Category Archives: Genesis

Bible Study, Genesis, Reformed Baptist, Theology

Abraham and the Righteousness of Christ

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In two of the more recent posts, we’ve looked at significant Old Testament figures and their hope in the coming of The Redeemer.  It is by faith that they embrace this hope in a forward-looking faith as they awaited the fulfillment of God’s promise.  Though an argument from silence, it would not be difficult to reach the conclusion that these two individuals, Eve and Lamech, were saved.  We move now to a third example of salvation from the OT, one much more explicit and much more foundational to our understanding of salvation in the OT.

In Genesis 11, we are introduced to the man Abram and his wife Sarai.  Abram was called by God to move his family to a land that God would show him (Genesis 12:1) and along his journey we see God unfolding the Abrahamic Covenant while simultaneously pointing forward to the New Covenant (far too much to cover in this post, see Genesis 12:7; Gen. 15; 17:1-14, 19; 22:12-18 ).  In Genesis 15:1-6 we read

“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

The context for this passage is the promise of a son to Abraham who would be his heir and provide the lineage for the Messiah who would fulfill God’s covenant in an ultimate sense, literally an innumerable offspring for all those who are “in Christ” (another lengthy post for later).  Abraham’s response is that “he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”  This may be a familiar verse upon first reading.  It may be one that you’ve read over time and again, and perhaps like I have, taken it for granted.  However, it’s central to our understanding of salvation in the Old Testament because the Apostle Paul references this passage in Romans 4 and follows up in chapter 5 with a significant doctrinal statement.  Read carefully the following:

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

The context for this passage is the justification of Abraham by faith.  Subsequently, Paul is laying the foundation for understanding the salvation of all believers, not simply those in the New Testament, which is why he chooses the Patriarch of Israel to destroy any notion of a second way of salvation for Jews versus Gentiles.  Romans 4:3 is a direct reference to our passage from Genesis 15:6.  Notice how Paul expands this idea of Abraham’s justification by faith to include a contrast between “the one who works” and “the one who does not work but believes in him” to show that this concept of salvation by faith alone is not limited to Abraham, but is a paradigm for all salvation.

The phrase coincident to our passage from Genesis 15 and this passage from Romans 4 is that Abraham’s faith was “counted to him as righteousness”.  What does this mean?  There are a couple of ways to approach this answer, the first is that “counted” is better translated “imputed”.  If fact, I’m disappointed with the ESV translation here.  The imputation of Christ’s righteousness is a massive concept in Scripture and “counted” fails to adequately convey this thought.  The NKJV follows suit with “accounted” while the NASB is slightly better with “credited”.  Secondly, I prefer the word imputed (or even reckon) here, but I understand the NASB’s reason for their choice because the idea being conveyed is that on God’s accounting ledger of justice the “debits”, i.e. sins of a sinner, are cleared upon their repentance while simultaneously Christ’s righteousness is “credited”, i.e. imputed or reckoned, to the sinner upon their profession of faith in Him (an oversimplification of the necessity of both repentance and faith).  The Apostle Paul builds upon this doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness in Romans 5, particularly in verses 12-21.  In this passage we can see the Apostle outlining clearly the “imputation” of Adam’s sin and guilt to his posterity contrasted with the “imputation” of Christ’s righteousness to His posterity, or all those who are united with Him, namely believers.

Simply stated, because of Christ’s perfect obedience to God’s law, He has fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law.  Adam in his disobedience had the guilt from his original sin “imputed” to all mankind.  Subsequently all mankind, fallen in Adam, has failed to meet God’s righteous requirements set forth in His law.  Therefore, we are in need of a righteousness from outside ourselves, namely the righteousness of Christ.  His righteousness, not our own, is credited to us upon our salvation resulting in our justification before God.

Now you may be asking what does any of this have to do with Abraham, let alone salvation in the Old Testament.  I think we now have sufficient evidence to set forth clearly the passage from Genesis 15:6 where Moses, writing about Abraham 2000 years before the birth of Christ, writes an explicit statement about Christ’s righteousness being imputed to Abraham by faith.  Let that sink in for a minute before you ask how can this be?  How can Abraham, 2000 years before Christ even set foot on the earth possibly be declared justified by the imputed righteousness of Christ, “he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness”.  Answer: Abraham was justified by a faith that looked forward, believing the promise of God; a forward looking faith that ultimately reached its destination in the finished work of Christ (be reminded also of Hebrews 11:8-12; James 2:14-26).  He was justified, i.e. saved, by faith through the grace of God and the righteousness that comes from Christ alone was imputed to him.  Salvation in the Old Testament is perfectly consistent with salvation in the New Testament.  God has 1 people and 1 plan to redeem them, His Son Jesus Christ.

Sola Fide

Sola Gratia

Solus Christus

Bible Study, Genesis, Hebrews

The Gospel Hope of Lamech

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“28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” Genesis 5:28-32

In a previous post, we looked at the Gospel Hope of Eve and her expectation that God would fulfill the promise given to her and Adam in the protoevangelion of Genesis 3:15.  In that post we noted that her expectation that God would fulfill his promise was initially toward her first born, Cain, though we noted a shift in her expectation to Abel at some point, before finally being reached in Seth, the seed through whom the Messiah would come.  Though speculative, it seemed reasonable to assume that Eve had faith in the promise of God to send a Deliverer or Redeemer, much like other OT saints (see Hebrews 11).

In the passage above from Genesis 5, we note a similar expectation through the words of Lamech, the father of Noah.  Recall that in the post concerning Eve mention was given to the significance of the meaning of names in the Old Testament and we find again that idea conveyed through the name of Noah, which sounds like the Hebrew word rest.  Lamech’s expectation for the fulfillment of God’s promise can be seen in the following verse, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”  The word translated “relief” by the ESV is literally the word rest, which corresponding to Noah’s name and the expectation that he would be one to deliver the people from the “painful toil of our hands.”

To understand this better and see the connection with the protoevangelion we must turn again to Genesis 3:15, though this time in context with the entirety of the curse given to Adam, Eve, and the Serpent:

“14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:14-19

Of particular interest to us in this post is the curse pronounced on Adam, “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Notice here that the curse given to Adam is specifically related to the toil of the ground or land through the labor of his hands.  God would no longer provide ease and abundance through the fruits of the land, but now it would require painful effort on the part of man to overcome the obstacles of thorns and thistles, and through sweat, i.e. hard work, the land would yield harvest.

Now we can begin to see the expectation of deliverance from this curse in the words of Lamech, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”  Clearly the first part of Lamech’s expectation is related to the final statement of God’s curse on Adam:

The Curse on Mankind:

“till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19

Lamech’s Expectation of the Curse Reversed

“Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed” Genesis 5:28

It’s not difficult here to see an expectation for the reversal of the curse given in Genesis 3.  Lamech’s expectation is that out of the very ground that had been cursed would come one who would bring relief.  Like Eve before him, Lamech’s hope was in the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Redeemer who would crush the head of the serpent, though he specifically has an expectation of relief, literally rest, from the curse of the ground.  Further, he expects that this one from the ground will be his own child, Noah, who would bring about this rest.  Again, like Eve, we know that it was not through their immediate offspring that the fulfillment of God’s plan would come, but through the Promised One, Jesus Christ.

It is certainly understandable in both the case of Eve and Noah that their hope in the promise of God would be fulfilled in their lifetime, but that was not God’s plan.  His plan for a Redeemer would unfold through the covenant promise given to Abraham, a kind of reminder of Genesis 3:15, and then through the people of Israel, culminating in the birth of Jesus Christ.

The expectation of Lamech highlights an additional point worth noting, namely the ultimate Sabbath rest that comes in Christ alone.  The Sabbath principle is far more than the 4th Commandment that so many have abrogated from the other 9 commandments.  It is a principle rooted and grounded in the character of God, revealed in the days of creation, longed for in the expectation of Noah, further developed in the Mosaic Law with Sabbaths and Jubilee, and ultimately finding its destination in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 3 and 4 develops further the biblical theme of God’s permanent, Sabbath rest to which all other Sabbaths in the OT pointed, that comes only through Christ:

“7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. 10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” 6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, Godwould not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 3:7-19 – 4:1-13

Clearly this passage is worthy of a separate study, but we may conclude a few things in relation to the expectation of Lamech.  From Lamech and the passage from Hebrews, we may observe the connection between the promised rest of God and the promised land of God.  We may conclude that it is only in Christ that believers may find their rest from not only the physical labors of their hands, but the spiritual labor against sin.  Through the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, to all believers, by way of Christ’s obedient fulfillment of God’s law, we may rest from all efforts to earn our justification.  Thereby we may now experience God’s Sabbath rest, even though, as in the days of Noah, we also look forward with eager expectation to the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring about our eternal, satisfying rest from all the toil of our hands in a land, namely the new heavens and new earth, that God Himself will prepare.

Bible Study, Genesis

The Gospel Hope of Eve

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“Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.” Genesis 4:1-2

“25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Genesis 4:25-26

In Genesis chapter 4, there is a fascinating expectation of the gospel promise given to Adam and Eve, and subsequently all fallen humanity, in Chapter 3:15.  In this promise, often called the protoevangelion or first Gospel, God declares that He will provide an offspring from Eve who will crush the head of the serpent.  “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15

If we were to think about this in context, perhaps how Adam and Eve would have understood this promise, we find their expectation for an “offspring” who would crush the head of the serpent who had just deceived them, i.e. that God would fulfill His promise.  When we read this promise today, we have the completion of Scripture which shows the unveiling of this promise culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah.  But for Adam and Eve, their hope was in the promise of God and His faithfulness to it through the arrival of the promised or appointed One.

So it is that we see Eve’s expectation of this promise in the passage above, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord” which she sees fulfilled at the birth of Cain.  Matthew Henry points out that Cain’s name “signifies possession; for Eve, when she bore him, said with joy, and thankfulness, and great expectation, I have gotten a man from the Lord.”  Certainly it is reasonable to speculate that her hope in Cain would be for his triumph over the serpent.  As we know, she was mistaken.  Henry points out that her next son, Abel, “signifies vanity. When she thought she had obtained the promised seed in Cain, she was so taken up with that possession that another son was as vanity to her.”  Names in the Old Testament are significant in their meaning, so with speculation, one could conclude that for Eve, the fulfillment of God’s promised, triumphant offspring was to be Cain, while Abel was less significant, even vanity, because the purpose rested with his brother.

As we often find in Scripture and in life, God’s plans are not our plans, and much like the choice of Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau, God’s plan was not to be fulfilled in Cain.  He succumbed to jealousy and sin overtook him leading to the murder of his brother Abel.  If we may, imagine for a minute the bewilderment of Adam and Eve, whose expectation for the fulfillment of God’s promise was, at least initially, to be found in Cain.  Not only was this not the case, but he murdered their other son, leaving them with (presumably) no offspring to fulfill God’s promise.  Would the word of God fail so soon in redemptive history?  Certainly not!

After the murder of Abel and God’s curse upon Cain, in which He also showed him great mercy (Genesis 4:13-15), we find Eve’s hope in the promise of God surfacing again, “And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.”

Commenting on this Henry writes, “This is the first mention of Adam in the story of this chapter. No question, the murder of Abel, and the impenitence and apostasy of Cain, were a very great grief to him and Eve, and the more because their own wickedness did now correct them and their backslidings did reprove them. Their folly had given sin and death entrance into the world; and now they smarted by it, being, by means thereof, deprived of both their sons in one day, ch. 27:45. When parents are grieved by their children’s wickedness they should take occasion thence to lament that corruption of nature which was derived from them, and which is the root of bitterness. But here we have that which was a relief to our first parents in their affliction.”  This relief came in the form of another offspring, Seth, whom Eve points out was appointed by God, from which Seth’s name derives its meaning.

“Observe God’s kindness and tenderness towards his people, in his providential dealings with them; when he takes away one comfort from them, he gives them another instead of it, which may prove a greater blessing to them than that was in which they thought their lives were bound up. This other seed was he in whom the church was to be built up and perpetuated, and he comes instead of Abel, for the succession of confessors is the revival of the martyrs and as it were the resurrection of God’s slain witnesses.”

As Henry points out above, it would be through the lineage of Seth that God would provide His promised offspring, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would fulfill perfectly the expectations of Genesis 3:15, crushing the head of the serpent and disarming rulers and authorities (Colossians 2:15).  Note also that in this verse, Eve recognized that her initial plans for Cain were not to be, as at some point her hope for the fulfillment of God’s promise seemingly shifted to Abel, “another offspring instead of Abel”.  It is my opinion that Eve believed the promise of God given in the Gospel from Genesis 3:15 and that her expectation for the fulfillment of this promise can be clearly seen in Genesis 4.  In this respect, as with other Old Testament saints, salvation came to her by way of grace through faith, albeit a prospective faith, nevertheless it was by faith alone.

Finally, in 4:26 we read, “To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.”  In this passage we see the continuance of God’s promise by providing offspring for Seth, ultimately leading to the Messiah.  At this time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.  One might postulate that the reason that led them to call upon God’s name was observance and delight in the covenant faithfulness and goodness of God to be true to the promise that He had made.

The expectation for God to be true to His gospel promise by providing an Appointed One, a Redeemer, Savior, Messiah, is the grand theme of Scripture.  We may therefore look to Christ and behold His glory as we sit in amazement at the faithfulness of God who extended mercy and grace to a sinful people who deserved nothing but His wrath.  Surely through the birth of Seth to begin the lineage of Christ we may see that God is in the details, sovereign over every course of life and His plans will not be thwarted by sin or Satan.  We must often realize that our expectations for how God will act doesn’t always, in fact hardly ever, predict the plans of God.  However, we may take comfort and be rest assured that He has purposed it, He will accomplish it.

Soli Deo Gloria!