WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.680 Already recorded. 00:00:01.580 --> 00:00:01.740 Yep. 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:03.100 So you can go ahead. 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:05.280 All righty. 00:00:08.099 --> 00:00:11.259 My Zoom people, can you guys give me a thumbs up if you can hear me? 00:00:12.140 --> 00:00:12.679 All right. 00:00:12.780 --> 00:00:13.040 Perfect. 00:00:14.740 --> 00:00:15.400 All right, guys. 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:17.940 My name is Luke Batty. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:19.920 I'm a deacon here at church. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:29.400 And today we're going to be starting our five-week course on the Pentateuch, the Torah, first five books of Moses. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.380 And as such, it's the first week, so we're doing Genesis today. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:41.899 So let me start off by saying that Genesis is an incredibly rich book. 00:00:42.899 --> 00:00:44.880 It's an incredibly, I mean, it's not incredibly. 00:00:44.980 --> 00:00:46.920 It's a moderately long book. 00:00:47.579 --> 00:00:55.960 So there are a whole bunch of different ways that you can read Genesis and benefit by doing it that way. 00:00:55.960 --> 00:01:04.460 And, of course, because of the time restraint, I don't have the ability to go through everything that I would want to go through in as much depth as I would like to. 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:12.560 And today we're going to be focusing primarily on the themes of creation, fall, and redemption through the book of Genesis. 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:14.740 But there are a variety of different ways you could do it. 00:01:15.420 --> 00:01:21.600 For instance, you could read the book of Genesis in light of the covenants, which would be a very fruitful way. 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:30.240 Or looking through the book of Genesis to see the types of Jesus in the book, which is really great. 00:01:30.300 --> 00:01:31.859 I'm going to try to hit some of those. 00:01:31.859 --> 00:01:35.140 But it's not going to be as universal or as deep as I would like. 00:01:35.299 --> 00:01:45.819 So with that being said, I'm trying to keep the presentation to be about 45 minutes so that we have at least 5 to 10 minutes or 10 to 15 minutes of questions. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:54.120 So if I don't hit something that you want to talk about or not in as much depth as you would like, please, please, please ask questions. 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:54.579 Okay. 00:01:55.180 --> 00:01:56.299 So let's start off. 00:01:57.340 --> 00:01:58.599 What is the book of Genesis? 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:17.280 Well, the book of Genesis, which means beginnings, is a book detailing the origins of the world, humanity, and the people of Israel for the purpose of giving the necessary background and context to the freed Israelites, the plan of redemption to unfold. 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:18.919 So that's sort of a mouthful. 00:02:20.939 --> 00:02:24.879 So it's sort of a one-sentence summary of Genesis. 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:28.500 But we're going to go into a little bit more depth and broaden that out. 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:32.219 But before we do that, why don't we talk about the context of Genesis? 00:02:32.979 --> 00:02:35.979 So first and foremost, who wrote Genesis? 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:43.400 Well, traditionally, we understand that Moses was the primary author of the entire Pentateuch. 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:55.420 And we understand that Moses was writing this around the time of the entry of the people of Israel into the promised land. 00:02:55.419 --> 00:03:02.039 So if you guys remember your basic Bible history, and if you don't, come next week. 00:03:02.699 --> 00:03:13.139 We're going to be taught the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, and they are freed by God, and they wander in the wilderness for 40 years. 00:03:13.139 --> 00:03:20.479 And then after that time, Moses gives the law a second time and is about to enter Israel. 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:22.199 Moses dies at that time. 00:03:22.379 --> 00:03:24.579 So it's around this time that the book is written. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:30.319 And so now that we know when it was written, we can understand to whom it was written. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:39.859 And the primary, I know, obviously, through providence, we are also the recipients of Genesis. 00:03:39.859 --> 00:03:40.939 It is written to us. 00:03:41.099 --> 00:03:52.159 But more immediately, it was written to that generation of Israelites who had finished the Exodus, finished their wanderings, were about to enter the promised land. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:54.759 So why was it written? 00:03:55.699 --> 00:03:56.439 Why was it written? 00:03:56.539 --> 00:04:01.599 Well, if we go back to my one-sentence summary, for the purpose of giving the necessary background and context. 00:04:02.259 --> 00:04:10.460 More succinctly, we can say that Genesis was written to form the people's worldview. 00:04:11.620 --> 00:04:11.879 Okay? 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:16.480 Every culture, every people has a worldview. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:23.279 And this worldview answers the sort of the canonical or classic worldview questions. 00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:25.439 So where did we come from? 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:27.879 What does the good life look like? 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:29.899 What has gone wrong? 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:31.399 What has been done about it? 00:04:32.219 --> 00:04:35.019 Where are we now in the whole process, and where is this whole thing headed? 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:39.139 These are the worldview questions, and every culture has answers to these questions. 00:04:39.139 --> 00:04:49.500 And by being in this culture, whether subconsciously or consciously, we are accepting the answers to these questions from our broader society. 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:59.599 So if you imagine that the Israelites who had been in slavery in Egypt for about 400 years, right? 00:04:59.819 --> 00:05:00.360 Am I right about that? 00:05:00.379 --> 00:05:00.599 Okay. 00:05:01.139 --> 00:05:02.939 I thought I was right about that, but I'll just double check it. 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:04.759 I have a fact checker over here. 00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:14.199 They have been in a very strong, very high culture of ancient Egypt, and they have their own answers to these questions. 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:21.939 And the Israelites are going to be living and accepting these assumptions in their own life. 00:05:22.019 --> 00:05:29.399 And so what Moses is doing in the book of Genesis and throughout the Pentateuch is he is challenging these worldview assumptions, 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:34.099 and he's answering these worldview questions in the right way. 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:35.120 Okay? 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:41.539 And so that is the primary point of Genesis, is to get the record straight. 00:05:42.139 --> 00:05:45.060 So let's talk about the structure of Genesis. 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:47.359 Genesis has actually a very deliberate structure. 00:05:47.479 --> 00:05:48.599 It has two major parts. 00:05:49.579 --> 00:05:54.139 Roughly chapters 1 to 11 are talking about the beginning of the entire world, 00:05:54.139 --> 00:06:00.519 and chapters 11 to 50 are talking about the beginning of the people of Israel. 00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:06.159 But in addition to these two big sections, we also have subsections, 00:06:06.259 --> 00:06:12.479 and each one of these subsections is headed by a phrase that includes the Hebrew word Toledat. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:15.839 I don't think I'm saying that right, but that's how it's spelled. 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:18.680 So Toledat means generations. 00:06:19.060 --> 00:06:22.419 So anytime you're reading through Genesis and you read the word generations, 00:06:22.420 --> 00:06:28.180 your ears should prick and you should think, okay, I think we're starting a new section of Genesis. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:35.939 And if you look through it after the introduction, which is about chapters 1 to chapters 2, verse 3, 00:06:36.340 --> 00:06:45.840 we have 10 or 11, depending on the count, Toledats in Genesis with five in the first part and five in the second part. 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:50.219 And so what we can learn just by understanding what the structure of Genesis is, 00:06:50.219 --> 00:06:53.560 is that Genesis is one complete unified whole. 00:06:53.659 --> 00:06:55.859 It's trying to tell one complete story. 00:06:56.039 --> 00:06:58.879 It's meant to be read all together, okay? 00:06:59.139 --> 00:07:04.679 It's telling a story that is supposed to be the foundation for the Pentateuch, 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:06.099 for the sweep of the Torah. 00:07:07.099 --> 00:07:09.739 And so by understanding the structure, 00:07:09.899 --> 00:07:15.059 we can understand that there's something all together we're supposed to be getting out of this book. 00:07:15.060 --> 00:07:22.319 So let's move into the overview of Genesis. 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:27.720 So the first thing we get is the beginning of the world. 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:38.639 So why don't we read probably the most sublime opening to anything ever written ever. 00:07:39.899 --> 00:07:42.199 I don't think I'm being, I'm over-exaggerating. 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:43.319 So here we go. 00:07:43.420 --> 00:07:44.240 Genesis 1-1. 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:47.240 It should be on page one of your Bible. 00:07:48.699 --> 00:07:50.019 Here's what it says. 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:55.379 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:07:56.199 --> 00:08:01.079 The earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep. 00:08:01.699 --> 00:08:05.560 And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:10.339 So what can we learn from this? 00:08:10.420 --> 00:08:15.060 Well, there's a few things we can learn just from this, those first two verses. 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:18.939 This is transformational. 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:23.579 When we compare these to other creation accounts, 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:28.060 it's transformational because unlike many other creation accounts, 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:29.899 we have the beginning of everything. 00:08:29.899 --> 00:08:34.199 We have the creation of the heavens and the earth, which is supposed to be a totality. 00:08:34.659 --> 00:08:36.079 This is supposed to be everything that exists. 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:39.199 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:08:39.340 --> 00:08:42.480 We have one actor and the creation of everything else. 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:44.679 If we compare this to other creation accounts, 00:08:45.340 --> 00:08:51.740 we oftentimes get a assumption of an infinite universe or an eternal universe 00:08:51.740 --> 00:08:56.120 in which you have these primordial forces that the gods, 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:59.659 who often themselves have beginnings, are born in, 00:08:59.899 --> 00:09:08.899 they, they, they wrestle these primordial forces to force order onto chaos. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:10.840 But that's not what we see in Genesis. 00:09:11.199 --> 00:09:16.519 What we see in Genesis is God alone creating everything. 00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:27.860 And so already we're, we're starting to see a challenge to the prevailing views of their culture. 00:09:27.860 --> 00:09:33.100 So we're going to get more into that in a second, but let me continue on with the overview. 00:09:33.560 --> 00:09:38.220 We have after the creation of everything, we get the creation of the earth. 00:09:38.300 --> 00:09:44.539 So we kind of zoom in to the earth and we have the formation of the earth as a habitation for man. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:51.200 Not surprisingly, next we have, we zoom in even further and we get the creation of man himself. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:55.700 Man as the pinnacle of God's creation. 00:09:56.379 --> 00:10:04.460 So at this point, I want to point your attention to sort of the big theme that I'm going to be emphasizing as we go through Genesis, 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:09.640 which is, well, let me say something else first. 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:19.319 There are a whole bunch of different ways that you can characterize the Christian worldview, the biblical worldview, the narrative of the Bible. 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:21.439 You can summarize it in a variety of different ways. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:26.419 One of the ways, and one of the most popular ways is four words. 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:28.139 We have creation. 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:29.919 We have fall. 00:10:30.379 --> 00:10:32.580 We have redemption and restoration. 00:10:33.299 --> 00:10:35.279 Creation, fall, redemption, restoration. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:44.339 And so if we look at that paradigm of understanding the biblical narrative, we can understand why Genesis is so foundational. 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:47.860 It's because in Genesis, we get the creation. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:50.879 In Genesis, we get the fall account. 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:54.819 And in Genesis, we get the beginning of redemption history. 00:10:55.139 --> 00:11:01.299 So three of the big four are being addressed in Genesis, at least in part. 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:10.059 And so moving from the creation of man, we have the creation of the universe, creation of the earth, creation of man. 00:11:10.199 --> 00:11:11.000 Everything is good. 00:11:11.259 --> 00:11:13.839 And then sin enters the world. 00:11:14.039 --> 00:11:23.000 We have the beginning of sin, which is the fall, capital T, capital F, the fall of man being tempted by Satan. 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:25.679 We're going to go into that a little bit more in a second. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:33.779 But within that fall, almost immediately, we see the start of redemption history. 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:43.459 And so when we look at the very big picture of Genesis or of the entire Bible, we have creation, fall, and then redemption history for the rest of the Bible. 00:11:44.459 --> 00:11:49.899 Culminating, as we know, in light of where we are in redemption history in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:11:49.899 --> 00:11:58.100 But going back to the narrative, we also have smaller cycles of creation, fall, and redemption. 00:11:58.699 --> 00:12:03.860 We have sub-stories that also carry this theme. 00:12:04.779 --> 00:12:14.799 And you can see this in the sense that after Adam and Eve are sent out of the garden, we have the start, a new start for human beings. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:17.120 But that doesn't start very well. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:33.080 Humanity declines pretty precipitously from there to the point where God decides to start over with human beings by judging them with the flood and starting over with Noah. 00:12:33.340 --> 00:12:38.060 So in that sense, we have a new start, a restoration in the person of Noah and his family. 00:12:38.059 --> 00:13:00.859 Noah and his family, then this new creation is then also subject to their own fall in the Tower of Babel, which is then setting up this dispersion following the Tower of Babel leads to the setting in which we get the call of Abraham. 00:13:00.860 --> 00:13:03.460 Abraham or Abram, or Abram, or technically. 00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:08.279 We get the call of Abram, starting off our second part of Genesis. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:13.120 We have the call of Abraham, and we follow the story of Abraham's family. 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:17.220 Then we get Abraham's son and Abraham's grandson. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:21.500 And then we, Abraham's grandson's family. 00:13:21.500 --> 00:13:28.480 And then we end with the start of their sojourn in Egypt. 00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:31.600 So that is the big sweep. 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:37.539 Now, obviously, we're going to go into a little bit more detail. 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:43.379 So why don't we start talking about creation itself? 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:51.700 So as I mentioned earlier, we have in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:13:52.779 --> 00:13:54.360 Now, let me continue on. 00:13:55.939 --> 00:13:57.360 We're starting verse 2 again. 00:13:57.439 --> 00:14:01.559 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:06.620 And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 00:14:06.820 --> 00:14:09.600 And God said, let there be light, and there was light. 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:12.000 And God saw the light was good. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:15.000 And God separated the light from the darkness. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.779 God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. 00:14:19.379 --> 00:14:22.559 And there was evening, and there was morning the first day. 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:31.799 So again, if we put this into the context in which it was written, this is transformational. 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:32.659 It's revolutionary. 00:14:33.659 --> 00:14:41.379 So we already talked about how the beginning of everything out of nothing was transformational. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:46.899 But now we're going to talk about the method of creation and how that is transformation. 00:14:46.899 --> 00:14:58.379 So as you can see from the first day of creation, we get creation out of harmony, creation in peace. 00:14:58.899 --> 00:15:07.840 We have creation as a special act of God for no other reason than he decides to do it for his own glory. 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:17.820 This is a huge contrast to other creation accounts, both medieval, all the way back to antiquity. 00:15:18.540 --> 00:15:23.720 If we think about the creation account of most other cultures, we get a creation account out of conflict. 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:24.720 There is conflict. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:25.600 There is conflict. 00:15:25.779 --> 00:15:27.040 There is violence. 00:15:27.040 --> 00:15:29.040 And this is what results in creation. 00:15:29.040 --> 00:15:42.019 If we think about the Norse creation account, we have an eternal universe in which the gods sort of find this primordial giant that they then sort of kill. 00:15:42.019 --> 00:15:47.100 And then they take the giant and they use the giant's body to populate the world. 00:15:47.220 --> 00:15:53.840 Like they take his teeth and they throw them in the sky and that becomes a stars and his skull becomes the earth or something. 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:54.480 It's very interesting. 00:15:54.980 --> 00:15:58.639 But this is very different than what we get in Genesis. 00:16:00.059 --> 00:16:03.620 Additionally, and you have other ancient Near Eastern creation accounts. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:07.120 You have conflict is what produces creation. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:17.259 You have Ra every day as the sun god who enters at nighttime, enters into the realm of chaos to fight the serpent of chaos. 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:20.139 And who knows, maybe tomorrow there won't be a day. 00:16:20.220 --> 00:16:21.779 Oh, no, Ra came back. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:22.480 It's okay. 00:16:22.560 --> 00:16:26.000 Order is maintained because Ra is back in the sunrise. 00:16:26.419 --> 00:16:33.080 So conflict or just the fighting of these forces is what creates the world. 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:35.000 But this is totally different from what we get in Genesis. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:40.039 In Genesis, what we get is creation in harmony and peace. 00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:40.960 There is no conflict. 00:16:41.539 --> 00:16:46.139 In fact, most scholars are sort of confused by the fact that there is no conflict. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.620 But that's a feature of the Genesis account. 00:16:50.299 --> 00:16:56.019 God says, let there be light, and the world responds obediently. 00:16:56.379 --> 00:16:57.600 And there was light. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:07.920 And this gives us a totally different way of looking at the world that we live in. 00:17:08.059 --> 00:17:09.160 So let me go through. 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:16.819 I give you guys a table to go through sort of the structure of the six days of creation. 00:17:16.819 --> 00:17:20.079 As you can see, we have sort of two columns. 00:17:20.299 --> 00:17:23.039 We have the forming days and the filling days. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.460 And we'll explain that in a second. 00:17:24.539 --> 00:17:32.220 So basically, what happens is God is forming a space by separation. 00:17:32.220 --> 00:17:36.960 And then on a subsequent day, he fills that space. 00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:38.039 So let's talk about this. 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:40.339 So day one, we already read that. 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:43.380 God separates light from dark. 00:17:44.779 --> 00:17:47.880 He forms light by separating it from the darkness. 00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:56.720 On day two, God forms the sky by separating it from the waters that are around it. 00:17:57.900 --> 00:18:04.040 And on day three, he separates land from water, forming dry land. 00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:10.980 Now, on day three, there's a little special creation, a little subsequent creation. 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:17.000 You see that on day three, after he forms the dry land, we get the creation of vegetation. 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:23.740 Each trees, every good plant, according to their kinds, sprouting. 00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:25.160 I love that word, sprouting. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:26.119 It's a great word. 00:18:27.160 --> 00:18:29.819 So on day one, light and dark. 00:18:30.299 --> 00:18:32.380 Day two, we have the waters in the sky. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:35.180 And so on day four, what do we have? 00:18:35.220 --> 00:18:36.680 We have the creation of the luminaries. 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:40.440 So now we have created the space for light and dark. 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:44.720 Now we're going to fill that space with the lights. 00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:51.880 Now keep in mind, there is a Hebrew word for sun and moon, but we don't get sun and moon in the creation account. 00:18:51.960 --> 00:18:54.400 We get the greater light and the lesser light. 00:18:55.180 --> 00:18:56.519 And then we also get the stars. 00:18:56.660 --> 00:18:57.360 But that's something interesting. 00:18:57.480 --> 00:18:58.680 I'll come back to that in a second. 00:18:59.460 --> 00:19:02.420 So we have separated light from dark and we fill that with the luminaries. 00:19:02.420 --> 00:19:07.180 Now let's read something about the luminaries. 00:19:08.180 --> 00:19:17.700 God said, let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years. 00:19:17.700 --> 00:19:24.460 So we have the lights being created for a purpose. 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:29.440 The purpose is to be signs and for seasons. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:32.539 Keep that in mind as we move on. 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:37.900 Day five, we have created on day two, we created the waters and the sky. 00:19:38.019 --> 00:19:40.660 And now we're going to fill the waters in the sky with fish and birds. 00:19:40.660 --> 00:19:46.380 Again, I love Genesis. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:47.620 I love the first chapter. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:49.620 It is such a beautiful, beautiful thing. 00:19:49.840 --> 00:19:53.320 And God said that the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:57.420 What an evocative way of describing that. 00:19:59.500 --> 00:20:01.320 There is no swarms of birds. 00:20:01.560 --> 00:20:03.880 I think that's because it's sort of freaky if you think about it. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:05.080 I mean, we think swarms of birds. 00:20:05.079 --> 00:20:11.939 I think of birds like Alfred Hitchcock, but anyways, we have swarms of fish and we get the creation of birds. 00:20:12.019 --> 00:20:12.779 We filled the waters. 00:20:12.879 --> 00:20:13.539 We filled the skies. 00:20:13.699 --> 00:20:20.619 Now on day six, we're going to fill the land with every land creature, everything that walks on the earth. 00:20:20.619 --> 00:20:23.039 That includes bugs and beasts. 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:23.939 And we have livestock. 00:20:24.199 --> 00:20:27.879 So we're separating these, the land creatures in human terms. 00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:35.500 We have the livestock, the domesticated animals, and we have the swarming things, which is, you know, bugs and mice and stuff like that. 00:20:35.500 --> 00:20:39.280 And then the beasts of the field, which are sort of like the wild animals. 00:20:40.280 --> 00:20:43.880 And just like on day three, we have a parenthetical special creation. 00:20:44.040 --> 00:20:46.040 On day six, we have a special creation. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:48.820 And this is a very special creation. 00:20:48.819 --> 00:20:59.939 This is the pinnacle, both literarily in the book and also in reality, in creation, the pinnacle of God's creation. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:02.879 So God created man. 00:21:03.059 --> 00:21:06.000 This is chapter one, verse 27. 00:21:07.019 --> 00:21:09.019 So God created man in his own image. 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:13.319 In the image of God, he created him male and female. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:15.220 He created them. 00:21:15.220 --> 00:21:20.019 A three-part repeat of the creation of man in his image. 00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:22.000 God blessed them. 00:21:22.339 --> 00:21:25.880 And God said to them, be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it. 00:21:26.100 --> 00:21:31.400 And have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:43.319 So God creates human beings in his image and now gives them dominion over the other animals, the other living things in creation. 00:21:43.319 --> 00:21:47.839 So he gives them a mission to subdue it and to have dominion. 00:21:50.339 --> 00:21:56.179 And after day six, God finishes his creation. 00:21:56.339 --> 00:21:58.980 We read in chapter two, verse one, 00:21:58.980 --> 00:22:02.159 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:08.640 And on the seventh day, God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:14.800 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it, God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. 00:22:15.460 --> 00:22:21.500 So on day seven, we have the Sabbath, the day of rest. 00:22:21.500 --> 00:22:25.400 So let's look at the creation account as a whole. 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:31.700 Why do we have, why is God describing his work of creation in six days and a day of rest? 00:22:32.940 --> 00:22:39.480 Well, to an agrarian Israelite who's about to enter the promised land, this is very, this is going to be really recognizable. 00:22:39.660 --> 00:22:40.819 This is their daily life. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:42.079 This is how they live. 00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:45.319 They work for six days, and they rest on the seventh day. 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:50.299 So God is being described as an artisan, as an artist, throughout the six days. 00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:52.240 He is creating the world. 00:22:53.139 --> 00:22:58.519 He progressively finishes his work, and on the day he's done, he rests. 00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:04.159 And that is why we, in our way, we work for six days, and we rest on the seventh day. 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:05.119 That's why we have a Sabbath. 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:08.980 And so we finish creation. 00:23:09.159 --> 00:23:13.819 So when we look at the creation account, what is the purpose of the creation account? 00:23:15.319 --> 00:23:19.839 Like I said earlier, when I talk about Genesis in general, we are forming a worldview. 00:23:20.879 --> 00:23:28.639 So the creation account is the contrast for the people of Israel to their surrounding neighbors. 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:33.159 It's a contrast against the prevailing views of the ancient Near Eastern cultures. 00:23:34.299 --> 00:23:36.939 So for instance, God is the sole creator. 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:42.720 God made the world in harmony, and the creation is good. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:46.539 God made the world for us, for human beings. 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:56.519 He made human beings in his image and gave them dominion, and he gave us the sun and the moon as marks for seasons and for times. 00:23:56.860 --> 00:23:59.339 This is for us, so we can understand what's going on. 00:23:59.539 --> 00:24:02.100 Obviously, for us to glorify God. 00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:04.640 So in a greater sense, he made it for himself. 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:09.759 And we can contrast that. 00:24:10.020 --> 00:24:13.640 There are no other gods in the pictures in this account. 00:24:14.420 --> 00:24:17.759 It doesn't say there isn't any other gods in this account, but they're not there. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:22.980 God calls the sun and the moon the greater light and the lesser light. 00:24:22.980 --> 00:24:29.480 Because the majority of the surrounding cultures, they worship the sun and they worship the moon. 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:30.860 These were gods. 00:24:31.420 --> 00:24:34.079 But in Genesis, they don't even get their names. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:38.720 They are so much less than God, they are not even named. 00:24:38.940 --> 00:24:40.700 They are just the greater light and the lesser light. 00:24:40.900 --> 00:24:43.240 They are subservient to God. 00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:49.819 So we compare that account with the account of the surrounding cultures. 00:24:49.859 --> 00:24:51.400 But this also applies to us. 00:24:51.859 --> 00:24:54.599 We have our own prevailing view in our culture. 00:24:55.579 --> 00:24:58.359 One could say it is scientific materialism. 00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:01.819 And so we read the Genesis account, and we also are challenged. 00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:03.059 Our assumptions are challenged. 00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:04.240 Creation is good. 00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:07.180 Creation is not random. 00:25:07.319 --> 00:25:08.259 Creation has a purpose. 00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:13.120 We, as human beings, are unique, and we are infinitely valuable. 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:18.740 These are ways that this creation account that we read right now challenges our own assumptions. 00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:28.039 And it's always going to challenge our assumptions because the majority culture is always going to have its own way to tweak the truth. 00:25:28.680 --> 00:25:32.819 And so we need to read the account and take its message as well. 00:25:33.420 --> 00:25:37.940 And so how do we see, how is Jesus central to this aspect of creation? 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:47.100 Well, if we go to the next most sublime, maybe the only contender for most sublime part of the Bible, we have John 1.1. 00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:49.820 We read, in the beginning was the Word. 00:25:50.380 --> 00:25:52.880 And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 00:25:53.500 --> 00:25:55.279 He was in the beginning with God. 00:25:55.500 --> 00:26:00.820 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 00:26:00.819 --> 00:26:07.460 And later on, we find out that this Word is the person Jesus Christ. 00:26:08.179 --> 00:26:15.519 So already, we're in the first chapter of the Bible, and we've already met Jesus as the Word through whom all things were created. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:28.200 So, unfortunately, God's good creation is not pristine for long. 00:26:28.740 --> 00:26:32.440 As we know, in chapter 3, we have Satan being tempted. 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:37.339 And Satan is tempting them to break the one rule that God has given them. 00:26:37.339 --> 00:26:45.000 And if you read in chapter 2, verse 17, or yeah, let's see, the end of verse 18. 00:26:46.199 --> 00:26:46.599 Sorry. 00:26:47.859 --> 00:26:49.399 Chapter, verse 16. 00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:51.139 I have bad eyes. 00:26:51.140 --> 00:26:53.700 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 00:26:54.000 --> 00:27:01.320 You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. 00:27:01.860 --> 00:27:05.700 God gives them everything they need, and he gives them one prohibition. 00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:10.040 Don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:27:10.200 --> 00:27:11.960 Do we know what the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is? 00:27:12.320 --> 00:27:13.580 Do we know what the tree of life is? 00:27:15.300 --> 00:27:15.620 No. 00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:16.520 We're not really told. 00:27:16.519 --> 00:27:18.720 This is the Old Testament. 00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:23.579 And the pattern of the Old Testament is showing over telling. 00:27:24.180 --> 00:27:31.059 We're going to be shown the truth, and then we're going to be shown events, and we, as the audience, respond in the correct way. 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:41.660 So, after God creates man in his image, in chapter 2, we get the first tuladat. 00:27:42.220 --> 00:27:44.539 In verse 4, these are the generations. 00:27:44.740 --> 00:27:45.339 We hear generations. 00:27:45.339 --> 00:27:47.679 Oh, this is a new section. 00:27:49.059 --> 00:27:56.500 We have a zoom in on day 6, creation of man, the presentation of Adam's bride. 00:27:57.819 --> 00:28:02.119 But Satan comes to tempt Adam and Eve to disobey God. 00:28:02.199 --> 00:28:06.879 And so what is the nature of the fall that is that follows? 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:12.720 The fall was a rebellion of men from God to be gods. 00:28:13.740 --> 00:28:15.600 They wanted to be gods themselves. 00:28:16.100 --> 00:28:17.400 They wanted to be in charge. 00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:19.060 They wanted to idolize themselves. 00:28:19.059 --> 00:28:30.659 And because they can't be gods, they are perpetually, and we, as their descendants, are perpetually trying to fill that space with idols. 00:28:30.660 --> 00:28:36.700 We are rebelling against God and trying to replace God with something of our own making. 00:28:37.300 --> 00:28:38.220 It's idolatry. 00:28:38.420 --> 00:28:39.080 What is it that's affected? 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:39.940 It's affected everything. 00:28:40.740 --> 00:28:42.320 It's affected our relationship to God. 00:28:42.940 --> 00:28:45.060 It's affected our relationship to each other. 00:28:45.500 --> 00:28:47.300 It's affected our relationship to creation. 00:28:47.299 --> 00:28:49.379 And it's affected our relationship to ourselves. 00:28:51.779 --> 00:28:57.079 And more importantly, it's created four major roadblocks between us and God. 00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:00.500 We have, one, incurred God's wrath. 00:29:00.500 --> 00:29:06.000 We have, two, incurred an unpayable debt. 00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:11.059 Three, we have been now made bondage to Satan. 00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:22.180 And four, we are spiritually dead, which is what God said would happen if we aid from the knowledge of, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:29:22.180 --> 00:29:32.180 So, God justly curses the serpent, and humanity is judged for the rebellion, and that is the end. 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:34.560 It's the end of the book. 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:35.720 The Bible's over. 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:37.240 We close the book, and it's over. 00:29:38.180 --> 00:29:39.380 But no, it's not. 00:29:39.700 --> 00:29:40.980 Obviously, we know. 00:29:41.080 --> 00:29:41.779 It's just the beginning. 00:29:42.299 --> 00:29:46.019 So, what do we read in chapter 3, verses 14 through 15? 00:29:46.019 --> 00:29:48.859 This is immediately after the fall. 00:29:49.139 --> 00:29:53.519 Immediately after human beings have rebelled against God, what do we read? 00:29:54.259 --> 00:29:55.639 The Lord God said to the serpent, 00:29:56.460 --> 00:30:00.460 Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field. 00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:04.599 On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:08.759 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:14.379 He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. 00:30:16.019 --> 00:30:21.000 This is one of the most famous verses in all of Genesis. 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:24.220 This is the start of redemption history. 00:30:25.700 --> 00:30:33.119 God promises a rescuer who will come, a seed of woman, who will destroy Satan and restore creation. 00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:38.940 And this prophecy then morphs over time. 00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:42.259 It develops over time into the prophecy of the Messiah. 00:30:42.379 --> 00:30:44.059 We know who the Messiah is, don't we? 00:30:44.059 --> 00:30:46.859 Jesus is that Messiah. 00:30:47.740 --> 00:30:49.059 How has Jesus seen in these passages? 00:30:49.240 --> 00:30:52.099 Jesus is the new Adam, as Paul says. 00:30:52.700 --> 00:30:57.859 Jesus is the new Adam who does what he's supposed to do, which is obey God and destroy evil. 00:30:58.940 --> 00:31:01.359 And how has Jesus addressed the fall that we have talked about? 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:06.339 Through the cross, Jesus has satisfied the wrath of God. 00:31:06.339 --> 00:31:09.439 He's paid our unpayable debt. 00:31:10.259 --> 00:31:15.639 He's freed us from our bondage, and he's brought us back to spiritual life. 00:31:16.039 --> 00:31:27.759 And so if we look at the flow of Genesis in the big worldview of the entire Bible, we can see here the foundations of why Jesus had to come to pay our debts. 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:34.099 So, but that hasn't happened yet. 00:31:34.259 --> 00:31:35.619 We are just starting. 00:31:36.099 --> 00:31:40.940 God doesn't let a minute go by before giving them a glimmer of hope, the start of redemption history. 00:31:41.660 --> 00:31:47.559 And in response to their sin, God banishes Adam and Eve from the garden. 00:31:48.019 --> 00:31:52.579 He set us a really cool angel with like a flaming sword at the entrance so that they can't sneak back in. 00:31:52.579 --> 00:31:54.740 And they have kids. 00:31:54.899 --> 00:31:57.359 They have a son, Cain, and a son, Abel. 00:31:57.439 --> 00:31:58.899 I'm sure you've never heard of them before. 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:05.639 And Cain is jealous of his brother, Abel, because Abel is obedient to God. 00:32:05.740 --> 00:32:09.220 And he then, because of that, gains favor from God. 00:32:09.319 --> 00:32:13.559 So Cain murders his brother, Abel, and tries to hide him from God in the ground. 00:32:13.740 --> 00:32:14.839 That obviously doesn't work. 00:32:15.419 --> 00:32:16.740 And Cain is banished. 00:32:16.740 --> 00:32:27.960 In response to that, God provides a new son, a new son of promise to Adam and Eve, their son, Seth. 00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:31.319 And so how does Seth fit into redemption history? 00:32:31.500 --> 00:32:39.539 Well, Seth's descendant is Noah, who, as we will see going on, is the vehicle for redemption for humanity in this next section. 00:32:39.539 --> 00:32:52.960 Cain's descendants, they descend further into violence and perversion and evil to the point where God says in chapter 6, verse 8, 00:32:53.099 --> 00:32:57.379 every intention of the thoughts of their heart was only evil continuously. 00:32:58.200 --> 00:33:04.399 And there is not a more comprehensive way of saying that they are bad in every possible way. 00:33:04.579 --> 00:33:05.619 That is the way. 00:33:06.299 --> 00:33:07.240 So what's God's solution? 00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:11.099 Well, God's solution is justice and mercy. 00:33:11.900 --> 00:33:15.559 We read in chapter 6, verse 7, 00:33:15.740 --> 00:33:21.480 I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, for I am sorry that I have made them. 00:33:22.940 --> 00:33:27.380 Directly after, but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 00:33:27.980 --> 00:33:35.019 So if we have justice, God is not going to allow his creation to be destroyed. 00:33:35.019 --> 00:33:37.879 He is not going to allow this evil to go unpunished. 00:33:38.200 --> 00:33:46.779 He cleanses the world through the flood, but he also provides an avenue for redemption for humanity in the person of Noah and his family. 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:51.519 Noah is the recipient of God's mercy. 00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:55.579 God saves Noah and his family and cleanses the world. 00:33:55.579 --> 00:33:58.039 Noah is the new Adam. 00:33:58.039 --> 00:34:03.740 If this isn't clear to you, let's read chapter 9, verse 1. 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:08.639 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 00:34:08.840 --> 00:34:14.360 It's the exact same command that God gave Adam in the beginning. 00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:17.440 Noah is a new Adam. 00:34:17.860 --> 00:34:23.120 And later in the Bible, we see that Noah is not only the new Adam, but he's a picture of the Christian's life. 00:34:24.039 --> 00:34:30.500 In 1 Peter 3, 21 through 22, we see that Noah's ark is seen as a type of our baptism. 00:34:30.500 --> 00:34:36.500 In the same way that Noah enters the ark and is submerged in water in the death of humanity, 00:34:36.500 --> 00:34:41.380 he comes out of the water in new life, in the restoration of creation. 00:34:41.579 --> 00:34:48.599 We, in our baptism, enter the water to signify our connection with the death of Christ, 00:34:48.699 --> 00:34:52.019 and we leave the water in new life in Christ. 00:34:53.739 --> 00:34:56.980 So Noah is a new start, a new creation, you might say. 00:34:57.219 --> 00:34:59.719 But Noah's family have their own fault. 00:35:01.079 --> 00:35:05.559 Noah's family descends into the same idolatry, and they repeat the sins of Adam and Eve. 00:35:05.559 --> 00:35:08.059 They build the Tower of Babel. 00:35:08.840 --> 00:35:10.500 They try to manipulate God. 00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:13.960 They want to make themselves able to control God. 00:35:14.139 --> 00:35:15.159 They want to be gods. 00:35:16.360 --> 00:35:19.559 So how does God show justice and mercy in response to this? 00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:25.500 He confuses their languages and disperses them across the world. 00:35:28.259 --> 00:35:29.860 It's both justice and mercy. 00:35:30.039 --> 00:35:32.259 For one, justice, he's confusing the languages. 00:35:32.440 --> 00:35:33.119 He's causing division. 00:35:33.119 --> 00:35:39.219 But at the same time, in mercy, he's actually sort of forcing them to do what he commanded them to do, 00:35:39.279 --> 00:35:41.339 which is to multiply and fill the earth. 00:35:41.340 --> 00:35:48.059 And out of this dispersion, we get the call of Abram. 00:35:48.059 --> 00:35:54.340 Abram is one of those people who descended from those dispersed from Babylon. 00:35:55.340 --> 00:35:58.780 Abraham is called from his pagan existence to start the holy nation of Israel. 00:35:59.079 --> 00:36:00.980 And what is God's covenant with Abraham? 00:36:00.980 --> 00:36:05.619 He says, I will make you a great nation. 00:36:06.500 --> 00:36:10.199 Through blessing you, all of the families of the world will be blessed. 00:36:10.199 --> 00:36:15.579 So throughout this book, we've been seeing this theme of creation, fall, redemption. 00:36:15.980 --> 00:36:24.859 And here, out of the fall of Noah's family in Babel, we see the start of redemption history in the formation of a holy people, Israel, 00:36:24.859 --> 00:36:31.519 to bring that redemption that we see in chapter three into the world. 00:36:31.519 --> 00:36:34.079 They are going to be a blessing to the nations. 00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:41.539 Abraham has a son, Isaac, a child of promise. 00:36:42.019 --> 00:36:45.759 Isaac also has a couple sons, Jacob and Esau. 00:36:46.340 --> 00:36:48.199 Jacob has many sons. 00:36:49.960 --> 00:36:52.880 And many sons had Father Jacob. 00:36:53.300 --> 00:36:57.699 He has a favorite son, Joseph. 00:36:57.699 --> 00:37:07.359 Joseph, because of this favoritism and because he's sort of a flaunty kid, gets in trouble with his brothers. 00:37:07.539 --> 00:37:08.279 He's persecuted. 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:10.039 He's sold into slavery in Egypt. 00:37:10.439 --> 00:37:19.099 His life further deteriorates by hitting rock bottom, almost literally, in a pit prison in Egypt. 00:37:19.099 --> 00:37:27.900 But from this pit, God raises him to be the second most important man in all of Egypt. 00:37:28.400 --> 00:37:31.699 From despair, from his fall, we see redemption. 00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:37.639 So even in the life of Joseph himself, we see creation, fall, redemption. 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:40.319 But where else do we see this pattern in redemption history? 00:37:41.920 --> 00:37:48.099 Where people are attempting to persecute someone, but in reality, something else is going on. 00:37:48.099 --> 00:37:53.019 Well, we see this all the time, but most powerfully, we see this in Jesus. 00:37:54.739 --> 00:37:58.860 Religious leaders of Jesus' day had him crucified out of spite. 00:37:59.159 --> 00:38:00.179 Romans killed him out of fear. 00:38:01.039 --> 00:38:04.819 But that was exactly God's plan of redemption. 00:38:04.820 --> 00:38:30.280 And so we, in light of redemption history, can say, possibly with more feeling, we can end with Joseph's famous line in the end of Genesis, where the Israelites start their sojourn in Egypt, that what you meant for evil, God meant for good. 00:38:30.280 --> 00:38:38.320 And we can see that in Genesis, we are starting that process by which human beings are rebelling against God. 00:38:38.640 --> 00:38:41.340 We are trying to harm him. 00:38:41.440 --> 00:38:43.080 We are trying to make ourselves God. 00:38:43.240 --> 00:38:47.680 But in our rebellion, God has mercy and provides redemption. 00:38:47.679 --> 00:38:56.399 And oftentimes, it's our very attempts to attack God that he uses to redeem us. 00:38:57.440 --> 00:38:57.839 Okay. 00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:01.819 With that, I will end. 00:39:02.519 --> 00:39:04.299 Does it feel like you went a million miles an hour? 00:39:04.359 --> 00:39:05.659 Because it felt like that to me. 00:39:05.659 --> 00:39:08.619 I passed the first time. 00:39:10.199 --> 00:39:13.259 I mean, you guys can, I'm going to open up for questions in a second. 00:39:13.359 --> 00:39:22.839 But I just want to say that first time I tried this talk out on my wife, I spent about a half hour on creation. 00:39:23.799 --> 00:39:28.039 And then like 30 minutes on the first question. 00:39:28.039 --> 00:39:32.460 So there's a lot more I would like to say about these things. 00:39:32.460 --> 00:39:36.380 But for the benefit of time, unless you guys want to be here for three weeks, I would love that. 00:39:36.539 --> 00:39:40.619 But we're going to end there just as the basic sweep of Genesis. 00:39:40.820 --> 00:39:42.059 Does anybody have any questions? 00:39:43.360 --> 00:39:45.840 Maybe something you want me to talk about in more detail? 00:39:45.840 --> 00:39:51.199 Or there's a part I didn't talk about, which was like most of the book that you want me to comment on? 00:39:51.199 --> 00:39:57.339 Also, for you Zoom people, I see the chat. 00:39:57.399 --> 00:39:59.559 So if you want to have a question, you can just throw that into the chat. 00:39:59.939 --> 00:40:01.919 I will try my best to answer it. 00:40:06.179 --> 00:40:06.539 Yeah. 00:40:07.579 --> 00:40:13.279 During the time that you just wrote the book, you kind of talked about how they saw creation as chaos. 00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:17.239 What was, I guess, their story? 00:40:18.179 --> 00:40:18.559 Yeah. 00:40:18.659 --> 00:40:20.739 So it actually depends on the group. 00:40:21.199 --> 00:40:25.339 There are a variety of creation accounts that we have from the ancient Near East. 00:40:26.179 --> 00:40:37.339 They all have actually a very basic structure that is similar to Genesis in the sense that they have sort of a creation. 00:40:38.159 --> 00:40:39.859 They have sort of the creation of man. 00:40:40.039 --> 00:40:41.279 They have a flood narrative. 00:40:42.179 --> 00:40:45.579 And then the start of what they would call the king lists. 00:40:45.579 --> 00:40:59.639 So, for instance, in the Babylonian creation account, you have sort of the waters of chaos that the Babylonian gods come to. 00:40:59.639 --> 00:41:05.000 And they sort of fight their way into making creation for man. 00:41:05.500 --> 00:41:09.699 But man, there's a lot of work to be done on earth. 00:41:09.940 --> 00:41:11.339 And they're really tired. 00:41:11.500 --> 00:41:12.699 And they don't want to do that. 00:41:12.900 --> 00:41:15.119 So what they do is they create man to do their work for them. 00:41:15.119 --> 00:41:17.619 So they can finally take a break. 00:41:17.699 --> 00:41:21.579 But unfortunately, men are really loud. 00:41:22.039 --> 00:41:23.699 And the gods can't get any rest. 00:41:23.839 --> 00:41:27.779 So they end up just like, okay, this is worse than us doing all the work. 00:41:27.819 --> 00:41:29.839 So they try to kill all the human beings with a flood. 00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:34.360 But some of the gods in the council are like, I kind of like these guys. 00:41:34.480 --> 00:41:35.880 So they save one of them. 00:41:36.800 --> 00:41:40.280 So you can see that there's sort of a basic similarity in the structure. 00:41:40.760 --> 00:41:44.880 But the thrust is completely different. 00:41:45.480 --> 00:41:49.800 The message is completely different that you get from these different creation accounts. 00:41:49.900 --> 00:41:50.519 And it varies. 00:41:50.660 --> 00:41:52.120 So I'm talking specifically there. 00:41:52.280 --> 00:41:58.000 That's sort of a basic outline of some of the Assyrian and Babylonian creation accounts. 00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:04.119 But if we look at different ones, like I was saying, there are Norse creation accounts that look way crazy different. 00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:10.619 But yeah, there's a lot of crazy stuff that's going on. 00:42:11.300 --> 00:42:12.739 I suggest you look into it. 00:42:12.739 --> 00:42:13.679 It's pretty well. 00:42:15.179 --> 00:42:16.260 Any other questions? 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:43.519 My brother, who's viewing this from California right now, has asked, is there a reason to believe that these other cultures heard the real account? 00:42:43.519 --> 00:42:49.519 It's difficult to tell. 00:42:50.199 --> 00:42:59.679 From what we understand, we're not sure what the relationship is between these accounts. 00:42:59.679 --> 00:43:13.099 Some scholars think that the Genesis account is a correction of earlier... 00:43:13.519 --> 00:43:17.599 The creation account, the Genesis account is a correction of earlier accounts they had heard. 00:43:17.900 --> 00:43:19.239 So that would be familiar with the people. 00:43:19.400 --> 00:43:25.780 Other scholars believe that the Genesis account was an earlier one and that these other ones are perversions of it. 00:43:25.840 --> 00:43:29.639 It's not really clear from the data which one... 00:43:29.639 --> 00:43:30.639 Who heard what? 00:43:30.639 --> 00:43:40.199 I think given, though, the nature of the Israelites' place in society in comparison to these other societies, 00:43:40.359 --> 00:43:47.440 my guess is that these other cultures probably would not have heard the Israelite version of the story. 00:43:47.440 --> 00:43:57.039 If we think about Egypt as a pretty stable ancient kingdom and you compare it to Israelites who were a wandering tribe, 00:43:57.760 --> 00:44:04.059 I don't think that the Israelites' story was getting out. 00:44:04.139 --> 00:44:04.579 It could have been. 00:44:05.119 --> 00:44:06.039 I'm not sure about that. 00:44:06.039 --> 00:44:22.159 He also asks, do Reformed Baptists hold to the covenant of works slash covenant of grace distinction for the time before the fall? 00:44:23.519 --> 00:44:23.759 Oof. 00:44:26.179 --> 00:44:27.000 I don't know. 00:44:27.179 --> 00:44:27.820 I don't think... 00:44:27.820 --> 00:44:29.480 I don't know if there's like a... 00:44:29.480 --> 00:44:29.940 I don't know, Greg. 00:44:29.940 --> 00:44:30.940 I think... 00:44:30.940 --> 00:44:32.940 I don't know that there is a hard line... 00:44:33.840 --> 00:44:35.360 Hard question to speak for everybody about... 00:44:35.360 --> 00:44:36.000 Yeah, exactly. 00:44:36.079 --> 00:44:38.720 I was going to say, I don't think all Reformed Baptists would agree. 00:44:40.019 --> 00:44:40.940 I think... 00:44:40.940 --> 00:44:48.940 I mean, I think everybody can see that, again, this is a question based on the covenantal way of looking at Genesis, 00:44:49.059 --> 00:44:51.000 which is a really fruitful way of reading the book. 00:44:53.139 --> 00:44:58.159 If we look at the covenant, you could call it a covenant between God and Adam. 00:44:58.159 --> 00:45:02.239 Adam, was that a covenant of grace or was that a covenant of works? 00:45:04.239 --> 00:45:06.759 I think there can be an argument made on either side. 00:45:06.839 --> 00:45:10.599 One, you could say that God made a covenant with Abraham... 00:45:10.599 --> 00:45:22.659 I mean, with Adam, and the penalty of breaking that covenant was death, and he had grace on Adam and did not give them instantaneous death on them breaking the covenant. 00:45:22.759 --> 00:45:24.940 So you could say that's a covenant of grace in that way. 00:45:24.940 --> 00:45:36.659 But another way of saying is that when God says that you will surely die, that he's speaking always about spiritual death, that was instantaneous. 00:45:37.059 --> 00:45:37.960 So, yeah. 00:45:38.360 --> 00:45:41.659 I would say, as a one-way point to that, it's good to speak. 00:45:41.840 --> 00:45:44.519 Any kind of darkness doesn't have the grace. 00:45:44.900 --> 00:45:45.139 Yeah. 00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:45.940 Because given... 00:45:46.480 --> 00:45:47.900 That's kind of the point of Genesis. 00:45:48.260 --> 00:45:48.500 Right. 00:45:48.659 --> 00:45:48.940 Right? 00:45:48.940 --> 00:45:52.240 Why should God be able to first convince? 00:45:52.740 --> 00:45:52.940 Right. 00:45:53.099 --> 00:45:53.700 Which is great. 00:45:54.380 --> 00:45:54.740 Yeah. 00:45:54.940 --> 00:46:01.599 So even the distinction between covenant, it's important, of course, to be the most of the covenant is all grace. 00:46:01.840 --> 00:46:02.059 Yeah. 00:46:02.179 --> 00:46:02.920 No, I agree with you. 00:46:02.980 --> 00:46:03.519 I agree with you. 00:46:03.659 --> 00:46:11.860 What you're saying is, in a sense, all covenants are a covenant of grace because God is not required to give a covenant at all. 00:46:12.079 --> 00:46:12.240 Right. 00:46:12.239 --> 00:46:14.899 So any giving of a covenant is out of grace and mercy. 00:46:15.839 --> 00:46:23.199 I think the only distinction that comes in is when you start trying to think about whether covenants are conditional or unconditional. 00:46:23.779 --> 00:46:27.719 I think that's different than asking whether it's a covenant of works and a covenant of grace. 00:46:27.719 --> 00:46:32.739 But I think there are differences between covenants. 00:46:33.059 --> 00:46:35.219 But I think we can also... 00:46:35.219 --> 00:46:45.259 We also know at least that the covenant with Abraham was pretty much all one-sided in the person of God. 00:46:45.379 --> 00:46:46.980 God puts Abraham to sleep. 00:46:47.059 --> 00:46:48.119 This is something I didn't talk about. 00:46:48.459 --> 00:46:50.699 When God calls Abraham, he makes a covenant with Abraham. 00:46:50.919 --> 00:46:53.500 Abraham's like, hey, God, how am I supposed to be... 00:46:53.500 --> 00:46:55.899 How am I supposed to know this is really all going to happen? 00:46:55.900 --> 00:47:03.360 God's like, okay, let's make a covenant in the style that they would do in ancient Near Eastern times. 00:47:03.480 --> 00:47:07.460 They get a bunch of animals and they cut them down the middle and they separate them. 00:47:07.539 --> 00:47:15.220 And they're supposed to together, both members of the covenant are supposed to walk through the animals together as a sign of their agreement. 00:47:15.860 --> 00:47:18.059 But Abraham is put into a deep sleep. 00:47:18.539 --> 00:47:22.220 And God is the only one who walks through the animals. 00:47:22.219 --> 00:47:26.000 We see a lantern, I think, right? 00:47:26.059 --> 00:47:29.279 Yeah, a lantern walking through the animals. 00:47:29.639 --> 00:47:34.459 This is a sign to Abraham that you literally almost have nothing to do. 00:47:34.919 --> 00:47:37.259 I'm going to be doing everything. 00:47:37.859 --> 00:47:42.019 And if you read the rest of Genesis and you read through Exodus and the Pentateuch in general, 00:47:42.019 --> 00:47:50.280 you will see that the covenant of Abraham, which underlies the covenant of Moses, is central to the entire Old Testament. 00:47:51.000 --> 00:47:59.099 And God's promise, you can see this all throughout the prophets, God's promise to do, to bless Israel and make them a nation. 00:47:59.099 --> 00:48:05.000 And through them, bless the entire world, is chalk through the entire thing and God doing all that by himself. 00:48:05.559 --> 00:48:15.539 I mean, I guess you could say that circumcision is sort of a condition of that. 00:48:15.900 --> 00:48:16.920 But anyways. 00:48:16.920 --> 00:48:22.360 The reason why they would walk through the pieces of the animals is they were basically saying, 00:48:22.619 --> 00:48:25.260 if I break my promise to you, may I become like these. 00:48:25.500 --> 00:48:25.700 Yeah. 00:48:26.519 --> 00:48:30.780 Like, it's like a very stark, like signing of something in blood. 00:48:30.900 --> 00:48:32.139 You know, it's that kind of. 00:48:33.300 --> 00:48:33.740 Yeah. 00:48:33.800 --> 00:48:39.500 So when God goes through the pieces by himself, God's basically saying, I promise to fulfill this covenant. 00:48:40.619 --> 00:48:46.500 I mean, you can even see it as like, I promise to fulfill this covenant even if I have to, even if I have to die to accomplish it. 00:48:46.500 --> 00:48:46.719 Right. 00:48:46.940 --> 00:48:49.860 You know, which, of course, is what Christ would end up doing on the cross. 00:48:49.940 --> 00:48:50.320 Exactly. 00:48:51.900 --> 00:49:00.480 But it's basically saying, like, the fulfillment of this is not ultimately going to depend on your obedience or whatever. 00:49:00.679 --> 00:49:03.599 Like, ultimately, I'm going to fulfill this promise. 00:49:03.639 --> 00:49:03.920 Right. 00:49:04.440 --> 00:49:04.800 Exactly. 00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:06.260 I mean, and thank God for that, right? 00:49:06.260 --> 00:49:11.780 I mean, if there was any, like, anytime there's ever a condition, it is always broken. 00:49:11.980 --> 00:49:12.840 You'll read that in the Bible. 00:49:13.719 --> 00:49:15.960 So I have one last question before we break. 00:49:16.500 --> 00:49:28.960 And the question is, do you think that there's biblical evidence to believe that God intended to have Adam slash his family one day eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but was not yet the time for it? 00:49:28.960 --> 00:49:37.139 So there's a variety of views on what the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil were for. 00:49:37.139 --> 00:49:49.679 There is one view that says that the tree of knowledge of good and evil was always supposed to be untouched or not eaten. 00:49:50.359 --> 00:49:52.379 It was never supposed to be eaten from. 00:49:52.519 --> 00:49:53.839 This was for God alone. 00:49:53.980 --> 00:49:57.639 This is a symbol of God's authority here in the garden. 00:49:57.639 --> 00:50:02.480 It's a sign of our submission to God to not eat it. 00:50:03.319 --> 00:50:10.119 Another view says that God intended for the human beings eventually to eat from the knowledge of good and evil. 00:50:10.119 --> 00:50:19.279 Because elsewhere in the Bible, the knowledge of good and evil is used sometimes as a positive, as a positive attributes. 00:50:19.639 --> 00:50:21.279 So they'll say it's almost like discernment. 00:50:21.539 --> 00:50:25.699 So they'll say, oh, that person, they know that they have the knowledge of good and evil. 00:50:25.799 --> 00:50:27.719 So they have their discerning mind. 00:50:27.719 --> 00:50:48.399 So another view would say that the point of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a temporary prohibition that God was going to first let Adam and Eve grow in their spiritual and moral maturity before they then eat and gain that further level of development. 00:50:48.500 --> 00:50:50.519 I think that's also a compelling argument. 00:50:51.799 --> 00:50:53.779 I believe that was C.S. Lewis's view. 00:50:53.780 --> 00:51:14.340 I think, I mean, there's another view that says that the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a representation of God's role in determining morality, God's nature for the person who determines what is good and what is evil. 00:51:14.340 --> 00:51:22.640 And by eating from the tree, we as human beings are trying to usurp that role and decide for ourselves what is good and what is evil. 00:51:23.780 --> 00:51:30.000 So do I think there's biblical evidence for that, for one of those views? 00:51:30.080 --> 00:51:35.360 Yeah, I think there's biblical evidence for all those views, which is why there's no, there's not 100% consensus. 00:51:35.360 --> 00:51:44.200 I tend myself to lean towards more the maturity view of things, but I'm not really like 100%. 00:51:44.200 --> 00:51:47.660 Like this is the view. 00:51:48.120 --> 00:51:50.340 I just think it could make sense. 00:51:50.340 --> 00:51:56.559 So, yeah, with that, why don't we close in prayer? 00:51:58.059 --> 00:51:59.019 Bow your heads with me. 00:52:01.600 --> 00:52:03.300 Father God, we thank you for this day. 00:52:03.980 --> 00:52:07.180 We thank you so much for the world that you have created. 00:52:08.640 --> 00:52:11.780 We thank you that it is good. 00:52:12.420 --> 00:52:14.500 We thank you that you have given us worth. 00:52:15.680 --> 00:52:17.200 We thank you that you've given us a mission. 00:52:17.199 --> 00:52:22.579 Above all, Lord, we thank you for the redemption that we find in Jesus Christ. 00:52:23.379 --> 00:52:25.960 We thank you for everything that he has done for us. 00:52:26.239 --> 00:52:32.139 And we ask that today we would do everything to glorify you. 00:52:33.000 --> 00:52:38.259 And that we would love each other in the way that you have loved us. 00:52:39.119 --> 00:52:40.139 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:52:40.139 --> 00:52:40.239 Amen. 00:52:40.239 --> 00:52:40.659 Amen. 00:52:40.659 --> 00:52:41.239 Amen. 00:52:41.239 --> 00:52:42.239 Amen. 00:52:42.239 --> 00:52:42.299 Amen. 00:52:42.299 --> 00:52:42.339 Amen.