January, 1946
for if we take it away, the rest of the Scriptures become meaningless.” Let us note some of the results of the Fall. First, there was separation from God (vs. 8-10; cf. Isa. 59:2; 2 Thess. 1:7-9). Second, death followed. When man sinned, the seed of physi cal death was thereby planted, as foretold in Genesis 2:17, and confirmed by Romans 5:12. Spiritual death took place the day of Adam’s fall. From that time ,on, all who come into this world are spiritually dead. In the third place, the whole race of man kind fell in Adam (Rom. 5:12). Adam was the head, or representative, of the old creation; Christ is the head, or representative, of the new creation. All men are either in Adam, with sin and death to their account, or in Christ, with righteousness and life as their portion. Genesis 3:15 c o n t a i n s the first prophecy and promise of a Redeemer, “the seed of the woman” who was Christ. In the clothing of the guilty
ruption and brought on the flood. This was the judgment upon sinful man, and is a solemn warning of coming judgment. (See 2 Peter 2:9; 3:5-7.) The ark speaks to Us of salvation through Christ. It was the only way of escape; all people outside of it perished. So Jesus Christ is the only way for man to be saved (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). As then, so now, this way of salva tion was accepted by faith. (See Heb. 11:7, and cf. John 3:16,18,36, and many other New Testament passages.) IV. The Nations (chapters 10, ID- Chronologically, chapter 11 precedes chapter 10. In 11:1 we read, “the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.” As a result of the godless attempt of men to make for them selves a name, and their virtual re bellion against God in seeking to es tablish themselves in one place rather than to “replenish the earth” (Gen. 1:28), ■God sent the confusion of tongues and “scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth,” In chapter 10 is furnished the record of the various nations into which the peoples of earth were di vided. (See vs. 5, 20, 31, 32.) V. Abraham (chapters. 12-25). The call of Abraham marks “an important turning point in the divine dealing. Heretofore the history has been that of the whole Adamic race. There has been neither Jew nor Gentile; all have been one in ‘the first man Adam.’ Henceforth, in the Seripture record, humanity must be thought of as a vast stream from which God, in the call of Abram and the creation of the nation of Israel, has but drawn off a slender rill, through which He may at last purify the great river itself” (Sco field).' Here begins “the seed line” culminating in Christ (Gal. 3:16). To Abraham, God affirmed: “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 22:18). It is well to remind ourselves that all of the spir itual blessings of our lives have come through the much despised and hated people, the Jews. . The reader is urged to read and to reread these chapters relating to Abra ham until his remarkable life can be traced from beginning to end from memory. The great motivating prin ciple of his life may be put in two words: “Faith” and “Obedience." (Carefully read Heb. 11:8-19; Rom. 4:17-25.)
TheBookofGenesis This article is designed for study, not merely to be read. Hence, to de rive the most profit, all the chapters of Genesis should be carefully read and reread, and all Scripture references should be looked up and considered. A S THE NAME indicates, Genesis is the book of beginnings. Here are recorded the beginnings of the world, man, sin, salvation, judgment, and other things of importance. Special mention is made of the commence ment of the Hebrew race, the children of Israel. Genesis has been called “the seed- plot of the Bible.” Here is found the germ out of which grows the remain der of the Book. The contents of Genesis center around eight significant words: Creation, chapters 1, 2; Fall, chapter 3; Flood, chapters 6-9; Nations, chapters 10, 11; Abraham, chapters 12-25; Isaac chapters 21-35; Jacob,, chapters 25-50; Joseph, chapters 37-50. It is very important to note that the first twelve chapters give a record of God’s dealing with the human race as a whole. Beginning with chapter 12, the rest of Genesis is the account of God’s dealing with one nation, Israel. In fact, the history of the bal ance of the entire Old Testament has to do with this one people. Let us endeavor to get a synthetic view of the book, taking these eight aforementioned words as a basic out line. I. Creation. In Genesis 1:1, we have “Construction” ; in-v. 2, “Destruction.” Apparently some great catastrophe oc curred between verses one and two. In verses 3-31, “Reconstruction,” or the account of the six days, is described. In chapter 2, there is given, not the narrative of a second creation, but rather an explanation of how man was created, where he was placed, and what were his God-given responsi bilities. Innumerable volumes have been written on these first two chapters, and they have been the' subject of a great deal of controversy. It is sig nificant that out of the 1,189 chapters in the Bible, only two are devoted to this great subject of creation, the re mainder having for their central theme the redemption of sinful man. As someone has stated, “The Bible was not written to tell us how the heav ens go, but how to go to Heaven.” II. The Fall (chapter 3). Dr. Griffith Thomas has written of this chapter: “It is hardly too much to say that this chapter is the pivot of the Bible,
Dr. Hubbard
pair in Eden (Gen. 3:21), we have a type of the sinner’s being clothed with righteousness on the basis of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus. (See Isa. 6:10; Job 29:14;' 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:29.) We are clad either in this perfect righteousness provided in Christ, or in the “filthy rags” of our own righteous ness (Isa. 64:6).
Genesis 4 relates the beginning of “civilization” which started with Cain, who, having refused God’s way of re demption by blood, “went out from the presence of the Lord.” Defined as “man’s attempt to mitigate the curse and satisfy the desires of the carnal man,” it represents man’s effort to make the world as pleasant a place as possible to live in without God. .This is essentially the character of civilization as we know it today. III. The Flood. The putting of God out of the life led to unspeakable cor» VI. Isaac (chapters 21-35). Isaac lived the longest of these three great patriarchs (180 years, Gen. 35:28), but less is written of him than of the other two. “His was a quiet, peaceful, normal life. He was the ordinary son of a great father, and the ordinary father of a great son,” wrote Dr. Griffith Thomas. This record of Isaac's life is of great value, and thé reader is urged to familiarize himself with it.
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