As
we learned in the last chapter of The
Bed Keeper, in Genesis 5, we see the first of many genealogies
contained in Scripture. It begins with
Adam, omits both Cain and Abel, and skips to Seth, the child born to Adam and
Eve to replace Abel. This genealogy
tracks from Adam to Noah:
1 This is the book
(the written record, the history) of the generations of the offspring of Adam. When God created man, He made him in the
likeness of God.
2 He created them
male and female and blessed them and named them [both] Adam [Man] at the
time they were created.
3 When Adam had lived
130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, after his image; and he named him
Seth.
4 After he had Seth, Adam lived 800 years and
had other sons and daughters.
5 So altogether Adam
lived 930 years, and he died.
6 When Seth was 105
years old, Enosh was born.
7 Seth lived after
the birth of Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters.
8 So Seth lived 912
years, and he died.
9 When Enosh was 90
years old, Kenan was born to him.
10 Enosh lived after the birth of
Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters.
11 So Enosh lived 905
years, and he died.
12 When Kenan was 70 years old, Mahalalel
was born.
13 Kenan lived after
the birth of Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters.
14 So Kenan lived 910
years, and he died.
15 When Mahalalel was
65 years old, Jared was born.
16 Mahalalel lived after the birth
of Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters.
17 So Mahalalel lived
895 years, and he died.
18 When Jared was 162
years old, Enoch was born.
19 Jared lived after the birth of
Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters.
20 So Jared lived 962
years, and he died.
21 When Enoch was 65
years old, Methuselah was born.
22 Enoch walked [in habitual
fellowship] with God after the birth of Methuselah 300 years and had other sons
and daughters.
23 So all the days of
Enoch were 365 years.
24 And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship]
with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him].
25 When Methuselah
was 187 years old, Lamech was born to him.
26 Methuselah lived after the birth
of Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters.
27 So Methuselah
lived 969 years, and he died.
28 When Lamech was 182 years old, a son was
born.
29 He named him Noah,
saying, This one shall bring us relief
and comfort from our work and the [grievous] toil of our hands due to the
ground being cursed by the Lord.
30 Lamech lived after the birth of
Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters.
31 So all the days of
Lamech were 777 years, and he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became
the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
NOTE: It’s interesting that the names given to
each of these people contain particular meanings in Hebrew:
Adam = Man
Seth = Appointed, Foundation, Food, Drink,
Enosh = Human Being, Mortal, Man, Mankind,
Desperate, Frail, Weak, Miserable
Kenan (also known as Cainan in the King James
Version) = Lamentation, Sad Poem, Chant, Sorrow
Mahalalel = Shine, Praise, The Blessed God
Jared = Go Down, Descend, Decline, Shall Come Down
Enoch = Dedicated, trained, teaching
Methuselah = Man, Mankind, Male Capable of Combat,
Sent, Sent Out, Let Go, Shoot, Branch, Undertaking, Pasture, Discharge,
Deputation, When He is Dead It shall Be Sent
Lamech = Strong, robust young man, towards,
depressed, For Lowering, For Humiliation
Noah = Comfort, Rest
If
used to form sentences, this genealogy would read,
"Man is
appointed a foundation of food and drink in human, desperate, sorrow. Praise The Blessed God as He shines and shall
come down, trained and dedicated to teach mankind that when He is dead, it
shall be a strong, robust, young man, who was humiliated for our rest and
comfort.”
We
see that the genealogical names of Seth used here form a prophecy that
foretells of the coming Messiah and dedicated Teacher, Jesus, Who will be the
Bread of Life, Who will be praised by sorrowful mankind, and when He dies, the
Comforter (the Holy Spirit) shall be sent, and we shall enter into His rest
(Sabbath). Another interesting
observation is that this genealogy ends at Noah. We see references to Noah throughout
Scriptures including from Jesus’ teaching to His Disciples in Luke 17:26-34:
26 And [just] as it
was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the time of the Son of Man.
27 [People] ate, they
drank, they married, they were given in marriage, right up to the day when Noah
went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 So also [it was the same] as it was in
the days of Lot. [People] ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they
planted, they built;
29 But on the [very] day that Lot went out
of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed [them] all.
30 That is the way it will be on the day
that the Son of Man is revealed.
31 On that day let
him who is on the housetop, with his belongings in the house, not come down
[and go inside] to carry them away; and likewise let him who is in the field
not turn back.
32 Remember Lot's
wife!
33 Whoever tries to
preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve and
quicken it.
34 I tell you, in that night there will be
two men in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. Luke 17:26-34
NOTE: We have already touched on this verse in
chapter 2 of The Bed Keeper as a
clear indication that Jesus knew gay marriage would be a reality when He
returns to the earth, saying in Luke 17:34:
I tell you, in that
night there will be two men in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be
left.
We learned that this verse also serves to
convey an important message to gay couples to remain faithful to our marriage
mates, as we proffered the latter part of this verse could be interpreted to
warn against adultery, even between gay married couples.
One
final observation from Genesis 5 is to take note that Jesus’ teaching about the
Days of Noah came in part from Isaiah 54:8-9 (which is also part of the
Scriptures Philip shared with the Ethiopian Eunuch prior to his baptism).
8 In a little burst
of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with age-enduring love and
kindness I will have compassion and mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9 For this is like
the days of Noah to Me; as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more
go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke
you.
We’ll
see these observations link together seamlessly later in this and the next
chapter of The Bed Keeper. I am struck by a couple of things. First, there are many Christians who do not
believe the flood actually occurred, citing a lack of archaeological
evidence. However, we saw Jesus Himself
recognize in Luke 17:27 that “the flood
came and destroyed them all.” To
deny the reality of the flood is to deny Jesus’ Own Words on the matter.
Further,
it is highly unlikely that even a global flood that lasted only 6 months would
leave any discoverable archaeological evidence more than 4,000 years later. Any evidence of human beings or animals that
perished became fish food long, long ago.
Any evidence of sedimentary displacement would be sitting at the bottom
of the oceans. While the absence of any
archaeological evidence does not in and of itself prove the flood did not
occur, a logical examination of all
animals being on the ark is a stretch.
For instance, it is highly unlikely there would have been 2 polar bears,
or 2 penguins, or 2 prairie dogs (species indigenous to parts of the world Noah
would not have even been aware of).
Personally,
I believe the flood was more localized in nature, and covered the entire part
of the earth that Noah was aware of at the time, even as I recognize that every
ancient civilization on the planet contains a belief and/or folklore of a
global flood, so I remain open minded on that particular point. What I believe is most important when it
comes to the flood is who the people were that perished: The Nephilim, or the half human/half angel
offspring of the sons of God and human women that bore giants to them, as we
have already examined somewhat in Chapter 11 of The Bed Keeper, and will take an even closer look at in Chapters 14
and 15 of The Bed Keeper.
The
second thing I’m struck by is the Scriptural evidence that mentions the “Days
of Noah” from Isaiah 54:9, which gives us yet another proof of Jesus’ Own
awareness of God’s prophecy to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people
through His prophecy to eunuchs in Isaiah 55:11-56:8. Let’s now examine more closely what the Days
of Noah were like as we move into Genesis 6:1-13 which reads:
1 When men began to
multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,
2 The sons of God saw
that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives of all they desired
and chose.
3 Then the Lord said,
My Spirit shall not forever dwell and strive with man, for he also is flesh;
but his days shall yet be 120 years.
4 There were giants
on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God lived with
the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old,
men of renown.
5 The Lord saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and
intention of all human thinking was only evil continually.
6 And the Lord
regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart.
7 So the Lord said, I
will destroy, blot out, and wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the
face of the ground--not only man, [but] the beasts and the creeping things and
the birds of the air--for it grieves Me and makes Me regretful that I have made
them.
8 But Noah found
grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord.
9 This is the history
of the generations of Noah. Noah was a
just and righteous man, blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked [in
habitual fellowship] with God.
10 And Noah became
the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth was depraved
and putrid in God's sight, and the land was filled with violence (desecration,
infringement, outrage, assault, and lust for power).
12 And God looked
upon the world and saw how degenerate, debased, and vicious it was, for all
humanity had corrupted their way upon the earth and lost their true direction.
13 God said to Noah,
I intend to make an end of all flesh, for through men the land is filled with
violence; and behold, I will destroy them and the land.
The
remainder of Genesis 6 tells us the specifics God gave to Noah regarding the
construction of the Ark, and most of us are familiar with the rest of that
account. What most of us do not realize
is that it appears that God is destroying all human beings just because He is
unhappy with our performance as His creations, but that’s not entirely
accurate. It appears from Scripture that
God is judging all mankind and executing a penalty of death without having even
given Moses the Law yet, which would contradict God’s compassionate nature. It would also contradict Paul’s message that
reads,
[To be sure] sin was in the world before ever the Law was given, but sin is not charged to men's account where there is no law
[to transgress]. Romans 5:13
So
what was God thinking? The answer is
that He was thinking of destroying the giants (or Nephilim), which we learned
in the previous chapter of The Bed Keeper
were the offspring of the “sons of God” (Fallen Angels) and the “daughters of
men” (human women), of which Cain was the first; conceived as a result of the
serpent’s union and seduction of Eve.
What
this description of the Days of Noah tells us is that all humanity (except Noah
and his family) had been corrupted by the intermingling of humans and angels,
resulting in everyone except Noah and his family now actually being Nephilim,
and were no longer fully human.
We
see this confirmed in Genesis 6:1 that reads,
When men began to
multiply on the face of the land, daughters were born to them. The sons of God
saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives of all they
desired and chose.
And
also Genesis 6:4 that reads,
There were giants on
the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God lived with
the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men
who were of old, men of renown.
We’ll
also see that Seth lived 912 years and died, having had sons and daughters. Genesis 5 is one of the few genealogies
in the Scriptures that include any females.
I believe the fact they are listed here is specifically to prepare us to
learn about the “sons of God” taking the “daughters of men” at the beginning of
Genesis 6. Of course, the question
becomes “who was Seth’s children’s mother?” The answer is not provided to us
within the text of Scriptures.
This
omission provides yet another pillar supporting the notion proffered in Chapter
12 of The Bed Keeper that there were
human beings (or humanoid beings) in existence prior to Adam and Eve, and both Cain and Seth took wives from this
pre-Adamic race. The fact that Scripture
omits where their wives came from (coupled with the fossilized remains of
ancient human and humanoid beings), join forces to leave no other logical
conclusions to be drawn.
What
is important to remember also is that Noah descended from Seth’s bloodline, the
male progeny of which seem to have never been corrupted by the intermingling of
fallen angels and human women, or Noah would not have been “qualified” to
escape the flood and repopulate the earth with a pure human bloodline. But it’s clear that at least some of his Seth’s daughters,
grand-daughters, or great-grand-daughters must have intermingled with the
fallen angels or not all of humanity (aside from Noah) could have become
Nephilim. Lastly, all of Seth’s daughters could not
have been corrupted, or Seth would have had no uncorrupted sons, grand-sons,
great-grand-sons, etc. that would eventually give rise to Noah. Even if Seth had taken wives from the
pre-Adamic race, they would not have necessarily been part of the women the
fallen angels took to intermingle with, for as Genesis 6:1-2 specifies,
1 When men began to
multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,
2 The sons of God saw
that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives of all they desired and chose.
It
seems the fallen angels did not “desire nor choose” all women, or there would
have been no purely human women left to advance Seth’s bloodline to Noah.
Now
these Nephilim we see were the offspring of angels and humans, and it is these
that God was destroying in the flood--not pure human beings such as ourselves
today. We now know that Cain was the
first Nephilim and began corrupting humanity (the pre-Adamic human race) with
the seed of Satan when he when to the land of Nod and “knew” his wife. His descendants are contained in other
genealogies in the Old Testament as well, which we learn of in the remainder of
Genesis 4:
17 And Cain's wife
[one of Adam's offspring] became pregnant and bore Enoch; and Cain built a city
and named it after his son Enoch. Genesis 4:17
NOTE: Again, we see the phrase [one of Adam’s
offspring] being inserted here at the prerogative of the translators of the
Amplified Translation of the Scriptures, but as we’ll learn, is most likely not
the case.
18 To Enoch was born
Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael the father of
Methusael, and Methusael the father of Lamech.
19 And Lamech took
two wives; the name of the one was Adah and of the other was Zillah.
20 Adah bore Jabal;
he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle and purchase
possessions.
21 His brother's name
was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.
22 Zillah bore
Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all [cutting] instruments of bronze and iron.
The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his
wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I
say; for I have slain a man [merely] for wounding me, and a young man [only]
for striking and bruising me.
24 If Cain is avenged
sevenfold, truly Lamech [will be avenged] seventy-sevenfold. Genesis 4:18-24
Let
us now look at the Hebrew meaning of the names in Cain’s bloodline:
Adam = Man
Cain = Acquired, Spear,
Reed, Get, Create, Smith, Forge, Herb on a Stalk (Isaiah 42:3)
Enoch = Dedicated, Begin,
Building, Wall, Altar, Imprint, Instruct, Make Wise, Teach, Palate, Mouth,
Speech, Initiated, Trained
Irad = City, Fugitive,
Watchful, Watcher, Witness, Escape
Mehujael = Wipe, Wipe out,
Strike, Destroyed, destruction or smitten of God
Methusael = Male, Combat,
Mankind, Capable of Combat, Go Straight On, Ask, Inquire, Beg, Request, Demand,
Sheol, Grave, Pit, Hell, When Man Of
God; I'm Mortal, Where's God?;
Man Of Inquisition or Requested Man (the Man We Wanted)
Lamech = Strong, robust
young man, towards, depressed, For Lowering, For Humiliation
Assembled
into sentences, these names of Cain’s descendants reveal 2 more prophecies. The
first:
Man acquired
a reed; a created herb on a stalk; a forged spear dedicated to building a wall
and altar to initiate teaching wisdom through speech, by a city of fugitive
Watchers who escape the destruction of God; men smitten of God who are trained
and capable for combat. This is a prophecy of
the Nephilim escaping the total destruction of the serpent seed, because the
only thing the flood destroyed was “all flesh,”
not all spirits.
The
other prophecy we see is:
I’m a man of God! I’m
mortal, where’s God? God hears mankind’s request and demands these men go
straight on to Sheol, the grave, the pit, hell, for humiliating and lowering of
a strong robust young man.
This
is appears to be a somewhat complicated, parallel, intertextual echo between
the blood of Abel crying up to God for vengeance, and God avenging Abel by
destroying the spiritual seed that gave rise to Cain, and later the men of
Sodom, the sins of which also “cried up to God.” We’ll take a look at those particulars in
Chapter 14 of The Bed Keeper.
Let
us now explore the Scriptures that seem to support these interpretations of the
genealogies. Even though the Nephilim
were destroyed in the flood, and thereby removed all traces of Cain’s physical bloodline, it did not remove
the spiritual seed of Satan from the
earth, nor did it (apparently) remove completely the ability for the sons of
God (the forefathers of the Nephilim) to once again infiltrate the human
bloodline at a later point, and give rise to more Nephilim (and the Pharisees,
whom Jesus repeatedly referred to as
“offspring of the evil one” and “broods and offspring of vipers,” as we learned
in Chapter 12 of The Bed Keeper.
Most
likely this was accomplished through foods (and most likely through foods that
were banned for Israelites under the Old Covenant). At any rate, we see in Genesis 6:4, “There
were giants on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were
the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”
So it's clear that one way or the other, the Nephilim lived prior to and after The Flood.
We
also know that much later on, David destroyed Goliath, who was the last of the
giants in the earth, proving that the ability for the sons of God to resume
their ability to intermingle with women had not been completely destroyed by
the flood, even though their offspring had been...at least the part of them
that was flesh. Throughout any study of
the Nephilim, it’s important to realize they are but the hybrid offspring of the human women’s and sons
of God’s unions. They are not, however,
the sons of God themselves.
I
believe that as we progress through this examination of the Flood and Sodom
accounts, that we’ll see the flood destroyed the Nephilim’s flesh, but not
their spirit. Their spirits once again
inhabited (or took on the appearance of) men who were trained for combat, war,
and murder. Their ancestors' flesh was
then destroyed at Sodom--not just their offspring--but the very sons of God
themselves. But once again, only their flesh is destroyed,
not their spirits. God eventually binds
these spirits of the sons of God themselves to the chains of hell. Again, we’ll explore that more in depth in
Chapter 14 of The Bed Keeper.
Further,
while the flood was sent to purify the human race to once again be fully human,
it was also sent to purify the earth; the ground; the land itself, which had
been cursed as a result of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden from Genesis 3:
And to Adam He said,
Because you have listened and given heed to the voice of your wife and have
eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the
ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow and toil shall you eat
[of the fruits] of it all the days of your life.
It’s
important to realize the ground itself was still under a curse from God before
the flood and had to also be purified because of two things;
ONE: As the ground was cursed, so too was the food
humans ate:
And to all the
animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps
on the ground--to everything in which there is the breath of life--I
have given every green plant for food. And
it was so. Genesis 1:29-30
TWO: Because God had made man from the dust of the
earth:
Then the Lord God
formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils
the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7
Now
let's tie that into a few of factoids about the serpent, and his Cain:
ONE: And out of the ground the Lord God formed every [wild] beast and
living creature of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam
to see what he would call them; and whatever Adam called every living creature,
that was its name. Genesis 2:19
TWO: And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because
you have done this, you are cursed above all [domestic] animals and above every
[wild] living thing of the field; upon your belly you shall go, and you
shall eat dust [and what it contains] all the days of your life. Genesis 3:14
THREE: And [next] she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain
was a tiller of the ground. Genesis 4:2
FOUR: And in the course of time Cain brought to
the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Abel brought of the
firstborn of his flock and of the fat portions. And the Lord had respect
and regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had
no respect or regard. So Cain was exceedingly angry and indignant, and he
looked sad and depressed. Genesis 4:3-5
FIVE: And out of the ground the Lord God
made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight or to be desired--good
(suitable, pleasant) for food; the tree of life also in the center of the
garden, and the tree of the knowledge of [the difference between] good and evil
and blessing and calamity. Genesis 2:9
I
believe when God cursed the ground, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was
likewise cursed. That meant that the
knowledge of God Himself would also become corrupted in the earth. Instead of Adam and Eve’s eyes being open only
to a spiritual reality God had created them in, they were now aware of their
physical reality as well, and with that came the eventual death of their own
spirits. Spiritual death had come and
man's knowledge of the Truth of God had become corrupted, fragmented,
incomplete, and would have to be restored to man. God accomplished this through the written word of God,
and by sending us the Holy Spirit Who “leads us into all truth.” We see this confirmed as Scripture later
tells us about Jesus being the Word of God:
1 In the beginning
[before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God Himself.
2 He was present
originally with God.
3 All things were
made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one
thing made that has come into being.
4 In Him was Life,
and the Life was the Light of men.
5 And the Light
shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it
out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it].
6 There came a man
sent from God, whose name was John.
7 This man came to
witness, that he might testify of the Light, that all men might believe in it
[adhere to it, trust it, and rely upon it] through him.
8 He was not the
Light himself, but came that he might bear witness regarding the Light.
9 There it was--the
true Light [was then] coming into the world [the genuine, perfect, steadfast
Light] that illumines every person.
10 He came into the
world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize
Him [did not know Him].
11 He came to that
which belonged to Him [to His own--His domain, creation, things, world], and
they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him.
12 But to as many
as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right)
to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to,
trust in, and rely on) His name—
13 Who owe their
birth neither to bloods nor to the will of the flesh [that of physical impulse]
nor to the will of man [that of a natural father], but to God. [They are born
of God!]
14 And the Word
(Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of
flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His
majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of
grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. 1 John 1:1-14
And
But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving
Spirit) comes, He will guide you
into all the Truth (the whole,
full Truth). For He will not
speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He
hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him],
and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will
happen in the future]. John 16:13
So
as we see, not only is the ground cursed because of Adam, (and the food that
grew from it, and the animals that sprang forth from it, and even the very
substance God had used to make man in the first place), but we can also now
better understand God’s varied reactions to Cain and Abel’s offerings. Cain was a tiller of the ground (which was
cursed), and brought to God an offering of the fruit of the ground (both
of which the fruit and ground were cursed).
But
we also saw that the animals came from the ground, so why did God have respect
for Abel’s offering? Because God had
already purified the portion of Abel’s offering with shed blood, back when He
created his parents’ tunics from skin to clothe them with (again, a precursor,
or archetype of the sacrifice of animals for the atonement of sin that would be
ushered in under the Old Covenant, and the shed blood of Jesus Christ that
ratified the New Covenant). We examined
this in detail in Chapter 12 of The Bed
Keeper.
Now
let us tie that point back in to the genealogy of Seth that we looked at from
Genesis 5, specifically what was said by Lamech in regard to Noah:
When Lamech was 182
years old, a son was born. He named him Noah, saying, This one shall bring us
relief and comfort from our work and the [grievous] toil of our hands due to
the ground being cursed by the Lord.
I
believe the reason water baptism was ushered in under the Old Covenant, is
because it represents God’s purification of mankind (and the ground from which
we were created) by removing the curse He had placed on it due to Adam’s sin. With
the Flood, the human race could once again be free of the
intermingling of the sons of God and human women....but it would not quite be
free of the Nephilim's (nor the sons of God's) spirits.
But
that’s not where it ends. We recall that God had cursed the serpent, and
immediately after Cain killed Abel, for the first time, God cursed a human
being—well, almost human, that is:
8 And Cain said to
his brother, Let us go out to the field. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up
against Abel his brother and killed him.
9 And the Lord said
to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And
he said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?
10 And [the Lord]
said, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is
crying to Me from the ground.
11 And now you are cursed by reason of the
earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's [shed] blood from
your hand.
Genesis 4:8-11
So
having examined all that, let us once again look at Genesis 6:1-13 and I think
we will come away with a much fuller understanding of it:
1 When men began to
multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,
2 The sons of God saw
that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives of all they desired
and chose.
3 Then the Lord said,
My Spirit shall not forever dwell and strive with man, for he also is flesh;
but his days shall yet be 120 years.
4 There were giants
on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God lived with
the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men
of renown.
5 The Lord saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and
intention of all human thinking was only evil continually.
6 And the Lord
regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart.
7 So the Lord said, I
will destroy, blot out, and wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the
face of the ground--not only man, [but] the beasts and the creeping things and
the birds of the air--for it grieves Me and makes Me regretful that I have made
them.
8 But Noah found
grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord.
9 This is the history
of the generations of Noah. Noah was a
just and righteous man, blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked [in
habitual fellowship] with God.
10 And Noah became
the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth was depraved and putrid
in God's sight, and the land was
filled with violence (desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and
lust for power).
12 And God looked
upon the world and saw how degenerate, debased, and vicious it was, for all
humanity had corrupted their way upon the earth and lost their true direction.
13 God said to Noah,
I intend to make an end of all flesh, for
through men the land is filled with violence; and behold, I will
destroy them and the land. Genesis 6:1-13
What
I believe we are seeing here is that it wasn’t only mankind that had become
corrupted through the serpent seed (resulting in the worldwide Nephilim
infiltration of the human race), but even the very ground that God had made man
from (resulting from Adam partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge):
And to Adam He said,
Because you have listened and given heed to the voice of your wife and have
eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the
ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow and toil shall you eat
[of the fruits] of it all the days of your life. Genesis 3:17
This
would then explain more fully why verse Genesis 6:6 tells us,
And the Lord regretted
that He had made man on the earth,
and He was grieved at heart.
The
Flood is sent to purify the human race (again, as symbolized by our water
baptism), by purifying also the ground (from which humans were created). Most of us know that Genesis 7-9 recounts the
particulars of the Flood, but let’s now fast forward to the point where the
waters subside as we pick the account up immediately after Flood in Genesis 9:
1 And God pronounced
a blessing upon Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply
and fill the earth.
2 And the fear of you
and the dread and terror of you shall be upon every beast of the land, every
bird of the air, all that creeps upon the ground, and upon all the fish of the
sea; they are delivered into your hand.
3 Every moving thing
that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green vegetables and
plants, I give you everything.
4 But you shall not
eat flesh with the life of it, which is its blood.
5 And surely for your
lifeblood I will require an accounting; from every beast I will require it; and
from man, from every man [who spills another's lifeblood] I will require a
reckoning.
6 Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be
shed; for in the image of God He made man. Genesis 9:1-6
NOTE: Now we see that not only has the curse upon
the land caused by Adam’s sin been washed away, but we also see Abel’s blood is
avenged. God now issues a decree that
anyone who sheds a man’s blood must be punished by his own shed blood. And notice the reason He gives, “for in the image of God He made man.”
It’s
interesting that Jesus tells the woman at the well that “God is a Spirit,” and
tells His disciples after His resurrection that “a spirit does not have flesh
and bone as you see Me have.” This tells
me that humanity is not only made in the image of God (as a spirit), but also
in the image of Jesus (Who is God in the flesh…and blood). It's also important to note that the apparent
extreme reaction God has to avenging Abel's blood is then followed up by a law
being given to mankind against murder. It
is then immediately followed by reiterating his original blessing to Adam and
conferring it onto Noah and his sons instead, only this time it comes with what
will become the first Covenant God makes with mankind:
7 And you, be
fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.
8 Then God spoke to
Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9 Behold, I establish My covenant or pledge
with you and with your descendants after you
10 And with every
living creature that is with you--whether the birds, the livestock, or the wild
beasts of the earth along with you, as many as came out of the ark--every
animal of the earth.
11 I will establish
My covenant or pledge with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters
of a flood; neither shall there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth and
make it corrupt.
12 And God said, This is the token of the
covenant (solemn pledge) which I am making between Me and you and every living
creature that is with you, for all future generations:
13 I set My bow
[rainbow] in the cloud, and it shall be a token or sign of a covenant or solemn
pledge between Me and the earth.
14 And it shall be
that when I bring clouds over the earth and the bow [rainbow] is seen in the
clouds,
15 I will [earnestly] remember My covenant
or solemn pledge which is between Me and you and every living creature of all
flesh; and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy and make
all flesh corrupt.
16 When the bow
[rainbow] is in the clouds and I look upon it, I will [earnestly] remember the everlasting covenant or pledge
between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17 And God said to
Noah, This [rainbow] is the token or
sign of the covenant or solemn pledge which I have established between Me and
all flesh upon the earth.
NOTE: In the first covenant established between God
and man, isn’t it interesting that it’s a rainbow (the same symbol the gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender community uses to symbolize our dignity,
solidarity, diversity and unity)? Could
this be coincidence, or was there some innate knowing in the hearts and minds
of the early leaders of the equality movement for gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender people that led them to choose the rainbow as a significant symbol
for our community as God's children? Could
it be the rainbow coming to symbolize the gay community was actually inspired
by God Himself? Could it be it was His
way of beginning to reveal this message from His Word concerning gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender people being included in His House of Prayer for All
People?
Could
it be it symbolizes a covenant between God and those who “take firm hold of His
covenant” avowing to never again allow the flood waters of hate, discrimination,
and bloodshed to overtake so many of our Brothers and Sisters have had to
endure over the centuries? Could it be
that the covenant He makes with us is symbolized in Him saying,
This [rainbow] is the token or sign of the covenant or
solemn pledge which I have established between Me and all flesh upon the
earth.
Could
it be that there is a reason He says the same thing five different times?
I
don’t have a solid answer for any of these questions from a Scriptural
standpoint, but as a gay man and as a Christian, I definitely have formed some
very solid personal beliefs from a human spirit standpoint, aside from
religion. I decline to share them here
for two reasons. One reason is because
they may change as I continue to explore the Scriptures and receive new
revelation on this passage of Scripture.
The
other reason is because for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, each
one of us will come to these questions from different backgrounds and
experiences, and with deeply felt personal beliefs and emotions. At what may prove to many to be a very
special, unique and personally enlightening moment in your own journey of
Scriptural and spiritual self discovery, I don’t want my personal feelings to
in any way influence your own personal exploration of those feelings as they
are taken to God, each in your own way, and in your own time. But I will share this:
Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set
in heaven, and One sat on the throne.
And He Who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius
stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne... Revelation 4:1-3
(New King James Version)
I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven,
clothed in a cloud.
And a rainbow was on his head...
Revelation
10:1-2 (New King James Version)
***************************************************************
Part One:
UPDATE 10.27.12:
UPDATE 04.29.12:
Dear Valued Readers,
This blog is a work in progress. As events in the Church impact previously published posts, updates will be published at the end of each post in order to provide the utmost transparency and clarity to all concerned parties as this new move of God progresses. Readers may email thebedkeeper@gmail.com to discuss or comment on any posting. Please note that while all feedback is highly valued and appreciated, it may not be possible to reply to each email.
UPDATE 05.19.13: GREAT NEWS! Regarding the 04.29.12 UPDATE: After new considerations have come to light, I confidently continue my full personal endorsement of Lakewood Church as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship, and am pleased to encourage you to resume supporting this vibrant ministry financially. Details here.
UPDATE 03.05.13: GREAT NEWS! Regarding the 10.27.12 UPDATE: After new considerations have come to light, I confidently continue my full personal endorsement of Eagle Mountain International Church as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship, and am pleased to encourage you to resume supporting this vibrant ministry financially. Details here.
UPDATE 02.09.13: Listen in as Brian Anthony Bowen provides the NCK and Friends radio audience with valuable insights into Biblical support of Same Sex Marriage that the Church doesn't seem to want us to know!
UPDATE 05.19.13: GREAT NEWS! Regarding the 04.29.12 UPDATE: After new considerations have come to light, I confidently continue my full personal endorsement of Lakewood Church as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship, and am pleased to encourage you to resume supporting this vibrant ministry financially. Details here.
UPDATE 03.05.13: GREAT NEWS! Regarding the 10.27.12 UPDATE: After new considerations have come to light, I confidently continue my full personal endorsement of Eagle Mountain International Church as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship, and am pleased to encourage you to resume supporting this vibrant ministry financially. Details here.
UPDATE 02.09.13: Listen in as Brian Anthony Bowen provides the NCK and Friends radio audience with valuable insights into Biblical support of Same Sex Marriage that the Church doesn't seem to want us to know!
Part One:
Part Two:
UPDATE 10.27.12:
Eagle Mountain International Church took an official position on gay marriage in a sermon on 10.14.12. While not in support of gay marriage, Pastor George reminds his congregation that "those considered to be gay" are equally worthy of love and compassion. Pastor Terri continues to consider being gay as "being caught up in bondage." Several passages of Scripture were quoted to support their views, but no mention was made of any Scriptures that disprove their view, such as discussed in Chapter One: Born This Way and Chapter Two: God Sanctioned Gay Marriage. While I am not rescinding my endorsement of Eagle Mountain International Church as a safe space for LGBT people to worship, I am officially recommending we no longer support them financially. It is clear we have a long way to go in educating the Church, and I remain hopefully confident that after the 2012 elections are over, we will have more opportunities to walk further into the new revelations from God's Word shared throughout this blog. I encourage all LGBT people and our families to continue to hold Pastor George and Terri up in prayer, so that the eyes of their understanding may be flooded with light, and they come to more fully understand the prophetic role that LGBT people play in the spiritual life of the Christian Church, and the return of Jesus Christ.
UPDATE 04.29.12:
My previous endorsement of Lakewood Church is hereby retracted due to this interview: http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/04/29/473250/joel-osteen-gay-sin/?mobile=ncwherein Pastor Joel Osteen declares that "being gay" itself is a sin. That is NOT what the Bible says, and I cannot support it, nor ask anyone else to. I explained this in a previous letter to Pastor Joel in response to his interview with Piers Morgan, which can be reviewed here. I apologize for the mixed messages my own comments may tend to manifest themselves as in this case, but it is an unfortunate result of Pastor Joel's own mixed messages, and his decision to tailor his messages to the audience to whom he is speaking at the time. Should he publicly apologize for his unScriptural comments, and declare he has come to understand the difference between saying "being gay is a sin" and "homosexuality is a sin" (to reflect Scripture's own narrowly defined context of married men who engaged in adultery on their wives to be with men...which has nothing to do with LGBT people), I hope to renew my endorsement of Lakewood Church at some point in the future....but not until then.
UPDATE 01.15.12:
Lakewood Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
UPDATE 11.22.11:
Eagle Mountain International Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
UPDATE 12.16.11:
Please also review the response shared with a debate panel regarding the Bible's position on homosexuality, that reveals the unScriptural stance "ex-gay" theology manifests itself as here.
Lakewood Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
UPDATE 11.22.11:
Eagle Mountain International Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
UPDATE 12.16.11:
Please also review the response shared with a debate panel regarding the Bible's position on homosexuality, that reveals the unScriptural stance "ex-gay" theology manifests itself as here.
