Participants: Pastor Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CGC
Program Code: CGC000001
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01:13 Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, as we
01:17 open the book of Genesis, we ask for guidance from on High. 01:24 Show us the wondrous things from this book. 01:28 We pray this in the precious name of Jesus, 01:33 our Lord and Savior, Amen. 01:37 The book of Genesis is a book 01:41 about origins. In fact, the name Genesis 01:46 means precisely that, origins. Now, allow me to mention as we 01:52 begin our study today the things which the book of 01:57 Genesis mentions as originating. 02:00 First of all, we have the origin of the cosmos. 02:04 That is, of the heavens and 02:06 the earth in Genesis 1 and verse 1. 02:09 We have the origin of plants spoken of in Genesis Chapter 1. 02:16 We have the origin of animals. We have the origin of man... 02:22 The origin of woman... The origin of sin... 02:26 The beginning or the origin of death... 02:30 The beginning or the origin of redemption... 02:33 The beginning of nations... The beginning of languages... 02:39 The beginning of Israel... 02:42 And even the beginning of the Arabs, or the Arabic nations. 02:48 These are just some of the beginnings that we find 02:51 mentioned in the book of Genesis. 02:55 So, the book of Genesis is very important because it goes 02:59 way back into pre-history, as we know it, to describe the 03:06 origins of everything which exists upon this earth. 03:10 Now, allow me to give you a 03:12 little bit about the timeline of Genesis. 03:15 The book of Genesis describes 03:18 the first 2,500 years of human history. 03:23 I believe, as I've examined the contents of the book, that 03:28 it was written by Moses and, actually, it was written 03:33 approximately 1500 years before the birth of Jesus. 03:38 And, so, you can imagine that the book of Genesis was 03:42 actually describing events that took place approximately 03:47 the year 4,000 B.C., 4,000, before Christ. 03:52 And actually, it was written 03:54 1,500 years before Jesus Christ was born. 04:00 The book of Genesis presents a 04:02 short chronology of Planet Earth. 04:05 In other words, it does not 04:06 allow for long periods of millions of years where God 04:10 is creating what is known as progressive creationism. 04:14 The book of Genesis teaches 04:16 that this planet is approximately 6,000 years old 04:21 from the moment in which God began to create upon it. 04:25 And I'd just like to tell you 04:27 up-front, from the very beginning, that in this seminar 04:30 I take the book of Genesis as literal history. 04:34 I believe that it presents a 04:37 short time span for the events that are described in it. 04:41 In other words, we don't have to go back millions of years 04:45 to find out the origin of things in this world. 04:48 All we have to do is go back 04:51 approximately 6,000 years to find the events, for example, 04:57 that are described in Genesis Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. 05:00 The book of Genesis is the seed plot of the Bible. 05:06 Allow me to explain what I mean. 05:09 One of my favorite national 05:11 parks in all of the United States is the one that we have 05:16 just up the mountain, Sequoia National Park. 05:20 I just enjoy going up there and unwinding, and taking it 05:24 easy for a whole day, breathing some fresh air, 05:26 especially when it's foggy here in the Valley. 05:29 And I just enjoy going, for example, to the Grant tree and 05:33 to the General Sherman tree and just standing there 05:37 underneath these trees. It's amazing. 05:40 Some of them are almost 3,000 years old. 05:45 Can you imagine a tree that's almost 3,000 years old? 05:49 And they are hundreds of feet tall. 05:52 And I just am awed every time I go up there, and I stand 05:56 under these trees and I see how thick they are and how 06:00 high they go, and I'm just amazed. 06:04 But have you ever stopped to 06:06 think that the mighty Sequoia, for example, the General 06:10 Sherman tree, actually came from a little seed? 06:18 Have you ever stopped to think that that whole tree that you 06:22 find up there, the General Sherman tree in Sequoia 06:25 National Park, actually was enclosed in code form, so to 06:33 speak, in that little seed, and the seed sprouted and it 06:38 produced after almost 3,000 years this gigantic tree? 06:43 In other words, the Sequoia 06:45 tree was contained in that seed. 06:49 That's the relationship 06:51 between Genesis and the rest of the Bible. 06:54 The book of Genesis has the seeds. 06:57 The rest of the Bible is the 06:59 development and growth of those seeds. 07:02 And eventually the growth reaches its climax, 07:07 or its fullness, in the book of Revelation. 07:12 In other words, we're not 07:13 going to stay in this seminar in the book of Genesis. 07:16 We're going to begin in Genesis in each lecture, and 07:20 we're going to study these seeds. 07:23 And then we're going to see how these seeds develop 07:27 throughout the course of the whole Bible. 07:30 Now, the book of Revelation is 07:33 a very important book to study along with Genesis. 07:37 You notice, for example, in the brochure that many of you 07:39 received in the mail or perhaps in the newspaper or 07:43 maybe somebody gave you one of the brochures, you notice 07:46 there that this seminar is not only about Genesis. 07:50 It is also about the book of Revelation. 07:52 You see, I believe that we 07:55 cannot understand the book of Revelation 07:57 unless we understand the book of Genesis. 08:01 We can never understand the 08:03 end unless we understand, first of all, the beginning; 08:07 because the end is simply the culmination of a process which 08:12 began way back in the book of Genesis. 08:16 Allow me to give you an example of the 08:19 relationship between Genesis and Revelation. 08:22 We'll study these things more fully a little bit later on, 08:25 but I want to give you a couple of examples so that you 08:28 can see how important it is for us to compare and to 08:33 interrelate Genesis with Revelation. 08:36 Go with me in your Bibles to 08:39 Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 15. 08:43 And by the way, in the list of texts that you have, there is 08:46 in parentheses a page number which will make it a lot 08:50 easier for you to find the Bible verses as we move along, 08:54 because the people have heard me say that I go awful fast. 08:57 But with the list you'll know exactly where we're going, and 09:01 so you'll be able to be one-up on me. 09:03 You'll be able to look up the 09:04 next text actually before I even mention it. 09:07 Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 15. 09:10 This is immediately after sin, 09:13 and I want you to notice what it says. 09:15 God speaking: "And I will put enmity between you... " 09:23 that is, the Serpent, "... and the woman, 09:26 and between your seed and her seed. " 09:32 Now, let's stop there for a moment. 09:35 We have four elements 09:38 in what we've read from this verse so far. 09:40 First of all, there is enmity, or war. 09:44 Secondly, there is a Serpent 09:47 whom God is speaking to in this verse. 09:51 In the third place we have a woman, because there is war 09:56 between the Serpent and the woman. 09:59 And in the fourth place, we have "seed. " 10:03 We actually have two seeds, 10:05 the seed of the Serpent and the seed of the woman. 10:08 So, we have these 10:10 four elements: enmity, Serpent, woman, and seed. 10:15 And I want you to notice that 10:16 the enmity runs between the Serpent and the woman, between 10:21 the seed of the Serpent, and the seed of the woman, and 10:25 between the seed of the woman and the Serpent. 10:28 Let's notice this verse again. God says, "I will put enmity 10:33 between you... " the Serpent and the woman. 10:35 There's the first enmity, Serpent and woman. 10:38 "And between your seed... " 10:41 that is, the Serpent's seed, "... and her seed. " 10:44 So, you have enmity between 10:46 "Serpent and woman" and "seed and seed. " 10:49 But that's not the real warfare. 10:51 Even though there is warfare, 10:53 the critical and most important warfare is between 10:56 the seed of the woman and the Serpent because the last part 11:00 of the verse says: "He" - that is, the seed of the woman, 11:04 "... will bruise your head... " the Serpent's head, 11:08 "... and you will bruise his heel. " 11:11 So, the enmity runs three ways: Serpent versus woman, 11:16 seed of the Serpent versus the seed of the woman, and the 11:19 seed of the woman versus the Serpent. 11:22 There's no way in the world 11:24 that we can understand a chapter like Revelation 12 11:28 without comprehending Genesis 3:15, because in 11:33 Revelation Chapter 12- I'll just mention it. 11:35 We have a couple of lectures on Revelation Chapter 12. 11:38 You see, in Revelation 12 11:40 we have a child who is born to a woman. 11:44 And standing next to this 11:47 woman who is about to bear the child is a dragon who is 11:52 identified as the ancient Serpent, the Devil and Satan. 11:56 And it says he wants to devour the child as soon as the child 12:01 is born, the child of the woman. 12:04 Do you see Genesis 3:15 in that passage in Revelation 12:09 Chapter 12 verses 1 through 5? Very clear. 12:12 The warfare was going to be 12:14 between the seed of the woman and the Serpent, and that's 12:18 exactly what you have in Revelation 12:1 through 5. 12:22 But Revelation 12 doesn't end there. 12:23 Later on in the chapter when the child is caught up to God 12:28 and to His throne, which refers to the ascension of 12:30 Christ, we're told that now the woman flees into the 12:35 wilderness, and the Serpent is after the woman. 12:40 And later on even in this 12:42 chapter, in verse 17 we find that the final warfare is no 12:47 longer against the woman, but against the seed's seed. 12:53 In other words, the seed of the woman's seed. 12:56 And, so, there's no way that we can really understand 12:59 Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 15 unless we find the greatest 13:05 development in Revelation Chapter 12 as well as other 13:09 passages that we find in the New Testament. 13:12 Now, allow me to give you one other example. 13:14 Genesis Chapter 2 and verse 24. 13:20 Genesis Chapter 2 and - actually, it's verse 25. 13:25 Genesis 2 and verse 25. 13:27 Speaking about Adam and Eve, it says, "And they were both 13:31 naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. " 13:38 We're going to find in our seminar that the reason why 13:41 they weren't ashamed is because they were not covered 13:43 with human garments made out of material. 13:47 They were actually covered by the glorious light of God. 13:51 They had no artificial garments. 13:54 They were naked with respect 13:56 to garments made out of satin or made out of other material. 14:00 They were covered with the glory of God. 14:02 They were covered with the light of God, the same type of 14:05 garments that God has, according to Psalm 104. 14:08 And that's the reason why they weren't ashamed. 14:11 But then in Genesis Chapter 3 14:13 and verse 7, we find that Adam and Eve sinned. 14:16 And suddenly we find them hiding from God. 14:19 And now they're ashamed, even 14:22 though they've covered themselves with fig leaves. 14:25 They still don't feel like the fig leaves are covering their 14:28 nakedness because the light has gone away from them. 14:31 So, they're hiding from God even though they've 14:34 covered the nakedness of their body with fig leaves, 14:36 they know that their nakedness is nakedness of soul. 14:40 And do you know what God does? 14:43 In Genesis 3:21 it says that God makes garments of 14:47 skins and clothed Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness. 14:55 Now, there's a text in the 14:57 book of Revelation which we could never understand unless 14:59 we catch this background from Genesis Chapter 3. 15:04 And that is the central verse 15:07 in the passage that deals with the Battle of Armageddon. 15:11 There is a lot of talk today 15:13 about Armageddon... what it's going to be, 15:16 what nations it's going to involve, 15:18 what the issues are in this great battle. 15:21 And I've read a lot of books written by many different 15:23 scholars on the Battle of Armageddon. 15:25 In fact, we're going to have a whole lecture later on in this 15:28 series on the Battle of Armageddon. 15:29 But you know what I find interesting? 15:32 Most of those commentaries, 15:34 with very few exceptions, deal with all sorts of issues 15:39 connected with the Battle of Armageddon. 15:41 They talk, for example, about 15:42 the Kings of the East, and they talk about the drying of 15:45 the river Euphrates, and they talk about the three evil 15:49 spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, 15:52 the beast, and the false prophet. 15:53 They have a lot to say about all these things. 15:55 But there's one verse which 15:58 very rarely is even commented on, and it deals with the 16:02 central issue in the Battle of Armageddon. 16:06 And it shows that we must 16:08 study Genesis in order to understand it. 16:10 Go with me to Revelation 16 16:13 and verse 15, and you'll see this. 16:15 Revelation Chapter 16 and verse 15, 16:19 right in the middle of the passage on the 16:24 sixth plague of Revelation. 16:26 And while you're looking 16:27 for that text, allow me to say this. 16:29 This is the only place where Jesus speaks in the book of 16:36 Revelation between Chapter 3 and Chapter 21. 16:41 The only verse. 16:43 If you have a red-letter edition of the Bible where it 16:46 gives the words that are spoken by Jesus, you'll find 16:49 that the last words of Jesus are in Chapter 3. 16:51 The next time that Jesus speaks is in Chapter 21, with 16:57 the exception of Revelation 16 and verse 15. 17:01 Do you figure that if Jesus - this is the only place that 17:04 Jesus speaks between Revelation 3 and Revelation 21, 17:08 that it must be a very important verse? 17:11 Obviously. 17:12 Notice what we find there in Revelation 16 and verse 15. 17:17 Jesus is speaking. 17:19 "Behold, I am coming as a thief. 17:23 Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, 17:34 lest he walk naked and they see his shame. " 17:39 Now, you tell me, does that 17:41 verse have anything to do with Genesis Chapter 3? 17:44 You have the same elements. 17:46 You have garments, you have nakedness, and you have shame. 17:50 Obviously there's going to be some people at the end of time, 17:53 living during the period of the Battle of Armageddon, who 17:57 are going to be found naked and their shame will be 18:01 revealed just like Adam and Eve. 18:04 But you cannot understand what 18:05 this means in the end time unless you first understand 18:09 what happened with Adam and Eve in Genesis. 18:12 Because at the end of time it's going to be a repetition 18:15 of what happened in the book of Genesis. 18:18 These are just two examples of how Genesis is very 18:22 intricately intwined with the book of Revelation. 18:27 Now, a question frequently 18:30 comes up when we study the book of Genesis, and that is, 18:32 is the book of Genesis really literal history? 18:38 Or is the book of Genesis legend, myth, 18:42 or as Karl Barth, the great theologian said, saga? 18:46 I want to tell you up-front that I believe the book of 18:51 Genesis, from Genesis 1:1 through the end of Chapter 50, 18:56 is dealing with literal historical events. 19:01 In fact, it might surprise 19:03 some of you to know that up till the Age of the 19:07 Enlightenment in the 18th Century - if you go before 19:10 the 18th Century, you'll find that practically every scholar 19:15 that ever wrote on the book of Genesis believed that the book 19:19 of Genesis was actual, literal history as it took place. 19:25 But in the Age of 19:26 Enlightenment appeared historical criticism, 19:31 and appeared the scientific method. 19:35 And, so, they started applying 19:36 the scientific method and historical criticism to God's 19:40 Holy Word besides doing it to the natural world and to 19:44 documents that had been written in antiquity. 19:46 And for this reason many of 19:48 the scholars came to the conclusion that the book of 19:51 Genesis, particularly Chapters 1 through 11, 19:53 was not describing real, literal history. 19:57 I saw this problem very clearly a few years ago when I 20:03 was at a speaking commitment up in Berrien Springs, Michigan. 20:06 There's the university where I went to school. 20:10 They have a fantastic 20:12 theological library with hundreds of thousands of 20:15 books. And, of course, I only had to speak in the evening. 20:18 So, during the daytime I took advantage and went to the 20:21 library for about eight or nine hours a day, 20:24 doing research for this series on the book of Genesis. 20:27 And as I examined the 20:29 commentaries that were written on the book of Genesis, there 20:33 is something which really struck me, and that is that 20:37 most of the commentators really did not believe in the 20:43 historicity of the book of Genesis. 20:45 They did not believe that it's literal history. 20:48 And these were Christian commentators who were actually 20:52 writing on the book of Genesis. 20:55 In fact, I had to snicker when I was researching the story of 21:01 Eve and the Serpent which spoke to Eve, and a scholar - 21:06 several of them actually - said the reason why this story 21:10 was included in Genesis is to explain the reason why people 21:15 are afraid of snakes. 21:18 And then I went on to the 21:20 story of Cain and Abel, and several of the authors said 21:24 the reason why you have the story of Cain and Abel in the 21:27 book of Genesis is to explain the origin of sibling rivalry. 21:32 And then I continued studying 21:34 and I got to Genesis Chapter 11 where it speaks about the 21:38 Tower of Babel, the confusion of the languages, and the 21:41 commentary said, you know, this did not really happen in 21:45 history, this idea that they tried to build a 21:49 tower and God confused their languages. 21:51 The scholars said the reason why this story was written was 21:56 in order to explain why in the world you have so many 22:00 different languages... and so on. 22:04 Most of the scholars that I 22:06 read would be called liberal scholars. 22:09 They do not believe in the full inspiration of scripture. 22:14 And, therefore, they do not believe that the stories of 22:17 Genesis are really literal history. 22:19 Is the book of Genesis, though, literal history? 22:23 Let me share this with you, Folks. 22:26 If we don't believe that the book of Genesis is dealing 22:30 with literal historical events, we are not only 22:34 impugning the veracity of Moses. 22:37 We are impugning the veracity 22:41 of Peter, and Paul, and Stephen, and Luke, and Jesus. 22:49 Do you realize that every single story, without 22:55 exception, in the book of Genesis is repeated as literal 23:00 history in the New Testament by the New Testament authors? 23:03 Many of these events in 23:05 Genesis are told by Jesus in the Gospels. 23:08 Let's notice, for example, 23:11 Matthew Chapter 19 and verses 4 through 6. 23:19 Here Jesus is speaking about the origin of marriage. 23:23 And notice what we find there. 23:26 Genesis Chapter 19 and verse 4. 23:29 "And he," that is Jesus, "answered and said to them... 24:07 Question: Did Jesus believe that there was a literal 24:11 marriage originally in Genesis between Adam and Eve? 24:16 He most certainly did. And if you say that that story 24:20 is myth or legend or saga, you are not only impugning 24:24 the veracity of Moses; you are questioning 24:27 the veracity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 24:31 Notice also Matthew Chapter 24 and verses 37 to 39, just a 24:38 few examples here. Matthew 24 verses 37 to 39. 24:44 This is speaking about The Flood in the days of Noah. 24:49 It's called Noah's Flood, but it really was the Lord's Flood. 24:52 Notice Matthew Chapter 24 and beginning with verse 37... 25:29 Did Jesus believe that The Flood in the days of Noah 25:33 actually took place historically? 25:35 He did. And by the way, if you don't 25:38 believe that The Flood took place historically, you don't 25:41 have any basis for believing that Jesus is telling the 25:44 truth when he says he's going to come again... 25:45 because he says as it was back then, so will it be. 25:50 But if that "back then" didn't happen, what makes you think 25:53 that what he predicted in the future is going to happen? 25:57 Let's notice another couple of examples. 26:00 1 John Chapter 3 and verse 12. 26:07 You'll notice that we're using scripture a lot. 26:11 And the list that you got tonight is a short list. 26:13 We're going to be using a lot of scripture here in the 26:16 future lectures of the seminar. 26:18 Notice 1 John Chapter 3 and verse 12. 26:23 It says there... 26:43 Question: Did the Apostle John who wrote 1 John believe that 26:48 the story of Cain and Abel was literal history? 26:52 He most certainly did. 26:54 Because it tells us here that Cain killed his brother Abel. 27:00 So, John believed that this 27:02 was a real historical occurrence. 27:06 Let's notice another example. 27:07 Hebrews Chapter 11 and verse 5. 27:15 Here we find a very interesting person mentioned. 27:18 Actually, he's not mentioned very frequently in scripture. 27:23 The Bible tells us that he was caught away to heaven. 27:27 In fact, he never suffered death, according to Genesis 5, 27:30 compared with Hebrews Chapter 11. 27:32 His name was Enoch. 27:35 Now, notice Hebrews Chapter 11 and verse 5... 28:01 Now, let me ask you: Did the author of the book of Hebrews 28:04 believe that Enoch was a real historical person? 28:07 He most certainly did. And, by the way, I believe 28:09 that the author of the book of Hebrews was the Apostle Paul. 28:12 I believe that there's plenty 28:14 of internal evidence to that fact. 28:16 So, did Paul believe that 28:18 Enoch was a real historical person? 28:20 He most certainly did. 28:22 Let's notice one further example. 28:25 And, by the way, in the reference material that you'll 28:27 receive this evening, you're going to have half a page of 28:30 references from the New Testament to every single 28:33 event and person in the book of Genesis. 28:37 You have Abraham, you have Isaac, you have Jacob, you 28:41 have Joseph, you have the 12 sons of Jacob. 28:44 I mean, you have every single event in the book of Genesis 28:49 repeated somewhere in the New Testament. 28:52 Notice Luke Chapter 3. This will be the last example 28:56 that we'll give of the importance of believing in the 28:59 historicity of the book of Genesis. 29:01 Luke Chapter 3 has the genealogy of Jesus Christ. 29:07 And I want you to notice - 29:10 we're only going to read two verses, Chapter 3 and verse 29:14 23, and then we're going to jump down to verse 38. 29:18 It says in verse 23, "Now, Jesus himself began his 29:23 ministry at about 30 years of age; being as was supposed the 29:28 son of Joseph, the son of Eli... " 29:31 And then it continues giving 29:33 the genealogy... "the son of," "the son of," "the son of... " 29:35 And I want you to notice how the list ends in verse 38. 29:40 It says there, "the son of Enosh, 29:44 the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. " 29:51 Do you believe that Jesus 29:53 was a literal historical personage? 29:55 Do you think that Jesus existed in history? 29:57 Well, we have proof from 29:58 secular historians that Jesus did exist. 30:01 Now, you notice that this genealogy actually begins with 30:06 Jesus and ends with whom? Ends with Adam. 30:10 Now, was Jesus a real, literal historical person? 30:15 He most certainly was. 30:16 So, must Adam also be a literal historical person? 30:21 Obviously yes. You can't have it 30:23 one way with Adam and another way with Jesus. 30:26 If Jesus is a real historical person, so is Adam. 30:30 And, by the way, you'll notice in this genealogy that the 30:33 roots of Jesus are traced all the way back from his day to 30:38 Adam, and you don't have long periods of millions of years 30:44 in between, according to this genealogy. 30:47 And, so, I believe it is of extreme importance for us to 30:52 believe in the historicity of the book of Genesis. 30:55 It is not myth. It is not legend. 30:58 It is not saga. It is real history. 31:04 Now, allow me to mention a few things about the disciplines 31:09 that are addressed in the book of Genesis. 31:12 Do you know that the book of 31:14 Genesis addresses at least in seminal form most of the 31:18 disciplines that are studied in universities today? 31:21 Allow me to give you a list quickly. 31:23 The book of Genesis has a lot to say about theology. 31:27 You know, if people believe 31:29 the book of Genesis, there wouldn't be any atheists in 31:32 the world because the book of Genesis begins by saying, 31:35 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. " 31:39 That is a theological statement. 31:41 The book of Genesis does not 31:43 try to prove the existence of God. 31:45 The book of Genesis takes the existence of God for granted. 31:49 It makes this wonderful theological statement. 31:52 The book of Genesis has a lot to say about cosmology, the 31:56 origin of the heavens and the earth. 31:59 You can find that in Chapter 1 and verses 6 through 8. 32:03 The book of Genesis actually speaks about the origin of 32:06 chronology, or time, because after each day of creation it 32:11 says that God saw that what He had made was good, and it was 32:16 the evening of the morning of the first day, the second day 32:20 and the third day... and so on. 32:21 And in Genesis Chapter 1 32:23 it speaks about God making the sun, the moon and the stars to 32:28 establish seasons and periods of the year. 32:31 You can find that in Chapter 1. 32:33 So, in other words, God created chronology; He created 32:36 months, He created years, and He created days 32:40 as the frame of reference of time in this earth. 32:44 You also find in the book of Genesis the origins of 32:47 geography, where the dry land came from. 32:51 You see, it tells us in 32:54 Genesis Chapter 1 and verse 2 that the earth was completely 32:57 covered with water before creation. 32:58 But God was the one who made the earth... Geography. 33:02 The book of Genesis also addresses the issue of botany. 33:06 It says that every plant reproduces according to its 33:10 kind, and that is true even till this day. 33:14 Every plant reproduces according to its kind. 33:18 So, Genesis definitely has something to say about the 33:21 origin of trees and plants and grass. 33:24 The book of Genesis actually 33:27 speaks about the origin of zoology, the study of animals. 33:31 And, by the way, the book of Genesis indicates that all of 33:35 the animals were created adults, so to speak. 33:38 All of the animals were 33:39 created on the fifth and the sixth day... adults. 33:43 They did not take millions of 33:45 years to evolve, according to the book of Genesis. 33:48 God spoke, and on the 33:51 fifth day the birds and the fish appeared. 33:53 God spoke, and on the sixth day the land animals appeared. 33:58 So, the book of Genesis indicates that man is not the 34:02 end of a long evolutionary process where we come from 34:06 primates and the primates came from lower forms of life. 34:09 The book of Genesis simply says, clearly and directly, 34:14 that God spoke and things were done. 34:18 And, so, the book of Genesis 34:20 deals with zoology, and it says that every animal is to 34:23 reproduce according to its kind. 34:25 That is also a scientifically true statement. 34:28 The book of Genesis has a lot 34:31 to say about anthropology, the study of man. 34:34 In fact, it speaks about the origin of man and woman, and 34:39 it speaks about how Adam was taken from the dust. 34:43 And by the way, I believe that 34:44 that's a literal story, that God took clay and he formed 34:48 Adam, and then he took a rib from Adam and he made Eve. 34:51 You say, "Well, that's kind of unscientific. " 34:54 Well, the fact is that scientists weren't there. 34:56 And if we have faith in God's 34:59 word, faith means having faith and trusting what God says, 35:04 we'll have absolutely no problem with that story. 35:07 The book of Genesis has a lot to say about sociology. 35:11 Why do people get married today? 35:14 And why do they have children? 35:15 Why have we had this big uproar recently about a man 35:19 marrying a man and a woman marrying a woman? 35:21 It's because it's contrary to 35:24 what we find in the book of Genesis. 35:26 God established the ideal social circle. 35:29 He established marriage, the marriage between a man and a 35:33 woman, to have children in a family unit. 35:36 And Genesis has the origins of that. 35:40 The book of Genesis has a lot 35:42 to say about psychology, believe it or not. 35:45 It would be interesting for you sometime just to sit down 35:48 and look at all the psychological concepts you 35:50 find in the book of Genesis. It's amazing. 35:53 You know, psychologists today try to solve the problem of 35:56 depression and low self-esteem and fear, you know, with all 36:00 sorts of gimmicks and methodologies. 36:03 The fact is that we're going 36:04 to notice in our study tomorrow that the origin of 36:08 fear and the origin of a low self-concept and the origin of 36:14 strife in marriage and the origin of strife between 36:19 brother and brother - like in the case of Cain and Abel - 36:23 is not due to some psychological malfunction. 36:27 It is due to sin. And unless a counselor deals 36:34 with the issue of sin, the problem will not be resolved. 36:38 Genesis has a lot to say about psychology. 36:42 The book of Genesis has a lot 36:44 to say about geology, the study of the earth. 36:47 And, you know, you have scientists today Who don't 36:50 believe that there was a universal flood. 36:52 I believe that you have to study the story of The Flood 36:55 in order to be able to read the earth correctly, because 36:59 at The Flood, the earth went through huge changes. 37:03 In fact, if you read in Chapter 8 of Genesis, that 37:06 after The Flood, God caused a mighty wind to blow! 37:10 And that mighty wind, you know, buried everything that 37:13 was on the surface of the earth. 37:15 In other words, you had an upheaval of the earth. 37:18 You know, we all probably have 37:20 seen the graphic pictures on television of the tsunami. 37:25 Have you noticed that, 37:27 the devastation and the destruction? 37:29 And that was just a tidal wave 37:31 in a certain region of the world. 37:34 Can you imagine what it must have been like to have this 37:39 whole world totally covered with water with a huge storm 37:44 that lasted 40 days and 40 nights, where the Bible says 37:48 that out of the earth came gushing forth jets of water! 37:53 And the windows of heaven were opened! 37:56 The earth was in turmoil! No wonder science today cannot 38:00 read the earth in the correct way, because the earth is 38:06 nothing like it was at the beginning. 38:08 And, so, in order to get a true concept of geology, we 38:12 must make reference to the book of Genesis. 38:15 The book of Genesis addresses 38:17 the issue of philology, the study of languages. 38:20 It tells us where languages originated. 38:23 The book of Genesis has a 38:24 description of ethnology, the origin of nations. 38:27 In fact, in Genesis Chapter 10, 38:29 we have the table of nations which describes the origin of 38:32 all of the nations that have ever existed on Planet Earth. 38:37 The book of Genesis also addresses some very important 38:40 existential questions, like you noticed in your handbill. 38:44 We're going to be dealing with 38:46 all of these issues as we go along in this seminar... 38:49 How did I get here? Why am I here? 38:53 Does my life have meaning and purpose? 38:57 Is there really a God who loves me? 39:02 You know, lots of people after 39:04 the tsunami say, you know, "If there's a God like that who 39:07 allows that, I don't even want to believe in a God like that. " 39:10 And... "If a God like that exists," 39:12 you know, "I certainly don't want to serve him. " 39:15 The fact is, is God good? 39:19 And why is there so much evil if God is good? 39:22 We'll have a whole lecture 39:23 where we're going to decode the paradox of good and evil. 39:26 We're going to answer the question, "How can I 39:28 experience personal peace in a world of strife?" 39:31 Everybody's nervous today. Everybody is anxious about 39:34 perhaps another terrorist attack, or homeland security. 39:39 You know, how can we live life and experience personal peace 39:43 in all of the strife that surrounds us? 39:45 How can I enjoy quality time in the rat race of life? 39:50 What happens the moment I die? If I die, will I live again? 39:55 Is there really a better world coming? 39:58 Is there such a thing as absolute truth? 40:02 If there is absolute truth, how can I find it? 40:05 How can I enjoy life filled 40:09 with health and with prosperity? 40:11 All of these issues are 40:12 addressed very carefully in the book of Genesis. 40:17 Now, did you know that the 40:19 book of Genesis is actually the story of two seeds? 40:24 And we're going to further 40:26 develop this concept of the two seeds. 40:29 It begins in Genesis 3 verse 15. 40:32 "I will put enmity between you and the woman. " 40:35 See the two sides there? The Serpent and the woman... 40:38 between the Serpent's seed and the woman's seed. 40:42 See, there you have the two's again. 40:44 "He," the seed of the woman, 40:47 "will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel. " 40:52 Do you see the controversy and the conflict there between 40:55 Serpent and woman, seed and seed, seed and Serpent? 41:00 The story of Genesis, which is developed in the rest of 41:03 scripture, has to do with a battle between two seeds. 41:08 Not only do you have this in Genesis 3 verse 15, but you 41:13 also have it in the story of Cain and Abel. 41:16 Do you know the first example of Genesis 3:15 is in the 41:19 story of Cain and Abel. You say, How is that? 41:22 Well, let's look for the four elements. 41:24 Is there a woman in the story of Cain and Abel? 41:26 Sure. It's Eve. 41:28 She's the mother of both of them. 41:30 Do you have in the story of Cain and Abel enmity? 41:34 You most certainly do. 41:36 Cain gets angry and hates his brother. 41:39 Do you have in the story of Cain and Abel two seeds that 41:44 are totally unlike, one good and one evil? 41:48 Absolutely. And do you know that even the 41:51 Serpent is involved in the story of Cain and Abel? 41:53 Not directly in Genesis, but 41:56 if you go to 1 John 3:12 which we've already read, it says, 41:59 "Not as Cain, who was of the wicked one. " 42:04 So, the one who wanted Abel dead was not only Cain; it was 42:08 "the wicked one" of whom Cain was seed. 42:13 And, so, you have this enmity between Cain and Abel. 42:16 A little bit later on in the 42:18 book, you have this illicit relationship between the sons 42:22 of God and the daughters of men. 42:24 We're going to deal with that later on. 42:25 Who are the sons of God that 42:27 unite with the daughters of men? 42:29 You have two different seeds, 42:31 the righteous and the unrighteous intermingling. 42:34 Once again, you have the idea of the two seeds. 42:37 And then of course in the 42:39 story of Noah, you have the righteous who are saved inside 42:42 and the wicked who are destroyed outside. 42:45 And then a little bit later on in Genesis Chapter 10, you 42:49 have the descendants of Shem, the son of Noah. 42:52 And on the other side you have 42:54 the descendants of Ham and Japheth. 42:56 By the way, we're going to 42:57 notice that the descendants of Ham and Japheth, the nations 43:00 that came from them, were the very enemies which tried to 43:03 destroy Israel in the Old Testament. 43:06 Israel descends from Shem, whereas all of the nations 43:09 which tried to destroy Israel descend from Ham and Japheth. 43:13 Very interesting. 43:15 We'll deal with this a little bit later on. 43:16 But you have the idea of the two seeds. 43:18 And then you have the builders of the Tower of Babel. 43:21 And God commands Abraham, he says to Abraham, "Get out of 43:27 the place where the Babel builders built this tower"; 43:30 because the Bible says that Abraham and his family were 43:33 getting contaminated with the gods of Babylon. 43:36 And, so, God says to Abraham, 43:38 "You can't be with that evil seed... 43:40 You must separate from them. " 43:42 So, there you have once again the idea of the two seeds. 43:45 Time and again in the book of 43:47 Genesis, you have this idea of the two seeds. 43:50 Then you have the story of Isaac and Ishmael. 43:53 Notice once again the same idea of the two seeds. 43:56 Isaac is the seed of the Promise. 43:58 Ishmael, we're told in 44:01 Galatians Chapter 4, that he arose to try and kill Isaac 44:06 who was the son of the Promise. 44:07 Once again, you have this 44:08 enmity between a good seed and an evil seed. 44:13 And then, of course, you have the story of Jacob and Esau. 44:16 See the twosomes in this book? It's amazing. 44:19 And, by the way, in the book 44:20 of Revelation this is going to culminate. 44:22 These people who are 44:24 individuals in Genesis - Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, 44:28 Cain and Abel - actually are individuals who represent two 44:34 worldwide groups at the end of time. 44:37 They're symbolic in miniature of the characteristics which 44:42 two groups will have at the end of time. 44:44 And, so, we must know the 44:46 characters of Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Ishmael, Cain and 44:51 Abel in order to understand what the characters of the two 44:54 groups at the end of time are going to be like. 44:57 And then, of course, you have Joseph and his brothers. 45:01 You have Lot and the inhabitants of Sodom. 45:04 I could continue going through Genesis. 45:06 You have this idea of the two 45:07 seeds... battles of one seed against another. 45:12 Now, before we draw this to a 45:14 close this evening, I need to tell you something which is 45:19 very important, probably the most important thing that I'm 45:22 going to deal with tonight, and that is the secret to 45:26 decode or to break the code of the book of Genesis. 45:30 You see, the book of Genesis on the surface appears to be a 45:37 collection of stories that took place once upon a time. 45:44 But those who read the book of Genesis only as history are 45:50 missing the deeper dimension of the book of Genesis. 45:54 We're going to see in this seminar that every story of 45:58 Genesis is not only a story, but a prophecy. 46:03 In fact, I believe I can show that every story in the Old 46:08 Testament is a prophecy... A prophecy about the coming 46:13 Messiah - Jesus in His First Coming - and also a prophecy 46:18 about events surrounding the Second Coming of Christ. 46:22 In other words, the book of Genesis is literal history, 46:25 but it is prophecy written as history. 46:29 In other words, beyond the 46:31 local historical events, they become symbolic or 46:35 representative of future worldwide events. 46:40 I already mentioned as an example Genesis 3:15, 46:45 and how it's fulfilled in Revelation 12. 46:47 We'll be studying this in more detail. 46:49 You find the same elements. 46:51 You find enmity, you find a woman, you find a seed of 46:55 the woman, you find the Serpent trying to kill the 46:57 seed and then trying to kill the woman. 46:59 There's no way we can 47:00 understand end-time prophecy without understanding the 47:03 issues that are brought up in Genesis 3 verse 15. 47:07 By the way, if you read 47:09 Genesis Chapter 1 and 2, you'll find that the Garden of 47:12 Eden has rivers of living water flowing through them, 47:17 and you'll find that in the garden was the Tree of Life. 47:22 Have you ever noticed that in Revelation Chapter 21 and 22, 47:26 you have the River of the Water of Life? 47:30 And you have, once again restored, the Tree of Life. 47:34 In other words, what we have in Genesis is the original 47:39 Garden of Eden and the losing of Eden because of sin. 47:43 In the middle, the rest of the Bible, you find the story of 47:47 how God acts to redeem that which was lost. 47:51 And in Revelation 21 and 22, 47:53 you have the restoring of the original Garden of Eden. 47:58 So, there's a close relationship between Genesis 1 48:01 and 2, and Revelation Chapter 21 and 22. 48:04 You find, for example, the story of Cain and Abel. 48:09 This story is not only history... It's a prophecy. 48:12 We're going to have a whole lecture, 48:14 I mentioned, on the Battle of Armageddon. 48:16 If you want to know what the issues are going to be in the 48:19 final Battle of Armageddon, you have to know what the 48:23 issues were in the story of Cain and Abel. 48:26 And we're going to find that the issues in that original 48:30 story revolved around obedience and worship. 48:35 And if you go to the book of Revelation, you're going to 48:38 find that the issues which are going to separate the world 48:41 into two groups are obedience to God's Law and worship. 48:48 The only difference is that in 48:49 the beginning of human history, you have two 48:52 individuals, whereas at the end of history those two 48:56 individuals have proliferated into two worldwide groups that 49:03 have similar characters to those two original people. 49:07 Jesus himself said that the 49:09 story of The Flood is not only a story, it's a prophecy. 49:13 He said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so also shall 49:18 it be at the coming of the Son of Man. " 49:20 Jesus said, "What happened then is going to happen again 49:24 in relationship with My second coming. " 49:26 And I'm going to have a whole 49:27 lecture on the story of The Flood. 49:29 And I'm going to show you that not only is the wickedness of 49:33 the world in the days of Noah similar to the wickedness 49:35 which will exist at the end of time; not only is the 49:39 destruction of the world in the days of Noah similar to 49:42 the destruction which will take place at the end of time; 49:44 I will show you that there will be a whole pattern of 49:48 sequential events which will be fulfilled in the exact way 49:53 in which they took place in the Old Testament. 49:55 You have also the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. 49:58 Very interesting story. Do you know that Jesus also 50:02 said that story was a prophecy? 50:03 He says in Luke Chapter 17, 50:06 notice - let's go there and read this passage. 50:09 Luke Chapter 17 and verses 28 to 32. 50:13 Luke 17:28 to 32. 50:16 Here Jesus is speaking and He says this... 50:53 Allow me to give you just a 50:54 little bit of an inkling what we're going to deal with what 50:56 we're going to deal with when we talk about Sodom and Gomorrah. 50:58 Do you know that before the cities were destroyed, God 51:02 sent three angels with a warning for those cities? 51:08 In the book of Revelation, we 51:10 find that before the destruction of the world, God 51:13 is going to send three angels to warn the world. 51:18 And somebody might say, Well, Pastor, that's just 51:20 an accident. That's a coincidence. 51:23 We're going to notice that it is not a coincidence. 51:26 You see, the three angels that came to Abraham and then two 51:29 of them went to Sodom and to Gomorrah, actually are 51:33 symbolic of the messages which will be presented by 51:35 these angels of Revelation Chapter 14. 51:40 Actually, the call of Abraham 51:42 out of the place where the Tower of Babel was built is 51:46 fulfilled in Revelation 18, where there is a message given 51:50 to God's people: "Come out of Babylon, My people, and do not 51:55 participate in her sins that you receive not her plagues. " 51:59 The call of Abraham out of 52:00 Babylon foreshadows or symbolizes the final call of 52:04 God's people out of Spiritual Babylon at the end of time. 52:09 The story of the conflict between Isaac and Ishmael 52:12 actually is taken by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 52:16 Chapter 4, and he says that this represents two different 52:20 kinds of people, those who live according to the flesh 52:23 and those who live according to the Spirit. 52:26 In other words, these two sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael, 52:32 represent two different kinds of characters of people that 52:36 will live in this world at the end of time. 52:39 Those who live according to 52:40 the flesh and those who live according to the Spirit. 52:43 And we're going to notice in this story that we have the 52:48 description of the origin of the conflict that exists today 52:53 between Israel and the Palestinians. 52:57 We're going to deal with that issue in prophecy, with Israel 52:59 in Bible prophecy, with the Arabs in Bible prophecy, 53:03 because that is - the origin of this controversy is back 53:07 when Abraham had Isaac and Ishmael. 53:10 Since the days of Abraham, 53:13 they have been at each other's throats. 53:15 This isn't something new. It's something which has 53:18 existed all throughout the course of human history. 53:23 Who could forget the story of the almost sacrifice of Isaac? 53:28 I say "almost" because Isaac was not sacrificed. 53:31 I mean, that story is so 53:33 clearly pointing to the Messiah that, you know, I 53:37 don't even have to dwell on it very much. 53:39 You know, God told Abraham, 53:40 "Take your son to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him there. " 53:44 And when Abraham is about to 53:45 sacrifice his son, the voice says, "Don't sacrifice your 53:50 son," and Abraham finds a ram, which is a male lamb. 53:55 He finds a ram in a thicket 53:57 and he offers the ram in place of his son. 54:00 Do you know that that represents the fact that God 54:03 the Father sent His Son Jesus to this world? 54:06 And He sent Him to take our place. 54:09 He sent him as a Lamb of God 54:11 who takes away the sin of the world. 54:13 And there's a whole series of parallels between the story 54:16 that took place in the days of Abraham and the story of the 54:21 ministration of Christ on this earth. 54:23 Who could forget the story of what is called Jacob's Ladder? 54:26 By the way it's not Jacob's Ladder... 54:28 it's the Lord's Ladder. 54:29 In Genesis Chapter 28 it speaks about a ladder that is 54:33 planted on the earth whose top reached to the highest heaven 54:36 and angels were ascending and descending upon the ladder. 54:39 What could that mean? Well, we don't have to guess. 54:42 Because in John Chapter 1 and verse 51 Jesus says, "You will 54:46 see heaven open and you will see the angels ascending and 54:51 descending upon the Son of Man. " 54:53 In other words, the ladder represents Jesus Christ. 54:57 The bottom of the ladder represents His humanity, His 55:02 oneness with us. The top of the ladder 55:05 represents the fact that He's God. 55:07 It represents His divinity or His deity. 55:09 In other words, the only one who can represent us before 55:13 God is one who is Man with man, and God with God. 55:18 He's the only one who can bridge Heaven and Earth. 55:21 So, Jesus himself said, "I am the Ladder. " 55:25 The ladder of Genesis 28 is really a prophecy. 55:29 It is not only a story. 55:31 Who could forget the story of Jacob and Esau? 55:34 This is a symbolic story. In fact, at the very end of 55:38 the story, we find Jacob returning to his home after 55:41 he's gone into exile from his home because of sin like Adam 55:44 and Eve were cast out because of their sin. 55:47 And now he's returning home and he hears that his brother 55:49 is coming after him to destroy him. 55:51 And Jacob goes through what is 55:55 known as the "Time of Jacob's Trouble. " 55:59 He's in anxiety because he's 56:02 afraid that his brother is going to destroy him! 56:04 Do you know that the Bible says that shortly before the 56:09 Coming of Jesus, God's people will go through a period which 56:12 is known as the "Time of Jacob's Trouble"? 56:15 They will have a similar 56:16 experience to the experience that Jacob had. 56:19 It's mentioned, for example, 56:21 in Daniel Chapter 12 and verse 1 where it says, "At that time 56:25 Michael shall stand up, that great prince that stands watch 56:28 over your people, and there will be a time of trouble 56:32 such as never was since there was a nation. " 56:34 See, that's the time of Time of Jacob's Trouble. 56:36 But at that time God' people 56:38 will be delivered, every one who is written in the Book. 56:41 The story of Joseph is a symbolic story. 56:45 Joseph is sold by his brothers for a few pieces of silver. 56:50 Jesus was sold by his own 56:51 brothers by 30 pieces of silver. 56:54 If you want to understand the 56:57 144,000 of Revelation Chapter 7, once again, you have to go 57:01 back to the book of Genesis, Genesis 49. 57:04 There Jacob, before his death, 57:06 gives a description of character of each one of his 57:09 sons, and they form the foundation for us 57:12 understanding the characters, the 12 personality profiles 57:17 that will exist at the end of time. 57:19 The book of Genesis is a prophetic book. 57:23 It has a much deeper dimension 57:25 than mere history, and we're going to try and decipher all 57:28 of those things in this seminar. |
Revised 2014-12-17