The Sharpening 079: Dr. Michael Heiser and The Unseen Realm

Good stuff as Dr. Heiser explains the Deut. 32 worldview, and discusses the fact that their have been several rebellions by divine beings, and all of these things greatly affect us today, and have an even greater bearing on the events yet to come....

Tonight Dr. Michael Heiser joins us to talk about his new book The Unseen Realm. True to his form, Mike takes us through an important journey of discovery that challenges man-made traditions yet ring biblically true. This is certainly an episode every Christian needs to watch.

Who Were the Magi?

By Chuck Missler
Each year, as we approach the holiday season, our preparations for Christmas include revisiting the events surrounding the birth of Our Lord. Bethlehem, (1) the shepherds, and the angels are familiar to us all. But not much is generally known about the mysterious "Magi" who came to worship the infant Jesus. The following background may be helpful to stimulate conversations around the fireplace as our thoughts turn to this incredible event from which we measure our very calendar.

Traditions

Most of what we associate with the "Magi" is from early church traditions. Most have assumed there were three of them, since they brought three specific gifts (but the Biblical text doesn't number them). They are called "Magi" from the Latinized form of the Greek word magoi, transliterated from the Persian, for a select sect of priests. (Our word "magic" comes from the same root.)

As the years passed, the traditions became increasingly embellished. By the 3rd century they were viewed as kings. By the 6th century they had names: Bithisarea, Melichior, and Gathaspa. Some even associated them with Shem, Ham and Japheth--the three sons of Noah--and thus with Asia, Africa, and Europe. A 141h century Armenian tradition identifies them as Balthasar, King of Arabia; Melchior, King of Persia; and Gasper, King of India.

(Relics attributed to them emerged in the 4th century and were transferred from Constantinople to Milan in the 5th century, and then to Cologne in 1162 where they remain enshrined.)
These are interesting traditions, but what do we really know about them?

Rembrandt: The Adoration of the Magi
The Priesthood of the Medes

.The ancient Magi were a hereditary priesthood of the Medes (known today as the Kurds) credited with profound and extraordinary religious knowledge. After some Magi, who had been attached to the Median court, proved to be expert in the interpretation of dreams, Darius the Great established them over the state religion of Persia. (2) (Contrary to popular belief, the Magi were not originally followers of Zoroaster. (3) That all came later.)

It was in this dual capacity, whereby civil and political counsel was invested with religious authority, that the Magi became the supreme priestly caste of the Persian empire and continued to be prominent during the subsequent Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian periods. (4)

The Role of Daniel

One of the titles given to Daniel was Rab-mag, the Chief of the Magi. (5) His unusual career included being a principal administrator in two world empires--the Babylonian and the subsequent Persian Empire. When Darius appointed him, a Jew, over the previously hereditary Median priesthood, the resulting repercussions led to the plots involving the ordeal of the lion's den. (6)

Daniel apparently entrusted a Messianic vision (to be announced in due time by a "star") to a secret sect of the Magi for its eventual fulfillment. But first let's review some historical background.

Political Background

Since the days of Daniel, the fortunes of both the Persian and the Jewish nation had been closely intertwined. Both nations had, in their turn, fallen under Seleucid domination in the wake of Alexander's conquests. Subsequently, both had regained their independence: the Jews under Maccabean leadership, and the Persians as the dominating ruling group within the Parthian Empire.
It was at this time that the Magi, in their dual priestly and governmental office, composed the upper house of the Council of the Megistanes (from which we get the term "magistrates"), whose duties included the absolute choice and election of the king of the realm.

It was, therefore, a group of Persian--Parthian "king makers" who entered Jerusalem in the latter days of the reign of Herod. Herod's reaction was understandably one of fear when one considers the background of Roman-Parthian rivalry that prevailed during his lifetime.

Rome on the Rise

Pompey, the first Roman conqueror of Jerusalem in 63 B.C., had attacked the Armenian outpost of Parthia. In 55 B.C. Crassus led Roman legions in sacking Jerusalem and in a subsequent attack on Parthia proper. The Romans were decisively defeated at the battle of Carrhae with the loss of 30,000 troops, including their commander. The Parthians counterattacked with a token invasion of Armenia, Syria, and Palestine.

Nominal Roman rule was reestablished under Antipater, the father of Herod, who, in his turn, retreated before another Parthian invasion in 40 B.C.

Mark Antony reestablished Roman sovereignty in 37 B.C. and, like Crassus before him, Also embarked on a similarly ill-fated Parthian expedition. His disastrous retreat was followed by another wave of invading Parthians, which swept all Roman opposition completely out of Palestine (including Herod himself, who fled to Alexandria and then to Rome).

With Parthian collaboration, Jewish sovereignty was restored, and Jerusalem was fortified with a Jewish garrison.

Herod, by this time, had secured from Augustus Caesar the title of "King of the Jews." However, it was not for three years, including a five months' siege by Roman troops, that Herod was able to occupy his own capital city! Herod had thus gained the throne of a rebellious buffer state which was situated between two mighty contending empires. At any time his own subjects might conspire in bringing the Parthians to their aid. At the time of the birth of Christ, Herod may have been close to his final illness. Augustus was also aged, and Rome, since the retirement of Tiberius, was without an experienced military commander. Pro-Parthian Armenia was fomenting revolt against Rome (which was successfully accomplished within two years.)

The Tensions in Parthia

The time was ripe for another Parthian invasion of the buffer provinces, except for the fact that Parthia itself was racked by internal dissension. Phraates IV, the unpopular and aging king, had once been deposed and it was not improbable that the Persian Magi were already involved in the political maneuvering requisite to choosing his successor. It was conceivable that the Magi might be taking advantage of the king's lack of Popularity to further their own interests with the establishment of a new dynasty, which could have been implemented if a sufficiently strong contender could be found.
At this time it was entirely conceivable that the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, culminating in the writings of Daniel, one of their own Magians, was of profound motivating significance. The promise of a divinely imposed world dominion at the hands of a Jewish monarch might be more than acceptable to them. (Their own Persian and Medo-Persian history was studded with Jewish nobles, ministers, and counselors; and in the great Achaemenid days, some of the kings themselves were of Jewish blood.)

The Entourage to Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, the sudden appearance of the Magi, probably traveling in force with all imaginable oriental pomp and accompanied by an adequate cavalry escort to insure their safe penetration of Roman territory, certainly alarmed Herod and the populace of Jerusalem.

It would seem as if these Magi were attempting to perpetrate a border incident which could bring swift reprisal from Parthian armies. Their request of Herod regarding the one who "has been born King of the Jews" (7) was a calculated insult to him, a non--Jew (8) who had contrived and bribed his way into that office.

Consulting his scribes, Herod discovered from the prophecies in the Tanach (the Old Testament) that the Promised One, the Messiah, would be born in Bethlehem. (9) Hiding his concern and expressing sincere interest, Herod requested them to keep him informed.

After finding the babe and presenting their prophetic gifts, the Magi "being warned in a dream" (a form of communication most acceptable to them) departed to their own country, ignoring Herod's request. (Within two years Phraataces, the parricide son of Phraates IV, was duly installed by the Magi as the new ruler of Parthia.)

Daniel's Messianic Role

Living six centuries before the birth of Christ, Daniel certainly received an incredible number of Messianic prophecies. In addition to several overviews of all of Gentile world history, (10) the Angel Gabriel told him the precise day that Jesus would present Himself as King to Jerusalem."

It is interesting that Daniel's founding of a secret sect of the Magi also had a role in having these prominent Gentiles present gifts at the birth of the Jewish Messiah.

The Christmas Gifts

The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were also prophetic, speaking of our Lord's offices of king, priest, and savior. Gold speaks of His kingship; frankincense was a spice used in the priestly duties; and myrrh was an embalming ointment anticipating His death.

In the Millennium, He will also receive the gifts of gold and frankincense;" but no myrrh: His death was once and for all.

What gifts are YOU going to give Him this year? Discuss it with Him.

For a review of other back ground items, see The Christmas Story: What Really Happened, on page 22. Also, for a complete study of one of the most captivating and astonishing books of the Bible, see our Expositional Commentary on the Book of Daniel, on special this month (see page 41).

Notes:
1. For background on Bethlehem, study the Book of Ruth, our briefing package, The Romance of Redemption, or Chuck's Expositional Commentary on Ruth and Esther.
2. Oneiromancy, not astrology, is their key skill mentioned by Herodotus, 1.107,120;VII.19.
3, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7:691.
4. Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, 4:31-34.
5. Daniel 4:9; 5: 11.
6. Daniel Chapter 6.
7. Matthew 2:2.
8. Herod was Idumean (an Edomite), a traditional enemy of Israel.
9. Micah 5:2. (Revealed by Holy Scripture, not astrology.)
10. Daniel 2 and 7. See also, An Empire Reborn? listed on page 23.
11. Daniel 9:24-26. See also, Daniel's 70 Weeks listed on page 23.
12. Isaiah 60:6.

Read more on this topic at - http://www.ldolphin.org/magi.html

Mary, Simeon or Anna - Who First Recognized Jesus as the Messiah

Ben Witherington III     

**This article was originally published in Bible Review. Full citation below.**

Being first to hear doesn’t always mean being first to understand. In Luke’s birth narrative, Mary is the first to be told that Jesus will be the messiah. Luke adds that she “treasures the words” the angel Gabriel speaks to her. But Mary is also puzzled by the divine message; she is “perplexed” when the angel greets her and must “ponder” the meaning of his words (Luke 1:29; see also 2:19). In this, Mary contrasts sharply with Simeon and Anna, two elderly individuals who happen to be in the Temple when Joseph and Mary bring the infant Jesus to Jerusalem for the first time.

According to Luke 2:22–24, “[Joseph and Mary] brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’ [quoting Exodus 13:2, 12]) and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons’ [based on Leviticus 12:2–8].”

At the Temple, the family is approached by a man named Simeon, who has been told by the Holy Spirit that he will not die until he has seen the messiah. (The same Spirit told him to go to the Temple that day, too.) Simeon takes Jesus in his arms and praises God: “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:28–32). Having seen the messiah, Simeon is now prepared to die.

Anna then approaches the Holy Family. She, too, recognizes Jesus as messiah, but she has a very different reaction: “At that moment, she came and began to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). She is 84 years old, according to Luke, and she does not want to die: She wants to proselytize. Like the disciples who will follow her, she is driven to bear witness to what she has seen. Mary was the first to have the good news announced to her, but Anna is the first woman to understand fully and proclaim the good news.

This is because in addition to being a proselytizer, Anna is a “prophetess” (Luke 2:36). In fact, she is the only woman in the New Testament explicitly described as a “prophetess.” She then stands in the line of figures like the judge, military leader and prophetess Deborah and the Jerusalem prophetess Huldah, who, in the days of King Josiah, was asked to verify that an ancient scroll (a form of Deuteronomy) discovered during Temple renovations was indeed the word of God (2 Kings 22).

Unlike Simeon, Anna is not just visiting the Temple for the day; she is there all the time. According to Luke, Anna “never left the Temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37). Perhaps she was part of some sort of order of widows (Luke tells us her husband died after only seven years of marriage) who had specific religious functions in the Temple. She may have been able to undertake this role in the Temple because she was no longer in periodic states of ritual impurity caused by menstruation.

Luke may also have seen Anna as the second witness in or around the Temple needed to validate Jesus’ significance. Deuteronomy 19:15 stresses the importance of having two witnesses to validate an event.



The pairing of Simeon and Anna reflects Luke’s penchant for male-female parallelism when he writes about the recipients of divine blessing and salvation. The story of Jesus’ birth is framed by two such stories—that of Elizabeth and Zechariah in Luke 1 and Anna and Simeon in Luke 2. Interestingly, in both, the woman is portrayed as the more positive example of discipleship. The women are not only more receptive to the message, they are more willing to act upon it, with Elizabeth realizing that her cousin is carrying the messiah and praising God for this blessing and Anna spreading the good news.

Alfred Plummer, in his classic commentary on Luke, suggested that the difference between Anna and Simeon provides a clue to Luke as a salvation historian, a chronicler of the mighty acts of God for his people through the ages. Yes, a messiah has arrived, as Simeon recognizes, but, as the prophetess Anna suggests, a new era, with a new and living voice of prophecy, has at the same time dawned.¹ In this new era, the living voice of God will continue to speak about the messianic one. Anna is the first in a line of prophetic disciples who will speak about Jesus to all who were looking for the redemption of Israel.

Not everyone can be a prophet, however. Mary, for example, does not fully understand what Anna immediately recognizes. And she won’t for several years.

Twelve years after the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the Holy Family returns to Jerusalem and Jesus returns to the Temple, this time by himself. Mary and Joseph search for him frantically for three days. When at last they find him listening to and asking questions of the teachers in the Temple, Mary asks, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” Jesus responds, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But, Luke reports, “they did not understand what he said to them … [but] his mother treasured all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:48–51). The late New Testament scholar Raymond Brown wrote:

“Luke’s idea is that complete acceptance of the word of God, complete understanding of who Jesus is, and complete discipleship is not yet possible. This will come through the ministry of Jesus and particularly through the cross and resurrection.”

---

This article was originally published in Bible Review. All Bible Review articles (1985-2005) are available in the BAS Library, as well as on the Bible Review Archive CD.  Read more at - http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/mary-simeon-or-anna-who-first-recognized-jesus-as-messiah/

Passover - The 7 Feasts of Israel and Jesus - Amazing Revelation

This is an 8 minute stand-alone clip from the full one hour documentary "The Seven Feasts of Israel and Jesus." Watch this film until the end for some suprising and amazing revelations about this very special feast and a unique fulfillment in Jesus. From Stauros Films in conjunction with Ichthus Films. This film is under copyright from Stauros Films. January 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Blood, Life and the Soul - Acts 15 - The Jerusalem Council

Acts 15:1-6 sets the stage for the Jerusalem Council.  Certain men of Judea who were Jews but not Christians (as they did not hold to the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith – see Paul’s defense in Galatians 2) came to the Church of Antioch and began to spread the lie that the men must be circumcised, as prescribed by the Mosaic Law (Genesis 17:10-17), or they could not be saved.   After much dissension, Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem to settle the matter before James and the apostles who were residing there at that time.

In verses 7-12 Peter makes a defense of two key points for the early church.  First, that God had directed the gospel to be preached to the Gentiles as well as the Jews.  The example of Cornelius in Acts 10 verifies this.  Secondly, the gospel of salvation by grace had removed the distinction between Jew and Gentile.  Peter adds the important point that no one in history had been able to bear the burden of the law (vs. 10). 

Once believers place themselves under any element of the Mosaic Law as relevant for their salvation, they have placed themselves under the burden of the whole law, and have made the grace offered by Jesus Christ of no effect. (See Galatians 3:10-13  and 5:1-4)   

It should be added here that the miracles God performed through Paul and Barnabas were of great encouragement and excitement to the believers in Jerusalem.  The power of God is a necessary element in His service. (1 Thessalonians 1:5, 2 Timothy 3:5)

It would be good to note the purpose of Councils had some very good reasoning behind it.  Leaders of the faith as called and appointed in their lives by God were most likely to understand not only the best way to resolve issues relating to living out the Christian faith, but their word would have great authority as the church spread into new regions.  A council of godly leaders may be of great profit to the people of God

Acts 15:13-35 is the summary reasoning and determination of James in particular and the council as a whole.  James first makes the case from scripture that the spreading of the gospel to the Gentiles is in fulfillment of prophecy.  He specifically quotes Amos 9:11-12.

Beginning in verse 19, James refutes the need for circumcision among the Gentiles.  He then asks that new Gentile believers seek to follow four admonitions.  To avoid eating food sacrificed to idols, fornication, eating the blood of animals (or the animal with the blood in it) and from eating animals strangled. 

These things seem like peculiar requests today, but the Lord had forbidden all of these things in the Old Testament for the good of His people.  Let’s be sure to make the distinction here with what James is saying.  He’s not saying these are new commandments, but these are four things that Gentile believers would do well to avoid.

-         Fornication was a problem for Gentile converts because it was often a prescribed practice of pagan worship.  It had become so engrained in Gentile culture that it was a serious problem for new believers.  (Leviticus 18:6-23, 1 Corinthians 5:11, 6:9-10, etc.)

-         Food sacrificed to idols is mentioned because it was also commonly practiced among pagan religions.  Paul voiced concern over this issue because it could cause those weaker in their faith to stumble.  (1 Corinthians 8) It also was commonly used in pagan worship with the intent of encouraging the god or goddess to possess the one submitting the sacrifice.  1 Corinthians 10:20-28 and Revelation 2:12-17 reveal the general sense of this idea.  It was important to avoid eating food sacrificed to devils for reasons of public perception and for spiritual health.

-         The blood of animals and those that had been strangled to death have a similar connection to food sacrificed to devils.  This was forbidden by God going back to Genesis 9:4.  An animal that had been strangled is by definition one that died in its own blood.  As though the creature was “smothered” by its own blood.

There are two reasons for this referring to sinister pagan practices.  One practice of pagan religions was to take the blood of an animal and put it in bowl, offering it as a sacrifice to demons while the animal was consumed.  In this way, the offering was a type of shared communal meal with devils.

Another pagan practice was the belief that by consuming the blood of an animal or man, the one who partakes of the blood gains the power of the life/soul of the animal or man.  This is still practiced today among pagan cultures, especially by those steeped in witchcraft.  The scriptures strongly support the idea that the soul of a man is in the blood.

BLOOD, LIFE AND THE SOUL

The scripture describes man as a tri-partite being.  That is, mankind consists of a body of flesh, a soul and a spirit.  (Job 7:11, Isaiah 26:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 4:12)  It’s clear from the scriptures that spirit is separate from the flesh, yet there must exist some connection between spirit and flesh, that the spirit would remain within a man until death.  It would appear the most likely solution is that the soul is the point of intersection between body and spirit.

The term soul in the New Testament is translated from the Greek word psuche.  Modern English terms like psychology are derived from this word.  Psuche refers to the mind of man, the seat of the will.  It is the place where a person makes choices every day.  It is also the origin of emotional thought and feelings.  The Hebrew word for soul is nephesh.

If the soul is the connection between body and spirit, the soul must also have some place of connection within the human body.  While it would seem logical this place might be the brain or heart, the scriptures tell us something else. 

Leviticus 17:11 states “The life (nephesh) of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls (nephesh); for it is the blood that makes an atonement for your souls (nephesh).”

It is clear from this passage that the Hebrew term nephesh is synonymous for both the life of man and the soul.  Nephesh is the result of what happened when God breathed life into Adam in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:7)

Deuteronomy 12:23 is even more specific.  “Only be sure that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is the life (nephesh), and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.”  Jesus’ parable in Luke 12:16-21 also demonstrates that life and soul are equated as being the same thing.  In the parable psuche is used to refer to the soul of the man who would forfeit his life that night, but soul and life are synonymous in this passage.

So this much is clear from the scripture.  The blood of a person is the life and the soul.  While this may be difficult to comprehend, it is stated quite plainly.  This explains why James felt it important to tell the Gentile converts not to eat the blood of an animal.  To do so was to partake of the soul of the animal that was sacrificed, a practice not just detestable to God in ideal, but one that in some way that is not fully clear to us at this time was detrimental to the souls of men. 

That it was something more than simply an undesired ceremonial issue is evident from the commands of God in Leviticus and Deuteronomy and James and Paul’s statements in the New Testament. 

 

 

 

Why Does God’s Creation Include Death and Suffering?

This is actually an excerpt from chapter 26 of The New Answers Book.  I will share the first part of this chapter on the origin/cause of death and suffering here, and you can follow the link here or at the bottom to read the rest of the chapter.  If you have ever wondered, the Bible has the answer!

by Dr. Tommy Mitchell

Why do bad things happen? Through the ages, human beings have sought to reconcile their understanding of an all-powerful, loving God with the seemingly endless suffering around them.
One prominent example of this struggle is the media mogul Ted Turner. Having lost his faith after his sister died of a painful disease, Turner claimed, “I was taught that God was love and God was powerful, and I couldn’t understand how someone so innocent should be made or allowed to suffer so.”1

Is God responsible for human suffering? Is God cruel, capricious, and vindictive, or is He too weak to prevent suffering? If God truly is sovereign, how can He let someone He loves suffer?

A World of Misery and Death

Each day brings new tragedy. A small child is diagnosed with leukemia and undergoes extensive medical treatment only to die in his mother’s arms. A newlywed couple is killed by a drunk driver as they leave for their honeymoon. A faithful missionary family is attacked and killed by the very people they were ministering to. Thousands are killed in a terrorist attack. Hundreds drown in a tsunami, while scores of others are buried in an earthquake.

How are these things possible if God really loves and cares for us? Is He a God of suffering?
Man’s usual response to tragedy is to blame God, as Charles Darwin did after the death of his beloved daughter Annie.

“Annie’s cruel death destroyed Charles’s tatters of beliefs in a moral, just universe. Later he would say that this period chimed the final death-knell for his Christianity . . . . Charles now took his stand as an unbeliever.”2

Is this the proper response? A correct view of history, found in the Bible, provides the answer.

Was God’s Creation Really “Very Good”?

In the beginning, about 6,000 years ago, God created the universe and everything in it in six actual days. At the end of His creative acts on the sixth day, God “saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

To have been very good, God’s creation must have been without blemish, defect, disease, suffering, or death. There was no “survival of the fittest.” Animals did not prey on each other, and the first two humans, Adam and Eve, did not kill animals for food. The original creation was a beautiful place, full of life and joy in the presence of the Creator.

Both humans and animals were vegetarians at the time of creation. In Genesis 1:29–30 the Lord said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food.”

This passage shows clearly that in God’s very good creation, animals did not eat each other (and thus, there was no animal death), as God gave Adam, Eve, and the animals only plants to eat. (It was was not until after the worldwide Flood of Noah’s Day—1,600 years later—that man was allowed to eat meat, according to Genesis 9:3.)

Because eating a plant can kill it, some people claim that death was part of the original creation. The Bible makes a distinction, though, between plants and animals. This distinction is expressed in the Hebrew word nephesh, which describes an aspect of life attributed only to animals and humans. Nephesh can be translated “breathing creature” or “living creature” (see Genesis 1:20–21, (24)). Plants do not possess this nephesh quality and so cannot die in the scriptural sense.

The original creation was very good. According to Moses in Deuteronomy 32:4, “His work is perfect.” Obviously, things are not like this any longer.

Why Do We Die Now?

If there was no animal or human death when God finished His creation and pronounced it very good, why do we die now? We see death all around us today. Something must have happened to change creation—that something was sin.

With the rebellious actions of one man, death entered God’s creation.

God placed Adam and Eve in a perfect paradise. As their Creator, He had authority over them. In His authority, God gave Adam a rule: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

Sometime after God declared His completed creation “very good” at the end of the sixth day, one of God’s angels, Lucifer, led a rebellion against their Creator.3 Lucifer then took on the form of a serpent and tempted Eve to eat the fruit God had forbidden. Both Adam and Eve ate it. Their actions resulted in the punishment that God had warned them about. God is holy and cannot tolerate sin in His presence. The just Creator righteously kept His promise that punishment would follow their disobedience. With the rebellious actions of one man, death entered God’s creation.

Ashamed and afraid, Adam and Eve tried to escape the consequences of their sin by making coverings of fig leaves. But by themselves, they could not cover what they had done. They needed something else to provide a covering. According to the writer of Hebrews, “Without shedding of blood, there is no remission [of sin]” (9:22). A blood sacrifice was necessary to cover their guilt before God.

To illustrate the horrible consequences of sin, God killed an animal and made coats of skin to cover Adam and Eve. We are not told what type of animal was killed, but perhaps it was something like a lamb to symbolize Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who would shed His own blood to take away our sins.

Genesis 3 also reveals that the ground was cursed. Thorns and thistles were now part of the world. Animals were cursed, the serpent more than the rest. The world was no longer perfect but sin-cursed. Suffering and death now abounded in that once-perfect creation.

What Does All This Have to Do with Me?

If it was Adam’s decision to disobey God that brought sin into the world, why do we all have to suffer punishment?

After Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:20–24), they began to have children. Each child inherited Adam’s sinful nature, and each child rebelled against his or her Creator. Every human is a descendant of Adam and Eve, born with the same problem: a sinful nature.

If we are honest with ourselves, we will realize that Adam is a fair representative for all of us. If a perfect person in a perfect place decided to disobey God’s rules, none of us would have done better. The Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

The sad things that happen around us and to us are reminders that sin has consequences and that the world needs a Savior.

As children of Adam, we all inherit Adam’s sin nature. We have all, at some point, disobeyed a command from the Creator, so we all deserve to die and suffer eternal punishment in hell. We must understand that not one of us is innocent before God. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Not one of us is worthy to stand before the Creator of the universe because we would each bring a sinful, rebellious nature into His presence.

In the beginning, God sustained His creation in its perfect state. The account of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness provides a glimpse of how things might have been in the original creation. The garments of the Israelites did not wear out, nor did their feet swell for the forty years they camped in the desert (Deuteronomy 8:4). God is omnipotent and perfectly capable of sustaining and protecting His creation.

When Adam sinned, however, the Lord cursed the universe. In essence there was a change, and along with that change God began to uphold the creation in a cursed state. Suffering and death entered into His creation. The whole universe now suffers from the effects of sin (Romans 8:22).

The sad things (e.g., the death of a loved one, tsunamis that kill thousands, hurricanes that leave many dead or homeless, etc.) that happen around us and to us are reminders that sin has consequences and that the world needs a Savior.

God took pleasure in all of His creation (Revelation 4:11), but He loved people most of all. He uses the deterioration of the created universe to show us the consequences of our sin. If we did not experience the consequences of our rebellion against the Creator, we would never understand that we need salvation from our sin, and we would never receive His offer of mercy for our sin.
Most people easily recognize that there is a problem in the world. We need to realize that there is One who has overcome this problem of death and suffering—Jesus Christ.

Read the rest of this article at - https://answersingenesis.org/suffering/why-does-gods-creation-include-death-and-suffering/?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=featured-slider&utm_campaign=why-does-gods-creation-include-death-and-suffering

 

No Book Like the Bible

By John Piper


We believe the most effective way to make everyone everywhere truly, deeply, lastingly happy is to teach them to meet God in his word.

This September, John Piper will be launching an initiative inspired by the legacy he wants to leave. Look at the Book is a new online method of teaching the Bible. It’s an ongoing series of 5–10 minute videos in which the camera is on the text, not the teacher. You will hear John’s voice and watch his pen underline, circle, make connections, and scribble notes — all to help you learn to read God’s word for yourself. His goal is to help you not only see what he sees, but where he sees it and how he found it.
 

Our National Conference, this September 26–28, here in Minneapolis, will be the twelfth and final fall conference as we have known them. We are calling it Look at the Book: Reading the Bible for Yourself. John will do five sessions, modeling Look at the Book from Romans 8 and unfolding the biblical foundations and fruit of seeing the Bible in this way. Jerry Bridges, Nancy Guthrie, Ben Stuart, and others have agreed to come and speak on topics related to personal Bible reading.
We’re excited to see how God might use Look at the Book to inspire and equip people all over the world. Would you prayerfully consider investing in our new initiative? We want to make this ministry — and all of our 10,000+ resources — available free of charge. God does that again and again through the prayers and financial support of friends like you. Gifts can be made online.\

Find out more at - http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/no-book-like-the-bible