The Validity of Genesis, Part 2

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Short Summary
The discourse defends the authenticity and antiquity of Genesis against modern critical claims that it is a later myth or compilation, emphasizing archaeological evidence and internal textual features such as consistent phrases, place names, and writing styles that reflect its ancient origins. It argues that Moses compiled Genesis from genuine ancient records preserved through generations, supported by New Testament affirmations of its truth, and critiques theories that Jesus merely accommodated popular beliefs or lacked knowledge of Genesis. Overall, the speaker asserts that Genesis is a divinely preserved, historically reliable document foundational to faith.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse on the Validity and Authorship of Genesis

Context and Motivation for the Talk:
– The discourse addresses modern critical views on Genesis, especially the claim that before 1000 BC there were no written records, only oral traditions.
– Critics (liberal theologians, seminaries, universities) argue Genesis is myth, hearsay, or borrowed from other cultures, and not authored by Moses.
– Some propose Genesis was written after the Babylonian captivity (~536 BC), undermining its authenticity and faith foundation.

Defense of Genesis’ Antiquity and Authorship:
– There is abundant archaeological evidence supporting Genesis’ validity, including ancient names, places, and cultures consistent with the biblical narrative.
– The phrase “These are the generations of…” in Genesis marks the end of major historical sections and aligns with ancient cuneiform tablet style.
– Examples:
– Genesis 5:1 – History of Adam concluded.
– Genesis 6:9 – History of Noah.
– Genesis 10:1 – History of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
– Genesis 11:27 – History of Abraham, likely recorded by his sons Isaac and Ishmael.
– Genesis 33 – Both Esau and Jacob are wealthy, indicating they could have recorded their histories or employed scribes.
– The latter part of Genesis contains Egyptian names and customs (e.g., Potiphar, Zaphneth Panea, Asenath), reflecting Joseph’s life in Egypt, confirming authenticity.
– The presence of different writing styles, languages, and cultural references in Genesis is expected due to multiple authors over various times and locations, not a sign of confusion.

Geographical and Cultural Evidence:
– Genesis 10:19 references the borders of the Canaanites, including Sodom and Gomorrah, which were known before their destruction, indicating an early date for these writings.
– Moses updated ancient place names with contemporary terms (e.g., Genesis 14: “King of Bela” now “Zoar”; Rachel’s burial place “Ephrath” now “Bethlehem”), helping Israelites identify locations.
– Unique, obsolete terms like “gopher wood” (Genesis 6:14) used only once, support the antiquity and authenticity rather than invention by later authors.

Moses as Compiler and Author:
– Moses is not explicitly mentioned in Genesis, unlike in Exodus-Deuteronomy where “The Lord said unto Moses” appears 53 times.
– Critics’ failure to find such claims in Genesis undermines their argument for later authorship; if later authors wanted to promote Moses’ stature, they would have inserted such phrases.
– Moses, raised as an Egyptian prince, would have had access to extensive Egyptian and Eastern records, including cuneiform tablets (diplomatic correspondence evidence from 14th century BC Egypt).
– The “chain of custody” of records from Adam through Joseph likely preserved these histories, and Moses compiled and translated them into Hebrew.
– Biblical references affirm Moses’ writing role (Exodus 17:14; 24:4; Numbers 33:2).

New Testament Affirmation of Genesis:
– The New Testament writers and Jesus accepted Genesis as true:
– Romans 5:12 – Sin and death entered through Adam.
– 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 – Death came by man.
– Hebrews 11 – Faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Joseph.
– Stephen’s speech recounts patriarchal history.
– James 2:21 – Abraham justified by works offering Isaac.
– Galatians 3:8 (citing Genesis 12:3) – The gospel was preached to Abraham.
– Jesus personally affirmed Genesis events and figures:
– John 8:58 – “Before Abraham was, I am.”
– Matthew 22:32 – God is “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
– Luke 13:28 – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom.
– References to Noah’s flood, Lot, and original creation.
– Critics’ “accommodation theory” (Jesus knew Genesis was false but played along) is rejected as inconsistent with Jesus’ truthful nature (John 6:60-69).
– “Kenosis theory” (Jesus emptied himself of divine knowledge) is refuted by scriptural evidence of Jesus’ full understanding (e.g., His baptism, divine self-identification).

Conclusions:
– Genesis chapters 1–36 were originally recorded on tablets, possibly preserved on papyrus by Joseph.
– The phrase “These are the generations of…” marks section conclusions and ties sections together.
– Different writing styles, languages, and cultures in Genesis reflect authentic authorship by multiple persons across different eras.
– Moses was the compiler and translator preserving original sources, clarifying names (e.g., use of Jehovah and Elohim for God).
– The survival of Genesis despite efforts to destroy it is evidence of divine preservation (cf. Genesis 18:14; Psalm 12:6-7 implied).
– Archaeological and linguistic evidence affirms the text’s antiquity and accuracy.
– The New Testament and Jesus Christ affirm Genesis as historical and foundational to faith.
– Critics’ theories lack understanding of biblical and historical evidence.

Key Bible Verses Mentioned:
– Genesis 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:19; 11:1,7,27; 14; 16 (gopher wood); 37:36; 41:45; 43:32; 50:2-3
– Exodus 3:6; 17:14; 24:4
– Numbers 33:2
– Romans 5:12
– 1 Corinthians 15:21-22
– Hebrews 11 (faith of patriarchs)
– James 2:21
– Galatians 3:8 (Genesis 12:3)
– Matthew 22:32
– Luke 13:28
– John 6:60-69; 8:58
– Psalms implied for preservation (Psalm 12:6-7)
– Other allusions: Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:7), creation (Genesis 1), fall of man

—

Summary Note:
This discourse systematically defends the historical authenticity, Mosaic authorship, and divine preservation of Genesis against modern critical theories. It draws on internal textual clues, archaeological findings, ancient Near Eastern cultural contexts, and New Testament affirmations, emphasizing the importance of Genesis as foundational to biblical faith and Christian doctrine. The critique of opposing theories such as the accommodation and kenosis theories highlights their inconsistency with scriptural testimony about Jesus Christ and biblical history.

Transcript

Well, last time we talked about the validity of Genesis in part one. So here’s the recap. Now, one of the reasons for this talk is not only that there are all these wonderful archaeological evidences coming out to explain the origin of, of Genesis, its preservation, etc, but it’s also because critics of Genesis and these are in seminaries and universities in the, in liberal theologians, etc, these guys are teaching, teaching that before 1000 BC there were no written records. It was all oral traditions. So that means Genesis, Moses, who purportedly lived long before this, this is all oral, oral tradition.

So this is all, you know, hearsay, let’s put it that way. In other words, Genesis is simply a bunch of myths. Myths really lies from other cultures that Israel appropriated. They said, what do you guys think? What do you guys believe?

Well, we’re gonna, we’re gonna take that and we’ll believe that too, essentially, is what they’re saying, and then Genesis was. They’re also saying that Janice was actually not written by Moses at all, but it was written after the Babylonian captivity. Oh, my word. Not Moses.

Now they’re saying it was written, written after the Babylonian captivity. You know, this would be like after 536 BC. I mean, this is just totally terrible stuff they’re saying. In other words, they are trying to convince academia and others who are actually paying attention to Genesis, they’re trying to say to them, well, Genesis really is just a fantasy. It’s no basis for faith at all.

So we talked about that. We went over many, many things in Genesis which are the basis of our faith, and we also talked about some things in Genesis 1. One is, you’ll find this in Genesis 2. Four, about the creative days.

And here’s in Genesis 5. One where it says, this is the book. Now if you look up the, the word book, the Hebrew word, this means the writing, this is written down. In other words, this is the, the writing, the, the recorded book, the generations or the history of Adam, and one thing to realize this is this, this phrase, these are the generations of.

This is not the title of a section. It is the ending of a section. In other words, everything about Adam comes before you see this phrase. In fact, now there are one or other two things about Adam actually. But Adam’s history concludes with his death in Genesis 5.

5. There’s no more about his. About his creation, about his relationship with Eve, about the sin, about the fall, none of that. That all comes before this phrase. These are the generations of.

So this is in the, in the section of How. How would Moses Actually compile or. Or who wrote these. Who wrote these original tablets? Well, this one was obviously written by Adam.

That’s ex. Verse Sundays. Well, the third tablet is the history of Noah and his lineage, and it continues to Genesis 6. 9, where it says these are.

So if you go from Genesis 5:1 to 6:9, you’re going to see the. The history of Noah, really, his birth, who, who his parents were, his birth, the many of the things he did. But this is the history of Noah that is we’re told about in Genesis 6. He was just and perfect in his generations. Then when we get to the fourth tablet, which begins with Genesis 6:10, this discusses the history of really Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.

And it tells about the corruption of the earth, the building of the ark. The sons participated in that. The loading of the animals, the flood, the resting on Mount Ararat, and this completes with Genesis 10. 1.

Now, these are the generations are really the history of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and unto them were born sons after the flood. So really seeing this structure, that this phrase, these are the generations of. It’s the ending of a major section. In other words, this, the.

This is like the punctuation. Here’s the ending of one of these key tablets, cuneiform tablets or. Or pictograph tablets that were actually recorded well before the flood, and each tablet would have a beginning, but it would end with this phrase. These are the generations of.

And Moses preserves this phrase in Genesis 11. I don’t have enough fingers. Eleven times. It’s amazing. Well, these, these were written and seemed to be written by the three sons of Noah.

It makes sense. That’s their generation. It’s their history. So they were the ones who would be recording it. Then when we get to the longest history, which is of Abraham, Beginning in Genesis 11:27, we go from Genesis 11:27, where Terah Begot Abram, Nahor, Aaron and Heron begot Lot.

So here’s the first mention of Abram, and we know that later his name was changed to Abraham to be the father of many, many nations. But this continues down within. It ends with. Then Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age.

An old man full of years, and was gathered to his people, and his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah. So Isaac and Ishmael together were there at his burial. So this history of Abraham was likely recorded by his sons Ishmael and Isaac, as. As this, Genesis 25. 9 indicates that they were there at his death.

Genesis 25:26 tells of the birth of Esau and Jacob, and when we come down to Genesis 28:2, Jacob leaves for Patan Aram, and this is where he’s going up.

This is where he’s going to go up, and he’s. He’s leaving because he’s fearful of. Of Esau. Esau, he’s.

He’s Jacob, meaning usurper. He essentially usurped that birthright. Esau actually sold it. So, and. But Esau is very, very angry and has threatened to kill Jacob.

So Jacob leaves her pat him Iran, and at this point, notice that only Jacob could have recorded this history down to Genesis 32. He was the only one there. Esau did not have any part in this. But by Genesis 33, both Esau and Jacob had considerable wealth.

Now, this is important. This is very important. We know that Abraham was very, very wealthy. The people around him knew that. Isaac also very wealthy.

Jacob, when he was up with Laban, he did things to acquire a tremendous amount of wealth. So when he’s coming back, he’s got servants and flocks and herds. I mean, he’s got tremendous wealth. But in the meantime, Esau also was very, very, very wealthy. Esau comes to meet Jacob with hundreds of his men.

And one of the things that’s important about this, why wealth? Well, this means these guys are wealthy, educated. They have the means to write the either write their histories themselves or employ scribes to write and record their histories for them. I mean, this is important. This is important.

Then when we get to the last 14 chapters of Genesis, this really begins with Joseph being sold into Egypt, and then we find this is. This is what the critics have said. They said, well, what is this? Genesis is just this hodgepodge mishmash Alphabet soup of different names, different cultures, different writing styles.

Well, of course, of course it is. In the last 14 chapters. This begins with Joseph being sold into Egypt. He’s going down to Egypt. Then we find mainly Egyptian names and customs in the.

In the Genesis account, such as in Genesis 37, 36 in the Midianites, we know that he. They sold him in Egypt to Potiphar. Now, if you look at Strong’s number for Potiphar, there’s no good definition. It says, well, it’s of Egyptian derivation. Of course it is.

This is a validation that Genesis is authentic. It’s written by different people at different times with different writing styles. Of course, different people always have different writing styles. I don’t write the Same style as sister Karen, my wife. My word.

We live together. I mean, we’ve been together for 40 years. But here, here Joseph has got now gone down to Egypt and we find these Egyptian names coming into the Genesis account. Well, after interpreting Pharaoh’s dream and being raised to authority next to Pharaoh, we’ll find in Genesis 41:45, that Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphneth Panea. That’s an Egyptian name.

That’s an Egyptian Nero. He gave him Asenath, another Egyptian name for to be a wife, the daughter of Potiphera, Egyptian name again, the priest of on which is a city. But that city, that’s an Egyptian name. You would expect this. They would if it weren’t there.

You say, wait a second. Genesis can’t be authentic because it is there. You know, Genesis must be authentic. Well, when Joseph’s brethren return with Benjamin. Excuse me, I got to get my, my clock going so I know where I am here.

When Joseph’s brethren return with Benjamin. Notice Joseph is now adhering to Egyptian customs and he eats at a separate table in Genesis 43:32, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that’s an abomination to the Egyptians. So Joseph is written out right now, he’s hiding himself from his brethren. But you can see these Egyptian customs in these last chapters in Genesis, the bodies of Jacob and Joseph were both embalmed in Egypt in the Egyptian manner. Genesis 50, verse 2.

Joseph and Joseph commanded to embalm his father Jacob, and then in Genesis 50, verse 3, 40 days were fulfilled for him in his. In his embalming, his. In Joseph’s embalming as well, and the Egyptian mourned for him 70 days, which was the Egyptian custom.

So you see all throughout Genesis, you see all throughout Genesis this transition of writing, styles of cultures, etc. But they’re, they’re exactly right for the people who wrote them and when they wrote them. So when we look at Joseph, Joseph died, he was 110 years old and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Now, note that Jesus does not end with these are the generations of the history of Joseph, because the Egyptians used a different writing style. I mean, that makes sense.

This is not an anomaly. It makes sense. The different styles, names, place names should be expected within Genesis because it was written by different people at different times in different locations and different cultures. This is a validity, it’s not confusion in Genesis, it’s exactly what should be expected. Some other proofs In Genesis of its antiquity, you know, if you look at some very specific things.

Well, the first 10 chapters of Genesis, they have Babylonian names for places and people and etc, and this helps to prove the antiquity of Genesis because during that time and again, this is something that was a criticism of these higher critics. But if they look at Genesis 11:1 and the whole earth was of one language and of one speech, well, of course, all those names would be from. Indicative of what the, the speech with the Babylonians, the folks in Babylonian, Sumeria, what they, what they were saying, and this persisted until in Genesis 11:7, when God says, go to, go to.

Let us go down and confound their languages that they may understand one another’s speech. So here’s the Tower of Babel, the different languages and people now, now left and you know, they spread that out, but they took a lot of their customs and thanks to their different cultures with their different languages. So in the first 11 chapters. So if the first 11 chapters had different styles, it would pose an objection to the authority of Genesis. So it’s not, it’s not something shouldn’t be expected.

This should. These different styles should be expected. Again, the antiquity of Genesis is demonstrated by the location of Sodom and Gomorrah. Now Note this. Genesis 10:19, the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as thou comest to Gerar, and unto Gaza as thou goest unto Sodom and Gomorrah and Adma and Zebwim, even Tulacia.

Now, when Sodom had been destroyed, this was destroyed so incredibly thoroughly during the time of Abraham, they didn’t even know where to find it. I mean, it was just totally obliterated. There was no hint of it. But here in Genesis 10, these folks know exactly where it is. They’re, they’re saying, here’s.

Here’s where it is. It shows that this must have taken place long before Moses and even before the times of Abraham. Genesis 10, we run into Abraham later, just a little later. So this must have been written before their destruction because these cities were so completely destroyed, their, their location was unknown. Also, there are ancient place names from the original tablets.

They’re updated by Moses so that the Israelites would understand the locations from their contemporary names. Now this is very interesting. Here’s what. Now note that Moses realizes Israel is going to go into the land. That land is going to have all these different places that are very important.

So he wants, that wants them to know about them. But he has the ancient place names, but he wants Them to know, well, that really that name is no longer used. We have a contemporary name. So we have Genesis 14, the king of Bella. That’s the old name, which is Zor.

Oh, it’s now called Zor. These are joined together in the veil of Siddham. Oh, wait a second. That’s now called the Salt Sea, and they returned and came to.

And Mishpat. Oh, oh, but that’s now called Kadesh, and Rachel died and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. Bethlehem. So you know, this is a wonderful thing that Moses is doing when he’s putting these essentially translations of the name or updating the name.

So when Israel goes into the land, they’ll know exactly where these places are, where they are, what they mean, and Sarah died, you know, if they, if they go into the, when they go into the land, they say, could you tell us where Bethlehem is? Well then people could say, oh yeah, it’s over here. If they said, will you tell us where Ephrath is? They might say, excuse me, what?

Where? So they had to know these, these contemporary names. Sarah died in Kirjatharba, the same as Hebron. Hebron. In the land of Canaan.

We find this again and again. So these are proofs that Moses wrote them before Israel had entered the land with Joshua. Since Moses did not enter with him, he had to give him these instructions. He wasn’t there. Now, Moses being a prince of Egypt, he likely knew about these ancient names.

I imagine he did, but he wasn’t going to be with them. So he has to give them the heads up on these things. So there are other obsolete terms. This one kind of stands out. In Genesis 16, the term of gopher wood, this is the weather was used in the ark of Noah.

Gopher wood. Well, you’ll find that in that verse, and that’s the only verse where you’ll find it. It’s never used again. Well, if the later writers were trying to create a believable false Genesis account, they would never use this unique, obsolete term.

It would just say, well, wait a second, what do you mean? We don’t even know what you’re talking about. But if they use the term everybody already understood it would make it sound like it was more authentic. But the authenticity is being shown by this unique term that was used prior to the Flood. Prior to the Flood.

So when we look at, how did Moses actually compile Genesis? Well, when we look at Genesis, there’s no mention of Moses at all. Genesis contains no statement like the Lord said unto Moses as a claim that Genesis was given directly by God to Moses in some supernatural way. But the phrase the Lord said unto Moses is used 53 times from Exodus through Deuteronomy. But this phrase is discounted by the critics as merely an attempt to claim that God communicated directly with Moses in some supernatural way.

Well, if that were the, if this were really the case, this ruse of God directly talking to Moses would have been used by the so called later writers of Genesis during the Babylonian, after, after the Babylonian captivity to promote the authenticity of Genesis and the stature of Moses. In other words, they would what, what they would see in Exodus through Deuteronomy, they would put that back into, into Genesis to really make it look like it was written by Moses. Well, this in itself shows that these supposed later writers and editors of Genesis really did not exist. They didn’t write Genesis. Genesis is authentic.

Jesus and the, and the apostles never claimed that Genesis was written or originated with Moses. He was the scribe, he was the transcriber. So how did Moses come to know the story of Genesis? Well, Moses was born to Jochebed Jacobin, but he was saved from death by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses was a prince of Egypt who was raised in Pharaoh’s household with all the learning, knowledge and resources of Egypt.

And Moses would certainly be fluent in other Eastern languages and be able to read cuneiform script because this was the diplomatic script used by all the Eastern nations, and the Egyptian Foreign Office or their State Department would have to communicate with these other nations to the east. In fact, if here’s a cuneiform tablet from Egypt from the Egyptian capital capital city, it’s a diplomatic correspondence that was either to or from foreign government. So this was actually from Aka, from the capital city of Akatan from the 14th century. So but here’s, here’s evidence the cuneiform was used in Egypt, not simply hieroglyphs and papyrus.

Well, Moses had access to the greatest storehouse of knowledge in the world from the Egyptian records, and I feel this included all the authentic ancient cuneiform tablets that were handed down in a chain of custody. A chain of custody, nice legal term there. From Adam all the way to Jacob. In other words, these are the family heirlooms.

These are the most precious things they had, these records all the way from Adam down to Jacob. These would be archived by Joseph, who was the former second in command of Egypt. He would have the means, the opportunity and the authority to save these in a very special way, and he was also a servant of Jehovah. Well, Moses certainly knew about Joseph and the records of his life and his burial.

I mean, after all, when Moses was 80 years old, before the burning fish. Oh, let me just go back just a little bit. I had a note in here which I apparently took out that Joseph went to Egypt when he was 17. This one is taken to Egypt. He died when he was 110.

I think it’s very easy to say that Joseph was actually serving in Egypt for about 80 years himself. I mean, he knew all the ins and outs of Egypt. He had, he had the facility with everything throughout Egypt, knowing how to store records, how to do everything in the government of Egypt. Well, when Moses was 80 years old and he’s before in the burning bush, and we remember, we. When he was 40, he was exiled 40 years with the Midianites and he’s now 80 years old, he’s before the burning bush.

And God’s statement says to him, Exodus 3:6. I’m the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now, Moses didn’t say, excuse me, the God of who again? No, he knew these people. He knew these people from these records.

Moses would know exactly what God was, was saying to him. He was likely already familiar with these patriarchs from the recorded histories. On cuneiform tablets which Moses had likely read in Egypt, Paul later tells us that God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past to the fathers by the prophets, God was speaking to the, to the fathers, and these fathers, I think would include Adam, Methuselah. I could throw Enoch in there, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph as well as Moses.

God is making sure they get the information. In fact, after, after the Exodus, God told Moses to write and record things. This was not a new thing. Write this down. This was not a new thing.

Writing had been around for millennia at this point. This is what the fathers had done for millennia, and in Exodus 17:14, the Lord said to Moses, write, for this is a memorial in a book. Exodus 24:4, and Moses wrote all the words of the law of the Lord, the laws from really from Exodus 20 to 23, Numbers 33:2.

And Moses wrote their goings out according to all the journeys by the commandment of the Lord. He was a writer. He was, he was, he was fluent in several languages and he was writing these things down. Moses from the ancient tables either with him or perhaps etched in his memory that he would never forget. This is the history of mankind.

This is Moses lineage himself. He would write the Genesis account into the Hebrew which we have today. Moses preserved the repetitive phrases, these doublets we talked about yesterday that tie the tablets together in the proper order, these are proofs that they’re authentic. It’s not a problem. It’s a proof of their authenticity.

He preserved the ancient and obsolete place names for authenticity, but he included the contemporary place names for Israel before they crossed Jordan. Under Joseph, the record of Genesis was.

Miraculously preserved through natural means. I love what brother Russell says on page first of all, on page 38. The fact that this book has survived so many centuries, notwithstanding such unparalleled efforts to banish and destroy it, is at least strong circumstantial evidence that the great being who claims it as its author has also been its preserver brethren. The God who notes even the fall of every sparrow, would he not also track and preserve his book?

From the earliest doubts about Genesis in the 1700s to the elaborate documentary hypothesis, if you look at this crazy thing on Google, it’s an eye opener. It’s an eye closer, I guess. Today all these are based on mere conjecture and so called reasoning. Reasoning. But two centuries of archaeological discoveries provide irrefutable evidence of the validity of Genesis.

This, along with knowing that such a great God who could create all things, could also see that his book, his revelation to his saints and to the world would be preserved to firmly establish their faith. That’s what we have. Well, Genesis. How about the New Testament? Did they believe in that?

Well, there can be no questions that the writers of the New Testament believed that the statements recorded in the book of Genesis were true, true and authentic as transcribed by Moses. The fall, Romans 5:12. As by one man’s sin entered into the world and death by sin. First Corinthians 15:21. Since by man came death, here’s the fall, here’s the fall.

And so it is written. The first man, Adam, there’s his name, was made a living being. A living being. For Adam was the first formed then Eve. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, and God did rest the seventh day.

I mean all these things directly from Genesis. But I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve, not as Cain, who, who was of that wicked one and slew his brother. All these things directly from. Directly from Genesis. Paul by faith abe in Hebrews 11, by faith, Abel, Abel by faith, Enoch, Noah, Abraham.

By through faith also Sarah received strength to conceive this tremendous miracle. Really a picture of the. Of the. Of the begetto of our Lord Jesus. Really a Picture a picture of that.

By faith Abraham, when he. When he was tried, offered up Isaac by faith, Isaac by faith Joseph. He gave commandment concerning his bones. He believed God. He believed God of his deliverance.

Stephen recounts this. The glory of God appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Heron. Stephen continues talking all the way through the life of Joseph. James tells us James 2:21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered up Isaac?

Here’s not only Abraham, but what Abraham did with his son. The the statement of the gospel itself. I love to share this with others. Do you know one. One verse that tells us what the gospel really is?

I mean, most say, what’s the good news? What is that good news? Well, here it is. Galatians 3. 8.

And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preach before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed. There’s Genesis 12:3. There it is. There’s the gospel. Abraham’s two sons in their meaning.

The the two sons, the son of the one by the bond man, the other for the free woman. All these wonderful pictures are being, being brought to life from Genesis for our understanding through the apostle Christ. Paul, these two are this allegory, these of two covenants. Hagar the law covenant. Sarah, the grace covenant.

Where would we be without these things that were done in Genesis and without the interpretation, this clear spiritual interpretation by the apostle Paul. Do these critics know these things? Who are. Who are discounting Genesis? They have no understanding of this whatsoever.

They’re the blind leading the blind. Every significant person and incident mentioned in Genesis is referred to by the writers of the New Testament.

The faithful and true witness. What did he say? Jesus Christ, our master, the one we follow. Well, the higher critics have a real problem with Jesus. Jesus again and again speaks of his absolute belief in and knowledge of the Genesis account.

Before Abraham was I am. They had no idea what that meant. Notice that Jesus is talking again. Luke 13:28. You’ll see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom and yourselves thrust out.

Matthew 22:32. I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. This has been missing. Terribly misinterpreted.

This says there must be a resurrection. John 8:37. I know that you’re Abraham’s seed, the seed direct the direct descendants of Abraham. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.

But as the days of Noah were for us in the days that were before the flood. So we have the Noah, we have flood, we have the. The day that no entered the ark, the building of the ark. It existed. It’s true.

Here’s the record. Likewise, also in the days of Lot, Lot went out, out of Sodom. Sodom existed. Sodom existed. You’re.

You’re of your father, the devil Satan. Discussing him in. In Genesis, Jesus attested to many features of the Genesis account. Says we have. Have you not read he that which made them, made them male and female from the blood of.

He talks from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias. So with all these, all these testimonies of Jesus, how do these criticals, these critics, discount Jesus testimony? I share that. So to preserve their documentary hypothesis, I share this, even though this is reprehensible. But here’s how some of the critics are thinking.

The accommodation theory. The accommodation theory. This theory says that Jesus knew that Genesis was actually a fraud. But because the majority of Israel believed Genesis to be true, Jesus played along and acted like he believed it too. Jesus intention was to adapt himself to those he was trying to attract.

He kept the law really only because it was a popular tradition. He was circumcised also simply because of tradition. He spoke of places, people and events in Genesis because it was a popular fiction accepted by Israel. This accommodation theory is a terrible idea proposed by some theologians to support their otherwise unsupportable ideas when faced with the candid and true statements of the Holy One and the Just One. Now, note, Jesus had said to Nathanael, here’s an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile.

But how could Jesus even say this of somebody else? If Jesus used accommodation, which is a euphemism for lies and deception, to win his audience. If we look at John chapter 6, this completely disproves this idea of accommodation. Let’s see what. What Jesus is saying, and we’re all familiar with this.

Jesus was talking about here the bread comes down from heaven, and then he says, I am this bread, and he says, whosoever eateth my flesh and drink of my blood hath eternal life. People were saying, oh, my word. They murmured and they said, oh, this is a hard saying.

Who can hear it? So Jesus says, does this offend you? The words that I speak unto you? They are spirit and they are life. Even if you can’t receive them now, even if you don’t like them, even if you reject them and you go away, they are spirit and they are life.

Then Jesus said to the 12, he says, will you also go away? Jesus wasn’t trying to play favorites. He wasn’t trying to, you know, placate the crowd, say only what the crowd wants. He was saying the truth. Then Simon Peter answered the Lord, to whom shall we go?

Thou hast the words of life. Jesus was not interested in popularity or convincing the masses with smooth words. Like a politician, he was looking for the best and the truest hearts who would follow him even if they could not fully understand him. He said, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them. Now, Jesus was not a politician playing to the crowd.

Then there’s the kenosis theory. This one is equally as terrible. This is based on Philippians 2:7. But Jesus made himself of no reputation, and what they’re basically saying was, well, you know, Jesus took a big step down because after all we know he formed he was formerly divine.

He was part of this trinity supposedly. But then he emptied himself of all his previous knowledge and then he had only the knowledge of a learned Jewish man at his first advent. This allows these critics, these modern higher critics to say, yeah, that’s why we know more about Genesis than Jesus did. Because Jesus didn’t know much at the first advent.

If you can believe those those arguments. I can’t. But this is completely ignores scriptures such as when Jesus was baptized, he said the heavens were opened unto him. When he said before Abraham was I am. Jesus had complete understanding of everything that God needed him to know.

He had this. The heavens had been opened to him. This kenosis theory is another terrible crutch of one false theory uses used to support another. So when we look at the conclusions and we we just will go over this very quickly. Chapters 136 were originally written on tablets.

Then most likely another medium papyrus or something like that preserved by Joseph. The generation the idea of generations is the history. The different styles, languages, names, cultures must be apparent in Genesis. Since it was written by different individuals at different places and times in different cultures. This is not a weakness, but an evidence of its validity.

Here’s a map. Here’s a map. Ararat then from Ur, Babylon, Haran, Canaan, Egypt. For those who had the were writing Genesis. Moses was the compiler of Genesis as we have it.

Now Moses preserved the original writings as much as he could and clarified names. The use of Jehovah and Elohim was a clarification. Just a few final things. When we look at this for these critics, do they. Are they familiar with Genesis 18:14 is anything too hard for the Lord or the mouth of the foolish is the rod of pride, but the lips of the wise shall preserve him.

The natural man receiveth not the things of spirit of God, for they are foolishness. Be not wise in your own conceits. Let God be true, even though it makes every man a liar, and before the mountains were brought forth forever. Thou has formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting.

Thou art God, and there are a couple, a couple brethren there at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, as Brother Ed and me. This is a winged bull from the Assyrian king Sargon ii, and the photo was taken by Brother Richard. Doctor.

Thank you, Brother.

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