The Family Unit

Gen 5:2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

We have a very interesting grammatical structure in this verse.

First, we see that Adam and Eve were created in the same day. We have two possibilities here.

1. It was a long day. God brought all the animals to Adam, and he named each species. How long would that take? I suppose a very long time. Anyway, having met each animal, animal husbandry wasn't going to cut it for Adam's loneliness, so God performed the first surgery on him. Anesthetic was administered, perhaps warm milk from what Adam had named 'kine'. He must have been very tired from naming all those animals. Then God's scalpel opened up his side, He performed a ribectomy, super-glued his side together, and while Adam was in the recovery room, Eve was built from that rib. Imagine as God looked at the DNA helix and thought, "it'll take them 6000 years before they begin to understand this baby!" God then placed some smelling salts under Adam's nose, woke him up and said, "lookie here what I have for you!" Adam's jaw dropped and he said, "Whoa, man!" And you know the rest of the story.

2. Eve was built days later, but on the 6th day, when God sculpted Adam, Eve was intrinsic, that is, she was included in that package, she just had to be taken from him at a later date. I think this is the case.

Second, God called their name Adam. In God's eyes, this couple was one unit. They were static and cling. In Gen 2:24 we read, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

Now, let's tie these two thoughts together. In creation and in marriage, God intends for the married parties to be one party. And a wonderful par-TAY it should be.

How about your marriage, are you two ships drifting on the sea, sometimes close, sometimes at a distance? Or are you both in the same vessel, going the same direction, living, laughing, longing, loving together, no matter what? Is your marriage a regular party?

God wants you to be one, the closer you both get to Him, the closer you will be to one another. Sort of like the Trinity, separate, yet one.

Bad Son - Good Son (Raising Cain)

Rambling thoughts on Gen 4

(note: name meanings in parentheses)

1. Cain - (His name means fastened spear). In jealousy over the Lord's regard to Abel's offering, he killed his brother, probably with a farm implement, since Cain was a tiller of the ground and the two of them were out in the field when the murder occurred. Cain may then have buried Abel in a shallow grave, since the Lord said his blood cries out to him from the ground.

The fourth dweller upon the earth becomes a fugitive and a vagabond (deplorable wanderer). He links up with a woman, either at home, east of Eden, or on the road, who becomes his wife. The question begs itself, where did Cain get his wife? Either she was a sister whose birth is not mentioned or she came to be by an act of special creation of the Lord. No doubt, He could do this. But probably the former explanation will do, it is less of a reach. She is more or less inconsequential to the Scripture narrative. If she were created, that creative act would probably have earned the honor of special mention.

Cain's line included:
-Enoch (initiated) who built a city which bore his name, and his son's name (the same), vs 17
-Irad (fugitive), 18 Now, there's a name to hang on your boy! He was the son of -Enoch Jr.
-Mehujael (smitten of God)
-Methusael (man who is of God)
-Lamech (just sounded nice to his mom, apparently, because it has no meaning)
Lamech was the first polygamist, marrying both *Adah (ornament - must have been his trophy wife)
*Zillah (Shade - must have been a big gal)
From the union of Lamech and Trophy wife:
-Jabal (stream) whose offspring live in tents
-Jubal (leader) His offspring were musicians. They invented and played musical instruments. Some were into country music (since they handled the harp, which means 'twang') and others were good on the woodwinds (organ).
Zillah and Lamech produced:
-Tubalcain (offspring of fastened spear) He was the father of metallurgy. He had a sister named Naamah (pleasantness). She is the first daughter to get ink in the Bible.

Back to Lamech, this nut didn't fall far from the tree. He announces to his wives that he had murdered a young man and was in hot water with the Lord. He figured God would punish him 11 times as much as his great, great, great, great granddad. Violent crime was on the rise, 2 reported murders in the space of several hundred years! The world was going to heck in a hand-basket on Cain's side!

But then, there was the godly seed.
-Seth! (substituted). He had a son named
-Enos (son of the substitute) and this is when men began to call upon the name of the Lord. This is significant because Paul tells us, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

In Adam, all die (I Cor 15:22) But thanks to a Substitute, we can be made alive!

Enter the Villain.

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Gen 3:1

Until the third chapter of Genesis, the Bible is a symphony of awe and wonder. Perfection and grandeur ooze from each verse. With the exception of God's warning to Adam concerning the forbidden fruit, all is positive and wonderful. Yes, the earth was without form and void, but that was no problem, just the process. Yes, Adam was alone and needed an help meet, again, no negative there, only part of the progression of creation. The first two chapters of Genesis could easily cause the reader to break into a chorus of "How Great Thou Art!"

However, the narrative moves us on to the third chapter where it all goes south. Enter the Villain!

*He Appears as a serpent "Now the serpent"
Serpent - naw-khawsh' (called so because of the 'hiss', it means to whisper a magic spell) Fallen Lucifer chose as his first form in which he would appear to mankind, a serpent. Not as hideous and despised as we behold serpents, but beautiful in appearance to the innocent and unsuspecting Eve.

Beware, we don't know in which form slew-foot, dragon-breath will appear to us. We can know that it won't be as we expect. He is transformed into an angel of light, according to Paul in II Cor 11:14. The gender, look, appeal and context will be a total surprise to most. Therefore, we are warned to not be ignorant of his devices. Peter advises us to be sober and vigilant, always on guard for the enemy of our souls.

*He Applies Subtlety "was more subtil" (the definition implies cunning and craft). Don't be fooled, the arch-enemy of God is a sharp cookie. He has a ton of tricks and is well practiced with each of them. He knows our weaknesses better than we do. He knows how best to pull the wool over the eyes of the sheep. It's hard to fool the fooler, to trick the tricker.

*He Approaches the Woman"...he said unto the woman..."
Woman - 'ishshâh nâshı̂ym - the feminine mortal

Why the woman? Why not Adam?
1. She is the fixer, as women usually are. With their capacity to care and share, they feel the need to righten perceived wrongs. If she was convinced all was not right, all was not fair, she would want to fix it.
2. She is the weaker vessel (IPe 3:7) Literally, "strengthless equipment." This has nothing to do with anything other than her build.
Question: Who did God give the commandment and the warning to? The man, before Eve was made. If the serpent would have approached the man with this insanity, what might have happened to the serpent? He might have crushed it! Lucifer didn't want to take the chance of getting his neck broke!
3. To get to the man, you go:
-through a woman
-through his stomach (fruit)
-through his ego (be as gods)
*He Appeals to the 3 desires (I Jn 2:16)
the lust of the flesh (food for a physical need)
the lust of the eyes (we covet what we behold; beauty, grandeur, etc)
the pride of life (life and death) "ye shall not surely die" in this life you can have it all, like God, to know good and evil"

This same 3 pronged attack was used against our Lord in His wilderness temptation.
the appeal to the flesh - turn these stones to bread
the appeal to the eyes - here are the kingdoms of the world
the appeal to the pride of life - cast yourself down, the angels will save you.

Eve bought into it, hook, line and sinker vs 6
-Hook (baited with fruit) - "good for food"
-Line - "pleasant to the eyes"
-Sinker - "desired to make one wise" It sunk her, and us!

6,000 years later, little has changed. There are a few differences. Adam and Eve fell while housed in a pristine environment. We have to do battle with the old serpent in much less suitable environs. We have hindsight Adam and Eve were not blessed with. Beelzebub has 6 millennia of practice under his belt. But in both cases, it all comes down to human nature and the basics of temptation; appeal to our lust for food, power and our pride and we are weak!

Thank God for strength and grace to withstand temptation and for mercy and forgiveness when we fail. Beware throughout your day of the wiles of the old lion. Be filled with and depend on the leadership of the Holy Spirit. May He lead each of us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Scarcely Saved

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

"Everybody says they're goin' to heaven ain't necessarily goin' there." These are the words of an old black gospel song. It is good theology also.

"Just say the prayer and you are saved." This is the mantra of the hyper soul-winners who think every time they can get someone to say the "sinner's prayer" they are sure for heaven. This is a sad and misleading belief. The Bible says that with the heart a person believes and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Honestly, we have no idea what some believe in their heart, even though they can repeat "the prayer."

I have lived and ministered too long to believe that everyone who says a prayer is truly saved. If they haven't really believed, that is if they were made to say a prayer, manipulated by an over-zealous soul-winner, pressed to think this is their fire escape from hell, etc., then they probably were not born again into the family of God.

I will go even further and say that probably most of the people who have prayed "the prayer" are not converted. Some of the greatest soul-winning pastors are qouted as saying that as many as 50% of our fundmental churches are unregenerated! They may have been too young to comprehend their sinfulness or understand why they are even praying or to Whom they are praying. Perhaps they were sloshed and a prayer seemed the thing to do at the time. Maybe they were an emotional wreck and were grasping at straws and figured if a prayer could help, why not try it? There are dozens of circumstances in which people may pray the sinner's prayer, yet it is prayed insincerely.

This is not to discount the countless millions who have trusted Christ by calling on His name and were thus birthed into a relationship with God. These do include young children, drunken sots and grieving souls. But it is best to let the recording angel keep the books, rather than a soul-winning aficionado looking to pad his numbers and fluff his feathers. I know how this validation game works in their ranks.

We all ought to be all about soul-winning, making the most of our opportunities, winning souls where and when we can, but the proof is in the fruit produced in the new believer by the power of the indwelling Holy Ghost.

Hey, James said it, the righteous are scarcely saved. That means hardly, with difficulty. So don't tell me that the self-righteous, religious man, the drunkard, the whore monger, the adulterer or the little brat who have not changed one iota since repeating "the prayer" are necessarily among the righteous. When they have won their first soul, when they evidence love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and self-control, then let's talk about a soul won to Christ.

Merry Christmas!

I am wishing each reader a very blessed Christmas and a tremendously godly and happy New Year!

I never Saw That One Coming

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
1Pe 4:15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.
1Pe 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

Getting smacked upside the head by the devil and his imps should never take us by surprise, and yet, it usually does.

1) The "Who" of our trials can seem strange. Sometimes it is the personel the enemy uses to cause us trials. If it were people we know can't stand us, it would be no big deal, no surprise at all. But when people we know and are close to cause us grief and heartache, it hurts deeply. We think of the propehcy concerning Jesus and His betrayer. Psalm 41:9 declares, "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me."

2) The "Where" of our trials can seem very odd. Other times, it is the context in which the sufferings come. We expect opposition from the world, but when it happens at home or in our church, we are generally caught off guard and the hurt is much deeper. Again, a prophecy concerning Jesus' betrayal, Zec 13:6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

We expect safety in and around home and church and yet this is where the knife cuts deeper than anywhere. The last words of Julius Ceasar are said to have been, "Et tu, Brute!" "Even you, Brutus?"

Again, we are warned not to be surprised about the who and where of our trials and suffering.

3) The "When" of our troubles. The timing of our problems can sure take us unawares. Doesn't the problem always seem to come at the most inopportune time? I suppose there is never a good time for hurt and harm.

Often, we are riding a great wave of accomplishment. relationships are going well, work is productive, finances are fine and the boom is lowered and our world grinds to a horrific halt.

But there are those times when we are so far down we'd have to reach up to scrath a snake's belly, when it seems we have seen the worst that additional waves threaten to sink our ship.

4) The "What" of our woes. We use the word "strange" as a description of the things that happen to us. Peter says don't think it strange.

We have to admit that when one strange thing piles on top of another, eventually, nothing surprises us. The fiery trials that we never would have guessed cause us to say, "nothing surprises me anymore." Been there? If not, you will.

5) The "Why" of our sufferings. Finally, we can deal with trials from God's perspective. We may never, in this life, be able to give an answer as to why terrible things come upon us. But we do know this, when His glory is revealed, we will be glad with exceeding joy. There is a great day coming by and by, where all believers will be richly repaid for the sufferings (not of their own doing) they have endured.

Who has unjustly suffered more than our Savior? And yet, His suffering bought our salvation.

Know that your suffering is not in vain. That which God allows to come against us serves to draw us closer to Him, to depend upon His grace, to be an inspiration and help to others and to gain us a greater glory in heaven.

Perhaps today you are in the midst of tremendous difficulty. You have troubles you never bargained for. Think it not strange, you have a very real enemy out there who is "hell-bent" on your misery. But you also have a great God who is able to give great grace and eventually, deliverence.

Don't be Digging up the Past.

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
1Pe 4:3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
1Pe 4:4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
1Pe 4:5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

Peter knew what the dual nature was all about. No disciple wrestled with the old man as he did. It seems by this passage that he was very familiar of what the old man's works looked like.

Personally, he had to have the old man beat out of him chunk by chunk. A Jew himself, he considered his pre-salvation forays to the dark side akin to acting like the Gentiles.

Here is the list he gave us:
"we walked in..."

1. Lasciviousness. "aselgeia" Incontinent, licentious, filthy, wanton, immodest, unbridled conduct. Basically, unable to control oneself, letting go and letting the flesh do whatever it wants.

2. Lusts - "epithumia" forbidden longings and desires.

3. Excess of Wine - "oinophlugia" At first glance, one might think this means “wine is fine, just sometime.” "After all," some say, 'Jesus drank wine.' I always ask them when that happened. "When he turned the water into wine and at the last supper." Really, is that so? These statements come from willful ignorance.

First of all, as the water was turned into wine for the wedding reception in Cana, we must ask what exactly was that wine? Having drank that creation of Jesus, the governor and the people were a bit perplexed. Why had they been drinking the old grape juice and now brand new wine, that is, fresh juice? They assumed the usual practice would be in place. Serve the good stuff first, then as the party winds down, use the old stuff that has begun to ferment. “Oinos” means simply “wine.” It could have been anything from fresh pressed grape juice, some places called "new wine," to fermented wine. Each context in which it is used must be explored in light of the hundreds of verses in which fermented beverages are spoken against in the Word. The wine transformed from water in Cana was fresh grape juice.

Next, there is the idea that fermented wine was passed in a chalice from apostle to apostle at the Last Supper. What wording does Jesus use in this context? He calls it, "the fruit of the vine." Again, would it stand to reason that unleavened bread was required and then leavened juice would be employed? How simple it is to figure this one out!

Therefore, we find that our First Peter passage is referencing the excess (extra-curriculars) that takes place when fermented wine is consumed. This goes hand in glove with what Paul told Timothy, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess." That is, in alcoholic drinks, excess is sure to ensue.

4. Revellings - "Komos" letting loose, anything goes behavior. Like what happens with the excess resulting from wine.

5. Banquetings - "Potos" Oh no! The pot lucks must go? Get this now, this means a drinking bout! Literally, the carousal of drinking. Kind of like a drinking binge. We say that so and so has fallen off the wagon, they have been on a 3 day drunk. That is what this is referring to.

Whew! I am glad that I can now go back to the trough at the Golden Corral and not feel guilty (as long as I don't commit gluttony!)

6. Abominable Idolatry - "Athemitos eidololatreia" Simply meaning unlawful (according to God's law) image worship.

There you have it, friends, Peter's take on what the life of the old man looks like. Now it gets interesting. In the next verse (4) we are told that the crowd we used to hang out with thinks we are strange, weird and peculiar because we no longer run with them. Read it, that's just what it says. And they want us to run with them to all the aforementioned things. But we now have our heads screwed on straight and our hearts are in the right place, so what do they do? They speak evil of us. Now who is judging?

Finally, we are told Who it is that we are trying to please, He that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. He is the One to Whom we will give an account, not the deadheads we used to run with.

So, walk in newness of life. Keep the old man dead and buried. Exhumations smell pretty nasty.