Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Jehovah Jirah - The Lord Will Provide

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.  Genesis 1:29-31

Dear Friends,

 

Throughout the creation account, God has been preparing a place for mankind to live.  He spoke light, the waters, the earth, vegetation, the sun, the moon and the heavenly bodies into existence.  He brought forth the fish, birds, and land animals.  God made all of this as a place for His final creation, mankind, to live and work.

 

Though mankind has been given God’s representative authority over the earth, that authority is to assure that creation is maintained within God’s will.   So before the closing of the sixth day, God makes it clear that the eating of the plants and fruits is permissible, an action that might otherwise be perceived as destroying creation.

 

It’s interesting that God’s giving of the fruits and plants to eat is in the affirmative – this is what you can do.  God does not say, “Do not eat each other” to mankind and the animals.  Some have suggested that mankind is not given permission to eat the animals because that would introduce the violence of killing them and the death of the animal.  And death at this point is unknown in Paradise. 

But I would be careful about reading this into the text.  I think it is safer to take the text for what it says and accept that God told them what they could do, and they did it with no thought of eating each other ever crossing their minds.  What we should take away from this section of the text is that God has provided for the physical needs of mankind, he has a place to live and food to eat.

 

The sixth day comes to a close with God looking over all He has made and proclaiming it to be very good - fully and completely within His sovereign will.  God has provided for the physical needs of mankind and tomorrow, God will attend to mankind’s spiritual needs.

 

In Christ,


David

Note: Jehovah Jirah is one of seven names of the Lord and is first found in Genesis 22:14.  The others are Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that heals; Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner; Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace; Jehovah Ra-ah, the Lord my shepherd; Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our righteousness; and Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is present.

Posted by David at 03:14:02 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Monday, August 18, 2008

Subdue the Earth

“God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  - Genesis 1:28
 
Dear Friends,
 
It seems that many passages of Genesis are misinterpreted by modern man and one such verse is Genesis 1:28, which involves the concept of subduing the earth.
 
After God created mankind, both male and female, and had given them His representative authority on earth and the capabilities required to appropriately exercise that authority, God blesses them as He did the other animals.  He then similarly commands them to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth.
 
But to mankind, God gives an additional command, to subdue the earth.  How are we to understand this command if we are to fulfill God’s will?  I believe the answer is within the question itself.
 
The Hebrew word translated here as “subdue” carries a more descriptive meaning than is apparent in the English translation.  According to Gesenius’s Lexicon, it means to subdue in the sense of, “to be trampled underfoot.”  So as mankind fills the earth wherever he goes he is commanded to bring everything under the rule and authority of God. And I believe this is where we as modern people have often misapplied God’s command.
 
On one side of the misapplication, we have those who have interpreted this with a man-centered attitude.   They assert a perverse type of “Manifest Destiny” claiming that all of creation was given to mankind for his own needs and pleasures to do with whatever he likes and however he chooses.
 
The other side of the misapplication is biased on the side of creation.   Here, mankind is subordinated to creation being made nothing more than a steward who is to serve creation.  While many hold this view, it is not what God had intended.
 
As I said earlier, the truth is found in the question itself.  How are we to understand the command to subdue if we are to fulfill God’s will?  Simply, we fulfill God’s will by bringing all of creation under the rule and authority of God.  We were created to be His representative authority.  As such, we are above creation, but below God.  We are to exercise God’s authority in line with His will in the wisdom He has given us. 
  
Ultimately, our goal is to bring glory to God by brining all of creation under His rule.  This is not an oppressive rule nor subordination.  It is a relationship with creation that reflects God’s relationship with us. 
  
In Christ,
 
David


As a point of reference, Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius (1786–1842), author of Gesenius’s Lexicon, was a master of Hebrew and was referred to as the father of modern Hebrew Lexicography.  Lexicography is the work of writing a dictionary.

 
 

Posted by David at 13:38:18 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Monday, August 11, 2008

Image and Likeness of God - Part II

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
 male and female he created them.
- Genesis 1:27
 

Dear Friends,

 

In verse 1:26, we considered the image of God as being the representative authority of God that was bestowed upon mankind to rule over the earth and all of the creatures of the earth.  Additionally, I suggested that the likeness of God is those characteristics of God that are necessary to be His representative.  Those characteristics would be knowledge of His will and discernment of that which is within and outside of God’s will.  To that I would also add creativity, understanding, compassion, justice, mercy, love – a full host of the character of God’s nature.

 

We also discussed the plurality of God represented in verse 1:26 by the words, “us” and “our.”   In this verse we witnessed a wonderful characteristic of God, what the King James Bible calls, ‘the counsel of His own will,” the plurality working together in agreement according to His own purpose.

 

Now we come to verse 1:27.  Read it carefully.  Notice first that the pronouns for God have changed from plural, “us” and “our,” to singular, “his” and “he.”

 

Then note the verb of the verse, “created.”  How many times is it repeated?  Three times.  What this leads me to believe is that God is three persons, all being in accord with the decision to create man, all participating in that creation with each person of the Godhead represented by the triple repetition of the word “created.”

 

Now, considering that man is the representation of God on earth, verse 1:27 reveals the Trinity in another way.  If you take God as singular as is represented in the verse, and then consider the number of individuals represented in the verse, you will find three; God, the male and the female.

 

And here is where the image of God comes into its fullness.  As representatives of God on earth, a man and a woman need God to complete the image of the Trinity and the will of each must be perfectly aligned with the will of God.  Within the Trinity, all three persons are equal, but within the triune relationship of man, woman and God, the man and woman are equal before God, but God’s will is certainly supreme.

 

I’d like to close with an important aspect of male-female relations in how they reflect the Trinity.  While the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are equal among themselves, in their work, there is willful submission.  The Son submits to the will of the Father, though the two are equals. 

 

In any male-female relationship, especially in marriage, while they are equally created in the image of God, in their work there is willful submission.  The wife submits to the husband, yet only so long as the husband’s will is aligned with the will of God.  This is why the Bible teaches us to marry another believer.   If the man isn’t willing to lead by the will of God or a woman isn’t willing to submit in the will of God or if one or both simply are not willing to live within God’s will, then there is no God-intended triune relationship and no true representation of the Trinity on earth.

 

In Christ,


David

Posted by David at 12:00:27 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Monday, August 4, 2008

Image and Likeness of God - Part I

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” – Genesis 1:26
 
Dear Friends,
 
We have come to the big moment, the creation of the human race.  There is plenty to draw out of this text, so let’s get started.
 
The first thing I notice is the plural personal pronouns, us and our.  Who is God speaking of when He says, “let us make” and “in our image”?  My understanding is that the Hebrew tradition answers this by saying God is talking to the angels, but I find this unconvincing since the angels have not been discussed at all.
 
I, instead, look back to “Elohim,” the Hebrew word used here for God.  If you remember back to the discussion of verse one (see May 12, 2008) you will recall that “Elohim” is plural and that we have come to understand this plurality as the Trinity.  So when God says, “us” and “our” He is speaking of the three persons of the Trinity.
 
Now we have to tackle the concept of image and likeness.  There are many opinions on this, so let’s first do what every good Biblical scholar should do. Consider the context. 
  
We immediately read after image and likeness that mankind is to rule over the earth and the animals so it is reasonable to assume that the characteristics and qualities needed to rule come from the image and likeness of God.  What might these characteristics be?
 
Let us consider what we have observed about God so far that would lend to His image and likeness.  First, we need to understand that the Hebrew word for image. “selem” can imply something to be revered or worshiped, something of authority. We have seen that God has authority over everything and now He gives the authority to rule to mankind.  Consequently, I would suggest that “image” refers to the representative authority bestowed to mankind.
 
“Demut” is the Hebrew word for “likeness” and though similar to “selem” or “image”, I believe it is meant to convey a different meaning.  In the context, I would suggest that “likeness” refers to those characteristics of God that are necessary to rule as His representative.  We have seen that God has a will and He carries out that will, so I would suggest that a part of the likeness of God is the ability to understand and to fulfill God’s will.  In addition to that, throughout the creative process God has proclaimed that which He has created to be “good”, in accordance with His will.  Therefore, I suggest that the ability to discern that which is within God’s will and that which is not is also a part of the likeness of God.
 
So God creates mankind and makes him His representative authority to rule over the earth with the understanding and discernment to do so according to God’s will.  Yet this isn’t all there is to image and likeness.  In fact there is much, much more and that we will discuss these additional characteristics next week.
 
In Christ,
 
David
Posted by David at 12:59:56 | Permalink | Comments (1) »