Today, in our continuing study of the book of Genesis, we come to the beginning of the story of Joseph.  I have decided to skip over a lot of history that was primarily concerned with Jacob and the children that were born to his two wives and two concubines.  But I do need to say that Rachel, the favored wife of Jacob, has by this time passed away in childbirth of her son Benjamin. And so there are 12 sons born to Jacob, with Reuben being the eldest, and Benjamin being the youngest.  Joseph was the 11th son. 

There was also a daughter born to Jacob, by the name of Dinah.  She was raped by a man of Shechem, and then the man asked Jacob for her hand in marriage. Her brothers convinced the men of Shechem that if they became circumcised as the sons of Israel were, then the men of that city could marry their daughters.  But when the men of the city were in pain from the circumcision, the brothers came upon the city with the sword and killed all the men that lived there.  So the sons of Jacob were odious in the eyes of the people of that region, but also perhaps looked upon with a degree of fear.  And I mention that because we will notice that the brothers are shepherding their sheep in that region later when Joseph is sent to check on their well being.

But Joseph has a special place in the heart of his father Jacob. Let’s read starting in vs 1, “Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan.  These are [the records of] the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was [still] a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic.  His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and [so] they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.”

The scripture says that Jacob loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age. I wonder about that, because Benjamin is actually his youngest son. I believe he loved him more primarily because he was the son of Rachel his favorite wife now deceased.  I’m  not sure why he doesn’t feel that way about Benjamin since he also is the son of Rachel. Maybe because Benjamin is still quite young. 

But this preference that Jacob has for Joseph is perhaps a family trait that he inherited from his own parents, Isaac and Rebekah. The Bible neither openly condemns such parenting, nor approves it.  But it is obvious from scripture that such favoritism on the part of parents causes many problems in families. And Jacob’s family is ripe for dysfunction as there are four wives and children of each of them.

It also is evident to the other siblings that Jacob loves Joseph more. At 17 years old as Jacob was pasturing the flocks with his brothers, he brought back a bad report about his brothers.  We don’t know what they were guilty of, but it would seem they had misbehaved in some way.  Some commentators have tried to portray Joseph as someone that didn’t work, that was a spoiled brat.  But it clearly says that at 17 he was working as a shepherd.  The problem was that his brothers were all older, and he would have been under their authority, but he tells his father about their misdeeds and gets them in trouble. 

To top it off, his father seemingly wants Joseph to be the recipient of the birthright.  That would have defied tradition and be sure to cause more jealousy among his older brothers.  Then adding insult to injury, Jacob presents Joseph with a coat of many colors.  Much speculation has been made over this description.  Some have said it had gold and silver and fine jewels woven in the fabric.  Some have said the sleeves and the length of the robe indicated royalty, and that whoever wore such a robe could not work in it.  We don’t know for sure, but one thing we do know, is that the brothers reacted to it with hatred and jealousy.  In fact, they hated him so much that they could not speak to him on friendly terms. 

But it gets worse.  Vs 5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.  He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have had;  for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.”  Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.  Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”  He related [it] to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?”  His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying [in mind.]

Again, many commentators have made much of Joseph supposedly “lording it over” his brothers by telling them these dreams. I’m not so sure about that.  I hesitate to criticize Joseph, particularly because he is presented so clearly in scripture as a type of Christ.  But although he is a type, that does not mean that he has to be like Christ in every respect.  Joseph was a sinner, just like all men are sinners. Christ was sinless.  But that does not negate the typology of Joseph in relation to Christ.  However, if nothing else, Joseph was naive in speaking so boldly to his brothers about the dreams.  How could he not know that their hostility towards him would only be exacerbated by these revelations.

But unlike many God given dreams that are recorded in scripture, these dreams need no interpretation.  Everyone seems to understand what they mean.  Usually, God has to provide interpretation to a dream in some way, usually by his prophet. In this case, everyone knows that the dreams indicate that they will one day bow down to Joseph.  And so because they are readily understood by his family, I think it was God’s will that his family  know the dreams.  I just wonder if Joseph could have recounted them more tactfully somehow.

So the dreams were given for the benefit of the family, to prepare them for the future, but also I believe they were given for the benefit of Joseph. Not to make him proud and boastful, so that he could lord his authority over his older brothers.  But so that he could withstand the trials that he was going to go through.  The road to his exaltation would come through intense suffering.  The kind of suffering that would make you think all the promises of God had been a lie.  But God was giving Joseph the groundwork for his faith, through the word of God.  And to his credit, as he goes through those trials, I don’t see Joseph ever denying his faith, nor falling away in his faith, in spite of 13 years of tremendous hardship.

James 1: 2 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have [its] perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Contrary to what the “word of faith” preachers teach on television, faith doesn’t guarantee immediate results. In fact, more often than not, Biblical faith illustrated in the lives of the patriarchs, involved learning patience, endurance through years and years of trials. Consider the faith of Abraham, waiting 25 years for the promise of God to be fulfilled by the birth of Isaac.  And even then, the trials of his faith did not end, but continued and became even more challenging. Joseph would undergo a trial by fire that he could never have imagined, and which would last for 13 years, but God’s word made him have hope and not completely despair.

Vs 12 Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem.  Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing [the flock] in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “I will go.”  Then he said to him, “Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

So as I said, the incident with Dinah and the slaughter of the men of Shechem has relevance because the brothers go shepherd the sheep in Shechem.  And the people of that region are probably not big fans of these sons of Israel.  Israel, remember is Jacob’s new name. It means God rules.  So Israel gets worried about his sons going to that region again.  I think he may have been more worried about what his sons were doing, rather than what the natives of that region might do.  His sons are notoriously blood thirsty, as we will see once again. But it’s interesting that Joseph is no longer with them. Perhaps his father is using him more as an overseer than a helper by this point or he recognizes the antagonism that the other brothers have towards Joseph and so he keeps him home.

So Jospeh arrives in Shechem after what might have been a two day journey and in Vs 15 A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “What are you looking for?”  He said, “I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing [the flock.]”  Then the man said, “They have moved from here; for I heard [them] say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.'” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.  When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death.  They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer!  “Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!”  But Reuben heard [this] and rescued him out of their hands and said, “Let us not take his life.”  Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him”–that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father.  So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him;  and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

The brothers obviously recognized Joseph a long ways off in order to have time to talk about killing him and coming up with a plan. I can’t help but wonder if they recognized him because  Joseph was wearing the multi colored coat.  Perhaps the gold and silver and jewels were shimmering in the sun as he walked along the road.  And so they see this figure coming towards them, and they say, “Here comes this dreamer! Now then let us kill him…’. What we can interpret from this is that the brothers were really conspiring to defeat God’s word.  All that God had promised concerning Joseph they saw as a threat to their position and posterity and prosperity.  And so like the Pharisees and high priests who would one day conspire to kill Jesus because He threatened their position and power and prosperity, these brothers do the same, thinking they could defeat the plan of God.

It’s shocking though to see such a vivid illustration of jealousy becoming hate, and hate becoming murder.  Jesus said, if you hate your brother, you are guilty of murder.  And so these brothers are guilty of murder, though they actually come short of actually killing him.  

So Joseph is about 17 years of age, and he is stripped of his cloak and thrown in a dry well, or a pit that he can’t get out of.  His own brothers have thrown him in there. He must have known that their plan was to kill him.  What kind of terror must he have been going through.  And what kind of evil does this reveal about the brothers!  Well for one, it reveals that they were cold hearted enough to sit down and have a nice meal and talk about killing him, while Joseph is alone in the pit. 

Vs25 Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring [them] down to Egypt.  Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood?  “Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our [own] flesh.” And his brothers listened [to him.]  Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled [him] up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty [shekels] of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Ishmaelites are the children of Abraham’s exiled son, Ishmael. They were not exactly allies of Israel.  But as the saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”  And when Jesus was taken captive, the Herodians and the Pharisees, who were traditionally enemies, worked together to destroy Christ.  

But Judah intervenes and keeps Joseph from being killed. However, Judah is still guilty of selling him as a slave, of lying to his father, and of hatred. And the end result is that Joseph is brought up out of the pit and sold to these traders as a slave for 20 pieces of silver.  I can’t help but think of Jesus who was sold out by one of his own disciples for 30 pieces of sliver. We are told that 30 pieces of silver in Jesus’ day was the price of a slave.  In Joseph’s day, it was 20 pieces of silver.  But both Joseph and Jesus were sold for the price of a slave.

Reuben the first born, the eldest son who is responsible for his brothers, comes back to find that Joseph has been sold into slavery.  He had hoped to find a way to restore Joseph to his father.  Why he had been away from the camp we are not told, but it must have been a part of his efforts to get him back home.  Now he finds out that he is gone, and there’s no way to overturn the tragic events that transpired while he was away.

So they concoct a plan to deceive their father Jacob.  There is a lot of irony in this story.  The Biblical principle of “surely your sins will find you out” seems to be at work again and again. Jacob, the deceiver, who deceived his father by killing a goat and putting the skin on his arms and neck to fool him, now has a goat killed and the blood of the goat put on Joseph’s coat to deceive him so that he would think he had been killed by a wild animal.

Vs.29 Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments.  He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not [there;] as for me, where am I to go?”  So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood;  and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine [it] to [see] whether it is your son’s tunic or not.”  Then he examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”  So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.  Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.  Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

In closing, I would like to point out a few correlations between Joseph and the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph and Christ are alike in that they both are the object of the love of their father. The Lord Jesus at his baptism heard the words, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” And just as Jacob loved Joseph, so in the truest sense, the Father loves the Son and rejoices in Him. Joseph and Jesus Christ are alike and in that they both have a commission from the father. Joseph was sent out for the sake of his brethren, and so was Jesus Christ. In the fullness of time, God sent him forth, born of a woman, born under the law that he might redeem those under the law and bring to them the adoption of sonship.

Joseph and Jesus Christ are alike in that they both were rejected by their brethren. He came unto His own and His own received Him not, but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. Joseph and Christ were both sold for the price of a slave. They are alike in their humiliation: Joseph is sold into slavery and so the Lord Jesus comes as a servant, in the form of a servant, in the likeness of men, and ultimately in becoming the representative, substitutionary sacrifice. He reaches the epitome of humiliation, for the Son of God dies as a common criminal. He was obedient unto death, even such a death as the death of a cross, the death of the a criminal.

Joseph and Christ are alike in their exaltation for just as Joseph was humiliated, sold into captivity, and by the grace of God becomes the second in command over all of the land of Egypt and over all the world of that day, so Jesus Christ has been exalted to the right hand of the Father and one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord of all.  

They are alike also in that they both acquire a bride.  Joseph acquires a bride and the Lord Jesus Christ today is acquiring a bride which is His church. And finally Joseph ultimately will become the means of salvation of his  brethren and the Lord Jesus Christ is ultimately the means of salvation for His brethren.

I hope that if you are here today, you have not despised the Beloved Son of the Father, who suffered and died in your place, that He might save you from the wrath to come.  But you believe in Him, and trust in Him, and bow to Him as your Lord and Savior. 

In our study last time, we looked at the story of Jacob and his dream about the ladder. And you might remember that I told you that the dream of the ladder and the angel’s ascending and defending upon it, and the Lord standing at the top of it, was an illustration of the gospel. Jesus said in John 1:51 that He was the One on whom Nathanael would see the angel’s ascending and descending.  So we saw that the vision of Jacob’s ladder was actually an illustration of the gospel.  Jesus is the way to God.  He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.

Today we are looking at the next major incident in Jacob’s life, which is his marriage to Rachel. And I hope to show you how this story is illustrative of the love that Christ has for the church.  The church, as I have often pointed out, is the bride of Christ. Ephesians 5:25 says that Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.  So as Jacob became a servant so that he might gain his bride, so also Christ became a servant and carried out His work because of His love for the church.

Of course, Jacob is the promised seed of Abraham through whom would come a nation, the seed through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. And he has come to the land of Haran to seek a bride. And of course that is ultimately a reference to the promised seed, Jesus Christ, through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed, as He comes to earth to seek a bride, the church, made up of all the nations of the earth.

And so the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant is accomplished in Jesus Christ. Abraham is the first Jew, and in a sense, Christ is the last Jew of that lineage.  The line passed from Abraham to Isaac, to Jacob, to Judah, to David, to Christ. But the important aspect of the line was not blood lines, but a spiritual line of faith. And so the promises to Israel were fulfilled by the Messiah.  But the Abrahamic covenant continues to all nations through Christ. So that as Paul says in Rom 2:28-29  “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.  But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”  So the blessing was never based on genetics, but on faith.

So then faith is the scarlet cord that links the lineage of Abraham to the church, the bride of Christ. Just as illustrated in the women’s Bible study that they recently had on Ruth, she was a Gentile, a Moabite. But in her marriage to Boaz, a Jew, she was brought into the covenant of Abraham, just as through Christ the church is married into the covenant. This is also illustrated in the birth of Jacob and Esau.  Both were twins from the same father and mother – Jews.  And yet Jacob will be the son of faith, whereas Esau will be the son of the flesh. Jacob inherits the promises, Esau does not. Jacob becomes Israel through whom Christ will come.  But from Christ comes salvation to the Gentiles, so that ultimately, the children of Ishmael and Esau will also be brought into the family of God by virtue of marriage to Christ. 

So Paul can say in Gal 3:26-29 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”

Now that’s a heavy dose of big picture theology for a Sunday morning sermon, but let’s work our way through this historical account, and hopefully by it reveal some important doctrinal truths concerning the gospel.  Jacob has left his father’s house under duress. His brother was going to kill him.  He had deceived his father.  He had stolen his brother’s blessing.  So he ends up on the run from his brother.  His mother had convinced his father to tell Jacob to go to his mother’s country to find a wife, which was a ploy on the part of his mother to get Isaac to send Jacob out of harm’s way from the wrath of Esau.

Along the way, Jacob had a dream in which he sees the Lord standing at the top of a ladder which extends from his campsite to the heavens.  And angels are ascending and descending upon it.  As I said, this is really an illustration of the gospel.  The Lord extends to Jacob a series of promises that He will bless him, and protect him and preserve him. But Jacob falls short of appropriating those promises.  He basically says “prove yourself to me, and if you do all that you have promised, and bring me back safely to my father’s land, THEN you will be my God, and I will give you my tithe of all that I have.

So as I said last time, I think at this point Jacob fails to appropriate the blessing of salvation that God was promising to give him. Instead he opts for doing things his way, focusing on obtaining the carnal aspects of the blessing, and hoping that God helps him get what he wants.  He wants the blessing of God, for God to be his genie, so to speak, who will give him his desire for physical prosperity. But he doesn’t want the Lordship of God in his life at this point.  And so he embarks on a 20 year journey into self determination.

But the sovereignty and providence and calling of God are still at work, whether Jacob acknowledges them or not.  Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose.”  God was working providentially to bring Jacob to saving faith in Him, in spite of the willful rebellion of Jacob, and in fact even working through Jacob’s disobedience to achieve HIs purposes.

And so even though Jacob travels almost 500 miles, alone and through uncharted territory for him, yet he ends up right at the same well that Abraham’s servant found Jacob’s mother Rebekah all those many years before. Let’s read starting in vs 1 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the sons of the east.  He looked, and saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large.  When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.  Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.”  He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know [him.]”. Laban, of course, is the brother of Jacob’s mother Rebekah. 

Jacob thinks he is the captain of his ship, but in actually, the Lord was directing his steps. Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way.”  Also, Proverbs 16:9 says, “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”

This journey of Jacob is illustrative of how the calling and election of God works.  It does not work by exclusion of the mind and will of man.  The mind and will of man are fully incorporated in the decisions that he makes.  Man is not a robot. He does not act by pure instinct like the animals.  But God is at work in directing a man’s decisions. He is providentially directing circumstances to guide us and direct us as we go through life, in order to bring us to His desired destination.  We cannot understand how both the will of man and the purposes of God work together, but we know that they do. Otherwise, how can man be held accountable for his actions, unless he is responsible for his decisions? So though the mind of man plans his way, yet the Lord directs his steps.

So after traveling 500 miles without GPS, Jacob has come to the very well used by his Uncle Laban to water his flock, and very likely, the same well that Rebekah came to water the camels of Abraham’s servant.  What luck.

And of course, Rachel just happens to be coming to water her sheep at the very same time.  Vs  6 And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.”  He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.”  But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”  While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.  When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.  Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept.  Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.”

Some commentators say that Jacob was between 55-60 years old at this point. Rachel is presumably a young, unmarried woman.  And if she is as beautiful as the Bible says she is, then she must be quite young, as it would be unlikely for her to remain unmarried for long.  She is also working as a shepherdess, which is not the sort of job a married woman would have. So I guess Jacob could be accused of robbing the cradle.  But I think the culture norms in that region concerning marriage were a little different than they are today.

But it’s likely that Jacob has love at first sight for Rachel.  That might be evident from his showing off his strength in moving the stone on the well.  The other shepherds were waiting for the stone to be moved, and Jacob after seeing Rachel is able to move it all by himself.  The other curious thing is that he then ran up to her, kissed her and lifted up his voice and wept. I don’t know quite what to make of that.  Not usually a good way to pick up girls I would think.  But it seems to be expressive of the pent up emotions that he was feeling.  I will say though that the kiss is not a romantic type of kiss.  This is the customary kiss of greeting given by men and women of those days. And I suppose that if you or I had walked for 25 days through wilderness, and finally arrived at the exact destination, meeting the exact relatives that you had left to find, then you might be overcome with emotion as well. 

But I am reminded of Jesus who wept over Jerusalem. On what is called Palm Sunday, being celebrated by many today, Jesus came into Jerusalem on a colt of a donkey, and the crowds were calling out “Hosanna, BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!”  And yet when He approached Jerusalem, He wept over it.  Jesus knew what He came to do, and that He had been born as the seed of Abraham who would crush Satan’s head, reversing the curse, bringing salvation to Israel, yet they would ultimately reject Him as their King, as their Savior and Lord.

So after Rachel hears who Jacob was in relation to her and her family, she runs to tell her father Laban. Vs13 So when Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things. Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.  Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”  Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.  And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.  Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”  Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.”  So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

It would seem that Jacob had arrived in Haran with just the clothes on his back. There is a Jewish tradition that says that Jacob had been robbed by a son of Esau when he was on the journey. And that might explain why he had no money, no dowry, or anything of his own when he arrived.  But that is not supported by scripture.  I would guess that he left in such a hurry that there was not time to get him any money or goods, and besides, he was only expected to be gone a few days or weeks until Esau cooled down. But whatever the reason, Jacob was broke.

So after a month passes, Laban says in a round about way, what do you want for your wages? Jacob was obviously working for his keep, and yet Laban knows that he must want more than that. And Jacob had no money for a dowry which was customary to give to the family of the bride. So Jacob says I will work seven years for your daughter Rachel. Seven seems to be a number associated with covenants, and so while that seems a really high price to pay for us, it was not considered a long time in that culture.  And the text says that because of his love for Rachel, the seven years seemed to him but a few days.  That’s interesting, because I would think that seven years would seem an interminable length of time to wait when you want to get married to the woman you love. But the opposite is true for Jacob. Seven years seem like just a few days because he was so much in love.

There is a parallel here to that of Jesus Christ, who humbled himself as a servant that He might perform His work on the cross to effect our salvation, that we might be joined to Him as His bride. I think we can find that servanthood expressed in Phl 2:5-8 which says, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” And in regards to the joy that Jacob had when he suffered as a servant for the love of Rachel, we again see a correlation in Christ, of whom it is said in Heb 12:2 “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.

We come then in the story to Laban’s deception.  The deceiver gets deceived. Or you might say that the Biblical principle is illustrated of you reap what you sow. Gen 29:21-30  “Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give [me] my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go in to her.”  Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.  Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and [Jacob] went in to her.  Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid.  So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?”  But Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn.  “Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years.”  Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife.  Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.  So [Jacob] went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

There would have customarily been a week long wedding feast for the marriage of Jacob and Rachel. I’m not sure how that would have worked out. Did Rachel participate in the wedding feast? I don’t know for sure all the traditions of those days and that culture.  But she would have been veiled, it would seem. However, I believe the bride and groom were kept separate at the feast, and then on the last day, the groom would go take his bride into the chamber.  

But on the last day, Laban has Leah dress in a veil and she is taken by Jacob to consummate his marriage.  It was presumably dark, and he never really gets to see her face until the morning. It’s kind of hard for us to imagine, but nevertheless, it did happen, and the fact that we are unknowledgeable about the wedding arrangements is a disadvantage to us. But that is also the excuse of Laban, that the custom of that day and country was that the younger must not marry before the older. I doubt that was actually true. It might have been the desire of the father to marry them off in chronological order, but that was probably not the truth of the matter.  He just saw an opportunity to marry off his older daughter and make Jacob responsible for her. Leah is considered less attractive, which is indicated by the phrase Leah’s eyes were weak.  No one seems to know precisely what that means, other than it it countered by Rachel was beautiful of form and face. So perhaps Leah was not found attractive for some reason and thus limited in her prospects for marriage.

I feel for both Leah and Rachel. Imagine Rachel’s disappointment.  She has been waiting 7 years for her wedding day, and she is deprived of it by treachery from her own father. And she has to endure the wedding night knowing that her sister is with Jacob instead of her.  Laban had to know that what he was doing was a great evil to everyone concerned.  And imagine Leah’s embarrassment and shame, knowing that she had contributed to this debacle.  And furthermore, that she was unloved. We don’t know if she was a co-conspirator or not. I would hope not but it would seem like she had to have wanted to participate.  But the father was in that time and place like a tribal chieftain.  What he said was law. And his daughters were completely under his authority. 

I will say though that there must be some correlation here between the loved and unloved daughters of Laban, and the twin brothers Jacob and Esau of whom one was loved and one was hated. And I cannot say that there is a direct comparison, but it would seem that God loved Jacob, and yet Jacob did not reciprocate that love for many years.  God continued to provide for him, to protect him, to offer his promises to him, but Jacob was determined to work out his “blessing” through his own deceitful efforts, though he didn’t mind if God helped things along.  But only after a long period of rebellion, did Jacob surrender to the Lord after we are told he wrestled with the angel of the Lord all night after leaving the employment of Laban.

Leah is unloved in the sense that she is not loved to the degree that Jacob loves Rachel. And perhaps that is the way that it should be understood when it says that God loved Jacob but He hated Esau.  God had no animosity towards Esau, but He does not love him with the redeeming love that He has for Jacob.

In the case of Leah, it would seem that Jacob did fulfill his obligations to her as his wife. It would have been adding insult to injury if he would have kicked her out the next morning since she would have been unable to remarry and would have been left destitute.  But God was able to use even the evil that man conspired for good. 

So vs 31 says, “Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”   Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” 33 Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this [son] also.” So she named him Simeon.  She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi.  And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.” So Leah has four sons in quick succession, and the fourth son is Judah, the father of the tribe of Judah, from whom the Lord Jesus comes. 

He is the one in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Though Christ is a Jew, the promised seed of Abraham, yet the good news is that all the nations, the nations that were initially represented as the unloved, will yet be given access through marriage to become the family of God through the representative seed of Abraham whose death atoned for the sins of the world.

The gospel of Jacob’s ladder, Genesis 28

In our study of Genesis, we come today to the story of Jacob’s ladder. I have titled my message, the gospel of Jacob’s ladder. And I hope you will see the presentation of the gospel as we work our way through this chapter.

But we should remind you of the context. Last time, we saw the deception Jacob played upon his father Isaac, which was masterminded by his mother Rebekah. He had previously bought the birthright from his brother Esau, and then when his father had planned to give Esau the blessing, he deceived his father and pretended to be Esau so he would get the blessing also.

Now Esau hated Jacob because he had stolen his blessing, and he promised to kill him. His mother heard of the plan, and she encouraged Jacob to go to her brother Laban to get a wife, but also to escape Esau’s plan to kill him. So she spoke to her husband Isaac saying that the wives of Esau were driving her crazy, and she didn’t want Jacob to marry a pagan woman, and didn’t he think that it would be a good idea if Jacob went to his relatives to find a wife. And Isaac agreed, not wanting to see his son marry a pagan woman.

And that’s where we pick up the story. [Gen 28: 1 So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 “Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 3 “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 4 “May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. 6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, [and that] when he blessed him he charged him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. 8 So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac; 9 and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth. 10 Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. 12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. 14 “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” 18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, 21 and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. 22 “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Notice the promise given in vs 5 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” That promise is repeated in essence in Deut. 31:6 and then reiterated to those who believe in Hebrews 13:5; “I will never leave you or forsake you.” That is one of the greatest blessings of salvation. The continuing presence of Jesus with us forever. As Jesus said in Matt. 28:20, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” That is the blessing of salvation, that God is with us, in us, abiding with us, forever.

Now I am getting ahead of the story. But I do need to address the matter of this blessing that Jacob has received. In desiring the birthright, and desiring the blessing, did Jacob in effect become saved? Some Bible scholars see this stage of Jacob’s life as his path of sanctification. And sanctification comes after justification. We know that justification is by faith. Abraham believed God and He credited it to him as righteousness.

But have we seen Jacob believe God unto salvation? We have seen the predetermination of God to bless Jacob. We have seen the calling and election of God upon Jacob, even before he was born. But as I said last time, Jacob was not saved in the womb. Election does not save you. Believing saves you. And though Jacob desires the birthright and the blessing, and despite the fact that the birthright and the blessing have a spiritual quotient to them that Esau despised, despite all that, I don’t see that up to this point, Jacob has believed unto salvation. He wanted the blessing of God, but he did not want the Lordship of God.

So my position is that he is not saved yet. He is not a believer. And evidence of that I think is shown in this chapter, as well as in the last chapter when he said to his father “Because the LORD your God caused it to happen to me.” In other words, Jacob was claiming the help of the God of his father. He was not claiming the help of his God. Jehovah was not yet his God, He was his father’s god.

And that attitude doesn’t change even after this vision that he has, when God appears on a ladder to heaven. Even though he knows that God was in that place, that God had visited him, yet he says in vs 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “IF God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, THEN the LORD will be my God.” Even after all this special revelation that he had received, yet he still is not willing to say the Lord is my God. But he puts a conditional promise out there that God must fulfill to his satisfaction before he will say the Lord is MY God.

Now let’s get back to the story and work our way through it to see what was going on in this event. First notice that poor Isaac is being hoodwinked again by his wife and son to give his blessing to Isaac and urge him to leave the land that God had promised them. Abraham, you will remember, refused to let his servant consider taking Isaac back to the land of Haran because he knew that it would end up trapping him there. So Abraham had his servant go there and get Isaac a wife and bring her back to him in Canaan. And perhaps that is what Isaac should have done. I can’t say that this departure on Jacob’s part from the land is God’s perfect will. It wasn’t so with Isaac, so why should it be different for Jacob? And we will see that it ends up being a 20 year detour, which God promises to overturn and bring him back to Canaan.

But they are all pretty carnal people and they don’t ask God what to do. They look at the situation around them and the hatred of Esau and they make a decision that this is what is needed. And yet for all the years of Abraham’s journeying, and Isaac’s wandering, God reiterated again and again that this was the land that he was giving them. That He would provide for them and protect them there. And yet again and again they leave the land.

And then Moses makes a side note about Esau, how he sees that his mother and dad did not like his pagan wives, and so he goes out and tries to accomplish what they wanted for Jacob, which was to marry a wife who was of the same ancestral background. But Esau goes to the family of Ishmael to find a wife, not realizing that he further confirms the choice that God had made to bless Jacob and not Esau. Ishmael was outside of the spiritual blessing that God had promised Abraham. But Esau doesn’t understand the difference between the spiritual and the physical and so further compounds his situation.

Do you see how Jacob and Esau are a type of the old man and the new man? Esau is a type of the old nature, and Jacob a picture of the new nature. We see that old man clearly in Esau I think up to this point, but we do not see any evidence yet of the new man in Jacob. Except that he was foreordained for salvation before he was born and that shows interest in acquiring God’s blessing. But he attempts to acquire it through the work of the flesh rather than the work of the Spirit.

But Jacob leaves his home and travels about 70 miles on his journey to Haran, which is about a 400 mile journey. Presumably he is traveling alone. And he comes to a place called Luz, where he decides to spend the night. And he makes a pillow for his head from a rock and goes to sleep. I’ve heard a lot of poor jokes preachers have made over the years about Jacob sleeping on a rock and none of them are worth repeating. But you do have to wonder if using a rock for a pillow affected his sleep.

So Jacob had a dream. Now I have to say that this experience of Jacob and other patriarchs who had conversations with God is not the primary experience of a believer today. Yet you might ask why is there a different way of God communicating with us today than there was in those days? And the answer is that they did not have the scriptures. They had no Bible, or any part of the Bible at that point. Moses writes this several hundred years after the fact and he writes the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch. Prior to that there was only the verbal traditions past down through generations of what God had said.

Furthermore, there are no real opportunities for hearing from any preacher or prophet in those days. In fact, the only people you could consider a prophet were Abraham and Isaac. Melchizedek we know was a priest of God, but he is probably long dead by this point as nothing further is said about him after Abraham’s visit. So if there is no scripture, and no prophet, no priest, then how is a person going to hear the gospel? God Himself will speak through the pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. It’s what is called a theophany. And that’s what we see here.

But I would say that we live in a different dispensation, when God speaks through preachers and His word. Heb 1:1-2 says, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” And His Son has spoken to us the Word of God which was written for us in the scriptures. And in Colossians 2:18 we are warned about giving heed to false prophets who base their doctrine on visions that they have seen, which are in violation of the word of God. So I urge you to beware of those who would claim visions and dreams with special revelation from God.

But God wants Jacob to hear the gospel. [Rom 10:13-14 says for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” And so God gives Jacob a dream in which he sees a ladder stretching from heaven to earth, and angels ascending and defending the ladder and God standing at the top of the ladder. Now God verbally speaks to him, but we must ask ourselves what is symbolized in this vision. Because if God just wanted to speak to him He could have done so without this incredible vision. There must be some symbolism there that was also intended to illustrate the message to Jacob.

One commentator, H.C. Leupold, has said, “Such a clearcut dream must embody a deeper symbolism. Why a ladder? Why the angels? Why the Lord above it? Answer, in order to convey via visible sign what the words themselves also convey as Jehovah speaks.” In other words, this is designed to illustrate in symbolic fashion what is expressed by the words that are spoken at this theophany.

So if you have a ladder that reaches from earth to heaven, then you might deduce that it signifies communication from heaven to earth. And this communication is mediated by the angels. Hebrews 1:14 says that angels are ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation.

There is an old African American spiritual that I remember singing as a child which is called “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder.” And the sense of that song indicates that there is a climbing towards heaven that is done on our part which is signified by the ladder. But that is not the intention of the vision of the ladder. Salvation is not achieved by climbing a ladder to heaven. The ladder symbolizes communication between God and man, or a bridge between God and man. But man doesn’t climb up to God, rather God comes down to man.

Now there is an interesting passage in the book of John in which this particular incident is referred to. It is at the time when Nathaniel was brought by Philip to the Lord Jesus. Now, Nathaniel, in that little incident at the end of John chapter 1, had evidently been meditating on Genesis chapter 28. It’s clear from a couple of things. It’s clear, because when he comes to the Lord Jesus, the Lord said to him, “Behold an Israelite, in whom there is no guile.”

Now remember an Israelite is a descendant of Jacob. So it’s almost as if he were saying, “Behold an Israelite in whom there is no Jacob.” Now Nathaniel was a man like that, he was a man who was guileless. He was a very frank man. He said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” He did not realize, of course, that The Good Shepherd comes out of Nazareth. But when he comes to Jesus, the Lord said to him, “Nathaniel, before you saw me, I saw you sitting under the fig tree.” And sitting under the fig tree was, according to rabbinic thought, the proper place to sit when you wanted to meditate on the Bible.

So he was meditating, and furthermore, he was obviously meditating on Genesis chapter 28, because Jesus refers to this specific incident. And he says in his conversation with Nathaniel, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? Why you’ll see greater things than these.” Then He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

So he’s been meditating on Genesis chapter 28 and Jesus says, “Look, you want to see greater things than you have seen when you were meditating on Genesis chapter 28? You’re going to see the heavens opened.” That’s interesting isn’t it? The heavens opened as if there was suddenly access to heaven for sinful men. And you’re going to see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. There is going to be a communion between the opened heavens and this earth down here. And you’re going to see the angels ascending and descending not upon a ladder, but upon the Son of Man.

Did you notice that substitution? That’s what you call interpreting the Old Testament by the New Testament. He was, in effect, saying the ladder in the Old Testament is symbolic of the Son of Man. It is by virtue of the Son of Man, who has opened the way to heaven. It’s by virtue of his mediation that the heavens are opened and there is communion between God and man. That is, those who approach heaven through the ladder of the Son of Man, who is the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, except by Him. So, the ladder is symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well that’s a magnificent symbolic illustration of the gospel, but the words that follow are just as great. Now notice the promises. First of all, he begins by identifying Himself, “I am the Lord. I am Jehovah. I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The same God who had called out Abraham, who had given him the promises of which Jacob was the beneficiary. He says, “the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.” That very piece of land on which Jacob was putting his head is to be given to him. So, he is talking about something very specific, but listen to the other promises. “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

And then the great climatic promise; “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” You know, our salvation is predicated on our belief in the promises of God. We don’t see our sins forgiven. We don’t enter into heaven immediately. We do not yet sense eternal life that is given to us. But we believe in the promises of God concerning these things. And that is faith, saving faith. Jacob is given all these magnificent promises of God’s blessing. And yet though he is awed by the experience of the vision, he doesn’t really believe the promises completely. He wants proof.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of [things] hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” Faith is not getting proof, it’s being convinced about things not seen. Jacob is impressed, but not convinced.

Jacob’s response is very interesting. You notice in verse 16 that the text says he awakened from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” How true that is of our experience. You know I have a hunch that there are lots of people sitting in this audience right now who do not realize that the Lord is in our midst. Perhaps you would rather think that the Lord is in heaven but not that He is standing in the midst of this congregation.

And the thought of the nearness of God induced fear in him. The KJV says “How dreadful is this place.” Now we do not want to be confused by the term “dreadful.” The New American Standard Bible has rendered it, “How awesome is this place.” It’s kind of like the way us southerners use the term awful. We say awfully when we actually mean “very.” Like for instance, I am awfully hungry. It should be I”m very hungry. “It would be awfully nice if you would give me some ice cream.” I don’t know why we say that. I’m awfully sorry. Well, in the KJV they say dreadful when they mean awesome.

You know, Solomon says in Proverbs that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I suggest that the fear of the Lord is necessary before we can experience the grace of the Lord. You have to know you are condemned to death before you can value being given eternal life.

The next morning in response to his dream Jacob got up and put a memorial pillar of rocks there. He called the place Bethel; the house of God. It was his way of responding to the experience that he had had. But it was a misplaced reverence. God had not said that He abided there, and Jacob could meet with Him there. God had said I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

The promise of God is to be with us, to indwell us, to keep us, wherever we go. That is the promise of salvation. That is the blessing that we should seek. To have communion with God.

Vs 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” That’s all very nice, but he is making a conditional promise to God. And the condition is that he will wait and see if God really is with him, and really does keep him on his journey, and if He actually provides for him. And IF God really does all that, THEN Jehovah will be his God. Until He proves Himself, Jehovah is Abraham’s and Isaac’s God. Until then, Jacob thinks he is his own master.

Rom 10:9-11 says, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

Though God is under no obligation to prove Himself to anyone, yet by His grace He will prove His faithfulness to Jacob for the next 20 years. But Jacob will not confess the Lord as His God until he finally wrestles with the Lord and bows in submission to Him.

It’s possible to be called by God, to have an interest in spiritual things, to even be presented the gospel of God and yet not be saved. To be saved is to confess your sins, to believe in what God has done through Jesus on the cross to forgive you for your sins and to give you eternal life. I trust that you do not resist submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord, as your God, like Jacob did. That you do not test the Lord’s patience. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

In our ongoing study of Genesis, we come today to one of the greatest love stories found in the Bible. It is the story of Abraham finding a bride for his son Isaac. And though this is an actual history, there is also contained in it an allegory of God the Father finding a bride for his son, Jesus Christ.

The church is the bride of Christ. Paul said in 2 Cor. 11:2 “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present [you as] a chaste virgin to Christ.” And God has appointed a bride for Christ, which is the church.

We see the church as the bride of Christ as spoken of in Eph 5:25-27 which says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”

We saw last week in our study of how Abraham offered up Isaac as a sacrifice, that Isaac was a type of Christ. Isaac was a type of Christ, in that both were were promised before their coming. Both Isaac and Christ appeared at the appointed time. Both were conceived and born miraculously. Both were given a special name before birth. Both were offered up in sacrifice by the father. Both were brought back from the dead. Both were head of a great company to bless all people. And both prepared a place for their bride.

Now let’s look at the story of how this bride for Isaac comes about, bearing in the back of our minds that in many respects this serves as an illustration of the church being chosen as the bride for Christ.

And we find that this search for a bride is initiated by Abraham, Issac’s father. Genesis 24:1-4 “Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in every way. Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, “Please place your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

Abraham has lived a life of faith in the promises that God had made to him, primarily concerning his seed who would live in the land of Canaan, and whose descendants would be a great nation through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed. On the strength of that promise, Abraham had been willing to slay his own son, because he believed so strongly in God’s word concerning Isaac, that he believed that God was able to raise him from the dead.

But part of that promise was that Isaac would have descendants. And at this time, Abraham is 140 years old, and Isaac is 40, and yet Isaac has not found a wife. So I don’t suggest that Abraham is getting worried about God keeping his promises, but at the same time, Abraham would like to see it fulfilled in his lifetime concerning Isaac finding a wife. Abraham and Isaac are living in tents in the wilderness, raising sheep, and there probably weren’t a lot of good prospects for a godly woman running around out there. So based on the promise of God, Abraham calls his servant to commission him to go find a wife for his son.

Now there has been some debate among Bible scholars as to who this servant is. It’s possible that it is Eliezer who he mentions in Genesis 15:2, who he described as the oldest servant of his house. But others see some significance in the fact that in this passage, he is unnamed. As the unnamed servant, some see a type here of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit being a title, not a name, and thus might fit in this picture or type of the unnamed servant who carries out the Father’s will and seeks the bride. And so in this passage you can see a picture of the work of the Trinity, Abraham being a picture of the Father, Isaac being a picture of the Son, Jesus, and the servant being a picture of the Holy Spirit.

That may be true. But some Bible scholars see in the servant a type of the faithful messenger, or minister, who represents the Lord and faithfully delivers His word. I’m not sure which one I see there. But the faithful minister by nature must also be empowered by the Holy Spirit if he is to be effective. And so perhaps both are represented by the servant, who may or may not be Eliezer.

But notice the following about the servant. He truly represented his master, not himself. Jesus said the Holy Spirit will testify of Me. So He told them that his master was great. He told them his master’s son was the heir. He sought out one who would leave her old home and live with the master’s son. And He pressed for a reply.

This oath that Abraham pressed upon the servant was to have him put his hand under his thigh. This may seem indelicate to expand upon, but it was a rite that required that he put his hand under the area where the circumcision takes place, so that there might be a reminder of the covenant of circumcision and the promise to his descendants which would come from his loins.

And notice that Abraham commissions the servant to go to his relatives to find him a wife. As I said, the land that they lived in was a land that was sparsely populated except in the cities, and they were pagan cities. Abraham knows the value of finding a godly wife. And the land of Haran is the place where some of his relatives lived. We saw at the end of chapter 22 that his brother Nahor had married and had eight children, and so by this time there was undoubtedly another generation born unto them who still lived in Haran. And they would seem to be believers in the Most High God. So Abraham has some confidence that there might be a suitable wife to be found there who was a believer. In fact, out of all the possible characteristics that Abraham could be concerned that the wife of his son would have, this seems to be the only one that he mentions. Not that she be beautiful, not that she be able to cook. But that she must be from the people of God.

It’s so important to find a mate that is a believer. A marriage in which one is a believer and one is not, is a marriage that has little chance to survive. Marriage in most cases has little chance to survive all the stress and difficulties of life, and without the Lord as the cornerstone for that marriage, there is very little chance for success. The scripture says in 2 Cor. 6:14-15 “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?”

So this reference to finding a wife from Abraham’s family is a reminder that the bride of Christ must be of the family of God. The passage in 2 Cor. 6 continues, saying, As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among [them]. I will be their God, And they shall be My people. Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”

So in vs 5 The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?” Then Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there! The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this my oath; only do not take my son back there.” So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

It’s possible that Abraham is concerned that he might not live long enough to see his servant carry out his commission, and so he gives him very detailed instructions. And one main concern that Abraham has is that if things don’t go as hoped, that he might take Isaac back to the land of Haran to find a wife. And Abraham knows that would not be according to God’s plan. God has promised to bless Isaac in this land, and if he should go back to Haran there is a good chance that he will stay there. That’s a picture of those who have been chosen by God for salvation going back to the world. As the scripture we just read in 2 Cor. 6 indicates, God says come out from among them and by separate. Do not touch what is unclean. It is a terrible thing to go back to the defilements of the world once you have been cleansed of it.

Vs10 Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of good things of his master’s in his hand; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. He said, “O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’–[may] she [be the one] whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master.”

First notice that ten camels bearing gifts would have been a sign of a very wealthy man. Abraham was very rich in the world’s goods. So the servant takes this very long trip, perhaps 900 miles, and which would have taken many days, bearing the gifts of his master. He goes to the town designated by Abraham and stops on the outskirts where the women would go to the spring to get water. In that culture, it was the women’s job to fetch water.

And so the servant prays to God, and presents to Him a sign that the woman who gives him water and also offers to water his camels would be the one that God had appointed for Isaac. There is an argument for election there for those that would want to press it. The servant is not choosing, nor is the woman choosing Isaac, but God has appointed a woman who will believe and respond. And the servant recognizing this fact, presents a sign for God to show him who it is.

It can be dangerous for us to judge God’s will based on circumstances. Because we tend to see circumstances in the light we want to see them, as they may or may not be in agreement with our desires. But there is a difference in the servant’s approach in that he is not interpreting circumstances as they happen, but he presents them to God before they happen so that he may discern God’s will when and if they happen.

It’s also noteworthy that this is not some slight thing to expect of this young woman. I read that a camel drinks about 20 gallons of water. So this was going to take some time and a lot of energy. I also read in the same place that since there were 10 camels and each drank 20 gallons, then it would have been a good hours worth of work. I take it that person who wrote that has never drawn water out of a well. This isn’t like turning on your tap and watching the buckets fill up. This is hauling buckets from a well, probably one gallon at a time. 200 times. This woman would have to have forearms like Popeye to draw 200 gallons in one hour. It would have taken quite a while, and a lot of strength.

I think that is a pretty good assessment of one of the most important assets in a good wife. She needs to be strong. Able to do a lot of hard work and not get tired. Now it also turns out that Rebecca is beautiful. And that’s also very important. But maybe being strong is more important.

But seriously, I think this test reveals the servant’s idea of the most important quality in a wife. And that is she must have a servant’s heart. That is certainly a desirable character trait for the bride of Christ. And I suppose it’s also an important characteristic of a good wife. That doesn’t mean that she is your slave, however. But that she has a heart to serve, that is humble, and wants to satisfy the needs of her husband and family. That quality is a good thing to find. And it’s interesting that the servant choses this characteristic of a servant’s heart to be the defining thing to show him who God has appointed. Abraham’s servant cared nothing about the woman’s appearance. He wanted a woman of character, a woman whom God had chosen.

Vs 15 Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.” She said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not.

So it turns out that Rebecca is not only strong, not only has a servant’s heart, but is very beautiful. That’s a pretty rare combination, isn’t it? You might find one trait or another, but never usually all three together in one person. And when the Bible tells us that she is very beautiful, we should believe she was very beautiful. But that wasn’t the primary characteristic that God was looking for, nor what the servant was looking for. That was icing on the cake.

But how is the church beautiful to Christ? In the Song of Solomon, the bride is said to be beautiful by the king over 15 times. I would remind you of the scripture in Ephesians 5 we read earlier, which says, vs 25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. “ So the idea is spiritually beautiful, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and blameless. That’s the beauty that God finds attractive.

Vs 22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels in gold, ($5000) and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father’s house?” She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in.” Then the man bowed low and worshiped the LORD. He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”

So it turns out that this is exactly the family that Abraham had wanted his servant to find. And God providentially brought this young woman to him. So he gives here the gifts of jewelry, showing the riches of his master. And as the messenger of God, we should reveal the riches of God to those to whom we present the gospel.

There is an interesting statement that the servant makes which is best known in the KJV. “As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” The statement of interest is “being on the way, the Lord led me.” Someone has said that it’s hard to steer a parked car. Being on the way indicates that before you know the final destination, or how it will all work out, you go where the Lord has told you to go, and then as you are going, the Lord will lead you. We step out in faith, and the Lord will lead us where we are to go.

So vs 29 through 49 the servant is invited to dinner with the family, the head of the family being the brother of Rebekah whose name is Laban. The servant basically retells the entire story to Laban of how Abraham sent him, how he prayed to God about specific details concerning the woman, and how she responded. He concludes in vs48 “And I bowed low and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. So now if you are going to deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left.”

Vs 50, Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The matter comes from the LORD; [so] we cannot speak to you bad or good. “Here is Rebekah before you, take [her] and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken.” When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground before the LORD. The servant brought out articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.

It was obvious from the account the servant gave, that the matter had been decided by the Lord. They wisely said that they could not speak against it. But that didn’t mean that they were totally without guile. But I think that they were unable to argue against the wisdom of God. And so the servant showed gifts of silver and gold and fine things upon her and her family. And the church as well has received great riches as the bride of Christ, and an inheritance that is beyond our imagination. As Paul said to the church in Ephesus, “[I pray that] the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” Ephesians 1:18,19

Vs 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.” But her brother and her mother said, “Let the girl stay with us [a few] days, say ten; afterward she may go.” He said to them, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.” And they said, “We will call the girl and consult her wishes.” Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men. They blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, Become thousands of ten thousands, And may your descendants possess The gate of those who hate them.” Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

Rebekah showed a remarkable willingness to leave everything she knew in order to be with a bridegroom she had never seen. Her words “I will go” were worthy words of faith. I might even suggest that “I will go” could be interpreted as saying the modern marriage equivalent, “I do.” As the scripture says, “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. Rebekah consented to join Isaac as his wife, a man she had never seen. She committed to love him, a man she had never seen, but only heard about though the word of his servant.

What a picture of our commitment to Christ, whom we have not seen. As it says in 1 Peter 1:8-9 “whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see [Him], yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith–the salvation of [your] souls.”

Vs 62 Now Isaac had come from going to Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the Negev. Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel. She said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her veil and covered herself. The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

I would point out that Isaac was out meditating in the field towards evening. I think that indicates that He was rehearsing the promises of God and praying about God’s fulfillment of those promises. And the promise was fulfilled by the arrival of his bride.

In all this, we see the coming together of Isaac and Rebekah as a remarkable picture of the coming together of Jesus and His church. A father desired a bride for his son. The son was reckoned as dead and raised from the dead. A nameless servant was sent forth to get a bride for the son. The beautiful bride was divinely met, chosen, and called, and then lavished with riches. She was entrusted to the care of the servant until she met her bridegroom.

Isaac loved his bride, and Jesus loves His Church. Both Rebekah and the Church: Were chosen for marriage before they knew it (Ephesians 1:3-4). Were necessary for the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose (Ephesians 3:10-11). Were destined to share in the inheritance of the son (John 17:22-23). Learned of the son through his representative. Must leave all to be with the son. Were loved and cared for by the son.

If you are here today and you have not responded to the call of God to become the bride of Christ, then I trust that today you will simply say, “I do.” And be joined to Christ as His bride through the riches of salvation that He freely gives and to live with Him forever and share in the inheritance that He has prepared for you.

Contrary to the prevailing, popular opinion, the creation account is not mythology. It is not an allegory. It’s an actual, historical account which is spoken of as such numerous times in the New Testament, and by Jesus Christ Himself. I am not going to spend a lot of time trying to defend the historicity of the account in Genesis then, but rather try to expound on the historical facts to relate the relevancy and repercussions of the fall to our lives today.

Moses begins by introducing a new character, one he simply calls the serpent. And considering the importance of this figure in the saga of human existence, it’s amazing that he doesn’t elaborate more. But he simply says in vs 1, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.”

I’m sure you have seen many paintings and depictions of the temptation of Adam and Eve, and the serpent is usually pictured as a kind of beguiling, almost cartoonish snake that is in a rather upright position. I think that is somewhat misleading. The Hebrew word for serpent is “nahas”, and one of the possible interpretations of that word is a dragon. Now I know that may sound even more improbable to you than a talking snake, but I believe there is ample evidence that there were dragons in the world before and after the flood, and possibly even until the middle ages. Practically every ancient culture has paintings of dragons dating back hundreds of years, and no matter how isolated they might have been from other cultures, the representations all look very similar.

Theologically it makes little difference if it’s a snake or a dragon, but I believe that the Bible speaks often, especially in Revelation, of the dragon as a symbol of Satan. Furthermore, the Bible describes dragons in various places with terms and descriptions that can really not be concluded to be anything else. So I believe that this serpent is a dragon. You can believe what you want.

Moses says the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field. I don’t necessarily think that this is speaking of the dragon, per se, but it’s a reference to Satan. Satan is a spirit, like all angels are spirits. And we know that demons or Satan can take possession of a human body. So in this event, it would seem that Satan himself had possessed the body of a dragon, and thus was more crafty than any beast of the field. Crafty can also be interpreted as cunning, or shrewd, but all are used in a bad sense.

But that’s about all that Moses has to say about the serpent. Although the ensuing dialogue between the serpent and Eve reveals more about the nature of Satan. But we are not told where he came from. He just appears on the scene. Moses says that he is more shrewd than all the animals that God created, which indicates that God made all creatures, even the dragon, and by extension, even the angels.

I don’t want to get sidetracked here on demonology but I will point out that nowhere in the creation account is there a mention of God creating angels. You could say that possibly in the creation of the stars there could be an allusion to angels. And so possibly the angels were created with the stars. However, I don’t think that is what is implied there, as it specifically says that the stars were lights in the heavens. That would seem to be a reference to actual stars, not angels. And furthermore, I find it hard to believe the Creator God did nothing for billions and billions of years until suddenly one week He created everything that exists, everything in the spiritual realm, and everything in the physical realm.

Furthermore, I think that the Biblical description of the fall of Satan from heaven in Isaiah 14 probably speaks of an event that predates Creation by a considerable amount of time. But that is supposition on my part, however I think there is some evidence for that theory. Moses however, doesn’t really introduce Satan, because I think Satan was already in existence. Satan had already fallen from heaven and taken 1/3 of the angels with him. And I think that Satan and his angels had been exiled to earth which prior to creation was a dark, formless and void, water covered lump of coal floating in space. And so upon creation Satan’s goal was to destroy God’s creation, especially the object of God’s love, which is man.

So Satan’s strategy then towards that end is revealed in the next couple of verses. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” Notice that Satan grossly exaggerates God’s prohibition. God had said you shall not eat of one tree in the garden. Satan says, “Has God said you cannot eat from any tree of the garden?” I also think that his starting with the word “Indeed!” Is a type of mockery. It’s like someone saying “Really?!! Are you kidding me?”

So Satan mocks the word of God. And he questions the word of God. Satan’s strategy has not changed today. He still questions the word of God. “Does it really mean that?? Are you seriously thinking that God meant that?”And by questioning God’s word, he gives Eve an opportunity to defend God. But for some reason, Eve ends up exaggerating as well. Vs 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” God never said you could not touch it. He said you shall not eat from it. Adding to the word of God or taking away from the word of God is just another way to rebel against God’s word. But we will give Eve the benefit of the doubt, and say that was an innocent mistake on her part.

But now the serpent moves from mocking God’s word, to questioning God’s word, to exaggerating God’s word, and then to flat out lying. Vs 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!” Satan says that God isn’t telling the truth when He said that you will surely die. God is just trying to be a kill joy. Satan is saying that there will not be any consequences to sin. This is still the strategy that Satan employs today. Questions God’s word. Twists God’s word. And flat out lies and denies God’s word.

Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 8:44 that Satan was a liar and the father of lies. “You are of [your] father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own [nature,] for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

So basically Satan promises that they will not die, and furthermore that God isn’t telling the truth. He is promising that there will not be any repercussions from disobedience. You know, you could argue that Adam and Eve did not know death, and so they did not really understand the full ramifications of death. But even if that were true, that does not excuse them.

This also eliminates another common excuse for man’s sin today, which is that man is a product of their environment. That a person is not really responsible for their sin because they are just a product of a bad environment. Adam and Eve lived in a perfect environment. They needed nothing. Everything God created was good. And yet they still sinned against God. The truth is, that man will do whatever he thinks he can get away with. If there is no punishment, then there is nothing to stop man from choosing to sin.

Then to Satan’s denial of God’s word with an outright lie, he adds another layer of deception, which was to demean the character of God. He says in vs5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So not only are there no repercussions from doing evil, but Satan says that there is a blessing in it that God doesn’t want you to enjoy.

And this is really a multifaceted deception. First he says your eyes will be opened and you will be like God. Isn’t that a good thing? Aren’t we told in scripture that we are to be conformed to the image of Christ? So it would seem that it would be a good thing to be like God. As far as knowing good and evil, the devil seems to be saying that God knows good and evil, and it’s not a bad thing. God is trying to withhold something from you that is good, that is pleasurable. God is actually then not good, because He is trying to control you and keep you from having fun, or having some good thing.

In all of this temptation and dialogue, Eve is beginning to question God’s goodness. The very nature of God is what is being decided here by Eve. She begins to think that she knows better than God what is good or right. It looks good to eat to her. It is desirable in that it makes you like God. It seems right in her eyes. It will make her smarter, wiser. And the devil’s suggestions and lies reinforce to her the rightness of her thinking.

Then comes the most fateful, tragic statement in the entirety of human history. Vs. 6 “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make [one] wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

Sin is rebellion against God’s word. 1John 2:16 defines that rebellion; “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” Eve’s sin covered all three characteristics of sin. The lust of the flesh; she saw that the tree was good for food. The lust of the eyes; she saw that it was a delight to the eyes. And the pride of life; she saw that it was desirable to make one wise.

And so it met her criteria. So she took of the fruit and ate. We don’t know what the fruit looked like. It may have been an apple, it may have been something else. But it looked good, and I’m sure it tasted good. The Bible says that sin is pleasurable for a season. But the end thereof is death. Getting drunk is fun for a little while. Having immoral sex is fun for a few minutes. Eating of the forbidden fruit tasted good for as long as it lasted.

You know, when I was taught this story growing up, I was always under the impression that Adam was off working somewhere in the garden and Eve was on her own. But if you notice vs 6, “she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” The indication in scripture is that Adam was with Eve when she was being lied to and tempted by the serpent. Now what that means I’m not sure. But if it is true, it is much more damning to Adam than I originally thought. Because if he was there, then he abrogated his responsibility of headship in the marriage to Eve, and let the devil take advantage of her. He heard everything, and yet did not defend her or God.

There was obviously some reason that Satan picked Eve and not Adam to go after. I’m not sure what that reason is, but in some way, Satan must have believed that she would be more vulnerable to his strategy. And Adam, poor guy, he couldn’t see anything but his love for Eve. Eve may have been seduced by the serpent, but Adam was seduced by Eve. Adam was willing to sacrifice anything for her, including his life. Paul says in 1Ti 2:14 “And [it was] not Adam [who] was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”

But make no mistake, both sinned. Hers was a sin of initiative. His was a sin of acquiescence. Eve was deceived, but Adam sinned with his eyes wide open. But when they ate of the fruit, then their eyes were opened to carnal knowledge. They knew good and evil. But not as God knew good and evil. Someone explained it this way. God knew evil the way a surgeon knows cancer. He knows it intellectually. The patient though knows cancer experientially. And that is an important distinction. Knowing good and evil did not make them like God. It made them evil. Sin is a cancer that metastasizes quickly, spreading from one little act into a way of thinking and decisions that are in opposition to God.

And with sin comes shame. Vs.7, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.” The knowledge of their sinfulness made them aware of their nakedness. That wasn’t a problem before their sin, but sin opened their eyes to their sinfulness and brought shame.

The solution to their shame though wasn’t to turn to God and seek forgiveness. But it was to try to cover up their sinfulness. I’m reminded of David’s sin with Bathsheba, and how he tried to cover up his sin, by having her husband killed. Sin begets sin. And even when we try to hide our sin, then we err even more.

Adam and Eve looked for the largest leaves they could find, which happened to be fig leaves, and sewed them together to make loin cloths for themselves. We can just imagine that wasn’t sufficient. Our efforts to cover our sin, to make amends for our sins are never enough. God sees the heart. Fig leaves don’t make any difference to God. What you do behind closed doors is not hidden from God. What you whisper in the ear is heard by God. What a man thinks in his heart is known by God.

Heb 4:13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” And yet how many times do we think we have gotten away with our sin because no one saw it. And how often we think because there is no immediate punishment then God doesn’t really care.

But God does care. He cared for Adam and Eve. And He came to them to hold them accountable. Vs 8, “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”

The indication from the original language is that the Lord was in the habit of walking in the evening to fellowship with Adam and Eve. Another interesting thing is that they heard the sound of the Lord walking. So this would be a physical manifestation of the Lord. That’s what is known as a theophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ.

But rather than running to meet the Lord, Adam and Eve run from the Lord and try to hide. Imagine, running from the only One who can help them. Vs 9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” This is the cry of an anguished Father. Of course God knew where they were already. But He wanted them to recognize where they were. They weren’t in fellowship with God. They were hiding from God. They were running from the Lord.

God was giving them an opportunity to see where they were, to see that they had sinned, to repent, to come to Him in repentance. God was initiating their restoration, as He does in our salvation. He comes to seek and to save those that are lost. And thank God for it. Because in our foolishness and sinfulness and blindness, we tend to run from the only One who can help us.

So Adam answers God’s question. Vs 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And [God] said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave [to be] with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Sin made Adam afraid of God’s presence and afraid of God’s voice. Ever since Adam, men run from God’s presence and don’t want to listen to His Word. God knew the answer to this question of who told you that you were naked? He asked it because He wanted Adam to make the best of a tragic situation by repenting right then and there, but Adam didn’t come clean and repent before God.

Instead, good old chivalrous Adam blamed his sin on his wife. And notice actually he blames God for giving him Eve for his wife. A few minutes earlier, Adam was willing to rebel against God and even die for the sake of being with his wife. Now that his eyes are opened to evil, he turns against his wife and blames her for his sin, and also by extension blames God for giving her to him. You talk about falling from grace. Part of Adam’s punishment is going to be that he has to live for 900 or so years with this woman that he has just maligned. I’m sure he never heard the end of that.

Of course I’m kidding, but it does reveal how drastically Adam’s nature changed immediately after the fall. And that is what we inherit from Adam. We don’t inherit from Adam that particular sin, but the sin nature that comes from rebellion against God. And then notice that Eve blames the serpent. Like Flip Wilson used to say, “the devil made me do it.” She didn’t want to accept the blame either. But she does admit that she ate of the tree.

So sin brings the curse. First the curse is given to the serpent. vs14 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

It would seem that God actually curses the serpent or the dragon. In some way, the dragon must have been complicit in it’s part in the temptation by Satan. He would no longer be upright, but be on his belly. And the serpent would be hated by men. I believe that tends to be generally true of snakes, but I suppose it was also true of dragons, to the point that they were hunted until they became extinct.

The second part of the curse is directed against Satan himself. God placed a natural animosity between Satan and mankind. Enmity has the idea of ill will, hatred, and a mutual antagonism. Satan’s hatred of man was already in effect — but now man will, generally speaking, have antagonism towards Satan. But especially, the second Adam, who is Jesus Christ, would be against Satan, and defeat Satan, and will one day destroy him by throwing him into the lake of fire.

God says to Satan concerning the seed of the woman, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” In this, God prophesies the doom of Satan, showing that the real battle is between Satan and the Seed of the Woman. There is no doubt this is a prophecy of Jesus’ ultimate defeat of Satan. God announced that Satan would wound the Messiah (you shall bruise His heel), but the Messiah would crush Satan with a mortal wound (He shall bruise your head). In this statement, God was announcing His plan of salvation for man, to bring deliverance through the one called the Seed of the woman.

This prophecy also gives the first hint of the virgin birth, declaring the Messiah — the Deliverer — would be of the Seed of the Woman, but not the seed of the man. Because through Adam, the first man, the sin nature was passed on. Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” So by Adam the sin nature is inherited, thus by the virgin birth Christ did not possess the sin nature. He was the spotless, sinless, Lamb of God who was slain for our sins, and by His death He took the sting of death away. Heb 2:14-15 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

God prophesying Satan’s defeat when the devil had seemingly won the victory shows God that knew what He was doing all along. God’s plan wasn’t defeated when Adam and Eve sinned because God’s plan was to bring forth something greater than man in the innocence of Eden. God wanted more than innocent man; His plan was to bring forth redeemed man.

Then God cursed the man and the woman. vs16-19 To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

These curses show that God did not ever intend that immediately upon eating the fruit that they would die. But as I said last week, what died immediately was their spirit, that essence of their being that would have fellowship with God, that could worship God. Physically, they would eventually die, but in Adam’s case it was 930 years later. That seems like forever to us, but in actuality it was but a day in light of eternity. But in the process of living until that death, God multiplied hardships upon the man and the woman and in fact, cursed the earth. All of creation became under the curse of sin.

Romans 8:20-22 “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” So in effect, both Adam and Eve’s curse was applied to the earth itself in some measure.

Vs20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all [the] living. The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.” Adam named her Eve, even though she was not a mother at all at the time. She was not even pregnant yet. Adam named her in faith, trusting God would bring forth a deliverer from the woman because God said He would defeat Satan through the Seed of the woman.

And in order for Adam and Eve to be clothed, a sacrifice had to be made. An animal had to die. Without shedding of blood there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22). Guilty Adam and Eve were clothed with a garment that was purchased with the innocent life of another. They were saved through substitutionary atonement. And in the same way, we are clothed with a garment of righteousness that was purchased with the life of another, Jesus Christ.

This grace of God, together with their faith in God’s promise, indicates that Adam and Eve were rescued from their sinful condition. Adam had faith in God’s promise of a Savior, and God provided a covering for them through a sacrifice. I believe that every indication is that they were justified by faith, and therefore were saved from death, because they believed that One would come from the seed of the woman who would take their place by dying for their sin, and provide His righteousness for their covering. We are saved in the same way, by faith in Christ, given the grace of God unto salvation. The innocent taking the place in death for the guilty, that we might be covered in the garment of righteousness through Jesus Christ and be given eternal life.

The first four words in the Bible really set the basis for our theology. “In the beginning, God…” God does not offer evidence for His existence. He does not tell us how or when He came into being. And as the rest of the first chapter of Genesis unfolds, we aren’t really given a lot of detail or scientific evidence about how the earth or how humans came into being either. Though a lot of things presented in the Bible can be corroborated by science, or by verified history, God doesn’t seem to be concerned about trying to prove that He exists, or prove that He created the world, but He expects us to believe in Him by faith.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” The point is, that if you can believe that God exists, that in the beginning was God, then you should be able to believe in creation and everything else that God tells us in the scriptures. And God’s word says that creation is evidence enough for a person to believe in God. Rom 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

So as a person who is not a scientist, nor particularly educated in the sciences such as biology or astronomy or any of the sciences, I would be amiss if I were to try to explain creation according to some scientific criteria. Neither will I try to debunk evolution. I think evolution requires as much faith to believe as does creation. I think that you could make the argument that evolution isn’t really science, but a form of religion. And you can choose which religion to believe. But I would say that you cannot logically say you believe in the God of the Bible and yet believe in evolution as well. You must choose between one or the other. If you believe in the first four words of the Bible, then you will have no trouble believing in the rest of the story. But if you don’t believe in creation, then you obviously do not believe in the God of the Bible.

Last time we started with that premise of “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and we didn’t get much further than that. We introduced the first day, when God said, “Let there be light.” And we said that “in the beginning” has no beginning. God existed from eternity past which has no beginning as we can understand it. And I must confess I certainly cannot understand eternity, past or future. My mind balks at trying to comprehend eternity. But somewhere in eternity past God created the heavens and the earth and that includes all that is in our universe. And as Paul said, when you consider the creation, all that God has made, it should reveal to you the eternal nature of God. The finite explains the infinite.

In the first stage of creation, Genesis says “the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The earth was made of some form of earth, and water covered the earth. It was a water covered orb in space, and in some fashion the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the water.

Some critics have tried to say the Biblical description of creation is only an allegory. I don’t believe that. I think it’s a literal description. God was somehow controlling, keeping together all the elements that made up the earth. I suppose that at that time the Spirit of God set the earth’s rotation and orbit in motion, and is perhaps still controlling that rotation and orbit. Or maybe once the Spirit of God set it in motion, it continues in perpetual motion. I don’t know, but I believe that the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters for some reason, and to some effect. And I believe that in some way the universe is still under His control. Col 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.”

Then God said… might have been an hour later, might have been eons later, we don’t know. Then, or you could interpret then as next, God said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” That indicates it happened immediately. God said it, and it happened immediately. And perhaps due to the rotation of the earth in relation to the light, there was evening and their was morning, one day. Light came into being on day one. And time began to be counted with the advent of light.

Notice Moses says that God divided the light from darkness. All of this was accomplished without the sun, moon or stars yet created. The light then was a supernatural light, the light of God. God is light, and He manifested His light unto the world. But there was darkness which God called night, and light which God called day. And evening and morning constituted one day. We know today that evening and morning constitutes 24 hours, and 24 hours are in one day. So I think it’s clear that scripture defines a day in regards to the creation as a literal day.

There is no need to try to accommodate science and say that a day could be a thousand years, or a million years. And actually, for evolution to even have a remote chance of being possible in the minds of it’s scientists, they don’t need millions of years, they need billions of years. So it’s pointless to try to stretch a 24 hour day into some million year age. We believe a supernatural God supernaturally created the earth and all that is in it in 6 literal days.

After the first day of creation, there is the work of the second day. Vs 6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which [were] under the firmament from the waters which [were] above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.”

Some translations of the Bible interpret firmament as an expanse. The waters of the land are separated from the water vapor in the sky. Some creationists think that there was a significant type of blanket of water vapor in the sky. This canopy of water above the earth would have created a very different environment and climate on the earth than what we have today.

Henry Morris said of this water canopy; “The waters above the firmament thus probably constituted a vast blanket of water vapor above the troposphere and possibly above the stratosphere as well, in the high temperature region now known as the ionosphere, and extending far into space.” It would serve as a global greenhouse, maintaining an essentially uniform, pleasant temperature all over the world.

Without great temperature variations, there would be no significant winds, and the water-rain cycle could not form. There would be no rain, as we know it today. There would be lush, tropical-like vegetation all over the world, fed not by rain, but by an evaporation and condensation cycle, resulting in heavy dew or ground-fog.

This vapor blanket would filter out ultraviolet radiation, cosmic rays, and other destructive energies bombarding the planet. These are known to be the cause of mutations, which are said to decrease human longevity. So under this canopy human and animal lifespans would be greatly increased. A vapor blanket would also provide the necessary reservoir for a potential worldwide flood. And notice Moses repeats the statement, that there was evening and morning, marking the second day.

Vs 9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry [land] appear”; and it was so. And God called the dry [land] Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that [it was] good. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb [that] yields seed, [and] the fruit tree [that] yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed [is] in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb [that] yields seed according to its kind, and the tree [that] yields fruit, whose seed [is] in itself according to its kind. And God saw that [it was] good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.”

Having separated the water of the earth by an expanse, having water above and the water below on the second day, now on the third day God separates the water on the earth to let dry land appear. Some creationists imagine that at this point in creation the land formed one large continent surrounded by water, rather than the various continents that we have today. God called the dry land Earth, and the water He called Seas.

On this same day, God created grass, herbs and trees. The plants were created not as seeds, but as full-grown plants each bearing seeds. So they were created as mature plants, having the appearance of age. Someone has speculated, I believe correctly, that the trees bore growth rings, and yet were created in one day. God built in age in His creation. That answers the great question, which came first, the chicken or the egg? The answer is that the chicken came first. Now you know.

Notice also the repeated statement in each day of the creation account; And God saw that it was good. There can be no good without God. God is good. God did not create evil. But God created good. I would suggest that the devil created evil. And in turn man creates evil. But God creates good.

So the earth was created, and the foliage of the earth was created, but as of the third day there was no sun, only the light of God. Vs 14, Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; [He made] the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”

God made the sun and the moon — these lights in the firmament of the heavens to be for signs and seasons. Since the beginning, man has used God’s provision of the sun, moon, and stars to mark and measure time and direction. Already had God used light to mark a day, evening and morning, but now He adds the sun and moon and the stars as physical manifestations of light. And man being able to track the sun and moon and stars is able to differentiate seasons and days and months and years. These orbits are not random, sporadic movements, but are very mathematical calculations which were set in motion by intelligent design.

Now I am unable to articulate it all scientifically, but the sun and moon especially exert gravitational forces on the earth which control many aspects of our climate and tides and even the orbit and rotation of the earth. So in the beginning when God made the heavens and the earth He was the light, and the Spirit of God controlled the earth. But at this point in creation God appoints the sun and moon and stars to give light, and the gravitational forces of those objects control the direction and orbit and rotation of the earth as well as other significant factors like climate and tides and so forth. Scientists tell us that the Earth orbits around the Sun at an average speed of about 67,000 miles per hour. This forward motion is crucial in counteracting the pull of gravity from the Sun and the Moon. There is obviously a critical, delicate balance in gravity in regards to the earth’s orbit which makes Earth habitable at all, and keeps life from either burning up or freezing, that provides enough gravity to keep us on the earth and yet doesn’t pin us to the ground. The thought that all of that is the result of random chance requires much more blind faith than believing in intelligent design.

Vs 20 Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

One of the primary characteristics of God is that He is Creator. Again and again in Isaiah we read where God extolls the fact that He created the heavens and the earth. And what is really amazing to consider is the immense diversity in creation. It’s interesting that God takes a day to create sky and sea creatures, the fish and the birds, and then another day to create land born creatures. But consider how many different species of fish and birds He created. One scientific source has concluded that there are 18,000 different species of birds, and possibly more still to be discovered. Plus what is possibly now extinct. Google says that there are 33000 species of fish. It’s really incredible to research all the different species and with modern technology such as computers, to see how incredibly diverse fish are, with a vast array of amazing designs and colors. Again, a testament to a Almighty Creator. So many attributes of fish and birds that have no evolutionary reason for their existence or color or shape according to necessity, but it would seem just because God enjoyed creating incredible creatures.

Day six. Vs 24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.”

All animal life was created according to its kind. God deliberately created plenty of variation within a kind, but one “kind” does not become another. For example, the teacup poodle is very different from the Great Dane, but they are both dogs. However, they will never become mice, no matter how much breeding is done or how much time elapses. Evolutionists often give convincing examples of microevolution, the variation of a kind within its kind, adapting to the environment. But there has been no change outside of the kind. Microevolution does not prove macroevolution.

And then God created the crowning achievement of creation on the sixth day. Vs 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, [I have given] every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

First of all, notice the repeated use of the plural pronouns (Let Us… in Our image, according to Our likeness) which is consistent with the idea that there is One God in three Persons, what we call the Trinity. So our fundamental understanding of who God is, is taught in Genesis 1. And secondly, an understanding of who man is begins with knowing we are made in the image of God. Man is different from every other order of created beings because He is created in the image of God, according to His likeness. Man was created spirit, soul and body, and in that sense, we are made in His likeness. Man is distinct from the animal kingdom in that they are not only physical beings, but spiritual beings. And only in spirit can we have fellowship with God. We were created to have fellowship with God.

Notice also that man was made to rule over the world, both the plant and animal kingdoms. When God created man, He decreed that man would have dominion over the earth. Man’s pre-eminence of the created order and his ability to affect and care for his environment is part of God’s plan for man and the earth. But notice that the earth was made for man, not man for the earth. Creation is in opposition to the tenets of evolution and the religion of environmentalism which says that man is evil for utilizing nature. But creation says that nature was made for man, and man has a responsibility to rule over it responsibly. The earth was made for man, to support his life and to provide for his needs. God gave man dominion over the whole earth, but only vegetation is specifically mentioned as being for food. Seemingly, before the flood, the human race was vegetarian, but after the flood, man was given permission to eat the flesh of animals (Genesis 9:3), if not the necessity to eat meat. We may discuss that further when we get to chapter 9.

But we are plainly told God created man fully formed, and created him in one day, not gradually over millions of years of progressive evolution. It’s impossible to conceive of a man that was only partially evolved to even survive, much less continue to reproduce and populate the earth. So man was made fully formed, fully mature, with all the signs of having lived already on the day that he was made.

Now there is some speculation and debate among Bible scholars as to whether or not Eve was created in the same day as Adam. I personally am of the opinion that on day six God made man, Adam, singular. But in making man, God created the blueprint for male and female, and put the DNA and chromosomes necessary for male and female in the body of Adam. Now I cannot be dogmatic about that, but reading chapter 2 it is difficult to see all of the planting of the garden, the order to Adam to tend to the garden, the naming of the all the animals and creatures in creation, all of that to occur in 24 hours. I suppose it’s possible but I don’t see that it’s necessary to see all of that happening in one day.

Furthermore, I believe God delayed the creation of woman by some indefinite period of time to illustrate a greater principle, which answers the question of why God created man to begin with. In chapter 2, after creating man, God says it is not good for man to be alone. Obviously, that means that man was created alone at first. But although God intended from the beginning to make man a helper, a mate, yet He allows some time to elapse as God brings all the animals of creation before Adam to name them. The result was that Adam did not find in all of creation a mate suitable for him. Then after that fruitless search, God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and God made woman from his rib.

Now I think that could very well illustrate something that may have occurred before Creation. I know it’s speculation on my part to some extent, but I can’t help but think this is the reason the Bible presents the creation of man and woman in this way. We know that God is the Creator, creation of immense diversity of creatures is a primary characteristic of God. But perhaps at some point in eternity past, God looked at all the creatures, all the heavenly hosts if you will, in all the galaxies that He has made, and God found no creature suitable to be a help mate for Him.

And so God created man in His image, in His likeness. God desired a help mate to share life with, to be His bride, to have fellowship with. And God chose to create man for that purpose. The Westminster Shorter Catechism first question asks, What is the chief end of man? And the answer given is, Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.

As we will see in our next study, in all of creation, God spoke everything into existence. God needed only to speak things into existence, and it was so. Yet with man we see a different approach. With man, God formed him out of the clay of the ground, presumably with His hands, and breathed the breath of life into His nostrils. We see an intimacy there that is unmatched in the rest of creation. One can almost visualize the love that God has toward man, stooping to scoop up the clay, lovingly forming him into His own likeness, and then bending down in almost a kiss to breath the breathe of life into Him.

Now I hope that imagery is not offensive in some way, either God or to you. But I do think it perhaps answers the question why God created man, and how God loves us enough to die for us. I think it reinforces the principle that man was made for God, for fellowship with God. But I realize that I also have taken liberties with the word of God that are not explicitly stated in scripture. But I hope that I am not being presumptuous in my speculation.

The last day of creation is one where God rests from His work. Ch. 2 vs 1, Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

God did not need rest on the seventh day because He was tired. God rested to show His creating work was done, to give a pattern to man regarding the structure of time (in seven-day weeks), and to give an example of the blessing of rest to man on the seventh day. God sanctified the seventh day because it was a gift to man for rest and replenishment, and most of all because the Sabbath is a shadow or illustration of the rest available through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 2:16-17 and Galatians 4:9-11 make it clear that Christians are not under obligation to observe the Sabbath today because Jesus fulfilled the purpose and plan of the Sabbath for us and in us (Hebrews 4:9-11). Though God rested on the seventh day of creation, He did not institute the Sabbath as an ordinance for man at that point or show us His rest for His own sake. God does not take the Sabbath off. Jesus Himself said, My Father has been working until now, and I have been working (John 5:17). God does not need a day off, but man needs to see the finished work of God and know he can enter into that rest by the finished work of Jesus.

The description of each other day of creation ended with the phrase, so the evening and the morning were the second day and so forth. However, this seventh day of creation does not have that phrase. This is because God’s rest for us isn’t confined to one literal day. In the new creation, God has an eternal Sabbath rest for His people.

Heb. 4:9-16 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through [following] the same example of disobedience.

2Cor. 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.

Today, as we are on the cusp of beginning a new year, we are going to begin a new series on the book of Genesis. Genesis is a book of beginnings. The word Genesis literally means origins. It is a record of the beginning of time, the beginning of the earth, the beginning of the animal kingdom, the beginning of man, the origin of marriage, the origin of sin. There are many other firsts that we will see as we study through this book. But I call this a series in Genesis, because it will not be a complete exegesis of every chapter and verse, but an expose of significant passages that form the foundation of the gospel.

The foundations of our theology are established in Genesis. For example, the doctrines of the trinity -God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the creation of everything that exists by the expression of God’s will, the fall of man, redemption, judgment, and the kingdom of God. The foundation of the gospel is presented in Genesis, and without a firm faith in the truth of Genesis as the word of God, I believe it is impossible to be saved. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith [it is] impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and [that] He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

That being said, it is important to know that though Moses is said in scripture to be the human author of Genesis, the inspiration of the word was by the Holy Spirit. 2Peter 1: 21 “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke [as they were] moved by the Holy Spirit.”

And 2Tim. 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

So in actuality, God is the author of Genesis. He was the only one that was around to witness it. That’s important to keep in mind because if you begin to study the origins of the world in many academic institutions both religious and secular, you will very quickly be told that there were multiple authors of Genesis that altered and added to it’s account down through the centuries. So that what we have today is a mishmash of traditions and myths and handed down stories all edited and combined together in such a way as to make it completely unreliable and actually a creation myth that is not dissimilar to other creation myths such as the Babylonian epics like the Enuma Elish.

But of course, modern academic criticism doesn’t believe in the divine inspiration of scripture at all. However, if we are to have Biblical faith, saving faith, then we must believe in the literal interpretation of scripture according to it’s literary context, as we have received it. A creationism theologian by the name of Henry Morris said, “The only proper way to interpret Genesis 1 is not to ‘interpret’ it at all. That is, we accept the fact that it was meant to say exactly what it says.”

So we don’t rely upon Moses having reliable documents or verbal traditions to guide him or to use as a reference. We don’t rely upon ancient rabbinic editors who added or changed Genesis to suit their preferences or teach a particular view point. We rely on God to speak through his servant Moses the truth concerning Himself and His creation, and His salvation of man, and to guard His word and establish His word for all generations to come.

The most reliable interpretation of scripture comes from scripture itself. Someone has counted over 200 quotations or allusions from Genesis in the New Testament. And probably one of the best interpretations or explanations of the creation account is found in John 1, starting in vs 1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

So notice the correlation between John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” And John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” John is actually writing a commentary on Genesis 1:1, expounding details that were not fully made clear in Genesis.

But first I want you to notice that phrase, “in the beginning.” In Genesis, you might suppose that to mean that at the beginning of creation, God began to create the earth. But according to John, there is more to the phrase “in the beginning” than simply a starting point of creation. Because John goes on to stress the eternal nature of God by saying of the Word; “He was in the beginning with God.”

There is no starting point in “in the beginning with God.” God is eternal. He was before all things. As was God in the beginning, so was the Word in the beginning. Paul says in Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible [attributes] are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”

So many scriptures speak of the eternal nature of God that I cannot begin to quote them all here, but we see it in Psalm 93:2 which says, “Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.” And Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” His eternal nature is essential to our salvation, because the great gift of salvation is eternal life. And if God is not eternal, then how could He give eternal life? So our salvation is bound up in the doctrine of God being eternal.

The next word I would like to address this morning is the name of God given in vs 1, which is Elohim. Hebrew scholars tell us that this word is plural, which speaks of the Godhead, the trinity. That plural aspect of God is further borne out by the phrase in vs 26, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’” Once again notice that the plural pronouns are used in reference to God. And of course that correlates with what John said about the Word being in the beginning with God and active in the creation of all things.

Someone has pointed out that you can see all three persons of the Godhead at work in Genesis; Elohim in vs 1, the Spirit of God moving on the water in vs 2, and the Word of God speaking in vs 3, “Then God said…” The concept of the Word being one of the Godhead is established in John’s account. So believing in God as He is described in scripture is essential to our salvation as we read earlier from Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith [it is] impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and [that] He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

So then “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. The word create in the ancient Hebrew means to bring forth something out of nothing. God didn’t use preexisting materials. God spoke the world and the heavens into existence, from nothing into something. Psalm 33:6 says, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.” The creative power of the word of God is beyond our comprehension.

John 1:3 says “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” It’s important to understand that everything was made by Him. God created everything that exists. Everything spiritual, everything physical, everything in the heavens. Col. 1:16-17 speaking of the Son of God says, “For by Him all things were created, [both] in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Paul refers in 2 Cor. 12 to there being three heavens. He said he was caught up into the third heaven. Theologians have determined that there are three heavens; the first is our atmosphere, the region of the clouds, the second heaven is the sphere of the stars, and the third heaven is the sphere of God. I’m not sure how that looks, since they may not be stacked upon one another but intermingled in some way. In other words, the third heaven may not be beyond the farthest star, but somehow between the particles which make up our atmosphere. I don’t know. There may be even more than three heavens. But one thing’s for sure, God made the heavens and all the occupants of the heavens.

I must confess that there is a part of me that wants to believe that there is an indefinite period of time between vs 1 and vs 3. There is something in theological circles called the Gap Theory which says that there was a space of time between vs 1 and 3 which may have been millions of years long. I can see that as plausible just from reading those verses, and it lends itself to explaining the geophysical age of the earth. But the Gap Theory also claims that there was a previous creation which God had destroyed and part of the judgment of God was that He condemned Satan to the confinement of the earth. And so they see the chaos and darkness that covered the earth as evidence of that.

I don’t think that scripture supports that theory in the full dimension of what they claim. I don’t think the fossil record is from a previous creation, but rather is evidence of the flood. I believe the Bible teaches only one creation on earth. But I do think that it is possible that the earth and the heavens were dormant for possibly millions of years before creation, and the earth was just formless and void.

But I have to say I cannot be dogmatic about that view in light of further study of this passage. And that’s due to the events of day four. Because on day four God created the sun and the moon and the stars. So that would seem to indicate that the entire universe was created on day four. I don’t know if that includes other galaxies or not. I would tend to think that God made other galaxies prior to ours, but I don’t know that there is any support for that one way or another. But it seems that on the basis of scripture, God created our universe in the six days of creation.

I do find it odd though that the creation of the earth is described in this way by Moses, which seems to imply a separate act of creation in creating the heavens and earth, and then in vs 3 another definitive aspect of creation, that being light, which happens on day 1. The best explanation that I can come up with is that Moses says in the beginning, an indefinite period of time, God created the heavens and the earth. But the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. We know from further reading that there is earth under the water because on day two God separates the water and dry land appears. But in the beginning, for an indefinite period of time, there is globular form of water suspended in space.

I find it interesting that when scientists search for evidence of life on other planets, the primary thing they want to find is evidence of water. Without water there can be no life as we know it. And as far as we know, the earth is the only planet that has water in any sort of liquid form.

But scientists tell us that they believe there is something in the universe called dark matter and dark energy. I don’t even begin to understand it, but they seem to think that the mass–energy content of the universe is 5% ordinary matter, 26.8% dark matter, and 68.2% a form of energy known as dark energy. I don’t understand any of that, except to say that according to scripture the heavens and the earth were created and yet the sun, moon and stars had not yet been created. One noted scientist has said that dark matter is the glue that holds all the universe together. I believe that is actually God Himself, or as Moses says here, the Spirit of God moved across the waters. Col 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Notice also what Hebrews 1:3 says, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. So even in the beginning of creation, God is moving, controlling, energizing His creation. Holding the waters of the earth together. Holding the universe together. Without that power of God over His creation, the entire universe would explode and scatter across space.

Now let’s assume that in the beginning God made the matter which constitutes the heavens and the earth, and that existed for an indefinite period of time. But when God makes the light on day one, it does not become a day until He makes light appear. The light separates the darkness, and makes one day. That day does not exist until there is light.

Let’s read that. Vs 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”

So the The first day of creation is defined by the manifestation of light. Notice I don’t say that God created light because the scripture doesn’t say God created light. On day four God creates the lights in the heavens, the sun, moon and stars. But on this day one, God says let there be light. John 1:4-5 “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

But on day one, God said, “let there be light.” If there is no sun, moon or stars yet created, then where does the light come from? The only answer is that the light comes from God. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” 1John 1:5 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

Now you may say correctly that the gospel is light. But you must also remember that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” But however we try to explain it, there was light which God commanded to appear to the world and it was so. It is the light of God, so I say it was not created, because God was not created, but it was manifested to the world. 2Cor. 4:6 “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

So Genesis tells us that light, day, and night each existed before the sun and the moon were created on the fourth day. This shows us that light is more than a physical substance; it also has a supernatural aspect. It says in Revelation 22:5 that in the new heavens and the new earth, there won’t be any sun or moon. God Himself will be the light.

The other important thing to consider about this statement is that God created time. Time is relevant only to our universe, and a day is calculated by the cycle of evening and morning. A day is defined as evening and morning. So the rotation of the earth in relation to the light constitutes one day. And we have further divided a day into 24 hours. This concept of time is important to understand because God exists outside of our time space continuum. And further, it refutes the theory of Theistic Evolution, which is a belief that the day spoken of in Genesis actually refers to an age that may have lasted for thousands, if not millions of years in order to correlate to evolution.

So the creation of the world and all that is in it happened in six literal days, as defined by evening and morning. And that should not be something that is difficult to believe, if you believe that God created the heavens and the earth, or if you believe in the eternal nature of God. But if you do not believe in God as eternal, then neither will you believe in His gospel.

Jesus said in John 5:46-47 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

So if we believe what Moses said concerning the origin of the heavens and the earth, then we must believe that God Himself was before the beginning in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We must believe that before creation there was a plan of God. Eph 3:11 says [This was] in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We must believe the mission of Jesus was foreordained before the foundation of the world. 1Peter 1:20 says, “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”

We must believe that eternal life was promised before time began: Titus 1:2 says, “in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.”

We must believe that the mystery of the gospel (the cross) was foreordained before the ages: 1 Corinthians 2:7 “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory.”

We must believe the grace given unto us was given before the world began: 2 Timothy 1:9 “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”

And we must believe that believers in Jesus Christ were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world: Ephesians 1:4 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”

Do you believe what the word of God says concerning what happened in the beginning? Then believe also in Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 12:46 “I have come [as] Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”

And He said in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.”
As Jesus prayed with the disciples before His crucifixion, in John 17:3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

One of my favorite Christmas carols is “What Child is this?” And I think that this carol asks the quintessential question of all mankind, what is this Child that was born of Mary. It’s a question that hopefully you have answered in your heart. The answer to this question is declared by the angel, “for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.“

But to fully appreciate the anticipation of what this Child was that was to be born, you must be familiar with the prophesies that were made concerning Him, and which progressively were made more explicitly down through the centuries revealing more and more details concerning what this Child would be. His birth was initially prophesied at the dawn of creation. In fact, God Himself prophesied to Satan concerning One who would be born of a woman, who would crush Satan beneath His feet. God said in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

God furthered promised to Abraham, that from his seed would come One through whom all the world would be blessed. Gen 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Joseph was a further prophetic illustration concerning the question of what child is this, by being the son of his father rejected by His brethren, and yet providing salvation for the very ones that had rejected him.

Another type or prophetic symbol of the One who was to come and the purpose for which He came is found in the Passover Lamb that was slain so that the angel of death would pass over the people of God who had the blood of the lamb on their door. The Christ would be the spotless lamb of God that was slain for the sins of the world, so that those who had the condemnation of death might be delivered from it.

In the book of Exodus, we have the prophetic typology of this seed of Abraham pictured in Moses, who would be the deliverer of His people from enslavement. Moses was a type of the Christ to come, who spoke the word of God, who performed mighty wonders and miracles, who delivered his people from slavery, and who led them safely through the sea, and through the wilderness into the Promised Land.

David was another prophetic type of who this child would be, as David was anointed King, and God promised David that his kingdom would endure forever. Psalm 89:3-4 says “I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations.” So this child that would be born was to be the Anointed One, who will reign as King over the kingdom of God.

Isaiah answers this question of “what child is this” by several prophecies. We looked at a couple of them last week, but I will just read them to you again to refresh your memory, and to show how God progressively reveals more and more details concerning this child through prophecy as the day of His birth drew closer.

Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” In this verse, much more detail is given, He will be called Immanuel, which means God with us. Now it becomes even more clear that this child will be the Son of God in human form.

That truth is prophesied even more clearly in Isaiah 9:6 which says, “For a child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of [His] government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

This prophecy explicitly makes clear that this child that will be born, will be the Son of God, will be the ruling head of the kingdom of God, will be the Almighty God, the Father of Eternal Life, will be of the line of David, and His government will be forever.

There are many other prophesies and illusions in Isaiah to the future child that will be born, but we cannot brush past the prophesy found in Isaiah 53, which speaks even more clearly and specifically about for what purpose this child was born. It speaks of the Christ being the Savior, that He will grow up before the Lord, despised and rejected of men, unrecognized as the King of Glory, yet offering Himself up to be beaten, bruised, and slaughtered for our iniquities, that as vs 11 says, “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He (God the Father) will see [it and] be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.”

There are many other prophesies concerning the Messiah, the Anointed One of God who was to come to mankind as a baby in a manger. But not to remain a baby, but to grow up and live a righteous life, to teach the word of God, to save man from the condemnation of sin by the offering of Himself as our substitute. So that when the angels announce His birth on that much anticipated night, they say “today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

But this is not just a theological spiritual exercise, but the birth of Christ is a historical, actual, physical event that is well documented both in scripture and by secular writings. At the outset of Luke chapter 2 you see a census being taken of all the inhabited earth. It was a census by the decree of Caesar Augustus who was over the Roman Empire, which was the dominant government of the civilized world. It’s interesting to think that for the next century or two, you could have looked at that census and found the name of Jesus of Nazareth, born of Joseph and Mary. In fact, Justin Martyr, writing in the middle of the second century, said that in his own day (more than a hundred years after the time of Jesus) you could look up the record of the same census Luke mentioned.

Joseph and Mary were required to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register, which was a journey of about 80 miles, at the very time when Mary was about to give birth. Joseph was a carpenter. Mary was a young woman who was scandalized by gossip that she was the mother of an illegitimate child, even though the baby was conceived of the Holy Spirit. After an arduous trip they were strangers in a tiny town that had no room for them in the one inn the town could boast of. And so desperate to find shelter for his wife who was soon to bear a child, Joseph found what many think was a cave hollowed out as a shelter for livestock, and he made a bed for the baby in a manger. Mary had the baby with presumably no midwife to help, and she swaddled Jesus in cloths and laid Him in a manger.

What a contrast in imagery! This Jesus, the long anticipated Messiah, the God’s Anointed One of countless prophesies, of the royal line of David, destined to be King over all the earth, inconspicuously born in a tiny town of Bethlehem, in a feeding trough, to a young woman and a carpenter, in the most common of common circumstances. As Isaiah said 700 years before, “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”

But though the townspeople of Bethlehem are oblivious to the birth of the King in a manger on the outskirts of the village, yet God chose to announce it to some common shepherds out in the country, who were keeping watch over their flocks that night.

And Luke says “And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.” I suppose they were. A lot of people claim to have seen angels, but one thing that seems common to all Biblical accounts of someone seeing an angel is that they are terrified. We saw that at the tomb of Jesus in our study the other week. “They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

But however terrifying angels may appear, they are the messengers of God. I don’t know in what form these angels came that appeared to the shepherds. They could have been in blinding light, their forms in flames, their appearance like lightening, they might have had wings, or they might have looked like ordinary young men, they might have been standing or they might have been hovering in the air. We don’t really know. But we do know that Luke says the glory of the Lord shone around them. That probably means there was a very bright light that shone from them and around them. We also know that there were more than one, for Luke says that the angels went away from them into heaven.

Popular tradition says that the angels sang. But the Bible doesn’t say they sang. However, Luke records them as saying, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This [will be] a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

As I mentioned previously, the angels announcement answers the question, “what child is this?” Saying that there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Notice that the angels give titles for Jesus. First they say this child that is born is a Savior. This was a title that was used for deity, which refers to Him as a deliverer. The second title is Christ. Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah. The Messiah is the promised Anointed One of God. The Son of David, who would reign on the throne forever. And the third title they give is Lord. Adonai in the Greek. Again, another title of deity. Master, ruler, sovereign. And of course we know that previously the angel Gabriel said to Joseph that His name would be Jesus. Jesus means Jehovah Saves. Jesus is the Savior, the Messiah, and the Lord.

Then suddenly with the angel that made this announcement is a multitude of the heavenly host. Hundreds, if not thousands of angels appear, the armies of heaven, all praising God and saying, “glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” That peace from God is not the same kind of peace that John Lennon called for. It doesn’t mean the end of war. It’s the peace brokered by Jesus Christ on behalf of man, when we were at enmity with God. Jesus became our peace. He satisfied the justice of God so that we might become adopted into the family of God. That’s why Isaiah prophesied that He would be the Prince of Peace. Jesus arbitrated our peace with God.

“When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds [began] saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.”

Vs17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.” I find it very interesting that God relied upon common shepherds to be the witnesses of the incarnation and to make it known. Do you know that the word pastor comes from the word shepherd? Shepherd is from word which means to pasture, which is where the word pastor comes from. Your pastor is supposed to be a shepherd, one who cares for and tends to the flock of God. But a pastor is also supposed to be a preacher, a proclaimer of the good news. And so I suppose it’s fitting that God chose these shepherds to proclaim the good news, the gospel, that Jesus the Messiah, the Lord, had been born in Bethlehem. That is the same job that God has given pastor’s today, to proclaim the good news, the gospel to all men.

The gospel is just this, that Christ was born to be our Savior, our Lord, and our King.That He was born to free us from our sins, and to procure our peace with God, that we might be made a part of God’s kingdom. If anyone believes in Jesus Christ as Lord, and receives Him as their Savior, they can be saved and be delivered from the condemnation of death and receive instead everlasting life.

Today we celebrate and proclaim the Lord’s birth as Christmas. Christmas means God’s gift to man. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Receive Him today, and be saved.

Luke says that all who heard the shepherd’s message wondered, or were amazed. Luke doesn’t say that they believed. He doesn’t say that the ones who heard came to worship Jesus. But they wondered. Many people wonder about Jesus today. They wonder if He was truly the Son of God. They wonder if His message is really the truth. They wonder if He is the only way to God, as He claimed. They wonder if it might be true, or some of it might be true, but maybe none of it’s true. They wonder if it really matters. And they die without coming to saving faith in who Jesus is and what He has done to save man. Don’t let your life pass you by and you never truly believe. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. He that doesn’t believe is condemned.

But some believed. Luke says in vs 19”But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Did you know that Mary needed to be saved? The Roman Catholic Church says that Mary was sinless, that she never died, she was assumed into heaven. They have made a deity out of Mary which is a terrible sin of idolatry against God. Mary was a virgin, but she was a sinner. The Bible says for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But Mary believed what the angels said concerning her Child. She believed that she had been conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Back in Luke 1vs 30 The angel Gabriel said to Mary, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”

So Mary believed these things, pondering them in her heart. How do we know that Mary believed? You simply have to read what is known as Mary’s Magnificat, which is found in Luke 1 vs 46. I won’t take the time to read all of it, but in the first two verses she praises God as her Savior. And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”

The shepherds also believed. Vs 20 “The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.” They were praising God that today in the city of David there has been born for them a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” That belief, that faith, is all that is required for salvation, to have peace with God.

Today the shepherds have declared unto you that in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Do you believe in your heart in Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior? Do you receive the gift of God? I pray that you do.

Well, since we finished the gospel of Mark, I thought it was appropriate to do a couple of messages for the next two Sundays on the subject of Christ’s birth before we get into our next series on Genesis. And since we are studying Isaiah on Wednesday nights, I thought it would be appropriate to base our first message on Isaiah’s prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus Christ.

What I want to do though is just focus on two passages of scripture in Isaiah which speak of the birth of Christ. There are other Messianic prophecies in Isaiah, but I just want to focus on two that particularly mention the birth of Christ. The first is found in Isaiah 7:14. “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Now if you look at the context, it may have not been immediately evident that Isaiah was speaking of the birth of the Messiah. In context, the king of Judea was Ahaz, and he was a rebellious king against the Lord. The king of Israel and the king of Syria had plotted an attack against Judah. They wanted to attack Jerusalem, defeat the capital of Judah, then depose Ahaz and set up their own king. But God had promised that Judah would not succumb to their attacks. Ahaz, however, didn’t believe God, but wanted to make an alliance with Assyria who he thought would protect them. So God told Ahaz to ask for a sign as divine confirmation that God would deliver them.

And so Ahaz says, rather self righteously, “I will not ask neither will I test the Lord.” But of course it is God who has asked him to accept the sign and so now God says, “All right, Ahaz. If you are not going to ask for a sign, I am going to give you a sign just the same.” “Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.” Ahaz, that is your sign.

This is one of the most famous prophecies regarding the birth of Jesus the Messiah in the Bible. It also illustrates a principle of Biblical prophecy, that prophecy may have both a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment. Theologians have found much to debate about concerning this prophecy. Many contemporary theologists want to find a way that this prophecy was fulfilled in the immediate sense. Now I don’t want to get bogged down this morning about all the ways this may have been fulfilled. Personally, I don’t think it was fulfilled until the Messiah was born which is about 700 years later. I think the next verses speak of Isaiah’s son, and the fact that within 3 years or so, God will deliver Judah from the two kings who had conspired against them.

So without fully understanding why the Holy Spirit chose to interject this prophecy of something which will take place 700 years in the future in the middle of a prophecy that is more or less quickly fulfilled, I want instead to focus on the Messianic prophecy. Because almost everyone agrees that this particular verse is a prophecy of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Note first of all that the sign given by God is a supernatural event, a divine intervention in the affairs of man, a miraculous sign that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. The miracle is that a virgin, a young woman who had never been with a man, should conceive.

And we know that this prophecy was fulfilled at Jesus’s birth. Matthew writes in his gospel, in chapter 1 vs 20 “But while he (Joseph) thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

So you see Matthew quotes from this verse in Isaiah, showing that indeed Mary was a virgin, and she was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This text is ultimately the basis of the Apostles’ Creed, which says Jesus was conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary.

What that reveals is a very important doctrine of Christology; that Christ was fully God and fully man. Conceived of the Holy Spirit in a virgin who gave birth to a son. And then Isaiah’s prophecy goes on to present even more specifics: they shall call His name Immanuel. Immanuel means God with us. John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Previously in John 1:1 John said that the Word was in the beginning with God, and the Word was God. So Jesus was God, in the beginning with God, and yet He added humanity to HIs nature by being born of a woman.

So Immanuel speaks of the dual nature of Christ. God became man and thus God is with us. And that introduces us to the next major Messianic prophecy that we are looking at in Isaiah, which gives us more information concerning the birth of the Messiah, and who He is, and for what purpose He was born, and that prophecy is found in chapter 9 vs 6. “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of [His] government and peace [There will be] no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

Many of you will recognize verse six as the basis for part of Handel’s Messiah, which was an oratorio written in 1742. Handel wrote this oratorio based on direct quotes from the King James Bible, and covers the life, death, resurrection and ascension of the Messiah. It’s one of my favorite pieces of music, and it’s unfortunate that we don’t hear it played more often at Christmas.

But here in this text we have an unusual pair of verses in which the names of the Messiah are all grouped together and the result is that we have more names or titles of the Messiah crowded into one verse than we do anywhere else in all of the Bible. We read in the 6th verse: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor (that comma after Wonderful should not be there), The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” And when we think of the name Jesus which is given to the Lord in the New Testament, remember, by God Himself, it is a divinely chosen name, a divinely significant name. “Thou shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins.” The name Jesus is probably the complete summary of all of these Old Testament names that are given to our Lord here in Isaiah. He is Jesus. He is Jehovah’s salvation.

Now for context notice the 2nd verse, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.” Darkness was within Galilee at the time of Isaiah’s writing.. Darkness was upon Galilee for the Assyrian was coming down upon the land but God says that the light is to come. Once again we see predictive prophecy having both a near and far fulfillment. But it is to the future fulfillment that we look today, at the promise of the coming of the Messiah who will provide the ultimate deliverance of God’s people. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.

This passage is quoted in Matt. 4:12-17 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. [This was] to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES– “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.” From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” So the gospel of Jesus Christ is the light of God shone upon people who were under the condemnation of death.

So continuing in our text in Isaiah 9, verses 6, it tells us that, “For unto us, a child is born, unto us a son is given.” The first thing I want you to notice is that in this verse it states, “The child is born, but the Son is given.” Now I do not believe that this is written accidentally. The child is born, the Son is given. You see the first expression, “The child is born” is an expression that looks at Jesus as a man in his relation to men. Just as we are born of flesh so He is born of flesh. Our Lord’s human nature comes into existence in the same way as our human nature comes into existence.

He was born as other men are born. So even in his birth he entered into the experiences of humanity. It is the child that is born, His relationship to men, His humanity. God becomes flesh and dwelt among us. But then the text states that the Son is given. This is his relationship to God the Father. He was the preexistent Eternal Son and he is given to men. As John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son.” So a child is born, and a Son is given.

Now as child, He is called a descendant of David. But He is at the same time, the Son, who is the descendant of God. In fact, he is God’s only begotten Son. And so here, Jesus is the Son of God, that is, He is divine.

So, unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given. Then notice, the government shall be upon his shoulder. What is this government that shall be upon his shoulder? I would say without question it is the government of the Kingdom of God. He is the King of the Kingdom of God. Back in Matthew 4:17 which we read a moment ago we read that from that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus is the King of the government of God, or the kingdom of heaven. Both expressions speak of the same kingdom.

Notice vs7 “Of the increase of [His] government and peace [There will be] no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” The government of the kingdom of heaven is an eternal government. It is a spiritual government. Jesus announced the spiritual aspects of it at His first appearing, and He will bring about the consummation of the physical aspects of His kingdom at His second coming, and it will then continue for eternity.

Rev 21:3 speaks of this consummation of the kingdom of God. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.’ And all aspects of the kingdom of God will be accomplished because of the zeal of the Lord of hosts. That’s a reference to the Lord of angelic armies. I’m reminded of John 2:17, after Jesus cleansed the temple, it says in vs 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”

Notice then the titles of the Messiah. The first one, Wonderful Counselor. When we think of the Lord as wonderful, that means marvelous, incomprehensible, miraculous. We then think of Him as wonderful in the past, wonderful in the present, wonderful in the future. He is beyond the creation. He is beyond man. He is beyond all of the ministry and wisdom of men. He is the wonderful counselor. Wonderful in the past for He is the eternal one. He had no beginning.

He was wonderful in his birth, miraculous conception. He was wonderful in his ministry. He was wonderful above all in his death. And he was wonderful in His resurrection and he was wonderful in his ascension. All of these great events expressed the supernatural character of our Lord Jesus. You know this word which is used here, translated here “Wonderful” is the Hebrew word pele. Now, this word has a root that is used in several places in the Old Testament and often it is a word that refers to deity.

In Judges chapter 13 there is the story of Samson and the story of how Manoah, his father, had a visit from the angel of the Lord and in verse 17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “What [is] Your name, that when Your words come [to pass] we may honor You?” And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it [is] wonderful?” So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on– it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar–the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw [this], they fell on their faces to the ground. When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He [was] the Angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”

So it was God who appeared to Manaoah. It was Jesus in his pre-incarnate glory. It was what is called in theology a Theophany, a preincarnate appearance of God. Wonderful Counselor, the supernatural counselor. Counselor means teacher, adviser, guide. Jesus is Wonderful Counselor.

Then the next tile is “The mighty God.” The word El in the Book of Isaiah never means anything but God. El can sometimes mean something other than God. But in the Book of Isaiah it never means anything other than God. Very clearly here the Messiah is identified as the God. I think that the chief priests and scribes knew this to be true about the Messiah. And they knew that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, and thus claimed to be God. That’s why they accused Him of blasphemy. That was the crime they accused Him of that they said was worthy of death. And yet they knew that the Messiah must be God. This baby who was born of a virgin was none other than the Almighty God in human flesh.

Phl. 2:5-11 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, [and] coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to [the point of] death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This baby in a manger was the Almighty God.

The next title is Everlasting Father, the Father of eternity, isn’t it interesting? The infinite is an infant. The infant is infinite. Unto us a child is born and He is the Father of Eternity. He is not saying that Jesus is the Father. He is talking about his relationship to us, not his relationship within the counsel of the Trinity. In the Godhead of the Trinity there is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, but when he speaks of him as the Father of Eternity, he is speaking of Him in relationship to us. He is the life giver. He is the parent of Eternity. He is the one who made all things, and who gives eternal life to us and in that sense he is a father of that which is eternal.

And then the last title is the Prince of Peace. Jesus is the One who makes peace between God and man. Because He was fully God and fully man, He was able to reconcile man to God. To be the substitute for man who was condemned to die, and so He took our place and died for our sins so that we might have peace with God. A favorite Christmas hymn is “Hark the herald angels sing.” In that song there is the line, “Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King, peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” Christ has the authority and the power to rule over our peace with God.

So Isaiah says in vs 7 “Of the increase of [His] government and peace [There will be] no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this eternal salvation for His people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. God is jealous to accomplish it. That is the meaning of the Hebrew text by the way, that the jealousy of the Lord of Hosts will perform this and all of his power and all of his authority and all of his wisdom is pledged to the Son, to the Child, Immanuel, God with us, who is our Wonderful Counselor, the Almighty God, our Father of eternity, and the Prince of our Peace.

I pray that you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, that you might enter into that rest, and be born again as a child of God, a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.