God's Everlasting Covenant: What Happened? Genesis 1-3

[Music] the word covenant doesn't actually appear in genesis 1-3 so why would a study of the covenant actually begin with the book of genesis walter theology sabbath school a ministry of the school of theology on the campus of walla walla university i'm carl cossart the dean of the school of theology and the host of theology sabbath school today we begin a new series of bible lessons that focus on the theme of the promise of god's everlasting covenant a theme that's really important in the old testament as well as the new testament and to kind of help us with this study i invited today dr matilda fry to be our lead teacher so dr frye thank you for being here with theology sabbath school and perhaps we could start with this opening question we're studying the covenants this quarter but why would we start with this theme of the covenant when it doesn't actually appear in these early chapters of genesis and and even what is a covenant and why is it important maybe you can help us with that basic question as we dive into this new series of of lessons well thank you again for having me for uh this first sabbath call in the quarter and the entire quarter we will learn about covenant in the bible and what that means in the different parts of uh the biblical text we start with the beginning we start with the first chapters now while these chapters do not speak directly and also do not use the word covenant explicitly many commentators hold the position that covenant is present here that the elements of a covenant are present covenant for us today is something like a binding um a binding document that we make with another partner let's say in business for example or even when we open a bank account when we buy a bigger item for example a car we have we share a sec a document that we have to go through the different elements and then sign our names at the end so in this way covenant is known to us in these kind of trans transaction elements of our lives covenant is more when it comes to matters that are valuable and important to us as human beings in our relationship to others and the most important one of course we all understand is the covenant of marriage where two people come together and agree uh to their loyal love and um and and sustenance towards each other in life so that is for us the most important one of covenants in the bible covenant is a theme that starts from the early pages and goes throughout the rest of the bible and so while this word and the direct reference to it is not directly mentioned in those first three chapters that are what the lesson is about actually today we do see the aspect of relationship that a covenant conveys that a covenant that that is the heart of covenant and i think that is what is actually the big topic in genesis chapter one two and three it is about this relationship that is issued and it is started from god's side it is not a mutual covenant ceremony that is happening here where two partners equally agree to it but it is god who offers it and already in that first chapter we see god who is creating the world creating humanity and then um offers this this aspect of relationship in those for those first verses that um address the human element there in the creation story now that's a helpful introduction because i did kind of wonder how covenant fits in and so if covenant really is about a relationship then i suppose that the the first verse that would deal with this aspect of covenant would be genesis chapter 1 i think verse 46 where it says that that god created humankind in his own image so i guess my question would be what does that really mean that god created us in his image and and what does that really say about you know this relationship yes i think that is very very much true so we are in genesis chapter one and we start with first 26 uh down to first uh 30 31 so that is where we have the creation of the human being let us make adam let us make the human uh in our image according to our likeness so those first of words there already speak of that god and the human being and then that aspect of how the human being and god relate and it is expressed in the words of image and likeness i think this is an exceptional way of telling the story of humanity in relation to god it is truly exceptional human beings in the ancient world in in other cultures were considered servants and slaves to the gods and here is where the biblical story makes such a strong and stark difference to other ways of uh explaining uh the hum the human towards god he in the biblical story in in relation to the creator god of the bible we are as image and likeness to god what a what a strong difference than to be a slave and serve the gods so that is truly unimaginable anywhere else it's only part of the biblical text and it stands stands apart there now what that means to be image and likeness of god that is the follow-up question and it will be talked about in the next verses here in this chapter you know it's interesting you look at the relationship and i know oftentimes people talk about the the difference between the creation account we see in genesis chapter 1 and the account we have in genesis chapter 2. so both those then would deal continue to deal with this theme of relationships so a covenant implied can you talk a little bit about you know what's happening in genesis chapter 1 and what's happening in genesis chapter 2 and then how they play into that relationship that you indicated that god wants to have with us that's so different than what you see in other ancient near eastern creation texts so the way i understand especially chapter one it is this uh this text about god the creator and the king of uh all created world the language that is used here is truly royal language it is language that is used in ancient eastern um um inscriptions when a king was described in relation to the god he would he would worship he is considered an image and a likeness towards that god and so the that language is taken over here of about the human being in relation to god now that is really um a paradox don't you think so um god for example will always afterwards in the bible say never make an image we are not supposed to create and make an image of god because that and that results in idolatry and yet the the human being is created as god's image so we as humans are created as god's image image and likeness and we are not supposed to make image and images of god because we are already here present it is amazing that god enters into this world of humanity in this way to enter into that in that personal uh relationship with us like kind of like you look into the mirror and you see your image you see your likeness but on the other side is the word he created them image and likeness and so this is the first story yeah i guess my question would be maybe a follow-up question if i can just interject would be so what does it really mean i'm sure someone's going to be saying well does that mean image mean then a literal sense that that god has two eyes and o's and ears or or what can you say a little bit more about what image image means then i guess well again er that when we go further and uh want to explore this question further of course we have to include many other parts of the of the biblical text and from those parts we learn that god is not a human being in form and god is not a human being in the way we see ourselves in our in our way of the biological sense with bodies and with the way we look and so on and yet still there is still this passage about that we are image and likeness so while that is not the case and god is rather referred to as god is spirit right in other parts in the bible so and still we are image and likeness what does that mean god says be fruitful multiply fill the earth subdue it rule over all of those those verbs those actions that we are called to do is probably the language of the responsibility that god puts into this human that he creates and now calls us as human beings to follow these activities and these would be actions that are expressed in the in the language of divine royalty the the words for to rule and to subdue in their basic hebrew form speak truly to the work of a king of a king who is in charge but he is in charge in the form of a shepherd who is traveling with his sheep with his heart and taking care of them and that those are the aspects of the the verbs to rule and to subdue to care for to take responsibility for uh to make sure that that this uh this world is um governed in such a way that it is always flourishing and uh full of life and that is the the way how human beings should live on this earth that god created that's an interesting perspective to look at it from from that and not just get caught up with this literal sense but the deeper meaning of of kind of the caretaking nature that humans are entrusted with the same way that god created the world within we're to continue that um and by letting this world flourish and that would affect our relationships with other people as well so if we have this idea of you said a royal or a transcendent god in in chapter one how is that different than or is it different perhaps from what we see in genesis chapter two god also blesses and then gifts humans in still in chapter one and um i always like to point out to give to gift is food that's the first gift that god gives to human beings it's that which sustains life and god makes sure that that is the first thing that he offers us but it is offered if you note the expression i have given you everything that is there for food and that food comes like a gift like when we build relationships when we eat with each other when we eat together and we like to do that especially in our community of adventists we like to sit together for potlucks and share and that is when relationship is built and that is part the first thing that we read how god enters into this relationship in chapter one when we come to chapter 2 now the focus is in this story on how the human beings are to relate to each other and to the world that that god has created as a good as a positive as a beautiful world that is chapter two so we have the creation of of the human being in the beginning we have to create the creation of the human being at the end of the chapter where we have male female coming together at the end and how that how they are to to become so so perfectly close and intimate that the biblical text calls it one flesh i think it's interesting to think about food being the gift and that's certainly i think something that all of us would identify we enjoy we celebrate and all the different varieties and kinds but it seems to interesting to me i guess and maybe a follow-up question would be if food is this gift that god gives to us that brings us into relationship which brings us back to this theme of covenant it's it seems to me interesting then that in in chapter two i believe it is is where god says there's certain food that humans can't eat um so can you talk more than about like is that a disconnect or how does this tree of knowledge of good and evil i mean what why is it there in the story what does it symbolize what what should we make of that you know when i did my research a few years back i found one single book that brought together the the the all the parts in the bible that talk about food now we like food we enjoy food we enjoy eating together and yet when we read the bible we don't pay much attention to it but note that in the first chapter food is give the gift the good gift of god in chapter 2 the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life are about to question what is actually now coming out of this gift of food can it even become is it not only a gift can it become even the problem for humanity uh after all and in chapter two this tree of life is set against the tree the tree of life is set against the the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they are supposed to eat from every tree except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil so in that case it seems that food can be at the root of the question of making a decision making a decision about loyalty and that when i use the word loyalty i use it specifically in that context of covenant again because that is where the relationship is now put if you will to the test or the where the relationship is going to be decided upon um and the tree of no the knowledge of good and evil is that element that will will show uh if this human this human that is now present there is going to like stay in this context of god's element of god's world of freedom and loyal love or if this human out of that actual uh that gift of freedom is will say no and go another way so that is what we probably have in genesis chapter two and it will have ramifications it will impact the world that the human being lives in uh nature itself um the creation out there other human beings and the relationship with god and that will then follow and be displayed in genesis chapter three you know um it is interesting and i find myself that that's a phrase i say week in week out that's interesting because the bible's always so fascinating i'm always learning something something new it seems to me that oftentimes we can boil this story down to you know kind of the children's bedtime story and and kind of turn that story into just a story about a tree but there's a deeper meaning here i think you're saying that this is all about the nature of the relationship that humans are called to have with god and then with each other and that that i think opens up these important chapters in genesis to um dare i say maybe like even a deeper a deeper level of meaning and purpose and in depth um so i wonder then if that's the case in like relationships everywhere then that would also entail that that there's something to learn here about the relationship between the man and the woman in chapter two can you can you talk a little bit more about that is there is there a connection to that as well oh very much the focus is specifically on the man and the woman in chapter two and will climax in this unity uh at the end of man and women there so in the beginning of the chapter we hear how god creates the human being out of the dust from the dust of the ground and then blows the the um the life will brought life into into this mortal mortal arm or a non-living material body so uh that we have at the beginning but this human being now in chapter 2 is put into a place that in contrast to chapter 1 is told that for the first time something is not good and that is so fascinating to me because in genesis chapter one we constantly fight come to the conclusion of a day and everything was good there at the end of the sixth day it was even very good and then we come to chapter 2 and the human being is by it himself alone and it is not good so it is truly the call for relationship that is present in that in that word uh no human being is striving flourishing by himself by themselves alone a human being needs companionship needs relationship and that is the very deep message of this text in genesis 2. so no other element that god has created can fulfill that deep need for an intimate relationship than another human being and so you come to the creation of the woman in the final verses there and god forms the woman god puts effort into this work of creation here in the way it is described he uh the the man is not in charge at all the man is kind of like knocked out if you will um in that story and god is the one who creates he's always the active agent there and then woman comes and man is like overjoyed the text first 23 is the most uh creative poetic language in this chapter here in this story and it contains elements that are impossible to translate into another language from hebrew into another language there are elements that are not translated because the word is mis missed it is uh one is even not even a word it is a sound that is made is a musical sound it's a beat if you will you have to like hit the drum or stomp your foot or maybe at least clap your hands to convey that that expression that is used in the hebrew text so man is basically hitting it and saying this is now flash of my flesh bone of my bones and so on and he and this is the only one that is now fulfilling this part of relationship that is there so the writer concludes the story and says for this reason the man is going to leave his father and mother and then stick with his wife and they are one flesh that is a revolutionary expression to me there i don't know if humanity has gotten to actually fulfill this way this vision of the human being becoming one flesh i have uh there with our history of humanity clearly tells that this revolutionary call has not been fulfilled even into our time it is not man who actually leaves father and mother until today we still live in the world and it is most of the time woman who leaves their family and then enters into the marriage or relationship with the man and yet the biblical call is the other side the other way around the stories the patriarchal stories will make that clear and it will always have negative consequences when when the woman is brought and ripped out of their family and bought and then becomes becomes the property of the man's life and that is the history of humanity in relation in the relationship of marriage and uh we are we are still kind of like stuck in that if you will uh and i don't know um it is a nice thing to take your daughter to the front to the altar right as a father i enjoy that picture and that that what it means but a biblical text tells us do it the other way around baby you know because the daughter the woman should not be perceived as property but as an equal with the man and that when equality is present that is when we can come to one flesh in chapter 3 the one flash is going to be falling apart and since i have daughters i kind of like that image of my daughter's not being taken but but staying with me but besides that point i guess what would you say though to some people who would might push back and say well i really like that until you got to this equality aspect because it seems to me like in genesis chapter 2 this man who's created first this man who names the woman how would you respond to the idea that there's a a male domination a male headship in genesis chapter 2. oh wow well i emphasize the equality so much because uh when you come to chapter three it is that very part that is broken and if we if we miss that part then we kind of like missed the the lesson of chapter three so that is why i'm emphasizing it in chapter two so much so when we you come to chapter three you have the woman and the man in this oneness they do everything together they are together in the story with the serpent and the tree and the fruit they eat both of them ate both of them were afraid both of them of um suit the thick leaves together and they both of them were hiding when god approaches the scene there and then the first question that god asks reveals what has happened because god says where are you and pay attention this is not a a question that should be considered like you know like a blurry kind of thing where are you in your life or something this is a question in the text very much of location because the man actually answers it and says i here i am because i heard you come and i was afraid and i hid myself because i was naked four times the man now talks with the language of i as if that what this man together with the woman had done like kind of like is forgotten and the second question that god asks then so who told you that you were naked is actually pointing this i i i everything eye there to bring awareness that there is the other somebody needs to tell you somebody needs to make you aware of what has happened to you there in that story today you and i we need relationship we need somebody to make us aware what is going on with us with me if i'm just by myself alone then i miss that i can think about myself i can think about my life but this awareness comes because i can see myself in relation to another that is when we become aware of our own personality identity and what we are actually doing in our lives when we are with somebody else and that is what broke apart according to the story in chapter three the man suddenly turns to i did this and i did this and four times there and god says was isn't there another one that needs to tell you that you are naked you know as you said that to me it really jumped out at me and i i know i kind of caught you off guard with a question i asked about chapter two and and i'll even answer my own question because i think it fits perfectly with what you've mentioned and that is what you see in chapter two is not the um superior to the inferior but you see this move from incomplete to complete so god is perfecting his creation and so i don't think you see dominance of the male in chapter 2 you see god moving from the incomplete to the complete the exact same number of hebrew words that describe the creation of man is the exact same that described the creation of the female and so you do have this picture that i see it now in a newer sense that it shows the ultimate connection of that relationship that they do become one finally is complete and as you said then you find them together in in chapter three and so that really opens up i think a new new window a new inside and and i know people often will talk about the woman being at the tree by herself but as you pointed out the text in chapter 3 says that adam was was with her but i guess i i guess i wonder and you can comment on that if you'd like but i wonder because our time is also running short it's it's also this story this tragedy you mentioned that it's the man who you know is now all about me versus us um what what hope is there at the end then of chapter 3 or is it is there no hope in that chapter i believe there is great hope in genesis chapter 3. that may surprising because often we think of the the words that god speaks uh when god speaks to the serpent to the woman to the man as words of curse but in this in this passage where in this direct speech i believe there is so much look into the looking into the future life is going to continue the and this element is actually what we generally consider uh the even the gospel the first gospel the proto evangelion in the bible in genesis 3 verse 15 the speech to the serpent i will put enmity between you and her between uh your seed and her seed he shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel a christian interpretation has taken that text especially as the ground of hope for the messiah to come he is the one who is going to crush the serpents um act of uh to bring humanity into this state of of evilness and sin and that is that one verse that we often see as the promise for the messiah now i would like to suggest that we should take this very first truly as the crucial text in this chapter but then we need to continue into the next part where god speaks to the woman and then to the man as well as a promise for the messiah because you see when the woman is addressed dressed here as the one who will bring about who will have seed and this seed is going to be eventually the messiah christ in the new testament then this woman is the community of god's people as it is given in detail in the old testament the people of god's people in the old testament who will bring about christ and i think the apostle paul makes that so nicely clear in in the in the book of romans in chapters 9 to 11 especially so the the church the the people of god in the old testament represented through the woman in the image of the woman the image of the woman will become a a metaphor for god's people throughout the rest of the bible as well especially in the new testament with the book of revelation what about a man again the god also speaks to the man how hardship will come to the man in this world here as well when god speaks to the people of israel later on and calls them so many times my son the the the uh in that in that metaphor my son who i have brought out of egypt especially in the book of hosea for example then there we have that metaphor of the man in reference to god's people as well and that continues as well in the rest of the bible in the new testament too so man and woman stand against the serpent in genesis 3 the serpent is the one who brings evil and death and men and women are going to give rise to the coming of hope to the messiah it is amazing i can tell we have just really scratched the surface of these important chapters in the book of genesis and our time is is already up i guess maybe we could end let me ask you this application question we really i think plummeted the depths of some maybe not the depths we just scratched the surface but we talked about some deep theological concepts uh maybe you could just say a final word on what's what's the application for you know our listener who's who's followed us uh in this lesson today what's the takeaway um to make life better or different uh this year well to come back to the to the theme of covenant and relationship especially i think these first chapters set up the story of humanity in relation to each other and in relation to god how do we take that now into our personal life individually isn't it beautiful when god gives here this this display of his initiation of a relationship it is not us it is not me who have to go and search in order to find god god comes to search for me to find me and god offers me all the good things he offers food he offers life he offers hope into the future and then he brings us as human beings into community with each other and that community always flourishes when we relate to each other on an equal basis when we support each other and when we offer hope to each other when we relate to each other in the way that i can open my door and look into another person's face and see image of god another one it is like you see the other one in a very different light when you recognize that created being that is placed in the form of this other human that now stands in front of me and so i can appreciate that human being respected and love it very well said and i think in light of the pandemic which we've gone through the importance of relationship certainly stands out to us in more stark terms because we've been cut off from so many relationships so an invitation for us to remember that life in itself is about a relationship with god and about a meaningful harmonious relationship with others and so what a powerful powerful message dr fry thank you again for your insightful comments from the book of genesis and for you our viewers for tuning in with us once again we invite you next week to join us once again with dr jody washburn as we talk a little bit more about this theme of the covenant a covenant primer what is the covenant how do we see it developed in scripture so we hope to see you next week but until then take care god bless and thanks for watching

Channel: WWU Theology

Views: 344

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Theology Sabbath School, Sabbath School Lesson, Sabbath School Quarterly, Gensis 1-3, Covenant, God's Covenant, Creation

Id: IwTVomOMA-s

Length: 38min 30sec (2310 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 01 2021