Читать книгу The Books of Moses and More: A Christian Perspective - Kenneth B. Alexander - Страница 24

After the devastation of the flood was accomplished the scripture says: “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided” (Gen. 8:1). God’s act of remembering Noah is significant. It was an act of God’s grace. This is an expression after the manner of men: “for not any of his creatures (Lu. 12:6), much less any of his people, are forgotten of God” (Isa. 49:15, 16). But, the whole race of mankind, except Noah and his family, was now extinguished, and driven into the land of forgetfulness, to be remembered no more; so that God’s remembering Noah was the return of his mercy to mankind, of whom he would not make a full end. The demands of divine justice had been answered by the ruin of those sinners; he had eased him of his adversaries (Isa. 1:24), and now his spirit was quieted (Zec. 6:8), and he remembered Noah and every living thing. He remembered mercy in wrath (Hab. 3:2), remembered the days of old (Isa. 63:11), remembered the holy seed, and then remembered Noah.

After Noah sent out the dove that did not return, indicating that dry ground was available, he, his family and the animals left the ark. The ark is strongly symbolic of the way God carried the true believers into the promised land, using the nation of Israel, then the church, that safeguarded them through the disasters which came upon the earth. As further evidence of the trauma which must have been experienced by God during this ordeal, he made promises to Noah. “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

“While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

And cold and heat,

And summer and winter,

And  day and night

Shall not cease” (Genesis 8:20-22).

He also made a covenant (promise)with Noah to pass through the generations. God said: “I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My  bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. “It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and  I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth” (Gen 9:11-17).You will notice in the Book of Revelation that although many judgments were metered out upon the earth none of them was a flood of this magnitude. God is faithful.

Trouble immediately arose which significantly affected the history of the world to come involving Noah’s sons. “Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and  became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.

“When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. So he said, “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.”He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant. “May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant” (Gen. 9:20-27).

This shameful act by Ham and Canaan (some speculate homosexual act) had the effect of dividing the races of men who were to emerge from the flood. Because of the curse of Noah on the sons of Ham Ham’s line of descendents headed into an evil direction which eventually came to the birth of Nimrod and the initiation of Babel (Babylon). Nimrod, the great hunter (actually soul hunter) became mighty in the earth. The sons of Canaan became the Canaanites which inhabited the land of what became Israel, before they were conquered by Joshua. Babylon continued down through the ages, even to the present day, as the evil system of pagan religion that God had to judge (Revelation 17-18).

The line of Ham and Canaan continued to become Assyria, which conquered the Israelites after Joshua. Further the descendents build other evil cities including Nineveh. Descents of Ham also became the Philistines as well as “and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad. The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward  Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations” (Gen. 10:16-20). These are the very nations defeated by Joshua as he conquered the Promised Land a millennium later.

Those same descendents were involved in the attempted building of the Tower of Babel, which is again related to Babylon. God judged Babylon in Revelation as a ”mother of harlots”. He said in Revelation 18:1–5: After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities“.

As they began to build the Tower in rebellion against God, God confused their languages so they could no longer communicate with one another. As a result the tower was abandoned. God understood the principal of oneness and if left to their own devices evil would have been spread even more and further than it was. God said: “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them” (Gen. 11:6). “Therefore its name was called Babel [Babylon], because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth” (Gen 11:9). We all know the colloquial term of babel or babbling.

The descents of Shem are named in Genesis 11:10-32. From this line arose Terah, the father of Abraham. “Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there” (Gen. 11:31). Ur was an evil city built by the descendants of Ham and Canaan. Terah died in Haran.

In verse 12 the following occurred: “Now the Lord said to Abram (his name not yet Abraham), Go forth from your country, [Haran] And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan “Gen. 12:1-5). The land of Canaan was filled with the descendents of Ham and the line from his son Canaan (Gen. 12:6). This land would later become the land of Israel, the Promised Land (Gen. 12:7).

Abram sojourned in Egypt because of a famine in the land of Canaan, with his wife Sarai later called Sarah. Abraham claimed that Sarah was his sister, which, under Hurrian law at the time, afforded her special privileges including unwanted sexual advances against her. The Hurrians (Horites) were a civilization which existed in Canaan during this time. Thus contrary to popular thought, Abram’s portrayal of Sarah as a sister was lawful and customary in Canaan. By claiming this privilege Abram was saving his own life as the Egyptians would likely seize the beautiful Sarah and kill Abram. However, Egypt did not follow this law and the Pharaoh seized Sarah for himself. However, the Lord saved both Sarah and Abram in that He brought plagues to the house of Pharaoh causing him to release Sarah, and allow them to leave Egypt. So instead of Abram being seen as deceptive, he may just have been following the customs of his land in claiming Sarah to be his sister.

Abram and Lot settled in Negev but after a time it became apparent that the land would not support both families and their herds so they decided to separate. Lot chose to settle in the fertile Jordon valley near the city of Sodom. Abram chose to stay in Canaan. And the Lord spoke to Abram there: “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. “I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. “Arise,  walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord” (Gen. 13:14-18). Of course the Lord was showing Abram the land that the nation of Israel would possess years later under Joshua.

The part of Canaan where Lot settled was a land of great wickedness. “Now  the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord (Gen. 13:13). Lot’s decision to settle there showed his predisposition towards that type of life style, as even when God set to destroy the cities Lot was reluctant to flee the destruction.

A unique event occurred which shows Abram’s strength and character. Various Canaanite Kings attempted to defeat Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot was captured by them. Abram, with just a few hundred men, conquered the Canaanite Kings and freed his nephew Lot (Gen. 14:1-16). Although he had helped the wicked men of Sodom and Gomorrah, probably on behalf of his nephew, Abram refused to take any of the spoils of victory he would have otherwise been entitled to. So Abram shows his family character by rescuing Lot and his faithfulness to trust God for his goods and not accept any tribute by the wicked men he had saved from destruction. “Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, [El Elyon]  possessor [creator] of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ “I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share” (Gen. 14:22-24).

Then Abram met a mysterious stranger to which he tithed a tenth of what he had. “And  Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High [El Elyon]. He [Melchizedek] blessed him [Abram] and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High [again El Elyon], Possessor [Creator] of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High [El Elyon], Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He [Abram] gave him a tenth of all (Ge. 14:18-20). Who was this high priest Melchizedek who recognized Abram as a man of God and apparently served the same God as Abram (the Creator of Heaven and Earth)?

Melchizedek was identified as both a priest of God, (El Elyon), and a King of Salem. In a literal interpretation of Genesis 14:19, Melchizedek blesses Abraham “in the name of God Most High” which is translated El Elyon. Melchizedek also calls the “God Most High” (El Elyon) the possessor or “creator” of heaven and earth. Abraham, worshipped a God called “Yahweh” but apparently made no distinction between his God and that of Melchizedek because Abraham gave tithe to Melchizedek thereby conceding him a priesthood greater than his own patriarchal priesthood. Also Melchizedek worshiped only one God, unlike Abraham’s Canaanite neighbors, eliminating the theory that he hailed from a polytheistic society.

Salem, wherein Melchizedek was identified as being King, is closely associated with Jerusalem which eventually became the center for worship by the Jews in King David’s time. Prior to the Jewish occupation of the city it was named “Uru-salem or Uru-salimmu” (see the Tell el-Amarna letters, 14th century B.C.). It is believed that Melchizedek heralded from that city and Salem is also translated “peace” (see Psalm 76:2). Melchizedek’s validity as a priest of the Most High God (also El Elyon) is emphasized by Abraham, as he rejects any spoils offered him by the defeated Canaanite Kings, in the name of the same God he mentioned in Genesis 14:19.

Melchizedek is later identified in the scriptures as holding an eternal priesthood as a type of Christ who was to come. The Book of Hebrews goes into the most detail as to hat this mysterious figure, Melchizedek, represented. Hebrews explains that Old Testament Priests, from the tribe of Levi, officiated over the various sacrifices given to God by the people to atone for sin. However, this priesthood was temporary, not permanent, in that the sacrifices had to be offered over and over again. Further, the Priests died and their priesthood was ended. Christ, on the other hand, was not from the physical tribe of Levi (He was of the natural lineage of Judah). Therefore Christ (Jesus) had no part in the Old Testament temporary priesthood. His priesthood was permanent in that His one sacrifice forever accomplished salvation and reconciliation to God (Hebrews 7:1-3). His priesthood is therefore described in Hebrews as that of Melchizedek, both stated as being eternal.

In Genesis Chapter 15 God offers Abram a son. “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”Abram said, “O Lord God [YHWH], what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.”Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir” (Ge. 15:1-4).

Abram asked for a sign that this would be true and the Lord told him to sacrifice a calf, which Abram cut in pieces to make ready the sacrifice. “It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which  passed between these pieces” (Ge. 15:17). Besides being a miraculous appearing of the Lord by passing between the sacrifice in such a manner, the “smoking oven” and the “flaming sword” are symbols of light which indicates the presence of the Lord. The flaming sword is also symbolic of the Word of God and Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 19:11-16).

Now we see the human side of Abram, the man God called a man of faith. God had promised him a son yet Sarah was approaching old age and it began to look like it was not going to happen. Thus Abram took the promise from God’s hands and took it on himself to produce an heir. “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai [Adam listened to Eve]. After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress [Sarah] was despised in her sight” (Ge. 16:1-4). Finally Hagar fled from Sarah because of Sarah’s abuse.

The Lord met Hagar and told her to go back and resubmit herself to Sarah. The Lord spoke to Hagar about her son Ishmael in her womb: “Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael[God hears], Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. “He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers” (Ge. 16:11-12). To the east of Canaan is the land today called Arabia and argueably Ishmael was the beginning of the Arabian race. Later the prophet Mohammed, from the land of Arabia, would found the Muslim religion and would claim Ishmael as their child of promise. Historically the Muslims were a warlike nation who even conquered Israel and Jerusalem in the middle ages.

Later, after the birth of Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael, were driven away by Sarah and reluctantly by Abraham. God told Abraham: “Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named. “And of the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant” (Ge. 21:12-13). God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt” (Ge. 21:20-21). Paran was a desolate wilderness east of Canaan.

In Chapter 17 God reiterated His promise to Abram that he would have the son of promise through his wife Sarai. He also changed Abram’s [exalted Father] name to Abraham [Father of a multitude] (Ge. 17:1-5). Sarai’s name was changed to Sarah [Princess] and God told Abraham: “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her” (Ge. 17:16). This promise referred to the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom on the earth. “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

As evidence of His covenant with Abraham God instituted the right of circumcision. “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. “And  you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you” (Ge. 17:10-11). The covenant was: “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Ge. 17:8).

In Chapter 18 Abraham was warned by angels of God that God was going to bring judgment to the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and also confirmed that a son would be born to he and Sarah. (Ge. 18:1-19). Sarah laughed when she was told this as Abraham was over 100 years old and Sarah was far past childbearing years. Abraham tried to save Sodom and Gomorrah by bargaining with God. “Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it…So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account”. Abraham continued to barter finally saying: “Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten” (Ge. 17:23-33).

The angels visited Lot in Sodom to determine if it was worth saving. After the residents of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house and demanded that the angels be brought outside so they could have relations with them, the angels struck them with blindness and urged Lot to flee the city. Lot was reluctant so the angels forced him and his family to flee, warning them not even to look back. As they fled God rained fire and brimstone down on the cities but Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.

When they fled into the mountains the daughters had relations with their Father Lot and became pregnant. They both gave birth to sons. “The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day” (Ge. 19:37-38). Both races, created by incest, would cause Israel problems in the days to come.

“Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac,” which means laughter” (Ge. 21:1-3). He was named “laughter” because of Sarah’s laughter when she was told she would have a son at her advanced age, and because of the joy when the child was born.

In Chapter 22 Abraham faced his most severe test. The Lord told him to sacrifice the life of his son Isaac. So Abraham set about to prepare a sacrificial altar for Isaac. Before he had completed the deed the Lord spoke to him: “But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son” (Ge. 22:11-13).

“Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Ge. 22:15-28).

In Chapter 23 Sarah dies and is buried. In Chapter 24 Abraham swears that Isaac will not take a wife from among the Canaanites. A wife is found in the land of Mesopotamia Rebecca, after she passed a series of tests initiated by Abraham. In Chapter 24:62-67 Isaac marries Rebecca. In Chapter 25, Abraham marries again this time to Keturah. He had more sons and daughters and died at the age of 178.

END OF PART 2