Lecture 10: The Book of Genesis - Dr. Bill Barrick

several different questions arising during the break that I want to share with you some of my responses number one is the fact that I know of no other modern commentator who takes this view there are a couple of the early church fathers who mention it and refer to it and I have to go back and find out exactly who D as I was saying I don't remember if it was Ephraim of Syria or if it was a Gustin but this is a not a view that is brand-new that is something I've come up with it's been around for centuries and others have talked about it I think there are also some older scholars in the Reformation period who discussed the potential but you find very few holding it today and mainly because of that tie of the language in 316 at the end with for seven that's what has dominated the field and how its looked at interestingly I would expect that perhaps the feminist theologians and their feminist commentaries might eventually look at this passage differently in 316 just because or they'll just accuse the writer of being chauvinistic either way but if they want to change it to accept it as it is they'll probably take a look at it in a different way and they may stumble upon the meaning I've suggested 316 alright let's go on then at the end of the chapter then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh or then it commenced there's no subject given here you could put in people men you could just talk about it abstractly the name of Yahweh began to be called upon that's another way of referring to it or translating it but what does this mean it's a key text it's a key verse that I think we must not ignore especially in the book of Genesis Yahweh is a title of deity used by Eve in for one I have a acquired a man-child with Yahweh that's what she says she is speaking and using the name Yahweh very shortly after the fall Lamech in chapter 5 verse 29 when he names a son Noah he refers to Yahweh by name it's not in the framework of the narrative where you can say well Moses used the name Yahweh but not lay makhno this is he's quoting Lamech as having said these words he used the term Yahweh Noah speaks of Yahweh in chapter 9 verse 26 a direct quote Abraham speaks to Yahweh with the title Yahweh Genesis 12 8 and 15 - and we can go on and on and on and on if Yahweh occurred as a title only in the narrative framework and never in direct dialogue then we could get to X's chapter 3 in Exodus chapter 6 and perhaps argue that the name Yahweh was not even known until the time of the exodus but we can't argue that unless we deny the scriptures the proper names that have the theophoric element yah the short title of Yahweh before the time of Moses Abhaya Abba yah father my father is yah 1st chronicles 2:16 we have a similar title in Genesis 38 in Genesis 46 we have aji ax my brother first Chronicles 225 azaria my help is yah 1st chronicles 2:8 these in first chronicles only occur in the genealogy of the tribe of Judah fascinatingly because it's the only tribal line of direct interest to the chroniclers purpose because he's defending the Davidic dynasty the Davidic covenant he has a focus on it so he hasn't given us extensive evidence of names outside the tribe of Judah where we might find other tribes also using the name yah long before the time of Moses so to me this is overwhelming evidence that when we come to X's chapter 3 and X is chapter 6 we do not interpret they're saying by the name Yahweh I was not known at all by my people Israel when he says that there he's saying they have they have not experientially known me in my name Yahweh it's not the idea they don't know it mentally they have not experienced it they have not internet the relationship the same word use of Adam knew his wife the idea here is that Israel was living in such a way that they were not manifesting an awareness that Yahweh is their God that he is a covenant God that he is eternal and that he desires to have a relationship with them they and their disobedience are denying that and that's why all the way through scripture over and over when we talk about covenant rebellion the rebellion is against Yahweh and the remedy for the rebellion is to acknowledge and know that he is Yahweh it's not that he was not known prior to that as Yahweh is that this individual this nation needs to know him as Yahweh and so here we have them calling upon the name of Yahweh in those days and it would be easy for us since it's not a direct quote it's not dialogue to then tie that with excellence and say but this was inserted by Moses later to let us know ahead of time know they he that this is the same God that later is called Yahweh no it was the name Yahweh they called upon and we see that right in chapter 4 how can we deny that 26 when in verse 1 we have Eve or self saying the name Yahweh xs3 13 to 15 6 to 2 4 are talking about Israel's disobedience rebellion caused them to forget to ignore to not enter into to not experience the full meaning of the name Yahweh it refers to the eternal one the I am it's the I am who causes to come into being because Yahweh is the he'll imperfect third masculine singular form of Athiya who is I am first common singular so Yahweh yes says I am I am the eternal God Yahweh says I am he who brings into being I am the creator I am the one who establishes covenants I am the one who desires to enter into a covenant relationship with my people I provide for my people these are what are involved when we look at the generations in chapter 5 this is a chart that was made that was a made available from a Jewish website that I obtained permission to reproduce it's a part of a packet of materials that I obtained from one of the Jewish publishers and it shows here giving us the year that one is born the year they died the years they lived notice the years they lived the average age there is about 910 years prior to the flood 9 or 10 years I suggest to you that when we put together this fact and we move in later after the flood and begin to see the figures dropping very rapidly to where by the time we get to for example Joshua he dies at the age of a hundred and ten being a very old man this is the pattern of sin this is the effect of the fall the shortening of the original intended lifespan notice no one lives a thousand years here no one lives a thousand years but just under just under could that mean then that God's original design and intent for man was for him to live a thousand years and then one before the fall there would be no death but they could be transitioned in the presence of God the way Enoch was it could be and I'm only hypothesizing here reading in the white spaces I'm not being dogmatic I'm suggesting that there's circumstantial evidence to indicate that God's original design was for man to live for a thousand years upon the earth and then to be transitioned into a perfect state before him that was a spiritual glorified body not a physical body like they had on earth and that with the fall that then gradually falls away and we have a decrease in the time span but it helps to explain something in Isaiah when you have it said that when the kingdom is established the one who dies at the age of a hundred is considered to be an infant why because they're perfectly restored reign of God over the earth an individual could be expected to live the full length of the kingdom the kingdom length is one thousand years Christ will rule 1,000 years why did God determine that the rule the Messianic Kingdom on earth would be 1,000 years because as the perfect man as the second Adam he will fulfill what was the original design for Adam the first Adam to reign over the earth for a thousand years and then what well at the end of that Kingdom then you have this earth dissolved in all the elements and then the day of God you have a new heavens and a new earth so that at that point in time we all enter into that new realm and that realm is the equivalent of heaven then and so I would suggest to you that as God began human history with creating man to reign over his earth for a thousand years with the intent to transition him into a spiritual state before him after that that that's exactly what Jesus will fulfill by establishing his kingdom for a thousand years when a thousand years is over the kingdom is over because it's not God's designed to go beyond a thousand years the Messianic Kingdom is over not the eternal Universal Kingdom the universal kingdom of God continues messianic kingdom is only one aspect one display in one brief moment in time in reality to display what God's original design was and then after that the kingdom the Messianic Kingdom is delivered up into God and God becomes all in all and it's we've entered into a totally new eternal state which is where he wanted to Saul to be but his plan was originally for us to go there one by one after a thousand years on earth so that's circumstantial evidence I'm suggesting that's a possibility it makes sense to me to look at it that way and it helps me to a better understand why did God settle on a thousand years for the Messianic Kingdom and of course with God a thousand years is nothing as Peter said says the day it's nothing to him but for ma'am it's a long time it's a long time just something to think about and chew on as we're thinking about where we go from here as talked about Adam to Noah notes a few little details Noah's father was 56 when Adam died that meant Lamech could have personally known and even conversed with the first man does that astound you to think about that even if there is a gap in the genealogy in Genesis chapter 5 and I believe there's one name at least omitted I don't think it greatly changes the length of time there it's not going to change this much this is still a very likely scenario because I doubt if you can get more than a hundred years or 200 years inserted the way the genealogy is written that it could be written in the sense that this individual was such and such an age when he when his grandson was born but he's still that age when the grandson is born you don't have a lot of time to put in there so what if the father of the child is omitted from the genealogy so I don't see a lot of years that the years that inserted in the genealogy to expand the time of history are actually really after the flood and have to do with the genealogies in Exodus and elsewhere and in Chronicles where there are as much as hundreds if not a couple thousand years can be inserted into the genealogies in Genesis 5 it's written in such a way that you can have entire generations omitted without causing the chronology to expand hardly at all if any at all so this is definitely a legitimate scenario to consider Enoch was next to depart this life Enoch was the second person to die die he dearly didn't die he was transitioned he suddenly was not he was walking with God now doesn't that tell you something very though when we consider that the first human being to die is Adam the one told when you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will die he's the first one other than his son Cain right the first one to die a natural death before Enoch departed and then Enoch departs not a natural death very different it's as though God is saying hey you saw what happened with Adam you remember what happened to Cain that was a murder but Adams dying under the curse now Enoch I'm taking and Noah he's the one Lamech was hoping would lift the curse but I'm showing you how that I can take the curse off and just take one who walks with me to be with me but to me that's a very strong theological statement that God is making by that individual being Enoch Noah could not have known Adam Seth or Enoch because he was born after their deaths or after enix departure but he knew the rest he could speak perhaps with the rest Noah's father and grandfather died within five years of the flood the lies of Adam and Methuselah span from creation to the flood that is astounding to consider that think about what that means for continuity of conveyed revelation from God think about that what means of continuity of the content of Revelation that is later written down about the pre-flood era it doesn't go through thousands or hundreds of generations where it can be skewed twisted and perverted and go through two men from Adam to Methuselah and then to Noah Noah's the third to receive it firsthand that helps to preserve the accuracy of the details of the patriarchal narratives and the account that is there that should speak very highly to us of the value of the early chapters of Genesis and how historical and accurate they can be why list the genealogy in Genesis chapter 5 why list these people by name because God cares and he cares about individuals each one matters you say but there's a whole bunch of children in here that aren't named that's true but where would we be today if we had all the children name - I mean we'd be reading until what who knows how long God has to shorten it some way you see all the way through scripture we find that God is concerned it's like when we were doing Bible translation in numbers chapter 7 in Bangladesh someone brought in the today's English version and said look what they do instead of having all these 12 days where you have exactly the same set of offerings being brought twelve separate days by the twelve tribes to dedicate the tabernacle why don't we do that like they do and just say on twelve consecutive days the twelve tribes brought these offerings period jump on well that's the way we get to graduation day for you men and we get up there and the Dean stands the front and he says I'm glad y'all came here to celebrate the graduation we're graduating 90 men from the Masters seminary they're Masters of Divinity degree degree let's stand applaud them let's pray and you can go home you'd say wait a minute I paid good money my parents paid money I have I I put in I sweat in blood and tears for four years five years six years seven years and I'm not even getting recognition no we care for you so you're going to be named each one of you our names you walk across that stage that's why God gave special attention even if it's repetitious to each of the 12 tribes and their involvement in the Tabernacles dedication because he cares about individuals therefore don't shorten up the translation because that removes that aspect of care and concern same here he takes time to tell us he cares about these individuals and that Death passes upon all persons since the fall each and every one of them is death except Enoch and Enoch was a special situation that had to keep people thinking why how is this God's design yes I believe it was God's design and he's the only one who gets to experience it and God allowed him to experience it early talk about mercy and grace he didn't make him live a thousand years in a fallen world before taking him you can live a thousand world a thousand years in an unfallen world with ease with comfort but to live in a fallen world for a full thousand years before being taken it's the mercy of God he was taken long before long before God preserves the line of descendants through whom the promised seed of the woman will come the evidence here look it continues father son grandfather grandson it's going on it's ongoing it's preserved it's kept alive great not always when we get to the end especially and we're talking about for example the three sons of Noah they do not appear to be mentioned in order of birth and later when we get to the three sons of Noah we have the same issue and so it may not be the firstborn son in each of these that's why again I have to allow a little bit of leeway there and we have to be careful what we say but yeah there's the possibility of there being something other than that firstborn let me close with this today because our time is we've got five minutes left if you go to Matthew 1:1 you have there the record of the genealogy gettin sa oz of Jesus the Messiah the son of David the son of Abraham there's only one other passage of scripture that uses that phraseology that's Genesis 5 verse 1 Zess safe their toll adult Adam this is the book the safe fare the scroll the record of the genealogy of Adam why does it only occur in Genesis 5:1 in Matthew 1:1 I think there at least five reasons number one yet is stating very clearly that as the one is a beginning the second is a beginning a new beginning Matthew the first gospel in the New Testament whether or not it was the first one written chronologically has been placed first I believe because of that and because I believe that's the design of the Gospels that the message the gospel of Jesus Christ go first to the Jewish people because he was a Jew he is secondly by that very obviously the second Adam therefore the concept of the second Adam was something that was known long before the Apostle Paul used the terminology in 1st Corinthians 15 and later in the Epistle to the Romans he all ready was known that way Mathew clearly presents him as the second Adam Luke confirms it when in the genealogy Goes Down and says Adam the Son of God and he's talking about this being a genealogy of Jesus Christ the Son of God thirdly I think it's selling us that as in the beginning you have this message of creation now with the new the new record the new history the second Adam were having another creation a spiritual creation the creation of the individual that when we come to the Messiah we are a new creation fourthly that new creation expands beyond just the individual to involve the corporate body of believers the church the church itself is a new creation it is initiated on the day of Pentecost and fifthly it's the idea that this then is the beginning of a new record a new we call it the new testament the second half of scripture this demarcation this line that is drawn depends upon the historicity of the former if Genesis chapter 5 is not history and there's not a historical Adam as the head of the human race then how can we depend upon the history of the second Adam being historical in Jesus Christ they are presented with the same degree of significance importance and highlighted dogmatically dis Toledo that Genesis 5 verse 1 is the first one to specify man the first one in 2 4 was the Toledo of the heavens and the earth so to me 911s 5 1 teach me more about the appreciation I have for the first chapters of Genesis but it even teaches me the appreciation I have to have for the New Testament as a whole and for the message of the second Adam and for all this new thing that we've entered into in the New Testament and it's all built and found upon that they're equally significant as important as is the state this channel genealogy so it's equally important to state this genealogy first Adam a second I mean is it amazing that we have a genealogy for Adam in Genesis five we have a genealogy for Jesus in Matthew one and both of them with the same heading the only two times out of 11 Toledo in Genesis this is the only one that uses safe they're read all of Matthew 1 and it will shock you how often the word Genesis Genesis and the verb ganado is used it's used so repeatedly that my unsaved Jewish rabbi friend when we were reading the Greek of the gospel Matthew together over the phone going through verse by verse he stopped at one point he says wow he says this is really referring back to Genesis isn't it I said yes it is he saw so clearly he was burdened by that he was attracted by that he said well do that that means this Jesus has to be a significant and individual for the history of the world under God as Adam I said Joe you got it right so now what do you go what are you going to do with that you're gonna finally trust him as your Savior well I don't I won't go that far that quickly alright but say listen guys this is significant it's important

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Length: 28min 4sec (1684 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 25 2016