Genesis Bible Study:
B’resheet (In the Beginning)
The Scriptures for this week’s study:
TORAH:
Genesis 1:1 – 6:8
PROPHETS:
Isaiah 14:12-22; 42:5 – 43:10
NEW TESTAMENT:
Matthew 19:4-6
John 1:1-18
Romans 1:18-23; 5:12-21; 8:21-23
1 Corinthians 6:15-20
Ephesians 5:21-32
Colossians 1:14-17
Hebrews 1:1-3, 11:1-7
1 Peter 3:18-22; 2 Peter 3:1-14
Jude
Revelation 20:1-3
QUICK SUMMARY OF THIS TORAH PORTION:
ARCHIVE OF OUR STUDIES:
2012 Broadcast:
2013 Broadcast:
[SORRY – This show got cut off before we were able to finish]
2016 Broadcast:
2020 Broadcast:
STUDIES DONE BY OTHERS:
Ardelle’s “Your Living Waters”
Torah Commentary:
- http://yourlivingwaters.com/Genesis/Bereshith-Commentary-2008.pdf
- http://yourlivingwaters.com/Genesis/Bereshith-Commentary-2009.pdf
Rob’s Answers to the 3 Workbook Discussion Questions:
How does this week’s Torah Portion relate to the Haftarah and Brit Chadasha Portions?
It all starts with Genesis! The stage is set, the characters are introduced and the drama begins almost immediately. From there, we can see how the story plays out from the Beginning to the End. Take for instance, the story of Genesis 6. In that story, we learn about an incredible event: The unnatural union of angels (the sons of God) and human women. This produced the giants (Nephilim) that we will later see the Israelites having to defeat. However, there is more to the story. Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:37 that the Last Days will be likened unto the days of Noah. In Revelation 12, we see Michael the archangel fighting against Satan, the Dragon. The Serpent is cast down to Earth and the story is picked up in the prophecy of Isaiah 14:12-21. There we see that Lucifer, the leader of the fallen angels, is not only “cut down to the ground” but also that he apparently has children (Isaiah 14:21), just like the angels of Genesis 6 did. Those angels were bound in everlasting chains of darkness and cast down into hell [Tartarus] (2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6).
What did you find most interesting about this week’s reading?
In like manner, we see that Lucifer must also be bound in chains and do time (a thousand years) in the pit in order to serve out his prison sentence (Revelation 20:1-2) for the same sin. I’ve always wondered, if the Devil’s ultimate destination is the Lake of Fire, why does he have to be bound in chains and put into prison for a thousand years first? Now, I know! He is serving the prescribed prison sentence that is specifically for angels who mate with human women. God would not be just if He didn’t impose the same prison sentence on every angel who commits this sin. Thus, when Satan has children (note Genesis 3:15 and Isaiah 14:21), he must receive the same punishment, in addition to the final judgment for his other crimes/sins, which is the Lake of Fire.
What is the general theme of this reading and how does it apply to our lives today?
Solomon told us that what has been done, will be again (Ecclesiastes 1:9). All through the Scriptures, we see many themes repeated. We see characters that were introduced “in the beginning” appear again “in the end.” Jesus said the Last Days (which may be our days) are going to be like the days of Noah. Thus, in order to understand the times we are living in today, we must understand the days of Genesis 6-11. We also see the cost of disobedience to the perfect will of God. Sin has consequences.
For more details concerning the events of this week’s study, please read the following chapters of Jasher, which complement this Torah portion:
BIBLICAL COSMOLOGY:
Why is this topic important? Well… here is just one recent comment of thousands of testimonies that have come in as a result of this one topic:
If you want to know more about Biblical Cosmology and why I’ve embraced it, please take the time to watch the following:
DEBUNKING THE TOP 10
“PROOFS” OF THE GLOBE:
- http://testingtheglobe.com/bible.html
- http://testingtheglobe.com/pillars.html
- http://testingtheglobe.com/3dmodel.html
PAST NOTES FROM THIS WEEK’S STUDY:
Meanings of the names of the first 10 Patriarchs:
|
Adam
|
man
|
|
Seth
|
appointed
|
|
Enosh
|
mortal
|
|
Kenan
|
sorrow
|
|
Mahalalel
|
blessed God
|
|
Jared
|
shall come down
|
|
Enoch
|
teaching
|
|
Methuselah
|
his death shall bring
|
|
Lamech
|
despairing
|
|
Noah
|
rest
|
ANGEL OR SETHITE VIEW OF GENESIS 6?
The Septuagint, the Essenes, scribes and other occupants of Qumran (from which we have the Dead Sea Scrolls), Yeshua’s disciples Peter, Jude and John, Clement of Rome (disciple of Peter), Philo of Alexandria (prominent Jewish philosopher), Josephus (prominent 1st Century Jewish historian), Justin Martyr (early Christian apologist), Irenaeus (disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John), Athenagoras (an Ante-Nicene Christian apologist), Clement of Alexandria (teacher to Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem), Tertullian (often recognized as the “father of Latin Christianity” and the “founder of Western theology”), Lactantius (an early Christian advisor to Constantine), Eusebius (early Church historian), Ambrose of Milan (one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th Century), Jerome (author of the Latin Vulgate), Sulpicius, Severus and others ALL identified and believed the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 was a reference to ANGELS.
Indeed, from the third century BCE onwards, references are found in the Enochic literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls the (Genesis Apocryphon, the Damascus Document, 4Q180), Jubilees, the Testament of Reuben, 2 Baruch, Josephus, and the book of Jude (compare with 2 Peter 2).
The angel view is also the meaning of the only two identical occurrences of bene ha elohim in the Hebrew Bible (Job 1:6 and 2:1), and of the most closely related expressions (e.g. Job 38:7 and Deut. 32:8, Psalms 29:1; 89:6 and Daniel 3:25). In the Septuagint, the interpretive reading “angels” is found in Codex Alexandrinus, one of four main witnesses to the Greek text. And literature from the Second Temple period of Judaism is FULL of references to the angels of Genesis 6 and their activity and the resulting aftermath.
As early as the 3rd century AD and possibly as late as the 8th century A.D. (sources vary on the exact age of the document), a work called, “Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer” showed up, claiming its content originated with Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, – a disciple of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai (of the college of Gamaliel II) and teacher of Rabbi Akiva – and his disciples who were of the late 1st Century and early 2nd. This work records in a midrash:
“The angels who fell from Heaven saw the daughters of Cain perambulating and displaying their secret parts, their eyes painted with antimony in the manner of harlots; and, being seduced, took wives from among them.”
Rabbi Joshua ben Qorha (or Karha), a Jewish literalist, and sage of the fourth generation, and a colleague of Rabbi Meir and Shimon Ben Gamiliel II stated:
“…when these angels fell from Heaven, their strength and stature were reduced to those of mortals, and their fire changed into flesh.”
Numerous other ancient Jewish Rabbis like Ishmael, Meir, Yehoshua ben Korchah, Tzadok, Yehoshua, Levi and others commented extensively on Genesis 6 in the Torah – all affirming the angelic view.
The BOGUS “Sethite” view of the “sons of God” doesn’t show up until about 160 AD, with Rabbi Ben Yochai “cursing” anyone who suggests the “sons of God” refers to angels. But his view is trumped by NUMEROUS rabbis who along with a mountain of Jewish literature (especially from the Second Temple period) clearly taught and believed otherwise.
Then among Christians, it wasn’t until the latter part of the 4th Century with Julius Africanius that the Sethite view would find any measure of popularity. It is quite easy to show how this view was NOT previously held by any learned scholar of Scripture though. It only gained some measure of popularity in the DARK AGES (i.e. the time of intellectual darkness and barbarity when reading of the Scripture was scarce at best). Today, unfortunately, it is the dominant view taught in seminaries, and hence taught to us. But it is quite demonstrably wrong.
And “Torah teachers” who oppose the angelic view of Genesis 6 are clearly unlearned in this area, only proving an unbelievable lack of having done any real research on the topic, thus blatantly ignoring a MOUNTAIN of evidence, which can easily be found by anyone willing to take the time to look. In fact, I am shocked by the teachings of some of these people, who (generally speaking) are otherwise quite brilliant. But they are clearly blinded by extreme, willful ignorance in this matter, and thus fail miserably to provide any reasonable explanation for the giants described in the Torah and throughout the Old Testament.
The Rabbinic and Talmudic sources these modern Torah guys often site in favor of the Sethite view are VERY LATE comers to the discussion. They include the writings of Saadia Gaon (late 10th Century), Tobiah ben Eliezer (11th Century), Rashi (11th Century), Joseph ben Isaac Bekhor Shor (12th Century), Abraham ibn Ezra (12th Century), Maimonides (12th Century), David Kimhi (12th-13th Century), Nachmanides (13th Century), Hezekiah ben Manoah (13th Century), Hillel ben Samuel (13th Century), Gersonides (13th-14th Century).
For more, see my note…
https://www.facebook.com/notes/rob-skiba/demolishing-the-sethite-theory-with-historical-facts/10154155213822506/
THE ARCHON INVASION
AND THE GENESIS 6 EXPERIMENT
This is the graphic Rob referred to from the SEED website concerning the boundaries of Eden:
The absurdities and dangers of Evolution, Panspermia and the Alien Gospel:
The Tribulation Protection Plan:
Exodus 34:21-24 (NLT)
21 “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest.
22 “You must celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the first crop of the wheat harvest, and celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the harvest season. 23 Three times each year every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the Lord, the God of Israel. 24 I will drive out the other nations ahead of you and expand your territory, so no one will covet and conquer your land while you appear before the Lord your God three times each year.
Leviticus 26:3-13 (NRSV)
3 If you follow my statutes and keep my commandments and observe them faithfully, 4 I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.5 Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage shall overtake the sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and live securely in your land. 6 And I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one shall make you afraid; I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword shall go through your land. 7 You shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 Five of you shall give chase to a hundred, and a hundred of you shall give chase to ten thousand; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9 I will look with favor upon you and make you fruitful and multiply you; and I will maintain my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat old grain long stored, and you shall have to clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 I will place my dwelling in your midst, and I shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be their slaves no more; I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.
Also listen to John William Galt (the voice of the movies) reading Psalm 91:
More related study resources: babylonrisingblog.com and babylonrisingbooks.com