1 00:01:18,175 --> 00:01:18,309 Let us pray: 2 00:01:18,309 --> 00:01:20,360 Our Father in Heaven 3 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,738 As we open the book of Genesis, we ask 4 00:01:24,738 --> 00:01:27,464 for guidance from on high 5 00:01:27,464 --> 00:01:30,890 Show us the wondrous things from this book 6 00:01:30,890 --> 00:01:40,734 We pray this in the precious name of Jesus, our Lord and Savoir. Amen. 7 00:01:40,734 --> 00:01:45,729 The book of Genesis is the book about origins. 8 00:01:45,729 --> 00:01:52,115 In fact, the name Genesis means precisely that: origins 9 00:01:52,115 --> 00:02:02,649 Now allow me to mention as we begin our study today the things which the book of Genesis mentions as originating 10 00:02:02,649 --> 00:02:06,423 First of all, we have the origins of the cosmos 11 00:02:06,423 --> 00:02:11,873 That is, of the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1. We have the origins of plants, spoken of in Genesis chapter 1. 12 00:02:11,873 --> 00:02:18,375 We have the origins of animals 13 00:02:18,375 --> 00:02:25,019 We have the origin of man, the origin of woman 14 00:02:25,019 --> 00:02:26,289 The origin of sin, the beginning of the origin of death, the beginning of the origin of redemption 15 00:02:26,289 --> 00:02:50,066 The beginning of nations, the beginning of languages, the beginning of Israel and even the beginning of the Arabs, or the Arabic nations. 16 00:02:50,066 --> 00:02:57,110 These are just some of the beginnings that we find mentioned in the book of Genesis. 17 00:02:57,110 --> 00:03:05,977 So the book of Genesis is very important because it goes way back into pre-history as we know it, to describe 18 00:03:05,977 --> 00:03:11,033 the origins of everything which exists 19 00:03:11,033 --> 00:03:13,122 upon this earth 20 00:03:13,122 --> 00:03:18,675 Now allow me to give you a little bit about the timeline of Genesis. The book of Genesis 21 00:03:18,675 --> 00:03:23,112 describes the first 2500 22 00:03:23,112 --> 00:03:29,218 years of human history. I believe as I've examined the contents of the book that 23 00:03:29,218 --> 00:03:33,234 it was written by Moses and actually 24 00:03:33,234 --> 00:03:37,145 it was written approximately 1500 years 25 00:03:37,145 --> 00:03:41,965 before the birth of Jesus 26 00:03:41,965 --> 00:03:45,486 and so you can imagine that the book of Genesis was actually 27 00:03:45,486 --> 00:03:49,394 describing events that took place approximately 28 00:03:49,394 --> 00:03:54,397 the year 4000BC - four thousand before Christ 29 00:03:54,397 --> 00:03:57,523 And actually, it was written 1500 30 00:03:57,523 --> 00:04:02,785 years before Jesus Christ was born 31 00:04:02,785 --> 00:04:05,901 The book of Genesis presents a short chronology 32 00:04:05,901 --> 00:04:13,148 of planet Earth. In other words, it does not allow for long periods of millions of years where God is creating 33 00:04:13,148 --> 00:04:18,154 what is known as "progressive creationism". The book of Genesis teaches that 34 00:04:18,154 --> 00:04:21,537 this planet is approximately 6,000 35 00:04:21,537 --> 00:04:27,068 years old, from the moment in which God began to create upon it. 36 00:04:27,068 --> 00:04:32,405 And I'd just like to tell you up front from the very beginning that in this seminar, 37 00:04:32,405 --> 00:04:36,486 I take the book of Genesis as literal history 38 00:04:36,486 --> 00:04:40,446 I believe that it represents a short time span 39 00:04:40,446 --> 00:04:43,753 For the events that are described in it. In other words, 40 00:04:43,753 --> 00:04:48,499 we don't have to go back millions of years to find out the origin 41 00:04:48,499 --> 00:04:51,800 of things in this world. All we have to do is go 42 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:56,168 back approximately 6,000 years to find 43 00:04:56,168 --> 00:05:01,801 the events for example that are described in Genesis Chapter 1, and chapter 2 44 00:05:01,801 --> 00:05:07,691 The book of Genesis is the seed plot of the bible 45 00:05:07,691 --> 00:05:11,591 Allow me to explain what I mean 46 00:05:11,591 --> 00:05:17,494 One of my favorite national parks in all the United States 47 00:05:17,494 --> 00:05:20,918 is the one that we have just up the mountain 48 00:05:20,918 --> 00:05:24,060 Sequoia National Park. I just enjoy going up there 49 00:05:24,060 --> 00:05:26,760 and unwinding, and taking it easy for a whole day 50 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:30,805 breathing some fresh air especially when its foggy here in the valley 51 00:05:30,805 --> 00:05:37,278 And I just enjoy, uh going for example to the grant tree and to the general Sherman tree and just 52 00:05:37,278 --> 00:05:41,143 standing there underneath these trees. It's amazing! 53 00:05:41,143 --> 00:05:50,024 Some of them are almost 3,000 years old. Can you imagine a tree that's almost 3,000 years old? 54 00:05:50,024 --> 00:05:54,309 And they are hundreds of feet tall 55 00:05:54,309 --> 00:05:57,812 And I am just am awed every time I go up there 56 00:05:57,812 --> 00:06:01,759 And I stand under these trees and I see how thick they are 57 00:06:01,759 --> 00:06:08,278 and how high they go, and I'm just amazed 58 00:06:08,278 --> 00:06:11,034 But have you ever stopped to think, that 59 00:06:11,034 --> 00:06:15,221 the might Sequoia, for example the general sherman tree 60 00:06:15,221 --> 00:06:18,236 actually came from a 61 00:06:18,236 --> 00:06:21,122 little seed? 62 00:06:21,122 --> 00:06:24,018 Have you ever stopped to think that that whole tree 63 00:06:24,018 --> 00:06:28,265 that you find up there, the general sherman tree in Sequoia National Park 64 00:06:28,265 --> 00:06:31,123 actually was enclosed 65 00:06:31,123 --> 00:06:35,418 in cold form, sort of speak 66 00:06:35,418 --> 00:06:38,476 in that little seed, and the seed sprouted, and 67 00:06:38,476 --> 00:06:42,848 it produced after almost 3,000 years 68 00:06:42,848 --> 00:06:48,345 this gigantic tree. In other words, the 69 00:06:48,345 --> 00:06:51,702 Sequoia tree was contained in that seed. 70 00:06:51,702 --> 00:06:54,898 Thats the relationship between Genesis and the 71 00:06:54,898 --> 00:06:58,018 rest of the bible. The book of Genesis has the seeds 72 00:06:58,018 --> 00:07:02,634 The rest of the bible is the development and growth 73 00:07:02,634 --> 00:07:06,335 of those seeds, and eventually, the growth 74 00:07:06,335 --> 00:07:10,218 reaches its climax or its fullness 75 00:07:10,218 --> 00:07:14,222 in the book of Revelation. 76 00:07:14,222 --> 00:07:16,942 In other words, we're not 77 00:07:16,942 --> 00:07:20,117 going to stay in this seminar in the book of Genesis. We're going 78 00:07:20,117 --> 00:07:22,952 to begin in Genesis in each lecture, and we're going 79 00:07:22,952 --> 00:07:26,621 to study these seeds and then we're going to see 80 00:07:26,621 --> 00:07:29,745 how these seeds develop throughout the course of the 81 00:07:29,745 --> 00:07:33,387 whole bible. Now, the bok of Revelation 82 00:07:33,387 --> 00:07:38,467 is a very important book to study along with Genesis 83 00:07:38,467 --> 00:07:41,616 You notice for example in the brochure that many of you received 84 00:07:41,616 --> 00:07:45,054 in the mail or perhaps in the newspaper, or maybe somebody gave 85 00:07:45,054 --> 00:07:48,972 you one of the brochures, you notice there that this seminar 86 00:07:48,972 --> 00:07:53,349 is not only about Geneiss, it is also about the book of 87 00:07:53,349 --> 00:07:57,131 Revelation. You see, I beleive that we cannot understand 88 00:07:57,131 --> 00:08:01,306 the book of Revelation unless we understand the book of 89 00:08:01,306 --> 00:08:04,554 Genesis. We can never understand the end 90 00:08:04,554 --> 00:08:08,091 unless we understand first of all the beginning. 91 00:08:08,091 --> 00:08:12,743 Because the end is simply the culmination of a process 92 00:08:12,743 --> 00:08:19,161 which began way back in the book of Genesis. 93 00:08:19,161 --> 00:08:22,214 Allow me to give you an example of the relationship 94 00:08:22,214 --> 00:08:25,301 between Gensis and Revelation. We'll study these things more 95 00:08:25,301 --> 00:08:28,151 fully a little bit ater on, but I want to show you a couple of the examples 96 00:08:28,151 --> 00:08:31,809 so that you can see how important it is for us 97 00:08:31,809 --> 00:08:36,915 to compare and to inter-relate Genesis with 98 00:08:36,915 --> 00:08:40,278 Revelation. Go with me, in your bibles 99 00:08:40,278 --> 00:08:44,945 to Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 15. 100 00:08:44,945 --> 00:08:49,024 And by the way, on the lists of texts that you have there is in parenthesis, a page number 101 00:08:49,024 --> 00:08:52,429 which will make it a lot easier 102 00:08:52,429 --> 00:08:55,480 for you to find the bible verses as we move along 103 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:59,315 because the people have heard me say that I go awful fast, but 104 00:08:59,315 --> 00:09:03,777 with the list, you'll know exactly where we're going, so you'll be able to 105 00:09:03,777 --> 00:09:08,113 one up on me. You'll be able to look up the next text actually before I 106 00:09:08,113 --> 00:09:11,864 even mention it. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 107 00:09:11,864 --> 00:09:16,895 This is immediately after sin. I want you to notice 108 00:09:16,895 --> 00:09:20,448 what it says. God speaking: And I will put enmity between 109 00:09:20,448 --> 00:09:28,397 you, that is the serpent, and the woman, 110 00:09:28,397 --> 00:09:32,004 and between your seed 111 00:09:32,004 --> 00:09:34,968 and her seed 112 00:09:34,968 --> 00:09:40,258 Now let's stop there for a moment. We have four elements 113 00:09:40,258 --> 00:09:44,241 in what we've read from this verse so far. First of all, 114 00:09:44,241 --> 00:09:48,075 is enmity or war. Secondly, 115 00:09:48,075 --> 00:09:52,144 there is a serpent whom God is speaking to 116 00:09:52,144 --> 00:09:59,438 in this verse. In the 3rd palce, we have a woman because there's war between the serpent and the 117 00:09:59,438 --> 00:10:05,931 woman. And in the 4th place, we have the seed. We actually two seeds 118 00:10:05,931 --> 00:10:12,421 The seed of the serpent, and the seed of the woman. So we have these four 119 00:10:12,421 --> 00:10:16,335 elements: enmity, serpent, woman, and 120 00:10:16,335 --> 00:10:20,205 seed. And I want you to notice that the enmity runs 121 00:10:20,205 --> 00:10:24,258 between the serpent and the woman, between the seed of the 122 00:10:24,258 --> 00:10:28,202 serpent and the seed of the woman, and between the seed of the woman 123 00:10:28,202 --> 00:10:32,238 and the serpent. Let's notice this verse again. 124 00:10:32,238 --> 00:10:36,616 God says, "I will put enmity between you 125 00:10:36,616 --> 00:10:40,116 the serpent, and the woman. There's the first enmity--the serpent and the woman 126 00:10:40,116 --> 00:10:44,279 And between, your seed--that is the serpent 127 00:10:44,279 --> 00:10:51,291 seed and her seed. So you have enmity between the serpent and woman and between seed and seed 128 00:10:51,291 --> 00:10:55,481 But that's not the real warfare. Even though there is warfare 129 00:10:55,481 --> 00:10:59,259 The critical and most important warfare is between the seed of the woman 130 00:10:59,259 --> 00:11:02,607 and the serpent, because the last part of the verse says 131 00:11:02,607 --> 00:11:06,538 He, that is the seed of hte woman, will bruise 132 00:11:06,538 --> 00:11:09,884 your head, the serpent's head, and you 133 00:11:09,884 --> 00:11:14,662 will bruise his heel. So the enmity runs three 134 00:11:14,662 --> 00:11:18,648 ways. Serpent vs. woman, seed of the 135 00:11:18,648 --> 00:11:22,378 serpent vs. seed of the woman, and the seed of the woman vs. 136 00:11:22,378 --> 00:11:26,480 the serpent. There's no way in the world that we can understand 137 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,813 a chapter like Revelation 12 without 138 00:11:29,813 --> 00:11:35,072 comprehending Genesis 3:15. Because in 139 00:11:35,072 --> 00:11:37,738 Revelation chapter 12, I'll just mention it, we have 140 00:11:37,738 --> 00:11:40,273 a couple of lectures on Revelation chapter 12 141 00:11:40,273 --> 00:11:43,298 You see, in Revelation 12, we have 142 00:11:43,298 --> 00:11:47,543 a child who is born to a woman 143 00:11:47,543 --> 00:11:51,047 And standing next to this woman who is about to bear the child 144 00:11:51,047 --> 00:11:55,565 is a dragon who is identified as the ancient 145 00:11:55,565 --> 00:11:59,986 serpent the devil and Satan. And it says that he 146 00:11:59,986 --> 00:12:03,904 wants to devour the child as soon as the child is born 147 00:12:03,904 --> 00:12:08,193 The child of the woman. Do you see Genesis 3:15 148 00:12:08,193 --> 00:12:12,817 in that passage in revelation chapter 12? 149 00:12:12,817 --> 00:12:17,869 versus 1-5? Very clear.The warfare was going 150 00:12:17,869 --> 00:12:21,059 to be between the seed of the woman and the serpent 151 00:12:21,059 --> 00:12:25,548 And that's exactly what you have in Revelation 12:1-5 152 00:12:25,548 --> 00:12:27,253 But Revelation 12 doesn't end there. Later on in the chapter, 153 00:12:27,253 --> 00:12:31,615 when the child is caught up to God and the throne, which refers to 154 00:12:31,615 --> 00:12:35,932 the ascension of Christ, we're told that now the woman 155 00:12:35,932 --> 00:12:39,624 flees into the wilderness and the serpent is 156 00:12:39,624 --> 00:12:43,272 after the woman. And later on 157 00:12:43,272 --> 00:12:46,169 even in this chapter, in verse 17, we find 158 00:12:46,169 --> 00:12:51,227 that the final warfare is no longer against he woman, but 159 00:12:51,227 --> 00:12:55,895 against the seed's seed. In other words, 160 00:12:55,895 --> 00:12:59,516 the seed of the woman's seed, and so there's no 161 00:12:59,516 --> 00:13:03,393 way that we can really understand, uh, Genesis 162 00:13:03,393 --> 00:13:07,692 chapter 3:15 uness we find the greatest development 163 00:13:07,692 --> 00:13:11,308 in Revelation chapter 12, as well as other pasages 164 00:13:11,308 --> 00:13:15,697 that we find in the New Testament. Now, allow me to give you one 165 00:13:15,697 --> 00:13:20,645 other example. Genesis chapter 2 166 00:13:20,645 --> 00:13:24,042 and verse 24. Genesis chapter 2, and verse 167 00:13:24,042 --> 00:13:27,609 actually its verse 25. 168 00:13:27,609 --> 00:13:31,810 Speaking about Adam and Eve, 169 00:13:31,810 --> 00:13:35,561 it says, "And they were both naked, the man 170 00:13:35,561 --> 00:13:41,892 and his wife, and were not ashamed." 171 00:13:41,892 --> 00:13:45,112 We're going to find in our seminar that the reason they were not ashamed 172 00:13:45,112 --> 00:13:48,104 is because they were not covered with human garments, but 173 00:13:48,104 --> 00:13:51,176 made out of material. They were actually covered by 174 00:13:51,176 --> 00:13:55,775 the glorious light of God. They had no artificial 175 00:13:55,775 --> 00:13:59,514 garments. They were naked with respect to garments made out of 176 00:13:59,514 --> 00:14:03,137 satin, or made out of other material. They were covered 177 00:14:03,137 --> 00:14:05,989 with the glory of God. They wer covered with the light of 178 00:14:05,989 --> 00:14:08,856 God. The same type of garments that God has according to 179 00:14:08,856 --> 00:14:13,293 Psalms 104. And that's the reason why they were not ashamed. 180 00:14:13,293 --> 00:14:17,143 But then in Genesis 3:7, we find that Adam 181 00:14:17,143 --> 00:14:21,025 and Eve sinned, and suddenly we find them hiding from 182 00:14:21,025 --> 00:14:25,035 God. And now they are ashamed even though 183 00:14:25,035 --> 00:14:28,207 they've covered themselves with fig leaves. They still don't 184 00:14:28,207 --> 00:14:32,681 feel like the fig leaves are covering their nakedness because the light has 185 00:14:32,681 --> 00:14:36,388 gone away from them. And so they're hiding from God even though they 186 00:14:36,388 --> 00:14:39,557 have covered the nakedness of their bodies with fig leaves, they know that their nakedness 187 00:14:39,557 --> 00:14:44,590 is nakedness of soul. And do you know what God 188 00:14:44,590 --> 00:14:48,097 does? In Genesis 3:21, it says that God makes 189 00:14:48,097 --> 00:14:52,146 garments of skins and clothed 190 00:14:52,146 --> 00:14:57,008 Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness. 191 00:14:57,008 --> 00:15:00,176 Now there's a text in the book of Revelation 192 00:15:00,176 --> 00:15:01,997 which we could never understand 193 00:15:01,997 --> 00:15:04,847 unless we catch this background from Genesis 194 00:15:04,847 --> 00:15:10,923 chapter 3. And that is the 195 00:15:10,923 --> 00:15:14,043 central verse in the passage that deals with the battle of Armageddon. 196 00:15:14,043 --> 00:15:16,510 You know there's a lot of talk today about Armageddon 197 00:15:16,510 --> 00:15:20,450 What it's going to be? What nations it's going to involve, what the issues 198 00:15:20,450 --> 00:15:24,679 are in this great battle. And I've heard a lot of 199 00:15:24,679 --> 00:15:28,526 books written by many different scholars on the battle of Armageddon. In fact, we're 200 00:15:28,526 --> 00:15:32,061 gonna have a whole lecture later on in this series, on the battle of Armageddon. 201 00:15:32,061 --> 00:15:34,934 But you know what I find interesting? Most of those 202 00:15:34,934 --> 00:15:38,841 commentaries with very few exceptions, dea 203 00:15:38,841 --> 00:15:42,430 with all sorts of issues connected with the battle 204 00:15:42,430 --> 00:15:44,842 of Armageddon. They talk for example, about the kings of the east 205 00:15:44,842 --> 00:15:49,212 And they talk about the drying up of the river Euphrates, and they 206 00:15:49,212 --> 00:15:52,662 talk about the three evil spirits like frogs coming 207 00:15:52,662 --> 00:15:56,323 up out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. They have a lot to say about 208 00:15:56,323 --> 00:15:59,842 all of these things. But there's one verse which very 209 00:15:59,842 --> 00:16:03,794 rarely is even commented on, and it deals with 210 00:16:03,794 --> 00:16:08,841 with the central issue in the battle of Armageddon. 211 00:16:08,841 --> 00:16:11,596 And it shows that we must study Genesis in order 212 00:16:11,596 --> 00:16:16,541 to understand it. Go with me to Revelation 16 and verse 213 00:16:16,541 --> 00:16:18,616 15, and you'll see this. 214 00:16:18,616 --> 00:16:22,048 Revelation chapter 16 and verse 15. Right 215 00:16:22,048 --> 00:16:25,123 in the middle of the passage 216 00:16:25,123 --> 00:16:28,346 on the sixth plague of Revelation, 217 00:16:28,346 --> 00:16:31,340 and while you're looking for that text, allow me to say this, 218 00:16:31,340 --> 00:16:34,305 this is the only place, where 219 00:16:34,305 --> 00:16:39,635 Jesus speaks in the book of Revelation between 220 00:16:39,635 --> 00:16:44,178 Chapter 3 and chapter 21 221 00:16:44,178 --> 00:16:48,007 The only verse--if you have a red letter edition of the bible 222 00:16:48,007 --> 00:16:52,099 where it gives the words that are spoken by Jesus, you'll find that the last words 223 00:16:52,099 --> 00:16:55,766 of Jesus are in Chapter 3. The next time that Jesus 224 00:16:55,766 --> 00:16:59,591 speaks is in chapter 21 with the exception 225 00:16:59,591 --> 00:17:03,794 of Revelation 16 and verse 15. Do you 226 00:17:03,794 --> 00:17:07,673 figure that if Jesus-- that if this is the only place that Jesus speaks 227 00:17:07,673 --> 00:17:11,347 between revelation 3 and revelation 21, that it must be a very important 228 00:17:11,347 --> 00:17:16,040 verse? Obviously! Notice what we find 229 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:20,270 there in Revelation chapter 16 and verse 15: 230 00:17:20,270 --> 00:17:24,096 Jesus is speaking. Behold, I am coming 231 00:17:24,096 --> 00:17:28,269 as a thief. Blessed is 232 00:17:28,269 --> 00:17:32,339 he who watches and keeps 233 00:17:32,339 --> 00:17:35,657 his garments lest 234 00:17:35,657 --> 00:17:39,903 he walk naked and they see 235 00:17:39,903 --> 00:17:44,683 his shame. Now you tell me. Is that verse 236 00:17:44,683 --> 00:17:47,842 have anything to do with Genesis chapter 3? You have the same elements 237 00:17:47,842 --> 00:17:51,260 You have garments, you have nakedness, and you have shame. 238 00:17:51,260 --> 00:17:55,987 Obviously, there's going to be some people at the end of time 239 00:17:55,987 --> 00:17:59,980 living during the period of the battle of Armageddon who are going 240 00:17:59,980 --> 00:18:04,792 to be found naked and their shame will be revealed 241 00:18:04,792 --> 00:18:08,194 just like Adam and Eve. But you cannot understand what this 242 00:18:08,194 --> 00:18:11,349 means in the end time unless you first understand what 243 00:18:11,349 --> 00:18:15,563 happened with Adam and Eve in Genesis because at the end of time 244 00:18:15,563 --> 00:18:21,574 there's gonna be a repetition of what happened in the book of Genesis 245 00:18:21,574 --> 00:18:23,596 These are just two examples of how 246 00:18:23,596 --> 00:18:26,870 Genesis is very intricately entwined 247 00:18:26,870 --> 00:18:31,266 with the book of Revelation. Now 248 00:18:31,266 --> 00:18:34,931 this question frequently comes up when we study the book of Genesis, and that is 249 00:18:34,931 --> 00:18:38,244 is the book of Genesis really 250 00:18:38,244 --> 00:18:46,755 literal history? Or is the book of Genesis legend, myth, or as Carol Bath 251 00:18:46,755 --> 00:18:49,065 the great theologian said, "saga"? 252 00:18:49,065 --> 00:18:53,887 I want to tell you upfront that I believe that the book of Genesis 253 00:18:53,887 --> 00:18:58,089 from Genesis 1:1 through the end of chapter 254 00:18:58,089 --> 00:19:02,264 50 is dealing with literal historical 255 00:19:02,264 --> 00:19:05,286 events. In fact, it might surprise 256 00:19:05,286 --> 00:19:09,911 some of you to know that up till the age of the englightenment 257 00:19:09,911 --> 00:19:14,197 in the 18th century--if you go before the eighteenth century, 258 00:19:14,197 --> 00:19:18,266 you'll find that practically every scholar 259 00:19:18,266 --> 00:19:22,427 that ever wrote on the book of Genesis believed that book of Genesis 260 00:19:22,427 --> 00:19:24,765 was actual, literal, history 261 00:19:24,765 --> 00:19:27,461 as it took place 262 00:19:27,461 --> 00:19:29,969 But in the age of enlightenment appeared 263 00:19:29,969 --> 00:19:34,345 historical criticism 264 00:19:34,345 --> 00:19:38,783 and appeared the scientific method and so they 265 00:19:38,783 --> 00:19:41,847 started applying the scientific method and historical criticism to God's 266 00:19:41,847 --> 00:19:45,454 Holy word besides doing it to the natural world 267 00:19:45,454 --> 00:19:50,177 and to documents that had been written in antiquity, and for this reason, 268 00:19:50,177 --> 00:19:54,097 many of the scholars came to the conclusion that the book of Geneiss 269 00:19:54,097 --> 00:19:57,295 particularly chapters 1-11 were not describing real 270 00:19:57,295 --> 00:20:02,427 literal hisotry. I saw this problem 271 00:20:02,427 --> 00:20:05,869 very clearly a few years ago when I was 272 00:20:05,869 --> 00:20:09,837 at a speaking committment up in Berrien Springs, Michigan 273 00:20:09,837 --> 00:20:12,553 there's the university where I went to 274 00:20:12,553 --> 00:20:16,001 school. They have a fantastic theological library. 275 00:20:16,001 --> 00:20:19,756 with hundreds of thousands of books. And of course, I only had 276 00:20:19,756 --> 00:20:23,535 to speak in the evening. And during the daytime, I took advantage and went to the 277 00:20:23,535 --> 00:20:28,167 library for aobut 8 or 9 hours a day doing research 278 00:20:28,167 --> 00:20:32,009 for this series on the book of Genesis. And as I examined 279 00:20:32,009 --> 00:20:36,088 the commentaries that were written on the book of Genesis 280 00:20:36,088 --> 00:20:40,448 there's something which really struck me. And that's 281 00:20:40,448 --> 00:20:43,718 is that most of the commentators really 282 00:20:43,718 --> 00:20:48,001 did not believe in the historicity of the book of Genesis. 283 00:20:48,001 --> 00:20:50,616 They did not believe that it's literal history. 284 00:20:50,616 --> 00:20:55,466 And these were Christian commentators who were actually writing 285 00:20:55,466 --> 00:20:59,418 on the book of Genesis. In fact, I had to 286 00:20:59,418 --> 00:21:03,797 snicker when I was uh, researching the story 287 00:21:03,797 --> 00:21:08,076 of Eve and the serpent which spoke to Eve 288 00:21:08,076 --> 00:21:11,086 and a scholar, several of them actually, said the reason 289 00:21:11,086 --> 00:21:15,003 why this story was included in Genesis is to 290 00:21:15,003 --> 00:21:20,141 explain the reason why people are afraid of snakes 291 00:21:20,141 --> 00:21:23,889 and then I went on to story of Cain and Abel. 292 00:21:23,889 --> 00:21:28,005 And severeal of the authors said the reason 293 00:21:28,005 --> 00:21:31,756 why you have the story of Cain and Abel in the book of Genesis is to 294 00:21:31,756 --> 00:21:36,249 explain the origin of sibling rivalry 295 00:21:36,249 --> 00:21:39,024 and then I continued studying and got to Genesis chapter 11 296 00:21:39,024 --> 00:21:42,751 where it speaks about the Tower of Babel, the confusion of the languages 297 00:21:42,751 --> 00:21:46,612 and the commentaries said this did not 298 00:21:46,612 --> 00:21:50,421 really happen in history. This idea that 299 00:21:50,421 --> 00:21:53,897 they tried to build a tower and God confused their languages. 300 00:21:53,897 --> 00:21:58,088 The scholar said the reason why this story was written 301 00:21:58,088 --> 00:22:02,897 was in order to explain why in the world you had so many 302 00:22:02,897 --> 00:22:06,061 different languages, and so on 303 00:22:06,061 --> 00:22:08,094 Most of the scholars that I read would be called 304 00:22:08,094 --> 00:22:13,464 liberal scholars. They do not beleive in the 305 00:22:13,464 --> 00:22:18,337 full inspiration of scripture. And therefore, they do not belive 306 00:22:18,337 --> 00:22:22,918 that the stories of Genesis are really literal history 307 00:22:22,918 --> 00:22:27,087 Is the book of Genesis though literal history? 308 00:22:27,087 --> 00:22:29,455 Let me share this with you, folks! If we 309 00:22:29,455 --> 00:22:34,169 don't beleive that the book of Gensis is dealing with literal history events 310 00:22:34,169 --> 00:22:38,419 we are not only impuning 311 00:22:38,419 --> 00:22:41,194 the veracity of Moses. We are impuining 312 00:22:41,194 --> 00:22:45,805 the veracity of Peter, and 313 00:22:45,805 --> 00:22:48,980 Paul and Steven and Luke 314 00:22:48,980 --> 00:22:53,607 and Jesus. Do you realize 315 00:22:53,607 --> 00:22:56,320 that every single story 316 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:01,548 without exception in the book of Genesis 317 00:23:01,548 --> 00:23:06,247 is repeated as literal history in the new testament by the new testament authors? 318 00:23:06,247 --> 00:23:09,000 Many of these events in Genesis are told 319 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:13,165 by Jesus in the gospels. Let's notice for example 320 00:23:13,165 --> 00:23:17,916 Matthrew chapter 19 and verses 4 321 00:23:17,916 --> 00:23:20,617 through 6. Matthre chapter 19 and verses 4-6. 322 00:23:20,617 --> 00:23:24,500 Here Jesus is speaking about the origin of 323 00:23:24,500 --> 00:23:29,450 marriage. And notice what we find there--Genesis chapter 324 00:23:29,450 --> 00:23:31,710 19 and verse 4. 325 00:23:31,710 --> 00:23:36,955 And he that is Jesus answered 326 00:23:36,955 --> 00:23:39,672 and said to them, Have you not read 327 00:23:39,672 --> 00:23:44,022 that He who made them at the beginning made them 328 00:23:44,022 --> 00:23:47,226 male and female, and said 329 00:23:47,226 --> 00:23:52,573 For this reason a man shall leave his father 330 00:23:52,573 --> 00:23:55,702 and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two 331 00:23:55,702 --> 00:23:59,970 shall become one flesh? So then, they are no longer 332 00:23:59,970 --> 00:24:03,708 two but one flesh. THerefore, what God 333 00:24:03,708 --> 00:24:07,918 has joined together, let no man separate. 334 00:24:07,918 --> 00:24:11,194 Question: Did Jesus believe 335 00:24:11,194 --> 00:24:16,247 that there was a literal marriage originally in Genesis 336 00:24:16,247 --> 00:24:20,008 between Adam and Eve? He most certainly did! 337 00:24:20,008 --> 00:24:24,955 And if you say that that story is myth or legend 338 00:24:24,955 --> 00:24:28,581 or saga, you are not only impuining the veracity of Moses, 339 00:24:28,581 --> 00:24:33,114 you are questioning the veracity of our Lord and Savior, 340 00:24:33,114 --> 00:24:36,344 Jesus Christ! Notice also, 341 00:24:36,344 --> 00:24:40,707 Matthew chapter 24:37-39 342 00:24:40,707 --> 00:24:43,055 Just a few examples here. Matthew 24: 343 00:24:43,055 --> 00:24:48,057 37-39. This is 344 00:24:48,057 --> 00:24:52,842 speaking about the flood in the days of Noah. It's called 345 00:24:52,842 --> 00:24:55,083 Noah's flood, but it really was the Lord's flood. Notice 346 00:24:55,083 --> 00:25:00,669 Matthew verse 24 and beginning with verse 37 347 00:25:00,669 --> 00:25:05,169 But as the days of Noah were, 348 00:25:05,169 --> 00:25:08,500 so also will the coming of the Son 349 00:25:08,500 --> 00:25:12,140 of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, 350 00:25:12,140 --> 00:25:15,687 they were eating and drinking, marrying 351 00:25:15,687 --> 00:25:19,339 and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah 352 00:25:19,339 --> 00:25:24,025 entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came 353 00:25:24,025 --> 00:25:26,588 and took them all away. So also 354 00:25:26,588 --> 00:25:32,169 will the coming of the Son of Man be. Did Jesus, 355 00:25:32,169 --> 00:25:36,423 believe that the flood in the days of Noah actually 356 00:25:36,423 --> 00:25:39,670 took place hisotrically? He did. 357 00:25:39,670 --> 00:25:43,335 By the way, if you don't believe that the flood took place historically, 358 00:25:43,335 --> 00:25:47,713 you don't have any basis for believing that Jesus is telling the truth when he says he's gonna come 359 00:25:47,713 --> 00:25:51,339 again. Because he says, as it was back then, 360 00:25:51,339 --> 00:25:55,838 so will it be. But if that back then didn't happen, what makes 361 00:25:55,838 --> 00:25:59,698 you think that what he predicted in the future is going to happen? 362 00:25:59,698 --> 00:26:03,412 Let's notice another couple of examples. First, 363 00:26:03,412 --> 00:26:06,499 John chapter 3 and verse 12 364 00:26:06,499 --> 00:26:08,749 You'll notice that 365 00:26:08,749 --> 00:26:15,597 we're using scripture a lot tonight, and the list that you got tonight is a short list. 366 00:26:15,597 --> 00:26:20,498 We're going to be using a lot of scripture here in the future 367 00:26:20,498 --> 00:26:23,551 lectures of the seminar. Notice 1 John 3 368 00:26:23,551 --> 00:26:26,414 and verse 12 369 00:26:26,414 --> 00:26:29,089 It says there, 370 00:26:29,089 --> 00:26:31,332 And not as Cain who was 371 00:26:31,332 --> 00:26:35,795 of the wicked one and murdered his 372 00:26:35,795 --> 00:26:38,836 brother. And why did he murder him? 373 00:26:38,836 --> 00:26:43,113 Because his works were evil and his brother's 374 00:26:43,113 --> 00:26:47,171 righteous. Question: Did the apostle 375 00:26:47,171 --> 00:26:50,922 John who wrote 1st John beleive that the story 376 00:26:50,922 --> 00:26:56,339 of Cain and Abel was literal history? He most certainly 377 00:26:56,339 --> 00:26:59,091 did. Because it tells us here that Cain 378 00:26:59,091 --> 00:27:03,256 killed his brother Abel. So 379 00:27:03,256 --> 00:27:07,399 John beleived that this was a real, historical, occurance 380 00:27:07,399 --> 00:27:11,083 Let's notice another example. Hebrews chapter 381 00:27:11,083 --> 00:27:14,584 11 and verse 5. Hebrews 11:5 382 00:27:14,584 --> 00:27:20,371 Here we find a very interesting 383 00:27:20,371 --> 00:27:23,457 person mentioned. Actually, he's not mentioned 384 00:27:23,457 --> 00:27:27,621 very freuently in scrpture. The bible tells us that 385 00:27:27,621 --> 00:27:31,594 he was caught away to heaven. In fact, he never suffered death 386 00:27:31,594 --> 00:27:34,914 accoridng to Genesis 5 compared to Hebrews chapter 11 387 00:27:34,914 --> 00:27:39,749 his name was Enoch. Now notice Hebrews 388 00:27:39,749 --> 00:27:42,752 chapter 11 and verse 5. By faith 389 00:27:42,752 --> 00:27:47,833 Enoch was taken away so that 390 00:27:47,833 --> 00:27:52,166 he did not see death. And was not 391 00:27:52,166 --> 00:27:55,704 found, because God had taken him. For 392 00:27:55,704 --> 00:27:57,741 before he was taken, he had this testimony, that 393 00:27:57,741 --> 00:28:04,668 he pelased God. NOw let me ask 394 00:28:04,668 --> 00:28:07,792 you: Did the author of the book of Hebrews believe that Enoch 395 00:28:07,792 --> 00:28:11,671 was a real historical person? He most certainly did! And by the wa, 396 00:28:11,671 --> 00:28:15,298 I believe that the author of the book of Hebrews was the apostle Paul 397 00:28:15,298 --> 00:28:19,252 I believe that there's plenty of internal evidence to that fact. So did 398 00:28:19,252 --> 00:28:23,639 Paul believe that Enoch was areal historical person? 399 00:28:23,639 --> 00:28:28,003 He most certainly did! Let's notice one further example 400 00:28:28,003 --> 00:28:31,109 and by the way, in the reference material that you'll receive this evening, you're going 401 00:28:31,109 --> 00:28:35,779 to find half a page of references in the New Testament to every 402 00:28:35,779 --> 00:28:40,171 single event and person in the book of Genesis 403 00:28:40,171 --> 00:28:43,632 You have Abraham, you have Issaac, you have Jacob, 404 00:28:43,632 --> 00:28:46,505 you have Joseph, you have the twelve sons of Jacob, 405 00:28:46,505 --> 00:28:50,615 I mean, you have every single event in the book of 406 00:28:50,615 --> 00:28:56,476 Genesis repeated somewhere in the New Testament. Notice 407 00:28:56,476 --> 00:28:59,757 Luke chapter 3. This will be the last example 408 00:28:59,757 --> 00:29:02,671 that we'll give of the importance of believing in the historicity of the 409 00:29:02,671 --> 00:29:05,776 book of Genesis. Luke chapter 3 has 410 00:29:05,776 --> 00:29:10,062 the genealogy of Jesus Christ. 411 00:29:10,062 --> 00:29:14,079 And I want you to notice--we're only going to read two verses 412 00:29:14,079 --> 00:29:20,838 Chapter 3 and verse 23 and then we're going to 413 00:29:20,838 --> 00:29:24,163 jump down to verse 38. It says in verse 3, 414 00:29:24,163 --> 00:29:27,909 Now Jesus himself began his ministry at about 415 00:29:27,909 --> 00:29:31,167 thirty years of age, being as was supposed 416 00:29:31,167 --> 00:29:33,754 the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, and then it continues 417 00:29:33,754 --> 00:29:39,608 giving the genealogy, "the son of, the son of, the son of.." 418 00:29:39,608 --> 00:29:42,256 And I want you to notice how the list ends in verse 38. 419 00:29:42,256 --> 00:29:46,921 It says there, the son of Enosh 420 00:29:46,921 --> 00:29:50,499 the son of Seth, the son of Adam 421 00:29:50,499 --> 00:29:56,171 the son of God. Do you believe that Jesus 422 00:29:56,171 --> 00:29:59,878 was a literal historical personage? Do you think that Jesus existed 423 00:29:59,878 --> 00:30:02,586 in history? Well we have proof from secular 424 00:30:02,586 --> 00:30:06,498 historians that Jesus did exist. Now you notice that this 425 00:30:06,498 --> 00:30:09,832 genealogy actually begins with Jesus 426 00:30:09,832 --> 00:30:13,924 and ends with whom? Ends with Adam. 427 00:30:13,924 --> 00:30:17,592 NOw was Jesus a real, literal, historical person? 428 00:30:17,592 --> 00:30:21,096 He most certainly was! So must Adam also be a 429 00:30:21,096 --> 00:30:25,918 literal, historical person? Obviously, yes! You can't have it 430 00:30:25,918 --> 00:30:29,576 one way iwth Adam and another way with Jesus. 431 00:30:29,576 --> 00:30:33,699 Jesus is a real historical person, so is Adam. 432 00:30:33,699 --> 00:30:37,443 By the way, you'll notice in this genealogy that the roots of Jesus 433 00:30:37,443 --> 00:30:40,915 are traced all the way back from His day to 434 00:30:40,915 --> 00:30:44,792 Adam. And you don't have long periods of millions 435 00:30:44,792 --> 00:30:50,500 of years in between according to this genealogy. 436 00:30:50,500 --> 00:30:54,556 And so I believe that it is of extreme importance 437 00:30:54,556 --> 00:30:57,489 for us to believe in the historicy of the book of 438 00:30:57,489 --> 00:31:00,503 Genesis. It is not myth, it is not legend. 439 00:31:00,503 --> 00:31:05,060 It is not saga. It is real, 440 00:31:05,060 --> 00:31:08,890 history. NOw, allow me to 441 00:31:08,890 --> 00:31:12,613 mention a few things about the disciples that are 442 00:31:12,613 --> 00:31:17,737 addressed in the book of Genesis. Do you know that hte book of Genesis addresses 443 00:31:17,737 --> 00:31:22,570 at least in seminal form, most of the 444 00:31:22,570 --> 00:31:26,321 disciplines that are studied in universities today. Allow me to give you a 445 00:31:26,321 --> 00:31:29,983 list quickly. The book of Genesis has a lot to say about 446 00:31:29,983 --> 00:31:33,748 theology. You know, if people believe the book of Genesis, 447 00:31:33,748 --> 00:31:37,400 there won't be any atheist in the world, because the book of Genesis 448 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:41,009 begins by saying, "In the beginning, God created the heavens 449 00:31:41,009 --> 00:31:45,566 and the earth." That is a theological statment. The book of Genesis 450 00:31:45,566 --> 00:31:50,264 does not try to prove the existance of God. The book of Genesis 451 00:31:50,264 --> 00:31:54,396 takes the existence of God for granted. It makes this 452 00:31:54,396 --> 00:31:57,452 wonderful theological statement. The book of Genesis has 453 00:31:57,452 --> 00:32:00,260 a lot to say about cosmology--the origins of the heavens 454 00:32:00,260 --> 00:32:04,647 and the earth. You can find that in chapter 1 verses 6 through 455 00:32:04,647 --> 00:32:07,932 8. The book of Genesis actually speaks about the 456 00:32:07,932 --> 00:32:12,730 origin of chronology or time. Because after 457 00:32:12,730 --> 00:32:15,358 each day of creation, it says that God, 458 00:32:15,358 --> 00:32:19,681 God saw that what he had made was good, and it was the evening 459 00:32:19,681 --> 00:32:23,444 and the morning of the first day, and the second day, the third day, and so on 460 00:32:23,444 --> 00:32:28,024 And in Genesis chapter 1, it speaks about God making 461 00:32:28,024 --> 00:32:31,665 the son, the moon, and the stars to establish the season 462 00:32:31,665 --> 00:32:36,315 and periods of the year. You can find that in chapter 1 463 00:32:36,315 --> 00:32:39,565 So in order words, God created chronology. He created months 464 00:32:39,565 --> 00:32:42,262 He created years, and he created days, as the 465 00:32:42,262 --> 00:32:49,024 frame of reference of time in this earth. You also 466 00:32:49,024 --> 00:32:52,040 find in the book of Genesis, the origins of geography. 467 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,302 Where the dry land came from. You see, 468 00:32:55,302 --> 00:32:59,553 it tells us in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 that the earth was 469 00:32:59,553 --> 00:33:03,247 compltely covered with water before creation. But God was the one who made the earth 470 00:33:03,247 --> 00:33:07,315 Geography! The book of Genesis also addresses 471 00:33:07,315 --> 00:33:09,424 the issue of botany. It says that every plant reproduces 472 00:33:09,424 --> 00:33:15,072 according to its kind. And that is true even till 473 00:33:15,072 --> 00:33:19,106 this day. Every plant reproduces according to its 474 00:33:19,106 --> 00:33:24,183 kind! So Genesis definitely has somethign to say aobut 475 00:33:24,183 --> 00:33:28,562 the origins of trees and plants and the grass. 476 00:33:28,562 --> 00:33:32,644 The book of Genesis actually speaks about the origin of 477 00:33:32,644 --> 00:33:35,569 zoology--the study of animals. And by the way, 478 00:33:35,569 --> 00:33:44,459 the book of Genesis indicates that all of the animals were created "adults" so to 479 00:33:44,459 --> 00:33:47,586 speak. All of the animals were created on the fifth and 480 00:33:47,586 --> 00:33:50,062 the sixth day, adults! They did not take millions 481 00:33:50,062 --> 00:33:53,037 of years to evolve according the book of Genesis. Go 482 00:33:53,037 --> 00:33:56,446 God spoke and on the fifth day, the birds and the fish appeared 483 00:33:56,446 --> 00:33:58,562 God spoke, and on the sixth day, the land animals 484 00:33:58,562 --> 00:34:03,146 appeared. So the book of Genesis indicates that man 485 00:34:03,146 --> 00:34:08,424 is not the end of a long evoluitonary process 486 00:34:08,424 --> 00:34:12,393 where we come from primates, and the primates came from lower forms of life 487 00:34:12,393 --> 00:34:15,885 The book of Genesis simply says that clearly, and 488 00:34:15,885 --> 00:34:19,393 directly that God spoke, and things 489 00:34:19,393 --> 00:34:23,937 were done. And so the book of Genesis deals with 490 00:34:23,937 --> 00:34:28,984 zoology and it says that every animal reproduces according to its kind. THat 491 00:34:28,984 --> 00:34:31,734 is also a scientifically true statment 492 00:34:31,734 --> 00:34:36,823 The book of Genesis has a lot to say about anthropology-- 493 00:34:36,823 --> 00:34:40,479 the study of man. In fact, it speaks about the origin of 494 00:34:40,479 --> 00:34:44,151 man and woman and it speaks about how 495 00:34:44,151 --> 00:34:46,519 Adam was taken from the dust, and I believe that that's a literal 496 00:34:46,519 --> 00:34:50,856 story. That God took clay and he formed Adam and 497 00:34:50,856 --> 00:34:55,814 he took a rib from Adam and he made Eve. And you say, that kinda 498 00:34:55,814 --> 00:35:00,194 unscientific. Well the fact is, that scientists weren't there. 499 00:35:00,194 --> 00:35:02,731 And if we have faith in God's word, 500 00:35:02,731 --> 00:35:08,938 Faith means having faith and trusting what God says 501 00:35:08,938 --> 00:35:13,010 We'll have absolutely no problem with that story. The book of Genesis says 502 00:35:13,010 --> 00:35:16,325 has a lot to say about sociology. Why do people 503 00:35:16,325 --> 00:35:19,273 get married today? And why do they have children? Why 504 00:35:19,273 --> 00:35:24,652 do we have this uproar recently about a man marrying a man, and a woman marrying a woman? 505 00:35:24,652 --> 00:35:27,379 It's because that's contrary to what we find in 506 00:35:27,379 --> 00:35:30,904 the book of Genesis. God established the ideal social 507 00:35:30,904 --> 00:35:36,402 circle. He established marriage. The marriage between a 508 00:35:36,402 --> 00:35:40,192 man and a woman, to have children, within a family unit 509 00:35:40,192 --> 00:35:44,466 And Genesis has the origins of that. 510 00:35:44,466 --> 00:35:47,108 The book of Genesis has a lot to say about psychology, believe it or not! 511 00:35:47,108 --> 00:35:52,492 It would be interesting for you sometime to sit down and look at all the 512 00:35:52,492 --> 00:35:56,452 psychological concepts that you find in the book of Genesis. It's amazing! 513 00:35:56,452 --> 00:36:00,079 You know, psychologists today try to solve the problem of depression 514 00:36:00,079 --> 00:36:03,107 and low self esteem and fear with all sorts of 515 00:36:03,107 --> 00:36:08,054 gimmicks, and methodologies. The fact is, that we're going to 516 00:36:08,054 --> 00:36:11,407 notice in our study tomorrow that the origin of fear 517 00:36:11,407 --> 00:36:14,142 and the origin of a low self concept 518 00:36:14,142 --> 00:36:18,604 nad the origin of strife in marriage 519 00:36:18,604 --> 00:36:24,220 and the origin of strife between brother and brother 520 00:36:24,220 --> 00:36:27,221 like in the case of Cain and Abel, is not due 521 00:36:27,221 --> 00:36:30,504 to some psychological malfunciton. It is due to 522 00:36:30,504 --> 00:36:36,773 sin. And unless a counselor 523 00:36:36,773 --> 00:36:40,575 deals with the issue of sin, the problem 524 00:36:40,575 --> 00:36:44,279 will not be resolved. Genesis has a lot to say 525 00:36:44,279 --> 00:36:48,445 about psychology. The book of Genesis has a lot to say about Geology. 526 00:36:48,445 --> 00:36:53,779 The study of the earth. You know, you have 527 00:36:53,779 --> 00:36:56,983 scientists today who don't believe that there was a universal flood 528 00:36:56,983 --> 00:37:00,214 I believe that you have to study the story of the flood in order to be 529 00:37:00,214 --> 00:37:03,594 read the earth correctly. Because at the flood 530 00:37:03,594 --> 00:37:07,225 the earth went through huge changes. In fact, if you 531 00:37:07,225 --> 00:37:11,740 read in Chapter 8 of Genesis, God caused a mighty wind to 532 00:37:11,740 --> 00:37:16,163 blow and that mighty wind, you know 533 00:37:16,163 --> 00:37:19,407 buried everything that was on the surface of the earth. In other words, you had a 534 00:37:19,407 --> 00:37:22,634 an upheaval of the earth. You know, we all probalby 535 00:37:22,634 --> 00:37:27,647 have seen the graphic pictures on television 536 00:37:27,647 --> 00:37:31,652 of the Tsunami. Have you noticed that? The devastation 537 00:37:31,652 --> 00:37:34,786 the destruction? And that was just a tidal wave in a 538 00:37:34,786 --> 00:37:38,715 certain region of he world. Can you imagine what 539 00:37:38,715 --> 00:37:42,542 it must have been like, to have this whole world 540 00:37:42,542 --> 00:37:44,859 totally covered with water? With a huge 541 00:37:44,859 --> 00:37:51,689 storm that lasted forty days and forty nights? Where the bible 542 00:37:51,689 --> 00:37:55,130 says that out of the earth came gushing forth 543 00:37:55,130 --> 00:37:59,337 jets of water, and the windows of heaven were opened? 544 00:37:59,337 --> 00:38:03,380 The earth was in turmoil. No wonder science today cannot 545 00:38:03,380 --> 00:38:08,490 read the eath in teh correct 546 00:38:08,490 --> 00:38:11,481 way. Because the earth is nothing like it was at the beginning 547 00:38:11,481 --> 00:38:15,159 And so in order to get a true concept of 548 00:38:15,159 --> 00:38:18,277 geology, we must make reference to the book of Genesis. 549 00:38:18,277 --> 00:38:21,709 The book of Geneiss addresses the issue of philology--the 550 00:38:21,709 --> 00:38:26,282 study of languages. It tells us where languages originated. 551 00:38:26,282 --> 00:38:30,252 The book of Genesis has a description of Ethnology--the 552 00:38:30,252 --> 00:38:34,043 origin of nations. In fact, in Genesis chapter 10, we have 553 00:38:34,043 --> 00:38:38,018 the table of Nations, which describes the origin of all of the nations 554 00:38:38,018 --> 00:38:40,992 that have ever existed on planet earth. 555 00:38:40,992 --> 00:38:43,834 The book of Geneisis also addresses some very important existential 556 00:38:43,834 --> 00:38:49,757 questions. Like you noticed in your hand bill, we're going to be 557 00:38:49,757 --> 00:38:52,938 dealing with all of these issues as we go along in this seminar. 558 00:38:52,938 --> 00:38:56,383 How did I get here? Why am I here? 559 00:38:56,383 --> 00:39:00,453 Does my life have meaning and purpose? 560 00:39:00,453 --> 00:39:05,839 Is there really a God who loves me? 561 00:39:05,839 --> 00:39:09,321 You know, lots of people after the Tsunami 562 00:39:09,321 --> 00:39:12,826 says, "If there's a God like that, you know ,I don't even want to believe 563 00:39:12,826 --> 00:39:15,857 in a God like that. And if a God like that exists, 564 00:39:15,857 --> 00:39:19,157 then I certainly don't want to serve Him." The fact is, 565 00:39:19,157 --> 00:39:23,820 Is God good? And why is there so much evil 566 00:39:23,820 --> 00:39:28,177 if God is good? We'll have a whole lecture when we're going to decode 567 00:39:28,177 --> 00:39:32,433 the paradox of good and evil. We're going to answer the question, "How can 568 00:39:32,433 --> 00:39:36,381 I experience personal people in a world of strife?" Everybody's 569 00:39:36,381 --> 00:39:40,346 nervous today. Everybody is anxious about perhaps another terrorist 570 00:39:40,346 --> 00:39:43,160 attack. Or homeland security. How 571 00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:47,461 can we live life and experience perosnal peace 572 00:39:47,461 --> 00:39:50,163 in all of the strife that surrounds us? How can I enjoy quality time 573 00:39:50,163 --> 00:39:52,632 in the rat race of life? What happens the moment I die? 574 00:39:52,632 --> 00:39:59,043 If I die, will I live again? Is there 575 00:39:59,043 --> 00:40:03,899 really a better world coming? Is there such a thing 576 00:40:03,899 --> 00:40:07,113 as absolute truth? If there is absolute truth, how 577 00:40:07,113 --> 00:40:09,002 can I find it? How can I enjoy life 578 00:40:09,002 --> 00:40:11,298 filled with health and with prosperity? All of these issues 579 00:40:11,298 --> 00:40:19,469 are addressed very carefully in the book of Genesis. 580 00:40:19,469 --> 00:40:25,333 Now, did you know that hte book of Genesis 581 00:40:25,333 --> 00:40:29,548 is actualltye story of two seeds? 582 00:40:29,548 --> 00:40:32,698 And we're going to further develop this concept of the 583 00:40:32,698 --> 00:40:36,190 two seeds. It begins in Genesis 3:15 584 00:40:36,190 --> 00:40:41,048 I will put enmity between you an the woman. See the two 585 00:40:41,048 --> 00:40:43,584 sides there? The serpent and the woman. 586 00:40:43,584 --> 00:40:48,185 Between the serpents seed and the womans' seed. See, there you have the two again. 587 00:40:48,185 --> 00:40:52,293 He, the seed of the woman, will 588 00:40:52,293 --> 00:40:55,306 bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel. 589 00:40:55,306 --> 00:40:59,981 You see the controversy and the conflict there? Between 590 00:40:59,981 --> 00:41:02,982 serpent and woman? 591 00:41:02,982 --> 00:41:04,642 Seed and seed? Seed and serpent? 592 00:41:04,642 --> 00:41:06,675 The story of Genesis which is developed in the rest of scripture has to do 593 00:41:06,675 --> 00:41:08,998 with a battle between two seeds. 594 00:41:08,998 --> 00:41:16,072 Not only do you have this in Genesis 3:15, 595 00:41:16,072 --> 00:41:21,118 But you also have it in the story of Cain and Abel. Do you know the first 596 00:41:21,118 --> 00:41:24,428 example of Genesis 3:15 is in the story of Cain and Abel? 597 00:41:24,428 --> 00:41:26,838 You say, "How is that?" 598 00:41:26,838 --> 00:41:30,209 Well, lets look for the four elements. Is there a woman in the story of Cain and Abel? 599 00:41:30,209 --> 00:41:33,225 Sure. It's Eve! She's the mother of both of them. 600 00:41:33,225 --> 00:41:38,083 Do you have in the story of Cain and Abel enmity? 601 00:41:38,083 --> 00:41:41,128 You most certainly do! 602 00:41:41,128 --> 00:41:43,743 Cain gets angry and hates his brother. 603 00:41:43,743 --> 00:41:47,193 Do you have in the story of Cain and Abel, two seeds? 604 00:41:47,193 --> 00:41:51,624 That are totally unlike, one good and one evil? 605 00:41:51,624 --> 00:41:55,899 Absolutely! And do you know that even the serpent 606 00:41:55,899 --> 00:41:59,773 is involved in the story of Cain and Abel? Not directly in Genesis 607 00:41:59,773 --> 00:42:03,070 If you go to 1 John 3:12, which we've already read, 608 00:42:03,070 --> 00:42:07,208 it says, "Not as Cain who was of the wicked one." 609 00:42:07,208 --> 00:42:09,938 So the one who wanted Abel dead 610 00:42:09,938 --> 00:42:14,555 was not only Cain, it was the wicked one of whom Cain 611 00:42:14,555 --> 00:42:19,269 was the seed. So you have this enmity 612 00:42:19,269 --> 00:42:22,334 between Cain and Abel. A little bit later on in the book 613 00:42:22,334 --> 00:42:26,686 you have this illicit relationship between the sons of God 614 00:42:26,686 --> 00:42:30,069 and the daughters of men. We're going to deal with this later on. 615 00:42:30,069 --> 00:42:33,137 Who are the sons of God that unite with 616 00:42:33,137 --> 00:42:36,714 the daughters of men? We have two different seeds--the righteous and the 617 00:42:36,714 --> 00:42:40,286 unrighteous intermingling. Once again, we have the idea of the 618 00:42:40,286 --> 00:42:43,620 two seeds. And then of course 619 00:42:43,620 --> 00:42:46,336 in the story of Noah, you have the story of the righteous who are saved inside 620 00:42:46,336 --> 00:42:49,129 and the wicked who are destroyed outside. 621 00:42:49,129 --> 00:42:52,629 And then a little bit later on in Genesis chapter 10, you have 622 00:42:52,629 --> 00:42:55,304 the descendents of Shem, the son of Noah, and then on the other side, 623 00:42:55,304 --> 00:43:02,489 you have the descendants of Ham and Japhet. By the way, we're going to notice that the descendents of Ham and Japheth 624 00:43:02,489 --> 00:43:06,352 the nations that came from them, were the very enemies that tried to destory 625 00:43:06,352 --> 00:43:10,714 Isreal in the Old Testament. Israel descends from Shem. 626 00:43:10,714 --> 00:43:15,048 Wheareas all the nations that tried to destory 627 00:43:15,048 --> 00:43:17,775 Israel descend from Ham and Japheth. 628 00:43:17,775 --> 00:43:21,297 Very interesting! We'll deal with this a little bit later on, but you have 629 00:43:21,297 --> 00:43:24,318 this idea of the two seeds. And then you have the 630 00:43:24,318 --> 00:43:27,397 builders of the tower of Babel. And God commands 631 00:43:27,397 --> 00:43:30,682 Abraham: He says to Abraham, "Get out 632 00:43:30,682 --> 00:43:34,374 of the place where the Babel builders built this tower." Because 633 00:43:34,374 --> 00:43:38,576 the bible says that Abraham and his family were getting contaminated 634 00:43:38,576 --> 00:43:41,643 with the gods of Babylon. And So God says to Abraham, 635 00:43:41,643 --> 00:43:45,137 You can't be with that evil seed. You must separate 636 00:43:45,137 --> 00:43:49,200 from them. So there you have once again the idea of the two seeds. 637 00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:53,209 Time and again in the book of Genesis, you have this idea 638 00:43:53,209 --> 00:43:56,468 of the two seeds. Then you have the story of Isaac 639 00:43:56,468 --> 00:44:00,066 and Ishmael. Notice once again, the same idea of the two seeds. 640 00:44:00,066 --> 00:44:03,437 Isaac is the seed of the promise. Ishmael we're told 641 00:44:03,437 --> 00:44:06,359 in Galatians chapter 4 that he arose 642 00:44:06,359 --> 00:44:11,582 to try and kill Isaac who was the son of the promise 643 00:44:11,582 --> 00:44:15,124 Once again, you have this enmity between the good seed, 644 00:44:15,124 --> 00:44:19,145 and an evil seed. And then of-course you have the story of Jacob and Esau. 645 00:44:19,145 --> 00:44:23,094 See the two seeds in this book? It's amazing 646 00:44:23,094 --> 00:44:26,044 And by the way, in the book of Revelation, this is going to culminate. 647 00:44:26,044 --> 00:44:29,796 These people who are individuals in Genesis: Isaac, 648 00:44:29,796 --> 00:44:32,494 and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Cain and Abel, 649 00:44:32,494 --> 00:44:36,209 actually are individuals who represent 650 00:44:36,209 --> 00:44:39,640 two world wide groups at the end of time 651 00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:43,957 They're symbolic in miniature of the characteristics 652 00:44:43,957 --> 00:44:47,632 which two groups will have at the end of time. 653 00:44:47,632 --> 00:44:51,464 And so we must know the characters of Jacob and Esau 654 00:44:51,464 --> 00:44:55,960 Isaac and Ishmael, Cain and Abel, to understand 655 00:44:55,960 --> 00:45:00,338 what the characters of the two groups at the end of time 656 00:45:00,338 --> 00:45:04,203 are going to be like. And then of course we have Joseph 657 00:45:04,203 --> 00:45:07,682 and his brothers. We have lot and the inhabitants of Sodom. 658 00:45:07,682 --> 00:45:12,015 I could continue going through Genesis. You have this idea 659 00:45:12,015 --> 00:45:15,159 of the two seeds. 660 00:45:15,159 --> 00:45:17,581 Battles of one seed 661 00:45:17,581 --> 00:45:19,309 against another. Now before we draw this to a 662 00:45:19,309 --> 00:45:22,621 close this evening, I need to tell you something 663 00:45:22,621 --> 00:45:26,590 which is very important. Probably the most important thing that I 664 00:45:26,590 --> 00:45:29,733 am going to deal with tonight. And that is the secret 665 00:45:29,733 --> 00:45:34,131 to decode or to break the code of the book 666 00:45:34,131 --> 00:45:37,621 of Genesis. You see, the book of Genesis on the 667 00:45:37,621 --> 00:45:40,461 surface appears to be a collection 668 00:45:40,461 --> 00:45:42,706 of stories that took place 669 00:45:42,706 --> 00:45:48,367 once upon a time. But those 670 00:45:48,367 --> 00:45:52,338 who read the book of Genesis only as history are 671 00:45:52,338 --> 00:45:57,819 missing the deeper dimension of the book of Genesis. 672 00:45:57,819 --> 00:46:01,698 We're gonna see in this seminar that every 673 00:46:01,698 --> 00:46:04,744 story of Genesis is not only a story 674 00:46:04,744 --> 00:46:07,561 but a prophecy! In fact, I believe I can show 675 00:46:07,561 --> 00:46:14,467 that every story in the old Testament 676 00:46:14,467 --> 00:46:17,884 is a prophecy. A prophecy about the coming Messiah 677 00:46:17,884 --> 00:46:21,786 Jesus in His first coming, and also, 678 00:46:21,786 --> 00:46:25,632 a prophecy about events surrounding the second coming 679 00:46:25,632 --> 00:46:29,450 of Christ. In other words, the book of Genesis 680 00:46:29,450 --> 00:46:32,724 is literal history. But it is prophecy written as 681 00:46:32,724 --> 00:46:35,882 history. In other words, beyond the local, historical 682 00:46:35,882 --> 00:46:40,214 events, they become symbolic or representative 683 00:46:40,214 --> 00:46:43,501 of future world-wide events 684 00:46:43,501 --> 00:46:49,459 I already mentioned as an example Genesis 3:!5 685 00:46:49,459 --> 00:46:52,625 and how its fulfilled in Revelation 12. 686 00:46:52,625 --> 00:46:57,572 We'll be studying this in 687 00:46:57,572 --> 00:46:59,244 more detail. You'll find the same elements. You'll find 688 00:46:59,244 --> 00:47:02,854 enmity, you'll find the woman, you'll find the seed of the woman, 689 00:47:02,854 --> 00:47:05,044 you'll find the serpent trying to kill the seed, and then trying to kill the woman 690 00:47:05,044 --> 00:47:07,785 there's no way we can understand end-time prophecy 691 00:47:07,785 --> 00:47:11,066 without understanding the issues that are brought up in Genesis 692 00:47:11,066 --> 00:47:14,398 3:15. By the way, if you read Genesis chapter 1 693 00:47:14,398 --> 00:47:17,409 and 2, you'll find that the Garden of Eden has 694 00:47:17,409 --> 00:47:19,958 rivers of living water flowing through them 695 00:47:19,958 --> 00:47:23,879 and you'll find that in the Garden was the Tree of Life. 696 00:47:23,879 --> 00:47:30,753 Have you ever noticed that in Revelation chapter 697 00:47:30,753 --> 00:47:33,636 21 and 22, you have the river of the water of 698 00:47:33,636 --> 00:47:36,796 Life? And you have once again restored 699 00:47:36,796 --> 00:47:39,708 the Tree of Life? In other words, what we have in Genesis 700 00:47:39,708 --> 00:47:42,327 is the original Garden of Eden adn 701 00:47:42,327 --> 00:47:48,604 the losing of Eden because of sin. In 702 00:47:48,604 --> 00:47:53,251 the middle --the rest of the bible, you find the story of how God 703 00:47:53,251 --> 00:47:57,458 acts to redeem that which was lost. 704 00:47:57,458 --> 00:47:59,840 And in Revelation 21 and 22, you have the restoring 705 00:47:59,840 --> 00:48:03,133 of the original Garden of Eden. 706 00:48:03,133 --> 00:48:05,490 So there's a close relationship between Genesis 1 and 2 707 00:48:05,490 --> 00:48:08,664 and Revelation chapter 21 and 22. 708 00:48:08,664 --> 00:48:12,331 You find for example, the story of Cain and 709 00:48:12,331 --> 00:48:15,256 Abel. This story is not only history--it's a prophecy! 710 00:48:15,256 --> 00:48:20,628 We're going to have a whole lecture on the battle of Armageddon. If you 711 00:48:20,628 --> 00:48:25,030 are going to know what the issues are going to be in the final 712 00:48:25,030 --> 00:48:28,746 battle of Armageddon, you have to know what the issues were 713 00:48:28,746 --> 00:48:32,012 in the story of Cain and Abel. And we're going to find that 714 00:48:32,012 --> 00:48:34,868 the issues in that origianal story revolved around 715 00:48:34,868 --> 00:48:40,143 obedience and worship. And if you go 716 00:48:40,143 --> 00:48:45,174 to the book of Revelation, you're going to find that the issues which are 717 00:48:45,174 --> 00:48:49,047 going to separate the world into two groups are obedience 718 00:48:49,047 --> 00:48:52,313 to God's law and worship. 719 00:48:52,313 --> 00:48:56,440 The only difference is that in the beginning of human history, you have 720 00:48:56,440 --> 00:49:00,626 two individuals. Whereas at the end of history, those 721 00:49:00,626 --> 00:49:03,534 two individuals have proliferated into two 722 00:49:03,534 --> 00:49:07,963 world-wide groups that have similar characters 723 00:49:07,963 --> 00:49:11,715 to those two original people. 724 00:49:11,715 --> 00:49:16,005 Jesus himself said that the story of the flood is not only a story 725 00:49:16,005 --> 00:49:19,949 It's a prophecy! He said, "As it was in the days of Noah, 726 00:49:19,949 --> 00:49:23,624 so also shall it be at 727 00:49:23,624 --> 00:49:27,575 the coming of the Son of Man." Jesus said, "What happened then, is going to 728 00:49:27,575 --> 00:49:31,041 happen again in relationship with my second coming." 729 00:49:31,041 --> 00:49:37,127 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 730 00:49:37,127 --> 00:49:42,141 of the world similar to the wickedness which will exist at the end of time, not only is the 731 00:49:42,141 --> 00:49:46,627 destruction of the world in the days of Noah 732 00:49:46,627 --> 00:49:50,450 similar to the destruction which will take place at the end of time, I will show you 733 00:49:50,450 --> 00:49:53,710 that there will be whole patters on sequential 734 00:49:53,710 --> 00:49:58,130 events which will be fulfilled in the exact way 735 00:49:58,130 --> 00:50:02,152 in which they took place in the Old Testament. You have also the story of the 736 00:50:02,152 --> 00:50:06,081 Sodom and Gomorrah. Very interesting story! Do you know that Jesus 737 00:50:06,081 --> 00:50:09,367 also said that that story was a prophecy? He said in Luke 738 00:50:09,367 --> 00:50:11,762 chapter 17. Notice, let's go there and read 739 00:50:11,762 --> 00:50:16,080 this passage. Luke 17 and verses 740 00:50:16,080 --> 00:50:20,324 28-32. Luke 17:28-32. 741 00:50:20,324 --> 00:50:25,796 Here Jesus is speaking, and He says this, 742 00:50:25,796 --> 00:50:29,106 "Likewise, as it was also 743 00:50:29,106 --> 00:50:32,279 in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, 744 00:50:32,279 --> 00:50:36,082 they sold, they planted, they built. But on the day 745 00:50:36,082 --> 00:50:40,113 that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone 746 00:50:40,113 --> 00:50:45,381 from heaven and destroyed them all." And now notice what it says: 747 00:50:45,381 --> 00:50:48,572 "Even so will it be in 748 00:50:48,572 --> 00:50:51,714 the day when the Son of 749 00:50:51,714 --> 00:50:55,206 Man is revealed." Did you catch that? 750 00:50:55,206 --> 00:50:58,287 As it was back then, so will it be 751 00:50:58,287 --> 00:51:01,799 And allow me to give you a little bit of an inkling of what we'll deal with 752 00:51:01,799 --> 00:51:05,466 when we talk about Sodom and Gomorrah. Do you know that before 753 00:51:05,466 --> 00:51:08,783 the cities were destroyed, God sent three angels with 754 00:51:08,783 --> 00:51:11,265 the warning for those cities? 755 00:51:11,265 --> 00:51:17,015 In the book of Revelation, we find that before the destruction of the world, 756 00:51:17,015 --> 00:51:20,665 God is going to send three angels to warn the world! 757 00:51:20,665 --> 00:51:23,794 And somebody might say, "Pastor, that's just an accident 758 00:51:23,794 --> 00:51:28,544 That's a coincidence!" We're going to notice that 759 00:51:28,544 --> 00:51:32,209 it is not a coincidence. You see the three angels 760 00:51:32,209 --> 00:51:36,345 that came to Abraham and then two of them went to Sodom 761 00:51:36,345 --> 00:51:39,809 and to Gomorrah actually are symbolic of 762 00:51:39,809 --> 00:51:43,979 the messages which will be presented by these angels of Revelation 763 00:51:43,979 --> 00:51:47,508 chapter 14. Actually the call of 764 00:51:47,508 --> 00:51:50,631 Abraham out of the place where the tower of Babel was built 765 00:51:50,631 --> 00:51:53,847 is fulfilled in Revelation 18 where there is a 766 00:51:53,847 --> 00:51:57,147 message given to God's people: Come out of Babylon 767 00:51:57,147 --> 00:52:01,094 my people, and do not participate in her sins! 768 00:52:01,094 --> 00:52:04,131 That you receive not her plagues! The call of Abraham 769 00:52:04,131 --> 00:52:06,758 out of Babylon foreshadows or symbolizes the final call 770 00:52:06,758 --> 00:52:13,082 of God's people out of spiritual Babylon. 771 00:52:13,082 --> 00:52:16,698 at the end of time. The story of the conflict between 772 00:52:16,698 --> 00:52:20,334 Isaac and Ishmael actually is taken by the apostle 773 00:52:20,334 --> 00:52:23,370 Paul in Galatians chapter 4 and he says that this represents 774 00:52:23,370 --> 00:52:26,565 two different kinds of people: those who live according to the flesh 775 00:52:26,565 --> 00:52:31,979 and those who live according to the spirit. In other words, 776 00:52:31,979 --> 00:52:35,716 these two sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael 777 00:52:35,716 --> 00:52:38,800 represent two different kinds of characters 778 00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:44,220 of people that will live in this world at the end of time. Those 779 00:52:44,220 --> 00:52:48,329 who live according to the flesh and those who live according to the Spirit. 780 00:52:48,329 --> 00:52:52,093 We're going to notice in this story 781 00:52:52,093 --> 00:52:55,617 that we have the description of the origin 782 00:52:55,617 --> 00:52:58,800 of the conflict that exist today between Israel and 783 00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:03,691 the Palestinians. We're going to deal with that issue in Bible prophecy 784 00:53:03,691 --> 00:53:07,928 with Israel in Bible prophecy, with the Arabs in Bible prophecy 785 00:53:07,928 --> 00:53:11,485 because that is the origin of this controversy in 786 00:53:11,485 --> 00:53:15,667 bac when Abraham had Isaac 787 00:53:15,667 --> 00:53:19,330 and Ishmael. Since the days of Abraham 788 00:53:19,330 --> 00:53:23,115 they been at each other's throats. This isn't something new 789 00:53:23,115 --> 00:53:26,422 It's something which has existed all throughout the course of 790 00:53:26,422 --> 00:53:30,407 human history. Who could forget the story 791 00:53:30,407 --> 00:53:33,697 of the almost sacrifice of Isaac? 792 00:53:33,697 --> 00:53:37,872 I say almost because Isaac was not sacrificed. I mean, that story is so clearly a pointing 793 00:53:37,872 --> 00:53:43,618 to the Messiah, that you know, I don't even have to dwell on it very much. 794 00:53:43,618 --> 00:53:47,201 You know, God told Abraham, "Take your son 795 00:53:47,201 --> 00:53:49,848 to mount Moriah, and sacrifice him there", and when Abraham 796 00:53:49,848 --> 00:53:53,694 is about sacrifice his Son, 797 00:53:53,694 --> 00:53:56,781 the voice said, "Don't sacrifice your son 798 00:53:56,781 --> 00:54:00,539 and Abraham looks up and finds a ram, which is a male lamb 799 00:54:00,539 --> 00:54:04,654 and he finds a ram in a thicket, and he offers the ram in 800 00:54:04,654 --> 00:54:08,698 place of his son. Do you know that that represents 801 00:54:08,698 --> 00:54:12,035 the fact that God the Father sent his son, Jesus to this world 802 00:54:12,035 --> 00:54:15,024 and He sent Him to take our place. 803 00:54:15,024 --> 00:54:17,532 He sent Him as a Lamb of God which takes away the sin of 804 00:54:17,532 --> 00:54:21,032 the world. And there's a whole series of parallels 805 00:54:21,032 --> 00:54:24,289 between the story that took place the in days of Abraham and 806 00:54:24,289 --> 00:54:27,036 the story of the ministration of 807 00:54:27,036 --> 00:54:30,870 Christ on this earth. Who could forget the story in what is called Jacob's ladder? 808 00:54:30,870 --> 00:54:34,112 By the way, it's not Jacob's ladder, it's the Lord's ladder. 809 00:54:34,112 --> 00:54:36,773 In Genesis chapter 28, it speaks about a ladder that's planted on the earth, and its top reached to the 810 00:54:36,773 --> 00:54:43,122 highest heavens and angels were ascending and descending on 811 00:54:43,122 --> 00:54:47,113 the ladder. What could that mean? Well, we don't have to guess. 812 00:54:47,113 --> 00:54:50,247 Because in John chapter 1 verse 51 813 00:54:50,247 --> 00:54:54,194 Jesus says, "You will see heaven open, and you will see the angels 814 00:54:54,194 --> 00:54:57,635 ascending and descending upon the Son of Man! 815 00:54:57,635 --> 00:55:01,140 In other words, the ladder represents 816 00:55:01,140 --> 00:55:05,033 Jesus Christ. The bottom of the ladder represents his humanity, his oneness 817 00:55:05,033 --> 00:55:10,577 with us. The top of the ladder represents the fact that he's God; 818 00:55:10,577 --> 00:55:14,597 It represents his divinity or his deity. In other words, 819 00:55:14,597 --> 00:55:19,374 the only one who can represent us before God is one who is man 820 00:55:19,374 --> 00:55:23,351 with man, and God with God. He's the only one 821 00:55:23,351 --> 00:55:27,706 who can bridge heaven and earth. So Jesus himself said, 822 00:55:27,706 --> 00:55:31,286 "I am the ladder. The ladder of Genesis 823 00:55:31,286 --> 00:55:34,597 28 is really a prophecy. It is not only a 824 00:55:34,597 --> 00:55:38,707 story. Who could forget the story of Jacob and Esau? 825 00:55:38,707 --> 00:55:42,478 This is a symbolic story. The fact that the very 826 00:55:42,478 --> 00:55:45,684 end of the story, we find Jacob returning to his home after 827 00:55:45,684 --> 00:55:52,083 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 828 00:55:52,083 --> 00:55:55,658 returning home and he hears that his brother is coming after him to destroy him 829 00:55:55,658 --> 00:55:59,161 And Jacob goes 830 00:55:59,161 --> 00:56:03,283 through what is known as the Time of Jacob's trouble. 831 00:56:03,283 --> 00:56:07,040 He's in anxiety because he's afraid that his brother 832 00:56:07,040 --> 00:56:13,793 is going to destroy him. Do you know that the Bible says that shortly before the coming of Jesus, 833 00:56:13,793 --> 00:56:18,417 God's people will go through a period that is known as the 834 00:56:18,417 --> 00:56:22,553 Time of Jacob's trouble? They will have a similar experience to the experience that Jacob had? 835 00:56:22,553 --> 00:56:27,538 It's mentioned for example in Daniel chapter 12:1 836 00:56:27,538 --> 00:56:34,157 where it says that at that time Michael shall stand up --that Great Prince that stands watch over your people 837 00:56:34,157 --> 00:56:37,485 and there will be a time of trouble such as never was since 838 00:56:37,485 --> 00:56:41,495 there was a nation. See that's the time of Jacob's trouble. But 839 00:56:41,495 --> 00:56:45,005 at that time, God's people will be delivered. Everyone who 840 00:56:45,005 --> 00:56:48,501 is written in the book. The story of Joseph 841 00:56:48,501 --> 00:56:52,502 is a symbolic story. Jacob is sold by his brothers for 842 00:56:52,502 --> 00:56:55,300 few pieces of silver. Jesus was sold by his own brothers. 843 00:56:55,300 --> 00:57:02,188 by 30 pieces of silver. If you want to understand the 144,000 of Revelation chapter 7 844 00:57:02,188 --> 00:57:07,303 once again, you have to go back to the book of Genesis. 845 00:57:07,303 --> 00:57:11,411 Genesis 49. There Jacob before his death gives a 846 00:57:11,411 --> 00:57:14,960 description of the character of each one of his sons. 847 00:57:14,960 --> 00:57:20,627 And they form the foundation for us understanding the characers--the twelve personality profiles 848 00:57:20,627 --> 00:57:24,380 that will exist at the end of time. 849 00:57:24,380 --> 00:57:28,140 The book of Genesis is a prophetic book. 850 00:57:28,140 --> 00:57:31,466 It has a much deeper dimension than 851 00:57:31,466 --> 00:57:34,835 mere history and we're going to try and decipher all of those things 852 00:57:34,835 --> 00:57:38,271 in this seminar. I believe it's going to be a 853 00:57:38,271 --> 00:57:51,289 wonderful experience.