Introduction to an Exegesis of the Bible When I exegete a book, I tend to get very bogged down in the details and so, I decided to develop a series of a few short lessons on various chapters of the Bible, where I attempt to simply deal with the primary points of each verse without getting too detail-oriented. Each lesson is 3–5 pages long and designed to be read at one sitting. Although it is always nice to have a Bible open when studying this, I have, in almost all cases, included the actual Scripture within the text. External Links Introductory Lessons Introductory Lessons Introductory Lessons HTML PDF WPD Genesis Lessons 1–100 Genesis Lessons 1–100 Genesis Lessons 1–100 HTML PDF WPD Genesis Lessons 101–200 Genesis Lessons 101–200 Genesis Lessons 101–200 HTML PDF WPD Genesis Lessons 201–300 Genesis Lessons 201–300 Genesis Lessons 201–300 HTML PDF WPD Genesis Lessons 301–400 Genesis Lessons 301–400 Genesis Lessons 301–400 HTML PDF WPD Kukis Homepage Exegesis Doctrines Internal Links Top of the Page Introduction to any Introduction to the Introduction to the and the Table of Bible Study Bible Book of Genesis Contents Links to Doctrines Links to Doctrines Links to Doctrines in the Introductory in the Introduction in the Introduction Material to the Bible to Genesis Internal Links Introduction Part I Salvation Introduction Part II Rebound Introduction Part III Doctrine Introduction Part IV Logically, What Should I Expect from Religion? Introductory Lesson 1: The Bible Basic Themes of the Bible/Introduction to the Bible Introductory Lessons 2–3: The Bible Basic Themes of the Bible Introductory Lesson 4: The Bible The Old Testament Introductory Lesson 5: The Bible The New Testament Introductory Lesson 6–7: The Bible Dispensations, an Overview Introductory Lesson 8: The Bible Canonicity Introductory Lesson 9: The Bible Inspiration and the Original Languages Introductory Lesson 10: The Bible Teaching and Spiritual Growth Introductory Lesson 11: The Bible Translations, Textual Criticism Introductory Lesson 12: The Bible Christian Apologetics and Biblical Prophecy Introductory Lesson 13: The Bible Natural and Logical Apologetics, Faith Introductory Lesson 14: The Bible Apologetics, Science and the Bible Introductory Lesson 15–16: The Bible Content of the Bible The Book of Genesis An Introduction Introduction Part I: Inspiration and Progressive Revelation Introduction Part II: Authorship and the Historical Narrative Introduction Part III (Themes and an Outline of Genesis) Links to Doctrines in the Introductory Material Why Rebound and the Recommended Bibles Filling of the Holy Spirit are Some Basic Propositions Important A Summary of the Introductory Material Links to Doctrines to the Introduction to the Bible Man is Fallen—Man is The Basic Themes of the All Men are Condemned to Sinful—Man is Separated Bible Death from God Our Morality, Good Deeds God is Holy: God is God will Raise up a and Works will not Save Perfect Righteousness Messiah/Savior/Mediator Us and Absolute Justice to Man Jesus is the Jesus, the Messiah, is Savior/Mediator of Jesus Died on the Cross Holy; He is Righteousness Mankind, the Messiah for our Sins and Just Promised Links to Doctrines to the Introduction to the Bible Jesus Rises from the God Will Forgive Us; Some of the Authors of the Dead and Sits at the Right Salvation is by Faith in Bible Hand of the Father Christ Jesus The 3 Sections of the Old The Mosaic Law in the The Doctrine of the Testament Church Age Mystery of God The Principles of Dispensations The Various Dispensations Canonicity How Do We Know that A few quick points to be The Written Word of God There are Legitimate made about the and the Living Word of Changes for the Church Apocrypha: God Age? Examples of Hebrew Hebrew Tenses Hebrew Stems Stems What to Look for in a A Short Exegesis of Pastor-Teacher and in a The Accurate Translations Eph. 3:16–19 Church The Bible translations which are not always Christian apologetics Jesus and apologetics word-for-word The Jews as a fulfillment The Bible, prophecy and Prophecies About Jesus of Old Testament historical trends Christ prophecies Old Testament prophecies Natural and Logical Faith and Evolution about nations and cities Apologetics The Christian faith, Books on apologetics The Bible and science Apologetics and Science The general content of the Old Testament Summary The Torah (the Law of Bible Charts Moses) + Job The Jews Enter the Land The United Kingdom The Kingdom Divided of Promise The Jews Return to the 70 Years in Captivity Land Links to Doctrines in the Introduction to Genesis Verbal Plenary Inspiration False Doctrines of (the Accurate The Author of Genesis Inspiration Understanding of Biblical Authorship) Genesis, the Book of Great Themes of the Bible The Outline of the Book of Beginnings found in Genesis Genesis The organization and genesis of this project began when I sent an explanation of a few verses to a friend. Something along this line has been done before; J. Vernon McGee put together a series of half-hour lessons called Thru the Bible, which lessons are still found on the radio today (and on the internet as well). The only problem with his series is, he uses the King James Version of the Bible. So, when he quotes a verse, it is difficult to understand the verse, even though his explanation is often excellent. At this point in time, I do not have any idea how long I will continue this particular project. I do write a very detailed, word-by-word commentary on the Bible, but it is so detailed oriented as to be more suitable for seminary students or pastors or evangelists. This project which I have begun here (at this point, I have written 13 lessons in the past week) is sort of a break for me. Examining the Bible word-by-word is a more exhausting process, and I figured that I should be able to put together a shorter, much less detailed commentary, designed more for the average person. There may be as many as 100 English translations of the Bible. Here are some which I recommend. Recommended Bibles Type Recommendations You may want to have a Bible nearby, just in case you want to refer to it. For accuracy, I recommend the New King James Version (don’t be put off by the name), the New American Standard Bible, or the English Standard Version. Herein, I have given you links to www.Biblegateway.com where, if you have internet access, you have Accuracy these, along with dozens upon dozens of other versions within clicking distance. If you only have occasional access to the internet, then I recommend you go to www.e-sword.net and download their free program, and select a few translations which they offer (most of them, like the ESV, are free). If you are more concerned with readability than with accuracy, then I Readability highly recommend the Open Bible, also called the New Living Translation. Recommended Bibles Type Recommendations If you have a vocabulary problem and have a limited command of the English language, then may I suggest the incomplete EasyEnglish Bible, also called the English learner’s Bible. There is also the Bible Limited in Basic English, found as an e-sword module (you must have e-sword Vocabulary already installed to use this). The New Simplified Bible can be found on the internet or as a download for E-sword 8.x 9.x. The Net Bible (also called the Next Bible) is available for free on the internet. Whatever your strength or limitations are, there is a Bible translation—probably several in fact—which are for you. In most cases, if a verse needs to be quoted, I will quote it within the study. I began this series originally by exegeting the first few chapters of Genesis. That was problematic for several reasons. In most cases, teaching the Bible to an unbeliever is a waste of time; teaching the Bible to a believer out of fellowship is a waste of time. So, the first two lessons deal with those issues. Then, although Genesis is a good starting point, it is important to first have some sort of idea as to what the Bible is in the first place. My intention was to keep everything reasonably simple. So, the end result is, there will be about 10 lessons which introduce a verse-by-verse study of the Bible. Introduction Part I Salvation If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then prior to any time that you study the Bible, you need to name your sins directly to God. You can mentally tell your sins to God or you can even say them out loud, if no one else is around. When you name your sins to God (if you have already believed in Jesus Christ), then God forgives you for those sins and He cleanses you from all unrighteousness. If you understood this paragraph, then you may skip this lesson and move to Introduction Part II. There are some one-shot decisions which impact your life forever. When you chose to marry someone, even if your marriage lasts only a few months before you give up on it, that marriage and that union will impact your life forever. If you choose to marry someone and you give credence to the vows which you took (...in sickness and in health, till death do you part), this choice has essentially defined your entire life. If you choose to move to another city or if you choose to take a job which may become a lifetime career, these one- shot decisions define, enrich, and limit your entire life. The defining decision of your life and the next life is, whether or not you believe in Jesus Christ. Let me lay out the gospel and the plan of God for you (I will provide more Scripture later on in this series): we are fallen creatures, separated from God. We have a sin nature, which tempts us to sin (to do wrong, to act immorally); every single one of us has chosen to sin (to do wrong, to act immorally); and most of us make this decision to sin many times a day. Our ancestor Adam, chose to sin, and God imputed his sin to all of us, which means that, even from birth, we are behind the 8-ball with God. You look at a baby and think how marvelous and wonderful this baby is; God looks at a baby and sees Adam’s sin. We constantly see and experience the results of sin all around us. We cheat on our wives or husbands, we divorce, and our children not only go through great trauma, but their lives are impacted forever by the dissolution of the marriage of their parents. Many children will live in poverty for their entire lives, participate in destructive relationships, and possibly destroy the lives of their own children, all because two parents chose to divorce. This one example, this one sin, this breaking of this one vow, can impact an entire family and their descendants for several generations. We hear about nations wherein genocide takes place, where one group of people seeks to destroy another group of people, over racial, religious or ethnic reasons. Furthermore, we cannot send in an envoy of clever debaters who will be able to reason with the two groups to achieve a cease-fire or a lasting peace (Israel and the Palestinians are examples of this). When there is unreasonable and unrelenting hatred—a mental attitude sin—there is little that we can do to alleviate the suffering or to stop the actions which are based upon this animosity. We live in a world of great pain and suffering, and much of this (not all) comes from our decision to sin. I personally have lost a job, ultimately based upon 3 women who sat around and gossiped together. Now, this was completely within God’s plan and the end result was wonderful; but, the point is, the seemingly minor sin impacted my life for years. Sin is a very destructive force on the human race, and we all sin. Every single person—no matter what his ethnic background, no matter what his upbringing, no matter what his religion—sins. You may not want to recognize even the concept of sin, much less the universality of it. That’s fine. However, in your life, even if you are unable to recognize it in yourself, there are people around you who do things to you that, even if you refuse to call it wrong, evil or sin, it still angers you considerably. Furthermore, there are limits as to what you will put up with. This is why people leave jobs, leave marriages, disown their children, disown their parents, and occasionally just want to punch someone out. God calls the thoughts, words and actions leading up to these things, sin; you can call it whatever you want. In any case, you have caused other people pain, and they have caused you pain as well. It is all based upon sin, whether you want to recognize that concept or not. Because we have Adam’s sin imputed to us; because we have a sin nature; and because we choose to commit personal sins, we are separated from God. We may choose, at some point in time, to start straightening out our lives, but we will always have Adam’s imputed sin, we will always possess a sin nature, and we will always commit personal sins, even though we might be able to cut back on them. God is perfectly holy—this means that He is completely set apart from us. He is perfect righteousness. We might be able to find some person in a circle of friends that we feel morally superior to, and thus have what might be termed as relative righteousness. However, since God is perfect, and since we have 3 strikes against us (Adam’s original sin, and indwelling sin nature, and a collection of personal sins), we will always be separated from God, and there is nothing that we can do about it. Let me give you an illustration: someone might murder a member of your family. However, he goes to the courts and says, “You know, I was just having a bad day and I am not going to do something like this ever again.” He might be sincere and truthful. Should the courts simply allow him to continue his life as a free man? Of course not! Our sense of justice, our sense of right and wrong (which we have from God) would cry out against such a result. I know a person who does not believe in right or wrong or in morality. However, if anyone ever laid a hand on any of his children, there would be hell to pay. He rightfully recognizes that there are boundaries over which no one should ever cross, and, if necessary, he would personally exact a punishment for such an offense. This is someone who does not believe in right or wrong or in evil. My point in this is, God is perfect righteousness, and He cannot just let us off the hook for those 3 reasons which I have repeatedly stated. Even if we decided, right now, that we are going to live the very best and honest and moral lives that we can live, this would not erase our past deeds to God, no more than a criminal’s promise never to do wrong again erases his criminality. So, we stand—every man, woman and child—estranged from God. And, in the grand scheme of things, there is nothing that we can do about it. There is something which God can do about this, and, in His sovereignty, He chose to provide a solution to our estrangement. Jesus Christ, in the fulness of time, was born. He is God come as a man into this world, subject to all of the frailties of man, except for 3 things: because Jesus was born of a woman by the Holy Spirit, He was not subject to Adam’s imputed sin nor was He born with a sin nature. God chose, because of the difference between the sin of Adam and the sin of Eve, to genetically pass along the sin nature through the father; and to legally pass along (or, to impute) Adam’s original sin to all of those born with a sin nature. Jesus voluntarily gave up the use of His divine attributes as God and functioned as a man in this world, apart from having a sin nature. Throughout His life in this imperfect world, Jesus did not choose to sin, not even once. This made Him sinless in all respects and therefore qualified to take the penalty of our sins upon Him. Had Jesus sinned, then He would not be qualified to endure the cross, during which time, God the Father poured out on Jesus all the sins of the world, and judged those sins. God, Who respects our volition, then gives us a simple, free will choice. If we believe in Jesus Christ, we are saved and will spend eternity with God. If we do not believe in Jesus, not even taking a few seconds out of our lives to believe in Him, we are not saved, but the wrath of God is upon us. One of the objections which I have heard in my life is, Charley Brown is a good person and, even though he never believed in Jesus Christ, he tried to lead a good life. How is it fair for him to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire? Yes, it is fair, and let me give you 3 reasons why it is fair: Charlie Brown has Adam’s imputed sin, he has a sin nature, and he has sinned in his life, even though his sins might not be quite as observable to us as someone who murders and rapes. Furthermore, Charley Brown had to, in order to be saved, choose just one time to believe in Jesus Christ; to put his faith in what Christ did for him on the cross. This is the one act of positive volition which anyone can do and which is the non- meritorious action which saves us. We do not deserve salvation; we are not offering up any sort of work for salvation; we simply accept what Jesus has done on our behalf. It is a gift which is free to us. However, what God does not do is control our own volition. God does not alter our free will. God may allow things to occur in our lives which encourage us to look toward Him (such as, severe suffering), but He does nothing to alter the free will choice of faith in Christ, which choice He offers us. We have to, for a few seconds in our life, choose to believe in Jesus Christ in order to have a relationship with God. No one else has to be aware that we make this choice; and we don’t have to tell anyone. We simply believe in Him. Now, if we are unwilling, over the course of 70 years, to spend 2 or 3 seconds exercising faith in Jesus Christ in order to have a relationship with God, then we will not want to spend eternity with God. If you do not want to spend a few seconds out of your entire life exercising positive volition toward God and His plan, then you are hardly going to be interested in spending eternity with God. After death, you will either be with God or apart from God; but you will make that choice. You cannot make that choice for anyone else and no one can make this choice for you. Introduction Part II Rebound There is another thing which we, in this introductory lesson, must know: rebound. Rebound is not a term found in the Bible, but it describes what puts a believer back into play in the Christian life. Only a Christian can have a Christian life—the kindest, nicest, most moral person in the world cannot can have a spiritual life unless he has first believed in Jesus Christ. However, after we express faith in Christ, one of the first things that we do afterward is sin. This is our nature. All believers sin. Some do horrendous, shocking things and others commit fewer and less overt sins; but all believers sin after salvation. What this does is, break temporal fellowship with God. At the moment of salvation, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit and placed into Christ and we are filled with the Holy Spirit. The first ministry remains with us our entire lives, the second is lost as soon as we sin for the first time. However, the filling of the Holy Spirit is recoverable, and recovering the Holy Spirit is referred to as rebound. The Bible refers to this as walking in the light versus walking in darkness; as yielding to Christ; as being in fellowship with God as opposed to being out of fellowship. Why Rebound and the Filling of the Holy Spirit are Important: 1. We are able to understand doctrine and to access our full understanding of God only when filled with the Spirit. 2. We have fellowship with God in time only when we are temporally cleansed. 3. Our lives have no spiritual impact apart from God the Holy Spirit. Although there are many passages which deal with this particular topic, we will only look at one of them: 1John 1:6–10: If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (1John 1:6). In the Bible, each author has his own vocabulary. John speaks of fellowship (being filled with the Holy Spirit) with God as walking in the light and practicing the truth. John call the opposite of this temporal state, walking in darkness and lying. This epistle (letter) was written to believers, as are all the other epistles (with the possible exception of Hebrews, which speaks to both Jewish believers and unbelievers). The first 3 verses of the book of 1John make it fairly clear that John is writing to other believers. But if we walk in the light, as He [God the Father] is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin (1John 1:7). The blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from all sin while we are walking in the light, and while we enjoy fellowship with one another. John writes in terms of absolutes, and the purpose of this letter is that our joy might be complete (1John 1:4). If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1John 1:8). Sin, in the singular, often refers to the sin nature. If we claim that we have no sin nature, we are deceiving ourselves. There are a few goofy cults out there who present their members as sinless. However, most reasonable people recognize that Christians sin just as all people sin. John then gives us mechanics, and one of the most sorely lacking aspect of the Christian theology today is, few churches or seminaries teach mechanics. Most churches teach the most fundamental mechanic, believe in Jesus Christ and you are saved; and, after that, they drop the ball. John teaches the most fundamental mechanic for the believer, and that is rebound: If we name [acknowledge, confess] our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9). John is teaching this doctrine so that our joy (our inner happiness) may be fulfilled or completed. John teaches us that we have to name or acknowledge our sins (that is the mechanic; i.e., that is the thing we must actually do to get back into fellowship). If we do this, the God does two things: He forgives us for the sins that we have committed, and He also cleanses us from all unrighteousness (whatever sins that we committed but did not name to Him). These are the known and the unknown sins. You will notice two things in the mechanics here: we are not naming these sins to an intermediary party (like a priest) nor are we running around and finding people we sinned against and telling them what we did. We name our sins to God. Secondly, there is no emotion attached to this verb to name, to acknowledge, to confess. Sometimes, as believers, we will feel emotional and sometimes we will not. Sometimes this emotion will be related to the confession of sin and sometimes there will be no emotion. This is a simple mechanic and one which every believer needs to know. Before you do anything related to the spiritual life, you need to do a quick, personal inventory, and you name these sins to God before you take another step. You do this before Bible study, before giving, before doing anything which you may associate with the Christian life. In fact, whenever you sin, your immediate reaction should be to rebound, to name that sin to God right then and there. Then you are walking in the light and you are practicing the truth; your fellowship is with other believers and with God. If you sin and do not name your sins to God, then you are walking in darkness, you lie, you do not the truth, and you have no fellowship with God or with other believers. This is what John is writing and telling other believers. This is not something which is directed toward unbelievers. If you have not believed in Jesus Christ, you can confess your sins to God, to a priest, to all of your friends, and there is no spiritual impact. Mechanics come in a specific order, and God clearly lays these mechanics out in the Bible. The first thing an unbeliever must do is believe in Jesus Christ. The first thing that a believer must do is, after he sins, name that sin to God. And repeat when necessary. There are some self righteous believers who are going to object to the concept of rebound They will claim to live perfect or nearly perfect lives and that they do not sin. John anticipates and answers this objection: If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us (1John 1:!0). No believer can lay claim to living a nearly sinless life. Now, you might, on a good day, go for a few hours without sin; but all believers sin, and the only temporal cure for this is to name this sin to God. One of the things which I find humorous is, I have unbeliever friends who, when some well- known Christian commits some horrendous sin, they send me web links about the sins these people commit. The writer of these articles often reports this news gleefully, so happy to expose the great hypocrisy of Christianity. But, there is no hypocrisy. Believers sin. All believers sin. Some believers learn to refine and hide their sins from those around them, but God knows that they sin, and so does John, who tells us, If we say that we have not sinned, we make God out to be a liar. Let me make something clear to you which you may not quite understand. If you have been saved and you are still alive, then you have some sort of a life in front of you. God keeps believers alive after salvation because He wants us to function in His plan. The Bible has information about how we are saved in the first place and what was involved in