Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament: The Fig Tree Genesis 3:6-7

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Alexis Hodge
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Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament: The Fig Tree Genesis 3:6-7 Jesus Sacrifice and Atonement: From Man: Faith and Hope From God: Atonement and Security There are four necessary components, or four

1 Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament: The Fig Tree Genesis 3:6-7 Jesus Sacrifice and Atonement: From Man: Faith and Hope From God: Atonement and Security There are four necessary components, or four elements of salvation: from man s side faith and hope, and from God s side, atonement and security. If you take faith and atonement and security and hope, you have essentially the components, the sum of the elements, of salvation. And we re going to find all four of those elements in verses 20 to 24. The salvation of sinners, their deliverance, their rescue from sin and death, and judgment has always been by faith. It has always included hope. And it has always been through atonement and security. God s work is to provide atonement and security. Our response is faith and hope. Fig Tree: ISRAEL 7 Deuteronomy 8: For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of 8 water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of 9 vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of 10 whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. The fig tree is also symbolic of Israel itself It often symbolized the health of the nation both spiritually and physically. Hosea 9:10 says, I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. Today Israel is full of fig trees large, well-developed, shady and mature. They produce two harvests of fruit a year: the early crop around Passover time in the spring, even before the leaves have unfurled And the biggest, best, most juicy fruits come into their own in September, close to the Jewish holidays of Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot (Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles). [which was just celebrated] BREBA crop: out of season crop: 1 LakewoodChurch.com

2 The Breba crop is produced on a mature branch the previous year s wood, unlike the main crop of figs that grow on the current year s new, green wood. The Breba crop is small in number but often produces sweet figs, a time when no other tree is anywhere close to ripening fruit. Mark 11: Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late. 12 On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. 13 Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, May no one ever eat fruit from you again! And His disciples were listening. Genesis 3:1-7 Now the serpent was craftier than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden? 2 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. 4 But the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. Vs LakewoodChurch.com

3 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? Vs The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 1. Adam calls his wife Eve. Meaning life. He knew, even though God brought a death sentence through their disobedience, that God would bring a seed of life through the woman. 2. He trusts in the promise of God to bring through his wife a seed who would crush the serpent s head, rescuing humanity from the tyranny of the devil. 3. The very fact that Adam names his wife Life, is an affirmation that he believes the promise of verse He believes that there will be a seed from the woman who will crush the head of the serpent. 5. He believes it. And the evidence that he believes it is the name he gives to his wife, Life. - This is purely an act of faith because no one had ever been born. - Adam had been created and Eve had been created out of his side. No one had ever been born. But Adam believes God that out of Eve will come all life, and among those will be the One who crushes the serpent s head. So naming his wife Life was an expression of his faith in the word of the Creator. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 3 LakewoodChurch.com

4 First, this action by the Lord is very significant. God Himself sacrificed some of His animal creation (possibly two innocent sheep without blemish) in order to provide clothing for the first man and woman. In the second place, we learn that symbolically speaking, clothing must be provided by God Himself. Man-made "aprons" of fig leaves will not suffice, as they represent human works of righteousness which can never make us presentable to God: "... we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). However, God has sacrificed His own "Lamb of God" (John 1:29 - The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!) pure and spotless, yet also willing to die for us. Thereby "... he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10), fashioned from the perfect righteousness of the Lamb. *So, for the first time in this verse 21, we have the prophetic picture of Christ s sacrifice. 22 Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. 4 LakewoodChurch.com

5 What is that? That s an earthly replica of heaven: the dwelling place of God. The cherubim, guardians of the holiness of God, guardians of the throne of God, are stationed at the front of paradise. These angels were the guards of the presence of God, and every time Adam and Eve looked and saw the cherubim and the flaming sword as the sun went down in the evening, they realized they were outside paradise. But they lived in hope; they lived in hope that one day they would enter the true paradise of God. And I think that hope burned bright in their heart. Why would God make them live that way for a long time? Why? Because hope is a purifying reality. First John 3:3, Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Hope purifies. 5 LakewoodChurch.com

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Bible Where did Satan and sin come from? Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

Bible Where did Satan and sin come from? Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. Series: Throwback Date: January 20, 2016 Text: Genesis 3 Title: Reverse The Curse Introduction Snakes story. Talking dog story. Need I want to tell you a story tonight that will help you the rest of your