Marcus Walker Van Every

Jeffrey Epstein and the Justice of God

August 13, 2019Marcus Walker Van Every3 Comments

For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
[Hebrews 10:30-31]

In light of the apparent “suicide” of billionaire pedophile Jeffery Epstein early Saturday morning, I felt compelled to look past the political and conspiratorial rhetoric and hopefully provide some perspective on the deeper theological implications at the heart of the matter.

The first notion I must address is this. Jeffrey Epstein did not get away with anything. He did not get off by taking the easy way out. His “premature” death was not his escape from justice. Jeffrey Epstein, like so many other deplorable and wicked men, may never stand trial before a human judge and face a human jury of his peers, but he will most certainly stand before the Judge of all the Earth.

We must be reminded that every man’s own “conscience also bears witness, and our own conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus” [Romans 2:15-16].

God’s word is clear. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account“[Hebrews 4:13]. Furthermore, “For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” [Ecclesiastes 12:14].

God will by no means leave the guilty unpunished [Exodus 34:7], and although the LORD takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked [Ezekiel 33:11], He must punish sin because “righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne” [Psalm 97:2].

When justice seems to allude us in this life, we must never forget that ultimate justice will prevail in the end. Death is not a way out for the wicked. It is appointed for every man once to die, and then face the judgment.

“And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.”
[Revelation 20:12]

After all, God says, ““Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”

One Serious Danger to Avoid

“When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.
[2 Corinthians 10:12]

It is easy for most people to climb upon their moral high horse and look down on the likes of Jeffry Epstein and immediately feel better about themselves.

“I may not be perfect,” one may say. “But at least I’m not as sick as that guy.”

Now, I in no way want to diminish the abhorrent and horrendous acts of perversion, evil, and abuse perpetrated by Epstein and those involved in this ring of wickedness. There are different degrees of sin and there are different degrees of punishment for that reason, both on earth and in hell [Matthew 23:14]. And I personally believe that the depth of depravity that Epstein represents is among the very worst in our world.

But also there is a danger in comparing ourselves to people like Epstein and gaining this false sense of moral superiority. We fall into a trap when we fail to recognize that Jeffrey Epstein is not our moral standard.

God is.

God’s Standard of Perfect Righteousness

The Bible makes is clear that the LORD is perfect in righteousness and that His eyes are “too pure to look on evil” [Habakkuk 1:13]. Jesus says that “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” [Matthew 5:20], and then He says, “You must be perfect even as your Heavenly Father is perfect” [Matthew 5:48].

Furthermore, the Bible is clear that no man can be justified and declared righteous by keeping the law because we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s righteous and perfect standard [Romans 3:10, 23]. If we attempt to obtain righteousness and perfection by keeping the law, we must keep all of it [Leviticus 18:5, Galatians 3:12].

There is only one problem with that. The Bible also reminds us that “whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” [James 2:10].

So God’s law never saves us but actually exposes our sinfulness and moral insufficiency to meet God’s standard. The law condemns all of us, for no man is righteous — no, not even one.

Not you. Not me. Not Jeffrey Epstein. Not anybody.

In God’s sight, every man is guilty and in jeopardy of His righteous judgment. None of us enter into heaven based on our own merits and good works. There are no amount of good works we could ever do to “right the scales” and earn our salvation. Besides, if God were to award us eternal life based on our good works, then He would be obligated to pay us for what we have done.

But that is preposterous! God owes us nothing. We deserve nothing from God but to be judged and condemned according to our sinful deed and rebellion. The only wages we deserve is death [Romans 6:23].

The Good News of the Gospel

All of sudden, it becomes evident that maybe we aren’t so much better than Jeffrey Epstein after all. It’s easy to believe you are good person when you are standing next to a deplorable pervert and comparing yourself to him.

But if we are to stand next to the Lord Jesus Christ in all His righteous perfection and holiness, the true condition of our heart and of our sinful nature is exposed. When we compare ourselves to God’s standard of righteousness, we quickly realize just how sinful we are and how short we fall before Him.

Only God is good. Only Jesus Christ is perfect, and that is why we need Jesus Christ so desperately to save us, forgive us, cleanse us, and give us the free gift of eternal life.

The good news of God’s salvation is that through the Person and work of Jesus Christ, God has made the way for all sinners to be saved and restored into relationship with Himself. In trusting in God’s only provision for forgiveness and salvation, God has promised to take the righteousness and perfection of Jesus Christ and apply it to us!

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
[2 Corinthians 5:21]

God has promised to give the free gift of eternal life to all who believe in Christ! And therefore, we all come to God as sinners and understand that we can only be saved by His grace alone and by trusting in Christ alone.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
[Ephesians 2:8-9]

I pray everyone reading this will ask this question.

In Whom’s goodness am I trusting to save me?

My own?

Or in the goodness the Lord Jesus Christ?

Jesus is our only hope.

Stranger Thing #13 – Dinosaurs

August 9, 2019April 22, 2022Marcus Walker Van EveryLeave a comment

“Behold Behemoth,
which I made along with you …”
[Job 40:15]

Okay children, gather ’round. Let’s play a game!

Who likes dinosaurs?

Meeeeeeee!

Who thinks dinosaurs are cool?

Meeeeeeee!

Alright! Now tell me … when did the dinosaurs live?

Millions of years ago!

That’s right, kids! Dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. In a land before time. Long before man ever evolved on the earth …

O HOW WE HAVE BEEN DUPED!

I must give credit where credit is due. Those driving the naturalistic, Darwinian agenda have done a masterful job of deceiving the masses, propagating their lies, and conditioning our children to believe the imaginary fairytale of evolution.

Open any children’s book on dinosaurs. Watch any dinosaur cartoon or movie. Read every science text book in the classroom and there you will find the same story, relentlessly reinforced with each gullible generation.

Millions of years ago the dinosaurs roamed the earth …

Even many Bible-believing Christians — perhaps some of you reading this now — have unquestionably accepted the evolutionary model of history and its millions of years. And I would be willing to bet that dinosaurs have a lot to do with it.

Once again, when we honestly compare God’s account of creation with man’s account of evolution, we are forced to admit that they are mutually exclusive and historically irreconcilable. Either God’s word is true and dinosaurs were part of the original creation, or man’s word is true and dinosaurs evolved and became extinct millions of years ago.

Both cannot be true … so I say let God be true and every man a liar.

The Bible Describes Dinosaurs and Dragons

If we are seriously to take God’s word at face value, then we are forced to believe that God created the dinosaurs along with all other sea and land animals on Days 5-6 of the original creation week. I used the word “forced” intentionally because the word of God does not leave room for any other alternative, especially the evolution of species over millions of years.

“So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good … God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”
[Genesis 1:21, 25]

The Bible uses quantitative adjectives like “every” and “all” to make a point. God made everything at the beginning. If God created every creature of the sea, every winged creature and every land animal, then He created the dinosaurs of all kinds at the beginning.

Let’s not forget that the word “dinosaur” is a relatively new term, having originated in the mid 1800s. Dinosaur simply means “terrible lizard” and was created to describe some of the enormous reptilian fossils that began to emerge in the geologic record.

Let us not forge that most reptiles never stop growing throughout their lifetime, meaning that even lizards today would potentially grow to enormous sizes if they could live for more than just a few decades. If lizards, like men, lived to hundred of years old before the flood in optimal environmental conditions, it only stands to reason that they would have grown to be massive beasts.

Before dinosaur became the colloquial term for these terrible lizards, the most common historical name for the dinosaurs was “dragon.” The Bible uses the term dragon both literally and figuratively to describe dangerous creatures of enormous size and strength [see Psalm 74:13-14]. Like the many dragon legends of the past that are found in nearly every ancient civilization, the dragon was universally recognized as a fiercesome beast.

Leviathan

The Leviathan is one of the mysterious creatures found in the Bible that seems to portray a dragon or dinosaur. Although the Bible does use the Leviathan figuratively at times to illustrate chaos or destruction, Job 41 provides a most detailed description of the Leviathan that strongly suggest it was a real creature. For sake of space, I will highlight some the characteristics of the Leviathan directly from Job 41.

Lives and moves about in both water and land
Cannot be caught with a hook or harpoon
Cannot be tamed or bridled
Teeth of terror
Rows of shields on its back
Scales like sharp potsherds on its belly
Scaled are resistant to any human weapon
Breath kindles smoke like coal
Flames of fire shoot from its mouth
When it raises up to attack, the mighty flee in fear

I can’t speak for you, but this sounds exactly like a dinosaur, or terrible lizard, to me!

Behemoth

The second creature worth mentioning is the Behemoth. There is no creature alive today that matches the description given by the Bible. Consider God’s evaluation of the Behemoth in Job 40.

“Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.
What strength it has in its loins,
what power in the muscles of its belly!
Its tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like rods of iron.
It ranks first among the works of God,
yet its Maker can approach it with his sword
[Job 40:15-19 – NIV]

The Behemoth is an exact description of what we know as the sauropod dinosaurs — the largest creatures to ever walk the face of this earth. And God declares that He created Behemoth “along with” man [Job 40:15], which means at the same time, referring to Day 6 of creation.

Sauropods were herbivores, had enormous loin muscles, legs, and underbellies to support their weight. Their fossilized bones look precisely like massive tubes of bronze and iron rods. And the tail of the sauropod — unlike an elephant or hippo — was long and muscular, swaying like a cedar tree.

Again, the Bible clearly speaks of dinosaurs as being part of the original creation, and it is evident that ancient men like Adam, Noah, and Job lived alongside these majestic creatures both before and after the flood.

Ancient Legends and Historical Artifacts

It is worth again mentioning that ancient legends all over the world refer to dragons as real creatures. Writings about Alexander the Great, Saint George of England and Marco Polo, among countless others, provide corroborating reports about the ancient dinosaurs that lived with men.

Beyond that, there are some that have surfaced over the years that have produced some uncanny representations of dinosaurs. The reason this is so unexpected to the naturalists is because from the evolutionary viewpoint, man and dinosaurs never lived together. But if ancient people groups produced exact replicas of dinosaurs in their art and pottery, then it can only mean one thing … they saw dinosaurs with their own eyes. You can discover more here.

Finally, there is significant geologic evidence that dinosaurs lived with man. For example, archaeologists have found human fossils and footprints within the same strata as dinosaur footprints. Soft tissue and even red blood cells have been discovered in dinosaur bones, proving the fossils are much younger than expected.

The evidence abounds. Dinosaurs can be explained by Biblical creation and fit precisely within the true historical record of mankind. Dinosaurs were created by God during the creation week, along with man and the other animals. Dinosaurs were on the ark with Noah, and dinosaurs lived alongside man even after the flood.

We do not need millions of years to explain the origin and existence of these majestic creatures. We only need let God be true … and every man a liar.

Stranger Thing #12 — Pangaea

August 8, 2019April 22, 2022Marcus Walker Van EveryLeave a comment

“And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.”
[Genesis 1:9-10]

The overwhelming majority of physical scientists and geologists advocate a theory that the ancient earth’s land mass once fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and consisted of a supercontinent, called Pangaea. According to uniformitarian models of the earth, plate tectonics produced continental drift over millions of years and Pangaea gradually drifted apart forming the oceans and major continents of today.

Although the Bible does not explicitly teach that the earth was once a supercontinent, the basic concept of Pangaea is possible within Biblical creation models [see Genesis 1:9-10]. The geologic record seems to provide evidence that the continents once were interconnected.

For example, many rock types and formations abruptly end on the coast of one continent and just as abruptly begin on the coast of another continent. In many instances, these similar rock patterns and formations are found on the very continents that seem to have fit together in the past, which would imply that at some point they were seamless.

Furthermore, according to Answers in Genesis, the jigsaw-puzzle fit of Europe and Africa matches closely with North and South America, respectively.

“If the North and South Atlantic Ocean basins are closed, these continents fit together at approximately the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a range of mountains on the ocean floor centrally located in the Atlantic Ocean basins.”

But the glaring problem with the evolutionary model of Pangaea and the Biblical creation model is time! From a purely naturalistic, uniformitarian world view, Pangaea represents over 250 million years of gradual geologic processes and tectonic activity that eventually produced the continents of today.

The millions-of-years timeline is diametrically opposed to Biblical creation, which plainly teaches that the universe was created in 6 literal, 24-hour days about 6,000 years ago (Exodus 20:11).

But if an original supercontinent did drift apart, how can that be explained within the limited time in a Biblical creation model?

I’m glad you asked.

Plate Tectonics and the Global Flood

From a Biblical perspective, we understand the Pangaea model not as a slow, gradual continental drift over millions of years but rather as a rapid, catastrophic continental sprint that took approximately a year. If the continents were once joined together, then a global flood would explain the immense seismic, volcanic, and tectonic force necessary to fracture and rapidly move the earth’s crust.

The Bible speaks of this fracturing of the earth’s surface during the flood when speaking of the “fountains of the great deep” bursting from underneath the earth.

About the Book In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.”
[Genesis 7:11]

Dr. Walter Brown has committed over 30 years to his hydroplate theory to explain one possible scenario of rapid continental drift during the flood. You can find out more about his theory by clicking the link here.

Interestingly, it was a Christian geologist named Antonio Snider in 1859 who first proposed this jigsaw puzzle fit of all the continents, except that he believed the spreading apart and separation of the continents occurred catastrophically during the Genesis Flood.

Mountains Rose Up Rapidly

Another interesting discovery we find in Scripture is that high mountains and deep ocean basins were likely formed rapidly as a result of the catastrophic geologic rearrangement of the earth during the flood. This would explain how sea shells and marine fossils are found on the highest mountain peaks all over the world.

Consider Psalm 104.

“He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.”
[Psalm 104:5-9 – ESV]

All the primary geologic processes responsible for forcing the catastrophic continental movements during the Flood appear to have likewise begun to rapidly decelerate on and after day 150. Genesis 8:3 indicates that the Flood waters began to steadily decrease and therefore recede from this time point onward, which would seem to indicate that the Flood waters were now subject to new land surfaces and topography rising and valleys sinking as a result of vertical earth movements.

“And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.“
[Genesis 8:3-4]

Folding and Buckling Rock Layers

Whereas uniformitarian geologists claim that tens of thousands of feet of sedimentary layers have been deposited over more than 500 million years, the global cataclysmic Flood of Genesis leads creation geologists to believe that most of these layers were deposited in just over one year. As a result, many different strata would have been laid down in rapid succession during the Flood, creating the amazing folded, jutted, and wrinkled rock formations we see today through the earth.

Only sediment that is pliable like mud or clay can coalesce into such unique rock formations, which gives further credence to the global Flood. Solid rock formations will always crack or fracture when bent under pressure.

Furthermore, there is evidence of rapid plate collisions across the continents that caused rock layers to rise up and jut out.

Conclusion

Pangaea may have been a reality in the pre-flood world, but only the Bible gives a logical, scientific explanation for how there are similar geologic formations all over the world, how continents rapidly split apart, and how the high mountain ranges and deep ocean basins were formed.

Stranger Thing #11 — Old as Methuselah

August 7, 2019April 22, 2022Marcus Walker Van EveryLeave a comment

“Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.”
[Genesis 5:27]

They say that 60 is the new 40 and 40 is the new 20.

Well I’m turned 40 last year, and I assure you that the youth and vigor I felt in my 20s sadly escapes me.

But what if I told you that before the flood of Noah’s day 700 was the new 20? That’s right. The average pre-flood lifespan we can determine from the Biblical genealogies is around 850 years.

Can this be true? What are we to make of these extremely old ages in Genesis? Are the excessively long life spans recorded in the Bible to be taken literally or perhaps symbolically?

And if some men truly lived to be over 900 years old before the flood [Adam – 930, Noah – 950, Jared – 962, Methuselah – 969], what changed after the flood that greatly diminished the average lifespan on earth?

Today, our average life-span is somewhere between 70-80 years, which creates a drastic discrepancy with the pre-flood numbers. Regardless, I believe the long life spans before the flood are to be taken literally for several reasons.

REAson #1 — Ages Are Presented Literally in the Scriptures

As I have mentioned in other posts, the Biblical genealogies both have historical and theological merit and are quite valuable in determining things like the approximate age of the earth [6,000 years], the table of the original 70 nations, and the lineage of the Messiah.

When specific ages are provided for real people in the Scriptures, there are no grammatical exceptions that imply the numbers are symbolic. When the Bible says that Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born [Genesis 21:5], then we should understand his age literally, not symbolically.

So it is with the pre-flood genealogies. When the Bible says that Jared was 162 when he fathered Enoch or that Seth was 912 years old when he died, there is no reason not to take these ages literally. They may be abnormal and outright hard to believe, but they are not symbolic.

REason #2 — The Original Creation Was PerfecT

Upon finishing His work of creation, God declared the heavens and the earth and everything in them “very good.” Beyond that, Adam and Eve were created to live forever and initially placed in the garden and given access to the tree of life. It was only after man’s sin that death, disease, and decay came into the picture and began to corrupt God’s good creation. The bondage to decay adversely affected every aspect of creation, from the physical laws [i.e. entropy] of the universe to the genetic code of life itself [mutation].

Consider for a moment a few of the possible implications of a perfect environment.

Perfect harmony between man and nature
Perfect weather
Perfect ecosystems and symbiosis in nature
Human body operating at optimal levels without defect or flaw – no wasted energy
Increased oxygen levels in the atmosphere and total oxygen saturation at the cellular level
Pure environment [air, soil, water] free from pollutants and contaminants
Abundant nutrient saturation in the soil, plants, food, and at the cellular level
Perfect genetic code and replication process
Rapid healing capabilities
No harmful radiation

All of the factors that shorten our lifespans today would be mitigated or at least greatly diminished in a perfect, pre-flood world. No heart disease. No cancer. No viruses. No genetic mutations and birth defects. No environmental contaminants. Perfect hydration and oxygen saturation. Total nutrient absorption and utilization at the cellular level. Optimal cellular performance with Little to no wasted energy.

These factors alone would exponentially increase our life span, so the old ages in the Bible are not a major problem when we consider the perfection of the original creation. Even after the fall of man and the curse upon the earth, the effects of corruption and decay likely would have been slow and gradual.

REason #3 — Canopy Theory

There has been much conjecture among Bible scholars as to what caused the optimal conditions of the pre-flood earth. One possible explanation is called the canopy theory, which refers to a canopy of either water vapor or ice above the earth’s atmosphere before the flood. God separated the “waters above the firmament,” from the waters below in Genesis 1:6-8, which implies some form of water above the earth’s atmosphere.

The canopy theory offers some explanation as to how these waters would have blocked harmful UV rays and increased atmospheric pressure and oxygen saturation levels on the earth, which would have provided an optimal environment for longer life and even explain how giant creatures like the sauropod dinosaurs could grow to such massive size.

Interestingly, Jewish scholars and Rabbinic Targums proposed that God created some form of crystalline barrier of ice or water above the earth prior to the flood.

“After this, on the second day, He placed the heavens over the whole world, and separated it from the other parts; and determined that it should stand by itself. He also placed a crystalline firmament around it, and put together in a manner agreeable to the earth, and fitted it for giving moisture and rain, and for affording the advantage of dews.”
Josephus [http://184.154.224.5/%7Ecreatio1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=29#_ftn11]

Although some respected creation scientists have abandoned the canopy theory, the jury is still out on if and how it could have worked. Despite the fact that all the science has not been resolved, the canopy theory should at least be taken into consideration.

REason #4 — Genetic Integrity

“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
[Romans 8:20-21]

We can make educated guesses about the conditions of the pre-flood world, but because the Bible provides so few details, it is difficult to know for sure what conditions allowed mankind to live so long. To say that the earth was different before the flood is a gross understatement.

We discover that many of the patriarchs lived to be 200-400 years old even after the flood, but lifespans drastically declined and eventually leveled off after the life of Abraham.

Perhaps the best explanation is the genetic integrity that would have been in place before the flood. The aging process and even death itself is primarily a genetic deficiency in the body’s ability to replicate healthy cells over long periods of time. The curse of the creation has subjected these mortal bodies to a form of bondage to corruption that we cannot escape.

But Paul encourages us to not lose heart, as he says, “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” [2 Corinthians 4:16]

Thankfully, the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ involves God’s promise to redeem this physical universe once and for all, including our physical bodies, and restore man’s immortality — giving us everlasting life!

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
[Romans 8:22-23]

“For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”
[1 Corinthians 15:53]

Stranger Thing #10 – The Gospel Hidden in the Genealogy of Genesis 5

August 7, 2019April 22, 2022Marcus Walker Van Every2 Comments

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
[Deuteronomy 29:29]

Biblical genealogies are almost certainly among the most difficult passages in Scripture. Not only are most genealogies downright monotonous, but also the Biblical names themselves can be torturous for even the most avid Bible student.

Take Genesis 5 for example, which traces ancestral descent from Adam to Noah. On the surface, there is nothing spectacular to see. Some might give Enoch a little special attention, considering his unusual disappearing act, but overall Genesis 5 simply provides a family tree.

Now genealogies in general are important, especially when tracing the lineage of the Messiah. The Genesis 5 genealogy, therefore, has theological value in its own right, if only as an historical record of mankind before the flood. But when we take a little closer look at the names in Genesis 5 and their root meanings, something amazing happens.

God — in His divine wisdom and perfect knowledge — has planted a hidden message of hope within one of the most mundane passages of Scripture.

Proper names are rarely translated from Hebrew to English, but rather transliterated. The meaning of these Hebrew names in Genesis 5, therefore must be determined by referring to their basic root word. Although not an exact science, what you are about to see is at the very least worth consideration.

When we take the names and their meaning in order from Genesis 5, a message begins to emerge that can only be explained by an omniscient God who inserted an integrated message system within the Hebrew text to announce the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I do not take credit for this discovery and have obtained much of my information from the late Chuck Missler and his ministry at Koinonia House.

Adam

The first name, Adam, comes from adomah, and means “man.”

Seth

Adam’s son was named Seth, which means “appointed”. When he was born Eve said, “For God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.” [Genesis 4:25]

Enosh

Seth’s son was called Enosh, which means “mortal,” “frail,” or “miserable.” It is from the root anash: “to be incurable”; used of a wound, grief, woe, sickness, or wickedness.

Kenan

Enosh’s son was named Kenan, from which is derived the terms “sorrow,” dirge,” or “elegy.”

Mahalalel

Kenan’s son was Mahalalel, from mahalal, which means “blessed” or “praise”; and El, the name for God. Thus, Mahalalel means “the Blessed God.” Often Hebrew names included El, the name of God, as Dani-el, “God is my Judge,” Nathani-el, “Gift of God,” etc.

Jared

Mahalalel’s son was named Jared, from the verb yaradh, meaning “shall come down.” Some authorities suggest that this might have been an allusion to the “Sons of God” who “came down” to corrupt the daughters of men, resulting in the Nephilim (“Fallen Ones”) of Genesis 6.[1]

Enoch

Jared’s son was named Enoch, which means “teaching,” or “commencement.” He was the first of four generations of preachers. In fact, the earliest recorded prophecy was by Enoch, which amazingly enough deals with the Second Coming of Christ.[2]

Methuselah

The Flood of Noah did not come as a surprise. It had been preached on for four generations. But something strange happened when Enoch was 65, from which time “he walked with God.” Enoch was given a prophecy that as long as his son was alive, the judgment of the flood would be withheld; but as soon as he died, the flood would be sent forth.

Enoch named his son to reflect this prophecy. The name Methuselah comes from two roots: muth, a root that means “death” ; and from shalach, which means “to bring,” or “to send forth.” Thus, the name Methuselah signifies, “his death shall bring.”

And, indeed, in the year that Methuselah died, the flood came. Methuselah was 187 when he had Lamech, and lived 782 years more. Lamech had Noah when he was 182.

The Flood came in Noah’s 600th year. 187 + 182 + 600 = 969, Methuselah’s age when he died

Lamech

Methuselah’s son was named Lamech, a root still evident today in our own English word, “lament” or “lamentation.” Lamech suggests “despairing.”

Noah

Lamech, of course, is the father of Noah, which is derived from nacham , “to bring relief” or “comfort,” as Lamech himself explains in Genesis 5:29.

Now when we put these meanings together in order, we get an amazing message.

*Hebrew*	*English*
Adam	Man
Seth	Appointed
Enosh	Mortal
Kenan	Sorrow;
Mahalalel	The Blessed God
Jared	Shall come down
Enoch	Teaching
Methuselah	His death shall bring
Lamech	The Despairing
Noah	Rest, or comfort.

So now let’s add a few definite articles and conjunctions and we will see the gospel of Jesus Christ contained in this genealogy.

MaN is Appointed Mortal Sorrow, but the Blessed God Shall Come Down Teaching. His Death Shall Bring the Despairing Rest.

From beginning to end the good news of the gospel has never changed. God will provide a Substitute — a Savior for sinful man — and all who trust in Jesus will be saved and will find eternal rest.

Stranger Thing #9 – Giants

August 5, 2019April 22, 2022Marcus Walker Van EveryLeave a comment

“There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”
[Genesis 6:4 – KJV]

One of most obvious places where fringe culture, conspiracy theory and Biblical truth intersect is in regard to the giants. Although the modern pundits who propagate Darwinian evolution and naturalism vehemently deny such nonsense, the historical testimony from all over the world cannot be dismissed.

Giants once walked this earth.

Massive giants.

Some standing at least 15′ tall, weighing nearly 3,000 lbs. Swift, agile, fierce, and immensely strong giants. Their bodies proportionate and symmetrical, not gangly and deformed.

The giants before the flood — called the Nephilim — are believed to have been even taller.

For those of us who have been educated in a post-enlightenment society, where we are taught to apply a strict rationalism to everything, the idea of giants roaming the earth in the ancient past sounds more like a fairytale or science fiction than it does history. But the historical records abound. Giants are as real as can be.

Abraham Lincoln, prior to becoming president, wrote the following journal entry after visiting Niagara Falls. His is just one of many examples of this known phenomenon.

“When Columbus first sought this continent—when Christ suffered on the cross—when Moses led Israel through the Red-Sea—nay, even, when Adam first came from the hand of his Maker—then as now, Niagara was roaring here. The eyes of that species of extinct giants, whose bones fill the mounds of America, have gazed on Niagara, as ours do now. Contemporary with the whole race of men, and older than the first man, Niagara is strong, and fresh to-day as ten thousand years ago.”
[Abe Lincoln, Sept 1848]

Even in our churches, we practically never hear a preacher broach the subject of giants, despite the fact that giants are references over 20 times throughout the Scriptures. Where we treat the subject of the giants as taboo, the Biblical authors mention giants matter-of-factly, like they were commonplace in the ancient world.

For some reason Christians have no problem embracing certain aspects of the supernatural like angels and demons and miracles and the virgin birth and the resurrection, but we have a hard time wrapping our minds around the fact that there were “giants in the earth in those days; and also after that.”

Although it is worth doing a comprehensive secular study of the historical record of giants in the ancient world, which confirms that nearly every culture has either written and/or oral traditions of the giants, my goal here is simply to present what the Bible says about the giants and where they fit into the Biblical narrative.

Giants were the Hybrid Offspring of an Unholy Union

We are first introduced to the giants, called the Nephilim, in Genesis 6, in what the Bible describes as a forbidden union between the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men.” Most scholars agree that the word Nephilim is derived from the root Hebrew word, nephal, which literally means to fall or to lie.

The “sons of God,” therefore, are the fallen ones who abandoned their proper domain and lusted after the daughters of men, forcefully taking any they chose as wives in order to procreate.

The result of this perverse, unholy union? Giants. The Nephilim were a dominant, superior, hybrid offspring of giant warriors, who became known as the mighty men of old, heroes and men of renown in the ancient world. It only stands to reason that giant warriors of such stature would naturally become the dominant kings and rulers of the earth.

Jude describes how this heavenly rebellion in Genesis 6 was profane and treasonous in the eyes of the LORD.

“And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, [strange flesh] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”
[Jude 1:6-7]

Jude says the angels who abandoned their proper position in heaven indulged in “unnatural desire,” or literally different flesh. The Book of Enoch adds that the Watchers lusted after human women and came down and took all they wanted [1 Enoch 6:2].

In other words, the sons of God had no business intermingling with the daughters of man. It was a direct violation of the created order established by God and therefore a most perverse act of immorality.

The result of this ungodly transgression was the birth of the giants — a hybrid class of demonic offspring. The giants were not made in the image of God, but in the image of the fallen ones. And they were a direct threat to the human race.

Giants Perpetuated Evil and Violence on Earth

There is no mistake that the giants are directly connected to the complete corruption and defilement of all flesh prior to the flood of Noah’s day. The Biblical account implies that there is a connection between the manifestation of these giants and the wickedness in the earth.

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart… Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”
[Genesis 6:5-6, 11-12]

The Book of Enoch confirms the Biblical account and elaborates on the evil agenda of the Watchers and their giant progeny. The fallen sons of God introduced all sorts of witchcraft, occult magic, astrology, enchantments, sorcery, use of drugs, weapons, genetic engineering, sexual perversion, and demonic blood sacrifice. The giants were bloodthirsty and violent, devouring mankind at will. [See 1 Enoch 7-8]

As I have mentioned before, the giant offspring of the Watchers were designed to accelerate evil and utterly destroy mankind from the earth.

Giants were to be Utterly Destroyed

The more I understand the role of giants in the Biblical narrative, the more I have come to understand God’s purposes in the flood and the subsequent conquest of Canaan. I believe the reason God resolved to destroy the entire earth with a global flood is directly connected to the total elimination of the Nephilim.

At the time of the great flood, only Noah and his family had been uncorrupted genetically. Everyone else on the face of the planet had been compromised by the corruption of all flesh — both man and animal.

The total annihilation of all flesh on the earth makes perfect sense when we insert the presence of the giants in those days. Interestingly, we see the very same relentless command given by God to utterly destroy all the inhabitants of Canaan during the conquest — men, women and children.

What is the connection between the flood and the conquest of Canaan?

GIANTS were in the land. Show them no mercy.

“So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, ‘The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.’”
[Numbers 13:32-33]

Giants are the Seed of Satan

Ultimately the mystery of the giants can be understood in one simple verse in Genesis 3, where the LORD tells Satan.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
[Genesis 3:15]

Everywhere the giants are found, they have one mission — destroy mankind and eliminate the seed of the woman. Satan knew enough to understand the coming Messiah would be born of a woman, so in his deranged mind, Satan’s purpose with the giants was to utterly wipe out mankind from the earth and so cut off the lineage of the promised Messiah.

All of sudden the role of the giants can be seen in light of the greater spiritual battle of cosmic forces.

Fortunately, every time Satan and the fallen sons of God have attempted to wipe out mankind from the earth, they have failed and God has triumphed.

Jesus Christ was born of woman in the fullness of time, and He has come to destroy the works of the devil and has conquered all the spiritual forces of evil that have been at work from the beginning!

As David symbolically cut off the head of the giant Goliath … so Jesus, the Son of David, has ultimately crushed the head of the Serpent! Amen!

Stranger Thing #8 – Enoch

August 2, 2019April 22, 2022Marcus Walker Van EveryLeave a comment

“Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”
[Genesis 5:24]

Tucked nicely within the genealogies of Genesis 5 is a glaring anomaly. Every patriarch in Adam’s lineage is classified as living a full life and having many sons and daughters before dying, except one — Enoch.

Instead of dying a natural death, Enoch apparently was taken by God and translated into heaven. The Biblical text gives few details about this peculiar encounter, but we can draw some conclusions about Enoch from what the Scriptures provide.

Enoch Walked By Faith

The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible – the Septuagint – renders Genesis 5:22 this way. “And Enoch was well-pleasing to God after his begetting Mathusala…” Genesis 5:24 says that Enoch walked with God and then was no more because God took him.

Although it is possible that Adam and Eve physically walked with the LORD in the garden before the fall, Enoch’s walking with God is best interpreted as navigating on a spiritual journey of faith in a sin-cursed world. There is nothing in the Biblical account that implies that the LORD walked with Enoch in physical form [theophany]. This is not unlike our own “walk” with God as described in the New Testament, as Pauls says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.” [Galatians 5:25]

In other words, Enoch walked by faith, not by sight. Like his great grandson after him, Noah, Enoch was set apart in his generation by his faith in God. Enoch exercised his faith in such a way that the LORD was pleased with him and graciously decided to bring him into his immediate presence.

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
[Hebrews 11:5-6 – ESV]

Enoch Did Not Taste Death

“So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
[Matthew 24:33-34]

According to God’s word, there are only two men who have ever lived who did not die a natural death. One is the prophet Elijah, who was caught up to heaven in a whirlwind on chariots of fire [2 Kings 2:11]. The other is Enoch.

The general rule and universal consequence of the fall is that it is appointed for every man once to die and then face judgment. But for whatever reasons, the LORD graciously spared both Elijah and Enoch of tasting the bitterness of physical death.

One possibility is that Enoch and Elijah were foreshadows of what is to come in the last days at the return of the Jesus. According both to Jesus and Paul, the generation of believers who are alive on the earth during the Second Coming of Christ will not taste death but instead will be translated like Enoch.

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”
[1 Corinthians 15:51-52]

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words
[1 Thessalonians 4:16-18]

After all, Jesus does say that just as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

ENoch WArned of The Coming Judgement

During the Second Temple period of Judaism — approximately 516 B.C. to 70 A.D. — there were many familiar extra-biblical sources of both written and oral tradition that would have been circulated and well read. These writings would have helped the Jews formulate a more informed and robust Biblical worldview. Although not universally recognized as inspired Scripture, these extra Biblical sources provided historical and theological significance within the community of faith, which is why many of them are included in the Apocrypha.

The Book of Enoch is perhaps the most popular of these extra-Biblical writings, primarily because of its elaboration of the mysterious Genesis 6 account, where the Watchers rebelled against God, descended to Mount Hermon, and took human wives, producing an evil hybrid race of giants on the earth called the Nephilim [Genesis 6:1-5]. The Book of Enoch answers many questions and provides many plausible explanations about what really was happening to mankind before the flood.

I encourage all believers to read and become familiar with the Book of Enoch because Jesus and the New Testament authors were quite familiar with it.

This leads to another reason the Book of Enoch is often taken more seriously than other extra-Biblical works. The New Testament authors clearly make reference to it, even quoting it verbatim. Both Peter and Jude refer to Enoch as being a prophet before the flood who was given a specific message of judgment for the fallen sons of God.

Peter and Jude use language that clearly draws directly from the traditional Book on Enoch.

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly …”
[2 Peter 2:4-5]

“And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire…”
[Jude 1:6-7]

Jude even quotes directly from the Book of Enoch.

“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’”
[Jude 1:14-15]

We cannot be certain that the historical Enoch, who lived before the flood is the genuine author of the book that bears his name. Most scholars would say that the Book of Enoch is Pseudepigraphic in that the true author is unknown. But there is at least a good possibility that oral traditions or written compilations were preserved and passed down after the flood and are directly connected to Enoch himself. Either way, Enoch remains both a significant and enigmatic character in the Biblical narrative.

The Two Witnesses

“But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered the two witnesses, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them. And the witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Come up here.’ And they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched them.”
[Revelation 11:11-12]

I would be remiss if I wrote about Enoch without mentioning the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11. There are several possible interpretations about the identity of these two witnesses, and because they are not mentioned by name, it leaves room for speculation.

But I am convinced that the identity of the Two Witnesses can be narrowed down to no more than three historical figures — Elijah, Moses, and Enoch.

Elijah is the most certain candidate for at least one of the witnesses for several reasons. First, he never died a natural death. Second, the miraculous powers given to the witnesses — such as shutting the sky — directly points back to Elijah’s earthy ministry. And finally, the prophets all predicted that Elijah would return as a forerunner before the coming of Messiah [see Malachi 4:5-6].

The identity of the second witness is more difficult to determine. I see a correlation with Moses as the prophet of God who also was given the authority to turn waters into blood and strike the land with plagues [Revelation 11:6]. I also see the connection to the Mountain of Transfiguration [Mt. Hermon] where the two witnesses seen with Jesus were Moses and Elijah. And then there is some mystery about why Michael the Archangel and Satan were disputing over the body of Moses [Jude 1:9].

However, Enoch is also a likely candidate because like Elijah, he never died a natural death, and his prophetic ministry is connected to the coming judgment and the return of the Son of Man in glory. Enoch also is linked to the pre-flood world and the unleashing of the spiritual forces of darkness, which Jesus correlated with the generation that will be alive at His coming.

Maybe the LORD does use Elijah and Enoch as His witnesses in the great tribulation and allows them to suffer persecution and ultimately death in their own proper time. Either way, we all would do well to walk by faith in the boldness of Enoch who was unashamed to preach the coming judgment to a wicked and perverse generation.

Stranger Thing # 7 – Cain’s Wife

July 24, 2019April 22, 2022Marcus Walker Van EveryLeave a comment

“Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.”
[Genesis 4:16-17]

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times.

“If the Bible is true, then where did Cain get his wife?”

First of all, this is a loaded question with many false assumptions and misunderstandings. Let me consider those assumptions and bring some simple clarity to this objection.

ASSUMPTION #1 – Cain WAs an only Child Left All Alone

The first glaring assumption that skeptics make is that after murdering his younger brother, Abel, Cain must have been the only other human being on the planet besides his parents, Adam and Eve. There are usually two erroneous conclusions drawn from this assumption.

Since Cain was the only child left in the family, then he would have no one to marry. Therefore the Bible is false.
If Cain found a wife in Nod and married her, then from where did she come? Was there an entirely different race of people alive on the earth who did not descend from Adam and Eve? [This is often proposed by those who believe in the unbiblical theory that a pre-adamic race of people who evolved over millions of years.] Therefore the Bible is incomplete.

Fortunately, the Bible provides a simple answer in Genesis 5.

“When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters.”
[Genesis 5:3-4]

The genealogies in the Scriptures are not meant to provide a comprehensive account of every child born into a family, nor do they always support chronology. On the contrary, the genealogies serve an entirely different purpose altogether and deal uniquely with God’s covenant with man and His multigenerational faithfulness.

For example, in Luke’s account of the genealogy of Jesus, Judah is listed as the son of Jacob [Luke 3:33-34], but we know that Judah was neither the only son nor the first born son of Jacob. So it is with the genealogies in Genesis. Just because Seth is the only son listed under the line of Adam, we know that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters who are not identified by name.

Adam was 130 when Seth was born, but nothing in the text prohibits the possibility that many other sons and daughters were born to Adam before Seth. Even if Cain and Abel were the first two offspring of Adam and Eve, a lot can happen in 130 years. Dr. Henry Morris calculated that by the time of Adam’s death, there easily could have been nearly 3 million people on the earth. So by the time Cain was banished, he potentially could have been many other adult brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and cousins alive on the earth.

The Scripture also tells us that Eve is the “mother of all the living” [Genesis 3:20], so obviously Cain’s wife had to be one of his relatives.

Assumption #2 – Cain Found His Wife in Nod

For those who attempt to harmonize Darwinian evolution with God’s six days of creation in Genesis, there is a fascination with Cain’s wife. They use Cain’s wife to insinuate that perhaps there were other people already alive on the earth who had settled long before God formed Adam and Eve. They contend that this pre-adamic race of humans, or sub humans, evolved over millions of years by naturalistic processes, which explains how Cain could have found a wife living in previously settled civilization.

To hear them tell it, after Cain was banished to the land of Nod in the east he found a flourishing community of other pre-adamic humans settling there, which is where he “found his wife.”

Yet if you read carefully, the Bible says Cain settled in Nod and then it says he knew his wife and she conceived. It never says that Cain found his wife in Nod, but only that after settling in Nod, Cain and his wife came together to produce a child.

Cain could have just as easily found and married his wife before leaving for Nod. There is nothing in the text that says that his wife was already settling there. Furthermore, Cain is the one who built the city there in Nod, so there is no indication that a thriving civilization was already in place.

Assumption #3 – Incest is Against God’s Law

Here in the south we joke about “kissing cousins,” and how some family trees don’t have many branches, if you know what I mean. Incest is frowned upon in today’s culture and rightfully so.

First of all, the Mosaic Law clearly forbids many unsanctioned sexual relationships, including incest [Leviticus 18, 20:17-21]. After the children of Israel were redeemed from Egypt, the LORD prescribed specific laws that would make them holy and distinct from the nations around them. Unlike the civil and ceremonial laws of the Torah, God’s moral code – including incest – remains in place and transcends all times and places.

Secondly, man’s genetic pool has become so diluted over time that families that practice incest suffer from degenerative birth defects, physical deficiencies, and genetic disorders.

So then for Cain to marry his sister, or niece, or cousin, it would have been a direct transgression of God’s law, right? Not to mention just gross.

Not so. The law of Moses wasn’t given to Israel until 430 years after Abraham, and before the law was given, there was no direct prohibition against incest. Even Abram married his half sister, Sarai, which would have been a violation of the Mosaic Covenant, but because it happened before the giving of the law, it was not a transgression. Over time, God progressively began to set parameters for mankind, knowing that the law would be needed to make man conscious of sin.

Once the moral law was given, incest and other sexual sins outside of monogamous marriage are an offense to God and must be avoided.

“For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.” [Romans 2:12]

Also, Pauls says, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, [Romans 5:20] and that the law “was added because of transgressions.” [Galatians 3:19]

Furthermore, man’s gene pool was pure and uncorrupted before the flood, which eliminated the common genetic mutations and birth defects that are associated with incest today. Although it seems weird to us now, it would have been common for people in the pre-flood world to marry siblings or close relatives.

It was no different for Noah and his family as they began to reproduce after the flood. Noah’s children and grandchildren, like Cain, would have married close relatives at the beginning, but as the effects of sin progressively corrupted the human genome, more problems with incestuous relationships began to surface.

Conclusion

So where did Cain get his wife?

Well, in short, Cain married either a sister or close relative and then settled in the land of Nod.

Even though incestuous marriages were both necessary and common in the ancient world, they did not directly violate God’s law because the law was given much later. Again, the integrity of the God’s word holds up under scrutiny and proves reliable as always.

Stranger Thing #6 – Two Creation Accounts?

July 23, 2019April 22, 2022Marcus Walker Van EveryLeave a comment

“Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.”
[Genesis 2:7-8]

Bible scoffers and skeptics often appeal to contradictions in God’s word to justify their unbelief. One of the most common objections to the validity of Scripture comes from apparent discrepancies in very first two chapters of Genesis.

When reading on the surface, some have concluded that the Bible provides two entirely different creation accounts, and these accounts, critics say, are contradictory, proving the unreliability of God’s word.

Even Biblical scholars and theologians have bought in to the two creation accounts and as a result have produced all kinds of fantasies to harmonize the apparent inconsistencies in Genesis 1 & 2.

Some Jewish scholars, when writing ancient commentaries on the Old Testament, contrived a bizarre narrative about Adam having two wives — Eve being the second after a character named Lilith in Genesis 1. The sensational legend of Lilith in the Garden persists to this day, but of course there is no no Biblical evidence to support such nonsense.

Many other conspiratorial theories have emerged by scholar and skeptic alike in an attempt to harmonize the apparent contradictions in Genesis 1-2, but all of these attempts are unnecessary. Simply by taking a closer look at the text itself, it becomes clear that there is no need to explain two creation accounts because there is no contradiction whatsoever in Genesis 1-2.

What’s the Problem?

First, I need to address the apparent inconsistencies with Genesis 1 & 2.

In Genesis 1, God makes the plants and trees and all vegetation on Day 3, the fish and birds on Day 5, and the land animals and man on Day 6.
In Genesis 2, God makes man out of ground (Genesis 2:7) and then God makes trees, plants, vegetation (Genesis 2:9), birds and animals AFTER the creation of Adam (Genesis 2:18-20).
So the question is … Did God create the trees and birds and land animals before or after the creation of Adam?

This is usually where most scoffers give each other a high five and drop their microphone, as if they have destroyed the integrity of the Bible. This is usually when the untrained Christian begins to shrink back and doubt the reliability of the Scriptures.

Fortunately, there is no need to fret or fear because not only is there a simple explanation for this apparent contradiction, there are actually TWO!

ANSWER #1 – It’s All in the Details

Far from being a separate creation account, Genesis 2 provides an up-close and detailed account of God’s creative work during Day 6. Whereas Genesis 1 provides a general overview and chronological account of creation, Genesis 2 focuses in on God’s creative work on Day 6, especially with man in the Garden of Eden.

Even though many translations of Genesis 2 imply that God created the trees, birds, and land animals sequentially after creating man, there is one possible explanation. Genesis 2 describes God’s special work in the Garden of Eden beyond what He had already done to form and fill the rest of the earth.

Apparently after filling the entirety of earth with plants and trees and birds and bees and fish in the seas, God redirected His focus on the sixth day and created man in His own image. Having fashioned the crowning glory of His creation in Adam, the LORD now needed to prepare a proper home for man, so He surveyed the land and designated an ideal spot “in the east” and formed the Garden of Eden.

What the Bible describes in Genesis 2, therefore, is not contradictory to what God had already done on Days 3-6, but rather complimentary. After Adam was created on Day 6, God put His finishing touches on the Garden by forming every tree that is “pleasant to the sight and good for food,” along with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These trees and vegetation apparently were unique and distinct as being good for food and especially beautiful as the backdrop to the Garden.

The same can be said about the birds and land animals. Having previously created the swarms in the sea and the flocks and herds on the earth, the LORD gave Adam special to privilege of being an eyewitness to creation in the Garden.

In other words, God could have formed one of each kind of animal exclusively in Adam’s presence for a special purpose. As God formed them in front of Adam, the man was able to behold the awesome power of God as a first-hand eyewitness. Plus having named the birds and animals, Adam was given authority over them.

The Garden scene in Genesis 2 is more about the theological significance of Adam’s role and responsibility as God’s representative on earth, having been given authority over all creation. The last of God’s creative works, of course, was woman, as God saved His best work for last!

However, it is important that we understand Adam’s place in God’s created order, as the man was given headship and authority over the animals and also over his own wife. The concept of headship is essential to understanding the Biblical narrative and the role of Jesus Christ – the Second Adam.

In this respect, Eve was not an eyewitness to God’s creative work, as Adam was, and Eve did not receive God’s commandment directly but through her husband.

So one possibility is that instead of two separate creation accounts that contradict each other, the Bible is actually describing complimentary accounts of the same creative work of God. Genesis 1 is an overview of creation, providing a general chronological account of God’s creative work, whereas Genesis 2 is a detailed account of Day 6 of creation that provides the theological framework of the created order and the man’s role of authority over creation.

ANSWER #2 – A More Accurate Translation

A second explanation for harmonizing Genesis 1 & 2 is a much simpler one involving the Hebrew language, specifically when it comes Genesis 2:19.

Many translations, like the King James Version, render the Hebrew word, yatsar, in the simple past tense, which creates the chronological confusion of Day 6.

But other translations, such as the NIV and ESV, have a subtly different rendition.

“Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky.”
[Genesis 2:19 – NIV]

“Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man.”
[Genesis 2:19 – ESV]

These trusted translations remain true to the Hebrew text and suggest a different way of viewing the first two chapters of Genesis. These renderings eliminate the need for chronological clarity altogether, by simply saying that God “had already formed” all the birds and animals before bringing them to Adam in the Garden.

Unlike Genesis 1, Genesis 2 does not suggest a chronology. Therefore, the animals being brought to Adam had already been made and were not being brought to him immediately after their creation. Interestingly, Tyndale’s translation, which predates the KJV, agrees with this translation.

It can be argued that Tyndale and the NIV-ESV are more accurate on this verse because the verb in the sentence can be translated as pluperfect rather than perfect, which is in no violation of the Hebrew text but rather perfectly acceptable rendering according to the rules of Hebrew grammar.

“The pluperfect tense can be considered as the past of the past—that is to say, in a narration set in the past, the event to which the narration refers is already further in the past. Once the pluperfect is taken into account, the perceived contradiction completely disappears.”
[Paul F. Taylor – Answers in Genesis] https://answersingenesis.org/contradictions-in-the-bible/two-creation-accounts/]

So simply by referring to the original Hebrew text, the apparent inconsistencies disappear and the creation narrative is perfectly harmonized between Genesis 1-2.

Personally, I believe both explanations are sound and do not violate the Hebrew text, so either way we can be certain. There is only one creation narrative and not two, further reinforcing the reliability and integrity of God’s word.

Stranger Thing #5 – Eden

July 22, 2019April 22, 2022Marcus Walker Van EveryLeave a comment

And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
[Luke 23:43]

Theologians, historians, and archaeologists have pondered for centuries on the original location of the Garden of Eden. Unfortunately man’s first home has been lost to the sands of time. Even if the few geographical clues we have in the Scriptures could be validated [see Genesis 2:8-15], it only stands to reason that the catastrophic effects of the global flood in Noah’s day completely rearranged the earth’s topography, leaving little trace of the Garden of God.

Although I do believe Eden was once a literal, physical location on the map, I don’t necessarily believe we could find it today, even if we knew precisely where it was located.

Maybe we are looking at this all wrong. Maybe Eden has been here all along.

Maybe the paradise of God never moved, but rather we have lost the ability to see it. Instead of thinking geographically, maybe we need to think multi-dimensionally.

But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
[1 Corinthians 2:9]

What We Know

The Scriptures provide some interesting clues about the Garden of Eden. Here is what we definitively know.

The Hebrew definition for Eden is pleasure or delight. So it was man’s original home prepared by God for intended for perpetual pleasure and delight.
God Himself planted a lush garden in the eastern part of Eden and placed Adam there to cultivate and work it.
The Garden of God contained in its midst both the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
A main river flowed out of Eden, which first watered the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters creating four rivers.
Based on the Biblical descriptions, most concede that Eden originally was located somewhere in the fertile crescent.
The Garden of Eden was planted on top of God’s holy mountain, also known as the mount of assembly. (Isaiah 14:13, Ezekiel 28:13-19)
God’s holy mountain was the designated place of intersection between heaven and earth, God and man – between the spiritual realm and the physical world.
Before his heavenly rebellion, the nachash, or serpent, was an anointed guardian cherub in Eden – the most beautiful of God’s creatures.
After Adam and Eve sinned against God, He cast man out of the Garden of Eden and placed cherubim guardians and a flashing sword at the east entrance to prevent man from having access to the tree of life.
The Garden of Eden conveys the same concept as the Greek word, Paradise.

Paradise

“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows — and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.”
[2 Corinthians 12:2-4]

“Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below.”
[Ezekiel 31:18]

From an Ancient Greek perspective, paradise was synonymous with a glorious natural garden or pristine park, where man could enjoy endless pleasures while surrounded by peerless beauty. In Greek mythology, paradise coincided with the legends of the golden age, when men never aged and delights never ceased.

Paradise, however, had been lost, and man greatest pursuit was to discover the way back again.

In John Milton’s classic, Paradise Lost, the devil says, “O sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams That bring to my remembrance from what state I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere.“

Milton, like so many before and after him, was drawing from the Biblical language of north-south geography in respect to heaven and earth. The Apostle Paul likewise says that he was “caught up” into paradise – or the Garden of God. Ezekiel’s comparative language contrasts Eden with the world “below.”

Of course, Lucifer, the son of the dawn, was cast down out of Eden to the ground. This makes sense if Eden originally was holy mountain, high and lifted up above the earth. The high places have always possessed significance in God’s story, and Eden is no different.

“You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.”
[Ezekiel 28-12-16]

And then there is Jesus – God the Son – lifted up and nailed to a tree on top of a mountain. As He is effectively bringing heaven and earth back together again through His sacrificial death on the cross, He makes a promise to the thief beside him.

Today, you will be with in … the Garden of Eden.

According to Jesus’ promise to the thief, the very moment he closed his eyes in death, he immediately opened his eyes in life and found himself in the paradise of God. Maybe instead of being carried up to heaven or traveling “north” to paradise, the thief simply awoke having crossed over into another dimension – the spiritual realm.

Bringing Heaven and Earth Back Together

The mission of Jesus is to redeem all of creation and restore Eden, where the dwelling place of God is with man once again. When Jesus returns to once and for all destroy the devil, death, evil, and hell, God will created a new heaven and a new earth, bringing everything back together in a state of perfection.

John was given a glimpse of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:10-11. He writes, “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.”

I believe in some way, when God reveals the new heaven and earth, He will lift the veil that separates heaven and earth and reveal to us that Paradise has been near to us all along. We just don’t have the eyes to see it right now. We are looking through the glass darkly and the spiritual dimension remains hidden from our sight. But God will be giving us new eyes to see as we were always intended.

Is it possible that God’s Garden restored will surpass the original in splendor and beauty? God is bringing heaven and earth back together in the new paradise, which will have its own river of life watering the Garden and also the tree of life.

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.”
[Revelation 22:1-3]

Jesus came to redeem for God a people for His own possession. Jesus came to regenerate the entire Creation and make everything new. Jesus came to bring man to God and God to man, and He came to restore paradise lost and unite heaven and earth again in the Garden of God.

And only those who have been given the right to be called sons of God and who have received resurrection life will dwell with God eternally in the New Eden. Those who conquer in Christ will dwell forever with Him in paradise.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”
[Revelation 2:7]