Journey Through Genesis
Every journey begins with the first step. We must make sure that first step is in the right direction. No one can start a Bible Walk without the foundation of:
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
During any journey you take, whether to the store, school, church or reading your Bible remember that if not for God creating it, it would not exist.
Mankind can NOT create anything. We can only use, examine and abuse the things created by God.
Remember this during your journey.
John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
(KJV)
With Jehovah's Love,
William H. Anderson
First Day
Have you ever wondered why the Jewish people say the day begins at sunset? For the answer to this we go to:
Genesis 1:5: And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
This appears to be a pretty straight forward thought. There was darkness before light and the first day was completed once light was added to the darkness to complete the cycle.
First Prayer
This is a Scripture which is near to my heart.
Genesis 4:26: And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
This is the first time, after being removed from the Garden of Eden, it was recorded that mankind did “Call upon God” or, as we know it, to “Pray to God.”
This should not be thought of as something new. As the son of Adam and Eve, Seth had probably been told of how they had walked and talked with God face-to-face
in the Garden of Eden. I imagine this was Seth's way of trying to reestablish that intimate relationship with God. He was so proud of his newborn son
that he wanted God to see the child and share in his new joy.
Isn't that what prayer is, seeking to have an intimate relationship and sharing your life with God? How precious and valuable, to be able to “Call upon God” anytime anywhere.
Oldest Man (Genesis 5)
We use the name Methuselah to indicate an extreme age. We even have a saying comparing things and people to Methuselah. We say "That thing is as old as Methuselah." or "So and So is as old as Methuselah." to indicate how old we think something or someone is.
In truth, the lifetime of mankind in the beginning of the Old Testament was several hundred years, it took a few generations for the poisons of the earth to shorten Man's life span. In Genesis 5 we find the first "begats" listing the genealogy from Adam to Noah's sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth with the ages listed for Adam through Lamech.
The ages of these men were:
Adam: 930
Seth: 912
Enos: 905
Cainan: 910
Mahalaleel: 895
Jared: 960
Enoch: Only 365 when he was taken by God and did not taste the sting of death. (Gen 5: 24)
Methuselah: 969
Lamech: 777
Noah: 950 (From Genesis 9:29, my wife said it needed to be added because Noah was the last of the long lived men. Man's life span dramatically decreased after Noah.)
Who is the oldest man? Methuselah? He only lived 9 years longer than Jared. And,
Enoch never died, Enoch continues to age!
Which would you rather be as old as, Methuselah or Enoch?
Walk With God
Seth was right! Man can reestablish an intimate relationship with God.
Genesis 5: 24: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Unfortunately, for us, we are not told how Enoch managed to establish such a close relationship with God. The only clue we have is that the name Enoch comes from the Hebrew word chaÒnak, to initiate or discipline, and means dedicated.
But wait! In Genesis 6 we find another man walked with God. His name was Noah.
Genesis 6: 8: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9: These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
This time we find an additional clue. "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." The name Noah comes from the Hebrew word noÒach, to be quiet or at rest.
These two men managed to "Walk with God." If we look at the clues we see that our "Walk with God" should be a quiet and dedicated walk. One focused upon God's
needs not ours.
Remember, nothing is impossible when it comes to serving God. With the proper approach to God, maybe you too could find yourself walking with God as Enoch and
Noah did.
God's Covenant
The concept of a covenant did not come from man. Remember that God created ALL things.
Genesis 6: 18: But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
Do not confuse covenant with contract. A covenant is a blood oath and is accomplished by the shedding of blood and splitting of a sacrificial animal into 6 pieces and the two men coming to an agreement while standing in the middle of the pieces. The actual practice of killing and splitting an animal into pieces has been replaced by different actions.
Even so, a blood oath, or covenant, can not be broken. Even to save ones life or family. In the time of Abraham, if a man did break the covenant he and his entire family were killed. That included his servants and livestock.
It wasn't too long ago when a man's handshake was considered to be a covenant. Through the years we have allowed our scribes, which became our lawyers and judges, to demean that covenant into a bunch of legalistic, sometimes ancient, words and now call it a contract, which is open to man's "Interpretation of Convenience."
"Interpretation of Convenience" is how we justify what we want a set of words to mean, to our advantage, any time we read them. And, if our circumstances change we want to be able to reinterpret the contract to, again, mean what would be to our advantage.
Unfortunately, the Christians of today want to accomplish an "Interpretation of Convenience" on God's Word. We call that a "Compromise." Once the initial joy of finding Jesus Christ as our Saviour has dimmed, Satan tempts us to go back to the world on our own terms, not God's. If we try to do this then we have broken the new covenant we had established with God.
And, as it originally meant, when we break the covenant we have with Jehovah our punishment is death. We must guard our covenant with God with our lives, or we will find our souls forfeit.
A Formidable Task
What was the most difficult or longest task you ever had to do? I bet it doesn't even come close to the one God gave Noah, when He made His covenant with him.
Noah was already over 500 years old, Genesis 5: 32, when God decided to destroy the earth and remove the stench of mankind's Sin. But, God found one man worthy of saving, Noah. So God told Noah how to build an Ark to save his family and God's living creations.
Yeah. Yeah. Heard about it. Taught it. Don't need to read about it again.
Did you know that before the flood it had never rained? The earth was watered by a heavy dew each morning.
Genesis 2:6: But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
Did I mention that Noah was already over 500 before God told him to build an Ark?
Forget the fanciful rounded boat with a pilot house on top, which so many people draw to depict the Ark. It was more likely built square like a barge, with
internal ramps between the three floors. You did know it had three floors didn't you? With one large access door in the side and one small window on top.
Genesis 6:14: Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 15: And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 16: A
window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second,
and third stories shalt thou make it.
How long would it take you and your family to harvest enough lumber to build the Ark? If we used the Old Testament cubit as Noah's Cubit, Noah's Ark would have been approximately 300 cubits (450 feet) long, 50 cubits (75 feet) wide and 30 cubits (45 feet) deep? That would have been a lot of lumber!
A "Cubit" was used for measuring materials. It was the distance from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Archeologists say
that it averaged about 18 inches, or 1 foot 6 inches.
A "Cubit" for me measures about 19 1/2 inches. So, if I had been tasked to build the Ark it would have measured approximately 487 feet 6 inches long, 81
feet 3 inches wide and 48 feet 9 inches deep.
How long is a "Cubit" for you? Place your arm flat on top of a yard stick and measure from the tip of your elbow to the tip of your middle finger.
How long is it for you?
Now, multiply your measurement, in inches, by the number of "Cubits" and then divide that number by twelve. For example: 300 X 19.5 = 5850 then
5850 / 12 = 487.5
How large would the Ark have been if you were building it?
If Noah had been a Giant, as some Biblical Scholars and archeologists think, his "Cubit" could have been 36 inches. That would have made the Ark 900 feet long, 150 feet wide and 90 feet deep. That's a little larger than most people think of it.
But Wait!
If you thought that building the Ark was the only work being done, you are mistaken. Noah and his family still had to work and provide for themselves.
They still had to deal with their neighbors, who probably harassed and ridiculed them.
So, on top of their normal day-to-day living God gave them a monumental task.
Build an Ark. Plus, they had to collect and store enough food and supplies for all of the animals and thier family.Now, add in the task of rounding up and caring for the animals until it was time to go into the Ark!
That was a lot of work!
How Many Animals?
The scripture doesn't tell us how many animals there were. But, it does tell us that:
Genesis 7: 2: Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
3: Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
For the ancient Hebrew, in order for an animal to be complete it must have 1 male and 1 female. Just as God had told them that for a man to be complete there must be 1 man and 1 woman.
Genesis 2: 24: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
For each clean animal there were 14 total, 7 male and 7 female.
For the unclean beasts there were 4 total, 2 male and 2 female.
For each fowl, or bird, there were 14 total, 7 male and 7 female.
Did we forget something?
What about mankind?
For man there were 8 total, 4 male and 4 female.
That's a lot of animals!
How long do you think it took to get all of the animals loaded? Seven days.
Genesis 7: 4: For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights;
10: And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
The Door
Who shut that Giant Door in the side of the Ark? Remember it was about 45 feet high and maybe 20 feet wide. What would you need to be able to shut such a door? Where could you find hinges for it? How would you latch it?
God closed that Giant Door and latched it shut. Noah and his family then sealed the door with pitch and straw, from within.
Genesis 7: 16: And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
A Second Garden of Eden
How much food and water would you need to store to feed a family of eight for a year?
What about all of the animals? What did the lions and other meat eaters eat?
Why didn't they suffocate? They only had one small window on top.
If you ever get a chance, visit a Dairy Farm and checkout the smells and heat in the barn during milking time. Now, imagine what it would smell like, and how hot it would get, if all of the doors and windows were closed.
If this wasn't a Second Garden of Eden, it was pretty close. It was the First Miracle of God providing a safe environment with food and water, outside of Eden. Not to mention clothing and tools which never wore out.
The Number of Days
Have you noticed a pattern emerging yet? The number of days being used are 7 days to accomplish your work and 40 days to wait upon the Lord?
God gave Noah 7 days to load the ark before he began the 40 days of rain.
Forty days after the Ark came to rest, as the flood waters receded, Noah opened the window for the first time. Then 7 days after Noah first sent out a Raven, which never returned, he sent out a Dove that returned with an Olive Leaf in its beak. After waiting for another 7 days Noah sent forth another Dove which did not return.
How Much Rain Was There?
If we get an inch of rain in one day we consider that to be a large rain fall.
If we get 7 inches of rain in a week we would experience some flooding.
What if we got as much rain as Noah when God opened both the wells of the Earth and Heaven?
Genesis 7:11: In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12: And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
Genesis 7: 19: And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20: Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
If you remember, the accepted standard for a cubit is 18 inches. That means it rained 270 inches in 40 days and nights. That works out to 6 3/4 inches a day, non-stop!
You can see why it was such a large flood. And, if Noahs Cubit was 36 inches, that would make it about 540 inches, or 45 feet, of rain in 40 days and nights. That means 13 1/2 inches of rain each day.
Sacrifice
Now we will see why God had Noah bring seven of each clean beast and fowl, male & female, into
the Ark. The seventh, number seven strikes again, were used as sacrifices on an altar to God.
Genesis 8: 20: And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
The number seven was later used to designate a day of sacrifice and worship of God for the Israelites.
Fear of Man
Up until this time the animals had no fear of Mankind. Remember Adam had given all of the animals their names and lived with them.
Noah and his children were able to herd the animals into the Ark with no problems. Noah was able to reach out and hold the Dove to bring it back into the Ark. Try to catch a Dove yourself.
Genesis 8: 9: But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in
unto him into the ark.
After the sacrifices and while receiving God's Blessings, God placed an inborn fear and dread of Mankind into the animals.
Genesis 9: 2: And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
What a wonderful place it must have been, before the flood, to be able to approach and play with the animals because they had no fear of you.
Punishment For Murder
I have heard many people quote the scripture of: "Lev 24: 20: Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again." to justify the death or punishment for sins committed against another Human Being.
But, the actual first judgement for putting a man to death for murder was given by God to Noah and his family in:
Genesis 9: 6: Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
This was long before Moses and the Books of Law.
Rainbows
Why was God's Bow so wondrous for Noah and his family? Remember, it had never rained before the flood so there would not have been any rain clouds in the sky for God's Bow to be seen. It was a brand new phenomenon for the earth. And, the Bow is the symbol of God's covenant to all living creatures and mankind.
Did you know that a rainbow is actually a perfect circle, when there is nothing to block it? I have seen them while flying above the clouds. If you search, you can even find pictures people have taken of them. It is truly a beautiful sight.
Genesis 9: 12: And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14: And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16: And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
One Language
Scientists, a few years ago, made a startling announcement. They say they can now prove that all language on earth comes from a common source. Isn't that amazing! This seems to be a "Revelation" to Scientists about every 20 years. I remember hearing the same "Revelation" when I was a boy and again as a young man.
All they had to do was ask me and I could even have told them where that seat of the common language was. Today it is a country known as Iraq. How can I be so sure?
Because, The Bible Tells Me So!
Genesis 11: 1: And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2: And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
The Promise
The first clear and undisputed promise that God will bless all of mankind was to Abraham:
Genesis 12: 3: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
The Land of the Israelites
How much land did God tell Abraham he was going to give to Abraham and his descendants?
Genesis 15: 18: In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt
unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20: And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21: And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
If you look at today's Atlas you would see that the Land promised to Abraham isn't what we know as the tiny Nation of Israel. That is only one tiny piece out of a Large Area that God gave to Abraham. Today we know the "river of Egypt" as the "river Nile" but the "river Euphrates" is still known as "river Euphrates".
The area between them would include about half of Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, the northern third of Saudi Arabia and most of Iraq.
Now that is enough room to grow in.