Author: Truth Seeker

The last couple of readings in Genesis have been somewhat entertaining for me. I feel like I am watching a good soap opera or drama. Now that work and campus ministry is back in session for me, my updates will be more thoughts about the readings and some general nuggets and I hope you will continue to share yours as well. The one consistent theme that I see is the promise of God that originally was with Abraham consistently reinforced to his children as well. God is always faithful to his promise; it is us that sometimes aren’t. God promised Abraham that through his seed a great nation would form (Israel) and eventually the Messiah. Even when God makes promises, we can lack faith in them. Jacob and his mother Rebecca felt it was necessary to deceive Isaac in order to get the blessing and inheritance when God had already promised it to him! This was not necessary. God is sovereign and will hold to his word despite our sin. God still kept his promise but there would be consequences to Jacob’s decisions to practice deceit. His name can also mean “deceives” and it show that this was a pattern sin that became his character. It led to hiding from Esau, flattery, shame, and strife amongst brothers. It made me think of my life at times and how deceit was so much a part of who I was without God. Deceit is always a by-product of a deeper sin. It is simply used to cover something up. It doesn’t necessarily have to be telling a direct lie, but can come in the form of presenting to someone something that isn’t what it really is. Is there sin in your life that you are covering up by practicing deceit? Consider 1 John 1:5-10. If we claim we do not have sin and come to church acting as if everything is great, we practice deceit. I remember hearing an old saying long ago “what goes around comes around.” Jacob’s sin would come back to haunt him. Laban would deceive and manipulate Jacob in order to get him to work for him a total of 14 years in return for his two daughters. Jacob was under the impression that he would only have to work seven years for Laban’s daughter Rachel and ended up with Leah. There is a spiritual law that I have noticed, what goes around comes around. Jacob practiced deceit and now he became the deceived and these consequences would break him to become a more godly man. I can remember hiding a certain sin and deceiving someone who was very close to me and it shattered that person. Later on that same year I was deceived by someone close who hid an even more intense sin and it shattered me. As hard as this experience was this story came to mind and I was grateful to God because I learned how sin hurts other people, especially deceit. For you personally, are you learning from the consequences of your sin? These are just some quick reflections on the readings. I will post some interesting theological points very soon. Tithing is another theme we have seen in the readings I want to write about. Have a great Friday the 13^th!

MP

Genesis 10 list the generations of the sons of Noah and is foundational in us understanding the world. Shem the second son of Noah was mentioned last in this table of nations perhaps because his seed was to be the important subject of the remainder of Genesis as well as the Old Testament. This line is the line of which the Messiah would come. Genesis 10 is parenthetical as an introduction to the story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their offspring. Chronologically, this chapter should follow Genesis 11:9 but it is positioned here to complete the story of Noah’s 3 sons.

 

Genesis 10:25 shows the earth was divided at this time. This means that at one point the earth was one big continent! This matches what Genesis 1 shows us that God made the land one big mass with the waters surrounding it. TheBabelincident in chapter 11 would occur and following this scattering during the days of Peleg. The earth would be divided into continents and islands after various nations were scattered abroad on all the one land at the time of the God’s judgment (Gen. 11:1-9). Many wonder how Native American Indians arrived in theAmericas, but this passage helps us understand how they got here.

 

Chapter 11 literally is a day that would change the world. A commentary said “the term ‘mighty hunter”’ in Heb. could refer to a hunter of animals or of men to enslave them. Nimrod was a hunter of both men and animals.” The term mighty is also used of the giants and it is likely he was a Nephilim (see previous post). Tradition says he established the first great kingdom (that would becomeBabylon) and the first false religion that openly opposed God (thus “before the Lord”). Josephus (Roman/Jewish historian) wrote that Nimrod had the tower built to protect them from if God decided to flood the world again, he would be high enough. God would then come down to take action to counteract the rebellion of Nimrod.

 

Tradition and some history say the original language of man was Hebrew. The whole earth spoke one language. We see the power of unity in the fact that God said if they speak one language then nothing they imagine to do will be impossible for them.

 

AncientMesopotamiahad a structure called a ziggurat that dates to a time after the flood. Interestingly, these structures are seen all over other parts of the world! This is what is believed theTowerofBabellooked like and why similar structures were found all over that were similar.

 

I find it amazing that atheism didn’t really begin until recently. All religions practiced common things in ancient times such as tithing, animal sacrifice, etc. This is proof that there was one universal people at one time. God is awesome!

 

Man builds his tower, and God comes down to see it the bible says. This shows us how high God is compared to what we think is great.

 

Notice once again, God says, “let us…” This referred to the divine council of the Trinity. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit worked in unity to make divine decisions and judgments.

 

The beginning of languages is at the heart of this text. God allows man certain freedoms as the tower was built, but he had to react and stop the building of the city as it was being built to glorify man.

PRACTICALS:

• Unity is a powerful tool. Consider Genesis 11:6. This unity was used for evil. How can you use unity for good? Are you completely united with your ministry, leadership, and with God?
• At the heart ofBabelwas pride and rebellion. Man wanted to glorify himself. What towers are you building in your life that God wants to demolish?
• Man is very powerful in skill, technology, imagination, etc. How are you going to use these abilities to glorify God and not yourself?

Mike Patterson

It has been a long day and I am feeling under the weather so today’s reading post won’t be as long. Excited for the Winter Workshop this weekend as evangelist from all over the world will be flying here to LA to gear up for the New Year! I got a preview of the weekend’s festivities at our church staff meeting this morning and I believe the Holy Spirit is going to make a powerful move!

There is a lot to glean from the Flood account. Noah finds favor with God and it doesn’t take long to see why. He is obedient to the minute detail of God’s plan. It challenged me because I know I can compromise in certain areas that I don’t feel are as big of a deal. I had to ask myself, am I fully obedient to the word of God and promptings of the Holy Spirit? Do I have a walk with God that would cause our heavenly father to look down on me with favor?

One of the most intriguing parts to this story is 6:4-5. It tells of a group of people called the Nephilim. The KJV of the bible accurately translates this word “giants”.  The word “rephaim” could also be translated giants in the bible. Isaiah 26:14 teaches these giants have no resurrection. Who were they? The bible says the “sons of God” slept with the “daughters of men”. “Sons of God” is found in the bible five times and always refers to angels (see Job 1-2). Fallen angels slept with human women and produced an offspring of giants. Remember, angels usually take the form of humans throughout the bible. This explains where much of the mythology of ancient civilizations came from. I personally believe it was the Nephilim who helped build the ancient pyramids and were some of the “gods” these Egyptians worshiped. Only Giants of enormous size could lift such stones. These giants are found in Numbers and also try to stop the Israelites from entering thePromiseLand. In Numbers 14 the Israelites bring back enlarged fruit! Some believe these giants had the ability to genetically engineer. The book of Enoch (a non-inspired or non canonical book) speaks of these fallen angels teaching the people of Noah’s time how to make advanced weapons and violence.

The bible says Satan was a murderer from the beginning. Remember the prophecy of Genesis 3:15? That Satan’s offspring would war against the woman’s offspring? Could it be these giants are the offspring of Satan? The fallen angels would be Satan’s children just as non-disciples are Satan’s children (John 8). Their goal would be to mess up the line of the coming Messiah by infiltrating the daughters of men to mess up the seed-line. God would save Noah and protect the seed of the Messiah. David fought Goliath who was a giant/Nephilim as well. If you notice carefully in 2 Chronicles 20:6-8, David and his men kill off the last of the giants (Goliath’s brothers). The very next verse in 2 Chronicles 21:1 says, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David…” The word Satan is used only 3 times in the Old Testament. It is significant that right after David kills “Satan’s offspring” he himself raises up against David.

There is much more I could say about this subject. I find it interesting the Nephilim were on the earth prior to the flood and after. Did one of Noah’s family members have the fallen angel seed in them? Did the giants somehow survive the flood (since they technically aren’t considered mankind- I’m doubtful this view)? This subject is very interesting to me. Most scholars put the flood around 2300 BC. Many ancient cultures have a similar world-wide flood story proving the Bible validity that this event did take place, not to mention all the sediment deposits found around the world.

PRACTICALS:

• What areas are you not fully obedient in with God’s word?
• Think about the ridicule Noah must have faced and the persecution he received. Do you still obey God’s word in the face of persecution? When what your doing doesn’t make sense to your family or friends?
• 1 Peter 3:18-22 compares the Flood to our baptism. Every inclination of man is evil because of sin in the world but because of the flood of our baptism we can have a pure heart! Reflect on when God saved you!

I wasn’t able to take the time to write as much as I could on this powerful story so I would love to hear your thoughts on the Flood. Please pray that I feel better. God bless.