Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 08
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The book of Genesis gives us foundational themes which God made clear from the beginning of the creation of the physical world, even to understand His invisible things (Rom 1:20). The spirit mind sees Scripture, and in this case, the creation narrative in Genesis 1 and 2, totally opposite to those who are in bondage of a natural interpretation, even those who are puffed up in their own corrupt complexities (Legion) of higher knowledge or science (falsely so called):
1Ti 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science (Greek: gnoÌsis = knowledge) falsely so called:
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity [singleness] that is in Christ.
Mar 5:9 And He asked him [the man who lived among the tombs], What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
On day one of this physical creation, the distinct differences between the darkness and the light helps us to understand the differences between the generations in ‘the first man Adam’ and the ‘last Adam’, as flesh is the opposite of the spirit (1Co 15:45-46, Joh 3:6, Gal 5:17, Gen 5:1, Mat 1:1) The first Adam was created in spiritual darkness and in sin, having no perfection like the last Adam, Christ and His generations (Jer 18:4, Rom 8:20, 1Co 15:22, Psa 51:5). On day two a second witness to this truth is called forward by God. The differences between the fleshly (earthy) mind and the spirit mind are emphasized by the clear separation between the waters above and the waters below the firmament (heaven):
Gen 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
In spiritually terms waters relate to life – an earthly life, also called a ‘living soul’, is different from a heavenly life, also called ‘life-giving spirit’ or ‘quickening spirit’ (Joh 4: 14, Isa 55:10, Gen 2:7, 1Co 15:45). The earthy life in the first Adam (the waters under the firmament) does not have the spirit image of God (the waters above the firmament), but a process is set in motion which will eventually conform all in the first Adam to the image of God, even in Christ, the last Adam:
Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make [Hebrew tense: Qal imperfect = expresses an action, process or condition which is incomplete] man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Those in the flesh ‘do mind the things of the flesh’ which is the same as ‘be carnally minded’ the first Adam was carnally minded. Within his dying or temporary physical condition he was also spiritually dead (Gen 2:17), even before he ate of the forbidden fruit:
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
This deadly earthiness and spiritual drought were also written by God in His book of the first Adam and his generations before their creation (Psa 139:16). This is further highlighted on the third day of creation:
Gen 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
Gen 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas and God saw that it was good.
The waters (seas) under the heaven came together and this caused the dry earth to appear. This dry earth will bring forth grass, herbs and fruit trees “after his kind”:
Gen 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
Gen 1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
This green vegetation was to be the initial main diet of man and beasts:
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Gen 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Gen 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
That the first man and animals on earth were given green vegetation ‘for meat’ is full of spiritual meaning for those who can receive this truth. It was only after the flood (the judgment of ‘the old world’ of the ungodly) that meat from every moving thing was added to the diet of man and beast:
2Pe 2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
Gen 9:3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
Green is the first colour to be mentioned directly in scripture which also links with the generations of the first Adam. In its negative form the colour green is spiritually connected to immaturity, idolatry, wickedness:
Deu 12:2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:
Psa 37:35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
The apostle Paul also confirms why the first Adam was given this diet:
Rom 14:2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs (Greek: lachanon = vegetables).
The first Adam was made spiritually weak, because the fleshly man cannot handle spiritual things:
Mat 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Spiritual things are the real meat of God’s Word and it is only reserved for those whom God wants to mature spiritually “those who are drawn (dragged) from the breasts” away from the natural mind:
Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach (spiritual) knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Green vegetation therefore confirms once again the immature and carnal spiritual state of the first man Adam, even that of the man of sin in all of us (2Th 2:3-4). Adam was unskilled in spiritual things from the hand of the Potter (Jer 18:4, Rom 8:20). Only through judgment is the earthy man (in ‘sinful flesh’) destroyed, and only in that process he learns about God’s righteousness and spiritual things (Isa 26:9, Rom 8:3). That is when spiritual meat is introduced into the diet of those who are given to start the process of spiritual maturing:
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
The earth was to bring forth three types of ‘his kind’ grass, herbs, fruit trees. This also tells us that whatever the earth is to produce, it cannot bring forth anything of the heavenly/spiritual kind – unless it dies (Mat 6:30, 1Pe 1:24, Jas 1:11, Rev 8:7):
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
“Green ears of corn” must be ‘dried’ or judged by the fire. Even Jesus’ flesh could not enter the spiritual kingdom of God and was to go through God’s wrath and destruction showing us that all in the Adamic flesh will be judged by fire, each in their own order (Isa 54:7-8, 1Co 3:13-15, 1Co 15:22-28). After His death, Jesus was indeed raised in spirit and only appeared in various physical forms after His death for the sake of those who knew Him as such and to prove that He was resurrected from the dead. A spiritual body can appear with “flesh and bones” and even eat physical food (Gen 18:8, Luk 24:41-43):
Lev 2:14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn [Hebrew: Abib] dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.
1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.Luk 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
In Genesis 2 we are given more detail of what happened in Genesis 1, also as far as the plant life on earth was concerned. Initially the earth was in darkness, ‘without form and void’, and totally covered with water. When the dry land appeared, a mist ‘from the earth’ initially watered ‘the whole face of the ground’, including the now visible green vegetation on the dry land:
Gen 2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
Gen 2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
This mist also witnesses that all earthy life should be seen as a vapour. Physical life is temporary and of this world – ‘of the field’ (Jas 4:14, Mat 13:38, 1Jn 2:16). This mist and water ‘from the earth’ supported all earthly life in those years before the flood, when the first “heavenly” rain fell. Spiritually, all of the generations of this first Adam eat ‘every green herb for meat’ which is watered by a mist (vapour). Only when the rain falls can spiritual growth start as the true doctrine of Christ is revealed. This is when carnality in us is destroyed ‘little by little’ (Exo 23:28-30, Joh 3:30):
Isa 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.Deu 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
The rain, during and after the flood, brought the “heavenly” water “not seen as yet” on earth. Through this rain the old ‘filth of the flesh’ is judged:
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned (judged) the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
1Pe 3:20 Which (the spirits in prison) sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Only clouds bring rain ‘from heaven’ in judgment (Job 36:31). Only those who have the witness of the judgment of God on sin in their own lives (1Pe 4:17, Isa 33:14-15), are the clouds that bring the rain “from heaven” as they are ‘harping with their harps’ (they are in harmony with the one mind of Christ):
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Rev 11:12 And they (the two witnesses) heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Detailed studies on the themes covered in this study can be found at www.iswasandwillbe.com including:
The colour green under the heading “The Spiritual Significance of Colors In Scripture”:
The Spiritual Significance of Colors in Scripture (The Color Green) – Part 1
The Spiritual Significance of Colors In Scripture – Green, Part 2
The revelation of the two Adams are mysteries to the carnal mind:
The elect of God do suffer the wrath of God:
Did Christ Endure The Wrath of God? Are We Appointed To Wrath?
Baptism:
Other related posts
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 45 (May 8, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 43 (April 24, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 42 (April 17, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 41 (April 10, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 39 (March 27, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 38 (March 27, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 37 (February 20, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 36 (February 13, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 35 (February 6, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 34 (January 30, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 33 (January 23, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 32 (January 16, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 31 (January 9, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 30 (March 27, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 29 (December 29, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 28 (March 27, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 27 (March 27, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 26 (December 5, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 25 (December 1, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 24 (November 21, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 23 (November 14, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 22 (November 7, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 21 (November 7, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 20 (October 10, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 19 (October 4, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 18 (March 27, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 17 (September 19, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 16 (September 12, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 15 (September 20, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 14 (August 29, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 13 (August 24, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 12 (August 24, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 11 (August 24, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 10 (August 24, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 09 (August 24, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 08 (September 5, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 07 (March 27, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 06 (March 27, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 05 (September 5, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 04 (March 27, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 03 (March 27, 2014)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 02 (November 21, 2013)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 01 (March 27, 2014)