Notes

A Word from the Author

1. Be Basic is the first volume in the “BE” series covering Genesis. See also Be Obedient (Gen. 12—25) and Be Authentic (Gen. 25—50).

2. That Moses could write (Acts 7:22) and kept a record of important events is stated in Exodus 17:14; 24:4; Numbers 33:1–2; Deuteronomy 31:9; and Joshua 1:8. Both Scripture and Jewish tradition point to Moses as the author of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament (Josh. 8:31; 23:6; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chron. 25:4; 35:12; Ezra 6:18; Neh. 8:1; 13:1). When Jesus referred to or quoted from the Pentateuch, He connected these books with Moses (Matt. 19:8; Mark 10:3; Luke 20:37; John 5:45–46).

Chapter One

1. It’s doubtful that the ancient theologians ever asked this particular question, but the topic isn’t totally irrelevant. Angels are spirits and have no physical bodies, except temporarily when sent on special missions; so how do they occupy space? Thomas Aquinas discussed the matter in his Summa Theologica, so the question is important.

2. A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1961), 39.

3. Of course, every human being will exist forever, either in heaven or hell, but as far as this world is concerned, we’re all strangers and pilgrims only passing through.

4. “Lonely” doesn’t suggest that God needed friends. The word means “solitary.”

5. A. W. Tozer, The Christian Book of Mystical Verse (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1963), 7.

6. In our day, “process theology” grew out of the teachings of the British philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947), and his disciple Charles Hartshorne gave it wide exposure. Process theology was popularized by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner in his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Kushner claimed that God was too weak now to do anything about cancer, war, and the tragedies of life; but as we trust Him and do good, we strengthen Him to do better. For the evangelical point of view, see Process Theology edited by Ronald H. Nash (Baker Book House, 1987), and my book Why Us? When Bad Things Happen to God’s People (Fleming H. Revell, 1984).

7. The conjunction “and” in the Christian baptismal formula is important, for it shows the equality of the Persons of the Godhead.

8. The doctrine of divine election is not an excuse to not share the gospel with others. The same God who ordained the end—the salvation of the lost—has also ordained the means to the end, which is the witness of His people and their prayers for success for His Word. God chooses people to salvation and then calls them by His gospel (2 Thess. 2:13–14). The two go together. We don’t know who the elect are, and we have been ordered to take the gospel to the whole world (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8).

9. Dr. H. A. Ironside, for eighteen years pastor of Chicago’s Moody Church, used to illustrate this truth by describing a door, over which hung a sign that read, “Whosoever will may come.” Believing that, you walked through the door and were saved. Then you looked back and read another sign hanging over the inside of the door: “Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.”

10. These chapter divisions are arbitrary since there is an overlapping of generations in the narratives as there always is in human history. Technically, the “generations of Jacob” begins at 37:2, but Jacob’s story starts much earlier and moves Isaac into the background. There is no section labeled “the generations of Joseph” since Joseph is a part of the Jacob narrative which closes the book of Genesis.

11. See Morgan’s The Analyzed Bible and Living Messages of the Books of the Bible, both published by Fleming H. Revell.

Chapter Two

1. Richard M. Nixon, In the Arena (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990), 206.

2. John describes seven days in the life of Jesus (John 1:19–28, 29–34, 35–42, 43–51; 2:1), obviously a parallel to Genesis 1. Moses wrote of the old creation but John of the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).

3. The Hebrew word bara means “to initiate something new, to bring into existence.” It’s used in the creation account to describe the creation of sea creatures and fowl (Gen. 1:21), the creation of man and woman (v. 27), and the whole work of creation (1; 2:3–4).

4. The “gap theory,” stated in G. H. Pember’s book, Earth’s Earliest Ages, and popularized by the Scofield Reference Bible, affirms that the original creation of Genesis 1:1 was judged when Satan fell, and that verses 3ff. describe a remaking of the ruined creation. Verse 2 should read, “And the earth became without form and void.” Hence, there was a “gap” of unknown duration between the first two verses of Genesis. But why would God ruin the whole creation just because of Satan’s rebellion? And if He created it instantly, why would He take six days to restore it? There are capable defenders of both views, and they all claim that the Hebrew text is on their side. To me, it appears that verses 3ff. are describing God’s original acts of creation and that we don’t have to put a “gap” between verse 1 and verse 2 in order to solve any problems.

5. The image in verse 2 is that of the eagle hovering over its young (Deut. 32:11). In both the Hebrew (ruah) and the Greek (pneuma), the word for “Spirit” also means “wind” (see John 3:8), so the verse could be translated “and God’s wind swept across the waters.” However, “Spirit” seems to be the logical translation.

6. “Without form, and void” is the Hebrew phrase tohu wabohu, which describes utter waste, vanity, and ruin. Jeremiah borrowed the image to describe God’s judgment of the land of Judah (Jer. 4:23), and Isaiah used it to describe the ruin of Edom.

7. Some commentators believe that God’s work on the fourth day was not to create the luminaries but to assign them their tasks. However, the description in Genesis 1:14–19 parallels that of the other five days and gives every evidence of explaining the creative act of God.

8. When speaking of a twenty-four hour day, the Jewish people said “evening and morning” rather than “morning and evening,” because their days started with sunset, not sunrise. Thus, sunset on Thursday evening ushered in Friday, and sunset on Friday ushered in the Sabbath day.

9. People who depend on their astrological charts for guidance are following ancient pagan customs that are useless. There’s no evidence that the position of the heavenly bodies has any influence on human life on earth. The Bible condemns all human attempts to foresee or control the future (Deut. 18:10–13; Isa. 47:13; Jer. 10:2). The statement that the sun and moon “rule over” the day and night respectively doesn’t mean that they exert special influence on the affairs of people but that day and night are their spheres of operation. According to the rotation of the earth, its orbit around the sun, and the moon’s orbit around the earth, the sun and moon govern how much light there will be on earth.

10. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature (Boston: Beacon Press, 1985), 9–10.

11. Even though many animals are stronger than we are and live longer than we do, God has given humans dominion over the animals. However, this doesn’t mean we can abuse animal life and do whatever we please with God’s creatures (Jer. 27:5). While animals have been given to serve us, we must treat them as creatures made by God. “A righteous man regards the life of his animal” (Prov. 12:10 NKJV). “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” (Deut. 25:4 NIV). God takes care of the animals (Ps. 36:6; 104:10–18; Matt. 6:26) and knows when they suffer (Joel 1:18–20; 2:22; Jonah 4:11). Even the way we treat helpless birds is a concern to God (Deut. 22:6–7). Those who abuse and exploit God’s creation will one day be judged (Rev. 11:18).

12. You have a similar “dialogue” recorded in Genesis 3:22; 11:7, and see Isaiah 6:8.

13. As we have seen, the Hebrew word ruah means “breath” and “spirit” (or Spirit). The breath of God brought life to Adam just as the Spirit of God brings eternal life to the sinner who believes on Christ (John 3:7–8; 20:22).

14. Dominion over the earth and its creatures may have been the privilege Lucifer wanted when he rebelled against God and led some of the angels in revolt against the Lord. Isaiah 14:12–17 speaks primarily about the fall of the king of Babylon, but behind this mysterious passage lurks the image of “the son of the morning,” the angel who wanted to be as God and promised to make Eve like God (Gen. 3:5).

Chapter Three

1. In Scripture, the number seven often stands for fullness and completion. According to Leviticus 23, the Hebrew calendar was built on a series of sevens. The seventh day of the week was the Sabbath, and Pentecost occurred seven weeks after the Feast of Firstfruits. During the seventh month, the Jews celebrated the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Each seventh year was a Sabbatical Year and the fiftieth year was the Year of Jubilee.

2. The Hebrew word qadas means “to set apart, to make holy” and can be applied to people (Ex. 13:2; 19:14), inanimate objects (29:36–37, 44), events such as fasts (Joel 1:14) and wars (Jer. 6:4 where “prepare” is qada), and even the name of God (Ezek. 36:23). That which God sanctifies must never be treated as something common.

3. Our English word “covenant” comes from two Latin words that mean “to come together.” A lease on a house enables two parties to come together in a business arrangement. The marriage vows, authorized by a marriage license, enable a man and woman to live together as husband and wife. Without such agreements, society would fall apart.

4. The Tree of Life is a repeated image in Proverbs (3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4) and also in the book of Revelation (2:7; 22:2, 14, 19). The Tree of Life is found in the heavenly “garden city” providing sustenance and healing.

5. In Matthew 19:10–12, Jesus made it clear that not everybody is supposed to be married, although most people expect to be married and probably want to be married. Singleness is not a curse. God gives people different gifts (1 Cor. 7:7) and calls people to tasks commensurate with their gifts. In the church, neither gender nor marital status determine spirituality or fellowship (Gal. 4:26–29).

6. The Song of Songs magnifies the enjoyment of married love and says nothing about conception or children. In ancient Jewish society, it was considered a disgrace not to have children, yet many fine marriages were not blessed with offspring, and such is the case today.

7. The Hebrew says, “She shall be called ishsha because she was taken out of ish.” Scholars aren’t agreed on the significance of ishsha as derived from ish. Perhaps it’s a parallel to the words adam (man) and adama (ground) in 2:7 and 3:19. Man was made out of the ground; woman was made out of man.

Chapter Four

1. In Psalm 139, after David ponders his being made by God in the womb, he immediately mentions the Word of God (vv. 17–18).

Chapter Five

1. While Satan is certainly at work throughout biblical history, in the Old Testament, he makes four special “personal appearances”: to tempt Eve (Gen. 3); to get permission to attack Job (Job 1—2); to tempt David (2 Sam. 24; 1 Chron. 21); and to accuse Joshua the high priest (Zech. 3). For a study of these four passages and what they mean to the church today, see my book The Strategy of Satan (Tyndale House). Other books that can help you better understand Satan and his wiles are: The Voice of the Devil by G. Campbell Morgan (Baker reprint); I Believe in Satan’s Downfall by Michael Green (Eerdmans); Satan: His Motives and Methods by Lewis Sperry Chafer (Zondervan); Your Adversary the Devil by J. Dwight Pentecost (Zondervan); The Invisible War by Donald Grey Barnhouse (Zondervan); and The Adversary by Mark Bubeck (Moody Press).

2. Samuel Butler, The Note Books of Samuel Butler, edited by Henry F. Jones (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1921), 217.

3. Charles Neider, ed., The Complete Essays of Mark Twain (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1963), 237. Like Butler, Twain says, “We have none but the evidence for the prosecution, and yet we have rendered the verdict.”

4. Many students believe that the fall of Satan (Lucifer) lies behind the “taunt song” description of the defeat of the king of Babylon found in Isaiah 14:12–17. John Milton took this view (and embellished it) when he wrote “Paradise Lost.”

5. In Genesis 3:1–5, both Satan and Eve use plural pronouns, suggesting that Adam may have been present but said nothing. However, it’s likely that these plural pronouns simply mean that Satan and Eve included Adam because he was the one to whom God originally gave the prohibition about the trees (2:15–17). God used singular pronouns when speaking to Adam, so Eve was told the divine commandment by her husband.

6. Many people who claim to have had “out-of-body” experiences report that they felt no fear because they saw “a bright light at the end of the dark tunnel.” Assuming that this light was the presence of God in heaven, they had confidence that they were ready to meet God. But Satan the imitator knows how to produce light and imitate the very angels of God.

7. Eve’s innocent response to the words of a talking animal is another argument for the absence of Adam, or else we have to believe that humans and animals were able to communicate in Eden. Since Adam had named all the animals, he would have known the nature of the serpent, that it couldn’t speak. Adam has been blamed for not being with his wife, but he had work to do and the garden was probably large. As for Adam’s “guarding” the garden, Genesis 2:15 speaks of working and taking care of the garden (NIV). The Hebrew word translated “dress” in the KJV and “take care of” in the NIV can also mean “to watch, to guard” and is translated that way in 3:24 (NIV, NKJV). But since God had pronounced the serpent “good,” what reason would Adam have for thinking it was a part of a wicked plan and that his wife was in danger? Without the advantage of hindsight, what would we have done had we been in his place?

8. If Isaiah 14:12–15 is a description of the fall of Satan, then the statement “I will be like the most High” (v. 14) reveals the hidden agenda behind Satan’s revolt: He wanted to be like God. He failed in reaching this goal, so now he passes the desire along to Eve in the form of a promise. Satan desires the worship and service that belong only to the Lord God (Matt. 4:8–10).

9. It’s interesting to contrast Genesis 3:8 (“the cool of the day”) and 18:1 (“the heat of the day”). God’s visit in the garden was to call man to forgiveness, but His visit to Abraham was to announce, among other things, the destruction of the wicked cities of the plain.

10. Note three interesting questions that God asks in Genesis: “Where are you?” (3:9 NIV) “Where is your brother?” (4:9 NIV) and “Where is your wife?” (18:9 NIV)

11. The Greek preface anti means both “instead of Christ” (i.e., a false Christ) and “against Christ.” There were “antichrists” (false teachers) opposing the church in the first century (1 John 2:18–29), and they are still with us. The test of false teachers is what they teach about the person and work of Jesus Christ.

12. The Hebrew phrase in Genesis 2:17 (NIV) is “dying you will die,” which means “you will surely die.” But it suggests both a crisis and a process. To die means to be separated from God, which is what happened to our first parents the instant they sinned. But death also means the separation of the spirit from the body (James 2:26), and the process of dying began with their disobedience and ended years later when they expired. Because of the law of sin and death, life has always been a constant battle to conquer death.

13. The first Adam was a thief and was cast out of paradise. The Last Adam, while hanging on the cross, said to a thief, “[T]oday, you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43 NKJV).

Chapter Six

1. As You Like It, Act 2, scene 7, lines 139–142.

2. It’s often been said that if you aren’t a child of God, you’re automatically a child of the Devil, but I question that evangelical cliché. Ephesians 2:1–3 teaches that we’re born by nature the “children of wrath,” and that by choice we become the “children of disobedience.” If we reject Christ’s righteousness and depend on our own self-righteousness, then we become “children of the devil.” See the discussion of Genesis 3:15 in chapter 5, section 5.

3. You find this sequence in 1 John 1:6, 8, and 10.

4. Righteous Abel (Matt. 23:35) speaks to God’s people today both by his sacrifices (Heb. 11:4) and by his shed blood (Heb. 12:24). In the latter passage, the writer contrasts the blood of Christ and the blood of Abel. The blood of Abel speaks from the earth, but Christ’s blood speaks from heaven. Abel’s blood cries out for justice, but Christ’s blood speaks of justice satisfied on the cross. Abel’s blood declared Cain’s guilt and made him a wanderer, but Christ’s blood speaks of grace and forgiveness and reconciles believing sinners to God.

5. The plaque outside “The Chamber of Destruction” holocaust museum on Mount Zion in Jerusalem reads, “Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out!”

6. We don’t know how many people were alive on earth at this time, although we’re told that Adam “begat sons and daughters” (Gen. 5:4). Sin had not yet taken its toll in the human body or in the natural world, so people lived longer and probably were more prolific.

7. We must not imagine that Cain’s “city” was like our modern cities. It was a settlement of people for mutual help and protection. Some would live in tents and others in more permanent dwellings, and there might be a wall to protect them.

Chapter Seven

1. Some Old Testament scholars warn us against building too strong a case for biblical chronology solely on the basis of the lists found in Genesis 5, 10, and 11. Comparison with other genealogies in Scripture indicates that these lists may not be complete. The fact that the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11 both have ten generations suggests an artificial pattern. (See also Ruth 4:18–22.) Furthermore, ancient Semitic peoples used the term “father” to refer to any male ancestor.

2. The Hebrew word translated “call upon” carries the meaning of praying in God’s name and also proclaiming His name in worship. The sentence can also be translated “men began to call themselves by the name of the Lord.” All three meanings are probably true: The believing remnant met to praise God and pray to Him for help, and in time, they identified themselves as those who bore His name.

3. When you add up the ages of Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah when their eldest sons were born (187 + 182 + 500), plus the 100 years between 5:32 and 7:11, you get a total of 969 years.

4. See Earth’s Earliest Ages, by G. H. Pember (Revell) and the writings of E. W. Bullinger, especially The Companion Bible (The Lamp Press) and How to Enjoy the Bible (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1928). James M. Gray also espouses the “angel” theory in his Christian Workers’ Commentary (Kregel reprint). For an able refutation of the “angel theory,” see Studies in Problem Texts by J. Sidlow Baxter (Zondervan). The theory is the result of juggling some puzzling passages (Jude 6–7; 1 Peter 3:19–20; 2 Peter 2:4–9) and overlooking some basic principles of hermeneutics.

5. “Sons [children] of God” can also refer to humans. See Deuteronomy 14:1; Psalm 82:6; Isaiah 43:6; Hosea 11:1.

6. God the Father was grieved at man’s sin on the earth (Gen. 6:6); God the Son was grieved by the hardness of heart of religious people (Mark 3:5); and God the Spirit can be grieved by the sins of the saints (Eph. 4:30).

Chapter Eight

1. Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Record (Baker, 1976), 180ff. See also The Genesis Flood, by Henry M. Morris and John C. Whitcomb, Jr. (Baker, 1967), and Studies in the Bible and Science by Henry M. Morris (Baker, 1966).

2. The three boys are usually identified as Noah’s sons and not by their given names (6:18; 7:7; 8:16, 18; 9:1, 8). We are never told Noah’s wife’s name or the names of his three daughters-in-law. God’s covenant with Noah included all the members of the household.

3. For a fair discussion of both views that leans toward the limited flood interpretation, see The Book of Genesis: An Introductory Commentary, by Ronald F. Youngblood (Baker, 1991; second edition), chapter 10.

4. While it’s true that the Hebrew word for “earth” can also mean “land,” “land” doesn’t fit with the universal statements in the text, such as 6:12–13 where God promises to wipe out “all flesh,” and 7:4, “every living substance.”

5. To argue that the building of the ark was a “witness to the people” is to ignore what God had to say about the ark, that its purpose was to keep humans and animals alive during the flood (6:19–20; 7:23). Although the building of the ark surely attracted attention, there’s no mention in the text of the ark serving as a witness to the lost.

6. New Testament baptism was by immersion, picturing the believer’s identification with Christ in death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6).

7. Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (Baker, 1974), vol. 1, 84.

Chapter Nine

1. Moses took this approach when he interceded with God for sinful Israel: “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel” (Ex. 32:13), and it was Nehemiah’s repeated prayer (Neh. 13:14, 22, 29, 31). To ask God to remember is to remind Him of His promises and claim those promises for yourself (Ps. 25:6–7; 105:8, 42; 106:4, 45; 132:1; 136:23). Mary rejoiced in God’s remembrance of His mercy (Luke 1:54–55), and Zacharias sang about it at the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:72–73). The name Zacharias means “God remembers.”

2. To review God’s special concern for animals, read note 11 in chapter 2.

3. See Genesis 28:15; Deuteronomy 4:31; 31:6; Joshua 1:5; 1 Kings 8:57; 1 Chronicles 28:9, 20; Isaiah 42:16; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5.

4. Kay Orr, when Governor of Nebraska, made me an Admiral of the Nebraska Navy. When I asked a long-time resident why Nebraska had a navy, he explained that the state is sitting on “an ocean of water,” which explains the extensive farm irrigation system that you see as you drive on I-80. Nebraska also has some of the richest “digs” for finding the remains of prehistoric animals. Is this something we should attribute to the flood? Perhaps.

5. Beginning with the Exodus, the Jews had both civil and religious calendars. The civil year began in the seventh month (Tishri), our mid-September to mid-October; but the religious year started with Passover, the fourteenth day of Nisan (Ex. 12:2), our mid-March to mid-April. However, Nisan would be the seventh month of the civil year, and the seventeenth day of the seventh month would be three days after Passover, the day of our Lord’s resurrection. This explains why Peter associated the ark with the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:18–22), for the ark rested in Ararat on the date our Lord arose from the dead.

6. Ever since the days of the church fathers, preachers have seen the two birds as illustrations of the two natures (and two appetites) in the child of God, the flesh and the spirit (Gal. 5:16–26). The dove certainly typifies the Spirit of God (Matt. 3:16).

7. God’s concern is for the salvation and devotion of the entire family, and that’s why He instructed the Jewish fathers and mothers to teach the Word to their children. See Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and Psalms 78:1–8; 102:28; 103:17–18; 112:1–2. At Pentecost, Peter declared that God’s promise included the children so that they too could believe and be saved (Acts 2:38–39), and Paul gave the same assurance to the Philippian jailer (16:31). We can’t believe for our children, but we can prepare the way for our children to believe.

8. The burnt offering also involved atonement for sin (Lev. 1:4; Job 1:5) and thanksgiving to God.

9. It was God who provided the sacrifices because He commanded Noah to take the clean animals with him on the ark (Gen. 7:2–3). What we give to God, He has first given to us (1 Chron. 29:14), and we don’t give to God because He lacks anything (Ps. 50:7–15) or needs anything (Acts 17:24–25). Our giving brings delight to God, but it doesn’t enrich God personally. Rather, giving enriches the worshipper (Phil. 4:18).

Chapter Ten

1. Roy B. Zuck, Precious in His Sight: Childhood and Children in the Bible (Baker, 1996), 71. This book ought to be read by every parent, pastor, children’s worker, and teacher of children.

2. “But you must not eat flesh from a still-living animal” is the way Stephen Mitchell translates Genesis 9:4 in Genesis: A New Translation of the Classic Biblical Stories (New York: HarperCollins, 1996), 17. Since the blood is the life, then flesh with blood still in it is considered living flesh.

3. The issue at the Acts 15 Jerusalem consultation was not health but theology: Must a Gentile become a Jew in order to become a Christian? The answer, of course, was a resounding no. The related question Paul dealt with in Romans 14—15 was, “Must a Christian live like a Jew in order to be a good Christian?” This was a matter of personal love: Do nothing that would cause weaker Christians to stumble, but don’t let them stay weak. Help them to see the truth and have the faith to obey it.

4. According to the law of Moses, if an animal killed a human, the animal was to be killed. If the animal was known to be dangerous but wasn’t penned up, then the owner of the animal was in danger of losing his life. See Exodus 21:28–32.

5. For a biblical study of capital punishment, see On Capital Punishment, by William H. Baker (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985). See also C. S. Lewis’ masterful essay “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment” in God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, edited by Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 287–94.

6. Psalm 104 emphasizes that all creation depends on God and worships God, including the beasts of the field (vv. 11, 21), the fowl (vv. 12, 17), the cattle (v. 14), and mankind (vv. 14, 23).

7. Richard K. Curtis, They Called Him Mister Moody (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967), 53.

Chapter Eleven

1. Russell Baker, “Life With Mother” in Inventing the Truth, edited by William Zinsser (New York: Book-of-the-Month Club, 1987), 49.

2. Exodus 20:5–6 and 34:7 balance this principle: God does punish the children for their father’s sins if the sins of the fathers are repeated by the children, and this frequently happens. Whether it’s because of inherited genetic weakness or the influence of bad examples, children sometimes follow in their parents’ footsteps.

3. Some students see this “service” not as slavery but as rendering service to others, and perhaps this idea is included in Noah’s statement. Some of the Hamitic civilizations contributed much to the material and intellectual progress of the world.

4. In view of what happened to Noah, it’s significant that the word “nakedness” is found twenty-four times in this chapter. To “uncover nakedness” means, of course, to have sexual relations with a person, which is the way the NIV translates it.

5. This is not the modern Ethiopia but an African nation usually identified as “Cush” in modern translations. Cush was a son of Ham.

6. We’ve already noticed lists of ten generations from Adam to Noah (Gen. 5), from Shem to Abraham (11:10–26), and from Perez to David (Ruth 4:18–22). Matthew’s genealogy of our Lord follows a pattern of three sets of fourteen generations each, from Abraham to Christ (Matt. 1:1–17). Deuteronomy 32:8 states that the division of the nations was “according to the number of the children of Israel.” Does this refer to the seventy people in Jacob’s (Israel’s) family? Some texts read “the number of the sons of God,” which may refer to the angels, since Jewish tradition said there were seventy “territorial angels” and each was assigned to a nation (Dan. 10:12–21).

7. I once saw a sporting goods store that was named “Rod and Nimrod,” suggesting that they sold equipment for both fishermen and hunters.

8. It’s possible that the name “Hebrew” comes from “Eber,” but not all Hebraists agree. Some connect “Hebrew” with a word meaning “to pass through or over,” that is, “from beyond the other side,” meaning “a wanderer, a stranger.” Abraham the alien was called “the Hebrew” (Gen. 14:13), as was Joseph in Egypt (39:14; 41:12; 43:32).

9. In 1868, Robert S. Candlish proposed an interesting interpretation of this puzzling verse. He suggested that God told Eber how to divide the various nations and where to send them. Nimrod was attempting to consolidate the peoples under his rule, but God thwarted his efforts by dispersing the various clans. See Studies in Genesis by Robert S. Candlish (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1979), 172–73.

10. Dr. A. T. Pierson often said “History is His story.”

Chapter Twelve

1. Even where people speak the same language, they may also use different local dialects, and the same words can have different meanings in different places. George Bernard Shaw is supposed to have said that England and America are two countries divided by a common language.

2. Beard was paraphrasing a statement from the Greek dramatist Sophocles: “Whom Zeus would destroy, he first makes mad.” This statement became a proverb and versions of it have appeared in many languages.

3. Naomi H. Rosenblatt and Joshua Horowitz, Wrestling with Angels (New York: Dell Publishing, 1995), 82.

4. This isn’t to suggest that all global technology and worldwide megacorporations are necessarily evil in themselves. It’s the spirit and purpose of these “towers” that the Christian must avoid. “Be not conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2). “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17 NKJV). God’s people can make good use of global technology to spread the gospel and build the church, but our faith must be in God and our purpose must be to glorify God. The Bible repeatedly warns believers not to be so identified with the world system that they share in its ultimate judgment (Isa. 48:20; Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45; 1 Cor. 11:32; Rev. 18:4).

5. See Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman (New York: Knopf, 1992; reprint, Vintage Books, 1993); and The Technological Bluff by Jacques Ellul (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990).

6. God changed Abram’s and Sarah’s names to Abraham and Sarah, respectively, in Genesis 17:1–17.

Chapter Thirteen

1. It’s unfortunate that some people have made an issue over what pronouns we should use when referring to God. The Bible consistently uses “he,” but not because the male gender is more godlike. God is spirit, and spirit beings (including angels) have no gender. For some reason, people who object to God being called “he” don’t object when Satan is called “he”; yet Satan is also a spirit creature who is sexless.