Archive for the 'Bible Commentary' Category

Genesis 7:4 - Forty Days and Nights (Part 2)

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

In Genesis 7:4 - Forty Days and Nights, we saw the significance of 40 days and nights in the Old Testament, beyond simply The Great Flood.

Embalming
The next reference to “forty days” after The Flood refers to the duration of the ancient Egyptian embalming process, in Genesis 50:2-3.  Egyptians embalmed the body by immersing it with a soda mixture, which leaves the body that is to be preserved.  One can liken this process to The Flood, where the “world” is immersed and Noah and his family are like the part of the body being preserved.

Establishment of a New Covenant
The next reference is when Moses goes up to Mount …

Genesis 7:4 - Forty Days and Nights

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

As I have written in Jesus, the Father’s Proxy on Earth, a Christophany is the appearance of Jesus on Earth, predating his life in the Gospels.  I document a few, and go into great detail about my favorite Christophany in Jesus on Mount Sinai, where Jesus was meeting was Moses in his tent, and Moses begged to see Him in His glory.  So, Jesus showed him His glory from behind on Mount Sinai… and then showed Himself to Moses from the front in the Gospels, on the Mount of Transfiguration.  It is that example that firmly establishes that inter-workings between Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel is intertwined with His work in the Old Testament.  Another example, is the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, …

Genesis 7:4 - When the Father Judges, Jesus Grieves

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

In Jesus, the Father’s Proxy on Earth and Jesus on Mount Sinai, I establish the idea of Christophanies in the Old Testament, essentially making the case that where we see God on earth, it is Jesus.  In Genesis 6 - Who Regretted Creating Mankind?, I use the same principals to suggest there was interplay between Jesus and God the Father in the Flood narrative.  It resolves a key problem skeptics point out, where God does not appear omniscient when He speaks (emphasis mine)…
 5 The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that …

Genesis 7:1-5 - How God Meets us Where We are at

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

 1 The LORD then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
Apparently God is not referring to Noah’s extended family or relatives.  He is only referring to Noah’s wife, sons, and their wives.  It would seem he had no other children, and no grandchildren yet.
2 Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.
As I wrote in …

Genesis 7 - Generally Speaking…

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

A primary obstacle to discussing The Flood with a Young Earther has to do with how you read the scripture.  Many will say that you have to read it literally.  Personally, I find that quite appealing.  However, as you read through The Flood’s account, you immediately find yourself having to relax that rule when God says he is going to wipe out “all” of mankind… but is going to save Noah and his family.  Clearly, Noah is a man, yet God clearly separated him from the “all” that he was referring to.  Apparently, even when the word “all” is used by God, God still reserves the right to list exceptions. 

So, backing off the strictly literal method of interpretation, one can still insist that …

Genesis 6:9-22 - Noah the Engineer Gets Requirements for an Ark

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.
As I wrote in Genesis 6:9-12 - Destroying All Mankind… Adam’s descendants that is… except the righteous ones, all refers to all the evil descendants of Adam.  The reason for using “all”, when God clearly did not mean Noah and his family, is that God separated them from those to whom God referred.  The statement must have been a shock to Noah, having been a …

Genesis 6:9-12 - Destroying All Mankind… Adam’s descendants that is… except the righteous ones

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

 9 This is the account of Noah.
      Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 …

Problems with Interpreting the Flood - Conclusion - All of what? - Guidelines for Interpreting The Flood

Monday, July 12th, 2010

So far, I have laid down the following guidelines for interpreting The Flood in scripture:

Problems with Interpreting the Flood - Part 2 - Evidence for Global Catastrophe - All evidence for global catastrophe (that I have found) was created by the KT impact or the ancient ocean of 4.5 billion years ago.  This leaves no evidence for a recent global flood.  Therefore, the Bible is documenting a regional flood.

Problems with Interpreting the Flood - Part 3 - Evidence of Mankind - Scripture and mankind appear to agree …

Problems with Interpreting the Flood - Part 4 - Partial Revelation

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

One of the problems with biblical interpretation is the apparent assumption that what the Bible says is all there is to know.  “The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it.” is a common mantra… and I agree with it, as far as it goes.  The problem is that we do not always realize what is with which we agree.  The Bible makes it seem like the Earth is at the center of the universe.  Well, it isn’t.  However, it is at the center of God’s plan for the universe.  So, Christians then and now still believe the Bible, and yet believe different things.  It makes arguing against unbeliever rather difficult, but that aside, we need only acknowledge that …

Problems with Interpreting the Flood - Part 3 - Evidence of Mankind

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

As I wrote in Problems with Interpreting the Flood - Part 2 - Evidence for Global Catastrophe, any physical evidence for The Flood used by Creation Scientists generally points at the KT Impact 65 million years ago, or at the global ocean that first formed on the earth around 4.5 billion years ago.  Furthermore, these two global events are strong evidence for God’s sequence of Creation recorded in Genesis 1.  This tells us that whatever else is true, The Flood was not a global event.  Otherwise, there would be evidence of it, and there is not.  However, this also tells us something else: …