Category Archives: Creation

Articles that emphasize biblical six-day, young earth creation.

February 10, 2014 · 00:46

The Exceptions

Fallen Angels

“… and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world …” (Revelation 17:8)

In my last post, “The Book of Life” I talked about the Book of Life that will be opened at the Great White Throne Judgment. Anyone whose name is not found written in the Book of Life is sentenced to an eternity in hell. I also expressed my understanding that everyone who has ever been born has their names written in the Book of Life initially, but whether they remain there depends on how they respond to God’s offer of salvation.

I said this was true with some exceptions, but I did not want to go into the details at that time. The reason I did not elaborate on the “exceptions” is because it might sound a little strange or even weird to some people, and trying to explain it in one or two paragraphs would be next to impossible. In fact, books have been written on the subject, so it would be difficult to explain in just a few words.

Just by way of disclaimer: what I am suggesting in the following paragraphs should not be taken as “gospel.” These are simply my thoughts based on studies that I have done, and are not meant to represent any kind of ecclesiastical dogma. There are many things in God’s Word that are not made clear to us, and to attempt to build a case on a shaky foundation is simply foolish. So, I recommend a healthy dose of skepticism before continuing. You may think I am full of bologna, and that is fine. This is something I “think” is true, but I wouldn’t bet my next paycheck on it. So, read on.

You remember in Genesis 3 that Satan came to Eve in the form of a serpent and tempted her to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She then shared the fruit with Adam who also ate of the fruit so that both sinned by disobeying God’s only commandment – that they should not to eat of that tree. God punished them, as He had warned them, by causing them to die in two ways: (1) they would no longer live forever (when God created man, He intended them to live forever), and (2) they were separated from their Creator. This is what we know as original sin, and all generations since Adam and Eve have inherited original sin. We all have a “sin nature.” That is why the Bible says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, emphasis added). God also cursed the ground from which man was taken so that all of God’s creation suffers because of man’s sin. “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22, emphasis added). Adam’s punishment was that work would be hard for him, and Eve’s punishment was that she would have pain in bearing children.

Following that (about 1600 years later), we are told that violence increased in the world. “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart” (Genesis 6:5-6). That was bad enough, but the first verses of Genesis 6 talks about something that is very strange, and has puzzled biblical scholars for ages . It says:

1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose …
4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:1-2, 4, emphasis added)
 

The “sons of God” in the Hebrew is bene elohim. This term always refers to angels in the Old Testament. (See Job 1:6; Job 2:1; and Job 38:7.) There are two kinds of angels: Satan’s angels (demons) and God’s angels. (Something to keep in mind is that even the devil is God’s devil. God created him, and he rebelled against God. But the devil (Satan) cannot do anything without God’s permission. This is demonstrated in the first three chapters of Job.) So, these demons “mated” with human females to create a mighty race of men. Now, angels cannot procreate directly, so what probably happened is that these demons possessed human males in order to mate with the human females. This somehow altered the DNA of the children born from these demonic unions so that they created “giants.” The Hebrew word used for “giants” is nephalim, and it literally means “fallen ones.”

Imagine just how bad things got that God felt He had to destroy them all. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8) and “Noah was a just man and perfect in all his generations, and Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9, emphasis added). The phrase that Noah was “perfect in all his generations” does not mean that he was sinless. Remember, “all have sinned.” What this means, then, is that his blood line was not contaminated by the satanic unions of the others.

When I say that there are “some exceptions,” this is to what I’m referring. Revelation 17 discusses the apostate church during the Tribulation who the Antichrist will eventually destroy. About those who follow that apostate church it says, “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Revelation 17:8, emphasis added). It is very clear that these were never written in the Book of Life – “from the foundation of the world.” It is as if these were never meant to be born.

One would think that the Global Flood should have taken care of all of the “bad seed.” Well, perhaps not all of them. As we continue the narrative in Genesis 6, God sent the Flood that covered the entire earth for almost a whole year. The Bible tells us that Noah and his wife and his three sons and their wives were in the Ark for 371 days, before the earth was once again livable.

Then follows an incident where Noah got drunk, and his son Ham saw him naked (Genesis 9:20-29). Ham, instead of covering his father went and told his brothers, Japheth and Shem. So they went into Noah’s tent backward so as not to see the nakedness of their father and they covered him up. When Noah awoke from his drunk and discovered what Ham had done, he cursed Canaan, Ham’s youngest son. So the question is, why did Noah curse Canaan and not Ham or Ham’s other sons? The answer may be that Ham’s wife may have carried some of the “bad seed” of the Nephalim in her, and it showed up in Canaan. One of the characteristics of Nephalim is that they had six fingers. (Goliath’s father had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot (2 Samuel 21:20).) Canaan was probably born with six fingers and when Noah saw it, he cursed him. So, some of these probably still exist in our world today with or without six fingers, but God knows who they are. These would not qualify to be written in the Book of Life.

Canaan’s descendants settled in the “Land of Canaan” which was given to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 13:14-18; 15:18-21). Genesis 10:15-20 describes who these people were and where they settled. “And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha” (Genesis 10:19). These are the people that the children of Israel had to face when they entered the Promise Land. As they prepared to enter into the land, 12 spies were sent in to spy out the land and report back what they encountered. The book of Numbers records the bad report returned by 10 out of the 12 spies. “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:33). Again, here the Hebrew word for “giants” is nephalim – the “fallen ones.” In The Henry Morris Study Bible, Dr. Morris makes this note about this verse:

There were also other tribes of giants in the land. “That was also accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims; A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims” [i.e., sons of Anak] (Deuteronomy 2:20, 21). Here, and in a number of other passages, the word for “giants” is Rephaim, evidently a tribe descended from the “Rephaims” associated with the “Zuzims” and the “Emims” of Genesis 14:5. The Emims also were called “a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims” (Deuteronomy 2:10).

All of these references indicate that there had been another irruption of the fallen “sons of God” just as in the days before the Flood. This time the irruption was probably in connection with the events surrounding the rebellion at Babel and the subsequent worldwide dispersion of the occult religious system introduced there. These demon-possessed men and women became the progenitors of tribes characterized by giantism, just as in the antediluvian days. (http://www.icr.org/bible/numbers/13:33/)

So, it is apparent that these nephalim somehow managed to survive the Flood. These who survived were descendants of Canaan, which explains why Noah cursed Canaan and not Ham. Oh, and by the way, Ham begat other sons before Canaan: Cush, Mizraim (Egypt), and Phut. Canaan was the youngest, but evidently, he carried the “bad seed.”

Now, to further complicate things, I am sure you have heard of UFOs and of aliens abducting humans. I believe (and I am not alone in this) that these are demons that are doing the same thing today as they were doing back in Genesis 6. (See my article “Aliens?”) These creatures, that may look very human, were never meant to be born, so their names are not written in the Book of Life.

Unless you are one of the nephalim (and you probably are not, if you are reading this), your name is written in the Book of Life. My question to you would be, is your name permanently written in the Book of Life, or is there a possibility that it could be blotted out? That choice is up to you.

Watch “On the Trail of the Nephalim” on YouTube with L.A. Marzulli.

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February 3, 2014 · 01:03

The Book of Life

Book-of-life

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life …” (Revelation 20:12)

The debate between “election” (predestination) and “free will” continues with no satisfactory resolution on either side (See my article “Somewhere in the Middle”), and no clear winner. What we can know for certain is that at the final judgment, any remaining doubts will be assuaged. In the final scene before the “new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away” (Revelation 21:1) are revealed, John says, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life … And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12,15, emphasis added).

John saw that “the books were opened.” Clearly this thorough examination includes more than one book, and one might wonder what these might be. I believe that “the books” are the journals of the life of every individual ever created by God. The psalmist says, “My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:15-16). Jesus said that “the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30). In another psalm the psalmist says, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8). Every detail of our lives is recorded in these books: every stray thought, every word, every act whether good or bad. Sadly, the vast majority of people, from every religion including Christianity, live their lives believing that in the end, when the books are opened and examined, their good acts will outweigh the bad and gain them entrance into heaven. (See my article “Near Death.”)

Included in “the books” that will be opened is the Bible, I believe. In any court trial, the accused is judged according to a written standard – the law. Regardless of the overall good conduct of the accused, the judgment passed reflects the violation of an absolute standard. So it shall be at the final judgment. Each individuals life’s journal will be measured against God’s ultimate standard. At that final judgment it is possible, though highly unlikely, that one or maybe even two individuals lived almost flawless lives except for maybe one “indiscretion.” The Bible says, “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).

So much for getting in on one’s own merits! But wait! One book remains unexamined – the Book of Life! Considering the court scene above, a human judge has the authority to extend mercy to the accused especially if the person has otherwise been law-abiding. So, the Book of Life is opened and the roll call begins, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). In this court, if one has “yet offended in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Justice has been done, the verdict rendered, and there is no appeal.

We yet wait that final judgment, but it approaches nearer every day. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life know it without a doubt. The Apostle Paul alludes to this when he says, “And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:3, emphasis added).

Those not in that camp want to know how to inscribe their names in the Book of Life. I have a theory, albeit somewhat unorthodox, but I think I can support it scripturally. I believe that every person born, with some exceptions, is recorded in the Book of Life. That is why the Bible can claim that “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, emphasis added). Every person alive can receive eternal life through repentance and acceptance of God’s grace-gift of salvation by the atoning work of Christ on the cross. But when one rejects God’s offer of salvation, God blots out his name from the Book of Life. I arrive at this conclusion from Moses’ intercession for his people, Israel. “And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book” (Exodus 32:31-33, emphasis added). Whoever thinks he can do as he pleases, “saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven” (Deuteronomy 29:19-20, emphasis added). Messianic Psalm 69 describes the suffering Savior on the cross, and as He cries out to God for vindication He says, “Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous” (Psalm 69:27-28). Note that in these examples, the evildoers are written in “the book of the living” or the Book of Life. They must necessarily be in the book before they can be blotted out.

It seems that there comes a time, after an individual rejects God’s offer of salvation for the last time, that his name is removed from the Book of Life while he yet lives. During the time of the Great Tribulation, those whose names have been blotted out from the Book of Life while still living will readily accept the Anti-Christ and worship him. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8, emphasis added).

“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Revelation 17:8, emphasis added). Earlier I mentioned some exceptions to the rule that every person to ever live being recorded in the Book of Life, and this is it. Apparently, there are some born that were never intended to be born, so their names are not recorded in the Book of Life. God knows, and God has His reasons which we cannot know. I have some thoughts about this that I cannot get into at this time. But generally speaking, everyone living has their name written in the Book of Life, unless they have ultimately rejected God’s offer of salvation. Those who know that their names are permanently inscribed in the Book of Life are secure in that knowledge. Those who don’t know or are unsure have the opportunity to have their names indelibly sealed by accepting God’s gift of Salvation. For those of us who have loved ones that are lost, while they yet live we have hope that they can be saved. So we should pray for them incessantly that their names be not blotted out of the Lambs Book of Life. The issue is not getting in, but staying in the Book of Life, and that is a choice every individual must make.

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December 1, 2013 · 21:07

Time for Pride to Grow

“. . . when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:7)

A common question that arises from time to time is, “When did God make the angels?” A corollary question to that is “Was there enough time for pride to grow in Satan and for the war in Heaven to occur within the first few days?”

In the Job passage quoted above, God is telling Job that the angels were there at the time when He formed the earth. As to whether there was sufficient time for Satan’s pride to grow, we must ask, “How much time does it take for pride to grow?” In our own experience, does it take a long time to develop pride, or does it just seem to flare up unexpectedly? I would say the latter. Pride is one of the most basic sins. Human beings are naturally selfish and self-centered. Recall that very shortly after Creation, Satan was able to tempt Eve with “the pride of life” (1 John 2:16): “ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). It does not take a great amount of time for pride to grow.

The angels probably were created on the first day of the creation week. We cannot be dogmatic about this. The Bible does not specify when the angels were created, but the above passage in Job indicates that they were at least around to see the creation taking place. The angels, therefore, were created before man. Perhaps the reason for not focusing more attention on angels is that the Bible focuses mainly on the relationship between God and man. Angels play a part, but they are not central to God’s redemptive plan. But what does God say about man? “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26, emphasis added). Did God say that about the angels? Did God give dominion over His creation to the angels? Can you see anything there that would give rise to pride and jealousy?

It would not have taken a long time for Satan’s pride to grow. Having been created first and then given lower status than man, Satan said, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14, emphasis added). Satan hates man because God has bestowed upon man greater status than the angels. “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet” (Psalm 8:4-6, emphasis added). The English phrase “a little lower than the angels” is not an accurate translation. “Angels” is the Hebrew ‘ĕlôhîym referring to God rather than the normal word for angels mal’âkîm. This is a messianic passage describing the condescension of Christ in taking human form, but this also has a secondary meaning as applied to man. Having been created in the image of his Maker, man holds a higher status than the angels, and this infuriates Satan.

This being the case, Satan most likely rebelled on Day Six of creation or very shortly thereafter. Seeing that man was God’s prized creation, Satan turned his ire toward destroying man. Knowing that man was created in the image of God, he employed that fact to cause man’s demise: “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5). If one analyses the source of any sin, it all goes back to pride – man wants to be his own god. This has been true from the beginning when Satan witnessed the creation of man, and since the fall of man in the Garden (Genesis 3). It really takes no time for pride to develop. It is nothing that requires any nurturing. On the contrary, it is something must actively be suppressed, and this cannot be done through human strength. It requires the supernatural power that only comes from God through the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised, “ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Acts 1:8), and it is in that power alone that pride can be conquered.

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November 17, 2013 · 13:00

The Present is the Key to the Past

Grand-Canyon-Sunrise

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.  (Genesis 8:22)

In the origins debate, the young-earth creationist is confronted with the uniformitarian account for the supposed long ages they see in the earth’s crust. “Uniformitarianism is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in the universe now have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe. It has included the gradualistic concept that ‘the present is the key to the past’ and is functioning at the same rates.”[1] I appreciate that definition because it clearly states that uniformitarianism is an “assumption,” which differs considerably from a “fact.” Young-earth creationists can agree with uniformitarianism to a small degree based on the biblical perspective provided in the Bible verse above.

I hope I can explain this in a way that makes sense. What uniformitarian thinking does is to look at the geologic processes that are currently taking place (as defined above) and assume that these processes have always taken place at the same rate over millions of years. The uniformitarian, then attempts to mathematically extrapolate back in time to determine the age of the rocks or the formation of strata on the earth’s crust.

In the case of rocks, different radiometric dating methods measure the current rate at which certain minerals within the rocks decay. “Radiometric dating (often called radioactive dating) is a technique used to date materials such as rocks, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates.”[2] For instance, uranium decays into lead at a certain known rate (“normally”). They can then take a rock containing uranium and measure how much uranium remains compared to the lead, and using currently known decay rates, they can calculate the age of the rock by the ratio of uranium-lead content. Keep in mind that they are “assuming” a constant decay rate.

In the case of sedimentation (or stratification), we can observe river deltas forming. We can observe, for example, that the river is depositing silt onto the delta at the rate of one inch per year. We can then take a core sample of the delta, and we discover that the silt is a mile (5280 ft.) deep. Since we know that silt deposits on the delta at the rate of one inch per year and has done so consistently in the past, we can multiply 5280 ft. by 12 in. and we calculate that the delta is 63,360 years old.

That kind of thinking is what gives us the long ages that evolutionists like to see. However, the problem with that lies in their assumption that things have always been consistent. In the case of the delta, what if the river flooded several times and deposited a foot of silt at every flood apart from the normal 1 inch per year? That would make the delta appear to be older than it really is. Or, what if the coast experiences several storms that erode the delta away? Then the delta would appear to be younger than what it really is.

In the case of radioactive decay, how can the geologist know for sure how much uranium the rock contained to begin with? Or how can they know with certainty that no uranium or lead has been infused into the rock somewhere along the way, or that some event caused greater decay than normal? These things cannot be known so the uniformitarian is left with only assumptions (and they really believe their assumptions).

Young-earth creationists believe the biblical creation account to begin with. Therefore they understand that the earth is probably around 6000 years old but certainly not more than 10,000 years old. They believe the biblical account of the Global Flood and any “uniformity” that is apparent is due to God’s promise that all things would remain consistent (Genesis 8:22 above). From this “ground zero” starting place, they can then make scientific predictions that verify the veracity of the Bible. For instance, the fact that Carbon 14, a highly volatile element having a half-life of only 5,730 +/- 40 years, is still present in petroleum, coal and diamonds. Uniformitarians would not even think to test for C-14 in these minerals, because they assume these minerals to be multimillions of years old, so naturally C-14 should not be present. Young-earth creation scientists believe that the earth is young, so C-14 should be present. So, they look for it, and BEHOLD! There it is!

If you would like to study more on this, the following are some articles from the Institute for Creation Research that may interest you:

http://www.icr.org/article/young-earth/

http://www.icr.org/article/some-recent-developments-having-do-with-time/

http://www.icr.org/article/new-rate-data-support-young-world/

http://www.icr.org/article/carbon-dating-undercuts-evolutions-long-ages/

 The present is not the key to the past – the Bible is!

Endnotes:

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September 15, 2013 · 14:45

A Loving God

Bible-God Is Love

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)

In my last post, “An Angry God,” I tried to perhaps shock readers back into an awareness of the awesomeness of God, by calling attention to the wrath He is capable of displaying. However, He more often restrains His anger because of His mercy.

It is said that familiarity breeds contempt, and that is exactly what happens when all we consider is the kinder, longsuffering, patient and loving side of God. We put Him on a shelf until we need something from Him, and then we plead with all of our heart for Him to answer our prayers. We live our lives no differently than the rest of the world so that an uninterested observer can see no difference between the Christian and the pagan.

God is not someone to be trifled with. Indeed, if He were to confront us, we would be overcome with fear, and we would shake and fall down as dead men (Matthew 28:4). The prophet Isaiah came face to face with the living God (Isaiah 6:1-5). He saw Him high, and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. He was surrounded by angels who continually chanted, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” At the sight of it all, Isaiah’s strength departed, and he cried out, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (v. 5). When Peter recognized the power of Christ “he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). When John saw Jesus in all of His Glory, he said, “when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead” (Revelation 1:17). God should not be taken lightly or taken for granted. He is GOD!

creating_adamThat said, God is a loving God. It is no accident that we find his first loving acts in the creation account in the book of Genesis. In the process of creation, Genesis records that He called all things into being only by His spoken Word. But when He created man, He made him in His own image. Not only that, but Chapter Two provides added detail telling us that “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). The English word “formed” is the Hebrew word yâtsar which means to mold as a potter might mold a lump of clay to his liking. God took extra care in designing a body like the one He would one day inhabit.

ExpulsionFromEden

Later after the man sinned by disobeying God’s only prohibition, instead of carrying out the prescribed sentence – “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17, emphasis added) – God spared their lives and provided for future redemption: “And I will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

When Cain murdered his brother Abel (Genesis 4), instead of killing him on the spot, God put a mark on Cain to protect him from a vendetta that might have been raised against him.

ark2Almost 1600 years later (Genesis 6-9) mankind had become so wicked and violent that God was ready to end it all. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8), and God saved His prized creation in saving Noah and his family.

God is often criticized for His order to the Israelites to wipe out the Canaanites including men, women, children and their animals. The Canaanites were vile, wicked people who practiced child sacrifice and included all kinds of sexual perversions including the use of animals (bestiality) in the worship of the demonic gods – all of which is abhorrent to God. But God did not destroy them all at once as He did Sodom and Gomorrah. Instead, he gave opportunity for the witness of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to have an effect as they sojourned in their land. God spoke to Abraham, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years … But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Genesis 15:13, 16, emphasis added). God allowed for the repentance of these pagans during the time that the Patriarchs were in the land, plus 430 years that Israel was in Egyptian captivity, and 40 more years as Israel wandered the wilderness. That was a total of around 600 years that they had to repent. It may be worth noting, that while God commanded that they wipe them all out to purge the land of their wickedness, Israel did not fully obey God in killing them all. Consequently, they continually struggled with the lure of idolatry, which eventually destroyed the nation. God demonstrates His love through the patience He shows toward sinners in giving them every opportunity to repent, but His patience has limits.

Much more could be said about the love of God, but in the words of the old hymn:

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
(“The Love of God,” Frederick M. Lehman, 1917.)

The greatest act of God’s love was demonstrated when He took upon Himself the form of man, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). God’s love is so great that He paid the death penalty in His own flesh to save us from the wrath to come. The wrath of God is nothing to be trifled with, but His love is extended to anyone who is willing to receive it.

 

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