The Bible as a whole
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The cohesiveness of God’s Word
The cohesiveness of God’s Word
Introduction
The Bible as a whole has for a long time has been seen as “a large book made up of two separate applications” instead of for what it is. One cohesive account of the work and person of the God of all creation and His work from His point of view to reconciliation of mankind back to Himself.
as Christians we tend to believe that the New Testament is focused on us and is more valuable than the old; seeing as the Old is ”just historic” and not really relevant or applicable to us anymore.
Especially to us born again christian ‘gentiles’.
The aim of this study:
Is simply to lay out the entire old testament in a way most modern day Christians has never seen before. And in so doing to show what has always been the case:
The Bible is ONE COHESIVE document and the plan of God has always been the reconciliation of mankind back to Himself. And the restoration of Eden (the intimate fellowship of mankind with our loving God).
Genesis 1.
MAN IS CREATED AND ASSIGNED PURPOSE
The first book of the Hebrew Torah (we call Geneses) opens with the God of all creation and His Spirit (clearly pictured as separate “beings/ persons” yet both God) creating all the known universe, with everything it comprises of.
From Gen 1:26 God seems to have a meeting of sorts with unknown participants.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Note carefully God said to someone or a group ‘let us make’ yet from verse 27 onward God (in the singular tense) proceeds to create man, and blessed him alone. Clearly God alone is the creator and author of existence as we know it.
Before you run away… lets look at the text and see what the text has to say for itself.
So God created Adam and later Eve, the garden of Eden and all created things. He places all things under the authority of mankind and assigns work/ purpose for humanity both in the garden of eden as well as in the outside world. AND the most important purpose of mankind is to be the IMAGE OF GOD on earth.
Outside Eden man is to “have dominion over all the animals and over all the earth Gen 1:26”. As for in the garden of Eden mankind is to tend to it and work it Gen 2:15.
2. THE FALL OF MANKIND
Now Gen 3 takes place and we’re introduced to a new figure, the serpent. And as we know the serpent successfully tempts Eve and humanity falls into a sinful state, that is irreversible and causes spiritual death. Spiritual death becouse God said Gen 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Why did Adam and Eve not drop down and die on the spot? Did God lie, and the serpent tell the truth? NO! God and the serpent knew exactly what God meant. By consenting to allow sin into your live you cause an incurable disease to take hold of your soul. a disease that is fatal.
Some key things to notice:
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
In Eden it seems that this was a place where God could, would and did walk among his creation in a physical sense. Please not that in both the OT and NT God is clearly portrayed as a Spirit (meaning not limited to a humanoid body of any kind) in Gen 3:8.
So God after the judgement of both Adam and Eve and the serpent and the ground/ planet itself (Gen 3:9-20) makes a covering (OT picture of exactly what the sacrifices of Israel would do for their sins: simply cover them for a time John 4:24 , Num 23:19, 1 Tim 1:17, Col 1:15. ) for Adam and Eve Gen 3:21.
Please note again God made them garments of skins. Its impossible for God to have done this without something having to die to provide the skins (unless He did it via a miracle). This is mankind's first encounter with the later Apostle Paul’s teaching of the wages of sin being death Rom 6:23. And even an insight into our inability to “make” coverings for our own sins/nakedness in that Adam and Eve did make coverings for themselves in Gen 3:7. But God did not accept their works/ coverings to try and cover their own nakedness and to restore their righteous standing with God as paralleled in Rom 4:4-5 and Tit 3:5.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Much like Cain and Abel, their parents tried to atone to God for their fallen state without the payment Israel knew as blood sacrifices that temporally covered their sins and restored a kind of right standing with God and we know as the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us in the new covenant that does not cover but forgive all our sin’s and which provides us with the privilege to stand before God in the righteousness of Jesus Christ Himself.
Note again carefully:
God addresses some or a group again. Saying man has become like one of us knowing good and evil Gen 3:22.
And 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 for ever:
I don’t believe for a second like i’m sure none of you do that God meant we were now God’s in our own right. But that Adam and Eve now shared the single ability of “being able to define good and evil”. And as we will see throughout the entire Bible this is the root cause of mankind's continuous fall.
And God removed Mankind from the Garden so they cannot eat of the tree of life and live forever in this mislead state (thinking they can now define or differentiate between good and evil).
This FALL was the sin of man, but the serpent (clearly a “spiritual being of some higher “dimension”” most probably as our tradition holds to be satan himself) is the culprit of the greater sin. Being the one who conceived of this plan, the executor of the deception and the beneficiary of the success of his plan.
RECAP:
God creates the universe and man, man is appointed over His (God’s) creation to have dominion (to rule over it) and to care for it AND to fulfill his duties while fulfilling his most important role; being the image barer of God on the earth.
The adversary (the meaning of the name satan) causes mankind to fall from righteousness (right standing with God).
This seemingly causes God to have no choice but to separate mankind from His physical presence in the garden, and to assure they wont have to live eternally with a misleading “knowledge” of good and evil, from the tree of life.
Man is now separated from God and eternal life with God, fellowship with God, physically being with Him in person due to BOTH the satan’s actions and their own.
Geneses 4.
3. THE SEPARATION GROWS
Now we learn of the first two naturally born human beings Cain and Abel. We know the story well, Cain is not a fan of his brother and his brothers relationship with God. But if you read carefully you’l notice something Gen 4:4-5.
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 not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
And God (still having contact with mankind directory ) speaks to Cain in Gen 4:6-7.
And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.
And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
God teaches Cain something of what he is experiencing (as a result of his “ability” to define good an evil) Cain like so many of us made the deliberate decision to commit sin; justified in his mind/ his heart/ his anger.
God asks about Cain’s Wroth/ anger and his countenance/ his depressed state; and He (God) states that this sin (personified with HIS and HIM) is laying at Cain’s door waiting for an opportunity to come into Cain and conceive something. But Cain is strictly warned to rule over this thing ( this personified thing).
This passage echoes Gen 3:16 where God tells Eve that her desire will be for Adam and as a result he will rule over her. Just like what God told Cain here in Gen 4:6-7.
But Cain as we know does not heed the LORD and kills his brother Abel. And God once again confronts Cain Gen 4:10-12 .
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
And Cain is judged and again the earth is also judged with him.
At this point mankind is driven even further away from God Gen 4:16 thus widening the separation between mankind and God and between the intimate, personal fellowship Adam and Eve once enjoyed in Eden..
And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Where after we see the genealogy of Cain stretching over 7 generations, culminating in Jabel the father of nomadic herdsman, Jubal the father of music and Tubal cain a forger of bronze and iron. And their father the first mention of any man with more than one wife. a violent man Gen 4:23-24
And Lamech said unto his wives,
Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice;
Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech:
For I have slain a man to my wounding,
And a young man to my hurt.
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
Genesis 5
4. THE SON AFTER ADAM’S LIKENESS
Read carefully througth verses Gen 5:1-3
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his [own likeness], [after his image]; and called his name Seth:
Adam was clearly made in the image and likeness of God, but Seth was not so. He was made in the image and likeness of Adam.
NOW, WE NEED TO ZOOM OUT AND REMEMBER THE FIST PROPHECY IN THE BIBLE - Gen 3:14-15
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.
The God of creation made it clear to the adversary of mankind that a day will come when the seed of THE WOMAN will bruise his head, and the adversary will bruise Hid heel.
From this moment mankind is looking forward to the fulfillment of this prophecy, of a victor over the adversary of man, and for the restoration of mankind's fellowship with God eternally and personally.
Seth’s genealogy runs through time for 8 generations until Noah. With some very notable characters.
Noah’s grandfather, a man named Methuselah (the oldest person to ever live and die), his father Enouch (the oldest person in the history of mankind). The name Methuselah means that his death shall bring, and i’m sure you’re aware Enouch never died.
Enouch walked with God so closely that God first revealed to him of whats going to happen the day his son dies, that Enouch named him accordingly. Secondly that Enouch was taken by God.
Genesis 6.
THE SON’S OF GOD:
In this chapter we learn of a second instance where supernatural beings intervene in humankind. But this time the effects lead to an estimated death toll of between 1 to 7 billion lives lost less 8.
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
And this unnatural union of the supernatural and human produced an offspring that was detrimental to all mankind and the earth as a whole.
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Possibly the origin story of the demi gods of mythology like Hercules etc.
But verse 5 is puzzling, where it states Gen6:5
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
This seems to be quite a leap from the verse before.
Not really, according to the plan reading of the text its reasonable to conclude that this union and offspring caused this state in man, or at least contributed to the acceleration of the wickedness of mankind.
According to the book of James and Peter in the NT as well as apocryphal sources like the book of Enoch, these supernatural beings had played a more significant role in humanity than we realize.
The end being the destruction of mankind and the earth as they knew it.
Bear in mind mankind still has an adversary roaming the earth, a being capable of misleading mankind into spiritual death and separation from God as seen in Gen 3. This very enemy has been told he will receive his final judgement by the seed of the woman. One cant blame us for the concusion that if he could somehow defile or compromise either if not both the bloodline of the woman and or corupt man to such an estent that God simply wipes them out of exsistance. He would emerge the victor.
Now mankind's prospects are again threatened in part of the adversary at work, and the new rebellion of the ‘son’s of God’ Leaving thier rightful place to be with human woman Jude 6
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
and 2 Peter 2:4
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
These angels/ son’s of God were clearly judged and imprisoned seeing a flood would not do them much harm. I'm convinced that the main purpose of the flood was to deal with the offspring of these angels and with the defiled bloodlines of the earth. Why else would the Bible describe Noah as follows in Gen 6:9
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
This term perfect in his generations refers to his bloodline being undefined. And thus through his descendants the promised seed can still come into the world.
During Genesis chapter 7 Noah and his sons build the arc and upon it’s compleation Gen7:16
And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.
I ask you: Where does the LORD need to be to shut them in?
Inside the ark. Right.
Not convinced yet? Read Gen 8:16-17
Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
During all this world wide turmoil and judgement The LORD was once again intimitley involved with mankind inside the vay ark he designed for mans salvation. To wether the stoms and to “go forth” out of the ark with man. In a new, clean slate. Where mankind can once again hope for the restoring promise of God. The seed of the woman who will once and for all take back what the serpent had so cunningly stolen from them.
Unfortunate another, further separation has taken place between mankind and our God. If the book of Enouch is to be believed (as it was during the time of Jesus, thus the use of it in both 2 Peter and Jude) then these angels thought man all forms of evil, from spells, to weapons, astrology, cosmetics and idolatry.
And with this knowledge the sons of Noah enter the new world.
Genesis 9
THE NEW SLATE FOR MANKIND:
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
With a simple command the LORD sends out mankind into the unknown new world, with a clear and undeniable understanding of who and what their true God is. Capable of unimaginable wonders, power over all of creation and deeply personal.
The table of nations in Genesis 10, lists 70 descendants from Noah’s sons representing all the nations of the world at the time. Some say the tower of Babel incident took place 100-300 years after the flood during the life of Peleg (Gen 10:25,).
Noah’s sons and thier descendants were said to have settled across the known world with Japhet’s descendants settling modern day Indo-European and Mediterranean regions. Places including Asia minor (modern day Turkey), Europe and parts of central Asia.
Ham’s descendants settled in Africa and parts of the middle east with nations such as cush/ Ethiopia and Sudan, Mizraim/ Egypt and Put/ Lybia and North Africa and Canaan.
Shem’s descendants settled in the middle east in becoming the people of Elam/ Persia, Asshur/ Assyria, Lud/ Lydia and Aram the syrian and Mesopotamian peoples.
Please note:
The following list is the table of nations as listed in Gen 10, this list will become important later in our study.
Japhet’s descendants
Gomer - Modern day Celt’s, German’s and Armenians
Magog - Modern day Russia, Ukrain and central Asia
Madai - Modern day Iran
Javan - Modern day Greeks
Tubal - Modern day Turkey
Meshech - Modern day Modern day possibly Moscow
Tiras - Modern day Etruscan's of Italy
Ham’s descendants
Cush - Modern day Ethiopia, Sudan
Mizriam - Modern day Egypt
Put Modern day Lybia, North Africa
Canaan Modern day Isreal, Palistine, Lebonon and Syria
Shem’s descendants
Elam Modern day Persians Modern day Iran
Asshur Modern day Iraq and Syria
Arphaxad Modern day Chaldean's, Hebrews (Abraham’s line)
Lud Modern day Lydians (Turkey)
Aram Modern day Syria , modern Assyrians
Genesis 11.
THE TOWER AND THE DIVIDE:
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
This statement so soon after the flood mankind has already chosen to go directly against the command of God.
So what does The LORD do? If man wont obey His commands He will make them!
The languages of the people are divided and due to miscommunications the people spread out as they were instructed to do at the beginning. Culminating in Gen 11:8-9
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 Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
This rebellion like all others before it has yet again caused another separation between mankind and their maker.
We read in Deut 32:8
When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance,
When he separated the sons of Adam,
He set the bounds of the people
According to the number of the children of Israel.
This is where the manuscripts are very important to our understanding of God’s word.
The sons of Isreal makes no scene here! Isreal was not yet a nation, how could God divide the lands according to them. The dead sea scrolls and the Septuagint both read sons of God or angels of God.
English Standard Version Chapter 32
8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he divided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of the
As a result of mankind rebellion in again disobeying The LORD commands, He seems to have given over all the nations of the world to Angles/ son’s of God for stewardship.
But God took Jacob for His inheritance, for His own people.
King James Version Chapter 32
For the LORD’s portion is his people;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
Genesis 12,
GOD’S PEOPLE:
