Grace, for one man's sake.

 

"Who Am I" by Casting Crowns

Genesis 6:5-19, "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.' But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD . . . 'Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.'"


Identity of Noah in Scripture:

• Isaiah 54:9-10, “'For this is like the days of Noah to Me,
              When I swore that the waters of Noah
              Would not flood the earth again;
              So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
              Nor will I rebuke you. 
     'For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
            But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
            And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,'
            Says the LORD who has compassion on you."

• Noah: Portrayed as a historical man. Why would God swear to not flood the earth again in a similar manner to a flood that never happened?
• As surely as God has established a covenant of peace, so surely must He have also established a covenant to never again flood the whole earth (after just such an event).

• Ezekiel 14:12-16, "Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 'Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,' declares the Lord GOD. 'If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts, though these three men were in its midst, as I live,' declares the Lord GOD, 'they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate.'"
• Noah: Portrayed as a historical man. How could imaginative individuals have the righteousness to deliver themselves from real judgment?
• It is needlessly confusing to say Noah's children were saved in the original imaginative story of Noah, whereas they would not be saved in the real context of the faithless nation of Israel.

• Hebrews 11:1-7, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible . . . By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. And 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 seek Him. By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."
• Noah: Portrayed as a historical man. Does God really warn imaginative individuals of future judgment?
• Just as real, New Testament Christians are approved by faith, so also must a real man Noah have set an example of being approved by faith.

• I Peter 3:18-20, "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water."
• Noah: Portrayed as a historical man. How do you say that a real God was patient during an imaginative story?
• How could Christ have made a proclamation to spirits of men said to die in an imaginative story?
• Only eight people survived this flood in the time of Noah--indicating it was very large-scale.

• II Peter 2:4-10, "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter . . . then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority."
• Noah: Portrayed as a historical man. Just as fallen angels have been committed to judgment, so also all the ancient world, excepting only Noah and his seven family members, were judged by God.
• Believing that "the Lord knows how to rescue" Christians from temptation is said to be just as sure as saying that a real man Noah, and his family, were rescued from the ungodliness of the ancient world.

 

Adam&Eve--In light of present-day facts

We have no ability to interrogate a first-hand witness. So, the next alternative must be examination of present-day facts. How believable is the Genesis account of Adam and Eve in view of "modern" knowledge?

Some facts/customs/widespread beliefs compared to Scripture:

• Basis for clothing only worn by mankind
• This fact is readily known. Animals may have fur and/or feathers, but they do not go to the trouble to make clothing for themselves.
• Genesis 3:6-7, "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. 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."
• Basis for observance of the week
• The week is not only clearly present in the US calendar, but is also recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
• Genesis 2:1-3, "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."--How would billions of years of evolution yield this observance?
• Basis for long, painful labor in childbirth only seen in mankind
• This is recognized by even scientists.
• Genesis 3:11-16, "And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?' . . . "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.'"
• Basis for human agriculture/toiling over the ground to raise crops
• Setting aside the cases of certain termites, ants, and ambrosia beetles, this practice is not seen among the claimed close evolutionary ancestors of man.
• Genesis 3:17-19, "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.'"
• Basis for man's unique moral awareness
•  Recognized by Darwin and now within modern psychology
•  Genesis 3:5-6, "'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.' 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."
• Basis for man's unique intelligence
• Globally apparent from mankind's unrivaled achievements: space exploration as Earth dwellers, deep-sea exploration as land-dwellers, nanotechnology, computers, cars, sky-scrapers, instant long-distance communication, etc.
• Genesis 1:26, "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.'"
• Basis for belief in a Supernatural Being
• There is a significant percentage of people worldwide who believe in God.
• Genesis 3:8, "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."
• Basis for discipline/punishment
• The practice of discipline or punishment is clear through worldwide child discipline, police, governmental courts, and prisons or correctional facilities.
• Genesis 3:22-23, "Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'— therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken."
• Basis for mankind's dominion over the Earth
• Clear from the existence of zoos, agriculture, industrialization, rapid transportation, etc.
• Genesis 1:27-28, "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.'"
• Basis for family household of a man and woman, providing care for any young children.
• Shown in research by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• Genesis 2:22-24, "The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said,
              'This is now bone of my bones,
              And flesh of my flesh;
              She shall be called Woman,
              Because she was taken out of Man.'
  For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."
• Beginning of marital conflict/heartache/divorce
• A widely enough known problem to stimulate much research. Some 2010 research.
• Genesis 3:11-13, "And He 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.'"
• Basis for lifelong marriage
• Recognized by US census (see page 4).
• Genesis 2:22-24, seen above under family household
• Basis for racial equality
• What the American Civil War/War between the States was fought over.
• Genesis 3:20, "Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living."
• Basis for value of women/a two-gender humanity rather than a single-gender
• Recognized so strongly today that this is a political pitfall for those who don't choose their words carefully.
• Genesis 2:18, "Then the LORD God said, “It is not good [emphasis added] for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

 

"Names, names . . . come now, you can find legends in any culture."

How do you know what is legend and what is truth? Is truth not known by first-hand witness, trustworthy reports, or present-day fact? So how does one search out the truth in a list of names? Surely finding out the truth of a matter requires being willing to do a little research--going back to those primary sources, as students and researchers are encouraged to do in writing good papers.

So, the first primary source, in this case, would be the document making the claim/putting forward genealogical list (i.e. Scripture).

How does Adam figure in the rest of Scripture (outside of Genesis, I Chronicles, and Luke)?

• Hosea 6:4-7, "'What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
              What shall I do with you, O Judah?
              For your loyalty is like a morning cloud
              And like the dew which goes away early.
        Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets;
              I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
              And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.
        For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,
              And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
        But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant;
              There they have dealt treacherously against Me.'"
  

• Ephraim - One of Joseph's sons, a tribe of Israel, and one of the tribes identified with the Northern Kingdom of Israel (conquered by the Assyrians).

• Judah - One of Israel/Jacob's sons, a tribe of Israel, and first tribe associated with the Southern Kingdom (conquered by the Babylonians), later joined by the tribe of Benjamin.

• Adam - In context, a historical figure against whom the historical tribe of Ephraim/the Northern Kingdom and the historical tribe of Judah/the Southern Kingdom could be compared.

• I Timothy 2:12-15, "But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint."

• I realize this is a controversial passage, both within and without Christian circles. But surely I cannot be accused of bigotry against women, as a woman myself, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering. Why would I be my own antagonist?

• Adam - Apparently a historical figure, alongside Eve, since historical New Testament Christian men and women are compared to them. Would men and women truly be compared to and be held accountable for the imaginative deeds of imaginative ancestors?

• Creation of mankind is given in the same sequence as in Genesis--first Adam, and then Eve.

• Again, as in Genesis, Eve was the one deceived (by the serpent).

• Jude 1:14, "It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, 'Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.'"

• Adam - Apparently a historical figure, as he was named the forefather of one who foretold of coming events. It would be self-defeating to say that imaginary characters were given Word from God which was "later" fulfilled in the time of real New Testament Christians.

• As in Genesis, Adam is identified with the starting point generation, while Enoch is identified with the 7th generation.

• I Corinthians 15:42-47, "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, 'The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven."

• Adam - Understanding the larger context of I Corinthians, the first Adam is referring to Adam in the Garden of Eden, while the last Adam refers to Christ. Apparently, the first Adam was an earthly, historical, living person, just as much as Christ, the 2nd Adam, was the Son of God from heaven. 

• The first Adam set the example of what it means to have an earthly body.

• Romans 5:12-15, "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— for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many."

• Adam - Apparently a historical figure, as Christ's counterpart--noted for bringing death and sin into the world, unlike Christ who brought life and righteousness.

• Just as Christ acted as representative for mankind in the form of a historical man, so Adam in the Garden of Eden could only have acted as representative for mankind as a historical man.

 

Ancestry.Bible

Passing over "The Fall" and Cain and Abel, one comes to Genesis 5:

Genesis 5:1-5, "This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created. When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died."

Tracing one ancestral line, you find the following names:

Adam - Seth - Enosh - Kenan - Mahalalel - Jared - Enoch - Methuselah - Lamech - Noah - Shem

Transition to Genesis 10:

Noah - Shem - Arpachshad - Shelah - Eber - Peleg - Reu - Serug - Nahor - Terah - Abram (Abraham)

Transition to I Chronicles 1-3:

Abraham - Isaac - Israel (Jacob) - Judah - Perez - Hezron - Ram - Amminadab - Nahshon - Salma - Boaz - Obed - Jesse - David - Nathan

----

Compare in reverse to Luke 3:

(Jesus) - Joseph - Eli - Matthat - Levi - Melchi - Jannai - Joseph - Mattathias - Amos - Nahum - Hesli - Naggai - Maath - Mattathias - Semein - Josech - Joda - Joanan - Rhesa - Zerubbabel - Shealtiel - Neri - Melchi - Addi - Cosam - Elmadam - Er - Joshua - Eliezer - Jorim - Matthat - Levi - Simeon - Judah - Joseph - Jonam - Eliakim - Melea - Menna - Mattatha -

Nathan - David - Jesse - Obed - Boaz - Salmon - Nahshon - Amminadab - Admin - Ram - Hezron - Perez - Judah - Jacob - Isaac - Abraham - Terah - Nahor - Serug - Reu - Peleg - Heber - Shelah - Cainan - Arphaxad - Shem - Noah - Lamech - Methuselah - Enoch - Jared - Mahalaleel - Cainan - Enosh - Seth - Adam, "the son of God".

Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III

Some Supporting Archaeology & Historical Records:

• Israelite & Judaic Kings: "House of David", 10th Century B.C. Seals, King Omri of Israel, King Ahab of Israel, King Jehu of Israel

• Context of Jesus' Birth: Governor Quirinius of Syria - See Luke 2:2, Caesar Augustus - See Luke 2:1, Herod the Great

• Context of Jesus' Death: Pontius Pilate, Pontius Pilate & Christ, Herod Antipas