this may seem a very indefinite promise of a Divine plan for removing sin
and its consequent penalty of death. Nevertheless, it contains the germ of the
scheme of salvation more fully elaborated in subsequent revelation. Whether it
was or was not accompanied by further details omitted from the inspired
narrative, we may rest assured that it contained sufficient to convey to the
minds of Adam and Eve the prospects of a future deliverance from the effects of
their transgression. Having succumbed to temptation at the instigation of the
serpent, they had, for the time being, come under its power. The promise that
the seed of woman should bruise the serpent's head, the most vital part of all
organic creatures, would lead them to look forward to a time when one of their
descendants, notwithstanding the infliction of a temporary wound in the heel at
the hands of the seed of serpent, would relieve them from its influence and the
attendant evils. Interpreted in the light of subsequent events and predictions,
it teaches that the Savior of mankind would suffer death on account of sin, at
the hands of wicked men; but that he would be subjected to it only for a short
time, then overcome it, and afterwards remove all traces of sin from the
earth.”
“But how was this
intention, and lesson, submitted to the sinners? Not by oracular information only; for, ‘The
LORD God made coats of skins, and clothed them’ (Gen. 3: 21), an act
necessitating the slaying of animals, or shedding of blood; from which incident
may be learned this important, but much neglected, lesson- that it is utterly
useless for man to patch together garments of his own device for the purpose of
covering or removing his guilt. No system of religion can give a ‘garment of
salvation,’ but that which has been instituted by the Divine Being himself”-
J. J. Andrew, in, Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified. pp. 62-64.
“The man is become as
one of us,” said the Lord God. In what sense? To know
good and evil! We may well inquire, Had the Lord God
also gone through this experience? Such a thought is entirely out of harmony
with our understanding of the character of the Almighty, the Holy One of
Israel. But here in the Book of Genesis we read of “us,” a plurality. What the
Bible reveals and teaches concerning God will be dealt with in another Lecture.
Here we can but briefly state that the “us” is referable, not to the Eternal
One, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but to the angels of God, of
whom we read:
“Bless the Lord, ye
his angels, that excel in strength, that do his
commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word…. Ye ministers of his, that do his, pleasure.” (Psa. 103: 20, 21).
“O Lord my God, thou art very great; who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire;
who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should
not be removed for ever.” (Psa. 104: 1-5).
It is therefore
permissible to conclude that the angels had passed through an experience “to
know good and evil,” and had, fortunately, passed the test satisfactorily,
even though others may have perished in the catastrophe that engulfed the
world, and reduced it to the chaotic state in which we find it introduced to us
in opening of the Bible.
IN REVIEWING the circumstances outlined in the foregoing comments
certain questions might well be asked: Why was a sacrifice necessary? How can
sacrifice “take away sin?” And how may we benefit thereby?
Let us go back to
Alienation from God
was thus the first “effect” of the condemnation “passed,” there and then, “upon
all men;” for this is the application given to the sentence by Paul, when he
wrote: “As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”- not actually, but by
reason of being “in him” (Adam, see margin) when he transgressed the Edenic Law. Man would continue “alienated from God” as long
as he lived, unless God provided a covering for sin, under which he could
return to favor if he complied with whatever requirements were stipulated; but,
however long he might live, the sentence passed went beyond “alienation,” for
it was unto “death.” It is essential that these two phases of the condemnation
be kept in mind; otherwise, there will be difficulty in interpreting and
understanding much that is later “written for our learning.”
The sentence passed,
“dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,”
upon the sinner became a physical law of his being- corruption was set in
operation, a slow process to end in death; and this physical “effect” was to be
transmitted to all his posterity. The thought of sin, too, having conceived in
his mind and brought forth fruit, became a part of his nature, to be passed
through all of Adam's race, so that each one would be
“born in sin and shapen in iniquity.” This is in
harmony with the question, given and answered, “Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? Not one!” (Job 14:4).
As we have already
seen from Romans
What, then, is the
natural condition of every child born under this constitution of sin, and
dominion of death? Can it be any other than that which is stated by Paul? Hear
his words: “Remember that we being in time past Gentiles in the flesh…. That at
that time we were without Christ, being aliens from the
THE NATURE OF MAN AND THE REALITY OF DEATH
“AND ALL the days
that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.” (Gen. 5:5).
This is illustrated on our chart. Somber, yet true, is the pictorial
representation. Appealing to all, “high and low, rich and poor together,” it
cries aloud, “What man is he that liveth, and shall
not see death?” Stand, my friends, at the brink of the grave, look into its
depths when those we have loved, and lost, have been buried in the tomb, and
learn its lesson! Nearby we have another feature that must not be overlooked.
We read of it in the quotation from Genesis 3. It is part of the sentence
pronounced. “Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it
bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of
the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.” (Verses 17-19).
Is the ground cursed
today? Ask the man who tills it. Do thorns and thistles grow in abundance, and that without cultivation? Is bread provided
without labor, or does man obtain it by the sweat of his brow? From, this
thistle (on the chart) goes forth a line, the end of which cannot be seen in
Section One; it runs to the full extent of Section Two, where it finds a place
on the Cross, which will be demonstrated in due time. Here we can but
emphasize the various items of the sentence passed upon the sinner, and the
ground- for his sake. Returning to the quotation from Genesis
5:5, where we read “and he died.” Do you, my friends, believe it? Do
you wonder why I ask this question? Have
you not heard it said, “There is no death?” Of course that is not in the Bible,
but many accept it as though it was. “And he died.” What is it to “die?” Did
Adam live 930 years, and then continue to live? Was continuance in life,
under any condition whatsoever, the sentence pronounced upon the sinner?
WHAT IS DEATH? Cruden
says, “The separation of the soul from the body.” But we have seen from the
Scriptures, that the soul is the body. The idea of
separation is far better expressed in the language of the Bible. There we
read, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son
of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth
forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very
day his thoughts perish.” (Psa. 146: 3,4). Here is separation of a vital character. Can any
of the animal creation live without breath? In creation the breath of life was
blown into the nostrils; in the day of death man ceases to breathe. Hence, with
the cessation of the life energy, imparted by the breath of life, the body,
which under its influence is alive, becomes inanimate. And this is death. This
is strictly in accord with the sentence passed upon Adam. “Cursed is the ground
for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the
days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and
thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of
thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto
the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust
thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
The Nature of Man; The Reality of Death, and the cessation of life when death
comes, are subjects that form part of
“the first principles” of the Divine Plan in regard to the salvation which is
promised. The following scriptures are a demonstration.
“Abraham answered and
said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but
dust and ashes.” (Gen. 18: 27.)
“Shall mortal man be
more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker? How much less them
that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in
the dust.” (Job 4: 17,19).
“Thou hast made me as
the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?” (Job 10: 9).
“Man that is born of a
woman is of few days, and full of trouble. Man dieth,
and wasteth away; yea, man giveth
up the ghost, and where is he?” (Job 14: 1, 10).
“Nevertheless man
being in honour abideth
not; he is like the beasts that perish. Like sheep they are laid in the grave;
death shall feed on them. When he dieth he shall
carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him. Though while he
lived he blessed his soul; he shall go to the generation of his fathers; they
shall never see light. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not is like the beasts that perish.” (Psa. 49: 12, 20).
“What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth?” (Psa. 30: 9)
“For he remembereth that
they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and
cometh not again.” (Psa. 78: 39).
“Remember how short my
time is; Wherefore has thou made all men in vain? What
man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall
he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?” (Psa.
89: 47).
“Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest,
Return, ye children of men. All our days are passed away in thy wrath; we spend
our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years
and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength, labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off,
and we fly away.” (Psa. 90: 3,9,10).
“Thou takest away their breath, they
die, and return to their dust.” (Psa. 104: 29).
“As the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea,
they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast; for
all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust
again.” (Eccl. 3: 19, 20).
“For the living know
that they shall die; but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any
more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their
hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion
for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work,
nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” (Eccl. 9: 5-10).
“That which is born of
the flesh is flesh; He that is of the earth is earthly,
and speaketh of the earth.” (John
3: 6, 31).
“As the flower of the
grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen
with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and
the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the
fashion of it perisheth; so also shall the rich man
fade away in his ways.” (James 1: 10, 11).
“For all flesh is as
grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth
away.” (1 Pet. 1: 24).
“In
Adam all die.” (1 Cor. 15: 22).
“In death there is no
remembrance of Thee; in the grave, who shall give Thee thanks?” (Psa. 6: 5).
“Let me freely speak
unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead
and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.” (Acts
“For David, after he
had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid
unto his fathers, and saw corruption; But he whom God raised again, saw no
corruption.” (Acts
These scriptures, with
many others, clearly teach that MAN IS MORTAL; that he lives by the breath of
life, by the constant process of inhalation and exhalation, which continues
until “the day of death;” when “no man hath power over the spirit to retain the
spirit.” (Eccles. 8: 8). Therefore when “his breath goeth
forth, he returneth to his earth;” and ceases to
be. Consequently unless God provides a way of escape, man- having died-
will remain “in the land of forgetfulness” (Psa. 58:
12), and never again see the light of day.
Death having been
imposed on man, as a punishment for sin, is not “a friend” as some have
foolishly declared. Death is a foe. Even as Paul teaches, “The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (l Cor. 15: 26). Death is a very stern reality- the
very opposite of life. We ask again, Why do men die?
And some may answer, Because man is by nature mortal,
a dying creature! That is truly the physical reason, yet we must realize the
prior cause. Death is “an effect,” which came by reason of “a cause.” The
apostle says, “By man came death.” If death came “by
man” it obviously was not a part of the man when created “very good.” It “came”
to him after he was created and placed in the garden. And from that day until
now it has remained in man, both young and old. Therefore the apostle
continues, “In Adam all die.” Every child born into the world, of the Adamic family, is “in Adam” by birth and heir to all
that Adam could bestow upon them. What is the “cause” of this extensive
“effect” upon the sons of men? Hear Paul yet again: “The sting of death is sin.” (I Cor. 15: 21-22, 56).
This principle is further elaborated in another Epistle “Sin hath
reigned unto death.” To “reign” signifies the controlling influence, or holding
supreme power. And SIN hath reigned over
mankind for 6,000 years, sending generation after generation back to the dust
from whence they came, and will hold them there unless God opens up a way of
escape.
Now since the Plan of
God involves salvation, let me here say that “the way” will only provide an
escape for those who come under the redeeming influence thereof. The logic of
Paul's argument is very appealing. “For if through the offence of one many be
dead.” “The judgment was by one to condemnation.” “If by one
man's offence death reigned by one.” “By the offence of one judgment
came upon all men to condemnation.” “By one man's disobedience many were made
sinners.” “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin” (Rom.
EVE
Looking again at the
chart we note that Eve is presented at the beginning of a line which is drawn
the full extent of sections one and two.
Note also that the line is broken and forms a second line that leads us
to Abram, then to David, after which it rejoins the main line. For the present
we must stay at the beginning of the line.
Under the name “Eve” we have the scripture Gen. 3:15, to which we direct
your attention. God said to the serpent,
“I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise
his heel.” Long afterwards another
declaration was made by an inspired Apostle, which has a direct bearing upon
Gen. 3:15, and is connected therewith.
“For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the
transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing.” (1 Tim. 2:
13-15). Part of the condemnation
upon the woman was “in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children;” and this has continued until now.
Paul’s comment, therefore, does not refer to “labor and travail,” from
which woman is not saved. If we
compare the A.V. with the R.V. and Dr. Young’s translation we find the thought
presented is rather, “she will be saved through the child-bearing.” The connection is with the “seed of the
woman”, who was destined to bruise the serpent in the head. And consequently a
promise, and prophecy, of One who was to come; who- in
God’s way and time should take away sin.
In Gen. 3:15, we have
the first promise of the Savior. In that
scripture we have also the hope of the gospel. For if ever there was a time
when a gospel of hope and salvation was needed surely it was when “sin entered
the world and death by sin.” If a gospel
had not been introduced, and man had continued to live under the cloud of sin,
with the sentence of death over, and upon, him; with children born under the
same condemnation, bearing in their bodies the sinister effects thereof all
their days, with nothing but death as the end for them- what a sad, hopeless
state life would have been! “As a tale that is told.”
One generation passing away, and another taking its place- but all, as
Paul says, “dying off.” All because “sin reigned,” and
mankind “having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph.
But this was not the
will and purpose of God, who created the earth and “formed it to be
inhabited.” God must therefore introduce
a new law whereby some, at least, of those born under the condemnation might
escape from the final effect of the same; this must be upon a principle of
obedience to the new law, by reason of which those so responding might be
“justified from Sin;” otherwise they must all remain victims of that broken
law- servants of sin unto death!
God therefore gave a
promise in which was the germ of life, and a hope of
better things to come. We find a
reference to it, later, in the words:
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you, and exhort you that
ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once (for all) delivered
unto the saints.” (Jude 3) We also find it in the opening words of the beloved
apostle, in his record of The Gospel:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God.” (John 1: 1). The “Word” was the declaration of the plan and
purpose of God regarding the salvation that he alone could provide. “In it” truly “was life,”
which was to be the “light of men.”
But think of the price at which “the life” was to be obtained! “That God might be just, and the justifier of
him which believeth,” as Paul expresses it in Rom.
So we follow the line,
from the first section to the end of 4,000 years, until we reach the Cross- Son
of man and Son of God- and thereby appreciate the concluding words of Paul
when he says "of him which believeth in Jesus."
WE now come
to Abel, of whom we cannot speak without
remembering his brother. Cain and
Abel were diverse in character, aim and purpose. They represent the two seeds,
which were to be developed, as the Adamic race grew
and extended over the earth. As long as
the Adamic dispensation continued there would he
perpetual warfare between the two classes represented in, and by, Cain and
Abel. The one should be recognized as
the serpent’s seed, for “they have gone in the way of Cain.” (Jude 11). Jesus met with, and identified, some of
this class when He said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of
your father ye will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning and abode not in the Truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of
his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe
me not” (John
A MAN THE YAHWEH
THE two brothers were of diverse tastes and temperaments;
they followed different vocations, each good and necessary in regard to the
daily requirements of family life. The
record is simple, clear and suggestive:
“Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that
Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he
also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his
offering. But unto Cain and to his offering he had no respect.” (Gen. 4: 2-5). Long
afterward an inspired penman, writing of Faith, commenced his list of ancient
worthies by saying, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying
of his gifts; and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”
(Heb. 11: 4). And then,
connecting this early part of Section One, with the latter part of Section Two
of the Chart, we hear Paul saying, “And to Jesus the Mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh
better things than that of Abel.” (Heb. 12: 24).
It may be asked, Why
was sacrifice necessary? What was its
import? And what made one sacrifice more
acceptable than the other? There can be
no doubt that instructions had been given to Adam and his family concerning the
law of sacrifices. That the details are
not given to us matters not. The Bible
presents facts, and these are expected to be accepted as such. Details of every transaction in the beginning
and development of God’s purpose with man on the earth could not be given in a
volume of Scriptures, such as we possess.
Furthermore, these are not necessary in out day. We have sufficient in our Bible to direct us
in the Way of Life, which is the real purpose of the Revelation, together with a recognition of the Majesty of God, who is able to perform
all that He has promised. Much information can be obtained by interpretation,
deduction, and comparison of Scripture with Scripture. “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing;
but the honor of kings to search out a matter.” (Prov.
25: 2). If we are not interested
to “search the scriptures,” what right have we to
expect to participate in the glory yet to be revealed?
Abel was a “keeper of
sheep,” and as such a type of Him who was to be revealed 4,000 years later;
who, when He came, testified, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John
In confirmation of the
foregoing we have the following extract from The Ministry of The
Prophets. “Having sinned, Adam and
Eve took counsel between themselves and covered their nakedness with a device
of fig-leaves. But God rejected this, and substituted ‘coats of skins,’ which,
necessitating the slaying of animals for their provision, brought a
representation of death before them as the wages of sin, and the necessary
portion of the ‘Counsellor,’ who, as the ‘seed of
woman,’ should afterwards bruise the serpent’s head, and take away sin and
death from the earth. Thenceforward the
counsel of God in its direction of human affairs towards the goal of His
purpose, as the first of its first principles kept this fact to the front: that
‘the wage’s of sin is death,’ and that according to divine appointment ‘without
shedding of blood there is no remission,’ no effectual covering for Sin apart
from the recognition of God’s insulted majesty, and the humblest submission to
His merciful provisions for reinstatement.
In harmony with these reflections is the history of the accepted
offering of Abel (‘the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof’); and the
rejected offering of Cain (‘the fruit of the ground’). The
comment of Paul in Heb. 11 is that Abel’s was ‘by faith . . a more
excellent sacrifice’ than that of Cain, whose faith (or lack of it; A.H.) did
not hold of God’s promise and instruction.”
“We look back. We see Adam and Eve, our first parents, at
perfect peace with God in a fruitful garden, in unclouded innocence, delighting
before God in the dominion He had given them over the creation of His hand. We see sin enter, and all is changed. Fear, shame, suffering and death are
introduced, and to this day continue to be the natural portion of the
race. God 'put enmity’ in the beginning
between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman; a sentence that
finds illustration in the enmity existing between Jesus and the generation of
vipers that withstood him and at last compassed his death. The earliest illustration recorded in Genesis
is the murder of Abel by Cain. The
acceptance of Abel’s offering by God, coupled with the rejection of his own,
stirred Cain’s resentment, and he slew him. And ‘wherefore slew he him?’ asks
John, ‘Because his own works were evil and his brother’s righteous.’ Enmity,
then, between the righteous and the wicked is the express and unalterable
appointment of God.” pp
155, 174.
The secret of the
superiority of one sacrifice over that of the other is given in the statement,
already quoted, from Heb. 11, “A more
excellent sacrifice than Cain;” or a sacrifice exceeding that of Cain; yet again,
“a sacrifice more than Cain.” To offer
“the fruit of the ground” as a thank-offering under favorable conditions, and
in the right spirit, would not be out of place; it might be considered natural
to “a tiller of the ground.” But if in
so doing a requirement, which had been made known, was ignored and neglected
there is every reason why “the Lord had not respect” unto such an
offering. Enlightenment is given in the
words addressed to Cain, “Why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt
thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth
(or croucheth) at the door.” (Gen. 4: 6, 7). Compare this with Dr. Young’s
translation: “Is there not, if thou
doest well, acceptance? And if thou doest not well, at the opening a sin-offering
is crouching, and unto thee its desire, and thou rulest
over it.”
WHY WAS SACRIFICE
NECESSARY? “The necessity for either a
priest or a sacrifice in any community is evidence of the existence of
sin. Previous to the introduction of sin
into the World, neither the one nor the other was to be found. Adam and Eve, as long as they continued
obedient to the Edenic law, were able to commune with
their Maker without fear or shame. But
when they transgressed, they were no longer able to hold up their heads as one
whose ‘conscience is void of offence toward God’.” Concerning the more excellent sacrifice of
Abel, and God’s rejection of the other, this writer continues, “The explanation
of this is partly to be found in the fact that Abel’s offering, being a lamb,
contained blood, which, on the life of the animal being taken away, would be
poured out; whereas Cain’s offering had no blood in it. Abel recognized the principle that ‘without
shedding of blood is no remission’ of sin (Heb.
What made one
sacrifice more acceptable than the other?
The answer has already been
given in what has been advanced upon this matter. In a few words- for any sacrifice to be
acceptable to God it must have been offered in faith; some recognition must be
shown that sacrifice, ordained by God, was with a view to man’s benefit, and
the latter could only be conferred when the offerer
realized that those sacrifices were but typical of One who was to come, and
that through Him, and not the animal sacrifices, God’s Plan would be
accomplished.
When Cain was born we
are told that Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” (Gen. 4: 1). Eve had not forgotten the promise made
concerning the seed of the woman, and probably thought this child was the
“seed” referred to. Subsequent events showed this was not so.
Various renderings
have been given of the verse in question.
“I have gotten a man with (the help of) the Lord,” R. V. “I have gotten the man, a Yahweh, from the
Lord:” “A man, even Yahweh:” "eth
Yahweh- (the) He-will-Become.” The preposition ‘from’
being omitted, as not being in the original. The Name Yahweh is a prophetic term;
involved in it is the doctrine of the Name of Salvation, which will be
elaborated later.
SETH
AT the birth of Seth, as explanatory of the name given,
Eve said, “For God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain
slew.” In this statement there is a recognition of the truth, and the same is hereby
emphasized, that the way of the Lord was within restricted lines. The ways of the two seeds were diverging
further apart. We therefore find that the record proceeds, “And to Seth, to him
also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos:
then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.” (Gen. 4: 25, 26). The marginal rendering for the last
clause gives another suggestion: “then began men to call themselves
by the name of the Lord.” Another rendering is given by Dr. Young. “Then a
beginning was made of preaching in the name of Jehovah.” But here again we must leave this for a later
demonstration; noting, however, that we have a connecting line from Enos to the Exodus, associated with which we have the
MEMORIAL NAME, given in the A. V. as “I AM THAT I AM” (Ex. 3: 14), which
line then joins the main line of the woman’s seed.
“AND it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the
face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,” (Gen. 6: 1), they did what they have
continued to do, “they took them wives of all which they chose.” The co-mingling was of the “Sons of God” and
“daughters of men.” There had been a
development throughout these
“generations” of the two seeds. Not all
who had lived upon the face of the earth had followed the way of
righteousness. To the “preaching in the
name of Jehovah” all did not respond.
Those who did so were thereby constituted “sons and daughters of God;”
whilst others who rejected the Word were merely “sons and daughters of
men.” They took wives of all
which they chose! This, irrespective of all that was involved in the preaching
of the Word. This simple record,
interpreted in the light of subsequent revelation, both in the Old Testament
and the New, shows unmistakably the evil associated with mixed marriages. Evil
became rampant in the earth. “And God saw that the wicked-ness of man was great
in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually.” Is it any wonder that
“it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at
his heart?” Arising from these
conditions “the Lord said: I will
destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.” But there was one man who pleased God. Noah, “a preacher of righteousness,” (2 Pet.
2: 5), instructed by God, warned the people; but then, as now, the
multitude would not hearken. So “the flood came, and took them all away.” (Matt. 24: 39). It was then that God
"spared not the old world." (2 Pet. 2: 5). And “the world that then
was, being overflowed with water, perished.” (2 Pet. 3:6). Yet not “all,” in
the strictly literal sense, “perished.” This I say because many people say
that “all” always means “all” without exception, and do not allow
circumstances, and other testimonies, to illustrate the true application.
Such contention is the
outcome of desire, and determination, on their part to enforce the acceptation
of their own belief and interpretation, which can only be done at the expense
of disregarding other definite Scriptures.
And so it came to pass, although “the flood came, and destroyed them
all.” (Luke
As with other items of
the Bible Story the record of the Flood has not escaped criticism from those
who, denying the divinity of the Scriptures, present the traditions of men in
place thereof. Our present task is to
travel the Highway of Truth, and we cannot therefore step aside to wander in
all the bypaths of error. The record of the Flood is endorsed in the New
Testament, and hence we cannot reject the one and hold to the other. About 76 years ago considerable
interest was aroused in consequence of the discovery of an account of the flood
amongst the sculptured slabs brought from
Ten years later
another sensation was caused by the reported “Discovery of Noah’s
The Evening News,
AFTER THE FLOOD
IN due time the waters of the Flood subsided, and the
The Lord was well pleased with this act of
Noah, and the manifestation of faith, which inspired it. The Lord, therefore, gave His Word: “While
the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold
and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Furthermore,
“God spake unto Noah, and his sons with him, saying,
And I, behold, I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you . . . neither shall all
flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood, neither shall there any
more be a flood to destroy the earth.” To emphasize this, “for perpetual
generations; I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a
covenant between me and the earth . . .
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember
the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh
that is upon the earth. And God said
unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between
me and all flesh that is upon the earth.” (Gen. 9).
The re-peopling of the
earth, by the family of Noah, went on apace, of which we read, “The whole earth
was of one language, and of one speech.”
Onward, To the East, seemed to be their plan,
seeking, as men have done ever since, a resting-place for the soles of their
feet. “And it came to pass, as they
journeyed eastward, that they found a plain in the
But all this was known
unto the Lord, from whom nothing is hid; perceiving their purpose God was able
to effectively check them in their endeavors. Progress among the people was
dependent upon their co-operation. So
God spoilt their plan by interfering with their co-operation. For there God confounded
their language, “that they may not understand one anothers
speech.” And the next step was equally
effective, “So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all
the earth; and they left off to build the city.
Therefore is the name of it called
The
“WE HAVE AN ALTAR”
DURING our journey down the stream of time we have noticed
two events that called forth the building of an altar, and the offering of
sacrifices. The altar, like the sacrifices, was not without significance. More was elaborated under the Mosaic
constitution, with which we cannot now deal.
Many things “in the beginning” pointed forward to another “beginning,” a
new creation in Christ Jesus. Hence we read in Heb. 13: 10. “We have an altar,
whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.” So the
significance has to do with a second Adam, whose life of obedience would
establish “regeneration” and save from sin those who would come to God by, and
through, Him.
SHALL
SIN entered the world, and death
by sin.
fearfully and wonderfully made, sought out many inventions.
These, springing from the heart of man, could only lead away from God. The
This phase of our
subject closes with a lesson from The Ark. Heb.11: 7, reads, “By faith Noah,
being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark
to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of
the righteousness which is by faith.” It
is not difficult to associate this with the salvation of God through Jesus
Christ. The apostle speaks of a time
“when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark
was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” (1
Pet. 3: 20). But can it be that you and I, living nearly 6,000 years after that
event, can find any association therewith?
It is one of those “things which happened for ensamples.” (1 Cor.
This association of
the past with the future is further shown in the colorful arch on the chart,
representative of the Rainbow, proceeding from Ararat until it descends upon
Olivet. Not that it ends there, for as
the illustration shows, Rev. 4: 3 speaks of One sitting
on the throne, “And there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like
unto an emerald.” And again, “I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven,
clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it
were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.” (Rev. 10: 1).
JESUS CHRIST IS “THE
LAST ADAM.” The first man, Adam, brought
sin and death into the world. The “last
Adam” by obedience, even unto death, became a life-giving spirit. Jesus was raised from the dead by the power
of God “through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” The bow in the cloud (though reminding us of
the past and speaking of the Covenant made of God after the Flood) is
significant of a new covenant. It speaks
to us of Jesus Christ. As the Lamb of
God Jesus was the covenant-victim. But He was victorious over the tomb; the
grave could not hold Him.
In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.
God’s Plan, as
centered in Jesus Christ, will be more fully shown as we proceed. In it we
shall see the fulfillment of the prophetic Word concerning Jesus: “Then I
restored that which I took not away.” (Psa. 69: 4).