Under the watch of a HOLY God.

"Achan . . . Achan . . . why?"

Upon the fall of Jericho, the Sons of Israel faced the Canaanite city of Ai. They were confident after seeing the wall of Jericho collapse. God had fought for them. So they set out for Ai with only a partial contingent of their fighting force as the men of Ai were "few" in number. But . . . Israel was repelled and fled from the men of Ai.

Achan, of the tribe of Judah, had taken spoil from the ruins of Jericho. God had placed all Jericho under "ban", which meant it belonged to Him. No one in Israel was to seize spoil for themselves. All gold, silver, bronze, and iron were to be brought into the Lord's treasury for use in service of the Lord. But when Achan saw gold, silver, and a fine mantle in the ruins of Jericho, he coveted them and took these things for himself.

Seeing Achan's deed, God retracted His [protecting] presence from Israel. Therefore, Israel fled and fell before Ai. Joshua cried out to God in dismay--and learned of Achan's disobediance. Achan had taken what belonged to the Lord. God's [protection] would not rest on Israel while Achan remained within the camp. Only when death and fire took Achan, his complicit household, and all his belongings did God restore His [protecting] presence to Israel. With God's help, Israel defeated Ai.

Thus runs the story of Achan and Ai. To understand, one must investigate the story's context within the whole of Scripture. Was the story history, fiction, or a combination of the two?

"Holy, Holy, Holy" as sung by Audrey Assad

Old Testament references to Achan and Ai (no New Testament references found):

• Joshua 7:1-11, "But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.
        Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, 'Go up and spy out the land.' So the men went up and spied out Ai. They returned to Joshua and said to him, 'Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few.' So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai . . .
        Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. Joshua said, 'Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us?' . . .
        So the LORD said to Joshua, 'Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived.'"
• Achan - a historical man
• Why name the father, grandfather, great grandfather, and Israelite tribe of an imaginary man?
• What benefit is there in writing a story about an imaginary man that makes your people look frail in battle? What people would do this?
• What benefit is there in writing a story about an imaginary man that makes your national leader look weak?
• Ai - a historical city
• Why specify the location of Ai if Ai was an imaginary city?
• Why detail the words of the Israelite spies if they were spying out an imaginary Ai?
• Why number the Israelite soldiers who fought Ai if Ai was imaginary?
• Joshua 22:16-25, "Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, 'What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following the LORD this day, by building yourselves an altar, to rebel against the LORD this day?' . . . do not rebel against the LORD, or rebel against us by building an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of the LORD our God. Did not Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things under the ban, and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.'
        Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the families of Israel. 'The Mighty One, God, the LORD, the Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows, and may Israel itself know . . . truly we have done this out of concern, for a reason, saying, "In time to come your sons may say to our sons, 'What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the LORD.' So your sons may make our sons stop fearing the LORD."'"
• Achan - a historical man
• How can real tribes be rebellious like an imaginary Achan?
• Why name the obscure ancestor of an imaginary Achan?
• Why would Israel heed the death toll of an imaginary Achan's rebellion?
• Why fear God as a God who "knows" in the context of an imaginary Achan?
• I Chronicles 2:1-8, "These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
        The sons of Judah were Er, Onan and Shelah; these three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanitess. And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put him to death. Tamar his daughter-in-law bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.
        The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. The sons of Zerah were Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol and Dara; five of them in all. The son of Carmi was Achar, the troubler of Israel, who violated the ban. The son of Ethan was Azariah."
• Achan - a historical man
• Why name the father of an imaginary Achan?
• Why list an imaginary Achan in the real genealogies of Israel?
• Why name an imaginary Achan to be a descendant of the real tribe of Judah?
• Why name an imaginary "troubler of Israel" in the royal tribe of David and Christ? How would this bring honor to that tribe?
• Joshua 9:1-6, "Now it came about when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of it, that they gathered themselves together with one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel. When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and mended, and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled. They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, 'We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us.'"
• Ai - a historical city
• How could the fate of an imaginary Ai spread throughout a real geographical land?
• Why name all the peoples that heard of the fate of an imaginary Ai?
• Why associate an imaginary Ai with a real Jericho?
• How could an imaginary Gibeon hear the fate of a real Jericho?
• What did the real Gibeonites have to fear from the fate of an imaginary Ai?
• Wouldn't it be deceitful to write of the real leader Joshua overthrowing an imaginary Ai? How would such deceit prove helpful to a nation claiming to serve the one true God?
• Joshua 10:1-5, "Now it came about when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai, and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king), and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were within their land, that he feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king of Jarmuth and to Japhia king of Lachish and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 'Come up to me and help me, and let us attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel.' So the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they with all their armies, and camped by Gibeon and fought against it."
• Ai - a historical city
• How could a real Gibeon be greater than an imaginary Ai? How does one compare reality and fiction?
• Why name five Canaanite kings and the cities they ruled unless those kings really lived?
• Why name a Caananite king and the real city of Jerusalem he ruled unless that king really lived?
• How could a real Caananite king hear of the destruction of an imaginary Ai?
• Why would five real Canaanite kings have cause to fear at the fall of an imaginary Ai?
• Joshua 12:7-24, "Now these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel defeated beyond the Jordan toward the west, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even as far as Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir; and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, on the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the Negev; the Hittite, the Amorite and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite: the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; the king of Jarmuth, one . . . the king of Dor in the heights of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one; the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings."
• Ai - a historical city
• Why name an imaginary Ai alongside the real ancient cities of Jericho, Jerusalem, and Hebron?
• Why specify "thirty-one" city-state kings defeated by Joshua unless those kings and their cities (including Ai) really existed?
• Why write with geographical detail and drop in the name of an imaginary city Ai?
• Ezra 2:1-29, "Now these are the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city. These came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah.
        The number of the men of the people of Israel: the sons of Parosh, 2,172; the sons of Shephatiah, 372 . . . the men of Bethlehem, 123; the men of Netophah, 56; the men of Anathoth, 128; the sons of Azmaveth, 42; the sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah and Beeroth, 743; the sons of Ramah and Geba, 621; the men of Michmas, 122; the men of Bethel and Ai, 223; the sons of Nebo, 52 . . ."
• Ai - a historical city
• Why name Israelite settlers of an imaginary city Ai as captives of the real Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzer? Why give an enemy king that needless extra credit?
• How could real captives return home to an imaginary city of Ai?
• Why number captives returning to an imaginary city of Ai?
• What detail-oriented historian would reference an imaginary city of Ai?
• If Bethlehem was a real city, why not Ai?

A Lesson in Belief.

Moving forward from Moses, Aaron, the Tabernacle of Testimony, and the Ark of the Covenant, we encounter Joshua. You probably hear the name of Joshua and think, "the Battle of Jericho". From a historical standpoint, that battle would have been a test of belief indeed. So how contextually supported is the story of Jericho and the life of Joshua in Scripture?

"I Lift My Hands" by Chris Tomlin

Old Testament References to Joshua:

• Numbers 14:36-38, "The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me?' . . . 'Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun' . . . 'Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness. According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. I, the LORD, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they will die.' As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would God speak to historical Moses and Aaron about a merely imaginary Joshua?
• Why mention the father of a merely figurative Joshua?
• Why would it be written in Scripture that the Lord swore He would punish Israel for forty years for their guilt, if the story of the spies, including Joshua, was fake?
• Where in Scripture do you find an imaginary plague from the Lord? If the plague was real, must not Joshua have been a real (not merely figurative) Israelite?
• Deut. 31:14-26, "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.' So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. The LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. The LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land' . . . 'Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel' . . . So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel. Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, 'Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.' It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 'Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark . . . '"
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would the Lord speak to a historical Moses just before his death about an imaginary Joshua succeeding him?
• Where in Scripture does the Lord commission an imaginary man for leadership?
• Why would an imaginary Joshua be recorded in the real law of Moses, which was kept beside the real Ark of the Covenant?
• How could a merely imaginary man lead the real sons of Israel into a new land?
• Joshua 6:26-27, "Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, 'Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.' So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Where in Scripture are curses merely imaginary?
• Why associate a specific city with an imaginary curse?
• If the curse in Joshua 6 was real, how could Joshua be merely figurative?
• Joshua 19:49-50, "When they finished apportioning the land for inheritance by its borders, the sons of Israel gave an inheritance in their midst to Joshua the son of Nun. In accordance with the command of the LORD they gave him the city for which he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. So he built the city and settled in it."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why write of the real sons of Israel apportioning land to a merely imaginary Joshua?
• Why specify the city given to Joshua and its location in the territory of Ephraim, if Joshua was a simply figurative character?
• Judges 2:6-10, "When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel. Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of one hundred and ten. And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why write of "all the days of Joshua", if Joshua never lived?
• Why reference "the elders who survived Joshua", if Joshua never lived?
• Why name Joshua as the "servant of the Lord", if he was an imaginary character who never actually served the Lord?
• Why specify the age of Joshua at his death if he never lived?
• Why specify the burial place of an imaginary man?
• I Kings 16:33-34, "Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why specify who rebuilt Jericho and who died, if the curse wasn't real?
• Why write of how the curse of a merely figurative man came to pass?
• How would the "word of the Lord" be given through an imaginary man?
• I Chron. 7:20-27, "The sons of Ephraim were Shuthelah and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take their livestock. Their father Ephraim mourned many days, and his relatives came to comfort him. Then he went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and he named him Beriah, because misfortune had come upon his house. His daughter was Sheerah, who built lower and upper Beth-horon . . . Elishama his son, Non his son and Joshua his son. Their possessions and settlements were Bethel with its towns, and to the east Naaran, and to the west Gezer with its towns, and Shechem with its towns as far as Ayyah with its towns, and along the borders of the sons of Manasseh, Beth-shean with its towns, Taanach with its towns, Megiddo with its towns, Dor with its towns. In these lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why specify legacies of people in a genealogy attributed to the tribe of Ephraim, if these people never lived?
• Why include a merely figurative Joshua in the genealogy of the real tribe of Ephraim?

New Testament References to Joshua:

• Acts 7:44-47, "The high priest said, 'Are these things so?' And he [Stephen] said, 'Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran' . . . 'Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.'"
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would Stephen defend himself before the antagonistic high priest by referencing a figurative character? How would this be a good defense for Stephen?
• Why would Stephen insert an imaginary character into a story including the historical Abraham and Moses?
• Why would Stephen bring a merely imaginary Joshua into the story of how their real "God drove out" the Canaanite nations before them? Wouldn't referencing an imaginary character in this story be considered blasphemous by the high priest?
• Hebrews 3:16-4:11, "For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief . . . For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: 'AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS'; and again in this passage, 'THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.' Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, 'Today,' saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
              'TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
              DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.'
  For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 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."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would an imaginary Joshua be referenced in writing of the yet observed (at least by Jews) seventh day sabbath and the final Sabbath rest promised to believers?
• Why at all consider whether Joshua gave the sons of Israel true rest, if Joshua never led Israel into a land of their own?
• Why write of some "following the same example of disobedience", if the story of Joshua being exempted from Israel's punishment of forty years' wandering in the wilderness was merely figurative and not a real example from which to learn?

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.”