Matt Hagee - The Book of Origins

Welcome to this Sunday conversation. At this point in our reading through the Bible, we’ve covered the four Gospels, and now we turn to the beginning of the Bible: the Book of Genesis. While no individual is named as the author of the Book of Genesis, from the very earliest Jewish and Christian traditions, we hold to the idea, and in many cases the fact, that Moses is the author of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

In Greek, you’ll hear people refer to this as the Pentateuch; in Hebrew, it’s the word Torah, or law, also meaning instruction. So many times when you hear someone say, «I read Torah,» they’re talking about the first five books of the Bible, or if you hear a scholar say something along the lines of «in the Pentateuch,» he’s describing the first five books that Moses wrote.

Now, why do I believe that Moses wrote them? Nehemiah chapter 8, verse 1, gives us a glimpse. It says that Ezra the scribe-a scribe was someone from generation to generation who copied the Scriptures- was told to bring the books of the law of Moses. Why would he be told to bring the books of the law of Moses if people didn’t believe that Moses wrote them? For further proof, consider the words of Jesus in Mark 12: 26. Now, remember, these words are in red; these words come from the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. In Mark 12:26, the Bible says Jesus said, «Have you not read in the book of Moses?» Now, why would Jesus give him credit for the work if he didn’t know he did the work? And remember, Jesus is the word made flesh.

Now, in the Book of Genesis, there is a multitude of topics. So many things are covered in such a short amount of time that we would literally spend an entire year and maybe not even get out of the first few chapters. Just consider some of the major themes: you have the creation of heaven and earth (that’s Genesis 1:1) all the way to the end of the book, the death of Joseph, the son of Jacob, in Egypt. That begins another important chapter in Israel’s history, where they transition from a place of favor to a place of slavery. Genesis, as an overall theme, is a book of origins; that’s literally what the word means-to originate. We have the origin of the cosmos, the heavens and the earth, where they came from. We have the origin of mankind, where you and I came from. You have the origin of sin; prior to Adam’s sin, man lived in innocence. You have the origin of the nation of Israel in Genesis chapter 12. In the Book of Genesis, you have the foundation for the rest of what the Bible is built upon. Much of world history and theology is learned from Genesis.

For example, let’s just look at the idea of man being created in the image of God. Why is this such an important truth to have as part of your fundamental faith? Well, modern science will not tell you you’re created in the image of God. Modern science says that you are the highest form of the animal kingdom. But the Bible tells us that we were fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalms 8 says that we were created a little lower than the angels. You’re not an overdeveloped primate; you are created in the image of God. Not only is that important to keep in mind in the modern world, but what was God’s mandate for mankind? He said that we should rule over creation; he didn’t say that the environment should rule over us.

Look at how many things in this world are being controlled right now under the canopy of environmentalism. «Oh, we have to protect this particular part of the atmosphere,» or, «We have to do this to avoid these tragedies in the future.» What they’re doing is controlling and limiting individual freedoms in the name of the environment when the Bible says that man should have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle-that means both wild and domesticated animals-over all the earth and everything that creeps on the earth. You can find that in Genesis 1:26, but you will not find it in the EPA’s handbook.

Genesis 2:18 describes the first marriage. Marriage is God’s idea; the origin of the family comes from the Book of Genesis. In Genesis chapter 3, we see Satan’s opposition to man. The way that he assaulted and attacked Adam and Eve is the same way that he assaults and attacks each and every one of us today. He slithered into the garden, and he began to sow seeds of doubt: «Did God really say?» A few weeks ago, we talked about the temptation of Christ found in the Book of Matthew, all the way back in the beginning of our study. What did Satan say to Christ in the wilderness? «If you are the Son of God,» he’s sowing seeds of doubt in Genesis, he’s sowing seeds of doubt in Matthew, and he’s sowing seeds of doubt today. Follow the pattern.

In Genesis 3:7, we have the fall of man. The age of innocence is over, and sin enters now into a fallen world. A few verses later in Genesis 3:14, the curse of sin and the impact that it had on the world from then until now. God told Adam, «Thorns and thistles you shall bear.» Why is it that you can get weeds to grow through an asphalt parking lot and concrete, but you can’t get corn to grow in a field? It’s not an agricultural problem; it’s a byproduct of the curse of sin. «By the sweat of your brow, you shall eat your bread,» is what the Lord told Adam.

Now, this is a very important thing to separate here: God blessed work in creation. He worked and created for six days and he rested on the seventh. When he created Adam in the age of innocence, he gave Adam a directive: tend to the garden and keep it. So Adam had a job before sin entered the world. Work is not a part of the curse, but the heaviness of work is a result of the curse. I don’t want you to ever look at work as a burden; work is a blessing. But sometimes, when work is hard, it’s a result of living in a fallen world. Have you ever thought to yourself, «My job would be easy if I didn’t have to work with people?» Well, guess what? The result of Adam’s behavior is the creation of all of that conflict. So work is a blessing, but the labor that’s now involved in work is something that came by way of Adam’s behavior.

Then God tells him, «Out of the dust you were taken, and to the dust you shall return.» This is where we see the flesh of man being temporary, but the spirit and the soul being eternal. Another important verse in Genesis 3:15 is the foretelling of the Messiah. God tells the serpent that the seed of the woman will come and that the serpent will bruise his heel, but that he, the promised one, will crush the serpent’s head.

Flip the page to Genesis 4: you have Cain and Abel and the first murder. In Genesis 5, a very important genealogy goes from Adam all the way to Noah, and the bridge between them is an individual who lived 969 years named Methuselah. We use the statement, «That person is as old as Methuselah.» Well, very interestingly, Methuselah was the only individual who lived both in the time of Adam and in the time of Noah. He was Adam’s great-great-grandson and he was Noah’s great-great-grandfather. Why is he such a pivotal character? Could you imagine if you’re Noah and God tells you to build an ark because there’s a flood, and you don’t know what an ark is and you’ve never seen rain? Noah must have thought to himself, «I may be going crazy.» But then he goes and sits down and has a conversation with his great-great-great-grandfather Methuselah, and Methuselah encourages Noah: «Son, if that’s what the Lord told you to do, you better do it, because I remember when I was speaking with my great-great-great-great-grandfather Adam, and he told me the consequences of disobeying God.»

It’s a beautiful picture found in a very obscure verse because it reminds us that God will always give us people to encourage us in what he wants us to do. Genesis 6: Noah and the ark- a story many are familiar with. Genesis 7: the flood. Today, the flood is being proven over and over again with archaeological finds and individuals who are asking questions like, «How did all this sea life get way up here on top of the mountain?» The only answer is that at one time, the Earth was covered with water. In Genesis 8, God promises that he’ll never destroy the earth with a flood again. He didn’t say that he wouldn’t come and judge the Earth, but he said he wouldn’t do it with a flood.

In Genesis 9, 10, and 11, you have the descendants of Noah from the end of the flood to the Tower of Babel. In Genesis 11, you have the dispersion of mankind all over the Earth from the Tower of Babel in the plains of Shinar to Genesis 12, the descendants of Shem. Remember, Noah had three sons: Ham, Shem, and Japheth. The word Semitic comes from the root word Shem, meaning that all the descendants of Shem are the Semitic tribes. When someone says they’re anti- Semitic, they’re basically saying, «I’m against the descendants of Shem.»

We get to Genesis 12:1-3 and we meet a very pivotal and important character. His name at the time is Abram, and God makes him a promise: «I’ll make you a great nation; I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.» Page after page, chapter after chapter, Genesis is rich with foundational truth-truth that, if you build your faith upon it, will set the stage for all of the promises that can be found in the word of God and all of the things that Scripture holds. If you get Genesis right, everything else lines up. If you get Genesis wrong, it’s going to be very difficult for you to continue to understand God’s perfect plan, how he executes it, and why you’re a part of it.

In this week’s reading, we covered a lot of material: Genesis chapter 1 all the way to Genesis 19. From chapter 1 to chapter 12, we’re talking about mankind. Adam has no tribe, Adam has no nationality, Adam has no race. And so the world is until Genesis 12. In Genesis 12, we go from mankind to focusing on Abram and Sarah, and from then on, Genesis 12 to the end of the book, we’re dealing with Abraham and his descendants: the children of Israel, the Jewish people.

In the first 19 chapters, there are three significant covenants that God entered into with men here on Earth, and they still impact your life today. Let’s take a quick look: first, there’s the Creation Covenant. God entered into this covenant in Genesis chapter 1:26 and Genesis chapter 2:16 -17. It’s restated; now I want you to hear that very clearly: it’s restated. Oftentimes, God restates his covenant not because he’s changed it or amended it, but because he wants to remind mankind that he made it. He repeated his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants for centuries so that they wouldn’t forget it.

So the Creation Covenant is first read in Genesis 1: 26 and then in Genesis 2:16–17. Adam and Eve are the representatives of mankind with whom God makes this covenant, and here’s what he says: one man is created in the image of God and is commanded to be fruitful and multiply-that’s not an option; that’s a command. Then he says, «Fill the earth and subdue it.» That’s not an option; that’s a command. And then God gives man every tree, every herb, and every flower, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As long as man followed this covenant, life was sustained. Obedience brings the blessing, but the disobedience- taking from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil- caused man to fall out of this covenant because this is what God’s promise was: «In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.»

Now people will argue, «Adam lived to be 900 years old.» Indeed he did, but he died. Just because you don’t die instantly in judgment doesn’t mean that you’re not judged and doesn’t mean that God doesn’t keep his word. Adam was going to be an eternal being until he ate from that tree, and the day he ate from that tree, his existence had a definitive ending.

Then we have the Noachic Covenant, as it’s called, but this is God’s covenant with Noah. It’s with Noah and his descendants, which is still a covenant with all mankind because at that point in time, Noah, Ham, Shem, and Japheth were the only people on the face of the Earth. It comes from Genesis 9:1-17, and God promised not to destroy the Earth with a flood and gave a sign of that covenant, and that was a rainbow. Remember, the rainbow belonged to the faithful and was a sign of God’s covenant before it was used to promote any perverse way of life.

So God makes a covenant that he’s not going to destroy the Earth with a flood. The sign of the covenant is a rainbow. Now humanity is still expected to trust God. What did God say to Noah? Same thing he said to Adam: «Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.» That’s still our responsibility; it didn’t change. The third covenant that’s covered in the first 19 chapters is obviously the Abrahamic Covenant. It’s first stated in Genesis 12:1-3, repeated in 15, and repeated in Genesis 17. This covenant is with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants- the twelve sons of Jacob that eventually became the twelve tribes of Israel.

These descendants and this covenant are concerning land-the promised land, the land of Canaan, as described in the Old Testament, the land of Israel in our modern world. God makes this promise: «Abraham, through you, all of the nations of the world will be blessed.» Now, not only does that speak of Jesus, but consider all of the things that the descendants of Abraham have contributed to the world around them. Now, the sign of the covenant was circumcision. Today, Abraham is considered the father of all who believe: Jew, Gentile, and, in many cases, Arab.

How did he do it? The answer: he took God at his word. He believed what God said. And as simple as that sounds, it’s not always easy. But when he believed what God said, the Scriptures tell us that God counted it to him as righteousness. You not only read that in the Old Testament; it’s repeated in Romans chapter 4, verse 3. It says, «Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him as righteousness.» He believed God when God said, «Get away from your father and from your family.» That wasn’t an easy thing to do. He believed God when God said, «I’ll show you a land.» He believed God when God said, «I bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.»

Here’s the question: do you believe God like that? Oftentimes, people make excuses: «Well, it’s just so difficult.» I don’t think believing is as difficult as you think it is because we put our faith and our belief in all kinds of things. Let’s just consider some of the products that we put our faith in. A doctor tells you that if you do this, it’ll whiten your teeth, and we start to do it. «If you take this, it’ll thicken your hair,» and we start to take it. You go to the physician, and you tell him your symptoms, and he gives you a medicine and says, «Take two of these.» It’s a prescription. Now, seldom does he give you the medicine in the office, but what he writes you is a script, and you have to take action on that script.

Whether or not you know it, you’re putting your faith to work because the only reason you would go to the store and fill the script is because you believe it’ll work. Not only do you go to the pharmacy and hand the paper to the pharmacist, and the pharmacist gives you back the medication, but then you read the instructions, and it says, «Take two every day for the next seven days,» or whatever the instructions happen to be. Why do you follow the instructions? Because you believe you want it to work; you want the sickness in your body to be gone, and you’ve put your trust in someone who has told you this will make you feel better.

Now, I’m not saying all this to cause you to question your doctor. I’m saying this to illustrate how easy it is for us to put our faith in action. We’ll do it when the doctor says it, but what do we do when the Great Physician says it? A lot of people in this world, they’re spiritually sick. They go to church, they hear what the word of God has to say, they hear a solution that will fix the situation, they are surrounded by the atmosphere of worship and praise in the presence of the Great Physician, and maybe they even leave church encouraged. But oftentimes, they won’t put the word of God to work. It’s like going to the doctor’s office, getting the script, and never fulfilling it.

Every week, if you get into God’s word, he’s going to give you a prescription, but if you ignore it and just hope that things will get better, nothing will change because hope is not a strategy. The Bible says faith without works is dead. You can’t hope it’ll get better; you have to behave like you believe. God gave Abram a prescription: «Get away from your land, break off the relationships with your pagan-worshiping relatives, leave your father’s house, and I’ll show you a land, and I’ll make you great.»

Now, understand that at this time, Abraham wasn’t great, and Abraham had nothing. Everything that he was going to inherit was going to come from his father, so he had to forfeit everything that he knew in order to follow a God that he had never seen. That takes faith; that takes belief. In order for Abraham to receive this promise, he had to put the prescription to work; he had to actually behave like he believed.

Now, what you’ll see in this is this simple fact: remember, Genesis is a book of origins. So, if we get this right, we’ll see it over and over again throughout the Bible. Here’s the foundational and fundamental truth: faith works. If you put your faith to work, God will show himself faithful. James chapter 2, verse 26, tells us that faith without works is dead. Faith is not the good fuzzy feelings you get on Sunday; faith is actually taking the prescription that the Great Physician has given you from his word and following the instructions. Trust me, faith works.

I don’t know what you need to put your faith to work in today. Maybe some of you who are watching this know exactly the area where you need to follow God’s instructions. Maybe you’ve got a situation and a circumstance where you can’t understand how anything good is going to come out of it. Don’t worry about what you can’t control, and do something about what you can, in faith believing. Ask God for direction; the Bible says in James chapter 1 he’ll give it liberally. Then search his word for direction, and whatever he says, do it.

Do you remember what Mary told the servants at the wedding in Cana whenever she asked Jesus to help with the situation concerning water and wine? She looked at the servants and said, «Whatever he tells you, do it.» It might not make sense to you; it might seem weird and crazy to those who are around you. But look at Abraham-faith works. And if you put your faith to work, you’ll see God do things beyond what you could ask, think, or imagine.

God bless you. Thank you for joining us today. I look forward to seeing you in our next Sunday conversation.