Remembering

waiting on God

Then God remembered Noah,
and every living thing,
and all the animals
that were with him in the ark.

Genesis 8:1

The distinguishing feature of this passage must surely be the level of detail regarding time. We are told how long the waters decreased, the day the ark rested on the ground, the number of days spent watching for birds, and the nearly three months of waiting after Noah saw the ground was dry.

All of this detail about time came after God remembered Noah. It seems odd to me that God remembered Noah and then did nothing for what must have seemed like forever to those who were on the ark. Personally, I don’t enjoy waiting and waiting for God to act. But waiting seems to be the point of this passage, as if it’s a key part of God’s administration over mankind.

Remember

The first time the Bible mentions God remembering is in Genesis 8. It says that after the floodwaters had raged for 40 days, God remembered Noah and all who were with him on the ark. Remembering is an interesting word to apply to God, since He knows all things and doesn’t forget, like we do. 

Later Bible passages referring to God’s remembering often used the term in connection with a promise or covenant that God had made. From these passages, we can see that His act of remembering is generally followed by some type of divine intervention for the purpose of fulfilling His promise or covenant. 

We could say God’s remembering is when He turns His attention to a given situation with the intent to act. Thus, God’s remembering of Noah indicated He was ready to take action regarding His promise of keeping Noah alive through the flood. In other words, remembering meant God was ready to deliver Noah from the flood.

Since God is all-powerful, we might have expected a spectacular removal of the floodwaters and a quick-dry of the earth. But instead, God made only a very slight move.

Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. Genesis 8:1-2

God merely started the winds and stopped the rains. The rest of the drying process was a natural progression of the waters receding and the earth drying. Other than stopping the rain, God’s intervention didn’t appear supernatural at all, but appeared to be a natural progression of events. 

To this day, God’s working among the affairs of men is usually quiet and unnoticed by most. Occasionally in history, He has intervened spectacularly, but His normal method of operation has been through natural processes. 

Sometimes, when we have observed no disruption to natural processes, we assume God has forgotten His promises and failed to act. But this is not true. Normal progression of natural processes does not mean God has forgotten or is inactive.

Waiting

On the ark, Noah was evidently watching for signs of the flood waters receding. After forty days, he heard the rain stop. Then, five months after the rain had started, he felt the ark land. Three months later, he began sending the birds on reconnaissance missions to see if the water had receded. Finally, one full year after the flood began, he opened the window on the ark and observed that the ground was dry. 

One year was a long time to be cooped up in the ark. But he had to wait another two months and 27 days before God finally spoke and told him to leave the ark. I suppose those last three months were the longest three months of his stay on the ark. It must have seemed long to wait five months on the ark after it landed, and long to wait another 21 days while sending out the birds. But then they waited an additional 87 long days after they had seen the ground was dry. I can’t imagine that Noah and his family didn’t question where God was during those long weeks.

Noah’s Response

Perhaps surprisingly, Noah showed no resentment or bitterness towards God for his extended stay on the ark. In fact, he showed gratitude. He had at his disposal every kind of created animal, but selected only the best, the clean animals, for sacrifice to God. 

The Scripture doesn’t tell us what produced Noah’s gratitude. It may have arisen from being delivered out of the judgment of the flood. Or perhaps it came from recognizing that God had not abandoned him. We are not told. All we see is that Noah spent a lot of time on the ark and somehow, over the course of the long wait, he arrived at a place of deep gratitude towards God.

Noah isn’t the only one of God’s people who has needed to wait for long periods of time. Over the course of history, God has sent many of His people through long periods of waiting, often with no explanation for the delay. But time and time again, those who have waited on Him come through their wait with the report that God is good. 

God’s Covenant

God’s response to Noah’s sacrifice is nothing short of remarkable. He promised to never destroy the earth with a flood again. God sent the flood because every imagination of men’s hearts was evil. But, because of Noah’s sacrifice, although men’s hearts remained continually wicked, God swore in His heart that He would never destroy the earth with a flood again. Noah’s one act of sacrifice brought an everlasting decree from God that would stand regardless of how wicked man became.

God highly valued Noah’s offering which came after a prolonged period of waiting. It means He is not indifferent to the long periods of time which His people endure, but is intimately aware of each passing moment. It means He does not gloss over their patient waiting on Him, but highly values their trust in Him even when they have seemed abandoned.

Conclusion

In God’s administration over mankind, He does not fulfill His promises with a snap of His fingers, although He could. He created both time and the natural processes, and uses them in His working among His people. His approach requires a good deal of faith from those who trust in Him. But He greatly delights in their enduring faith in His word. Especially when their faith stands firm in the face of contrary circumstances.

The Floodwaters

God sent floodwaters as universal destruction because the wickedness of mankind filled the earth. However, whether a creature escaped from that destruction was not based on their level of wickedness.

Day 2 of History

Posts on the second day of the history of mankind.

Title of Page

Text to describe what they will be looking at.

Judgment and Deliverance

the ark was key to escaping destruction

So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground:
both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air.
They were destroyed from the earth.
Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark
remained alive.

Genesis 7:23

God rejoiced over mankind at the time of creation, giving them dominion over all other living creatures and blessing them with fruitfulness (see Creation). As time passed, people embraced wickedness and God’s rejoicing turned to sorrow, even to where He repented from blessing mankind and purposed to destroy all of them (see God’s Repentance), including all living creatures. But some living creatures escaped the destruction of the floodwaters, and it wasn’t because they were more righteous than others.

Universal Destruction

The waters of the flood would not be discriminatory in their destruction. They would destroy every creature exposed to them, regardless of that creature’s lifestyle. So it was the imminent coming of floodwaters that motivated Noah to board the ark, for not even he would have been spared.

So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Genesis 7:7

There simply was no escaping the floodwaters. They would eliminate every living creature upon the earth, whether clean or unclean, wicked or righteous, because the flood was universal in its destruction.

This was, in fact, God’s purpose with the floodwaters – to destroy all living creatures. Knowing this, Noah and his family sought to escape the impending destruction by boarding the ark. Yet, in doing so, they were not thwarting God’s purposes for God Himself ensured the ark was secure by shutting the door.

So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in. Genesis 7:16

Clearly, it was God’s intent to deliver those on the ark from destruction, whether clean or unclean, wicked or righteous. We could say that although it was God’s purpose to destroy all living creatures, it was His will that every living creature on the ark would be saved alive.

The Key for Escape

So when the floodwaters came, the ark became the key to whether a living creature was destroyed or preserved. The waters buried everything on the earth except the ark.

Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. Genesis 7:17-19

Although the flood impacted everything on earth, it affected the ark differently than everything else. The flood did not bury the ark, as it did the rest of the earth; it lifted the ark, and everything in it, off the face of the earth.

Thus, God used the ark to make a distinction among all the living creatures. There were those creatures who were on the face of the earth, and there were those who were on the ark. All living creatures that were on the face of the earth were destroyed. But all living creatures that were on the ark were delivered from destruction.

So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. Genesis 7:23

So a living creature’s destiny was not dependent upon its wickedness or righteousness, but upon its position regarding the ark. Its deliverance from destruction depended entirely upon being with Noah in the ark. This was God’s will.

God’s purpose was to destroy all living creatures because of the acute wickedness in the earth. But it was not His desire to eradicate life, so He kept some of every species alive. He didn’t preserve the lives of certain living creatures based on their decreased level of wickedness or violences. He preserved their lives based on whether they were with Noah on the ark.

Coda

God’s approach in judgment and deliverance in the flood set a precedence in His approach with the judgment and deliverance of mankind for all time. The second death (Revelation 20:12-15) is a universal judgment established because of rebellion and wickedness. But He will not condemn people to this judgment based on their level of rebellion and wickedness. They will be condemned based on whether they are with Christ in the salvation He established through His righteous obedience in fulfilling the will of God.

Covenant Dilemma

How can an unchanging God make a covenant with people who do change?

Day 2 of History

Posts related to the second day of the history of mankind.

Remembering

God’s remembering of Noah didn’t result in spectacular intervention, but in a fulfillment of God’s promise through time and natural processes.

Covenant Conundrum

How can the unchanging God commit Himself?

But I will establish My covenant with you;
and you shall go into the ark—
you, your sons, your wife,
and your sons’ wives with you.

Genesis 6:18

In the last post, we looked at God’s repentance as described in the first part of Genesis 6. We noted that, although it may seem impossible that the unchanging God can repent, His unchanging nature actually means He must repent towards a person who changes their lifestyle. God will cease showing grace and favor to people who leave righteousness for wickedness. 

In the second half of Genesis 6, we find the first recorded covenant tucked within God’s instructions to Noah for building the ark. It is more of a promise to establish a covenant than actually establishing it.

And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Genesis 6:17-19

Interestingly, God didn’t define the terms of the covenant. That is, He didn’t specify what He would do or what Noah should do to accomplish the desired result. However, He did indicate the result of the covenant, which was that He would keep them alive. So this first covenant was basically a commitment from God to Noah to keep alive all those who were on the ark through the duration of the flood.

The context of this covenant sets up a stark contrast. The first half of Genesis 6 spoke of God’s repentance, that is, His change of attitude towards mankind. The second half of the same chapter spoke of God’s covenant to keep certain ones alive, which effectively was a promise that He would not repent towards Noah and those with him. Essentially, the context shows that the covenant was the opposite of repentance.

Given that it was necessary for God to repent in response to peoples’ choices, it seems impossible that God could make a long-term promise to not repent, since people are given to change. It seems like it would have made more sense if He promised Noah that He would keep them alive if they remained righteous. That way, if they didn’t continue in righteousness, He wouldn’t be obligated to keep the promise. But by making a covenant that was not based on their lifestyle, God removed His option of repenting if they embraced wickedness.

This creates a conundrum in justice. There was the possibility that one of those on board the ark would turn to wickedness. In that situation, because of His covenant, God would be obligated to extend grace to that wicked individual. The only way this could be just is if God had a good reason for making a commitment to show grace and favor on people regardless of their lifestyle.

The Basis of the Covenant

By emphasizing selective parts of the history, the text showed that God had a good reason to show grace to wicked men. Often, when we tell the story of the ark, we talk about the long process of building it. But the text entirely omitted the building process and instead focused on how Noah responded to God’s command, even telling us twice that Noah obeyed God.

Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. Genesis 6:22
And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him. Genesis 7:5

So the text presented God’s covenant to Noah in a context that emphasized Noah’s obedience.

From this emphasis, we can see that Noah’s obedience was critical to the establishment of the covenant. In the text, God clearly linked the covenant to the ark: “I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark…”. This covenant wouldn’t be established until there was an ark to board. Noah would need to obey God’s command of building the ark in order for the covenant to be established.

Thus, the basis of the covenant was not Noah’s lifestyle, but his act of obedience. God established the covenant based on Noah’s one-time act of obedience. It is common knowledge that an action committed cannot be retracted. Once Noah built the ark, his action became a fact of history and no one could undo the fact that he had built the ark.

If God had established the covenant based on Noah’s righteous lifestyle, then it would have been possible to lose the basis of the covenant because it was possible for Noah to commit wickedness. But when God based the covenant on Noah’s act of obedience, an unchangeable fact of history, then He established the covenant on the basis of something that could not be changed.

Because Noah fully obeyed His command, God established His covenant that He would grant the grace and favor of preserving life. If Noah chose wickedness while on the ark, God could look back on the time Noah obeyed and continue to show favor and grace based on that earlier expression of obedience. That is, God could say, ‘Even though you have done wickedly today, I will continue to show you grace because of your act of obedience in the past.’

The Covenant Scope

The text shows us that God did not limit His promise of grace and favor to only Noah. While it is true God made the covenant specifically with Noah, He expanded its benefits to Noah’s full family, including his sons and daughter-in-laws.

But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. Genesis 6:18

Their inclusion into the covenant was not based on their obedience, for the text is conspicuously silent on their role in building the ark, or even whether they had a role. It clearly told us that Noah obeyed, but said nothing about whether his sons obeyed. Yet, God included them in the covenant.

Then the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation Genesis 7:1

Noah’s family enjoyed the benefits of the covenant only because they were of his household. So if one of those sons became wicked, God would still show them favor because they were with Noah, the man who performed that act of obedience to God.

The unchanging God established covenant based on obedience as an unchanging fact of history so that He could show grace regardless of peoples’ lifestyle. The scope of the covenant included all who were with the man who obeyed.

Coda

There are a number of parallels worth noting between Noah and the Lord Jesus.

God established a covenant based on the obedience of Christ. When Christ died on the cross, He fulfilled the will of God to provide a means of salvation for all mankind. Because of His righteous obedience, God can now extend the grace of life to each person who entrusts themselves in the salvation Christ provided. So God gives life to each person who is in Christ.

An earlier version of this page is available here.

God’s Repentance

Our concept of God’s sovereignty must include His repentance, for this concept is in scripture.

Day 2 of History

Posts related to the second day of the history of mankind.

The Floodwaters

The floodwaters came because of wickedness, but living creatures were not destroyed based on their level of wickedness.

God’s Repentance

How can a sovereign God repent?

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually.

Genesis 6:5

The next section in Genesis begins more than a thousand years after the first section. It opens with a view of mankind from God’s perspective. The following verses describe His attitude. As you read them, notice how the text applied ‘repented’ to God.

And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. Genesis 6:6-7 (KJV)

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word translated above as ‘repented’ occurred 108 times. The KJV translators translated it as ‘repent’ forty-one times, and a majority of those referred to God’s repentance. It may be a surprise to see ‘repent’ applied to God in the passage above, but we understand it is not saying that God turned from sin, for He does not sin. But it is referring to God’s change of heart towards mankind. Originally, God had created man with the intent that he would multiply and fill the earth. But here, God speaks of destroying man (and the animals) from off the earth. So God’s repentance refers to the fact that His attitude towards mankind changed from blessing to judgment.

Why did God’s attitude change? Thankfully, this is a simple question to answer since the passage plainly tells us the reason.

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5

Mankind’s continual wickedness and evil turned God against them. So there is no guesswork regarding the reason for the change. But there is still the difficulty of understanding how an unchanging, sovereign God could change.

How can an unchanging God change?

Passages such as Numbers 23:19 and 1 Samuel 15:29, which clearly state that God does not repent, challenge our understanding. They seem like a contradiction, but I think it may help to consider a scenario that has happened many times throughout history.

Suppose there was a man who was living a life of wickedness. What would God’s attitude towards him be? We know it would be one of judgment – the man would be under condemnation. But suppose the man repented and turned from his wickedness – would God’s attitude toward the man change? Ezekiel 33:14-16, John 3:18, and many other passages teach us that God’s attitude would change from judgment to grace. Many of us understand this because we have personally experienced God’s change of attitude toward us. Since it is valid to define repentance as a change of attitude, we can say that God would repent in His attitude towards the formerly wicked, but now contrite, man.

Expanding this example, we can also see that God is unchanging. Notice how we did not need to debate whether a wicked man is under condemnation. We know God is consistent in how He treats mankind – He always judges the wicked. Always. And, we know He always shows grace to the righteous. In addition, we can read in Ezekiel 33 how God explained to the Israelites that He will show mercy to all those who heed His word and repent. We know that this is the way God is and the way He always has been.

So at the level of His administration over mankind, God is unchanging. He always has had judgment for the wicked; He always has had blessing for the righteous; and He always has had mercy for the repentant. A person is under judgment, blessing, or mercy based on whether they are wicked, righteous, or repentant. But at the level of God’s attitude (wrathful, favorable, or merciful) towards a person, His attitude will change depending on where the person is at. His administration does not change; but His attitude can and does change.

How can a sovereign God change?

This is a key question in the topic of God’s sovereignty. It is crucial that our understanding of God’s sovereignty takes into account the repentance of God for the simple reason that it is there in scripture. So let’s take a closer look at the Genesis 6 context and use it to develop our understanding of the sovereignty of God. As our first step, let’s identify the key point(s) made by the passage.

The opening portion of the passage presents two factors that led to God’s sorrow over mankind. The first has to do with how the sons of God chose wives.

…the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive [or, abide] with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 6:2-3

These two verses give us two details to help us see the first factor of God’s sorrow. The first detail is that the sons of God took wives based on their choice. The second detail is God’s comment that man is flesh. Together, these details indicate that the boys of that day were choosing wives based on what appealed to their flesh. The problem with this method of choosing a spouse is that it is essentially the same approach used by animals when they choose their mates. But God did not create man as an animal – He gave man the capability to appreciate non-physical characteristics, such as morality, intelligence, personality, etc. Men had descended to acting like the animals, choosing mates based on fleshly lusts. So the passage is telling us that this flesh-based choosing is one factor that contributed to God’s change of heart towards man.

The two verses following give us the second factor.

There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:4-5

Verse 4 tells us that some ancient men became mighty and famous. But the second verse tells us they achieved their greatness through wickedness. They elevated themselves, not through fairness and justice, but by trampling down and destroying others. This wickedness is the other factor that led to God repenting.

The next verse is Genesis 6:6, which is the verse that speaks of God repenting. So the passage presents these two factors, man’s flesh-driven choices and his wickedness towards others, as what led to God’s decision to destroy mankind from the earth. What is it about these factors that made God regret making mankind? In comparing them, we can see that both behaviors are contrary to what God intended for mankind. God created man with a body of flesh, as He did with animals. But He also gave man the ability to appreciate abstract realities, such as justice, beauty, morality, love, and other such things. God did not intend that man’s physical desires would dictate his actions, but that man would use his understanding of the abstract realities to rule over his physical desires. Nor did God create mankind to destroy one another. Both these behaviors went against what God intended. Mankind’s embracing of that lifestyle made God regret creating them.

To make sense of God’s repentance, our understanding of God’s sovereignty must recognize that mankind did what God did not want them to do. This must mean that God established a creation which functioned without His direct control. The created beings He made had the capability of choosing to do the opposite of what He wanted. Of course, if they could choose that, then they could also choose to do what God wanted. That thought brings us to Noah.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:8-9

Noah chose not to live like an animal, and not to practice wickedness. Noah chose to walk with God.

God’s administration (sovereignty) over mankind is unchanging. But His attitude towards a person depends on the choices a person makes. Thus, God’s attitude towards a person will change depending on that person’s choices.

Day 2 of History

Posts on the second day of the history of mankind.

Covenant Conundrum

If God always repents when someone changes, how can He make an unchanging covenant with them? The first covenant recorded in scripture reveals an important feature of God’s administration and sovereignty over mankind.

Day 1 of History

This is the history of the heavens and the earth
when they were created,
in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens

Genesis 2:4

Sovereignty, The topic of. 

Normally, when I want to understand the meaning of a particular term, I look for Bible passages that contain the word and examine how they use it. But I found that our English translations rarely use the word ‘sovereignty’, so I needed a different approach to learn the characteristics of God’s sovereignty. My thought was that Genesis, the book of beginnings, would be a good book to examine and try to identify God’s method of governing mankind, since governing is the essence of what sovereignty is. After several months of study, I finally made it through the second account of creation as recorded in Genesis 2:4-4:26. This post summarizes the key points and brings out the conclusion of the study.

Foundation of God’s sovereignty over man

The first verses of this portion in Genesis allude to a time before any plants were growing in fields (Genesis 2:4-6) In these verses, we understand that God created Earth without pre-cultivated fields. The fields would come about by man’s work of tilling the soil and God’s provision of rain. Notice how both God and man were involved in the process of producing crops. Man would till the soil, but he would need God to provide the rain for good success. Thus, God would be man’s provider.

This shows that God’s style of government was more supportive than dictatorial. By dictatorial, I mean a style of administration where the ruler expects his people to serve him, like slaves their master. But God created mankind as creatures who were dependent upon His provision for good success in their work. Thus, His sovereignty is the type that provides from His resources to meet the needs of those under Him.

Features of God’s sovereignty of man

The authority structure of God’s government is quite clear. The first interaction between God and man in this passage relates God giving man a command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). This clearly shows that God had authority over the man, which was fitting because God was the Creator and man was the created. So, this may be a simple observation, but God was sovereign over man. Though simplistic, I think it is a fundamental feature of God’s sovereignty – God is in charge and man’s role is to obey. 

However, we see that, although God forbade eating the fruit, He didn’t take steps to prevent disobedience. He could have restricted access to the forbidden tree, just as He did with the tree of life in Genesis 3:24.  But God allowed the option of disobedience. It might seem like God was setting the man up for failure, but notice what really was taking place – although God required the man to obey, He granted him the choice to obey or disobey.

Besides God’s authority, we saw a second fundamental component of His sovereignty introduced in Genesis 2:18-20, regarding the knowledge of good and evil. God created man without the knowledge and forbade him from taking it for himself. However, we noted that He didn’t leave the man in ignorance but instructed him. We saw how the task of naming the animals was used to bring Adam’s attention to the lack of companionship in his life and to understand that it was not good. God had declared that the man’s situation was not good. Then He brought awareness to Adam through the process of naming the animals (Genesis 3:20). Thus, we saw God was the revealer of good and evil to man. 

It seems to me that these two features, authority and revelation, are two fundamental components of God’s sovereignty over man which have continued to this very day. What is more fundamental than our responsibility to obey God? But there is also God’s revelation of good and evil to man. Hasn’t He been the source of true wisdom to us? Take, for example, how He has continually revealed to mankind that sin is evil, and that obedience to His word is good. He has been doing the work of revealing throughout all of history.

So God provides support to mankind in his endeavors, not as a genie who obeys every command, but as the Authority who gives the light of wisdom. But although He is man’s authority, He has permitted mankind the choice to obey. And although He is man’s revealer, He does not force men to accept what He reveals, as we shall see in the two primary stories of this passage.

Application of God’s sovereignty over man

After recounting the woman’s creation, the narrative takes up two stories that show several striking similarities between Adam and Cain. In the stories, God warned both men not to sin, yet both sinned; after their act of sin, God asked both a similar question, and both gave a response; and to both He pronounced a curse regarding the ground. But the narrative sets the stories in contrast, showing that the men ended up in very different situations: one was given provision to be in the presence of God, while the other left the presence of God for a life of apparent independence. 

The first story is of Adam and his wife, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the serpent. The serpent’s interaction was full of deception, obscuring the true good and evil by making it appear beneficial (good) to eat the fruit when it was actually very detrimental (evil). Furthermore, he diverted the woman’s attention from her responsibility to obey God. His words, although seemingly enlightening, brought darkness.

It occurs to me that Adam and his wife’s act of eating from the forbidden tree struck at the core elements of God’s sovereignty. First, in disobeying God’s command, they disregarded His rule over them. Secondly, in listening to the serpent, they rejected the truth that God had revealed regarding the detrimental (evil) effect of eating the tree.

God’s response to their sin showed that His style of administration did not change when they fell. We can see they were still responsible to obey God, for God made them give account for their disobedience. We also see He continued as their revealer, for He clarified that their main problem was not their nakedness but their disobedience. Also, He made life-changes so all their descendants would recognize that life without God is an evil situation. Thus, we can see that He continued as ruler and revealer even to unregenerate man.

God also continued as provider, for He gave clothing which made it possible for them to stand before Him without shame. If that was not enough, He provided protection from destruction by guarding access to the tree of life. 

Although they sinned, God was still their ruler, revealer, and provider.

Application of God’s Sovereignty over rebellious man

The second story was of Cain’s sin. We noted how there was a difference between Adam and Cain in that Adam clearly stated what took place while Cain attempted to conceal his deed. Cain’s pretended ignorance led to God pronouncing a curse that put a separation between Cain and the others (Genesis 4:12). So Adam brought his actions to light by telling what he did, but Cain obscured the truth by trying to hide his actions. Obscuring the truth is what the serpent did with his deceptions. Thus, Cain was following the serpent’s path and, as a result, God established an enmity between him and the others (see Genesis 2:15).

It occurs to me that another difference between the two men is that Adam feared to stand in God’s presence whereas Cain didn’t seem to mind. Perhaps we could say that Adam feared God and Cain did not?

We saw that God honored Cain’s choice because He did not immediately destroy him. Cain rebelled against God’s authority and rejected God exposing his sin; God could have put an end Cain’s choice by putting an end to his life. Instead, God preserved his life and allowed him to continue down the path he had chosen. Thus, although God has authority over man, not only does He permit man the choice to disobey, but He allows a man the freedom to continue in that choice for as long as he lives.

But notice what God did with the one who rejected His revelation of sin – He placed enmity between him and the others. That is, God instituted a division among mankind, separating those who walked the serpent’s path of darkness and those who accepted the light of God’s revelation.

Conclusion

The first day of the history of mankind teaches us that God exercises sovereignty as a Provider.
Within the role of Provider, He has authority over mankind. But, although He gives commands, He does not compel obedience. Furthermore, He allows true freedom to choose between obedience and disobedience, for He does not cut life short when people choose the wrong thing.
He also reveals good and evil to mankind. As with the freedom of obedience, He also allows people the freedom to disregard His revelation. But those who choose to reject are in darkness and, in God’s kingdom, He establishes a division between them and those in the light.

Footnote: If you’ll permit me to say so, it seems that the first day of the history of mankind had some similarities to the first day of Creation (Genesis 1:3-4).

Death Preserved

hopelessness of life without God

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.

Genesis 3:19

In the previous post, we looked at the life changes God brought upon the woman after her sin and how she would experience labor pains in giving birth. These pains, although intense, would be relatively brief and would culminate with the arrival of a new life. The process would be painful, but the woman could look forward to the joy of receiving a child. Thus, she would have hope in her suffering. We will see that Adam’s changes were of a different type.

Adam had listened to the voice of his fellow-creature, woman, above the command of his Creator. His disobedience brought a curse upon the ground, so that it would take hard work to produce food. Unlike his wife’s labor pains, which were relatively short, Adam’s labor would be continuous until the day his body returned to the ground (Genesis 3:19). Thus, God placed Adam in a scenario without hope – he had to work all his life and his only escape would be through death. Unlike the woman, he would receive death at the end of his labor instead of a joyous reward. 

Generally, when a person faces a long, arduous task, they can be encouraged to see the work to completion by a promise of satisfying rest. But Adam’s work continued until death. He could not enjoy rest after his lifelong labor was complete because at the end of his life he ceased to live (physically speaking). So although his labor ceased when he died, he had no ability to live in the rest that followed. He would work all his life with nothing of substance to look forward to, apart from God.

God did not make this change on a whim. He did it deliberately so mankind could not help but see that, although independence from God may be fun, ultimately it is devoid of hope.

Man’s only hope is in God, who alone is able to make a man live after death. 

I’m not sure how long it took for Adam to put all these things together, but he evidently came to see the contrast between his wife and himself. His disobedience brought hopelessness and death, but through the Seed of the woman would come the hope of Life. In light of this, he chose ‘Eve’ as a fitting name for his wife (Genesis 3:20).

After these things, God provided clothing for Adam and Eve which allowed them to stand without shame before their Creator. It is what God does. He came to them asking questions that exposed their sin, but not to shame them. When God asks His people to step into the light and admit their sin and disobedience, it is not to humiliate them. On the contrary: when they confess their sin, He removes their shame and enables them to stand before Him freely. So He gave Adam and Eve clothing to cover their nakedness and shame.

Finally, God preserved physical death by preventing access to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). Although blocking access to unlimited life may seem like a great evil, it was actually great kindness. By eating from that tree, people could escape physical death. But physical death is the key to escaping sin-corrupted flesh, for the only deliverance from sin’s corruption in the flesh is the death of the flesh. 

Protecting people from that disaster was so important that God placed an armed angel before the tree. He would not risk losing any human to permanent corruption of sin. Had God allowed physical death to cease, there would have been no escape from the corruption of sin in the flesh and mankind would have been lost forever, like the fallen angels. But by keeping physical death, God left open the pathway for the Seed of the Woman to go through physical death and win eternal salvation of life.

God preserved physical death to keep open the way of salvation for mankind.

Suffering Added

God introduced suffering to bring people to the end of themselves.

Day 1 of History

Overview of the first day of the history of mankind.

Where is your brother?

God’s kingdom is made up of those who walk in the light.

Suffering Added

bringing men to the end of themselves

To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”

Genesis 3:16

God first addressed the serpent, pronouncing a curse upon him. The serpent was guilty of obscuring the straightforward, simple truth of God’s word. He seemed to bring a revelation of hidden truths.  But by claiming the fruit was an opportunity to gain independent wisdom, he veiled the woman’s responsibility to obey the Creator. In offering her independence, he enticed her to abandon God’s word.  For this, God reduced the serpent from his elevated position among the animals to crawl in the dirt (Genesis 3:1, 14).

God also announced a hostility between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s Seed. The serpent’s seed would be those who follow the serpent and discard the truth of God’s words (see John 8:42-47). They would be in opposition to the woman’s Seed, who would reveal the truth. Her Seed would show that true life is not found in breaking free from the Creator’s word, but in keeping it. By the light of this truth, He would defeat the agenda of the serpent.

The knowledge of good and evil obtained by Adam and his wife gave them the impression of having an independent life. It was a life guided by their own wisdom and, thus, a life divergent from the life of God. Such a life was not what God intended for His creatures for He did not give humans the capability to live a life fully independent of Himself. Even at the physical level, humans depend on external resources, such as food, air, and water, to preserve life. The fact is that humans are not self-sufficient. Yet, the knowledge of good and evil makes people feel like they no longer are dependant upon God and they dismiss God’s wisdom. But this independent life is a life of death (Genesis 2:17) for it is separate from God’s life.   

If you were God, what lengths would you be willing to go to show your creatures that their independence is a lie? Would you bring pain and suffering to deliver them from death?

The sorrow and birth pains that God introduced upon the woman (Genesis 3:16a) vividly illustrate the process of bringing an independent human from death into life.  

The woman’s labor pains are unique among living creatures. At the peak of labor, her pain is overwhelming, and she feels unable to complete the process, reaching the end of herself. Happily, it normally is not her end, but the beginning of a new life. However, in the peak of labor, even though she knows the pain is temporary, she feels like the process is too much for her.

When life goes well, people often believe they are self-sufficient and fully independent from God. But this is a lie. If God fully withdrew from us, we would not be capable of preserving our life. We are dependent on God. But we forget that reality, so God will introduce circumstances into our lives that are overwhelming for us, to show us that life without God is too much for us.

One historical example of God using overwhelming circumstances is the birth of the nation of Isreal. When the children of Jacob first moved to Egypt, they enjoyed a privileged status under Joseph. However, things changed and they found themselves under hopeless and cruel bondage (Exodus 2:23-25). Although they were a numerous people, they were unable to escape from their bondage and they cried out to God. When God delivered them with great power, they saw it was beneficial to embrace a covenant that established God’s rule over them (Exodus 24:3-4). The overwhelming oppression they suffered under opened their eyes to their need for God.

Another example, from the future, is the seven years of Jacob’s trouble (the Tribulation) that will overwhelm Israel. God will use this suffering to open their eyes to their need of their Messiah, Jesus Christ.

A final example is the prodigal son in Jesus’ parable. He was happily living independently of his father until a famine came. His social position digressed until he found himself hungrily eyeing the pig food. At that point, when he was at the end of himself, he came to his senses and returned to his father (Luke 15:17). While the famine was ongoing, he would have said it was a bad thing. But afterward, when he was fully restored, he would undoubtedly say that the suffering of the famine had been good for him.

Looking at the individual level, we see that people generally must come to the end of themselves before they will acknowledge their need of the Savior. For some people, reaching this point takes great suffering; for others, not so much. But all who come to the Lord have reached the state where they recognize they are incapable of making it on their own. After this point, like for the woman, comes new life.

Then God spoke of struggle that would arise between a wife and her husband.

Having the knowledge of good and evil gave the wife a wisdom independent of her husband’s. As a result, she would not always see eye-to-eye with him and she would want him to do things her way (Genesis 3:16b). However, she was not created with the strength to compel her husband to obey her. If her husband chose to rule over her, she would not be able to prevent him.

Side note: The Hebrew word for ‘rule’ is used to speak of the sun and moon ruling over earth in Genesis 1:16-18. It refers to the fact that nothing on earth has the ability or power to stop the sun from shining during the day. Thus, to rule means that those under you cannot (or, do not) stop you from doing what you want.
Our culture decries the oppression of women. Far too often we have seen women subjected to domestic violence, physical and verbal abuse. These things are wrong and should not happen. But if a man decides to oppress the woman in his life, it is unlikely that she can stop him without help. Generally, women do not have the strength to dominate the man. It is this simple observation that I am referring to.

God drew attention to the wife’s struggle because it illustrates the root and futility of mankind’s struggle against God. The knowledge of good and evil will lead mankind to a different opinion from God and they will strive to make God do things their way. But it is a futile struggle, for God is man’s Creator – not the other way around. Thus, it is inevitable but that He will rule over them. 

There is a part of me that resents the thought of God’s rule over me. It’s silly because my way of life produces a loathsome corruption of personality (like bitterness, anger, hatred). I find it truly is a life of death. In contrast to my way of life, God stated that His rule in my life would produce the wholesome qualities of personality that I wish I had (like patience, kindness, gentleness). I can see His rule would be a life of life for me, for it would reverse the damage from the serpent’s false promise of independence from God. His rule in my life would be, on a small scale, a triumph of Christ over the serpent.

God’s intent was to reveal truth to mankind, but the serpent offered independence in exchange for truth. God’s method for undoing the serpent’s lies was by revealing the truth through a Man who wholly submitted to His will. This Man preached the word of God, which exposed people’s corruption, and invited them to turn from their lives of death and enter God’s kingdom. To this day, God works to turn men from the facade of independence by revealing their need for His provision. He continues to reveal the truth to mankind.

God has the power to force His rule over people, but He has chosen to extend His reign using the light of truth. He reveals to people their inadequacy and invites them to turn from their independent life. He could rule by power, but He desires to rule over people who willingly give up their independent life.

Revealer of Evil

Showing to mankind the evil of their condition.

Day 1 of History

Overview of the first day of the history of mankind.

Death Preserved

The hopelessness of life without God.

Surely Die

dying you shall die

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat of it
you shall surely die.”

Genesis 2:17

When God forbade Adam from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He warned him of imminent death if he disobeyed. According to Young’s Literal Translation, God said, ‘…dying thou dost die.’ Based on this literal translation, some have interpreted this to mean there would be a long process of death that would begin the moment Adam ate the fruit.

However, many have pointed out that this phrasing, ‘dying you shall die’, is a common method that the Old Testament employed to show (or intensify) the certainty of the action. They say that the Hebrew phrase means, ‘you shall surely die.’

Solomon used the same phrase (1 Kings 2:37, 42) in a way that supports the latter interpretation.  The king told Shimei that the day he left Jerusalem, ‘dying you shall die.’ What he meant was that if Shimei ever left Jerusalem, he would most certainly be put to death.

Additionally, the English translation of the Greek Old Testament shows us what ancient Hebrew linguists thought the phrase meant as they translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. The Greek Old Testament rendering of Genesis 2:17 reads, ‘…but in whatever day you should eat of it, to death you shall die.’ This reading conveys the idea of certain death, not a process of death. 

Thus, the phrase, ‘dying you shall die’, means they would most certainly die if they ate of the fruit.

(See also articles by Answers in Genesis; Stephen Bauer, PhD; Ron Wallace. These are random sites pulled up from an internet search. I’m not endorsing the sites.)

Understanding what kind of death this was is a little more challenging. It clearly wasn’t physical death, because their bodies remained functional. It must have been some kind of spiritual death. But we see they continued to interact with God, so it doesn’t seem that their spirit ceased to function either. 

In my opinion, the Lord Himself answers the question for us in the parable of the prodigal son. At the end of the parable, the father speaks of his younger son, saying, ‘…your brother was dead and is alive again…’ I think the only way to understand how the younger boy was dead is to recognize that the boy lived a completely different life than his father’s life. Instead of living the life of his father – at his father’s house, eating his father’s food, wearing his father’s clothing – he lived his own life apart and independent of his father. 

In much the same way, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they gained a knowledge of good and evil that was completely independent of God’s knowledge of good and evil. You see, wisdom is the knowledge of how to live life. Having their own wisdom meant they were living no longer living life based on God’s wisdom; they were living their own life independent of God.

God’s life is a life of life.  Their life, by definition, was a life of death because it was separate from God’s life.

Thus, when the Lord Jesus promised us eternal life, He was promising to bring us into God’s life – forever. He fulfills the promise by giving us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit produces life in our mortal bodies. When we submit to Him, we are no longer living independently but are living God’s life.

Revealer of Evil

showing to mankind the evil of their state

And He said,
“Who told you that you were naked?
Have you eaten from the tree of which
I commanded you
that you should not eat?”

Genesis 3:11

In the previous post, we noted how God was the revealer of good and evil to man. In those first days, there was nothing to hinder God’s dispensing of wisdom for Adam had not yet sinned. However, as we see in Genesis 3, the time came when Adam sinned against God – an action that adversely affected their relationship. But did it affect the relationship to the level that Adam could no longer receive revelation from God?

The Fall

Genesis 3 opens with the serpent conversing with the woman. What he said ended up diverting her attention from her responsibility of obeying God’s word to a desire for self-improvement. His claim that she could gain wisdom and become like God (Genesis 3:5) persuaded her that eating the fruit would benefit her. Without realizing it, she became confused about what was truly good for herself, thinking it was in her best interest to eat the fruit. After she ate, she offered some to Adam, who also concluded that eating from the tree was a viable choice. And in eating, they surely died as God had warned (Genesis 2:17), although not in a physical sense (see this post for why I believe they died when they ate).

It is interesting to note that they actually received the knowledge of good and evil (see Genesis 3:22). However, we see it was not a perfect knowledge because when they heard God in the garden, they became afraid and thought it would be in their best interest to hide (Genesis 3:8). But the grace God showed them proved that their fear was unfounded.

Clearing the Muddied Waters

With only a few statements, the serpent introduced great confusion to Adam and his wife. But with one simple question, God restored clarity to the situation. The phrasing of His query showed that the core issue was not about the opportunity to gain wisdom, but the responsibility to obey. God asked, “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat? (Genesis 3:11).” His choice of words illuminated the fact that their Creator had given them a command. Thus, at the fundamental level, eating of the tree was not an act of enhancing their lives, it was an act of disobedience.  God’s question made plain that, regardless of any benefits they received from eating the fruit, it was ultimately a bad thing for them to disobey their Creator.

Adam agreed to God’s evaluation of the situation and did not try to argue that the end result of gaining wisdom made his disobedience okay. Ultimately, he admitted that he had eaten from the tree and disobeyed (Genesis 3:12). Likewise, his wife confessed to eating of the tree (Genesis 3:13). Thus, God’s question caused Adam and his wife to recognize that their situation was evil not merely because they were naked, but because they had disobeyed.  God revealed to them the true evil (badness) of their situation.

Genesis 3 shows us that God continued to provide the knowledge of good and evil after man had sinned. Furthermore, it shows us Adam and his wife grasped what God revealed and accepted the truth of it.

Summary

In an earlier post, we noted that man had the fundamental responsibility to obey his Creator. In Genesis 3, we see that all other activities are secondary to that primary responsibility, no matter what benefits the activity may appear to bring. 
In another post, we learned that Man was created without the knowledge of good and evil. We saw that God’s intent was for man to rely upon God as his source of wisdom. 
Now, in Genesis 3, we see God continues to be their source of the knowledge of good and evil.

I think the scriptures show us that God has continued revealing the true state of sinful man throughout all of history. Wasn’t the Law given to show sin (Romans 3:20)? Even in the present age, God reveals to sinful hearts the reality of their sin; we call this, ‘conviction of sin.’ It is a gracious work of God – revealing our guilt to produce confession and repentance.

Good and Evil

The nature of the knowledge of good and evil – it is more than awareness of morality.

Day 1 of History

Overview of the first day of the history of mankind.

Suffering Added

The purpose for which God introduced suffering after their disobedience.

Good and Evil

the wisdom that comes from above

The Lord God commanded the man, saying,
“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
you shall not eat…

Genesis 2:16

When God placed man in the garden, He permitted him the freedom to eat of any and every tree with one exception – the tree whereby he could gain the knowledge of good and evil. The passage that follows the above verses will help us discern God’s intent and purpose in withholding this fruit from man.  But before we can explore God’s purpose, we need to clarify what this knowledge is.

Knowledge of Good and Evilehtttet h sii thhth ith .

Because we commonly use the term ‘evil’ to speak of wickedness, it’s natural to assume ‘good and evil’ are equivalent to ‘righteousness and wickedness’. However, the Hebrew terms for good and evil have a broader scope than simply moral issues.  They also speak of objects ‘beneficial and harmful’ that do not have a moral aspect. For example, in Genesis 1, God used the word ‘good’ to describe components of creation such as plants. When God called plants ‘good’, He wasn’t calling them righteous objects.  Another example is in Deuteronomy 7:15, where the diseases in Egypt were called ‘evil’. Diseases are not morally wicked, but they are harmful.

To aid our understanding, it may be useful to think of the tree as the tree of the knowledge of good and harm.  This may clarify that it was not a knowledge of morality (righteousness and wickedness) but a knowledge of what was beneficial or harmful in a more general sense.  This type of knowledge might be called ‘Wisdom’. Incidentally, that is what Eve believed she would gain by eating the fruit (Genesis 3:6). Understanding the meaning helps us understand what type of knowledge man was lacking when he was created.  It was not a knowledge of morality, but a lack of intrinsic wisdom.

Because God did not create man with internal wisdom, man was dependant on external sources to know what was good or harmful.  Presumably, God intended to be man’s source of wisdom and, in fact, the narrative will show us two examples of God imparting knowledge to man.

Instruction

The first example is God’s statement concerning the food they could eat (Genesis 2:16-17).  God granted the fruit of trees as food but forbade eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, warning that it would lead to death.  The wisdom was straightforward: eating of fruit trees was good, eating of the forbidden tree was bad. Notice that God imparted this knowledge using the method of a plain, simple statement. 

The instruction was necessary because man would not have perceived the danger on his own.  The fruit of the tree appeared good to eat and was pleasant to look at (Genesis 3:6). Without God’s revealing of the consequences, man would have been completely ignorant.  Adam needed God to reveal what was good and evil.

Exposing the Need

The next story demonstrates a different method of imparting the knowledge of good and evil.  The narrative begins with God using an unexpected phrase: “It is not good…,” speaking of man’s solitude (Genesis 2:18).  Unlike the preceding example, God did not simply tell the man this bit of information. Instead, God tasked him with naming the animals (Genesis 2:19). As Adam carried out the task, he noticed he was the only created creature without a companion (Genesis 2:20).  Thus, God enlightened Adam by putting him in a situation where he could not help but discover what God wanted him to learn. 

Discovering his need through the process of naming the animals made Adam much more conscious of his lack than if God had merely told him of it.  We can only imagine Adam’s loneliness when he realized his great personal need. The experience of loneliness, although it was initially painful, turned out to be good because it prepared Adam to fully appreciate God’s provision.  If God had presented the woman before Adam knew of his need, his excitement would have been less. But by waiting until Adam saw his situation was not good, God created a situation where the man would more fully share in the joy of woman’s creation. 

As with before, it was God’s revelation that gave man understanding.  This time, the knowledge came through God arranging the circumstances.  Going through the experience prepared man for a full appreciation of God’s provision. 

Administration

God created man as a creature who had the capacity to learn and discover but did not have an instinctive knowledge of what was good or bad for life.  However, it wasn’t God’s purpose that man would stumble through life, discovering good and evil by trial and error. A significant component of God’s relationship with man was God revealing the knowledge of good and evil in all things pertaining to life.  His intent was that man would look to Him for wisdom, and that He would impart wisdom both by instruction and through engineering the circumstances of life.  

Conclusion

Throughout history, God has continually revealed good and evil to mankind.  Some revelation has been instructional, such as the Mosaic Law (which declared that righteousness was always good and sin was always bad).  Other revelation has been experiential, such as the Levitical sacrifices (that taught sinful people of God’s provision of atonement through a substitutionary sacrifice).  Even to the present day, God reveals to us using both methods. He instructs us of good and evil through His Word. He also arranges circumstances so we discover our great need in the guilt of our sin and our isolation from Him.  He does not reveal our need to condemn us but to create the potential for overwhelming joy when He reveals the full propitiation in His Son. 

Sovereignty

God determined mankind would not have a built-in, instinctive knowledge of what is good and what is evil. Without God’s revelation, mankind cannot know truth.

Sovereignty 101

The fundamental feature of God’s interaction with man is that man is responsible to obey.

Day 1 of History

Overview of the first day of the history of mankind.

Revealer of Evil

How God reveals to mankind the evil of their actions.