Promises for the Journey Study ONE: IN THE BEGINNING I Day ONE: Every PROMISE for good begins with God! This DAY the Journey begins in Eden. In the Beginning it was Good and Very Good. Read Genesis 1 to 3 and selected verses; pages 37 to 42 in The Messiah in the Old Testament. Every important journey begins with a destination. As we open God s Word, the Holy Spirit makes it clear from the beginning that God had a plan for time and space. The account written by Moses in Genesis reveals the goodness of God on every level. Genesis 1 and 2 will remind you of the accounts of Creation. This should give you the broad picture of God s plan in the beginning for man and creation. Notice Genesis 1 gives a general description, and Genesis 2 recaps the specifics. Comment on the following. 1. What is God s perspective on everything He had made? (Gen. 1:25b, 31; 2:1-3) God saw that it (everything He had made) was good and very good! God finished creation: it was complete and finished as it was. God rested from His work and blessed the seventh day, setting apart the day for rest. 2. How is God s unique plan for man different than the rest of creation? (Gen. 1:26-30; 2:5-10; 15 25) Man is unique because, unlike all other living creatures, man is made in God s image. Man is unique because he has been given dominion over the living creatures. Man is unique because, as made in the image of God, man and woman together mirror the image of God. Man is unique because God gives man and women together a mandate to be fruitful and multiply so the earth is filled with human beings who will have dominion over the creatures and garnish food from the plants of the earth. 3. What is man s responsibility to his wife and to his God? (Genesis 2:16-18; 21-26) The man s responsibility was to keep the garden and obey God: You can eat of every tree in the garden but not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Because the command was given to man before the woman is created and brought to the man, the logical conclusion is that the man s responsibility then, is to tell the woman what God has said to him once God brings her as his completer the suitable companion for mhi after his long sleep and her creation! Because she is taken from man as his own flesh, Adam names her ish shah which means woman and includes his name, ish. She is fit for him or matching him. MAPQUEST: All is well in Eden. It is important to know that both promised blessings and definite warnings of judgment serve God s purposes as promises. To whom does God make the first promise of judgment? (Gen. 2:16, 17) The first promise of judgment is given to Adam: In the day you eat you will die. This is a promise of consequences for disobedience. The death is assumed as physical which would include every part of man.
II Day TWO: Lucifer, Fallen Angel, falls from God s Presence As the story of humanity progresses, it becomes clear that a superior being is roaming in the Garden and his intelligence causes turmoil for the man and woman. Little in Scripture is directly said about Satan s history but most students of Scripture read Ezekiel s words about the King of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:11-19 as a symbolic reference to Satan, his beauty, his existence guarding God s holiness and the scandalous sin of pride he committed. Read Ezekiel 28:12-19 and list some of the things you recognize as characteristic of Satan. Make note of who is speaking to Ezekiel (v. 11). What statements in this description would only God know? 1. v. 12b you (satan) were perfect, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty 2. v. 13 you (satan) were in Eden, the garden of God on the day you were created every precious stone and beautiful stone (gorgeous in color, value, hue), was your covering etc. (Satan is a created being.) 3. v. 14 you (satan) were set apart, a guardian cherub set to guard the holiness of God 4. v. 15 you (satan) were blameless in your ways until unrighteousness was found in you 5. v. 16 you (satan) were filled with violence; you sinned; you were cast from God s presence and destroyed as one present in the middle of holiness 6. v. 17 your heart (satan) was proud because of your beauty; you (satan) corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; cast down, exposed before kings 7. v. 18, 19 you (satan) profaned sacrifices so he would be judged and all peoples would be appalled at his dreadful end. MAPQUEST: There is no date in time given in Scripture for this prehistoric event. But it is treachery at the highest level in the universe: the premier created being turning arch-enemy of God. The creature s once honored position turned diabolical sin and final treacherous end leaves him in debt to God, without hope and with restricted power over the world (Rev. 12:7-12; 20:7-10). Why must believers understand the diabolical nature of Satan as well as God s authority over him? The end of Satan is clearly given in the book of Revelation similar to the end described of the king of Tyre, symbolizing the end of satan. III Day THREE: The Fall with a PROMISE Read Genesis 3. It is impossible to know the length of time Adam and Eve lived in Eden before they fell. We only know their mandate included ruling over the earth and to multiply and fill the earth! How would Eve have known the command and promise related to the tree in the middle of the Garden? 1. What is at the heart of the serpent s deception in v. 1, 4, 5? How does he misquote God? Satan casts DOUBT on what God has said in his conversation with Eve. In response, Eve misquotes God adding a lie to what God had said: he said not to touch it! Satan adds adds a lie: You will not surely die! and actually implies that God was keeping information (v. 5) from them. 2. What is Eve s huge mistake? (v. 2) Why do you think she does this? Eve s huge mistake was to enter into conversation with the snake! 3. What choice does Eve make according to v. 6? Eve s choice is to look at the tree, consider it good to eat and its delight to the eyes (all senses) as well give her more than God promised to make her wise (greed) she eats and gives to her husband.
4. What colossal effect does the disobedience have on the man and the woman? (v. 7-13) The colossal effect: a. They know they are naked b. They need to be covered so sew fig leaves to cover themselves c. They hid from God as they hear Him walking in the garden d. They are afraid e. They blame someone else (Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent) BUMPS on the ROAD: To call disobedience to and rebellion against God a bump on the road does not do justice to the severity of Eve and Adam s choice to sin in Eden. To suppress the truth and listen to the devil s lie about God is the height of pride the very sin that doomed the devil. The sin of the serpent before he tempted Eve is PRIDE is loves himself; the sin of the man and woman is to believe a lie they suppress God s truth and believe the lie that there is something more God has kept from them that would make them wise a superior knowledge. MAPQUEST: The innocence and idyllic joy of the journey to the Garden of Eden is now gone. God s first two children are naked, hiding and actually dead not physically dead but spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1,2) Their evening walk with God is no longer possible; their relationship together is broken - they blame each other for their sin. But God who keeps His promises discloses the judgment against this massive sin. Human life will never the same again. Gen. 3:14-19 captures God s the truth behind this important passage. 1. What is God s curse against the serpent? (v. 14) God s curse against the serpent is that he is lower than all livestock, will crawl on his belly and eat dust all his days. 2. What amazing PROMISE does God make in v. 15? What might Adam and Eve think about how/when it would come to pass? What do we know about it? God s amazing promises in v. 15 is that there will always be ENMITY between the him and the woman and her offspring and his offspring. BUT that seed of the woman would ultimately CRUSH the serpent s head!!! Adam and Eve might think it would be the seed they give birth to and parent. 3. What is God s curse on Eve? (v. 16) Is this fair? Why/why not? God s curse on Eve is pain in childbearing and desire to control her husband. 4. What is God s curse on Adam? (v. 17, 18) Is this fair? Why/why not? God s curse on Adam is that the ground would know cursing because of him and thorns, thistles would grow. Work would be hard! Death would be ultimately certain: back to dust from which he was made This is just. Adam had already been warned if you eat of this tree, you will die. 5. Some significant things happen at the closing scene before Adam and Eve are driven out of the Garden. What do you believe is their meaning? a. Related to Adam s naming his wife (v. 20) Adam names his wife EVE - mother of the living an act of faith for a man who has just been told he would eventually die. b. Related to God s preparation and clothing of Adam and Eve (v. 21) God must have taken the life of an animal in order to clothe them. c. Related to God s knowledge and the tree of life (v. 22)
d. Related to the cherubim and flaming sword that guarded the tree of life (v. 24) God sent them out of Eden to keep them from violating the holiness of the tree of life which the Cherubim would guard. IV Day FOUR: The EDENIC PROMISE: In the context of Genesis 3 and the story of the fall into sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, the promise in Genesis 3:15 is called the "Proto Evangelion". In Greek it means "First Gospel" and is a term used to describe this verse in the Bible: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel. (NASB) This is a statement of some event in history that sounds like a destination a time when the serpent (who is a personification of Satan) will be crushed. This is the first prophecy (promise) of the coming of Christ. This not only prophesies (promises) the birth of the seed or offspring of the woman but prophesies (promises) a superior work. Think on this amazing promise by answering these questions: 1. To whom is God speaking, and what is He predicting? What implies this as a battle? God is speaking to the serpent who is indwelt by satan to predict there will come a time when his crawling head would be bruised (crushed) The battle implied here will be between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. This is the age-long battle of all time! 2. For what reason does the passage say the seed of the woman and not the seed of Adam? How does Galatians 3:16 in the NT refer to Jesus? It will be the seed of the woman who will ultimately be the God man, the Lord Jesus the seed planted by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. Galatians 3:16-3. Isaiah 53 grandly reveals the battles spoken as enmity in Gen. 3:15. Can you see them? What magnificent victory is predicted here and how in fact is Satan s power crushed according to Col. 2:14, 15 and Heb. 2:14, 15? Is. 53 tells of the battle into which the seed that became a young plant grew up. It tells of the One who the seed of the serpent despised, battered and oppressed and afflicted unto death. The death is not permanent because it promises that this crushed man will see his offspring, prolong his days and prosper. (v. 10) The battle ends in victory many will be made righteous. V Day FIVE: REJOICE in the Lessons from the EDENIC PROMISE for the Journey The Protoevangelium is a presentation of the entire history of humanity in a miniature declaration. Relief (from enemy blows) will come from the same God who created all things. (Kaiser, 41) Colossians 2:13-15 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Hebrews 2:14, 15 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through the fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. What principles guarantee the PROMISE God makes in Gen. 3:15 for the future of the male seed of the woman, and the woman and Satan? What wonderful BENEFITS do believers enjoy because God s grace was purposed AHEAD of time even before that first bite for sinners such as us? Col. 2:14, 15 tells how because of the cross, Jesus cancels the debt of sin of believers and disarmed the demonic world of rulers/authorities, publicly shaming them as He triumphed over them. Heb. 2:14, 15 Our Lord Jesus, through death, destroyed the one who has the power of death the devil and gives us help!