WINNERS AND LOSERS

By Frank Eiklor and Cecilia Contreras

LESSON 19 Part 2

INTRODUCTION

When Jesus and the apostles pointed out the Scriptures, they were referring to the 39 books of the Hebrew Scriptures that we call the Old Testament. As the New Testament was being written, its writers affirmed the importance of the Old Testament examples—good and bad—and the wisdom in learning from them. Twice Paul repeats God’s warning to pay attention to those examples (I Corinthians 10:6, 11).

The invisible conflict of the ages has always involved God’s revelation versus man’s religion. When revelation is rejected, it is replaced by a façade of religion. Scripture in total equals the revelation of God; His works, character, demands, promises, warnings, rewards and punishments. A familiar cycle repeats itself throughout the Bible: God reveals His goodness—man rejoices in God’s goodness—man rejects God’s goodness. And the result: 1) If Man repents of his bad choices, God reclaims Man, or 2) If Man refuses God’s mercy, God rejects Man in finality.

We will now view examples of nations and individuals in the Old Testament—and apply their lessons to our lives today. Our first study will take in the foundational book of the entire Bible—the Book of Genesis. Enjoy—and learn!

A WORLD WITHOUT JEWS

Genesis Chapters 1-11 offer a picture of the pre-Hebraic world—a “world without Jews” (as Nazis planned). And look at the hideous results!

1:1-25             Creation of cosmos, earth and all non-human life.

1:26                 Creation of man.

1:27-2:4a        Man crowned with God’s best: God’s image, spiritual authority, full material provision, a special day as a

foretaste of an inner rest (Hebrews 4:10)…

2:8   plus         perfect surroundings,

2:15                 privileged partnership,

2:18                 perfect human companion,

2:19,20            massive intellectual capacity,

2:25                 innocence of sinlessness…

3:1-3 plus        freedom to make choices,

3:6                   freedom to sin,

3:12                 freedom to blame others.

RESULTS OF WRONG CHOICES

2:17                 Spiritual death

3:1,3,4,13        Became a tool of Satan

3:7-10              Guilt complex

3:11,12            Stress in human relationships

3:16                 Physical suffering

3:16                 Loss of positional equality

3:17-19           Cursed ground, sweat-covered man

3:19                 Physical death

3:22-24           Loss of intimacy with God (4:14,16 like father, like son)

3:24                 Eviction from the garden of God

4:3                   Deadly presumptuousness (offered fruits from “cursed” ground—3:17)

4:5                   Blaming God

4:8,9                Loss of brotherly love (God’s first question to man: “Where are you?” 3:9

Second question: “Where is your brother?” 4:9)

4:11                 Cursed by God

4:23                 Cursed ground plus cursed man equals cursed and violent world (see 6:11,12)

6:12,13            Destruction of all earthly life

11:6-9             Loss of a single language to confusion of speech     

11:30               Physical imperfection

(To be continued)