This is the last of four posts of A Glance at Genesis. I saved the best for last! I would love to go through the entire book, but it is 50 chapters long, so I settled for a glance. My prayer is that this will be a help to anyone who decides to read it. We’ve already seen: Book of Beginnings (here), The Outline of Genesis (here), and The Theme of Genesis (here) Today
Tracing the Promise of Christ
The saddest day in the history of the world is the fall of man recorded in Genesis 3. In that very same chapter we find the promise of a Deliverer, a Savior. This is the Coming One, the Messiah, the Christ. We can literally trace the promise through Genesis.
3:15 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.
It is interesting that the first promise of a Deliverer is made to the serpent. This tells us he will be a human.
The righteous line is traced through Seth down to Noah and the time of the flood, the from Noah through Shem down to Terah and his son Abram.
12:1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
As I have said before, this is where things get serious. This a momentous event in the history of the world! God calls Abram and makes six promises to him:
- I will give you a land
- I will make of you a great nation
- I will bless you
- I will make your name great
- I will bless them that bless you and curse them that curse you
- In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed
As we have already seen, this is the beginning of Israel as a nation and the title deed to their land. The last promise is the promise of the Deliverer: In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Christ will be the son of Abraham.
Abram firstborn son was by Hagar, his wife’s handmaid. His name was Ishmael. But
17:15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. [God had already changed Abram’s name to Abraham]
16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
The promise is to Abraham through Isaac.
26:24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
God renews the promise to Isaac, but before this he had an interesting experience
25:21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
In answer to Isaac's prayer Rebekah conceives and behold it is twins! Her pregnancy must have been difficult because she prayed about it, and the LORD revealed to her she is giving birth to two nations and the elder shall serve the younger. This is Esau and Jacob. Christ will come through Jacob – the Coming One will be of the children of Israel, an Israelite.
28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
13 And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
The promise is renewed with Jacob. He goes on to lead quite an interesting life – he has two wives, two concubines, and thirteen children! Twelve sons. They become the twelve tribes of Israel. We keep bouncing back and forth between Jacob and Israel, that’s because in 32:28 God changed his name to Israel.
Jacob has twelve sons and in chapter 49 he prophesies over each of them and reveals the one through whom the Deliverer will come:
49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
According to v 10 Christ will be of the tribe of Judah, a Jew.
By the end of Genesis we know: Messiah will be a human, a son of Abraham, a son of Isaac, a son of Jacob (an Israelite), of the tribe of Judah (a Jew). In order to be Christ, Jesus must be of Judah, of Jacob, of Isaac, of Abraham. It is no coincident that the New Testament opens with these words (Matthew 1:1-2)
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren.
Jesus of Nazareth is the Deliverer, the Coming One, the Christ!
My favorite passage in Genesis is from Jacob’s prophecy over his sons:
49:18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
He had a lively hope of Christ. But, is this really a reference to Christ? After Jesus was born his parents took to the temple to dedicate him to the Lord. We read in Luke 2
25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Yes, Jacob was talking about Christ! Yes, Jesus is the Christ!
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
A Glance at Genesis
Over a period of four weeks I am taking A Glance at Genesis. I would love to go through the entire book, but it is 50 chapters long! Therefore I will settle for a glance. My prayer is that this will be a help to anyone who decides to read it. I plan to post every Tuesday. We’ve already seen: Book of Beginnings (read it here) and The Outline of Genesis (read it here)
As I said last week, “It is really helpful to know two things about a book if you want to properly understand it: Where is it going? and How does it get there? Where is Genesis going? That is the theme. How does it get there? That is the outline.” Last week we looked at the outline of Genesis, today:
The theme of Genesis
There are three rivers flowing through the Old Testament, that is, three definite themes, and two of them are clearly discernible in Genesis.
Israel
This book of Genesis tells us how Israel began and how they wound up in Egypt, literally ending with the children of Israel in Egypt, sort of like an introduction to Exodus.
This river is rather easy to follow. We have the creation of the first man, Adam, followed by the genealogy down to Noah and the time of the flood, then this theme gets serious.
10:1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
10:21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber…
The family of Shem became known as Semites. This is where we get Semitic. Eber is where we get Hebrew from. The children of Israel are Hebrews, a Semitic people.
12:1-2 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
It got real when God called Abram. He promised to give him a land and to make of him a great nation. This is the Hebrew people.
Abram was married to Sarai. They had no children so Sarai gave her handmaid Hagar to Abram, to have a son through her. Hagar gave birth to Abram’s firstborn son, Ishmael. The promise is with him, right? No.
17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
God changed their names to Abraham and Sarah, because he is doing a great work in them. The people of Ishmael, Ishmaelites, become a numerous people, but the covenant and promise is with Isaac.
25:21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
Isaac and Rebekah have twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau is the eldest, the firstborn. We would expect the promise to be with him, but the promise and covenant is with Jacob.
Jacob is a scoundrel, but God does a work in him and changes his name to Israel. This looks like a pattern – when God wants to do a something through you, he first does a transforming work in your heart.
Israel has twelve sons (and one daughter!). They became the twelve tribes of Israel.
The book ends with the children of Israel escaping a famine in the land of Canaan and joining Joseph in Egypt.
This is the theme of Genesis, tracing the origin of the children of Israel and the promises made concerning them; in so doing Moses explains how they came to be in Egypt, in need of God’s deliverance, and why God rescued them.
David
While David is a definite river running through the Old Testament, this theme is not Genesis. After all, they were just being formed as a nation, and by the end of the book they are only 70 souls strong. And we are not long in Exodus when they become a nation of slaves.
Messiah
Actually, the rivers of Israel and David flowing through Genesis and the Old Testament converge into the river and promise of Messiah or Christ. God called Abram so he could form the nation Israel, and through them send Christ. He raised up David so that his son could be Messiah, the King of Israel. Christ is the eminent, the prominent theme of Genesis, and in truth, the whole Old Testament. It is easy to get lost in all the stories and miss this. Christ is promised in Genesis; the Son of God appears in Genesis, in person and in types; He’s there from the first verse of the first chapter! Really?
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.
Yes, really!
For my last post we will take this river and follow the promise of Christ.
Next week: Tracing the Promise of Messiah
As I said last week, “It is really helpful to know two things about a book if you want to properly understand it: Where is it going? and How does it get there? Where is Genesis going? That is the theme. How does it get there? That is the outline.” Last week we looked at the outline of Genesis, today:
The theme of Genesis
There are three rivers flowing through the Old Testament, that is, three definite themes, and two of them are clearly discernible in Genesis.
Israel
This book of Genesis tells us how Israel began and how they wound up in Egypt, literally ending with the children of Israel in Egypt, sort of like an introduction to Exodus.
This river is rather easy to follow. We have the creation of the first man, Adam, followed by the genealogy down to Noah and the time of the flood, then this theme gets serious.
10:1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
10:21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber…
The family of Shem became known as Semites. This is where we get Semitic. Eber is where we get Hebrew from. The children of Israel are Hebrews, a Semitic people.
12:1-2 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
It got real when God called Abram. He promised to give him a land and to make of him a great nation. This is the Hebrew people.
Abram was married to Sarai. They had no children so Sarai gave her handmaid Hagar to Abram, to have a son through her. Hagar gave birth to Abram’s firstborn son, Ishmael. The promise is with him, right? No.
17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
God changed their names to Abraham and Sarah, because he is doing a great work in them. The people of Ishmael, Ishmaelites, become a numerous people, but the covenant and promise is with Isaac.
25:21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
Isaac and Rebekah have twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau is the eldest, the firstborn. We would expect the promise to be with him, but the promise and covenant is with Jacob.
Jacob is a scoundrel, but God does a work in him and changes his name to Israel. This looks like a pattern – when God wants to do a something through you, he first does a transforming work in your heart.
Israel has twelve sons (and one daughter!). They became the twelve tribes of Israel.
The book ends with the children of Israel escaping a famine in the land of Canaan and joining Joseph in Egypt.
This is the theme of Genesis, tracing the origin of the children of Israel and the promises made concerning them; in so doing Moses explains how they came to be in Egypt, in need of God’s deliverance, and why God rescued them.
David
While David is a definite river running through the Old Testament, this theme is not Genesis. After all, they were just being formed as a nation, and by the end of the book they are only 70 souls strong. And we are not long in Exodus when they become a nation of slaves.
Messiah
Actually, the rivers of Israel and David flowing through Genesis and the Old Testament converge into the river and promise of Messiah or Christ. God called Abram so he could form the nation Israel, and through them send Christ. He raised up David so that his son could be Messiah, the King of Israel. Christ is the eminent, the prominent theme of Genesis, and in truth, the whole Old Testament. It is easy to get lost in all the stories and miss this. Christ is promised in Genesis; the Son of God appears in Genesis, in person and in types; He’s there from the first verse of the first chapter! Really?
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.
Yes, really!
For my last post we will take this river and follow the promise of Christ.
Next week: Tracing the Promise of Messiah
Monday, June 8, 2020
A call to return to prayer
We are living in strange days, the coronavirus pandemic, government lockdowns, and now protests and riots for racial justice. I see posts and comments on social media daily attacking the intelligence and leadership of governmental authorities, especially the President, some going so far as to declare that he is a worthless human being and others even worse. You might say, “That’s politics in America.” However, what concerns me is the professing Christians who are participating in this unloving and vile talk. Some of this is aimed at the President, some of it at Senators and Congressmen etc
In the early days of the Christian Faith, there were seasons when it was against the law to be a Christian and this was often enforced with severe persecution. With the emperor against them, or the local rulers with the emperor’s tacit approval, what was the attitude of the Church to government? What was the reaction to such laws and policies? We need to add to that what seems unthinkable to us, the emperors were all every one idol worshipers and immoral (often to a degree unimaginable). What was the Church’s attitude toward such men?
There were several Christians who took pen in hand to write to the Emperor seeking to explain the Faith, defend Christians against false charges, and asking for better treatment. These were called Apologies. Below is a extract from the Apology of Tertullian, written around 197. He explains the attitude of the Church toward the Emperor and reveals the prayer life of the Church.
I share this with the hope and prayer that believers today would embrace this attitude, and that pastors would lead their churches back into this apostolic practice, namely praying for our leaders publicly, by name. I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
“To this Almighty Maker and Disposer of all Things it is that we Christians offer up our prayers…and in all our prayers are ever mindful of all our emperors and kings wheresoever we live, beseeching God for every one of them without distinction, that He would bless them with length of days and a quiet reign, a well-established family, a stout army, a faithful senate, an honest people, and a peaceful world, and whatever else either prince or people can wish for.
But these are blessings I cannot persuade myself to ask of any, but Him who I know can give them, and that is my God, and my God only, who has them in His disposal; and I am one to whom He has obliged Himself by promise to grant what I ask, if I ask as I should do; for I am His servant, and serve Him only, and for whose service I am killed all the day long, and to whom I offer that noble and greatest of sacrifices which He has commanded, a prayer which comes from a chaste body, an innocent soul, and a sanctified spirit.
Thus, then, while we are stretching forth our hands to our God, let your tormenting irons harrow our flesh; let your gibbets exalt us, or your fires lick up our bodies, or your swords cut off our heads, or your beasts tread us to earth. For a Christian upon his knees to his God is in a posture of defence against all the evils you can crowd upon him.
Consider this, you impartial judges, and go on with your justice, and while our soul is pouring out herself to God in the behalf of the emperor, do you be letting out her blood.
BUT perhaps our vows and intercessions with heaven for the life of the emperor are to be looked upon merely as the spices of flattery, and a trick only to elude the severity of the laws. Thou therefore that thinkest that the Christian religion expresses no concern for the life of Caesar, look into the word of God, the word we go by, and which we do not suppress in private, and which many accidents have thrown into the hands of strangers, and there you may see with what superabundant charity we are commanded to love our enemies, to bless them that curse us, to do good to them that hate us, and to pray for them which despitefully use us, and persecute us. And who such cruel persecutors of Christians as the emperors for whom they are persecuted ? And yet these are the persons we are commanded by the word of God expressly, and by name, to pray for; for thus it runs—" I exhort therefore, that first of all supplications and prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty". For when the government is shaken, the members of it feel the shock, and we, though we are not looked upon as members by the people, yet we must be found somewhere in the calamity of the public.
BUT there is another and more prevailing reason which determines us to intercede with heaven for the emperors, and for the whole estate of the empire, and their prosperity. And it is this, that we are of opinion that the conflagration of the universe which is now at hand, and is likely to flame out in the conclusion of this century, and to be such a horrid scene of misery, is retarded by this interposition of the Roman prosperity; and therefore we desire not to be spectators of dissolving nature; and while we pray for it to be deferred, we pray for the subsistence of the Roman Empire.
BUT what need I say more to show the sacred tie which binds on the duty of allegiance upon Christian subjects? It is enough to say that we look upon ourselves under a necessity to honour the emperor as a person of God's election; so that I may very deservedly say that we have much the greatest share in Caesar, as being made emperor by our God. And therefore it is I who more effectually recommend him to God, because I not only earnestly ask it of Him who can give it, or because I am such a petitioner as have the most reason to obtain it, but also because by setting Caesar below his god, I set him higher in his affection, to which God alone I subject him ; and I subject him to God, by not making him his equal."
This is excerpt is from the Wm Reeve translation of the Apology. You can read the entire apology here or a different translation here
In the early days of the Christian Faith, there were seasons when it was against the law to be a Christian and this was often enforced with severe persecution. With the emperor against them, or the local rulers with the emperor’s tacit approval, what was the attitude of the Church to government? What was the reaction to such laws and policies? We need to add to that what seems unthinkable to us, the emperors were all every one idol worshipers and immoral (often to a degree unimaginable). What was the Church’s attitude toward such men?
There were several Christians who took pen in hand to write to the Emperor seeking to explain the Faith, defend Christians against false charges, and asking for better treatment. These were called Apologies. Below is a extract from the Apology of Tertullian, written around 197. He explains the attitude of the Church toward the Emperor and reveals the prayer life of the Church.
I share this with the hope and prayer that believers today would embrace this attitude, and that pastors would lead their churches back into this apostolic practice, namely praying for our leaders publicly, by name. I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
“To this Almighty Maker and Disposer of all Things it is that we Christians offer up our prayers…and in all our prayers are ever mindful of all our emperors and kings wheresoever we live, beseeching God for every one of them without distinction, that He would bless them with length of days and a quiet reign, a well-established family, a stout army, a faithful senate, an honest people, and a peaceful world, and whatever else either prince or people can wish for.
But these are blessings I cannot persuade myself to ask of any, but Him who I know can give them, and that is my God, and my God only, who has them in His disposal; and I am one to whom He has obliged Himself by promise to grant what I ask, if I ask as I should do; for I am His servant, and serve Him only, and for whose service I am killed all the day long, and to whom I offer that noble and greatest of sacrifices which He has commanded, a prayer which comes from a chaste body, an innocent soul, and a sanctified spirit.
Thus, then, while we are stretching forth our hands to our God, let your tormenting irons harrow our flesh; let your gibbets exalt us, or your fires lick up our bodies, or your swords cut off our heads, or your beasts tread us to earth. For a Christian upon his knees to his God is in a posture of defence against all the evils you can crowd upon him.
Consider this, you impartial judges, and go on with your justice, and while our soul is pouring out herself to God in the behalf of the emperor, do you be letting out her blood.
BUT perhaps our vows and intercessions with heaven for the life of the emperor are to be looked upon merely as the spices of flattery, and a trick only to elude the severity of the laws. Thou therefore that thinkest that the Christian religion expresses no concern for the life of Caesar, look into the word of God, the word we go by, and which we do not suppress in private, and which many accidents have thrown into the hands of strangers, and there you may see with what superabundant charity we are commanded to love our enemies, to bless them that curse us, to do good to them that hate us, and to pray for them which despitefully use us, and persecute us. And who such cruel persecutors of Christians as the emperors for whom they are persecuted ? And yet these are the persons we are commanded by the word of God expressly, and by name, to pray for; for thus it runs—" I exhort therefore, that first of all supplications and prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty". For when the government is shaken, the members of it feel the shock, and we, though we are not looked upon as members by the people, yet we must be found somewhere in the calamity of the public.
BUT there is another and more prevailing reason which determines us to intercede with heaven for the emperors, and for the whole estate of the empire, and their prosperity. And it is this, that we are of opinion that the conflagration of the universe which is now at hand, and is likely to flame out in the conclusion of this century, and to be such a horrid scene of misery, is retarded by this interposition of the Roman prosperity; and therefore we desire not to be spectators of dissolving nature; and while we pray for it to be deferred, we pray for the subsistence of the Roman Empire.
BUT what need I say more to show the sacred tie which binds on the duty of allegiance upon Christian subjects? It is enough to say that we look upon ourselves under a necessity to honour the emperor as a person of God's election; so that I may very deservedly say that we have much the greatest share in Caesar, as being made emperor by our God. And therefore it is I who more effectually recommend him to God, because I not only earnestly ask it of Him who can give it, or because I am such a petitioner as have the most reason to obtain it, but also because by setting Caesar below his god, I set him higher in his affection, to which God alone I subject him ; and I subject him to God, by not making him his equal."
This is excerpt is from the Wm Reeve translation of the Apology. You can read the entire apology here or a different translation here
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Reflections on protests and riots
This morning in my prayer time I reflected on and prayed 1 Timothy 2
1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
As I was praying, I thought about a revolution that happened 50 years ago and I asked God to do it again. I also asked Him to reveal what He is doing now in all this. A little later in the morning I read this article Divine perspective on protests and riots I don’t know if that was the complete answer to my prayer, but Dr. Brown and I are on the same wavelength here.
Political turmoil, a pandemic, a lockdown of society, and now riots in the streets. Has there ever been a worse time in our history? Yes, and I lived through it.
I’m talking about the 60s and 70s. Vietnam. Protests. Riots. Marches. People burning draft cards. Women burning bras. Hippies. What? How do hippies fit into this? They were part of a counter-cultural revolution. We have a tendency to look back and think the 60s and 70s was all about funny clothes and groovy music. I’m telling you, this was revolution. A whole society revolution. Don’t believe me? Listen to Bob Dylan’s clarion call:
Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
The battle outside ragin'
Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'
Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don’t criticize what you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly aging
Please get outta' the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'
And Vietnam? This was a very unpopular war. There were marches, protests, rioting in the streets. Here’s the chorus of a song from Woodstock by Country Joe and the Fish:
And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.
There were riots, protests, sit-ins, students taking over college campuses. There was a riot at Kent State in Ohio where the National Guard shot four students!
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming
We're finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
(Crosby, Still, Nash, and Young)
And politics? President Nixon resigned in 1974 in the middle of his second term because of Watergate. There were assassinations: 1963 John F. Kennedy; 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr; 1968 Bobby Kennedy.
Despite the ads on late night TV for all “that wonderful music from the 60s”, this was a tumultuous time. The world was being turned upside down. And what wouldn’t turn was burned.
Ahh, and this is where I’m going. There was another revolution that took place, the Jesus Revolution
Chuck Smith was a leading figure in what has become known as the “Jesus Movement.” He became pastor of a little church in Costa Mesa, CA in 1965. They had 25 people when he arrived. “California was a Mecca for longhaired hippies. It was a scene that was volatile, sensual, and psychedelic. Chuck and his wife Kay would drive down to the Huntington Pier and watch the hippies tune in, turn on, and trip out. They began to pray for that lost generation. As a result of their prayers the Jesus Movement took off – a generation of hippies were delivered from drugs and deception to devotion to God.”* Counter-cultural hippies by the thousands were being born again, baptized with the Holy Spirit, and built up on the Word of God!
Praise God! I became a Christian in 1973. I’m the fruit of the Jesus Revolution and the accompanying Charismatic Renewal! And that is what I began to pray as I prayed for our own turbulent times, “Oh God, do it again! Let there be another Jesus Revolution.” Surely the times are different, the kids are different, the felt needs are different, but Jesus is the same! He still saves, sets free, satisfies the empty, hungry heart.
Everybody everywhere is talking politics; blaming this one or that one; hating this one or the other one. Won’t you join me as I seek to obey the call of the Holy Spirit and pray for our nation during this time, asking God not only for peace, but for harvest, another Jesus Revolution!
* Pathway to God’s Treasure: Ephesians, by Lenya Heitzig & Penny Pierce Rose, p 259
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
A Glance at Genesis
Over a period of four weeks I plan to take A Glance at Genesis. I would love to go through the entire book, but it +is 50 chapters long! Therefore I will settle for a glance. My prayer is that this will be a help to anyone who decides to read it. I plan to post every Tuesday. Last week, Book of Beginnings. You can read it here. Today:
The Outline of Genesis
That sounds so boring, doesn’t it, “Let’s look at the outline of Genesis”? But the outline of a book gives you a general idea of the thought of the book. It is really helpful to know two things about a book if you want to properly understand it: Where is it going? and How does it get there? Where is Genesis going? That is the theme. We will look at that next week. How does it get there? That is the outline. That’s today!
I believe Moses himself has provided the outline. It can be found in the phrase, these are the generations of. This phrase occurs eleven times in the book, but as we will see, I’m persuaded there are really 10 divisions. These are the generations of means this is the history of; it is the account of the mentioned person and his descendants.
Genesis 1:1-2:3, which tells us of the creation of the world and everything on it, including Adam and Eve, serves as the backdrop for what Moses wants to say; it is the introduction for his story. If creation itself, which has to be one of the greatest events in the history of the world, is the introduction, how important is the story he tells us in the rest of the book!
Here then is the outlined supplied by Moses, along with a summary of events.
I Genesis 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
The creation of Adam and Eve; the garden of Eden; the institution of marriage and family; the fall and expulsion from the garden; Cain and Abel; it ends with Seth and his son Enos.
II Genesis 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
Moses has a pattern in his presentation, he first introduces the less important, followed by the main characters. In 4:16-25 he gives a brief account of Cain and his descendants. They are the unrighteous line. Now he gives us Adam to Noah, the righteous line. There are ten generations listed here. They all lived a long lives – 700-900+ years! Did they really live that long? That’s what the Bible says, I believe it. When God first made people, it was his intention we not die. These folks still had Adam’s blood!
III Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
This is Noah, the ark, and the flood.
IV Genesis 10:1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
This is the account of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and the nations which sprung from them. As is his custom, Moses reverses the order: Japheth, Ham, Shem, because Shem is the family he is focusing on. This takes us to the tower of Babel and the division of the nations by language.
V Genesis 11:10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
Again, ten generations, this time ending with Abram, son of Terah. An interesting note, nobody dies! We know they did of course, but he doesn’t say so.
VI Genesis 11:27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
Now we are getting to the meat of Genesis. This is really the story of Abram, his call, the promises, the covenant, the birth of Ishmael, Isaac, and after Sarah died, the six sons from his marriage to Keturah. There is a lot here!
This is interesting to trace. In 9:29 we learn that Noah lived 950 years. He was still living the life of the pre-flood folks. The first one whose years are mentioned after Noah is Terah, father of Abram, he died at 205 years of age (11:32). Sarah lived to be 127 years old, Abraham (his name was changed by God) lived to be 175. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but even I can tell something drastic happened after the flood!
VII Genesis 25:12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham:
Ishmael was actually Abraham’s first-born son, but he wasn’t the child of promise. True to form, Moses tells us of Ishmael first.
VIII Genesis 25:19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac:
This is Isaac and his son’s Esau and Jacob. Mostly, Jacob and his twelve sons. Ah, the twelve tribes of Israel! I always like to point out that Jacob also had a daughter, Dinah. This section ends with the death of Isaac. He was 180 years old.
IX Genesis 36:1 Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
Genesis 36:9 And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:
Chapter 36 is interesting. What’s normal is we get the generations of Esau first (before Jacob); what’s unusual is we get these are the generations of Esau twice in this chapter. Both times we learn Esau is the father of Edom. I link the two together, since they cover the same people, and come up with 10 generations. But I admit, technically, these are the generations of occurs 11 times in Genesis.
X Genesis 37:2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
These are the generations of Jacob, with the focus on Joseph. He was hated by his brothers, sold into slavery by them (!!), rose to a position of power and prominence in Egypt, and was used by God to rescue his family. And so the book of Genesis ends with the children of Israel in Egypt, which leads us into the book of Exodus, which is the account of the greatest demonstration of the power of God in the entire Old Testament, other than creation itself!
And just like that we have covered the entire book of Genesis!
Next week: The Themes of Genesis
The Outline of Genesis
That sounds so boring, doesn’t it, “Let’s look at the outline of Genesis”? But the outline of a book gives you a general idea of the thought of the book. It is really helpful to know two things about a book if you want to properly understand it: Where is it going? and How does it get there? Where is Genesis going? That is the theme. We will look at that next week. How does it get there? That is the outline. That’s today!
I believe Moses himself has provided the outline. It can be found in the phrase, these are the generations of. This phrase occurs eleven times in the book, but as we will see, I’m persuaded there are really 10 divisions. These are the generations of means this is the history of; it is the account of the mentioned person and his descendants.
Genesis 1:1-2:3, which tells us of the creation of the world and everything on it, including Adam and Eve, serves as the backdrop for what Moses wants to say; it is the introduction for his story. If creation itself, which has to be one of the greatest events in the history of the world, is the introduction, how important is the story he tells us in the rest of the book!
Here then is the outlined supplied by Moses, along with a summary of events.
I Genesis 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
The creation of Adam and Eve; the garden of Eden; the institution of marriage and family; the fall and expulsion from the garden; Cain and Abel; it ends with Seth and his son Enos.
II Genesis 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
Moses has a pattern in his presentation, he first introduces the less important, followed by the main characters. In 4:16-25 he gives a brief account of Cain and his descendants. They are the unrighteous line. Now he gives us Adam to Noah, the righteous line. There are ten generations listed here. They all lived a long lives – 700-900+ years! Did they really live that long? That’s what the Bible says, I believe it. When God first made people, it was his intention we not die. These folks still had Adam’s blood!
III Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
This is Noah, the ark, and the flood.
IV Genesis 10:1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
This is the account of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and the nations which sprung from them. As is his custom, Moses reverses the order: Japheth, Ham, Shem, because Shem is the family he is focusing on. This takes us to the tower of Babel and the division of the nations by language.
V Genesis 11:10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
Again, ten generations, this time ending with Abram, son of Terah. An interesting note, nobody dies! We know they did of course, but he doesn’t say so.
VI Genesis 11:27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
Now we are getting to the meat of Genesis. This is really the story of Abram, his call, the promises, the covenant, the birth of Ishmael, Isaac, and after Sarah died, the six sons from his marriage to Keturah. There is a lot here!
This is interesting to trace. In 9:29 we learn that Noah lived 950 years. He was still living the life of the pre-flood folks. The first one whose years are mentioned after Noah is Terah, father of Abram, he died at 205 years of age (11:32). Sarah lived to be 127 years old, Abraham (his name was changed by God) lived to be 175. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but even I can tell something drastic happened after the flood!
VII Genesis 25:12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham:
Ishmael was actually Abraham’s first-born son, but he wasn’t the child of promise. True to form, Moses tells us of Ishmael first.
VIII Genesis 25:19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac:
This is Isaac and his son’s Esau and Jacob. Mostly, Jacob and his twelve sons. Ah, the twelve tribes of Israel! I always like to point out that Jacob also had a daughter, Dinah. This section ends with the death of Isaac. He was 180 years old.
IX Genesis 36:1 Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
Genesis 36:9 And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:
Chapter 36 is interesting. What’s normal is we get the generations of Esau first (before Jacob); what’s unusual is we get these are the generations of Esau twice in this chapter. Both times we learn Esau is the father of Edom. I link the two together, since they cover the same people, and come up with 10 generations. But I admit, technically, these are the generations of occurs 11 times in Genesis.
X Genesis 37:2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
These are the generations of Jacob, with the focus on Joseph. He was hated by his brothers, sold into slavery by them (!!), rose to a position of power and prominence in Egypt, and was used by God to rescue his family. And so the book of Genesis ends with the children of Israel in Egypt, which leads us into the book of Exodus, which is the account of the greatest demonstration of the power of God in the entire Old Testament, other than creation itself!
And just like that we have covered the entire book of Genesis!
Next week: The Themes of Genesis
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