0:01:18.175,0:01:18.309 Let us pray: 0:01:18.309,0:01:20.360 Our Father in Heaven 0:01:20.360,0:01:24.738 As we open the book of Genesis, we ask 0:01:24.738,0:01:27.464 for guidance from on high 0:01:27.464,0:01:30.890 Show us the wondrous things from this book 0:01:30.890,0:01:40.734 We pray this in the precious name of Jesus, our Lord and Savoir. Amen. 0:01:40.734,0:01:45.729 The book of Genesis is the book about origins. 0:01:45.729,0:01:52.115 In fact, the name Genesis means precisely that: origins 0:01:52.115,0:02:02.649 Now allow me to mention as we begin our study today the things which the book of Genesis mentions as originating 0:02:02.649,0:02:06.423 First of all, we have the origins of the cosmos 0:02:06.423,0:02:11.873 That is, of the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1. We have the origins of plants, spoken of in Genesis chapter 1. 0:02:11.873,0:02:18.375 We have the origins of animals 0:02:18.375,0:02:25.019 We have the origin of man, the origin of woman 0:02:25.019,0:02:26.289 The origin of sin, the beginning of the origin of death, the beginning of the origin of redemption 0:02:26.289,0:02:50.066 The beginning of nations, the beginning of languages, the beginning of Israel and even the beginning of the Arabs, or the Arabic nations. 0:02:50.066,0:02:57.110 These are just some of the beginnings that we find mentioned in the book of Genesis. 0:02:57.110,0:03:05.977 So the book of Genesis is very important because it goes way back into pre-history as we know it, to describe 0:03:05.977,0:03:11.033 the origins of everything which exists 0:03:11.033,0:03:13.122 upon this earth 0:03:13.122,0:03:18.675 Now allow me to give you a little bit about the timeline of Genesis. The book of Genesis 0:03:18.675,0:03:23.112 describes the first 2500 0:03:23.112,0:03:29.218 years of human history. I believe as I've examined the contents of the book that 0:03:29.218,0:03:33.234 it was written by Moses and actually 0:03:33.234,0:03:37.145 it was written approximately 1500 years 0:03:37.145,0:03:41.965 before the birth of Jesus 0:03:41.965,0:03:45.486 and so you can imagine that the book of Genesis was actually 0:03:45.486,0:03:49.394 describing events that took place approximately 0:03:49.394,0:03:54.397 the year 4000BC - four thousand before Christ 0:03:54.397,0:03:57.523 And actually, it was written 1500 0:03:57.523,0:04:02.785 years before Jesus Christ was born 0:04:02.785,0:04:05.901 The book of Genesis presents a short chronology 0:04:05.901,0:04:13.148 of planet Earth. In other words, it does not allow for long periods of millions of years where God is creating 0:04:13.148,0:04:18.154 what is known as "progressive creationism". The book of Genesis teaches that 0:04:18.154,0:04:21.537 this planet is approximately 6,000 0:04:21.537,0:04:27.068 years old, from the moment in which God began to create upon it. 0:04:27.068,0:04:32.405 And I'd just like to tell you up front from the very beginning that in this seminar, 0:04:32.405,0:04:36.486 I take the book of Genesis as literal history 0:04:36.486,0:04:40.446 I believe that it represents a short time span 0:04:40.446,0:04:43.753 For the events that are described in it. In other words, 0:04:43.753,0:04:48.499 we don't have to go back millions of years to find out the origin 0:04:48.499,0:04:51.800 of things in this world. All we have to do is go 0:04:51.800,0:04:56.168 back approximately 6,000 years to find 0:04:56.168,0:05:01.801 the events for example that are described in Genesis Chapter 1, and chapter 2 0:05:01.801,0:05:07.691 The book of Genesis is the seed plot of the bible 0:05:07.691,0:05:11.591 Allow me to explain what I mean 0:05:11.591,0:05:17.494 One of my favorite national parks in all the United States 0:05:17.494,0:05:20.918 is the one that we have just up the mountain 0:05:20.918,0:05:24.060 Sequoia National Park. I just enjoy going up there 0:05:24.060,0:05:26.760 and unwinding, and taking it easy for a whole day 0:05:26.760,0:05:30.805 breathing some fresh air especially when its foggy here in the valley 0:05:30.805,0:05:37.278 And I just enjoy, uh going for example to the grant tree and to the general Sherman tree and just 0:05:37.278,0:05:41.143 standing there underneath these trees. It's amazing! 0:05:41.143,0:05:50.024 Some of them are almost 3,000 years old. Can you imagine a tree that's almost 3,000 years old? 0:05:50.024,0:05:54.309 And they are hundreds of feet tall 0:05:54.309,0:05:57.812 And I am just am awed every time I go up there 0:05:57.812,0:06:01.759 And I stand under these trees and I see how thick they are 0:06:01.759,0:06:08.278 and how high they go, and I'm just amazed 0:06:08.278,0:06:11.034 But have you ever stopped to think, that 0:06:11.034,0:06:15.221 the might Sequoia, for example the general sherman tree 0:06:15.221,0:06:18.236 actually came from a 0:06:18.236,0:06:21.122 little seed? 0:06:21.122,0:06:24.018 Have you ever stopped to think that that whole tree 0:06:24.018,0:06:28.265 that you find up there, the general sherman tree in Sequoia National Park 0:06:28.265,0:06:31.123 actually was enclosed 0:06:31.123,0:06:35.418 in cold form, sort of speak 0:06:35.418,0:06:38.476 in that little seed, and the seed sprouted, and 0:06:38.476,0:06:42.848 it produced after almost 3,000 years 0:06:42.848,0:06:48.345 this gigantic tree. In other words, the 0:06:48.345,0:06:51.702 Sequoia tree was contained in that seed. 0:06:51.702,0:06:54.898 Thats the relationship between Genesis and the 0:06:54.898,0:06:58.018 rest of the bible. The book of Genesis has the seeds 0:06:58.018,0:07:02.634 The rest of the bible is the development and growth 0:07:02.634,0:07:06.335 of those seeds, and eventually, the growth 0:07:06.335,0:07:10.218 reaches its climax or its fullness 0:07:10.218,0:07:14.222 in the book of Revelation. 0:07:14.222,0:07:16.942 In other words, we're not 0:07:16.942,0:07:20.117 going to stay in this seminar in the book of Genesis. We're going 0:07:20.117,0:07:22.952 to begin in Genesis in each lecture, and we're going 0:07:22.952,0:07:26.621 to study these seeds and then we're going to see 0:07:26.621,0:07:29.745 how these seeds develop throughout the course of the 0:07:29.745,0:07:33.387 whole bible. Now, the bok of Revelation 0:07:33.387,0:07:38.467 is a very important book to study along with Genesis 0:07:38.467,0:07:41.616 You notice for example in the brochure that many of you received 0:07:41.616,0:07:45.054 in the mail or perhaps in the newspaper, or maybe somebody gave 0:07:45.054,0:07:48.972 you one of the brochures, you notice there that this seminar 0:07:48.972,0:07:53.349 is not only about Geneiss, it is also about the book of 0:07:53.349,0:07:57.131 Revelation. You see, I beleive that we cannot understand 0:07:57.131,0:08:01.306 the book of Revelation unless we understand the book of 0:08:01.306,0:08:04.554 Genesis. We can never understand the end 0:08:04.554,0:08:08.091 unless we understand first of all the beginning. 0:08:08.091,0:08:12.743 Because the end is simply the culmination of a process 0:08:12.743,0:08:19.161 which began way back in the book of Genesis. 0:08:19.161,0:08:22.214 Allow me to give you an example of the relationship 0:08:22.214,0:08:25.301 between Gensis and Revelation. We'll study these things more 0:08:25.301,0:08:28.151 fully a little bit ater on, but I want to show you a couple of the examples 0:08:28.151,0:08:31.809 so that you can see how important it is for us 0:08:31.809,0:08:36.915 to compare and to inter-relate Genesis with 0:08:36.915,0:08:40.278 Revelation. Go with me, in your bibles 0:08:40.278,0:08:44.945 to Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 15. 0:08:44.945,0:08:49.024 And by the way, on the lists of texts that you have there is in parenthesis, a page number 0:08:49.024,0:08:52.429 which will make it a lot easier 0:08:52.429,0:08:55.480 for you to find the bible verses as we move along 0:08:55.480,0:08:59.315 because the people have heard me say that I go awful fast, but 0:08:59.315,0:09:03.777 with the list, you'll know exactly where we're going, so you'll be able to 0:09:03.777,0:09:08.113 one up on me. You'll be able to look up the next text actually before I 0:09:08.113,0:09:11.864 even mention it. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 0:09:11.864,0:09:16.895 This is immediately after sin. I want you to notice 0:09:16.895,0:09:20.448 what it says. God speaking: And I will put enmity between 0:09:20.448,0:09:28.397 you, that is the serpent, and the woman, 0:09:28.397,0:09:32.004 and between your seed 0:09:32.004,0:09:34.968 and her seed 0:09:34.968,0:09:40.258 Now let's stop there for a moment. We have four elements 0:09:40.258,0:09:44.241 in what we've read from this verse so far. First of all, 0:09:44.241,0:09:48.075 is enmity or war. Secondly, 0:09:48.075,0:09:52.144 there is a serpent whom God is speaking to 0:09:52.144,0:09:59.438 in this verse. In the 3rd palce, we have a woman because there's war between the serpent and the 0:09:59.438,0:10:05.931 woman. And in the 4th place, we have the seed. We actually two seeds 0:10:05.931,0:10:12.421 The seed of the serpent, and the seed of the woman. So we have these four 0:10:12.421,0:10:16.335 elements: enmity, serpent, woman, and 0:10:16.335,0:10:20.205 seed. And I want you to notice that the enmity runs 0:10:20.205,0:10:24.258 between the serpent and the woman, between the seed of the 0:10:24.258,0:10:28.202 serpent and the seed of the woman, and between the seed of the woman 0:10:28.202,0:10:32.238 and the serpent. Let's notice this verse again. 0:10:32.238,0:10:36.616 God says, "I will put enmity between you 0:10:36.616,0:10:40.116 the serpent, and the woman. There's the first enmity--the serpent and the woman 0:10:40.116,0:10:44.279 And between, your seed--that is the serpent 0:10:44.279,0:10:51.291 seed and her seed. So you have enmity between the serpent and woman and between seed and seed 0:10:51.291,0:10:55.481 But that's not the real warfare. Even though there is warfare 0:10:55.481,0:10:59.259 The critical and most important warfare is between the seed of the woman 0:10:59.259,0:11:02.607 and the serpent, because the last part of the verse says 0:11:02.607,0:11:06.538 He, that is the seed of hte woman, will bruise 0:11:06.538,0:11:09.884 your head, the serpent's head, and you 0:11:09.884,0:11:14.662 will bruise his heel. So the enmity runs three 0:11:14.662,0:11:18.648 ways. Serpent vs. woman, seed of the 0:11:18.648,0:11:22.378 serpent vs. seed of the woman, and the seed of the woman vs. 0:11:22.378,0:11:26.480 the serpent. There's no way in the world that we can understand 0:11:26.480,0:11:29.813 a chapter like Revelation 12 without 0:11:29.813,0:11:35.072 comprehending Genesis 3:15. Because in 0:11:35.072,0:11:37.738 Revelation chapter 12, I'll just mention it, we have 0:11:37.738,0:11:40.273 a couple of lectures on Revelation chapter 12 0:11:40.273,0:11:43.298 You see, in Revelation 12, we have 0:11:43.298,0:11:47.543 a child who is born to a woman 0:11:47.543,0:11:51.047 And standing next to this woman who is about to bear the child 0:11:51.047,0:11:55.565 is a dragon who is identified as the ancient 0:11:55.565,0:11:59.986 serpent the devil and Satan. And it says that he 0:11:59.986,0:12:03.904 wants to devour the child as soon as the child is born 0:12:03.904,0:12:08.193 The child of the woman. Do you see Genesis 3:15 0:12:08.193,0:12:12.817 in that passage in revelation chapter 12? 0:12:12.817,0:12:17.869 versus 1-5? Very clear.The warfare was going 0:12:17.869,0:12:21.059 to be between the seed of the woman and the serpent 0:12:21.059,0:12:25.548 And that's exactly what you have in Revelation 12:1-5 0:12:25.548,0:12:27.253 But Revelation 12 doesn't end there. Later on in the chapter, 0:12:27.253,0:12:31.615 when the child is caught up to God and the throne, which refers to 0:12:31.615,0:12:35.932 the ascension of Christ, we're told that now the woman 0:12:35.932,0:12:39.624 flees into the wilderness and the serpent is 0:12:39.624,0:12:43.272 after the woman. And later on 0:12:43.272,0:12:46.169 even in this chapter, in verse 17, we find 0:12:46.169,0:12:51.227 that the final warfare is no longer against he woman, but 0:12:51.227,0:12:55.895 against the seed's seed. In other words, 0:12:55.895,0:12:59.516 the seed of the woman's seed, and so there's no 0:12:59.516,0:13:03.393 way that we can really understand, uh, Genesis 0:13:03.393,0:13:07.692 chapter 3:15 uness we find the greatest development 0:13:07.692,0:13:11.308 in Revelation chapter 12, as well as other pasages 0:13:11.308,0:13:15.697 that we find in the New Testament. Now, allow me to give you one 0:13:15.697,0:13:20.645 other example. Genesis chapter 2 0:13:20.645,0:13:24.042 and verse 24. Genesis chapter 2, and verse 0:13:24.042,0:13:27.609 actually its verse 25. 0:13:27.609,0:13:31.810 Speaking about Adam and Eve, 0:13:31.810,0:13:35.561 it says, "And they were both naked, the man 0:13:35.561,0:13:41.892 and his wife, and were not ashamed." 0:13:41.892,0:13:45.112 We're going to find in our seminar that the reason they were not ashamed 0:13:45.112,0:13:48.104 is because they were not covered with human garments, but 0:13:48.104,0:13:51.176 made out of material. They were actually covered by 0:13:51.176,0:13:55.775 the glorious light of God. They had no artificial 0:13:55.775,0:13:59.514 garments. They were naked with respect to garments made out of 0:13:59.514,0:14:03.137 satin, or made out of other material. They were covered 0:14:03.137,0:14:05.989 with the glory of God. They wer covered with the light of 0:14:05.989,0:14:08.856 God. The same type of garments that God has according to 0:14:08.856,0:14:13.293 Psalms 104. And that's the reason why they were not ashamed. 0:14:13.293,0:14:17.143 But then in Genesis 3:7, we find that Adam 0:14:17.143,0:14:21.025 and Eve sinned, and suddenly we find them hiding from 0:14:21.025,0:14:25.035 God. And now they are ashamed even though 0:14:25.035,0:14:28.207 they've covered themselves with fig leaves. They still don't 0:14:28.207,0:14:32.681 feel like the fig leaves are covering their nakedness because the light has 0:14:32.681,0:14:36.388 gone away from them. And so they're hiding from God even though they 0:14:36.388,0:14:39.557 have covered the nakedness of their bodies with fig leaves, they know that their nakedness 0:14:39.557,0:14:44.590 is nakedness of soul. And do you know what God 0:14:44.590,0:14:48.097 does? In Genesis 3:21, it says that God makes 0:14:48.097,0:14:52.146 garments of skins and clothed 0:14:52.146,0:14:57.008 Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness. 0:14:57.008,0:15:00.176 Now there's a text in the book of Revelation 0:15:00.176,0:15:01.997 which we could never understand 0:15:01.997,0:15:04.847 unless we catch this background from Genesis 0:15:04.847,0:15:10.923 chapter 3. And that is the 0:15:10.923,0:15:14.043 central verse in the passage that deals with the battle of Armageddon. 0:15:14.043,0:15:16.510 You know there's a lot of talk today about Armageddon 0:15:16.510,0:15:20.450 What it's going to be? What nations it's going to involve, what the issues 0:15:20.450,0:15:24.679 are in this great battle. And I've heard a lot of 0:15:24.679,0:15:28.526 books written by many different scholars on the battle of Armageddon. In fact, we're 0:15:28.526,0:15:32.061 gonna have a whole lecture later on in this series, on the battle of Armageddon. 0:15:32.061,0:15:34.934 But you know what I find interesting? Most of those 0:15:34.934,0:15:38.841 commentaries with very few exceptions, dea 0:15:38.841,0:15:42.430 with all sorts of issues connected with the battle 0:15:42.430,0:15:44.842 of Armageddon. They talk for example, about the kings of the east 0:15:44.842,0:15:49.212 And they talk about the drying up of the river Euphrates, and they 0:15:49.212,0:15:52.662 talk about the three evil spirits like frogs coming 0:15:52.662,0:15:56.323 up out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. They have a lot to say about 0:15:56.323,0:15:59.842 all of these things. But there's one verse which very 0:15:59.842,0:16:03.794 rarely is even commented on, and it deals with 0:16:03.794,0:16:08.841 with the central issue in the battle of Armageddon. 0:16:08.841,0:16:11.596 And it shows that we must study Genesis in order 0:16:11.596,0:16:16.541 to understand it. Go with me to Revelation 16 and verse 0:16:16.541,0:16:18.616 15, and you'll see this. 0:16:18.616,0:16:22.048 Revelation chapter 16 and verse 15. Right 0:16:22.048,0:16:25.123 in the middle of the passage 0:16:25.123,0:16:28.346 on the sixth plague of Revelation, 0:16:28.346,0:16:31.340 and while you're looking for that text, allow me to say this, 0:16:31.340,0:16:34.305 this is the only place, where 0:16:34.305,0:16:39.635 Jesus speaks in the book of Revelation between 0:16:39.635,0:16:44.178 Chapter 3 and chapter 21 0:16:44.178,0:16:48.007 The only verse--if you have a red letter edition of the bible 0:16:48.007,0:16:52.099 where it gives the words that are spoken by Jesus, you'll find that the last words 0:16:52.099,0:16:55.766 of Jesus are in Chapter 3. The next time that Jesus 0:16:55.766,0:16:59.591 speaks is in chapter 21 with the exception 0:16:59.591,0:17:03.794 of Revelation 16 and verse 15. Do you 0:17:03.794,0:17:07.673 figure that if Jesus-- that if this is the only place that Jesus speaks 0:17:07.673,0:17:11.347 between revelation 3 and revelation 21, that it must be a very important 0:17:11.347,0:17:16.040 verse? Obviously! Notice what we find 0:17:16.040,0:17:20.270 there in Revelation chapter 16 and verse 15: 0:17:20.270,0:17:24.096 Jesus is speaking. Behold, I am coming 0:17:24.096,0:17:28.269 as a thief. Blessed is 0:17:28.269,0:17:32.339 he who watches and keeps 0:17:32.339,0:17:35.657 his garments lest 0:17:35.657,0:17:39.903 he walk naked and they see 0:17:39.903,0:17:44.683 his shame. Now you tell me. Is that verse 0:17:44.683,0:17:47.842 have anything to do with Genesis chapter 3? You have the same elements 0:17:47.842,0:17:51.260 You have garments, you have nakedness, and you have shame. 0:17:51.260,0:17:55.987 Obviously, there's going to be some people at the end of time 0:17:55.987,0:17:59.980 living during the period of the battle of Armageddon who are going 0:17:59.980,0:18:04.792 to be found naked and their shame will be revealed 0:18:04.792,0:18:08.194 just like Adam and Eve. But you cannot understand what this 0:18:08.194,0:18:11.349 means in the end time unless you first understand what 0:18:11.349,0:18:15.563 happened with Adam and Eve in Genesis because at the end of time 0:18:15.563,0:18:21.574 there's gonna be a repetition of what happened in the book of Genesis 0:18:21.574,0:18:23.596 These are just two examples of how 0:18:23.596,0:18:26.870 Genesis is very intricately entwined 0:18:26.870,0:18:31.266 with the book of Revelation. Now 0:18:31.266,0:18:34.931 this question frequently comes up when we study the book of Genesis, and that is 0:18:34.931,0:18:38.244 is the book of Genesis really 0:18:38.244,0:18:46.755 literal history? Or is the book of Genesis legend, myth, or as Carol Bath 0:18:46.755,0:18:49.065 the great theologian said, "saga"? 0:18:49.065,0:18:53.887 I want to tell you upfront that I believe that the book of Genesis 0:18:53.887,0:18:58.089 from Genesis 1:1 through the end of chapter 0:18:58.089,0:19:02.264 50 is dealing with literal historical 0:19:02.264,0:19:05.286 events. In fact, it might surprise 0:19:05.286,0:19:09.911 some of you to know that up till the age of the englightenment 0:19:09.911,0:19:14.197 in the 18th century--if you go before the eighteenth century, 0:19:14.197,0:19:18.266 you'll find that practically every scholar 0:19:18.266,0:19:22.427 that ever wrote on the book of Genesis believed that book of Genesis 0:19:22.427,0:19:24.765 was actual, literal, history 0:19:24.765,0:19:27.461 as it took place 0:19:27.461,0:19:29.969 But in the age of enlightenment appeared 0:19:29.969,0:19:34.345 historical criticism 0:19:34.345,0:19:38.783 and appeared the scientific method and so they 0:19:38.783,0:19:41.847 started applying the scientific method and historical criticism to God's 0:19:41.847,0:19:45.454 Holy word besides doing it to the natural world 0:19:45.454,0:19:50.177 and to documents that had been written in antiquity, and for this reason, 0:19:50.177,0:19:54.097 many of the scholars came to the conclusion that the book of Geneiss 0:19:54.097,0:19:57.295 particularly chapters 1-11 were not describing real 0:19:57.295,0:20:02.427 literal hisotry. I saw this problem 0:20:02.427,0:20:05.869 very clearly a few years ago when I was 0:20:05.869,0:20:09.837 at a speaking committment up in Berrien Springs, Michigan 0:20:09.837,0:20:12.553 there's the university where I went to 0:20:12.553,0:20:16.001 school. They have a fantastic theological library. 0:20:16.001,0:20:19.756 with hundreds of thousands of books. And of course, I only had 0:20:19.756,0:20:23.535 to speak in the evening. And during the daytime, I took advantage and went to the 0:20:23.535,0:20:28.167 library for aobut 8 or 9 hours a day doing research 0:20:28.167,0:20:32.009 for this series on the book of Genesis. And as I examined 0:20:32.009,0:20:36.088 the commentaries that were written on the book of Genesis 0:20:36.088,0:20:40.448 there's something which really struck me. And that's 0:20:40.448,0:20:43.718 is that most of the commentators really 0:20:43.718,0:20:48.001 did not believe in the historicity of the book of Genesis. 0:20:48.001,0:20:50.616 They did not believe that it's literal history. 0:20:50.616,0:20:55.466 And these were Christian commentators who were actually writing 0:20:55.466,0:20:59.418 on the book of Genesis. In fact, I had to 0:20:59.418,0:21:03.797 snicker when I was uh, researching the story 0:21:03.797,0:21:08.076 of Eve and the serpent which spoke to Eve 0:21:08.076,0:21:11.086 and a scholar, several of them actually, said the reason 0:21:11.086,0:21:15.003 why this story was included in Genesis is to 0:21:15.003,0:21:20.141 explain the reason why people are afraid of snakes 0:21:20.141,0:21:23.889 and then I went on to story of Cain and Abel. 0:21:23.889,0:21:28.005 And severeal of the authors said the reason 0:21:28.005,0:21:31.756 why you have the story of Cain and Abel in the book of Genesis is to 0:21:31.756,0:21:36.249 explain the origin of sibling rivalry 0:21:36.249,0:21:39.024 and then I continued studying and got to Genesis chapter 11 0:21:39.024,0:21:42.751 where it speaks about the Tower of Babel, the confusion of the languages 0:21:42.751,0:21:46.612 and the commentaries said this did not 0:21:46.612,0:21:50.421 really happen in history. This idea that 0:21:50.421,0:21:53.897 they tried to build a tower and God confused their languages. 0:21:53.897,0:21:58.088 The scholar said the reason why this story was written 0:21:58.088,0:22:02.897 was in order to explain why in the world you had so many 0:22:02.897,0:22:06.061 different languages, and so on 0:22:06.061,0:22:08.094 Most of the scholars that I read would be called 0:22:08.094,0:22:13.464 liberal scholars. They do not beleive in the 0:22:13.464,0:22:18.337 full inspiration of scripture. And therefore, they do not belive 0:22:18.337,0:22:22.918 that the stories of Genesis are really literal history 0:22:22.918,0:22:27.087 Is the book of Genesis though literal history? 0:22:27.087,0:22:29.455 Let me share this with you, folks! If we 0:22:29.455,0:22:34.169 don't beleive that the book of Gensis is dealing with literal history events 0:22:34.169,0:22:38.419 we are not only impuning 0:22:38.419,0:22:41.194 the veracity of Moses. We are impuining 0:22:41.194,0:22:45.805 the veracity of Peter, and 0:22:45.805,0:22:48.980 Paul and Steven and Luke 0:22:48.980,0:22:53.607 and Jesus. Do you realize 0:22:53.607,0:22:56.320 that every single story 0:22:56.320,0:23:01.548 without exception in the book of Genesis 0:23:01.548,0:23:06.247 is repeated as literal history in the new testament by the new testament authors? 0:23:06.247,0:23:09.000 Many of these events in Genesis are told 0:23:09.000,0:23:13.165 by Jesus in the gospels. Let's notice for example 0:23:13.165,0:23:17.916 Matthrew chapter 19 and verses 4 0:23:17.916,0:23:20.617 through 6. Matthre chapter 19 and verses 4-6. 0:23:20.617,0:23:24.500 Here Jesus is speaking about the origin of 0:23:24.500,0:23:29.450 marriage. And notice what we find there--Genesis chapter 0:23:29.450,0:23:31.710 19 and verse 4. 0:23:31.710,0:23:36.955 And he that is Jesus answered 0:23:36.955,0:23:39.672 and said to them, Have you not read 0:23:39.672,0:23:44.022 that He who made them at the beginning made them 0:23:44.022,0:23:47.226 male and female, and said 0:23:47.226,0:23:52.573 For this reason a man shall leave his father 0:23:52.573,0:23:55.702 and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two 0:23:55.702,0:23:59.970 shall become one flesh? So then, they are no longer 0:23:59.970,0:24:03.708 two but one flesh. THerefore, what God 0:24:03.708,0:24:07.918 has joined together, let no man separate. 0:24:07.918,0:24:11.194 Question: Did Jesus believe 0:24:11.194,0:24:16.247 that there was a literal marriage originally in Genesis 0:24:16.247,0:24:20.008 between Adam and Eve? He most certainly did! 0:24:20.008,0:24:24.955 And if you say that that story is myth or legend 0:24:24.955,0:24:28.581 or saga, you are not only impuining the veracity of Moses, 0:24:28.581,0:24:33.114 you are questioning the veracity of our Lord and Savior, 0:24:33.114,0:24:36.344 Jesus Christ! Notice also, 0:24:36.344,0:24:40.707 Matthew chapter 24:37-39 0:24:40.707,0:24:43.055 Just a few examples here. Matthew 24: 0:24:43.055,0:24:48.057 37-39. This is 0:24:48.057,0:24:52.842 speaking about the flood in the days of Noah. It's called 0:24:52.842,0:24:55.083 Noah's flood, but it really was the Lord's flood. Notice 0:24:55.083,0:25:00.669 Matthew verse 24 and beginning with verse 37 0:25:00.669,0:25:05.169 But as the days of Noah were, 0:25:05.169,0:25:08.500 so also will the coming of the Son 0:25:08.500,0:25:12.140 of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, 0:25:12.140,0:25:15.687 they were eating and drinking, marrying 0:25:15.687,0:25:19.339 and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah 0:25:19.339,0:25:24.025 entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came 0:25:24.025,0:25:26.588 and took them all away. So also 0:25:26.588,0:25:32.169 will the coming of the Son of Man be. Did Jesus, 0:25:32.169,0:25:36.423 believe that the flood in the days of Noah actually 0:25:36.423,0:25:39.670 took place hisotrically? He did. 0:25:39.670,0:25:43.335 By the way, if you don't believe that the flood took place historically, 0:25:43.335,0:25:47.713 you don't have any basis for believing that Jesus is telling the truth when he says he's gonna come 0:25:47.713,0:25:51.339 again. Because he says, as it was back then, 0:25:51.339,0:25:55.838 so will it be. But if that back then didn't happen, what makes 0:25:55.838,0:25:59.698 you think that what he predicted in the future is going to happen? 0:25:59.698,0:26:03.412 Let's notice another couple of examples. First, 0:26:03.412,0:26:06.499 John chapter 3 and verse 12 0:26:06.499,0:26:08.749 You'll notice that 0:26:08.749,0:26:15.597 we're using scripture a lot tonight, and the list that you got tonight is a short list. 0:26:15.597,0:26:20.498 We're going to be using a lot of scripture here in the future 0:26:20.498,0:26:23.551 lectures of the seminar. Notice 1 John 3 0:26:23.551,0:26:26.414 and verse 12 0:26:26.414,0:26:29.089 It says there, 0:26:29.089,0:26:31.332 And not as Cain who was 0:26:31.332,0:26:35.795 of the wicked one and murdered his 0:26:35.795,0:26:38.836 brother. And why did he murder him? 0:26:38.836,0:26:43.113 Because his works were evil and his brother's 0:26:43.113,0:26:47.171 righteous. Question: Did the apostle 0:26:47.171,0:26:50.922 John who wrote 1st John beleive that the story 0:26:50.922,0:26:56.339 of Cain and Abel was literal history? He most certainly 0:26:56.339,0:26:59.091 did. Because it tells us here that Cain 0:26:59.091,0:27:03.256 killed his brother Abel. So 0:27:03.256,0:27:07.399 John beleived that this was a real, historical, occurance 0:27:07.399,0:27:11.083 Let's notice another example. Hebrews chapter 0:27:11.083,0:27:14.584 11 and verse 5. Hebrews 11:5 0:27:14.584,0:27:20.371 Here we find a very interesting 0:27:20.371,0:27:23.457 person mentioned. Actually, he's not mentioned 0:27:23.457,0:27:27.621 very freuently in scrpture. The bible tells us that 0:27:27.621,0:27:31.594 he was caught away to heaven. In fact, he never suffered death 0:27:31.594,0:27:34.914 accoridng to Genesis 5 compared to Hebrews chapter 11 0:27:34.914,0:27:39.749 his name was Enoch. Now notice Hebrews 0:27:39.749,0:27:42.752 chapter 11 and verse 5. By faith 0:27:42.752,0:27:47.833 Enoch was taken away so that 0:27:47.833,0:27:52.166 he did not see death. And was not 0:27:52.166,0:27:55.704 found, because God had taken him. For 0:27:55.704,0:27:57.741 before he was taken, he had this testimony, that 0:27:57.741,0:28:04.668 he pelased God. NOw let me ask 0:28:04.668,0:28:07.792 you: Did the author of the book of Hebrews believe that Enoch 0:28:07.792,0:28:11.671 was a real historical person? He most certainly did! And by the wa, 0:28:11.671,0:28:15.298 I believe that the author of the book of Hebrews was the apostle Paul 0:28:15.298,0:28:19.252 I believe that there's plenty of internal evidence to that fact. So did 0:28:19.252,0:28:23.639 Paul believe that Enoch was areal historical person? 0:28:23.639,0:28:28.003 He most certainly did! Let's notice one further example 0:28:28.003,0:28:31.109 and by the way, in the reference material that you'll receive this evening, you're going 0:28:31.109,0:28:35.779 to find half a page of references in the New Testament to every 0:28:35.779,0:28:40.171 single event and person in the book of Genesis 0:28:40.171,0:28:43.632 You have Abraham, you have Issaac, you have Jacob, 0:28:43.632,0:28:46.505 you have Joseph, you have the twelve sons of Jacob, 0:28:46.505,0:28:50.615 I mean, you have every single event in the book of 0:28:50.615,0:28:56.476 Genesis repeated somewhere in the New Testament. Notice 0:28:56.476,0:28:59.757 Luke chapter 3. This will be the last example 0:28:59.757,0:29:02.671 that we'll give of the importance of believing in the historicity of the 0:29:02.671,0:29:05.776 book of Genesis. Luke chapter 3 has 0:29:05.776,0:29:10.062 the genealogy of Jesus Christ. 0:29:10.062,0:29:14.079 And I want you to notice--we're only going to read two verses 0:29:14.079,0:29:20.838 Chapter 3 and verse 23 and then we're going to 0:29:20.838,0:29:24.163 jump down to verse 38. It says in verse 3, 0:29:24.163,0:29:27.909 Now Jesus himself began his ministry at about 0:29:27.909,0:29:31.167 thirty years of age, being as was supposed 0:29:31.167,0:29:33.754 the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, and then it continues 0:29:33.754,0:29:39.608 giving the genealogy, "the son of, the son of, the son of.." 0:29:39.608,0:29:42.256 And I want you to notice how the list ends in verse 38. 0:29:42.256,0:29:46.921 It says there, the son of Enosh 0:29:46.921,0:29:50.499 the son of Seth, the son of Adam 0:29:50.499,0:29:56.171 the son of God. Do you believe that Jesus 0:29:56.171,0:29:59.878 was a literal historical personage? Do you think that Jesus existed 0:29:59.878,0:30:02.586 in history? Well we have proof from secular 0:30:02.586,0:30:06.498 historians that Jesus did exist. Now you notice that this 0:30:06.498,0:30:09.832 genealogy actually begins with Jesus 0:30:09.832,0:30:13.924 and ends with whom? Ends with Adam. 0:30:13.924,0:30:17.592 NOw was Jesus a real, literal, historical person? 0:30:17.592,0:30:21.096 He most certainly was! So must Adam also be a 0:30:21.096,0:30:25.918 literal, historical person? Obviously, yes! You can't have it 0:30:25.918,0:30:29.576 one way iwth Adam and another way with Jesus. 0:30:29.576,0:30:33.699 Jesus is a real historical person, so is Adam. 0:30:33.699,0:30:37.443 By the way, you'll notice in this genealogy that the roots of Jesus 0:30:37.443,0:30:40.915 are traced all the way back from His day to 0:30:40.915,0:30:44.792 Adam. And you don't have long periods of millions 0:30:44.792,0:30:50.500 of years in between according to this genealogy. 0:30:50.500,0:30:54.556 And so I believe that it is of extreme importance 0:30:54.556,0:30:57.489 for us to believe in the historicy of the book of 0:30:57.489,0:31:00.503 Genesis. It is not myth, it is not legend. 0:31:00.503,0:31:05.060 It is not saga. It is real, 0:31:05.060,0:31:08.890 history. NOw, allow me to 0:31:08.890,0:31:12.613 mention a few things about the disciples that are 0:31:12.613,0:31:17.737 addressed in the book of Genesis. Do you know that hte book of Genesis addresses 0:31:17.737,0:31:22.570 at least in seminal form, most of the 0:31:22.570,0:31:26.321 disciplines that are studied in universities today. Allow me to give you a 0:31:26.321,0:31:29.983 list quickly. The book of Genesis has a lot to say about 0:31:29.983,0:31:33.748 theology. You know, if people believe the book of Genesis, 0:31:33.748,0:31:37.400 there won't be any atheist in the world, because the book of Genesis 0:31:37.400,0:31:41.009 begins by saying, "In the beginning, God created the heavens 0:31:41.009,0:31:45.566 and the earth." That is a theological statment. The book of Genesis 0:31:45.566,0:31:50.264 does not try to prove the existance of God. The book of Genesis 0:31:50.264,0:31:54.396 takes the existence of God for granted. It makes this 0:31:54.396,0:31:57.452 wonderful theological statement. The book of Genesis has 0:31:57.452,0:32:00.260 a lot to say about cosmology--the origins of the heavens 0:32:00.260,0:32:04.647 and the earth. You can find that in chapter 1 verses 6 through 0:32:04.647,0:32:07.932 8. The book of Genesis actually speaks about the 0:32:07.932,0:32:12.730 origin of chronology or time. Because after 0:32:12.730,0:32:15.358 each day of creation, it says that God, 0:32:15.358,0:32:19.681 God saw that what he had made was good, and it was the evening 0:32:19.681,0:32:23.444 and the morning of the first day, and the second day, the third day, and so on 0:32:23.444,0:32:28.024 And in Genesis chapter 1, it speaks about God making 0:32:28.024,0:32:31.665 the son, the moon, and the stars to establish the season 0:32:31.665,0:32:36.315 and periods of the year. You can find that in chapter 1 0:32:36.315,0:32:39.565 So in order words, God created chronology. He created months 0:32:39.565,0:32:42.262 He created years, and he created days, as the 0:32:42.262,0:32:49.024 frame of reference of time in this earth. You also 0:32:49.024,0:32:52.040 find in the book of Genesis, the origins of geography. 0:32:52.040,0:32:55.302 Where the dry land came from. You see, 0:32:55.302,0:32:59.553 it tells us in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 that the earth was 0:32:59.553,0:33:03.247 compltely covered with water before creation. But God was the one who made the earth 0:33:03.247,0:33:07.315 Geography! The book of Genesis also addresses 0:33:07.315,0:33:09.424 the issue of botany. It says that every plant reproduces 0:33:09.424,0:33:15.072 according to its kind. And that is true even till 0:33:15.072,0:33:19.106 this day. Every plant reproduces according to its 0:33:19.106,0:33:24.183 kind! So Genesis definitely has somethign to say aobut 0:33:24.183,0:33:28.562 the origins of trees and plants and the grass. 0:33:28.562,0:33:32.644 The book of Genesis actually speaks about the origin of 0:33:32.644,0:33:35.569 zoology--the study of animals. And by the way, 0:33:35.569,0:33:44.459 the book of Genesis indicates that all of the animals were created "adults" so to 0:33:44.459,0:33:47.586 speak. All of the animals were created on the fifth and 0:33:47.586,0:33:50.062 the sixth day, adults! They did not take millions 0:33:50.062,0:33:53.037 of years to evolve according the book of Genesis. Go 0:33:53.037,0:33:56.446 God spoke and on the fifth day, the birds and the fish appeared 0:33:56.446,0:33:58.562 God spoke, and on the sixth day, the land animals 0:33:58.562,0:34:03.146 appeared. So the book of Genesis indicates that man 0:34:03.146,0:34:08.424 is not the end of a long evoluitonary process 0:34:08.424,0:34:12.393 where we come from primates, and the primates came from lower forms of life 0:34:12.393,0:34:15.885 The book of Genesis simply says that clearly, and 0:34:15.885,0:34:19.393 directly that God spoke, and things 0:34:19.393,0:34:23.937 were done. And so the book of Genesis deals with 0:34:23.937,0:34:28.984 zoology and it says that every animal reproduces according to its kind. THat 0:34:28.984,0:34:31.734 is also a scientifically true statment 0:34:31.734,0:34:36.823 The book of Genesis has a lot to say about anthropology-- 0:34:36.823,0:34:40.479 the study of man. In fact, it speaks about the origin of 0:34:40.479,0:34:44.151 man and woman and it speaks about how 0:34:44.151,0:34:46.519 Adam was taken from the dust, and I believe that that's a literal 0:34:46.519,0:34:50.856 story. That God took clay and he formed Adam and 0:34:50.856,0:34:55.814 he took a rib from Adam and he made Eve. And you say, that kinda 0:34:55.814,0:35:00.194 unscientific. Well the fact is, that scientists weren't there. 0:35:00.194,0:35:02.731 And if we have faith in God's word, 0:35:02.731,0:35:08.938 Faith means having faith and trusting what God says 0:35:08.938,0:35:13.010 We'll have absolutely no problem with that story. The book of Genesis says 0:35:13.010,0:35:16.325 has a lot to say about sociology. Why do people 0:35:16.325,0:35:19.273 get married today? And why do they have children? Why 0:35:19.273,0:35:24.652 do we have this uproar recently about a man marrying a man, and a woman marrying a woman? 0:35:24.652,0:35:27.379 It's because that's contrary to what we find in 0:35:27.379,0:35:30.904 the book of Genesis. God established the ideal social 0:35:30.904,0:35:36.402 circle. He established marriage. The marriage between a 0:35:36.402,0:35:40.192 man and a woman, to have children, within a family unit 0:35:40.192,0:35:44.466 And Genesis has the origins of that. 0:35:44.466,0:35:47.108 The book of Genesis has a lot to say about psychology, believe it or not! 0:35:47.108,0:35:52.492 It would be interesting for you sometime to sit down and look at all the 0:35:52.492,0:35:56.452 psychological concepts that you find in the book of Genesis. It's amazing! 0:35:56.452,0:36:00.079 You know, psychologists today try to solve the problem of depression 0:36:00.079,0:36:03.107 and low self esteem and fear with all sorts of 0:36:03.107,0:36:08.054 gimmicks, and methodologies. The fact is, that we're going to 0:36:08.054,0:36:11.407 notice in our study tomorrow that the origin of fear 0:36:11.407,0:36:14.142 and the origin of a low self concept 0:36:14.142,0:36:18.604 nad the origin of strife in marriage 0:36:18.604,0:36:24.220 and the origin of strife between brother and brother 0:36:24.220,0:36:27.221 like in the case of Cain and Abel, is not due 0:36:27.221,0:36:30.504 to some psychological malfunciton. It is due to 0:36:30.504,0:36:36.773 sin. And unless a counselor 0:36:36.773,0:36:40.575 deals with the issue of sin, the problem 0:36:40.575,0:36:44.279 will not be resolved. Genesis has a lot to say 0:36:44.279,0:36:48.445 about psychology. The book of Genesis has a lot to say about Geology. 0:36:48.445,0:36:53.779 The study of the earth. You know, you have 0:36:53.779,0:36:56.983 scientists today who don't believe that there was a universal flood 0:36:56.983,0:37:00.214 I believe that you have to study the story of the flood in order to be 0:37:00.214,0:37:03.594 read the earth correctly. Because at the flood 0:37:03.594,0:37:07.225 the earth went through huge changes. In fact, if you 0:37:07.225,0:37:11.740 read in Chapter 8 of Genesis, God caused a mighty wind to 0:37:11.740,0:37:16.163 blow and that mighty wind, you know 0:37:16.163,0:37:19.407 buried everything that was on the surface of the earth. In other words, you had a 0:37:19.407,0:37:22.634 an upheaval of the earth. You know, we all probalby 0:37:22.634,0:37:27.647 have seen the graphic pictures on television 0:37:27.647,0:37:31.652 of the Tsunami. Have you noticed that? The devastation 0:37:31.652,0:37:34.786 the destruction? And that was just a tidal wave in a 0:37:34.786,0:37:38.715 certain region of he world. Can you imagine what 0:37:38.715,0:37:42.542 it must have been like, to have this whole world 0:37:42.542,0:37:44.859 totally covered with water? With a huge 0:37:44.859,0:37:51.689 storm that lasted forty days and forty nights? Where the bible 0:37:51.689,0:37:55.130 says that out of the earth came gushing forth 0:37:55.130,0:37:59.337 jets of water, and the windows of heaven were opened? 0:37:59.337,0:38:03.380 The earth was in turmoil. No wonder science today cannot 0:38:03.380,0:38:08.490 read the eath in teh correct 0:38:08.490,0:38:11.481 way. Because the earth is nothing like it was at the beginning 0:38:11.481,0:38:15.159 And so in order to get a true concept of 0:38:15.159,0:38:18.277 geology, we must make reference to the book of Genesis. 0:38:18.277,0:38:21.709 The book of Geneiss addresses the issue of philology--the 0:38:21.709,0:38:26.282 study of languages. It tells us where languages originated. 0:38:26.282,0:38:30.252 The book of Genesis has a description of Ethnology--the 0:38:30.252,0:38:34.043 origin of nations. In fact, in Genesis chapter 10, we have 0:38:34.043,0:38:38.018 the table of Nations, which describes the origin of all of the nations 0:38:38.018,0:38:40.992 that have ever existed on planet earth. 0:38:40.992,0:38:43.834 The book of Geneisis also addresses some very important existential 0:38:43.834,0:38:49.757 questions. Like you noticed in your hand bill, we're going to be 0:38:49.757,0:38:52.938 dealing with all of these issues as we go along in this seminar. 0:38:52.938,0:38:56.383 How did I get here? Why am I here? 0:38:56.383,0:39:00.453 Does my life have meaning and purpose? 0:39:00.453,0:39:05.839 Is there really a God who loves me? 0:39:05.839,0:39:09.321 You know, lots of people after the Tsunami 0:39:09.321,0:39:12.826 says, "If there's a God like that, you know ,I don't even want to believe 0:39:12.826,0:39:15.857 in a God like that. And if a God like that exists, 0:39:15.857,0:39:19.157 then I certainly don't want to serve Him." The fact is, 0:39:19.157,0:39:23.820 Is God good? And why is there so much evil 0:39:23.820,0:39:28.177 if God is good? We'll have a whole lecture when we're going to decode 0:39:28.177,0:39:32.433 the paradox of good and evil. We're going to answer the question, "How can 0:39:32.433,0:39:36.381 I experience personal people in a world of strife?" Everybody's 0:39:36.381,0:39:40.346 nervous today. Everybody is anxious about perhaps another terrorist 0:39:40.346,0:39:43.160 attack. Or homeland security. How 0:39:43.160,0:39:47.461 can we live life and experience perosnal peace 0:39:47.461,0:39:50.163 in all of the strife that surrounds us? How can I enjoy quality time 0:39:50.163,0:39:52.632 in the rat race of life? What happens the moment I die? 0:39:52.632,0:39:59.043 If I die, will I live again? Is there 0:39:59.043,0:40:03.899 really a better world coming? Is there such a thing 0:40:03.899,0:40:07.113 as absolute truth? If there is absolute truth, how 0:40:07.113,0:40:09.002 can I find it? How can I enjoy life 0:40:09.002,0:40:11.298 filled with health and with prosperity? All of these issues 0:40:11.298,0:40:19.469 are addressed very carefully in the book of Genesis. 0:40:19.469,0:40:25.333 Now, did you know that hte book of Genesis 0:40:25.333,0:40:29.548 is actualltye story of two seeds? 0:40:29.548,0:40:32.698 And we're going to further develop this concept of the 0:40:32.698,0:40:36.190 two seeds. It begins in Genesis 3:15 0:40:36.190,0:40:41.048 I will put enmity between you an the woman. See the two 0:40:41.048,0:40:43.584 sides there? The serpent and the woman. 0:40:43.584,0:40:48.185 Between the serpents seed and the womans' seed. See, there you have the two again. 0:40:48.185,0:40:52.293 He, the seed of the woman, will 0:40:52.293,0:40:55.306 bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel. 0:40:55.306,0:40:59.981 You see the controversy and the conflict there? Between 0:40:59.981,0:41:02.982 serpent and woman? 0:41:02.982,0:41:04.642 Seed and seed? Seed and serpent? 0:41:04.642,0:41:06.675 The story of Genesis which is developed in the rest of scripture has to do 0:41:06.675,0:41:08.998 with a battle between two seeds. 0:41:08.998,0:41:16.072 Not only do you have this in Genesis 3:15, 0:41:16.072,0:41:21.118 But you also have it in the story of Cain and Abel. Do you know the first 0:41:21.118,0:41:24.428 example of Genesis 3:15 is in the story of Cain and Abel? 0:41:24.428,0:41:26.838 You say, "How is that?" 0:41:26.838,0:41:30.209 Well, lets look for the four elements. Is there a woman in the story of Cain and Abel? 0:41:30.209,0:41:33.225 Sure. It's Eve! She's the mother of both of them. 0:41:33.225,0:41:38.083 Do you have in the story of Cain and Abel enmity? 0:41:38.083,0:41:41.128 You most certainly do! 0:41:41.128,0:41:43.743 Cain gets angry and hates his brother. 0:41:43.743,0:41:47.193 Do you have in the story of Cain and Abel, two seeds? 0:41:47.193,0:41:51.624 That are totally unlike, one good and one evil? 0:41:51.624,0:41:55.899 Absolutely! And do you know that even the serpent 0:41:55.899,0:41:59.773 is involved in the story of Cain and Abel? Not directly in Genesis 0:41:59.773,0:42:03.070 If you go to 1 John 3:12, which we've already read, 0:42:03.070,0:42:07.208 it says, "Not as Cain who was of the wicked one." 0:42:07.208,0:42:09.938 So the one who wanted Abel dead 0:42:09.938,0:42:14.555 was not only Cain, it was the wicked one of whom Cain 0:42:14.555,0:42:19.269 was the seed. So you have this enmity 0:42:19.269,0:42:22.334 between Cain and Abel. A little bit later on in the book 0:42:22.334,0:42:26.686 you have this illicit relationship between the sons of God 0:42:26.686,0:42:30.069 and the daughters of men. We're going to deal with this later on. 0:42:30.069,0:42:33.137 Who are the sons of God that unite with 0:42:33.137,0:42:36.714 the daughters of men? We have two different seeds--the righteous and the 0:42:36.714,0:42:40.286 unrighteous intermingling. Once again, we have the idea of the 0:42:40.286,0:42:43.620 two seeds. And then of course 0:42:43.620,0:42:46.336 in the story of Noah, you have the story of the righteous who are saved inside 0:42:46.336,0:42:49.129 and the wicked who are destroyed outside. 0:42:49.129,0:42:52.629 And then a little bit later on in Genesis chapter 10, you have 0:42:52.629,0:42:55.304 the descendents of Shem, the son of Noah, and then on the other side, 0:42:55.304,0:43:02.489 you have the descendants of Ham and Japhet. By the way, we're going to notice that the descendents of Ham and Japheth 0:43:02.489,0:43:06.352 the nations that came from them, were the very enemies that tried to destory 0:43:06.352,0:43:10.714 Isreal in the Old Testament. Israel descends from Shem. 0:43:10.714,0:43:15.048 Wheareas all the nations that tried to destory 0:43:15.048,0:43:17.775 Israel descend from Ham and Japheth. 0:43:17.775,0:43:21.297 Very interesting! We'll deal with this a little bit later on, but you have 0:43:21.297,0:43:24.318 this idea of the two seeds. And then you have the 0:43:24.318,0:43:27.397 builders of the tower of Babel. And God commands 0:43:27.397,0:43:30.682 Abraham: He says to Abraham, "Get out 0:43:30.682,0:43:34.374 of the place where the Babel builders built this tower." Because 0:43:34.374,0:43:38.576 the bible says that Abraham and his family were getting contaminated 0:43:38.576,0:43:41.643 with the gods of Babylon. And So God says to Abraham, 0:43:41.643,0:43:45.137 You can't be with that evil seed. You must separate 0:43:45.137,0:43:49.200 from them. So there you have once again the idea of the two seeds. 0:43:49.200,0:43:53.209 Time and again in the book of Genesis, you have this idea 0:43:53.209,0:43:56.468 of the two seeds. Then you have the story of Isaac 0:43:56.468,0:44:00.066 and Ishmael. Notice once again, the same idea of the two seeds. 0:44:00.066,0:44:03.437 Isaac is the seed of the promise. Ishmael we're told 0:44:03.437,0:44:06.359 in Galatians chapter 4 that he arose 0:44:06.359,0:44:11.582 to try and kill Isaac who was the son of the promise 0:44:11.582,0:44:15.124 Once again, you have this enmity between the good seed, 0:44:15.124,0:44:19.145 and an evil seed. And then of-course you have the story of Jacob and Esau. 0:44:19.145,0:44:23.094 See the two seeds in this book? It's amazing 0:44:23.094,0:44:26.044 And by the way, in the book of Revelation, this is going to culminate. 0:44:26.044,0:44:29.796 These people who are individuals in Genesis: Isaac, 0:44:29.796,0:44:32.494 and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Cain and Abel, 0:44:32.494,0:44:36.209 actually are individuals who represent 0:44:36.209,0:44:39.640 two world wide groups at the end of time 0:44:39.640,0:44:43.957 They're symbolic in miniature of the characteristics 0:44:43.957,0:44:47.632 which two groups will have at the end of time. 0:44:47.632,0:44:51.464 And so we must know the characters of Jacob and Esau 0:44:51.464,0:44:55.960 Isaac and Ishmael, Cain and Abel, to understand 0:44:55.960,0:45:00.338 what the characters of the two groups at the end of time 0:45:00.338,0:45:04.203 are going to be like. And then of course we have Joseph 0:45:04.203,0:45:07.682 and his brothers. We have lot and the inhabitants of Sodom. 0:45:07.682,0:45:12.015 I could continue going through Genesis. You have this idea 0:45:12.015,0:45:15.159 of the two seeds. 0:45:15.159,0:45:17.581 Battles of one seed 0:45:17.581,0:45:19.309 against another. Now before we draw this to a 0:45:19.309,0:45:22.621 close this evening, I need to tell you something 0:45:22.621,0:45:26.590 which is very important. Probably the most important thing that I 0:45:26.590,0:45:29.733 am going to deal with tonight. And that is the secret 0:45:29.733,0:45:34.131 to decode or to break the code of the book 0:45:34.131,0:45:37.621 of Genesis. You see, the book of Genesis on the 0:45:37.621,0:45:40.461 surface appears to be a collection 0:45:40.461,0:45:42.706 of stories that took place 0:45:42.706,0:45:48.367 once upon a time. But those 0:45:48.367,0:45:52.338 who read the book of Genesis only as history are 0:45:52.338,0:45:57.819 missing the deeper dimension of the book of Genesis. 0:45:57.819,0:46:01.698 We're gonna see in this seminar that every 0:46:01.698,0:46:04.744 story of Genesis is not only a story 0:46:04.744,0:46:07.561 but a prophecy! In fact, I believe I can show 0:46:07.561,0:46:14.467 that every story in the old Testament 0:46:14.467,0:46:17.884 is a prophecy. A prophecy about the coming Messiah 0:46:17.884,0:46:21.786 Jesus in His first coming, and also, 0:46:21.786,0:46:25.632 a prophecy about events surrounding the second coming 0:46:25.632,0:46:29.450 of Christ. In other words, the book of Genesis 0:46:29.450,0:46:32.724 is literal history. But it is prophecy written as 0:46:32.724,0:46:35.882 history. In other words, beyond the local, historical 0:46:35.882,0:46:40.214 events, they become symbolic or representative 0:46:40.214,0:46:43.501 of future world-wide events 0:46:43.501,0:46:49.459 I already mentioned as an example Genesis 3:!5 0:46:49.459,0:46:52.625 and how its fulfilled in Revelation 12. 0:46:52.625,0:46:57.572 We'll be studying this in 0:46:57.572,0:46:59.244 more detail. You'll find the same elements. You'll find 0:46:59.244,0:47:02.854 enmity, you'll find the woman, you'll find the seed of the woman, 0:47:02.854,0:47:05.044 you'll find the serpent trying to kill the seed, and then trying to kill the woman 0:47:05.044,0:47:07.785 there's no way we can understand end-time prophecy 0:47:07.785,0:47:11.066 without understanding the issues that are brought up in Genesis 0:47:11.066,0:47:14.398 3:15. By the way, if you read Genesis chapter 1 0:47:14.398,0:47:17.409 and 2, you'll find that the Garden of Eden has 0:47:17.409,0:47:19.958 rivers of living water flowing through them 0:47:19.958,0:47:23.879 and you'll find that in the Garden was the Tree of Life. 0:47:23.879,0:47:30.753 Have you ever noticed that in Revelation chapter 0:47:30.753,0:47:33.636 21 and 22, you have the river of the water of 0:47:33.636,0:47:36.796 Life? And you have once again restored 0:47:36.796,0:47:39.708 the Tree of Life? In other words, what we have in Genesis 0:47:39.708,0:47:42.327 is the original Garden of Eden adn 0:47:42.327,0:47:48.604 the losing of Eden because of sin. In 0:47:48.604,0:47:53.251 the middle --the rest of the bible, you find the story of how God 0:47:53.251,0:47:57.458 acts to redeem that which was lost. 0:47:57.458,0:47:59.840 And in Revelation 21 and 22, you have the restoring 0:47:59.840,0:48:03.133 of the original Garden of Eden. 0:48:03.133,0:48:05.490 So there's a close relationship between Genesis 1 and 2 0:48:05.490,0:48:08.664 and Revelation chapter 21 and 22. 0:48:08.664,0:48:12.331 You find for example, the story of Cain and 0:48:12.331,0:48:15.256 Abel. This story is not only history--it's a prophecy! 0:48:15.256,0:48:20.628 We're going to have a whole lecture on the battle of Armageddon. If you 0:48:20.628,0:48:25.030 are going to know what the issues are going to be in the final 0:48:25.030,0:48:28.746 battle of Armageddon, you have to know what the issues were 0:48:28.746,0:48:32.012 in the story of Cain and Abel. And we're going to find that 0:48:32.012,0:48:34.868 the issues in that origianal story revolved around 0:48:34.868,0:48:40.143 obedience and worship. And if you go 0:48:40.143,0:48:45.174 to the book of Revelation, you're going to find that the issues which are 0:48:45.174,0:48:49.047 going to separate the world into two groups are obedience 0:48:49.047,0:48:52.313 to God's law and worship. 0:48:52.313,0:48:56.440 The only difference is that in the beginning of human history, you have 0:48:56.440,0:49:00.626 two individuals. Whereas at the end of history, those 0:49:00.626,0:49:03.534 two individuals have proliferated into two 0:49:03.534,0:49:07.963 world-wide groups that have similar characters 0:49:07.963,0:49:11.715 to those two original people. 0:49:11.715,0:49:16.005 Jesus himself said that the story of the flood is not only a story 0:49:16.005,0:49:19.949 It's a prophecy! He said, "As it was in the days of Noah, 0:49:19.949,0:49:23.624 so also shall it be at 0:49:23.624,0:49:27.575 the coming of the Son of Man." Jesus said, "What happened then, is going to 0:49:27.575,0:49:31.041 happen again in relationship with my second coming." 0:49:31.041,0:49:37.127 And I'm going to have a whole lecture on the story of the Flood, and I'm going to show you that not only is the wickedness 0:49:37.127,0:49:42.141 of the world similar to the wickedness which will exist at the end of time, not only is the 0:49:42.141,0:49:46.627 destruction of the world in the days of Noah 0:49:46.627,0:49:50.450 similar to the destruction which will take place at the end of time, I will show you 0:49:50.450,0:49:53.710 that there will be whole patters on sequential 0:49:53.710,0:49:58.130 events which will be fulfilled in the exact way 0:49:58.130,0:50:02.152 in which they took place in the Old Testament. You have also the story of the 0:50:02.152,0:50:06.081 Sodom and Gomorrah. Very interesting story! Do you know that Jesus 0:50:06.081,0:50:09.367 also said that that story was a prophecy? He said in Luke 0:50:09.367,0:50:11.762 chapter 17. Notice, let's go there and read 0:50:11.762,0:50:16.080 this passage. Luke 17 and verses 0:50:16.080,0:50:20.324 28-32. Luke 17:28-32. 0:50:20.324,0:50:25.796 Here Jesus is speaking, and He says this, 0:50:25.796,0:50:29.106 "Likewise, as it was also 0:50:29.106,0:50:32.279 in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, 0:50:32.279,0:50:36.082 they sold, they planted, they built. But on the day 0:50:36.082,0:50:40.113 that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone 0:50:40.113,0:50:45.381 from heaven and destroyed them all." And now notice what it says: 0:50:45.381,0:50:48.572 "Even so will it be in 0:50:48.572,0:50:51.714 the day when the Son of 0:50:51.714,0:50:55.206 Man is revealed." Did you catch that? 0:50:55.206,0:50:58.287 As it was back then, so will it be 0:50:58.287,0:51:01.799 And allow me to give you a little bit of an inkling of what we'll deal with 0:51:01.799,0:51:05.466 when we talk about Sodom and Gomorrah. Do you know that before 0:51:05.466,0:51:08.783 the cities were destroyed, God sent three angels with 0:51:08.783,0:51:11.265 the warning for those cities? 0:51:11.265,0:51:17.015 In the book of Revelation, we find that before the destruction of the world, 0:51:17.015,0:51:20.665 God is going to send three angels to warn the world! 0:51:20.665,0:51:23.794 And somebody might say, "Pastor, that's just an accident 0:51:23.794,0:51:28.544 That's a coincidence!" We're going to notice that 0:51:28.544,0:51:32.209 it is not a coincidence. You see the three angels 0:51:32.209,0:51:36.345 that came to Abraham and then two of them went to Sodom 0:51:36.345,0:51:39.809 and to Gomorrah actually are symbolic of 0:51:39.809,0:51:43.979 the messages which will be presented by these angels of Revelation 0:51:43.979,0:51:47.508 chapter 14. Actually the call of 0:51:47.508,0:51:50.631 Abraham out of the place where the tower of Babel was built 0:51:50.631,0:51:53.847 is fulfilled in Revelation 18 where there is a 0:51:53.847,0:51:57.147 message given to God's people: Come out of Babylon 0:51:57.147,0:52:01.094 my people, and do not participate in her sins! 0:52:01.094,0:52:04.131 That you receive not her plagues! The call of Abraham 0:52:04.131,0:52:06.758 out of Babylon foreshadows or symbolizes the final call 0:52:06.758,0:52:13.082 of God's people out of spiritual Babylon. 0:52:13.082,0:52:16.698 at the end of time. The story of the conflict between 0:52:16.698,0:52:20.334 Isaac and Ishmael actually is taken by the apostle 0:52:20.334,0:52:23.370 Paul in Galatians chapter 4 and he says that this represents 0:52:23.370,0:52:26.565 two different kinds of people: those who live according to the flesh 0:52:26.565,0:52:31.979 and those who live according to the spirit. In other words, 0:52:31.979,0:52:35.716 these two sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael 0:52:35.716,0:52:38.800 represent two different kinds of characters 0:52:38.800,0:52:44.220 of people that will live in this world at the end of time. Those 0:52:44.220,0:52:48.329 who live according to the flesh and those who live according to the Spirit. 0:52:48.329,0:52:52.093 We're going to notice in this story 0:52:52.093,0:52:55.617 that we have the description of the origin 0:52:55.617,0:52:58.800 of the conflict that exist today between Israel and 0:52:58.800,0:53:03.691 the Palestinians. We're going to deal with that issue in Bible prophecy 0:53:03.691,0:53:07.928 with Israel in Bible prophecy, with the Arabs in Bible prophecy 0:53:07.928,0:53:11.485 because that is the origin of this controversy in 0:53:11.485,0:53:15.667 bac when Abraham had Isaac 0:53:15.667,0:53:19.330 and Ishmael. Since the days of Abraham 0:53:19.330,0:53:23.115 they been at each other's throats. This isn't something new 0:53:23.115,0:53:26.422 It's something which has existed all throughout the course of 0:53:26.422,0:53:30.407 human history. Who could forget the story 0:53:30.407,0:53:33.697 of the almost sacrifice of Isaac? 0:53:33.697,0:53:37.872 I say almost because Isaac was not sacrificed. I mean, that story is so clearly a pointing 0:53:37.872,0:53:43.618 to the Messiah, that you know, I don't even have to dwell on it very much. 0:53:43.618,0:53:47.201 You know, God told Abraham, "Take your son 0:53:47.201,0:53:49.848 to mount Moriah, and sacrifice him there", and when Abraham 0:53:49.848,0:53:53.694 is about sacrifice his Son, 0:53:53.694,0:53:56.781 the voice said, "Don't sacrifice your son 0:53:56.781,0:54:00.539 and Abraham looks up and finds a ram, which is a male lamb 0:54:00.539,0:54:04.654 and he finds a ram in a thicket, and he offers the ram in 0:54:04.654,0:54:08.698 place of his son. Do you know that that represents 0:54:08.698,0:54:12.035 the fact that God the Father sent his son, Jesus to this world 0:54:12.035,0:54:15.024 and He sent Him to take our place. 0:54:15.024,0:54:17.532 He sent Him as a Lamb of God which takes away the sin of 0:54:17.532,0:54:21.032 the world. And there's a whole series of parallels 0:54:21.032,0:54:24.289 between the story that took place the in days of Abraham and 0:54:24.289,0:54:27.036 the story of the ministration of 0:54:27.036,0:54:30.870 Christ on this earth. Who could forget the story in what is called Jacob's ladder? 0:54:30.870,0:54:34.112 By the way, it's not Jacob's ladder, it's the Lord's ladder. 0:54:34.112,0:54:36.773 In Genesis chapter 28, it speaks about a ladder that's planted on the earth, and its top reached to the 0:54:36.773,0:54:43.122 highest heavens and angels were ascending and descending on 0:54:43.122,0:54:47.113 the ladder. What could that mean? Well, we don't have to guess. 0:54:47.113,0:54:50.247 Because in John chapter 1 verse 51 0:54:50.247,0:54:54.194 Jesus says, "You will see heaven open, and you will see the angels 0:54:54.194,0:54:57.635 ascending and descending upon the Son of Man! 0:54:57.635,0:55:01.140 In other words, the ladder represents 0:55:01.140,0:55:05.033 Jesus Christ. The bottom of the ladder represents his humanity, his oneness 0:55:05.033,0:55:10.577 with us. The top of the ladder represents the fact that he's God; 0:55:10.577,0:55:14.597 It represents his divinity or his deity. In other words, 0:55:14.597,0:55:19.374 the only one who can represent us before God is one who is man 0:55:19.374,0:55:23.351 with man, and God with God. He's the only one 0:55:23.351,0:55:27.706 who can bridge heaven and earth. So Jesus himself said, 0:55:27.706,0:55:31.286 "I am the ladder. The ladder of Genesis 0:55:31.286,0:55:34.597 28 is really a prophecy. It is not only a 0:55:34.597,0:55:38.707 story. Who could forget the story of Jacob and Esau? 0:55:38.707,0:55:42.478 This is a symbolic story. The fact that the very 0:55:42.478,0:55:45.684 end of the story, we find Jacob returning to his home after 0:55:45.684,0:55:52.083 he's gone into exile from his home because of sin--like Adam and Eve were cast out because of their sin. Now he's 0:55:52.083,0:55:55.658 returning home and he hears that his brother is coming after him to destroy him 0:55:55.658,0:55:59.161 And Jacob goes 0:55:59.161,0:56:03.283 through what is known as the Time of Jacob's trouble. 0:56:03.283,0:56:07.040 He's in anxiety because he's afraid that his brother 0:56:07.040,0:56:13.793 is going to destroy him. Do you know that the Bible says that shortly before the coming of Jesus, 0:56:13.793,0:56:18.417 God's people will go through a period that is known as the 0:56:18.417,0:56:22.553 Time of Jacob's trouble? They will have a similar experience to the experience that Jacob had? 0:56:22.553,0:56:27.538 It's mentioned for example in Daniel chapter 12:1 0:56:27.538,0:56:34.157 where it says that at that time Michael shall stand up --that Great Prince that stands watch over your people 0:56:34.157,0:56:37.485 and there will be a time of trouble such as never was since 0:56:37.485,0:56:41.495 there was a nation. See that's the time of Jacob's trouble. But 0:56:41.495,0:56:45.005 at that time, God's people will be delivered. Everyone who 0:56:45.005,0:56:48.501 is written in the book. The story of Joseph 0:56:48.501,0:56:52.502 is a symbolic story. Jacob is sold by his brothers for 0:56:52.502,0:56:55.300 few pieces of silver. Jesus was sold by his own brothers. 0:56:55.300,0:57:02.188 by 30 pieces of silver. If you want to understand the 144,000 of Revelation chapter 7 0:57:02.188,0:57:07.303 once again, you have to go back to the book of Genesis. 0:57:07.303,0:57:11.411 Genesis 49. There Jacob before his death gives a 0:57:11.411,0:57:14.960 description of the character of each one of his sons. 0:57:14.960,0:57:20.627 And they form the foundation for us understanding the characers--the twelve personality profiles 0:57:20.627,0:57:24.380 that will exist at the end of time. 0:57:24.380,0:57:28.140 The book of Genesis is a prophetic book. 0:57:28.140,0:57:31.466 It has a much deeper dimension than 0:57:31.466,0:57:34.835 mere history and we're going to try and decipher all of those things 0:57:34.835,0:57:38.271 in this seminar. I believe it's going to be a 0:57:38.271,0:57:51.289 wonderful experience.