Let us pray: Our Father in Heaven As we open the book of Genesis, we ask for guidance from on high Show us the wondrous things from this book We pray this in the precious name of Jesus, our Lord and Savoir. Amen. The book of Genesis is the book about origins. In fact, the name Genesis means precisely that: origins Now allow me to mention as we begin our study today the things which the book of Genesis mentions as originating First of all, we have the origins of the cosmos That is, of the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1. We have the origins of plants, spoken of in Genesis chapter 1. We have the origins of animals We have the origin of man, the origin of woman The origin of sin, the beginning of the origin of death, the beginning of the origin of redemption The beginning of nations, the beginning of languages, the beginning of Israel and even the beginning of the Arabs, or the Arabic nations. These are just some of the beginnings that we find mentioned in the book of Genesis. So the book of Genesis is very important because it goes way back into pre-history as we know it, to describe the origins of everything which exists upon this earth Now allow me to give you a little bit about the timeline of Genesis. The book of Genesis describes the first 2500 years of human history. I believe as I've examined the contents of the book that it was written by Moses and actually it was written approximately 1500 years before the birth of Jesus and so you can imagine that the book of Genesis was actually describing events that took place approximately the year 4000BC - four thousand before Christ And actually, it was written 1500 years before Jesus Christ was born The book of Genesis presents a short chronology of planet Earth. In other words, it does not allow for long periods of millions of years where God is creating what is known as "progressive creationism". The book of Genesis teaches that this planet is approximately 6,000 years old, from the moment in which God began to create upon it. And I'd just like to tell you up front from the very beginning that in this seminar, I take the book of Genesis as literal history I believe that it represents a short time span For the events that are described in it. In other words, we don't have to go back millions of years to find out the origin of things in this world. All we have to do is go back approximately 6,000 years to find the events for example that are described in Genesis Chapter 1, and chapter 2 The book of Genesis is the seed plot of the bible Allow me to explain what I mean One of my favorite national parks in all the United States is the one that we have just up the mountain Sequoia National Park. I just enjoy going up there and unwinding, and taking it easy for a whole day breathing some fresh air especially when its foggy here in the valley And I just enjoy, uh going for example to the grant tree and to the general Sherman tree and just standing there underneath these trees. It's amazing! Some of them are almost 3,000 years old. Can you imagine a tree that's almost 3,000 years old? And they are hundreds of feet tall And I am just am awed every time I go up there And I stand under these trees and I see how thick they are and how high they go, and I'm just amazed But have you ever stopped to think, that the might Sequoia, for example the general sherman tree actually came from a little seed? Have you ever stopped to think that that whole tree that you find up there, the general sherman tree in Sequoia National Park actually was enclosed in cold form, sort of speak in that little seed, and the seed sprouted, and it produced after almost 3,000 years this gigantic tree. In other words, the Sequoia tree was contained in that seed. Thats the relationship between Genesis and the rest of the bible. The book of Genesis has the seeds The rest of the bible is the development and growth of those seeds, and eventually, the growth reaches its climax or its fullness in the book of Revelation. In other words, we're not going to stay in this seminar in the book of Genesis. We're going to begin in Genesis in each lecture, and we're going to study these seeds and then we're going to see how these seeds develop throughout the course of the whole bible. Now, the bok of Revelation is a very important book to study along with Genesis You notice for example in the brochure that many of you received in the mail or perhaps in the newspaper, or maybe somebody gave you one of the brochures, you notice there that this seminar is not only about Geneiss, it is also about the book of Revelation. You see, I beleive that we cannot understand the book of Revelation unless we understand the book of Genesis. We can never understand the end unless we understand first of all the beginning. Because the end is simply the culmination of a process which began way back in the book of Genesis. Allow me to give you an example of the relationship between Gensis and Revelation. We'll study these things more fully a little bit ater on, but I want to show you a couple of the examples so that you can see how important it is for us to compare and to inter-relate Genesis with Revelation. Go with me, in your bibles to Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 15. And by the way, on the lists of texts that you have there is in parenthesis, a page number which will make it a lot easier for you to find the bible verses as we move along because the people have heard me say that I go awful fast, but with the list, you'll know exactly where we're going, so you'll be able to one up on me. You'll be able to look up the next text actually before I even mention it. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 This is immediately after sin. I want you to notice what it says. God speaking: And I will put enmity between you, that is the serpent, and the woman, and between your seed and her seed Now let's stop there for a moment. We have four elements in what we've read from this verse so far. First of all, is enmity or war. Secondly, there is a serpent whom God is speaking to in this verse. In the 3rd palce, we have a woman because there's war between the serpent and the woman. And in the 4th place, we have the seed. We actually two seeds The seed of the serpent, and the seed of the woman. So we have these four elements: enmity, serpent, woman, and seed. And I want you to notice that the enmity runs between the serpent and the woman, between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, and between the seed of the woman and the serpent. Let's notice this verse again. God says, "I will put enmity between you the serpent, and the woman. There's the first enmity--the serpent and the woman And between, your seed--that is the serpent seed and her seed. So you have enmity between the serpent and woman and between seed and seed But that's not the real warfare. Even though there is warfare The critical and most important warfare is between the seed of the woman and the serpent, because the last part of the verse says He, that is the seed of hte woman, will bruise your head, the serpent's head, and you will bruise his heel. So the enmity runs three ways. Serpent vs. woman, seed of the serpent vs. seed of the woman, and the seed of the woman vs. the serpent. There's no way in the world that we can understand a chapter like Revelation 12 without comprehending Genesis 3:15. Because in Revelation chapter 12, I'll just mention it, we have a couple of lectures on Revelation chapter 12 You see, in Revelation 12, we have a child who is born to a woman And standing next to this woman who is about to bear the child is a dragon who is identified as the ancient serpent the devil and Satan. And it says that he wants to devour the child as soon as the child is born The child of the woman. Do you see Genesis 3:15 in that passage in revelation chapter 12? versus 1-5? Very clear.The warfare was going to be between the seed of the woman and the serpent And that's exactly what you have in Revelation 12:1-5 But Revelation 12 doesn't end there. Later on in the chapter, when the child is caught up to God and the throne, which refers to the ascension of Christ, we're told that now the woman flees into the wilderness and the serpent is after the woman. And later on even in this chapter, in verse 17, we find that the final warfare is no longer against he woman, but against the seed's seed. In other words, the seed of the woman's seed, and so there's no way that we can really understand, uh, Genesis chapter 3:15 uness we find the greatest development in Revelation chapter 12, as well as other pasages that we find in the New Testament. Now, allow me to give you one other example. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 24. Genesis chapter 2, and verse actually its verse 25. Speaking about Adam and Eve, it says, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." We're going to find in our seminar that the reason they were not ashamed is because they were not covered with human garments, but made out of material. They were actually covered by the glorious light of God. They had no artificial garments. They were naked with respect to garments made out of satin, or made out of other material. They were covered with the glory of God. They wer covered with the light of God. The same type of garments that God has according to Psalms 104. And that's the reason why they were not ashamed. But then in Genesis 3:7, we find that Adam and Eve sinned, and suddenly we find them hiding from God. And now they are ashamed even though they've covered themselves with fig leaves. They still don't feel like the fig leaves are covering their nakedness because the light has gone away from them. And so they're hiding from God even though they have covered the nakedness of their bodies with fig leaves, they know that their nakedness is nakedness of soul. And do you know what God does? In Genesis 3:21, it says that God makes garments of skins and clothed Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness. Now there's a text in the book of Revelation which we could never understand unless we catch this background from Genesis chapter 3. And that is the central verse in the passage that deals with the battle of Armageddon. You know there's a lot of talk today about Armageddon What it's going to be? What nations it's going to involve, what the issues are in this great battle. And I've heard a lot of books written by many different scholars on the battle of Armageddon. In fact, we're gonna have a whole lecture later on in this series, on the battle of Armageddon. But you know what I find interesting? Most of those commentaries with very few exceptions, dea with all sorts of issues connected with the battle of Armageddon. They talk for example, about the kings of the east And they talk about the drying up of the river Euphrates, and they talk about the three evil spirits like frogs coming up out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. They have a lot to say about all of these things. But there's one verse which very rarely is even commented on, and it deals with with the central issue in the battle of Armageddon. And it shows that we must study Genesis in order to understand it. Go with me to Revelation 16 and verse 15, and you'll see this. Revelation chapter 16 and verse 15. Right in the middle of the passage on the sixth plague of Revelation, and while you're looking for that text, allow me to say this, this is the only place, where Jesus speaks in the book of Revelation between Chapter 3 and chapter 21 The only verse--if you have a red letter edition of the bible where it gives the words that are spoken by Jesus, you'll find that the last words of Jesus are in Chapter 3. The next time that Jesus speaks is in chapter 21 with the exception of Revelation 16 and verse 15. Do you figure that if Jesus-- that if this is the only place that Jesus speaks between revelation 3 and revelation 21, that it must be a very important verse? Obviously! Notice what we find there in Revelation chapter 16 and verse 15: Jesus is speaking. Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame. Now you tell me. Is that verse have anything to do with Genesis chapter 3? You have the same elements You have garments, you have nakedness, and you have shame. Obviously, there's going to be some people at the end of time living during the period of the battle of Armageddon who are going to be found naked and their shame will be revealed just like Adam and Eve. But you cannot understand what this means in the end time unless you first understand what happened with Adam and Eve in Genesis because at the end of time there's gonna be a repetition of what happened in the book of Genesis These are just two examples of how Genesis is very intricately entwined with the book of Revelation. Now this question frequently comes up when we study the book of Genesis, and that is is the book of Genesis really literal history? Or is the book of Genesis legend, myth, or as Carol Bath the great theologian said, "saga"? I want to tell you upfront that I believe that the book of Genesis from Genesis 1:1 through the end of chapter 50 is dealing with literal historical events. In fact, it might surprise some of you to know that up till the age of the englightenment in the 18th century--if you go before the eighteenth century, you'll find that practically every scholar that ever wrote on the book of Genesis believed that book of Genesis was actual, literal, history as it took place But in the age of enlightenment appeared historical criticism and appeared the scientific method and so they started applying the scientific method and historical criticism to God's Holy word besides doing it to the natural world and to documents that had been written in antiquity, and for this reason, many of the scholars came to the conclusion that the book of Geneiss particularly chapters 1-11 were not describing real literal hisotry. I saw this problem very clearly a few years ago when I was at a speaking committment up in Berrien Springs, Michigan there's the university where I went to school. They have a fantastic theological library. with hundreds of thousands of books. And of course, I only had to speak in the evening. And during the daytime, I took advantage and went to the library for aobut 8 or 9 hours a day doing research for this series on the book of Genesis. And as I examined the commentaries that were written on the book of Genesis there's something which really struck me. And that's is that most of the commentators really did not believe in the historicity of the book of Genesis. They did not believe that it's literal history. And these were Christian commentators who were actually writing on the book of Genesis. In fact, I had to snicker when I was uh, researching the story of Eve and the serpent which spoke to Eve and a scholar, several of them actually, said the reason why this story was included in Genesis is to explain the reason why people are afraid of snakes and then I went on to story of Cain and Abel. And severeal of the authors said the reason why you have the story of Cain and Abel in the book of Genesis is to explain the origin of sibling rivalry and then I continued studying and got to Genesis chapter 11 where it speaks about the Tower of Babel, the confusion of the languages and the commentaries said this did not really happen in history. This idea that they tried to build a tower and God confused their languages. The scholar said the reason why this story was written was in order to explain why in the world you had so many different languages, and so on Most of the scholars that I read would be called liberal scholars. They do not beleive in the full inspiration of scripture. And therefore, they do not belive that the stories of Genesis are really literal history Is the book of Genesis though literal history? Let me share this with you, folks! If we don't beleive that the book of Gensis is dealing with literal history events we are not only impuning the veracity of Moses. We are impuining the veracity of Peter, and Paul and Steven and Luke and Jesus. Do you realize that every single story without exception in the book of Genesis is repeated as literal history in the new testament by the new testament authors? Many of these events in Genesis are told by Jesus in the gospels. Let's notice for example Matthrew chapter 19 and verses 4 through 6. Matthre chapter 19 and verses 4-6. Here Jesus is speaking about the origin of marriage. And notice what we find there--Genesis chapter 19 and verse 4. And he that is Jesus answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. THerefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate. Question: Did Jesus believe that there was a literal marriage originally in Genesis between Adam and Eve? He most certainly did! And if you say that that story is myth or legend or saga, you are not only impuining the veracity of Moses, you are questioning the veracity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Notice also, Matthew chapter 24:37-39 Just a few examples here. Matthew 24: 37-39. This is speaking about the flood in the days of Noah. It's called Noah's flood, but it really was the Lord's flood. Notice Matthew verse 24 and beginning with verse 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Did Jesus, believe that the flood in the days of Noah actually took place hisotrically? He did. By the way, if you don't believe that the flood took place historically, you don't have any basis for believing that Jesus is telling the truth when he says he's gonna come again. Because he says, as it was back then, so will it be. But if that back then didn't happen, what makes you think that what he predicted in the future is going to happen? Let's notice another couple of examples. First, John chapter 3 and verse 12 You'll notice that we're using scripture a lot tonight, and the list that you got tonight is a short list. We're going to be using a lot of scripture here in the future lectures of the seminar. Notice 1 John 3 and verse 12 It says there, And not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Question: Did the apostle John who wrote 1st John beleive that the story of Cain and Abel was literal history? He most certainly did. Because it tells us here that Cain killed his brother Abel. So John beleived that this was a real, historical, occurance Let's notice another example. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 5. Hebrews 11:5 Here we find a very interesting person mentioned. Actually, he's not mentioned very freuently in scrpture. The bible tells us that he was caught away to heaven. In fact, he never suffered death accoridng to Genesis 5 compared to Hebrews chapter 11 his name was Enoch. Now notice Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 5. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death. And was not found, because God had taken him. For before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pelased God. NOw let me ask you: Did the author of the book of Hebrews believe that Enoch was a real historical person? He most certainly did! And by the wa, I believe that the author of the book of Hebrews was the apostle Paul I believe that there's plenty of internal evidence to that fact. So did Paul believe that Enoch was areal historical person? He most certainly did! Let's notice one further example and by the way, in the reference material that you'll receive this evening, you're going to find half a page of references in the New Testament to every single event and person in the book of Genesis You have Abraham, you have Issaac, you have Jacob, you have Joseph, you have the twelve sons of Jacob, I mean, you have every single event in the book of Genesis repeated somewhere in the New Testament. Notice Luke chapter 3. This will be the last example that we'll give of the importance of believing in the historicity of the book of Genesis. Luke chapter 3 has the genealogy of Jesus Christ. And I want you to notice--we're only going to read two verses Chapter 3 and verse 23 and then we're going to jump down to verse 38. It says in verse 3, Now Jesus himself began his ministry at about thirty years of age, being as was supposed the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, and then it continues giving the genealogy, "the son of, the son of, the son of.." And I want you to notice how the list ends in verse 38. It says there, the son of Enosh the son of Seth, the son of Adam the son of God. Do you believe that Jesus was a literal historical personage? Do you think that Jesus existed in history? Well we have proof from secular historians that Jesus did exist. Now you notice that this genealogy actually begins with Jesus and ends with whom? Ends with Adam. NOw was Jesus a real, literal, historical person? He most certainly was! So must Adam also be a literal, historical person? Obviously, yes! You can't have it one way iwth Adam and another way with Jesus. Jesus is a real historical person, so is Adam. By the way, you'll notice in this genealogy that the roots of Jesus are traced all the way back from His day to Adam. And you don't have long periods of millions of years in between according to this genealogy. And so I believe that it is of extreme importance for us to believe in the historicy of the book of Genesis. It is not myth, it is not legend. It is not saga. It is real, history. NOw, allow me to mention a few things about the disciples that are addressed in the book of Genesis. Do you know that hte book of Genesis addresses at least in seminal form, most of the disciplines that are studied in universities today. Allow me to give you a list quickly. The book of Genesis has a lot to say about theology. You know, if people believe the book of Genesis, there won't be any atheist in the world, because the book of Genesis begins by saying, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." That is a theological statment. The book of Genesis does not try to prove the existance of God. The book of Genesis takes the existence of God for granted. It makes this wonderful theological statement. The book of Genesis has a lot to say about cosmology--the origins of the heavens and the earth. You can find that in chapter 1 verses 6 through 8. The book of Genesis actually speaks about the origin of chronology or time. Because after each day of creation, it says that God, God saw that what he had made was good, and it was the evening and the morning of the first day, and the second day, the third day, and so on And in Genesis chapter 1, it speaks about God making the son, the moon, and the stars to establish the season and periods of the year. You can find that in chapter 1 So in order words, God created chronology. He created months He created years, and he created days, as the frame of reference of time in this earth. You also find in the book of Genesis, the origins of geography. Where the dry land came from. You see, it tells us in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 that the earth was compltely covered with water before creation. But God was the one who made the earth Geography! The book of Genesis also addresses the issue of botany. It says that every plant reproduces according to its kind. And that is true even till this day. Every plant reproduces according to its kind! So Genesis definitely has somethign to say aobut the origins of trees and plants and the grass. The book of Genesis actually speaks about the origin of zoology--the study of animals. And by the way, the book of Genesis indicates that all of the animals were created "adults" so to speak. All of the animals were created on the fifth and the sixth day, adults! They did not take millions of years to evolve according the book of Genesis. Go God spoke and on the fifth day, the birds and the fish appeared God spoke, and on the sixth day, the land animals appeared. So the book of Genesis indicates that man is not the end of a long evoluitonary process where we come from primates, and the primates came from lower forms of life The book of Genesis simply says that clearly, and directly that God spoke, and things were done. And so the book of Genesis deals with zoology and it says that every animal reproduces according to its kind. THat is also a scientifically true statment The book of Genesis has a lot to say about anthropology-- the study of man. In fact, it speaks about the origin of man and woman and it speaks about how Adam was taken from the dust, and I believe that that's a literal story. That God took clay and he formed Adam and he took a rib from Adam and he made Eve. And you say, that kinda unscientific. Well the fact is, that scientists weren't there. And if we have faith in God's word, Faith means having faith and trusting what God says We'll have absolutely no problem with that story. The book of Genesis says has a lot to say about sociology. Why do people get married today? And why do they have children? Why do we have this uproar recently about a man marrying a man, and a woman marrying a woman? It's because that's contrary to what we find in the book of Genesis. God established the ideal social circle. He established marriage. The marriage between a man and a woman, to have children, within a family unit And Genesis has the origins of that. The book of Genesis has a lot to say about psychology, believe it or not! It would be interesting for you sometime to sit down and look at all the psychological concepts that you find in the book of Genesis. It's amazing! You know, psychologists today try to solve the problem of depression and low self esteem and fear with all sorts of gimmicks, and methodologies. The fact is, that we're going to notice in our study tomorrow that the origin of fear and the origin of a low self concept nad the origin of strife in marriage and the origin of strife between brother and brother like in the case of Cain and Abel, is not due to some psychological malfunciton. It is due to sin. And unless a counselor deals with the issue of sin, the problem will not be resolved. Genesis has a lot to say about psychology. The book of Genesis has a lot to say about Geology. The study of the earth. You know, you have scientists today who don't believe that there was a universal flood I believe that you have to study the story of the flood in order to be read the earth correctly. Because at the flood the earth went through huge changes. In fact, if you read in Chapter 8 of Genesis, God caused a mighty wind to blow and that mighty wind, you know buried everything that was on the surface of the earth. In other words, you had a an upheaval of the earth. You know, we all probalby have seen the graphic pictures on television of the Tsunami. Have you noticed that? The devastation the destruction? And that was just a tidal wave in a certain region of he world. Can you imagine what it must have been like, to have this whole world totally covered with water? With a huge storm that lasted forty days and forty nights? Where the bible says that out of the earth came gushing forth jets of water, and the windows of heaven were opened? The earth was in turmoil. No wonder science today cannot read the eath in teh correct way. Because the earth is nothing like it was at the beginning And so in order to get a true concept of geology, we must make reference to the book of Genesis. The book of Geneiss addresses the issue of philology--the study of languages. It tells us where languages originated. The book of Genesis has a description of Ethnology--the origin of nations. In fact, in Genesis chapter 10, we have the table of Nations, which describes the origin of all of the nations that have ever existed on planet earth. The book of Geneisis also addresses some very important existential questions. Like you noticed in your hand bill, we're going to be dealing with all of these issues as we go along in this seminar. How did I get here? Why am I here? Does my life have meaning and purpose? Is there really a God who loves me? You know, lots of people after the Tsunami says, "If there's a God like that, you know ,I don't even want to believe in a God like that. And if a God like that exists, then I certainly don't want to serve Him." The fact is, Is God good? And why is there so much evil if God is good? We'll have a whole lecture when we're going to decode the paradox of good and evil. We're going to answer the question, "How can I experience personal people in a world of strife?" Everybody's nervous today. Everybody is anxious about perhaps another terrorist attack. Or homeland security. How can we live life and experience perosnal peace in all of the strife that surrounds us? How can I enjoy quality time in the rat race of life? What happens the moment I die? If I die, will I live again? Is there really a better world coming? Is there such a thing as absolute truth? If there is absolute truth, how can I find it? How can I enjoy life filled with health and with prosperity? All of these issues are addressed very carefully in the book of Genesis. Now, did you know that hte book of Genesis is actualltye story of two seeds? And we're going to further develop this concept of the two seeds. It begins in Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you an the woman. See the two sides there? The serpent and the woman. Between the serpents seed and the womans' seed. See, there you have the two again. He, the seed of the woman, will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel. You see the controversy and the conflict there? Between serpent and woman? Seed and seed? Seed and serpent? The story of Genesis which is developed in the rest of scripture has to do with a battle between two seeds. Not only do you have this in Genesis 3:15, But you also have it in the story of Cain and Abel. Do you know the first example of Genesis 3:15 is in the story of Cain and Abel? You say, "How is that?" Well, lets look for the four elements. Is there a woman in the story of Cain and Abel? Sure. It's Eve! She's the mother of both of them. Do you have in the story of Cain and Abel enmity? You most certainly do! Cain gets angry and hates his brother. Do you have in the story of Cain and Abel, two seeds? That are totally unlike, one good and one evil? Absolutely! And do you know that even the serpent is involved in the story of Cain and Abel? Not directly in Genesis If you go to 1 John 3:12, which we've already read, it says, "Not as Cain who was of the wicked one." So the one who wanted Abel dead was not only Cain, it was the wicked one of whom Cain was the seed. So you have this enmity between Cain and Abel. A little bit later on in the book you have this illicit relationship between the sons of God and the daughters of men. We're going to deal with this later on. Who are the sons of God that unite with the daughters of men? We have two different seeds--the righteous and the unrighteous intermingling. Once again, we have the idea of the two seeds. And then of course in the story of Noah, you have the story of the righteous who are saved inside and the wicked who are destroyed outside. And then a little bit later on in Genesis chapter 10, you have the descendents of Shem, the son of Noah, and then on the other side, you have the descendants of Ham and Japhet. By the way, we're going to notice that the descendents of Ham and Japheth the nations that came from them, were the very enemies that tried to destory Isreal in the Old Testament. Israel descends from Shem. Wheareas all the nations that tried to destory Israel descend from Ham and Japheth. Very interesting! We'll deal with this a little bit later on, but you have this idea of the two seeds. And then you have the builders of the tower of Babel. And God commands Abraham: He says to Abraham, "Get out of the place where the Babel builders built this tower." Because the bible says that Abraham and his family were getting contaminated with the gods of Babylon. And So God says to Abraham, You can't be with that evil seed. You must separate from them. So there you have once again the idea of the two seeds. Time and again in the book of Genesis, you have this idea of the two seeds. Then you have the story of Isaac and Ishmael. Notice once again, the same idea of the two seeds. Isaac is the seed of the promise. Ishmael we're told in Galatians chapter 4 that he arose to try and kill Isaac who was the son of the promise Once again, you have this enmity between the good seed, and an evil seed. And then of-course you have the story of Jacob and Esau. See the two seeds in this book? It's amazing And by the way, in the book of Revelation, this is going to culminate. These people who are individuals in Genesis: Isaac, and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Cain and Abel, actually are individuals who represent two world wide groups at the end of time They're symbolic in miniature of the characteristics which two groups will have at the end of time. And so we must know the characters of Jacob and Esau Isaac and Ishmael, Cain and Abel, to understand what the characters of the two groups at the end of time are going to be like. And then of course we have Joseph and his brothers. We have lot and the inhabitants of Sodom. I could continue going through Genesis. You have this idea of the two seeds. Battles of one seed against another. Now before we draw this to a close this evening, I need to tell you something which is very important. Probably the most important thing that I am going to deal with tonight. And that is the secret to decode or to break the code of the book of Genesis. You see, the book of Genesis on the surface appears to be a collection of stories that took place once upon a time. But those who read the book of Genesis only as history are missing the deeper dimension of the book of Genesis. We're gonna see in this seminar that every story of Genesis is not only a story but a prophecy! In fact, I believe I can show that every story in the old Testament is a prophecy. A prophecy about the coming Messiah Jesus in His first coming, and also, a prophecy about events surrounding the second coming of Christ. In other words, the book of Genesis is literal history. But it is prophecy written as history. In other words, beyond the local, historical events, they become symbolic or representative of future world-wide events I already mentioned as an example Genesis 3:!5 and how its fulfilled in Revelation 12. We'll be studying this in more detail. You'll find the same elements. You'll find enmity, you'll find the woman, you'll find the seed of the woman, you'll find the serpent trying to kill the seed, and then trying to kill the woman there's no way we can understand end-time prophecy without understanding the issues that are brought up in Genesis 3:15. By the way, if you read Genesis chapter 1 and 2, you'll find that the Garden of Eden has rivers of living water flowing through them and you'll find that in the Garden was the Tree of Life. Have you ever noticed that in Revelation chapter 21 and 22, you have the river of the water of Life? And you have once again restored the Tree of Life? In other words, what we have in Genesis is the original Garden of Eden adn the losing of Eden because of sin. In the middle --the rest of the bible, you find the story of how God acts to redeem that which was lost. And in Revelation 21 and 22, you have the restoring of the original Garden of Eden. So there's a close relationship between Genesis 1 and 2 and Revelation chapter 21 and 22. You find for example, the story of Cain and Abel. This story is not only history--it's a prophecy! We're going to have a whole lecture on the battle of Armageddon. If you are going to know what the issues are going to be in the final battle of Armageddon, you have to know what the issues were in the story of Cain and Abel. And we're going to find that the issues in that origianal story revolved around obedience and worship. And if you go to the book of Revelation, you're going to find that the issues which are going to separate the world into two groups are obedience to God's law and worship. The only difference is that in the beginning of human history, you have two individuals. Whereas at the end of history, those two individuals have proliferated into two world-wide groups that have similar characters to those two original people. Jesus himself said that the story of the flood is not only a story It's a prophecy! He said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so also shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man." Jesus said, "What happened then, is going to happen again in relationship with my second coming." And I'm going to have a whole lecture on the story of the Flood, and I'm going to show you that not only is the wickedness of the world similar to the wickedness which will exist at the end of time, not only is the destruction of the world in the days of Noah similar to the destruction which will take place at the end of time, I will show you that there will be whole patters on sequential events which will be fulfilled in the exact way in which they took place in the Old Testament. You have also the story of the Sodom and Gomorrah. Very interesting story! Do you know that Jesus also said that that story was a prophecy? He said in Luke chapter 17. Notice, let's go there and read this passage. Luke 17 and verses 28-32. Luke 17:28-32. Here Jesus is speaking, and He says this, "Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all." And now notice what it says: "Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Did you catch that? As it was back then, so will it be And allow me to give you a little bit of an inkling of what we'll deal with when we talk about Sodom and Gomorrah. Do you know that before the cities were destroyed, God sent three angels with the warning for those cities? In the book of Revelation, we find that before the destruction of the world, God is going to send three angels to warn the world! And somebody might say, "Pastor, that's just an accident That's a coincidence!" We're going to notice that it is not a coincidence. You see the three angels that came to Abraham and then two of them went to Sodom and to Gomorrah actually are symbolic of the messages which will be presented by these angels of Revelation chapter 14. Actually the call of Abraham out of the place where the tower of Babel was built is fulfilled in Revelation 18 where there is a message given to God's people: Come out of Babylon my people, and do not participate in her sins! That you receive not her plagues! The call of Abraham out of Babylon foreshadows or symbolizes the final call of God's people out of spiritual Babylon. at the end of time. The story of the conflict between Isaac and Ishmael actually is taken by the apostle Paul in Galatians chapter 4 and he says that this represents two different kinds of people: those who live according to the flesh and those who live according to the spirit. In other words, these two sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael represent two different kinds of characters of people that will live in this world at the end of time. Those who live according to the flesh and those who live according to the Spirit. We're going to notice in this story that we have the description of the origin of the conflict that exist today between Israel and the Palestinians. We're going to deal with that issue in Bible prophecy with Israel in Bible prophecy, with the Arabs in Bible prophecy because that is the origin of this controversy in bac when Abraham had Isaac and Ishmael. Since the days of Abraham they been at each other's throats. This isn't something new It's something which has existed all throughout the course of human history. Who could forget the story of the almost sacrifice of Isaac? I say almost because Isaac was not sacrificed. I mean, that story is so clearly a pointing to the Messiah, that you know, I don't even have to dwell on it very much. You know, God told Abraham, "Take your son to mount Moriah, and sacrifice him there", and when Abraham is about sacrifice his Son, the voice said, "Don't sacrifice your son and Abraham looks up and finds a ram, which is a male lamb and he finds a ram in a thicket, and he offers the ram in place of his son. Do you know that that represents the fact that God the Father sent his son, Jesus to this world and He sent Him to take our place. He sent Him as a Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. And there's a whole series of parallels between the story that took place the in days of Abraham and the story of the ministration of Christ on this earth. Who could forget the story in what is called Jacob's ladder? By the way, it's not Jacob's ladder, it's the Lord's ladder. In Genesis chapter 28, it speaks about a ladder that's planted on the earth, and its top reached to the highest heavens and angels were ascending and descending on the ladder. What could that mean? Well, we don't have to guess. Because in John chapter 1 verse 51 Jesus says, "You will see heaven open, and you will see the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man! In other words, the ladder represents Jesus Christ. The bottom of the ladder represents his humanity, his oneness with us. The top of the ladder represents the fact that he's God; It represents his divinity or his deity. In other words, the only one who can represent us before God is one who is man with man, and God with God. He's the only one who can bridge heaven and earth. So Jesus himself said, "I am the ladder. The ladder of Genesis 28 is really a prophecy. It is not only a story. Who could forget the story of Jacob and Esau? This is a symbolic story. The fact that the very end of the story, we find Jacob returning to his home after he's gone into exile from his home because of sin--like Adam and Eve were cast out because of their sin. Now he's returning home and he hears that his brother is coming after him to destroy him And Jacob goes through what is known as the Time of Jacob's trouble. He's in anxiety because he's afraid that his brother is going to destroy him. Do you know that the Bible says that shortly before the coming of Jesus, God's people will go through a period that is known as the Time of Jacob's trouble? They will have a similar experience to the experience that Jacob had? It's mentioned for example in Daniel chapter 12:1 where it says that at that time Michael shall stand up --that Great Prince that stands watch over your people and there will be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. See that's the time of Jacob's trouble. But at that time, God's people will be delivered. Everyone who is written in the book. The story of Joseph is a symbolic story. Jacob is sold by his brothers for few pieces of silver. Jesus was sold by his own brothers. by 30 pieces of silver. If you want to understand the 144,000 of Revelation chapter 7 once again, you have to go back to the book of Genesis. Genesis 49. There Jacob before his death gives a description of the character of each one of his sons. And they form the foundation for us understanding the characers--the twelve personality profiles that will exist at the end of time. The book of Genesis is a prophetic book. It has a much deeper dimension than mere history and we're going to try and decipher all of those things in this seminar. I believe it's going to be a wonderful experience. Subtitles by the Amara.org community
