We have the Creation Week, Six Days of GOD’s handiwork, followed by the 7th where GOD rested (not that He was tired – the Hebrew word simply means “to cease from labor… to complete work”, which He did, and declared it not just “good” but “very good” because He saved the best for last on the sixth day – the creation of Adam and Eve!
Here we have the institution of marriage between husband and wife, for the purpose of communing, fellowship and the raising up of a family – all of which is a type of Christ and His bride (EPH 5:31-32; REV 19:7) and the desire of GOD to create His forever family (JOHN 1:12-13; EPH 3:15; 1:5-7)!
We understand that we are to work six days, but to rest on the seventh (as GOD did for our example). We also understand that spiritually speaking, Christ Himself has become our Sabbath rest (HEB 4:3), with no need on our part to produce work (thus we rest from our own work) to justify ourselves (EPH 2:8-9).
He created the Sun, the Moon and the Stars – by type, the Sun represents Christ Who gives us His Light, we the church are the Moon, in the sense that we can’t produce our own light but reflect Christ’s Light to this nightly world of darkness. Then there are the stars which declares the glory of GOD, not just in their majestic magnitude, but in the message of the Mazzaroth.
We see the two trees in the Garden of Eden – the tree of knowledge of good and evil, as well as the tree of life – and just as Adam and Eve had a choice to make between the two, so does all of humanity, to choose what GOD had put before us: life or death, but He pleads with us to choose life, choose JESUS, choose the Gospel!
GENESIS 2:9b
…The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
DEUTERONOMY 30:19
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live…
We see the fall of man, but following quickly after that calamitous disaster, the LORD’s prophetic promise of a Redeemer (GEN 3:15). We witness Satan’s attempt to sabotage GOD’s prophetic plan by Cain murdering Abel, but the LORD raised up Seth and continued undisturbed with His agenda!
GENESIS 5, we saw the astounding “secret code” of the Gospel in the listing of Ten Names.
The global attempt to corrupt the entire human race was seen in GENESIS 6-9. But the LORD preserved Noah and his family in the Ark – yet another symbol of Christ and His salvation prior to and through the Flood, both for the Jews (Shem, son of Noah) and Gentiles (Enoch – delivered before the Great Flood).
After cleansing the world of wickedness – literally drowning the wicked who refused to repent – we were off to a fresh start with Noah and Sons. The edict from the Almighty proclaimed: “…Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (GEN 9:1) as was commanded at the beginning (GEN 1:22).
Yet the people of the Earth refused to follow GOD and nor did they choose His plan. Rather, they decided to band together and come up with a plan all their own:
GENESIS 11:4
And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."
Their leader, Nimrod is himself a type of antichrist “a mighty hunter before [against] the LORD”; Babel was his one world system with both a global government and religion. Just as it was at the beginning, so will man’s rebellion flourish at the end. That is, until GOD’s Judgment comes down in the Person of Christ!
His judgment came down on Babel because this place “Bab” – gateway; “El” – to the god, was not in favor of reaching out to our Creator GOD, but to the god of their own choosing (namely Satan)! There are those who refer to ancient texts such as the book of Enoch and state that what went on at Babel was far more than we assume.
There is credible evidence that people were “dialoguing with demons”, conferring with corrupt angels, planning with “principalities and powers” for a diabolical purpose of ultimate rebellion against GOD and a total deformity of His creation!
The LORD simply confused their language so that they were forced to segregate according to the various languages that GOD created (Language originated with GOD, not humanity) which then began the nations of the ancient world (GEN 10).
So since no one chose to follow GOD, the LORD Himself looked over humanity, and solely by His grace, He chose Abram, the descendent of Shem, the son of Noah (And yet we know that there were others at that time who had the favor of the LORD on them – Melchizedek was such a one!).
Incidentally, I find it fascinating that Adam died just 126 years before Noah was born. That means that Adam was still alive when Methuselah was around – He probably told Methuselah all about the primordial history before and after the fall, and Methuselah could have told it all to Noah (and his three sons – that would make it only a secondhand account; perhaps even while they were busy building the ark?). Which means that the record of GENESIS was preserved all the way into the new world, after the Flood receded.GOD’s Perfect Plan of the Gospel continues with this man Abram and his wife Sarai who later became Abraham “father of the faithful”, and Sarah, and whose life speaks of salvation by faith, simply by believing GOD’s Word.
We’ll pick up in GENESIS 12 then:
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Though all the world lies in wickedness (1 JOHN 5:19), under the (now) unlawful rule of “Squatter Satan” who had his legal claim over the Earth revoked at the Cross of Christ where the LORD Jesus redeemed that which Satan had stolen (LUKE 4:5-6; MATT 28:18; REV 5:1-9) – the LORD is doing something very special and specific here.
He is establishing through Abram a land where the LORD GOD will be honored; where He will reign over the descendants of Abram, and the nation that will come about (He is establishing a theocracy here) will become a blessing to the world.
This is a twofold blessing: Through the Jewish nation we have the holy oracles of GOD (the Bible; ROM 3:2).
From the nation the prophesied “seed of the woman”, the Messiah would be born. By means of this people we are blessed with the Word of GOD, both inspired and incarnate!
Israel would become an “island” in the midst of “the satanic seas of the world”, and where GOD would accomplish His plans in bringing about the Gospel! Needless to say, there were times when Abram (and Sarai) were prone to mess things up, stumbling and fumbling in their walk of faith – but patiently, the LORD led them, instructed them, used them for His glory!
The LORD confirmed His plan to Abram, this man of faith, time and time again (GEN 12:7; 13:14-17; 15:7,18; 17:8; 24:7 28:14; see also EXOD 32:13; NUM 23:10; DEUT 1:10; 34:4; 2 CHRON 20:7; PSA 37:22,29; 112:2):
PSALM 105:8-11
8 He remembers His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, 9 The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac, 10 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, 11 Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan As the allotment of your inheritance,"
HEBREWS 6:14-18
14 saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things [a promise and an oath], in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
Then in GENESIS 15 we have a landmark for Abram, but also a definitive revelation to GOD’s Perfect Plan!
GENESIS 15:1-8
1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." 2 But Abram said, "Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 Then Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!" 4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." 5 Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
7 Then He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it." 8 And he said, "Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?"
What follows this question is an answer you and I typically wouldn’t understand, but Abram did! GOD was initiating a solemn and serious covenant that was so binding, that violating it would mean the death of the violator!
The LORD made this an unconditional covenant where all of the obligations came upon GOD with the only stipulation on Abram’s part was that he believe GOD (which he did! ROM 4:3; This made the covenant unconditional).
For the details of this, check out the TTUF article WALKING The COVENANT WAY: Part 4 of 8: The Abrahamic Covenant.
GOD defined His promises more clearly this time, specifying the land, its dimensions and borders and even gave a prophecy concerning the future of Abram’s descendants (slavery in Egypt) and their eventual return to Canaan (at the time of Joshua).
In establishing the nation, GOD created the stage on which the “Play of the Ages” would take place. The patriarchs would be born here, the twelve tribes would be formed; judges, kings and prophets would be raised up (And the LORD reminded Abraham of His promise to bring him a son, and through which, GOD’s Word would be fulfilled with procession towards the birth of the nation; GEN 18).
Among those prophets, the Holy Scriptures would be inscribed by inspiration of the Spirit of GOD, and prophecies numbering in the hundreds regarding Israel as well as the Messiah would be read, studied and understood.
The various detailed accounts of prophetic import concerning the Messiah would get into the minutia concerning every aspect of His life:
How He would come into the world, where He would be born, where He would be raised, how His life would be threatened, how He would live out His life, the characteristics of His Person, the miracles He would perform; how He would die. Christ fulfilled over 300 prophecies during His First Advent, and to verify the authenticity of His claims as the Messiah, these would have to be carefully scrutinized.
For these last two thousand years, they have been scrutinized by reverential scholars and cynical skeptics alike. His claims have been amply proven! A marvelous work that documents these Messianic prophecies is Herbert Lockyer’s All The Messianic Prophecies of the Bible!
But think about all that GOD had to put into place before GOD the Son could descend from Heaven’s Halls and indwell the virgin Mary!
The royal lineage of the Jews had to be established, starting from one of the twelve sons of Jacob, Judah (GEN 49:10) – and from there to the House of David (2 SAM 7:4-29; PSA 89:3-4,19-29), and his descendants, all the way to Joseph (the step-father of Jesus) and Mary (LUKE 1:29-33) – both of the House of David, who like the king, was born in Bethlehem.
The lil town of Bethlehem would have to be established, as well as the city of Jerusalem, Capernaum, Galilee, Samaria, and all the rest.
The civilized world would need a universal language in order for the Gospel to spread more quickly, and an efficient road system for those with “beautiful feet” traveling with Gospel Truth in their minds and mouths.
Koine Greek became the universal language for the Roman Empire. They built extraordinarily well made roads, remnants of which are still around today!
Israel had spent 70 years in exile from their homeland, judged for their sins by GOD, and while they were away in Babylon, their culture and cities were decimated, their Temple demolished – those things would need to be restored in order to bring about the prophetic destiny of the Messiah – and they were, starting in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.
And speaking of Messianic destiny: in this chapter Abraham was given a “front row seat” by way of a vision as to what exactly that destiny was!
GENESIS 22:1-2
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
GOD is all-knowing (omniscient). He knows everything there is to know about everything: the universe, the super-celestial worlds of heaven and the abyssal domain of hell, every square inch of planet Earth from its highest peaks, to its deepest oceans, right down to its core – and He knows everything about all of us! He even knows what we’re going to say, before we ever say it (PSA 139:4)!
And like Peter, the LORD knows every action and decision we’ll ever commit to (MATT 26:34-35,69-75; LUKE 22:31-34,55-62).
Knowing the heart of Abraham as well, GOD prepared a supreme and strenuous test in the life of His friend, but He didn’t allow it to transpire until He knew Abraham’s faith was strong enough.
Have you ever felt like you were going through a trial that you just couldn’t handle?? As a child of GOD, be assured that GOD sees you, understands your concerns, but He also knows that by His grace, you can endure any trial He brings your way.
It was for a day appointed when GOD called out to Abraham and gave him his instruction: to take his beloved son, the son of his old age – this precious life that was long prayed for, long delayed, but finally answered!
Only now, he was to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering (this was the type where the sacrifice was incinerated – burned to ashes!)?? How would the promises GOD made to Abraham be fulfilled through his promised son, if he was reduced to ashes? Simple enough: GOD would resurrect him from those ashes (HEB 11:17-19)!
The pagan gods of the nations had children, even babies sacrificed to them routinely. So, why would the true and living GOD make such a demand on Abraham? The fact of the matter is, the LORD didn’t allow Abraham to go through with it – so what was it all for then?
One could look at this as a “prophetic skit” where Abraham played the part of Father GOD, Isaac the obedient Son who would die by sacrifice – the role of Jesus Christ. If Abraham had been asked months or years before this command came to him from GOD whether or not he’d be willing to sacrifice his son, I’m sure that at the least, there would have been some grave misgivings and doubts.
But as I said, GOD waited until He knew Abraham was ready for this fiercest of trials, and once Abraham obeyed, Abraham knew – just as GOD did – that his love and devotion for the LORD was literally second to none!
But what’s fascinating to me is that while Abraham and Isaac were on their way to Mount Moriah, Isaac asked where the sacrificial offering was. Abraham’s answer is profound in its understanding:
“And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering” (KJV; GEN 22:8).
And Abraham named that place, “Jehovah Jireh” which translates to “in the mount of the LORD it shall be seen” – what shall be seen? What was it that Abraham saw there? We have the LORD Jesus’ own words on the matter:
JOHN 8:56
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it and was glad.
“…[His] day…” Abraham was given a vision of a Day Appointed. Yes, the Day of Salvation when another Father would offer up His Son for the sins of the world. Note that in GENESIS 22:2 the word “love” is first mentioned. All twenty-one chapters previously, “love” is not mentioned. Those that prescribe to “the law of first mention” make a lot of this (so do I!).
That GENESIS 22:2 correlates with JOHN 3:16,35; 10:17 reveals GOD’s indescribably astounding Perfect Plan of the GOSPEL! I still marvel at this paramount example, the highest and best demonstration of love, bar none, when GOD Himself would take on human form, lay aside His glory, enter into a sin-cursed world that has such people in it – and willingly die for our sins, having them laid to His charge along with all the punitive wrathful actions of the Holy Father – all of that – to set us rebels free to become righteous in Christ! I think we’ll end this article here, on this HIGH NOTE!
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