in the beginning - answers to questions in genesis (1980)

8/13/2019 In the Beginning - Answers to Questions in Genesis (1980)

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Answers o Q.testionsfrom Genesis


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Genesiss he"bookof origins."t constituteshatpartof theBiblewhich scommonlyalledhe ntroductoryookof theOldTestament. he name Genesis s deriveddirectly rom theGreek ranslation f the Hebrewword bereshith,meaning inthebeginning."The bookof Genesis tartswitha briefstatement bout hepre-Adamic orldandgoeson to cover he first 2,000yearsandmoreof man'shistory,rom he creation f AdamandEveto thesettlementf thechildrenf lsrael nEgypt. hehighlightsof the irsteleven hapters re a descriptionf creation; od'sinstructiono the irstmanandwoman;heaccount f theirdis-obediencewhich cut themand their progenyoff from God;man'ssinful egenerationhich esultedntotaldestructionflifesaveNoahandhis amilyby a Flood; nd he disbursementof the racesat the towerof Babelafter the Flood.Chapters 2 through 0 containhe account f Abraham'scalling ndGod'spromiseso himdue o his faithfulness;hestory of lsaacand Jacob;and he account f Josephandhisfamilyn Egypt.

Genesis an rightlybe summed p in the followingwords:"The bookof Genesiss the true and original irthplace f alltheology.t containshoseconcepts f Godandman,of righ-teousness nd udgement, f responsibilitynd moralgovern-ment,of failure ndhope,whichare presupposedhroughherest of the OldTestament,ndwhichprepare he way for themission f Christ"(TheFoundationsf theBible,page 155).The recordof Genesiss writtennabbreviatedormandcer-tainquestions,s a result, avebeenrequentlyskedabout tscontent.t is thepurpose f this eprint erieso answer num-berof thesequestionsn he ightof the entireBible GenesisoRevelation).


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INTHEBEGINNING-Answers o Questionsrom Genesis. Can you tell me who wrotethe book of Genesis? | haveasked several people and noone can give me an answer.The Jewish ommunity,which hasthe responsibility f preserving heHebrewOldTestamentRom.3:l-2)ascribes his book to Moses.Therecanbeno doubt hat Mosess theau-thor of Genesis swell as he rest ofthe Pentateuch Exodus,Leviticus,NumbersandDeuteronomy).Jesus aid o certain eligiousead-ersof His day, "Do not think that Iwill accuseou o the Father:here sone hat accuseth ou,evenMoses nwhomye trust. For had ye believedMoses, e would havebelievedme:for he wroteof me.But if ye believenot hiswritings,how shallye believemy works?" John5:45-57). ere sJesus'own personal estimony hatMoseswrotescripture.But whatpart?Jesus ave he divisionof the OldTestament n Luke 24:44:". . . Allthingsmust be fulfilled,which were

written in the law of Moses,and nthe prophets, nd n the psalms . ."A little earlier,Jesus, begrnning tMoses and all the prophets . . ex-pounded nto hem(thedisciples)nall the scriptureshe thingsconcern-ing himselfl' verse27). Jesus eganwith Moses because t was Moses*ho wrote he first five booksof theBible. This doesnot, however, re-clude he fact that Joshua nd laterprophets dded urther commentsothe law as Moseswrote t. SeeDeu-teronomy34:.5-12or the account f\{oses' death. Also Genesis 4:14u here he laternameDan s used n-stead f Laish Judg. 8:29).

. You say the Engl ish word"God" in Genesis1:1 s trans-lated from the Hebrewword E/-ohim. Could you tell me whatthe name Elohim means?Elohim s a unipluralnoun. t issimilar to such Englishwords as

group,church,crowd, amily, or or-ganization.Take, for example, he wordchurch. We find in I Corinthians12.'20hat here s onlyonechurch-the "one body" yet composedof"many members."Even though ittakesmanypersonso constitutehechurch, t is notmanychurches-it isonly the onechurchA family s madeup of more hanoneperson, et only the one amily.In like manner,God is not merelyoneperson, ut a family.God is thesupremedivine family which rulesthe universe he wholeGospelJe-sus broughtto mankind s, merely,the good news of the Kingdom ofGod. That Kingdom s a family-aruling divine family into which hu-mansmay be born For a detailedexplanation n man's ncrediblepo-tential, write for the booklet TlryWere You Born?

. My granddaughter s eightyears old and she wants toknow "Where did God cometrom?" Flrst, I would appre.ciate your giving ms an an-swer.We are used o living in a limitedworld.Everything round shas im-itations-beginningsand endings.We are awareof infantsbeingborn.We areaware f grandparentsying.We observe nimals,plantsand in-sectsbeginning ife. We see theirlivescome o anend.We speak f thebirth and hedeathof civilizations. f

storms,volcanoes ndcomets.We are accustomed o seeingthingsgetold.Clothingand urniturewear out. Automobiles fall apart.Buildings eteriorate. ur bodies e-comewrinkledand slow.To mortal man everythinghas abeginning, periodof usefulnessndan end. We mark this progressionfeventson our clocksand calendars.To us, only what is measurable yhours,daysandyearsseemso havereal significance .@1980WorldwideChurchof GodAll Rights Reserved

So whenwe hear hat God s eter-nal, hat He alwayshasbeenand al-wayswill be, our mindsbalk. Thewords end o bemeaninglessecausewe havenothing familiar to relatethem o.And that is just the problem:weare trying to relatewhat cannotberelatedn physicalerms.We are ry-ing to apply the limitationsof thephysical existencewe know to theunlimited spiritual planeon whichGod lives.The two cannotbe com-pared.Our mindscanencompassnhour,a century,a millennium,but theycannotgraspeternity.They are notbig enough o fully comprehendpir-itual existence.We can't even ullycomprehendhe physical niverseAs an llustration,et'sconsiderora momentwhatGodhascreated. s-tronomers stimatehat 100,000mil-liongalaxies achwith 100,000mil-lion stars ot the universe. nd whoknowshowmanyplanets ndmoons?GodsaysHe countsand nameshemall (Ps.147:4).

Now if we allowGod one ull sec-ondby ourreckoning f time o countandnameeach tar n theheavens,oyou know how long it would takeHim to name them all? Workingnonstop, y our clocksandcalendars,it would akemore han300,000 il-lion years ust to count and namethem.How long must it have akenHim to designand createall thosestarsTo us theseigures re nconceiva-ble. But not to God.God is eternal.Oneof His namesn Hebrew s Yah-weh-the "Everliving One." TheCreator s not boundby the lawsofspace nd ime aswe are.While menareable o theorize bout ime warpsand the relation of energy to thespeed f light, God masterst all. ToHim, accordingo His wishes, oneday. . .is asa thousandears, nd athousand earsas oneday" (II Pet.3:8).God "inhabits eternity" ( [sa.57:l ). That s o sayHe comfortably


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dwells n what we might think of asbeginninglessnd endlessime. Gen-esis l : l and John l : l show that atwhateverpoint in the pastwe wish toconsideras he beginning-no matterhow far back we try to stretch ourfinite minds-God already existed."ln the beginningGod . . ."Where did God come from? Hedidn't "come from" anywhere.Hewas always here. Many of your art icles effec-t ively refute evolution and sup-port the Bible. Yet you seem to

believe the earth is a lot olderthan the 6,000 years that theBible indicates. lsn't this a con-tradiction?The Bible reveals hat God is thecreator of heavenand earth "and al lthat in them is" (Gen. l : l ; Ex.20:l l). The evidence rom modernbiology, geology, and paleontologysupportsa specialcreation.The theo-

ries of evolution or theistic evolutionare based on erroneous interpreta-tions of that evidence.The Bible, however, does not saywhen the original creation of the

earth ook place.Scientificevidencebased n studiesof radiometric at-ing, geological tratigraphy nd eco-logical succession emonstrateheearth s not merely6,000yearsold,but veryold ndeed.Some people have attempted ofigureout the dateof creationbasedon the biblicalages f the patriarchs(for example, he famous Usherdated reation t 4004 .c.). But thedate f thecreation f man s notcon-nectedwith the age of the earth.Adamwascreated early6,000yearsago; he earth s mucholder. n fact,youmaybesurprisedo earn hat hepre-Adamic orldwas tone ime n-habitedby angelicbeings See henext woquestions.)The exactageof the earth s notrevealedn Scripture.When the Bi-ble is correctlyunderstood,here isnothing o keepone from acceptingfactualscientificevidenceor deter-mining heageof the earth.. lt is my understanding hatverses 1 and 2 of Genesis,chapter1, explain he creat ionof the earth.Yet,you say theseverses decribe events whichhappened before the sevenday "creat ionweek." Canyouprove your belief from the Bi-ble?Yes, we can The Hebrewwordsfor "without form and void" (Gen.l:2) are tohu and bohu. Translatedinto English they mean chaotic, nconfusion, aste, mpty.Why wouldGod create he earth n disorderandthenhave o straightent out? Thatwouldn't make sense The Hebrewword for "created"used n Genesisl: I implies hat the creationwasaperfectedwork. It impliesorder andsystem, ot chaosor confusionWereadn I Corinthians4:33 hat God

is not the authorof confusion."Godis the authorof peace.He is the au-thor of law and order.God told Job that the angelsshouted or joy when he earthwascreatedJob38:7). his s urther n-dication hat when God created heearth.He createdt usefulandbeau-tiful.Conclusiveroof s found n Isaiah45:18.Notice:"For thus saith theEternal hat createdheheavens; odhimself that formed the earth and


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made t; he hath establishedt, hecreatedt not n vain . ." "In vain" san inappropriate ranslation.TheoriginalHebrewword s roiu. This sthe samedenticalHebrewwordusedin Genesis :2 meaning confusion"or "emptin6s" or "waste"-a resultof disorder. a result of violation oflas. Thus. hisverse s a plainstate-ment that when God created thecarth it wasnot tohu-in a state ofconfusion and disorder. It becamerhat way long before the sevenday-creation week," which actually be-gins n verse3.An added ointof evidencesverse2 of Genesis . Here the Englishword translated "was" is from theHebrew word hayah. This word istranslated became" n Genesis :7.9:15 and 19:26. n the first threechapters f the Bible,andmanyotherplaceswhere you find the Hebrewword hayah, t denotes conditionthat wasdiferent from a former con-dition. n otherwords. he earth be-came"chaotic.t hadnot always eenthat way.What causedt to becomechaotic?See he nextquestion.. ln on of your publications,read that the earth was origFnal ly inhablted by angels.Pleaseexplain.Consider ohn :l : "In the begin-

ning was the Word, and the Wordwas with God, and the Word wasGod."That s theveryearliest rehistoricrecord. t couldhavebeenmillionsorthousands f millions of yearsago.The two eternally iving Spirit Per-sonages,ho ogether onstitutedheoNE God, were ALoNE n erqptyspace. There was no physical uni-verse-vrtBut, evenas man thinks, and de-signs and plans before making-sodid God conceivehe plananddesignto createangels-immortal spirit be-ings,composed hollyof spirit.God createdangels eforecreatingthe earth. We know they had beencreated prior to the earth becausethey sangtogether and shouted orjoy at earth's reation Job38:4-7).Angelswere he irst thinking, ea-soning,separateentities created byGod. They were created withminds-abil i ty to know, reason,make choices.But their creation

couldnot beafinishedcreation ntilcHARAcTER--either ood or evil-wasdevelopedn them.God initially TNSTRUcTEDhem nHts w,rrv-that of righteous harac-ter. t was HEwAy of God'sspirituallaw-the basisof God's covrnN-MENT.ApparentlyGod placeda third ofthe angelsHe hadcreated n earth.Theyweregivenopportunity o sharein God's reating ctivitie s y nNtsH-INc the earth-working in andwithits many elements,mproving,beau-tifying,completingt.Insteadof improving,beautifyingand completing he earth, however,the angelsebelled nd brought t todesolationnd uin (Gen. :2).. Wher6 did the devil and hi sdemons come from?The hirdof theangelsRev. 2:4)inhabiting he earthbeforeman(seeprevious uestion) inned II Pet.2:4). Their leader, he super-archan-gelLucifer Isa.14:12-14) adbeenperfectn all hisways rom the dayofhis nitial creation,ill iniquity-law-lessness-wasound in him. "Thussaith the Lord God; Thou sealest pthe sum, ull of wisdom,andperfectin beauty.Thou hast been n Edenthe gardenof God; every previousstonewas hy covering . . in the day

that thou wastcreated. hou art theanointed herub hat covereth; nd Ihaveset heeso: hou wastupon heholy mountain of God; thou hastwalkedup and down n the midst ofthe stonesof fire. Thou wastperfectin thy ways rom the day that thouwastcreated, dl/ iniquity was oundin thee" Ezek. 8:12-15).Luciferwasnot satisfied ith ruleoveronly he oneplanet-as the test-ing ground to preparehim for a//planets. ewanted o rule all at once.He said, . . . I will exaltmy throneabove he starsof God . ." (Isa.l4:13).He hadbeen reated ithex -ceeding eauty,which "lifted up hisheart" in vanity (Ezek.28:17).Hebecameustful,ealous ndenvious fGod. decidedon a wln of invasion.attempting o overthrowGod on theheavenlyhroneof the universe.Heled his angels nto rebellion.Theseangelskept not heir first estate, utleft thei r own habitati6n"-pe41i11gthis earth Jude6. )

But Lucifer and his angelswerecastback o earth(Rev. 2:4). Luci-fer's namewaschanged o Satan hedevil. His angelsbecamedemons.Their minds had becomepervertedfor eternity.(If you would ike more nforma-tion concerninghe originaldestruc-tion of the earth,write for our articleentitled "Did God Create a Dev-i l?"). Could you explain how therecould be light on the first dayof creat ion when the sun,moon, and stars were notcreated until the fourth day?As explained n the last few an-swers, reatdestruction adoccurredto the earth as pictured n Genesisl:2. WhenGod ookedat the chaoticstate beforeHim, He saw an atmo-

sphere illed with thick clouds. ftherehadbeena humanbeingon theearth'ssurface,he would haveseennothing-because o ight penetratedthe saturated tmosphere. od's irstact in recreating he earth'ssurface,was o thin the cloudsenough o letlight from the sun ilter to earth.Then, on the fourth day of cre-ation,Godclearedhe clouds waysothat the sun.moonandstars ouldbeclearlyviewed.Verse 6 tells us thatGod "made" the sun and moon.TheHebrewword for "made" is asah. tcouldbe translated s "made," "hadmade,"or "will havemade."Any ofthese renderingscould be correct.But the exactonewould have o be

ls heDevilMakingsDot?Why does humanity uffer n aworld ullof violence ndhate?Are we bringing t all on our-selves, or are outside in-fiuencesshapingour destiny?For the answer to these andother questionsalfecting ourverysurvival, end or your reecopy ot Did God Createa Dev-i/? (See the back cover for theaddress of our office nearestyou.)


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determined rom the context.Bylookingat the context, t is evidentthat God already "had made" thesun, moonandstars ong beforeandset hem n the sky.Note what one well-knownOldTestamentntroductionsayson thesubject:In explaininghisphenome-non it must first be noted hat thestandpoint f the first chapterofGenesiss an dealgeocentric ne,asthough he writer wereactuallyuponthe earthat that time and n a posi-tion to record he developing hasesof created ife as he experiencedthem. From such a standpointheheavenly odieswould only becomevisiblewhen hedense loud-coveringof the earthhaddispersedo a largeextent" (R. K. Harrison, ntroduc-tion to the Old Testament, . 554).Therefore,he sun,moonandstarswere created ong before the fourthdayof creation. heyweremade isi-ble again on the fourth day of theweekof re-creation f the earth's ur-face.

. How can we be certain thatthe daysmentloned n Genesis1 are24 hours n ength?Someauthorities claim these daysare actual ly one thousandygars or more in length.Theistic evolutionists, ven sometheologians, ake heclaim o whichyou refer.Yet, a look at the accountand a simple knowledgeof natureclearly shows hat eachday was24hours in length-not an epoch oftimeConsider he plants which werecreated n the third dayof this weekofre-creation. he sundid not appearuntil the next day. If these days"wereone thousand ears ong, thenthe plantscould not have survived,for they were without sunshine.Thosewho believe he days o havebeenongages re acedwith this m-possibleituationAlso notice that the plantsweremade he third day, insectson thesixth. How did certain specializedplants ontinue o exist or ageswith-out their insectpartners2The Ency-clopaediaBritannica states hat twogroupsof insectswhich ncludebeesand wasps,butterflies and mothscould not have existedwithout thehoney-or nectar-bearing lants.4

Nor could heseplantshaveexistedwithout he nsects. hosewhoclaimcreationdayswereone thousand rmoreyears n length are facedwiththeconclusionhat mostplantswouldhavehad to live this periodof timewithoutproducing eed-an impossi-bilityThe scripture lainlystates:In sixdays God madeheaven nd earth."Eachdayof creations not some ongepochbut exactlywhat he scripturesays, day and night of twenty-fourhours.Each day is an eveningandmorning-that is,nighttimeandday-time. A morecomplete tudyof thissubjects availablen our free article"How Long Were the Daysof Cre-ation?"

. Genesis 2:2-3 states thatGod rested on the seventhdayand sanctitied it. You teachthis day is Saturday.How canyou be sure that the originalseventh day is still Saturday?Havsn't here been changes nthe calendar?Over the millenia, mankind hasused many methods o chronicletime.TheRoman alendar ow n usehasundergoneome hanges, ut theweekly cycle was not alteredwith

thosechanges. he original Romancalendar,ntroduced uring he daysof JuliusCaesar, 5 r.c., was mper-fect since t wasbased n the premisethat the yearwasexactly365Vrdayslong. To maintain he patternan ad-ditionof an extraday o the monthofFebruarywasmadeevery our years.However,t was ater found hat theyearwas 12 minutesand 14 secondsshorter han this. A correctionwasmade uring he imeof PopeGrego-ry XIII in the 6th Century y drop-ping ten days from the calendar.Thus in 1582,Thursday,4 Octoberwas ollowedby Friday, 15 October.Notice that the weekly cyclewas notaltered.For further detailsbe sure orequest he free booklet,"Has TimeBeenLost?"The Hebrew calendarused fromthe time of Christ till nowpreservedthe same seventhday of the week(Fridaysunseto Saturday unset) sit was n Christ's ime. The Jewishpeople,hrough he centuries f mi-grationsandpersecutions,aveneverlost the Sabbathdav. Nor do most

Christians oubt he act hatSundais the first day of the week.There sno real debate on this point. Theproblem s with whetheror not wewill follow he example f our Savioand keep he sameSabbath hat Hekept(Mark 2:28). Additionalnformationon the Sabbath anbe hadbyrequestinghe booklet Which Dayis the ChristianSabbath?"and thearticle"The Origin of SundayWor-ship."). Whre was the Garden ofEden ocated?The Bible doesnot dogmaticasayall traces f the Garden f Edehavebeenerased-but that is probably whatoccurred uring he Flooin Noah's ay.However.here s reasono believthat the Garden f Edenonceexistein the Middle East.God hasconsisently used his area o work out Hisplanof salvation.To this day woof the riverswhichonce flowed through Eden retaintheir names-theTigris (Hiddekeland the Euphrates. hey flow fromeasternAsia Minor to the PersiaGulf.

. I understandGod made manin Hisown imageafter creatingall the animalsand other crea-tures. What does "in ourimage" mean (Gen. 12261?First, notice hat God createdallifeafter ts ownkind (Gen.l:19-25)The fish in the oceans,akes, andstreams,were createdafter the fishkind. The birds of the air after thebird kind. The land fowl after thefowl kind.The andanimals, ach fter its own kind.Then God said, let us makemanin our image after our likeness(Gen. l:26). God proposedo makman not after the animalkind. buafter heGodkind Man, hen, s nodescendedrom an animal as evolutionistsbelieveThe word "likeness" n this versrefersprimarily to facial appearancThe word "image" signifies ot onlyform and shapeas in other passagof theBible,but "stampedwith char

acter." The word "image" includethe potentialof developingGod-likcharacter.


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Adam was formed-shaped-outof materialsubstance.n form andshapehe bore God's ikeness.GodrevealsHimself ashaving ace,hair,eyes,ears,nose,mouth, arms, andfeet.) But Adam was made or thevery purposeof acquiring-duringhis mortal ifetime-the character fGod.Adam ailed,choosingo followthe ways of Satan rather than thewaysof God.God is now fulfilling His purposein those He has called and chosenthrough His son JesusChrist. It isthroughJesusChrist that Christiansshall-by a resurrectiono immortal-i ty ( I Cor. l5 :50-54)-bear the"image" of God. That is, be com-posedof God'svery own characterThis fantastic ruth is thoroughly x-plained in the book The IncredibleHuman Potential, by Herbert W.Armstrong.

. Why do you teach that mandoes not have a soul whenGenesis 2:7 states that manbecame a living soul?Thisverseays xactly hatwe each.It does otsaymanhasa "soul" whichresidesn the body. t states hat manbecame living soul,Man rs a soul;hedoes othave n mmortal oul.There savast ifference.The Hebrewword or "soul"used ntheabove ersesnephes.N ephes canmean a breathingreature,.e., nimalor vitality"and s also enderedn theEnglishas "appetite,beast,body,breath, reature . . man,mind,mortal-ity." This sameHebrewword s trans-lated creature"n Genesis:24:2:l9t9:10, 2, 5and16.-\'epheshs used n many placesuhere the translators upplied urEnglishword body."NoticeLeviti-.-:-sl: I l. "Neithershallhe go n to

-y deadbody lnephesil,nor defile:.::-.elf . . ." A nephesh s called a-]:c\" in thisscripture n Numbers: : . i t . - . l0 and 9:13 heword e---'.a-.i : rranslatednto English as-ccc rti."r,L


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tion that producedsin and death.After Adam and Eve disobeyedGod and ate of the forbidden ruit,"the eyes f thembothwereopened"and they becameashamed f theirnakedness.ut to assume exwas n-volved n the devil's empting s toread something nto Genesis :7whichsimply s not there Theywereashamedmentally becausehey haddisobeyedheir lovingCreator.Theynow elt vulnerable, shamedndsin-ful. They wanted to run and hidefrom God who had made hem andgiven hem ife (Gen. :7- l l ) .Theywerealsoashamedhysicallydue to Satan'sdoctrine hat sex isshameful.t wasSatanwhohadgivenEve he dea hat herewas omethingshameful bout heir nakedness o-ticeGodsaid"who told thee hat houwastnaked? . ." (verse I ). Theonlyother"who" aroundat that time wasSatan he devil Our bookletentitled"Is Sex Sin?" explains he God or-dainedpurpose f marriage nd sex.Write for t.

. Why did not Adam and Evedie the day they ate from thetree of the knowledgeof goodand evil as God had said theywould(Gen.2:17)?When God told Adam that he

woulddie n theverydayheateof theforbidden ruit. he meant what hesaid.On thatvery dayhe wasasgoodasdeadbecausehe penaltyof deathhad allenon him. The dayAdam be-gan on the path of sin the way ofdeath was introduced o the worldandwouldclaim every ife that everlivedexcept or thosewho would re-pentand urn to God.Anotherwayof lookingat t is this:eachday n God's7000yearPlan s1000years.Adam lived 930 years.He diedon hat irst 1000-yearay nGod'sPlanof Salvation.All mankind rom Adam wascutoff from accesso the Holy Spirit ex-cept or a fewprophets, riests, ingsand udges ill Christ made he Spiritavailable o those whom God nowcalls (thosewho repent, orsake hewayof sin,andseek hewayof God).By His death,Christpaid he penaltyfor sin in our stead,making t possi-ble for us to be reconciledo God.Our article entitled "One Man'sBlood" explains the price Jesus6

Christ had to pay to free mankindfrom sinanddeath. t's free upon e-quest.. Genesis 2:19 indicates thatGod created the beasts of thefield after He created Adam.Doesn't this contradict the ac-count given In Genesls1?There s no contradiction. hapter2 of Genesis oesnot give the timeorderof creation. he correctchron-ological order of creation s stated nchapter l. It gives a day-by-daydescription f the irst sixdaysof cre-ationweek.Genesis2. which is sometimescalled the "second accountof cre-ation." is a reiteration-not in timeorder--of what God created.A closeexamination ill show hat thereare

frequent nsets n the Bible,not onlyin this creationstory, but in manyotherpartsof the Bible,aswell as nhistorieswrittenby men.Chapter two emphasizeshe rea-son andpurpose ehind he creationof man. t pointsout Adam's espon-sibility in caring or God's creation(Adamwas o dressand keep hegar-den,verse5), aswellashis responsi-bility in namingeachkind of ani-mal.As an interestingsidelight,Godused the naming of previouslycreatedanimalsas an opportunitytoshowAdam that he, unlike the ani-mals, lacked a female counterpart.This is the reason erses l through25 concern hemselves ith tellingjust why and how the woman wascreated.The animalswere indeed createdprior to man as stated n chapter .Chapter wo is a reiteration f whatGod created, ot in time order,andemphasizesdam'sresponsibilityncaring for his environment.Whenproperly understood, he eventsde-scribed n Genesis and2 mutuallvamplify eachother.. Pleaseexplain Genesis3:15about the promlsedseed.This scripture is the first re-cordedprophecyn the Bible aboutthe coming Messiah. t has a dualapplication.The first and primarymeaning s that Christ, born of a

woman,wouldnullify Satan's ower

over mankind.Satan symbolized sthe serpent) bruised Christ's heel(causedHim to be put to death toful f i l l God's purpose).However,through he resurrection hrist con-queredsin and death and renderedthe devil'swork of no effect (sym-bolized by bruising the serpent'shead, ts most vulnerable lace).Hebrews2:14-15 ight ly trans-latedsays:Since hen he ittle chil-dren are sharersn bloodand flesh,Himself Christ]also n l ike mannerpartookof the same: hat throughdeathHe might bring o naught or"bruisehis head"l him that hath hepowerof death, hat s. he devil;andmight deliverall thosewho rom fearof deathwereall their ifetimesub-ject to bondage."Genesis3; 5 also reveals he"woman" as he Church rom whomJesusChrist wasborn. A woman ssymbol ic f a Church Eph. 5:31-32) . Romans16:20 el ls us "Andthe God of peace hall bruiseSatanunder your [ the Church's] feetshortly."Thus, heChurch thebody f truebelievers), swellasJesusChrist,hasovercome atan.Evenso. here s en-mity betweenSatan's eed(non-Christians) nd rue Christians-theseedof the woman-just as prophe-sied n Genesis:15.. What is meant in Genesis3:16? Here God told Eve that" in sorrow thou shal t br ingforth chlldren."When AdamandEvesinned, heycut themselves ff from God andbrought he entire creationunder acurse. hatcurseaffected veaswellasAdam.Eve'spunishmentmay well haveincluded significant mountof birth

pain during delivery. Neverthelessthegreater artof her sorrowwas herealizationhat sheandher offspringwould be cut off from God and Hisblessings.Eve ived o seeher childrengrowfrom bad to worse.Her first bornson-Cain-killed his brother Abel.Violence nd hatredbecame oram-pant n the pre-floodworld that Godfinally had to destroy all life, saveNoahandhis amily. Eve ived o seeher childrenand heir children's hil-dren iving n a totallydegeneratend


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unhappy tate. he mistake hemadewhenshe istenedo thedevilanddis-obeyed God must have weighedheavilyon her mind for as ongasshelived.The curse of sin wi l l be re-movedafter JesusChrist returns andestablishesHis kingdom on thisearth.. I understand hat you teachthat the 1O commandmontswere In force from creatlonand that the sin of Adam andEve Invol ved breaking severalof them. Canyou tell me whlchcommandmente dam and Evetransgressed?The first commandment tates"Thou shalt haveno othergodsbe-fore me" (Ex. 20:3). When AdamandEve istened o the devil (the god

of this world) andsinned,heydid, nactual act, haveanothergod (Satan)before he true God.Adam was a son of God by cre-ation. n that senseGod washis fa-ther. When Adam and Eve diso-beyed, they broke the fifth com-mandment y dishonoringheir onlyparent-Gd.When Adam and Eve ate of theforbidden ruit, they took spiritualpoisonwhich esultedn theirdeaths.They committedspiritual suicide-breaking he sixth commandmentwhich orbidskilling oneself r mur-deringothers.Cainalsomurdered isbrother Abel. His action also brokethe sixthcommandment.When Eve listened o Satan andsaw hat the forbidden ree wasgoodfor food,pleasanto the eyes,able omakeone wise,shecovetedwhat wasnot hers.Whenshe ook the ruit shestolewhat was not hers and brokeboth he eighthand enth command-ment.

God's en commandmentaw is aspiritual law and was n force fromthe very beginning.Our articleenti-tled"WereThe Ten CommandmentsIn Force Before Moses?" provesbeyond oubt hat the tencommand-ments were in existence sinceAdam.. Can you tell me who or whatthe cherubim are as mentionedin Genesis 3:24?

Cherubimare angelicbeings. hebestdescription f them is found nthe book of Ezekiel.They certainlydon't look like babieswith wingsasthe art ists in the Middle Agespainted hem.Instead, hey appearaslarge, powerful, man-, lion-, eagle-,ox- and dragon-likecreatures.The cherubimare associated ithGod's throne either transporting tabout II Sam. 2: l ; Ps. 8:10; 0: l;

Ezek. l:5-25; 9:3; l0:4; ll:22\, orcarrying out important responsibili-ties,suchasguarding he tree of life.The onewhom we know as Lucifer,before his namewaschanged o Sa-tan,wascalled the anointed herubthat covereth" n Ezekiel28:14.Hewas one of the two cherubswhosewingscoveredGodls hrone.For ad-ditional informationconcerning n-gels,cherubim,and seraphim,write

$qX ''1\ -: t J -I|5tE*I-rI'$r.r'- *-..i--;___a-_-g----:

What rb a kingdom?Specifrcally, hat s theKingdom f God? s it iustan inspi-rational dea? A church? Or is it a literal kingdom? f it isliteral, where s it ruling,what are its aws, andhow mayyouenter it? Be sure to requestyour free copy of the vitallyimportant ookletWhat s the Kingdom f God?(Seebackpage for address.)


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for the article, Angels,Servants fGod.". Why did God reiect Cain's of-fer ing(Gen.4:5)?Cain'sattitudeandapproacho lifewasnot right with God. Verse7 ofGenesis reads: If thoudoestwell,

shalt thou not be accepted? nd ifthou doestnot well. sin lieth at thedoor . ." Cain was iving a sinful ifeand he knew tBecause ain was n a rebelliousstateof mind, God would not haveaccepted is sacrificeeven f he hadoffered an animal. Proverbs15:8states:The sacrifice f the wicked san abominationo the Lonn: but theprayerof the upright s his delight."What was the differencebetweenCainandAbel? Abel wasupright nheart.He was a man of faith (Heb.I l :4) .Cain, on the other hand, ejectedGod andHis instructions nd ed anevil life. Notice: "Not as Cain, whowasof that wickedone,and slewhisbrother.And wherefore lewhe him?

Because is ownworkswereevil, andhis brother's righteous" (I John3:12).God admonished ain o over-comehe sinwhichpermeatedis ife(Gen.4:7, astpart).However,Caindid not heed his admonition nd hisway of life went from bad to worse.He ultimatelymurdered is brother,Abel, and founded a societywhichcompletely ejectedGodandhis aws.Mankind, n general, as ollowed nCain's ootsteps versince. Can you tell me where Caingot hls wlfe?Yes, we can.Cain marriedone ofhis sisters. here simply wasn'tanyother female or him to marry. InGenesis :4-5weread: And the daysof Adam after he had begottenSethwereeight hundred ears: nd he be-

gat sonsand daughters.'and ll thedays that Adam lived were ninehundred and thirty years:and hedied."Jewish radition recordedby Jose-phus, ays hat AdamandEvehad33sonsand 23 daughters. hesebroth-ers and sisters would have had tomarry each other in order to obeyGod'scommand o propagatehe hu-man ace Gen. :28).Today, there are biblical lawswhich orbid marriage etweenhosewho are closely elated.But, it wasnot wrong or brothers ndsisters omarry at that early time in humanhistory.However, n Abraham'sdayit waspermissibleo marryonlyone'shalf sister.Abram married his half-sister, Sarai (Gen. 20:12). NahormarriedhisbrotherHaran's aughter(Gen. l:29), Therewas hennoge-netic harm to the children. Whenmen and womenover the centuriescontinuedn sin, t became enetical-ly harmful for closeblood relativesto marry (seeLeviticus 8), and forthe sakeof future generationst isforbidden.. What wag the "mark" Godput on Caln (Gen.4:15)?The Bible doesnot specifically aywhat this "mark" was.According oStrong's ExhaustiveConcordance fthe Bible, the Hebrew word owthmaybe renderedmark," or "signal,flag, monument,sign, or beacon."

Young's Analytical Concordance

renders his word "sign." TheCriti-cal and Experimental Commentaryby Jamieson,Faussetand Brownshows hat this word can be trans-lated sign," "token" or "pledge."The Hebrewword, wth couldalsoindicatea boundarymarker hat Godst up to separate r segregateCainand his descendantsrom the rest ofmankind. enesis:12.16 howshatGod banishedCain to the land ofNod-meaning land of "wander-ing"----east f Eden.The owth-markor sign-that God made for Caincould also have been something tocarry on his person,perhapsaroundhis neck-from which the ancientand modern custom of wearing acharm or talisman----or ross-forprotectionmay bederived.Some have thought that Cain'smark involved skin color. Cain'smarkwasnot he changing f hisskinfrom onecolor to another.Cain, inaccordancewith certain West Afri-can traditions,may well have beendark. but his sin was ack of charac-ter.Thus.his"mark" waseithercar-riedon hisperson, r a signset up tosegregate im from others----or oth.. Where is the land of Nodmentioned n Genesis4:16?The only information the Biblegivesconcerninghis land is that itwaseastof Eden(Gen.4:16).TheHebrew word for "Nod" means"wandering."Cain'spunishmentormurdering his brother,Abel, wasthat of beinga wandererand vaga-bond in a land apart from his kins-man.

. Can you tell me how the dif-ferent races origlnated?The Bible ellsus hat Evewas he

motherof all l iving (Gen.3:20). talsoplainlyteacheshat God madeofone blood all nations of man thatdwellon the faceof the earth(Actsl7:26).Therefore, t is evident hat Godcreated n the ovaries f Eve he ca-pacity o produce hildrenwith dif-ferent racial characteristics. heremust have been great diversity inher offspring.Normally, individualsof similarcharacteristics re attracted to eachother. Thus, children and grand-

A SPIRITUAL..POINTOFNORETURN''?

Can a personever reach a "pointof no return" in his relationshipwith God? ls there an unpar-donable sin? The booklet, Whatls The Unpardonable Sin? ex-plains the Bibl ical answers tothese questions. For your freecopy, write to The Plain Truth,Pasadena.CA 91123. Or, i fyou l ive outside the UnitedStates, see bac k page for th eaddress nearestyou.


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childrenof Adam and Evewouldbenaturally separalednto families ofraciallysimilar people,and as theycontinued o marry in their owngroups,distinct racial traits wouldhavebeenestablished. s migrationtook place,natural barriers such asmountain angesand oceanswouldhavealsoservedo maintain he char-acteristics f the "different" racialfamilies.. Why did God create differentraces?God createddifferent races or thesame easonhat He created ifferentkindsof birds,animals, lowers, tc.God appreciatesarietyandeach acehasa specialbeauty, usefulness ndcontributiono make n the world.God createdhe various aces, achhaving heir special bilities, ecauseHe wanted variety (not only skincolorbut abilities,accomplishments,etc.) n the human amily.

. The irst accountof a polyga-mist marr iage is in Genesis4:19. Did God approve of menhavingmore than one wlfe?No, God neverapprovedor sanc-tioned he practiceof polygamy.Hedid permit it in the law of Moses-

just as He alloweddivorcebecause fthe hardness f man's heart (Matt.l9:8). Nevertheless,ccordingo theBible, the idealmarital state s onehusbandand one wife who becomeone flesh n marriage or life. GodgaveAdamone wife (Gen.2:24).Je-susalsosaid hat from the beginningit wasGod'swill that a man eave isparentsand cleave o his wife-notwives-and the two of them wouldbecome ne lesh Matt. 19:4-9).In the New Testament, ministeror a spiritual eaders to set he rightexampleand haveonly one wife (ITim. 3:2). n additiono the scriptu-ral admonition, olygamy s againstthe laws of the United Statesandmostothercountries. omans3:l-7stateshat Christians re o obey helawsof the and.Our booklet ntitled"Why Marriage Soon Obsolete?"explains he purpose nd sanctityofmarriage.Write for it.

. Genesis 6:4 seems to indi-cat that angels (sonsof God)

marriedwomenprior to Noah'sflood. ls this true?Not true The Bible reveals hatangelsare createdspir i ts (Heb.l:14).Theyarenot mortal lesh ikehumans.As createdspirits, angelsdo not reproduce exually r by anyother means.JesusChrist said so.

Not ice Luke 20:34-36:Matthew22:30;Mark 12:25.Who then were these"sons ofGod"? They were male humanbe-ings.Adam wasa sonof Godby cre-ation Luke3:38). n like manner, llof Adam's male descendantsre byGod'sact of creation hysical ons fGod.The contextof Genesis,hapter6concernsphysicalhuman beings-not angels.Notice: "And the Lordsaid,My spiritshallnot always trivewith man. . ." and "I will destroyman whom I have created rom thefaceof theearth" (verses and7). Itwassinful man that God had deter-mined o destroy-not angels theirtime of final judgement s yet tocome).Angelsare spirit and cannotbe destroyed y water.With the out-pouring of the deluge "all fleshdied.. .and everyman.. ." (Gen.7:2r-23).. Can you tell me how the varFous races came through thellood since only Noah and hlefamily were saved?The Bible doesnot specifically ay.However,since Noah, his wife, andhis three sonsand their wiveswerethe only oneswho survived, he ob-viousanswers that the racialstrainswere perpetuatedhrough the wivesof Noah'ssons.Ham is the fatherof the blackrace

LIFEAFTERDEATH?YES, tnere is lif aftr death. But it's notat all l ike th "havn" and ,.hell" con-cspta commonly believed. It you'd like tohave a bettr understending of what thBible says aboui the nExt lite, why not re-quest trvo tree booklGts ltYhatWill YouBeDoing in the Next Lite? and Just What DoYou Mean . . . Salvation? Simpty eendyour rguest to one of lhe addrssea ontho back covor.

because e marrieda black woman.Shemand his wife perpetuatedhewhiterace.Japheth,whomarriedanorientalwoman, erpetuatedhe yel-low race. Thus, the three primaryraces were preserved hrough theflood in this manner. No distinctraces aveeverdevelopedince hen,onlyvariationswithin these aces.It shouldbe noted that some ofHam's sons are brunet whites be-cause he sonsof Noah were white.Some ons f Japheth rewhiteEura-sian types because apheth, ikeHam, waswhite. But, through atermarriages ithchildren f Hamsomeof the childrenof Shemare brown-skinned.An examples Ishmael fa-ther of Arabs), whose ather wasAbram (son of Shem) and whosemotherwasHagar daughter f Miz-raim, a sonof Ham).. I read in Genesis 6:6 thatGod "repented." Howcan Godrepent? He has not sinned.The Hebrewword translated re-pent" in English s nacham. t hasthe connotation f "being madesor-ry" or "saddened." enesis :6 couldactuallybe translatedand the Lordwassorry that He had mademan onthe earth,and t grievedHim at his

heart."Why wasGodexpressinghis kindof emotion? BecauseHe saw thedepthof evil nto whichmanhad de-generated verse5). God had notmadea mistake n creatingmankind.Instead,he was sorry and verygrievedat the wretchedstate manhad achieved y the time of Noah.Therefore,He decided o put man-kind out of its miseryand carry onthe human amily throughNoahandhis descendants.. lsn' t l t unreal is t ic and un-scientlfic to believe that Noahcould have saved all the anFmals n the ark?Traditional magesand popularliteraturepicture he Ark as scarce-ly larger than an ordinary fishingsmack. But the Bible paints a fardifferent picture of the Ark thanmost ealize.Genesis :15gives heArk'sdimensions:The ength f the

arkshallbe hreehundred ubits 450ft.-basedonan 8-in.cubit. tscom-


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monlyacceptedengthl, hebreadth fit fifty cubits 75 t.] and heheightofit thirtycubits45 t.]"Based n the l8-in. cubit, he fig-ures show that the box-shapedArk("ark" meansbox" or "chest" n theHebrew)wasocean-linerize n cub-ic capacity.It had a volumeof about1.5 mil-lion cubicfeet, andvirtually the en-tire capacityof theArk could be usedfor storage.It had no engine oom orfuel tanks ) The Ark had a capacityequal to more than 500 standardAmerican railroad reight carsStill, couldNoahget all thoseani-mals nto the Ark?First of all, God specifically n-structed Noah to selectone pair ofevery "kind" of uncleananimal andseven airsof every kind" of cleananimal.The Bible erm "kind" refersgenerallyo agroupofcreatures,ll ofwhich interbreed.The horse kindcouldberepresented,herefore, yonepairof animalshaving hegeneticpo-tential to produceafter the Flood allvarietieswe have today. The samewouldbe ruealso or dogs, ats, tc.Second, nly air-breathing,erres-trial animalswere included n theArk. Genesis :22 states: All inwhose ostrilswas he breath f life."This excludesall sea creaturesandsimple ormsof life whichcouldsur-vive he deluge.Now consider his. Only 40 per-cent of the animalkingdom ivesonland, and70 percentof all species fland animalsare nsects.The remain-ing 30 percentof the terrestrialani-

mal kingdomare on a meanaveragethe sizeof a rhesusmonkey.Most animals anbe maintained nsmall confinement or long periodsand remain healthy. A rhesusmon-key, for example, an be maintainedin a cage bout2 ft., 6 in. cubed 15.6cu. t.).Estimates f the number of landmammal,bird, reptile, and amphi-bian specieson earth today totalabout18,000.Recognizinghat onlykinds,not species, ere ncluded, twould havebeennecessaryo have arfewer than 18,000 animalson theArk. Most an imals are "unclean"(Lev. l l ) , so most animalk indswould havebeen represented y onepair. But let's be liberal and say40,000 nimals, hose verageize sthatof a rhesusmonkey,wereon theArk. How much room in the Arkwould be needed or all these ani-mals?About 40 percent f the Ark's1.5million cubic eet wouldsufficeWhat about insects?Remember.the Ark had a storage apacityof 500freight cars.Two hundredcarswouldbe occupiedby mammals,birds andreptiles.Giving everypair of knownspecies f insects 6 cubic nchesofspace,another 2l such freight carswould be required. CountingGene-sis kinds only, the required spacewould be far less.)And so,viewed rom the perspec-tive of simplearithmetic,only abouthalf of the spaceon the three deckswould haveprovidedplenty of roomto accommodate ll those animals.That left for the other half of the ship

for food and suppliesand for Noahandhis family.Soperhaps betterquestionwouldbe: What did Noah everdo with al lthe extraspace?. Howdid animalsbecomedis-tributed after the Flood?Each isolated and massor conti-nent hasanimalsor birds not foundelsewhere.ustralia as ts kangaroo,koala bear,duckbilled platypus andTasmaniandevil. North Americaboasts he beaver,rattlesnake, ac-coon, turkey and opossum.SouthAmerica offers the llama, capybara,and sloth. Asia has its peafowlandpandabear. Africa has the giraffe,hippopotamusnd zebra.Certain s-land groupsalso havekinds of ani-mals not found elsewhere. ow did

all theseanimalsbecomesegregatedafter eavingNoah'sArk?Consider hat God-not Noah-brought he animalso the Ark (Gen.6:20). t wouldnot havebeena diffi-cult matter or Him to see o it thatthey also redistributedthemselvesafter the Flood.God s the Originatorof animalmigration. t wasHis willthat the animals-as well as man-kind-replenish and repopulateim-ited geographical reasafter theFlood(Gen.9: l ; l0:5; l1:8-9) . tshould e no surpriseo see oth menand animalseven oday basicallyse-gregatedaround he world. Formsoflife exist in the specific and areaswhere heycan best lourish.The major andmasses f the earthare not as solatedas one might sup-pose.Witness the exist ing landbridge betweenAsia and Africa-theSinaiPeninsula-and CentralAmer-ica between he North and SouthAmericancontinents.As men travel and migrate, theytraditionallyakewith them familiarplants and animals.Some go withthem accidentally.Many animalshavespread o new areasn this man-ner-the rabbit to Australia, he En-glishsparrow ndEuropeanornbor-er to the Americas, etc. Did Noahalso settle different creaturesas hesettled his children in differentlands?It hasalsobeendemonstratedhatanimalshave eached solatedslandson floatingmasses f vegetation r onstorm and lood debris.This hasbeen

What ls FAITH?Millions ack faith to receive answers to theirprayers-to free their minds rom fearsandwor-ries.To a largeextent his s due o lack of under-standingwhat faith is. You need his simplebutthorough xplanation.o receive our reecopy ofthe booklet What s Faith?sendyour request oone of the addresses n the back cover.


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pointedout by such authors as Ra-chel Carson in her fuk The SeaAround Us. Never has an islandemerged rom the sea through vol-canicactivity but that it soonbecamethe homeof various ortsof animalsandplants.. Has Noah's Ark beenfound?Therehavebeena numberof indi-viduals over the past one hundredyearswhohaveclaimed o have oundfragments f the Ark. Somehave e-turned rom Mount Araratwith pho-tos of a "boat-shaped" bject nestledin the craggymountain ide.Otherslayclaim to pieces f lumber suppos-edly aken rom highup Mount Ara-rat. Socalled"eye-witness"accountsof seeinghe Ark have een ecorded.

However, not enough factual evi-dencehas yet come forth to provebeyond shadow f a doubt he pres-ent locationof the Ark. Radiocarbondatesof wood rom high up MountArarat are all more recent than thetime of Noah.If any significant indingscomeabout in the future, they will un-doubtedlybe presentedn the newsmedia aswell as n the pagesof ThePlain Truth magazine.. Why was Canaancursed foran act apparently commlttedby Ham (Genesis9:241?The difficulty in understandingthis account s purely grammatical.Notice a similar grammaticalprob-lem in Exodus 34:28. "And he[Moses]was herewith the Lord for-ty daysand orty nights:he did nei-ther eatbread,nor drink water.Andhewroteupon he tables hewordsofthe covenant, he ten command-

ments." It appearshe "he wrote"could refer to Moses.but from Deu-teronomy0:4 it is absolutely rovedthat God wrote the Ten Command-mentsmentionedn Exodus34:28.With this example n mind, theproblem n Genesis is easilysolved.Beginningn verse22: "And Ham,the fatherof Canaan, aw he naked-nessof his father, and told his twobrethren . . And Noah awoke romhis wine,andknewwhathis [Ham's]youngerson [some Bible versionshave youngest on"] had doneunto

him [an llicit sexual ct s ndicated].And he [Noah] said,Cursedbe Can-aan . . ,t'Notice how Canaan s mentionedtwice in the account.The pronoun"his" properly efersback to Ham,not Noah. Was Canaan really the"youngest on"of Ham?The answeris found in Genesis10:6, And thesonsof Ham, Cush, and Mizraim,and Phut, and Canaan." Canaan sput last in time order of birth. Thatis, Canaanwasthe youngestson ofHam. Thus, Canaan wa.snot pun-ished or something am did.He waspunishedor his own sin. The Blble gives very llttle in-formatlon about Nlmrod (Gen.1O:8-12).Could you recom-mend any books concernlnghis life and accomplishmentsIn addltlon to the Genesie ac-count?The eleventhedition of the Ency-c opaedia B i t annica, the E ncyc ope-dia Biblica.and mostBible dictionar-iescontainbrief write-ups n him.

. I understandyou teach thatGod's promlses to Abrahamwsre two-f o ld - race andgrace.Wouldyou explalnwhatthese promisesmean?Many fail to comprehendhe un-derlyingdual natureof God'sprom-ise. Abraham and his seed werepromised not only great materialblessings,ut ultimatelysalvation swell.Unfortunately,he latterprom-ise-which is by far more impor-tant-is misunderstood y many.After Abraham proved that hewould obey God unconditionally,even o the pointof willing to sacri-fice his beloved son, Isaac, God

promised"That in blessing willbless hee,and n multiplying willmultiply thy seedas he starsof theheaven, ndas he sandwhich s uponthe seashore;and thy seedshallpos-sesshe gateof his enemies; nd inthy seedshallall the nationsof theearth be blessed;becausehou hastobeyedmy voice"(Gen.22:17-18).The physical,material, national(necn)blessingsre ncludedn whatthe Bible termsas "the birthright."A "birthright" is something hich sone's right by virtue of birth. The

seed r the childrenof Abrahamwereguaranteed y God a multitudinouspopulation, ntold wealthandmateri-al resources, ationalgreatnessandworld power.This "birthright" waspassed n from Abraham o Isaac, oJacob,and would have hen gonetohis firstbornson.Reuben.But Reu-benfell prey to his human weaknessas he "defiledhis father'sbed." Be-cause f this sin "his birthright wasgivenunto he sons f Josephhe sonof Israel . ." (I Chron.5:l). Ephra-im andManasseh,he sons f Joseph,became he rightful heirs of God'smaterial, ational lessings.ogetherthey receivedhe right of, and nher-ited, the name "Israel." They re-ceived he "birthright" and became"a nationand a company f nations"(Gen. 35:l l). Read also Genesis49:22-26or a more detailedaccountof their nationalblessings.But whatof the second alf of theoriginalpromiseo Abraham?Thespiritualpromise-the promiseof the Oneseed,"heMessiah,ndofthe salvation hrough Him? This theBiblecalls he"Sceptre"promise-thepromiseof cnrcn. The "Sceptre"

YoucanunderstandprophecyEvents owshaping p wi l laf -fect every living person onearth.Read omorrow's ead-l ines today Discoverwhatprophecysaysabout modernnations.Here s the amazingrevelation f where he UnitedStatesand Britainare men-t ioned n Bibleprophecy. ouneed his nformationn orderlo prepare or what he futureholds n store.Requesl ourfreecopy ol TheUnitedSfatesand Britain n Prophecy.Writeto The Plain Truth n care ofourofficenearesto you.


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Concerning he 400-yearperiod,Genesis-i:13stateshat Abraham'sseed-not Abraham-was to be astrangern a andnot heirs nd o beaffiicted or ,1001'ears.his wouldbethe engthoi time rom the deathofAbraham 1761-ears fter the cove-nant \ras made---compare enesis25:7 * i th 7: l ) throughhe40years 'wanderingo thedivision f the andwhen he children f Israel eceivedtheir nheritancender he directionf Joshua.This occurredsix yearsafter hel' enteredhe andof Canaan(see oshua3:7-33) .. Genesis 17:1O commandscircumcisionas the sign of thecoYenantGod made with Abra-ham and his descendants. ethe act of circumcisionneces-sary today?No, it is not necessary s a reli-equirementor salvation.Under henew ovenant, od scall-a spiritual ation omposedf ndi-onverted ndbegotten y HisolySpirit.TrueChristiansrenowallcircumcised"piritually.Physical ircumcisionwasonly ar typeof circumcision fheartDeut.0:16;30:6;er .4:4) .alsoRomans :28-29:For hea Jew,which s oneoutwardly;

that circumcision, hich sn the lesh:But he s a Jew,s one nwardly;and circumci-of the heart, n the spirit,not n he etter . ."Spiritual ircumcisions a processf conversion.t is Jesus hristwhoircumcisesne'sheart-spiritually."And )e are complete in him[Christ] . . in whomalso e arecir-umcised th thecircumcision adewithout ands.n putting ff hebodyf hesins f the lesh y hecircumci-ion f Chr ist" Col .2:10- l) . This shyGod nspiredheapostles ndel-f theNeu'Testamenthurch ohatphysical ircumcision aso onger ecessaryor salvationActsl5:24,28\.Our l iterature ntitled What Doand"JustYou Mean-Christian?"he processof conversioniving a Christian ife.. I would ike to know why Godwould "tempt" Abrahamby or-

deringhim to sacrificehis son,lsaac (Gen. 22), while James1:13says hat God "cannot betempted wl th evi l , nei thertempteth he any man." Pleaseexplain this apparont contra-diction.Theword"tempt" in Genesis 2:l

is translatedrom the Hebrewwordbathamandmeansto test, o try, toprove."The "tempting" of Abrahamshould better have been translatedthe "testing" of Abraham.Abraham provedhis faithfulnessby his willingnesso obey God andsacrifice is onlyson, saac.Hebrewsl l :17-19 states hat Abrahambe-lievedGod couldraiseup Isaac romthe dead if need be, to fulfill hispromises.t is becausef this kind offaith that Abrahambecame nownas"the fatherof the faithful."Abraham'swillingnesso offer upIsaacwasa type, answeringo Godthe Fatherwho willinglygaveup HisSon, JesusChrist, as a sacrifice orthe sinsof all mankind John3:16).Isaac, oo,wasa type of JesusChristwhowillinglygavehimself o besac-rificed ust as Christ willingly gaveHimself to do His Father'swill sothat He could become he propitia-tion and atonementor the sinsof allmankind I John4:10;Gal . l :3-4;Rom.5:8) .God did not require Abraham osacrificesaac.nstead,Godprovideda ram which, by analogy, oreshad-owedJesusChrist-the lambof Godwhocame o takeaway he sinsof theworld (John :29) by His deathonthe cross.James :13 doesnot in any way,' detract romor contradictGod's est-ing of Abraham. Rather, when welookcarefullyat verse 3 of James,we find that God never emptsmenwith sin.Satan the devil does tempt menwith every k ind of s in (I Thess.3:5);but, God never oes.God onlytries and testsus to see f we wil lobey. f we put our trust in Him,He will never fail or forsakeus (ICor. l0:13; Rom. 8:28;Heb. l3:5-6). For a greaterunderstanding fthe meaningof faith and why Godpermits rials, write for the bookletWhat is Faith? and the reprint se-ries "Why DoesGod Permit Chris-tians to Suffer?"

. Genesis32:30 says that Ja -cob saw God face to face, yetI John 4:12 declares that nomanhas seen God at any time.I know the Bible does not con-tradict itself, but how can thisbe explained?Thecontext f I John4 showshat

Johnwas peakingf the Father no-ticeverse 0). No manhasseen heFathern person xcept esus.Therefore,whenJacobexplained,"I haveseenGod face o face,andmy life is preserved," e could nothave meant the Father.The On ewhom Jacob saw face to face-theOne with whom he wrest ledal lnight long-the One who blessedhim and changedhis name to "Is-rael" which means"preserver--{rprevai ler-wi th God" was thatmemberof the God Kingdom whobecame esusChrist. It wasHe thatwas " in the beginning . ." wi thGod. and ". . . wasGod." For a de-tailed explanation f who was theGod of the Old Testamentwho ap-pearedo the Prophets nd o Mosesand Jacob,write for the articleenti-tled "Is JesusGod?". Can you tell me which na-t ions are ident i f ied as thotribeo of lsrael today? (Gen.49.)The ribesof ManassehndEphra-im are dentified n Mr. Armstrong'sbook The United States and Britainin Prophecy.Manassehs the UnitedStatesand Ephraimbasically onsti-tutes the English-speaking embercountries f the British Common-wealth.The tribe of Judah the Jews) sscattered mongmanynationswith alarge number iving in the modernnation of Israel. Levi and Simeonwere to be scattered mongIsrael;Reuben s France.Putting together he informationavailable rom Biblical history andprophecy,he other ribesmay be o-cated in Ireland, Norway and Ice-land, Finland,Sweden,Holland(theNetherlands),Belgium and Luxem-bourg,and Switzerland.SomeGentilesive n these ationsandcertainlysome sraelites, swell

as Jews, ive in severalGent i lelands.

in the beginning - answers to questions in genesis (1980)

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