Genesis 7:7 - So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the floodwaters.[1]
 
Genesis 9:28-29 - Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.[2]
 

• Genesis 10 – Genealogy of Noah’s sons (Shem Ham & Japheth)

 

• Tower of Babylon – Genesis 11:1-9
• From Noah to Abraham

1. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Genesis 5:32).
2. Shem was one of Noah's sons; his lineage is traced in Genesis 11.
3. Arphaxad was Shem's son (Genesis 11:10-11).
4. Shelah was Arphaxad's son (Genesis 11:12).
5. Eber was Shelah's son (Genesis 11:14).
6. Peleg was Eber's son (Genesis 11:16).
7. Reu was Peleg's son (Genesis 11:18).
8. Serug was Reu's son (Genesis 11:20).
9. Nahor was Serug's son (Genesis 11:22).
10. Terah was Nahor's son (Genesis 11:24).
11. Abram (later named Abraham) was Terah's son (Genesis 11:26).

 

• The Bible does not provide specific details about the origin of different skin colors.
• However, it does emphasize that all humans are descended from a common ancestry, starting with Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:27) and later through Noah and his family after the flood (Genesis 9:19).
• The diversity in skin color and other physical traits can be understood as part of the genetic variation that God built into humanity.
• From a biblical perspective, the dispersion of people groups at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) is a significant event that led to the spread of humanity across the earth.
• As people migrated and settled in different regions, they adapted to various environmental conditions.
• Over time, genetic variations, including those affecting skin color, became more pronounced in different populations.

 
THE CALL OF ABRAM
GENESIS 12
1 The Lord said to Abram:
Go from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there, and he called on the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev. [3]

• Genesis 12:10-20 – Famine in the land
• Abram & Sarah went to Egypt
• Abram said Sarah was his sister
• Pharoah was pleased with Sarah and gave Abram food, livestock, silver & gold.
• Severe plagues came upon Pharoah and men.
• Pharoah confronted Abram about lying and sent him away… back to Canaan.

 

• Genesis 13 – Abram and Lot (nephew) had so much wealth between them, they began to argue.
• Lot took his stuff to Jordan and settled in Sodom.

 

• Genesis 14:1-16 – 5 kings of the north battled with 4 kings of the south.
• Lot ended up being captured and taken to the north
• Abram took his 318 trained men (Born in his household) and went and rescued Lot… his wife… and all the other people… and their stuff… and brought them back to their land.

 
MELCHIZEDEK’S BLESSING
Genesis 14:17-24 - After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer (ka-door-la-o-meer) and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said:
Abram is blessed by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth,
20 and blessed be God Most High
who has handed over your enemies to you.
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.” [4]
 
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
GENESIS 15:1-6
1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield;
your reward will be very great.
2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”
4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.[5]
HAGAR AND ISHMAEL
GENESIS 16
1 Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So Abram’s wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.”
6 Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”
9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” 10 The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”
11 The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction. 12 This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will settle near all his relatives.”
13 So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,” for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the one who sees me?” 14 That is why the well is called Beer-lahai-roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son (whom Hagar bore) Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.[6]

COVENANT CIRCUMCISION
GENESIS 17
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless. 2 I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”
3 Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: 4 “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. 7 I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. 8 And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.”
9 God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant. 10 This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised. 11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 Throughout your generations, every male among you is to be circumcised at eight days old—every male born in your household or purchased from any foreigner and not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or purchased, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant. 14 If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah will be her name. 16 I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” 18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to you!”
19 But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will confirm my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.” 22 When he finished talking with him, God withdrew from Abraham.
23 So Abraham took his son Ishmael and those born in his household or purchased—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. 26 On that very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his household—whether born in his household or purchased from a foreigner—were circumcised with him. [7]
 
CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART
ROMANS 2 (NLT)
28 For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.[8]

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 7:7.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 9:28–29.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 12:1–9.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 14:17–24.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 15:1–6.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 16:1–16.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 17:1–27.
[8] Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Ro 2:28–29.

THE FLOOD RECEDES
GENESIS 8
1 God remembered Noah,

• - When Moses wrote that "God remembered" someone, in this case Noah, he meant that God extended mercy to him or her by delivering that person from death or destruction.
• God's rescue of Noah foreshadows His deliverance of Israel in the Exodus.

as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water began to subside. 2 The sources of the watery depths and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky stopped. 3 The water steadily receded from the earth, and by the end of 150 days the water had decreased significantly. 4 The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.

• This verse does not specify a peak and refers generally to its location as the 'mountains of Ararat.
• The search for the ark's artifacts has been both a medieval and a modern occupation; but to the skeptic such evidence is not convincing, and to the believer, while not irrelevant, it is not necessary to faith.
• Modern Mt. Ararat lies on the border between Turkey and Armenia, near the center of the ancient world.
• From this general region Noah's descendants spread out over the earth.

5 The water continued to recede until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible. 6 After forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, 7 and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down, 9 but the dove found no resting place for its foot. It returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought it into the ark to himself.

• The raven in seeking food settles upon every carcass it sees, whereas the dove will only settle on what is dry and clean.
• The dove which is a light-colored, clean animal (Lev. 1:14; 12:6; et al.), in contrast to dark-colored, unclean animals (Lev. 11:15; Deut. 14:14), returns to its home when it finds no place to land.

10 So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again. 11 When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth’s surface had gone down.

• The olive tree will put out leaves even under water.

12 After he had waited another seven days, he sent out the dove, but it did not return to him again. 13 In the six hundred first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry.
 
THE LORD’S PROMISE
15 Then God spoke to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the earth—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

• There are many interesting thematic parallels between God calling Noah out of the ark, and God later calling Abraham out of Ur (cf. 8:15 and 12:1; 8:16 and 12:1; 8:18 and 12:4; 8:20 and 12:7; 9:1 and 12:2; 9:9 and 12:7).
• Both Noah and Abraham represent new beginnings in the course of events recorded in Genesis.
• Both are marked by God's promise of blessing and his gift of the covenant.

18 So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out. 19 All the animals, all the creatures that crawl, and all the flying creatures—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark by their families.

• These verses may seem like needless repetition to the modern reader, but they underline Noah's obedience to God's words, which Moses stressed in the entire Flood narrative.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.

• Noah's "altar" is the first altar mentioned in the Bible.
• His "burnt offerings" were for worship.
• Some of the burnt offerings in the Mosaic cultus (system of worship) were for the same purpose.
• Specifically, a burnt offering made atonement and expressed the offerer's complete personal devotion to God (cf. Lev. 1; Rom. 12:1-2).
• As the head of the new humanity, Noah, with his sacrifice, represented all humankind.
• To sacrifice seems as 'natural' to man as to pray; the one indicates what he feels about himself, the other what he feels about God.
• The one means a felt need of propitiation [a felt need to satisfy God]; the other a felt sense of dependence."

22 As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, and day and night
will not cease.”

• God's promise in this verse guarantees a certain degree of reliability in earth's climate system.
• There are good theological and scientific reasons to think Earth's climate is stable and global warming alarmism is unwarranted.
• Climate alarmism is distracting people—both Christians and non-Christians—from much weightier issues.
• Biblical religion explained that the seasonal cycle was the consequence of Yahweh's pronouncement and, moreover, evidence of a divine dominion that transcends the elements of the earth.
• There is no place for Mother-earth in biblical ideology.
• Earth owes its powers (not her powers!) to the divine command.

 
GOD’S COVENANT WITH NOAH
9 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

• At this new beginning of the human family God again commanded Noah and his sons to "fill the earth" with their descendants.
• God established human life anew on the earth, showing His high regard for it.

2 The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority.

• The phrases "The fear of you" and "the terror of you" express the same idea.
• Evidently at this point animals began to have a greater fear of human beings than they had previously.
• The exceeding sinfulness of mankind that resulted in the Flood did not wipe out God's original commands regarding human reproduction and dominion.

3 Every creature that lives and moves will be food for you; as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything.

• God gave Noah permission to eat animals.
• Until now evidently people had eaten only plants.
• Now humanity received the power of life and death over the animal kingdom ("I have given everything to you").
• Whether or not early man could eat meat by permission from the beginning, now it is stated formally in the Noahic covenant."
• Until the Mosaic Law, God made no distinction between clean and unclean animals with regard to human consumption.
• Under the Mosaic Law, the Israelites could not eat certain foods.
• Under the Law of Christ (Gal. 6:2), we may again eat any foods (Rom. 14:14; 1 Tim. 4:3).
• These changes illustrate the fact that God has changed some of the rules, for human conduct at various strategic times in history.
• These changes are significant features that help us identify the various dispensations (economies) by which God has ruled historically.

4 However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it.

• As with Adam, He also gave them dominion over the animals and permission to eat any animal or "moving thing" for food, with only one prohibition: the animal's blood.
• God did prohibit the eating of animal "blood" in order to instill respect for the sacredness of life, since blood is a symbol of life, and it is the life-giving fluid (cf. Lev. 3:17; 7:2-27; 19:26; Deut. 12:1-24; 1 Sam. 14:32-34; Acts 15:20, 29).
• Visited with Sam’s grandparents on Monday Night and Frank said, “There is definitely life in the blood.”
• This was after his recent blood transfusion.
• "The implication [of New Testament references to eating blood] seems very clear that we are still to respect the sanctify of the blood, since God has appointed it to be a symbol of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
• Therefore it is not to be consumed by any believer who wishes to be obedient to Scripture."
• During my years of seminary teaching I had the privilege of ministering to many students from Africa.
• Some of them asked me about this prohibition against eating blood, because in their tribal cultures eating solidified blood was practiced.
• Since Jesus declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19), and Paul taught that all foods are acceptable for the Christian (Rom. 14:20; 1 Cor. 8:8; cf. Acts 10:13), I told them that I thought eating blood was all right, unless it was part of a pagan ceremony.
  In that case participation would probably imply approval of the paganism (cf. 1 Cor. 10:14-33).
• God not only reasserted the cultural mandate to reproduce, and subdue the earth, and modified the food law, but He also reasserted the sanctity of human life (cf. ch. 4).

5 And I will require a penalty for your lifeblood; I will require it from any animal and from any human; if someone murders a fellow human, I will require that person’s life.
6 Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans his blood will be shed,
for God made humans in his image.
7 But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.”

• The reason for capital punishment for murder is that God made man in His own image.
• This is one reason, therefore, that murder is so serious.
• A person extinguishes a revelation of God—which God takes very personally when he or she murders someone.
• Before the Flood, the lack of capital punishment led to bloody vendettas. – Genesis 4:23-24 - 23 Lamech said to his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words. For I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. 24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times over, then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times! [1]
• The Mosaic Law prescribed the death penalty for several other crimes, in addition to murder: working on the sabbath (Exod. 35:2), cursing father or mother (Lev. 20:9), adultery (Lev. 20:10), incest (Lev. 20:11-12), sodomy (Lev. 20:13, 15-16), false prophesying (Deut. 13:1-10), Idolatry (Deut. 17:2-7), incorrigible juvenile delinquency (Deut. 21:18-21), rape (Deut. 22:25), keeping an ox that had killed a human being (Exod. 21:29), kidnapping (Exod. 21:16), and intrusion of an alien into a sacred place or office (Num. 1:51; 3:10, 38; 17:7). These punishments ended with the end of the Mosaic Law, but the punishment for murder continued, since it antedated the Mosaic Law.
• This command laid the foundation for all civil government.
• The human government and the governors that existed previously—as in the city which Cain established (4:17), or in the case of the mighty men (6:4)—existed solely on human authority. Now, however, divine authority was conferred on human government to exercise oversight over those who lived under its jurisdiction.
• Sometimes those who argue against capital punishment, today, appeal to Jesus' statement in the Sermon on the Mount: "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I say to you, do not show opposition against an evil person" (Matt. 5:38-39).
• Jesus was not cancelling God's command to execute murderers when He said this, but was teaching self-restraint and non-retaliation in interpersonal conflicts, as is clear from the context.
• These verses introduce the another dispensation, the dispensation of Human Government.
• When Noah and his family stepped out of the ark to begin life on earth anew, God laid down new rules for humanity, including a new test.
• Previously no one had the right to take another human life (cf. 4:10-11, 14-15, 23-24). Now, though man's direct moral responsibility to God continued, God delegated to man certain areas of His authority, including capital punishment (the death penalty for a crime).
• God now specified that human beings were to practice capital punishment in order to safeguard the sanctity of human life.

8 Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, 9 “Understand that I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. 11 I establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

• The Noahic Covenant was a treaty that God made with humankind through Noah.
• In it He promised to "never again" destroy all flesh with "the waters of a flood.

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: 13 I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature. 16 The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the permanent covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and every creature on earth.” [2]

• The sign that God appointed to remind people of this promise, and to guarantee it, was the rainbow.
• There may have been rainbows before this pronouncement, but now God attached significance to the rainbow.
• In later years God gave other signs in connection with other covenants: physical circumcision with the Abrahamic Covenant, Sabbath observance with the Mosaic Covenant, and the Lord's Supper with the New Covenant.
• The rainbow arcs like a battle bow hung against the clouds.
• The Hebrew word for rainbow, qeset, is also the word for a battle bow.
• The bow is now 'put away,' hung in place by the clouds, suggesting that the 'battle,' the storm, is over.
• Thus the rainbow speaks of peace.
• This covenant would remain for "all future generations”.
• People have no responsibility to guarantee the perpetuity of this covenant.
• God will do all that He promised (v. 9).
• Observe the recurrence of "I," "Myself," and "My" in these verses.
• God was making His promise—to all living creatures for all time going forward—very personal.
• Note that He said that the rainbow would remind Him of His promise; it was primarily a reminder to God and secondarily to human beings.
• Finally, this covenant is unconditional (v. 9), universal (v. 11), and everlasting (v. 12).
• The covenant with Noah [6:18; 9:9-16] is entirely unconditional rather than a conditional covenant, as in the situation in Eden.
• The certainty of the fulfillment of the covenant with Noah rested entirely with God and not with Noah.

God promised not to judge humanity again with a universal flood of water (8:21; 9:11-16).

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 4:23–24.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 8:1–9:17.

8 Biblical Covenants

1. Edenic Covenant - Conditional
2. Adamic Covenant
3. Noahic Covenant
4. Abrahamic Covenant* (with Israel)
5. Mosaic Covenant - Conditional (with Israel)
6. Land (Palestinic)Covenant* (with Israel)
7. Davidic Covenant* (with Israel)
8. New Covenant* (with Israel)
   ​
   

Genesis 3:15 - I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. [1]
The Old Testament prophesied about the coming of the Messiah. There were several clues that God had given his prophets over hundreds of years about who and when the Messiah would be. God brought these things to pass in Jesus.

The ancient rabbis had a theory about the Messiah and grouped miracles into messianic and non-messianic miracles. The messianic miracles were a list of miracles that could only be performed by the Messiah. Their reasoning meant to them that the person doing these miracles would be the promised Messiah.

What were these miracles?
1) Healing a Leper.
2) Casting out a dumb demon.
3) Healing a man born blind.

The healing of a leper miracle was reasoned because it had never happened to a Jew since the episode with Miriam. Further the Mosaic Law prescribed the law for investigating healing and ceremonial requirement for one who was healed but not a method for healing.

The healing of a man born blind was also because it had not been known to happen and it was reasoned that the Messiah would be able to do this.

The casting out of a dumb demon came about because of the rabbinical methodology for dealing with demons. They would start a conversation with the demon, get the demon to name himself, then cast the demon out with the use of his name. Obviously this would not work with a mute demon—one that would not speak and dumb he possessed person.

The 4 Gospels make up 46% of the New Testament
- A.T. Robertson’s Book – “A Harmony of the Gospels”
          - $16.50
- Thomas & Gundry – “A Harmony of the Gospels”
         (NAS) - $21.59
Mathew – Tax collector & disciple of Jesus
         Date: 58-62 AD
         Audience: Jews
         Location: Antioch
         Portrays Jesus as: King of Jews

Mark – John Mark that traveled with Paul
         Date: 58-62 AD
         Audience: Romans
         Location: Rome
         Portrays Jesus as: The Servant of Jehovah
Luke – Physician & traveler with Paul (wrote Acts)
         Written in chronological order.
         Date: 60-63 AD
         Audience: Greeks/Gentile/Theophilis
         Location: Rome
         Portrays Jesus as: The Son of Man

John – written while exile in Patmos
         Date: 80-90 AD
         Audience: Jews
         Portrays Jesus as: Jesus, the Son of God
         - John wrote more about what Jesus said and who
         He is, unlike the other Gospels who wrote about
         what Jesus did.

John 1:1-18 – John’s Testimony
1 In the beginning was the Word (logos),
and the Word was with God (distinct from God),
and the Word was God.
 - Jewish Rabbais believed that the Word was distinct from God but at times was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
 - Personified as a person.
 - Just as the Jewish Rabbais have been teaching for years.
3 All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.
6 There was a man named John who was sent from God. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. 9 The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him.
11 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.
12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
14 The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning Him and exclaimed, “This was the One of whom I said, ‘The One coming after me has surpassed me, because He existed before me.’ ”) 16 Indeed, we have all received grace after grace from His fullness, 17 for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son — the One who is at the Father’s side — He has revealed Him. [2]

Luke 1 – Birth of John the Baptist
Luke 2 – Birth of Jesus (the Christmas Story)
                 - Joseph & Mary are from Nazareth
                 - Jesus born in Bethlehem
                 - Matthew 2 – Escape to Egypt
                 - After Herod died – Returned to Nazareth
                          (This is a fulfillment of prophecy)
                 - Jesus’ family traveled to Jerusalem
                          annually for Passover Festival (69
                          miles one way… from Pinheads to a
                          little past Columbus, IN)
                 Luke 2:52 – And Jesus increased in wisdom
                          and stature, and in favor with God
                          and with people.
Luke 3 – John the Baptists ministry, Jesus baptized &
                 genealogy of Jesus.
         Luke 3:23 – As he began His ministry, Jesus was
                 ABOUT 30 years old…

John the Baptist identifies publicly who Jesus is:
                 -John 1:29-34 - The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! [30] This is the One I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who has surpassed me, because He existed before me.’ [31] I didn't know Him, but I came baptizing with water so He might be revealed to Israel.”
[32] And John testified, “I watched the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He rested on Him. [33] I didn't know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One you see the Spirit descending and resting on—He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ [34] I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!”

This week:
         Luke 1-3
         John 1
Next week:
         Matthew 1:1-17; 4:1-11
         Mark 1:12-13
         Luke 3:23 - 4:13

[1] The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2009 (Ge 3:15). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jn 1:1–18). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.