SPEAKER_03 1:32

What would be some of the things that you think um what bits of Genesis do you think Jesus might have quoted as he was going along the road to explain that himself?

SPEAKER_06 1:42

I wonder if it might have been um uh he might talk about Joseph's uh and the forgiveness have failed him that he said I I will forgive you, give you a fresh start, fresh opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 1:53

Okay, yeah.

unknown 1:54

Anyone else? Um talking about how the garden gardenable skin.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

I've had before that.

SPEAKER_03 2:05

Okay. Yeah, yeah. So it's amazing, so that even back then, when they tried to make garments made out of uh of leaves to look like the tree, actually God gave them a garment of an animal's skin. Actually, an animal must have died in order to clothe them. Yeah, okay, great one. So that even the this idea of sacrifice was even just even back when God first was trying to cover them after sin. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 2:29

Do you think Jesus would have been speaking about the forgiveness of sin around about that period of time?

SPEAKER_03 2:35

He could have done, yes. Yeah, yeah. But which bit of Genesis might you point towards this to explain that?

SPEAKER_07 2:43

Because he says not, is it Abraham and all that? Yeah, possibly um his descendants after.

SPEAKER_03 2:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

The other thing in his game is he probably talked about the covenant or maybe the Ten Commandments or Okay, yeah, the covenant and how the covenant was being fulfilled in him.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

That that's the thing we don't the chaps particularly look at because that's uh the idea of covenant is quite an important theme in the Old Testament story that sometimes in kind of um modern-day culture we don't necessarily understand, so we're going to look particularly at that. That's that's a great one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:14

Anything else? Prefall humanity.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 3:22

Okay. But what life could be like now that we're back into a relationship with God.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

Okay, yeah. So he could have referred back to the fall and and why did he have to suffer in the first place and the remedy to well you even just say pre-fall, like as we used to walk together in the garden, we can walk together again. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And maybe that's what he he, I don't think he was walking necessarily in the cool today, but certainly he was God with with them, wasn't he, at that point. Yes.

unknown 3:51

Yeah, catch it. Isn't there a priest in Genesis?

SPEAKER_02 3:56

Is it Malchek and I don't know. Some people think that might have been Jesus before.

SPEAKER_03 4:02

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll look at again that, but there's this mysterious character called Malchizedek. And again, certainly the writers of the Hebrews refers to kind of this this priest, Jesus being like Melchizedek. Um, and whether Jesus referred to him, he might be referred to Melchizedek, no, this person that appeared and disappeared, and there was bread and there was wine. And who is this person? Yeah. Okay. Um what we're going to try and do is this. Um take us through the first little bit to look at uh this idea of covenant and when Jesus says here's a new covenant. Actually, to understand what covenant is, uh, is is again quite a fascinating and uh I think important theme that goes right away through scripture, uh, that Jesus' death and resurrection seals a kind of new covenant for us. Um and then we're going to look at um two or three little things that I think point towards Jesus. I'm gonna give you a little task and a little bit of arbitrary cat uh and then we'll finish off with a few more things. Is that okay? Um but if I hand over to uh Jack, is that okay?

SPEAKER_04 5:07

I'll um I have the rather unenviable task of trying to do 30 minutes on covenant, um which if anyone's ever looked at covenant before, you'll know that I could spend, or somebody, maybe not me, could spend hours looking at covenant, sorry. Um and so I'm just gonna read briefly from these three passages on the screen. So Genesis 9, 12 to 17, Genesis 15, 9 to 21, and Genesis 17, 1 to 21. Um, and then I'm going to look at some sort of things about what covenants are, some of their development, um, think about the way that Genesis is trying to get us to think about covenant and other themes as well, and how they might link, and then a little bit about stuff in the New Testament as well. So we'll start with Genesis 9, 12-17. So, I establish my covenant with you. Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of the flood. Never again will there be floods to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you, every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and rainbow uh rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you, and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. So God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on earth. In the Genesis 15, 9 to 21. So the Lord said to him, Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. Abraham brought all these to him, cut them in two, and arranged the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abraham drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abraham fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Sorry. It's the scalp, remember. Then the Lord said to him, Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterwards they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace, and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure. When the sun had set and the darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On the day that the Lord made a covenant with Abraham and said, To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, to the Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kesanites, the Kadamites, the Hittites, the Pezzarites, the Raphaites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Gigaroshites, and the Jebusites. Oh, that's a lot of names at the end there. Genesis 17, 1 to 21. When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am God Almighty, walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers. Abraham fell face down, and God said to him, As for me, this is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abraham. Your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, and be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants, and I will be their God. Then God said to Abraham, As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep. Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come, every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household, or brought with money from a foreigner, those who are not your offspring. Whether born from your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh will be cut off from his people, for he has broken my covenant. God also said to Abraham, As for Sarah, your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai. Her name will be Sarah, and I will bless her and surely give you a son by her. I will bless her that she will be the mother of nations, kings of people will come from her. Abraham fell face down and he laughed and said to himself, Will a son be born to a man of a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety? And Abraham said to God, If only Ishmael might live under your blessing. Then God said, Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael I have heard you, I will surely bless him, and I will make him fruitful, and greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year. When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. Oh, that's a lot, isn't it? Okay. Genesis is really weird. I don't know if you've realized that yet. And it's really I think it's really interesting. And what we're looking at is sort of two parts of this book that cross over. Ooh, I've skipped across already. So I think the name was slightly differently, but chapters 1 to 11, primordial history. So history before history, I think history of nations was that have you had it? Yeah, nations. And then 12 to 50 is like an ancestral narrative. Who are the people of Israel? Where do they come from? And what we're looking at here, well, and actually between these two is a genealogy which sort of connects these two bits of text. Um, and it's all of this is chopped full of symbolism, and so I'm going to draw attention to some what I think are interesting parts that are important because looking at Noah and then Abraham, what we have is a sort of uh some texts that are sort of mirroring each other and are crossing across this boundary, right? Where the text has moved from one part of narrative to the next, but these things are still linked. So, for example, do I have a slide for this? Oh, this is not liking me today, is it? Um okay, I don't, sorry. So in Genesis 1, we have creation, right? And um one thing that the writer of Genesis seems to like, and Hebrew writers in general, is that when you have genealogies, if you look at places in the fifth generation or the seventh generation or the tenth generation, they are like buzz people to look at, right? So Genesis 1, you have Adam, and ten generations from Adam, you have Noah, right? And therefore you get the flood narrative. And in the flood narrative, what we see is like a deliberate undoing of creation. Some people call the Noah story uh uncreation, right? Everything that happens in Genesis 1 is like systematically undone in the story of Noah. Who is ten generations after Noah? Any guesses? Abraham. Abraham, right? And what you have in Abraham is a promise of blessing, of new nation, of rebirth. And so what you have is what's called a chaiasm, right? So a chaiasm is where the text sort of um imagine like steps that lead up on either side, so the text leads itself from two different points up and down, right? So 10 generations, you have creation, destruction, creation, right? And the text is like a mirror. Um, and so there is this sort of language and story that is going from the beginning of Genesis right the way through to the sort of formation of the people of Israel that is designed to make you think about these like key moments. And what we get in the sort of Abraham story is this idea of covenant. The word, and that word first appears, who with? Where does covenant first appear? Noah. Noah, right? So we are these points where this story is drawing your attention to key words and key ideas. So if I said to you, what's a covenant? What would you say? It's a promise. It's a promise, yeah. What else? Anything else?

unknown 14:30

Agreement.

SPEAKER_04 14:31

Sorry? An agreement. An agreement, yeah. How important is that agreement?

SPEAKER_07 14:37

Very important.

SPEAKER_04 14:38

Very important, yeah. Yeah, so it's an agreement, a binding partnership. What does that agreement require? Anybody know? What happens in that?

SPEAKER_07 14:51

what God expects him to do.

SPEAKER_04 14:53

Yeah, so there are oaths and promises that sort of counteract each other. And that doesn't have to be symmetrical. So, like we could have a covenant between us, and we might be equally powerful in a relational sense, and we might have equal oaths and equal, we might each get equal blessings from each other, right? With humans and God, it's just never equal, right? God is always more powerful, and humans are uh always more likely to fail, I guess. And Genesis is sort of forcing that um into us. And covenants in the Bible happen all the time, and you see it not just between humans and God, you see it between people. Everyone wave the mind, sorry. Um so what we have um in this sort of period up to Abraham is like a sort of what I would call like a narrative arc. The text is taking you somewhere, and once you start thinking about these ideas. So we have the world is formed and it is formed good, at which point sin enters the world, and so death and sin then affect everything, and everything gets worse up to Noah, where God then floods the earth. And that often is a difficult story for modern readers, but what the text works really hard at is to tell you that it really has got worse, that everything is really terrible. Um, and so what you start with is this idea of divine justice, that God uh brings justice into corruption, and yet we also have divine mercy because God has not destroyed everything, he is merciful towards Noah. Um, and while the world still contains evil, God has now promised to not wipe out humanity. Um, and so we're sort of left with like a what will God do now? Right? Like, well, it's not like after Noah everything is fine, right? The people continue on and people keep sinning and keep things seem to keep getting worse. And so, well, God's already promised not to wipe everybody out, that's what happens. And so we get Abraham or Abraham, and you get this developing relationship that is coming off the back of this long swathe of Genesis that is already starting to get you to think about things like covenant, about mercy, about grace. Does that make sense? That's a little sort of sorry, that was very quick sort of synopsis. Do shout out if you have a question. Um great. Okay, so yeah, so we have this chestic structure and a slow continual development. So in each part of the narrative, the covenants add things, right? So um with Noah, the only thing God promises is to not wipe out humanity again, right? It's like a low bar. Um with Abraham, you have uh some promises about um circumcision on the part of humanity, and we have in the two passages we read, you'll notice that things sort of heat up even across those sort of four chapters, right? So in the Genesis, I think it's 15 passage, um you have uh this promise of uh blessing of uh descendants, and then in Genesis 17, you have this point where the animals are halved and darkness falls, like an oppressive darkness happens, and it's like it's like the tension is being ramped up. Um Abraham is sent to sleep, and when Abraham is sent to sleep, uh you have these two sets of halved animals, and um you have a fire pot, a smoking firepot passes through the animals. Is that weird? Allowed to say yes, it's definitely wheels, right? Definitely a weird. Okay? Um the Israelites leave Egypt, what goes before them in day? Oh, cloud of smoke. And what goes before them in fire? So when fire and smoke head between the animals, what is that? The presence of God. Right? So walk between the halved animals is this idea that you take on the destruction that the animals have experienced in allowing for the covenant. So the animals have been shorn into and only God goes through the animals, not uh Abraham. And so God promises that destruction will come upon him if the covenant is broken. Just think about that when we think about the New Testament. Um within the first sort of 20 chapters, I've completely lost my place in my there we go. Um within the first 20 chapters of Genesis, there are like loads of important stories, and they are trying to help you inform about what you are reading, which is why when you when I was reading out, you'll just notice loads of repetition, like the same sentence is being said again, and it's like why are you saying this again? Like, why is like what am I supposed to be paying attention to? Um, and one of the things that I was thinking about was uh this the idea of walking. Um, so in Genesis 3:8, at the point of the fall, it says the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Right? So Adam and Eve hide in Genesis 3. In Genesis 5, Enoch walked faithfully with God, and he was no more, because God took him away. Then in Genesis 6, 9, Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. And Genesis 17, verse 1, when Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the Lord God Almighty, walk before me faithfully and be blameless. So, this is what I would like us to talk about in little groups. What does walking with God mean? What is the contrast between Adam, Eve, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham? And how might that relate to covenant? Have a chat in little groups.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

Could you put the verses again on the slide? Yes.

unknown 22:00

Yeah. I don't like it. It's like multiple. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:36

So it needs four fit there, if that's what it means. When it looks like it's not hard to do.

unknown 22:45

But they hid away.

SPEAKER_04 22:51

What's the contrast between Adam and Eve Enoch, Noah and Abraham? Or is there a contrast? I'm leaving you there, but like you could say there's not one. And how might that relate?

unknown 23:07

So we have quite a start or first one. They didn't work both.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

Yeah, three relationships. They seem to have a relationship with both.

unknown 23:24

No, I'm like, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 24:11

Nine feet and nine years.

SPEAKER_03 24:22

I think in some ways I think he didn't do it faithfully when he left his home. So in some ways it he was walking faithfully. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 24:35

Any thoughts? What does walking with God mean?

SPEAKER_06 24:42

We thought being obedient. Obedience? We thought it was staying through the ups and downs of life. Okay. A life of faith is going to have its ups and downs.

SPEAKER_04 24:58

So staying in relationship? Would that be the right way of putting it? Yeah. Okay. Anyone else? Anything else? Or is that about some money?

SPEAKER_07 25:12

As I said. Yeah, that's fine.

SPEAKER_04 25:21

So is there a contrast between Adam and Eve, Enoch, no, and Enoch? It did break it, but are all the others singless?

SPEAKER_07 25:35

Yeah? Are you sure? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:38

No is a drunkard? For example?

SPEAKER_07 25:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Run's a liar, bro. Enoch who knows.

SPEAKER_04 25:49

Enoch, we don't know. Enoch might be the one, in fairness. But he only gets one verse and it's like this one. So I think probably not sinners. Right? But he walks faithfully with God, and that's good.

SPEAKER_07 26:02

Yeah, he's raptured.

SPEAKER_04 26:03

So what should Adam and Eve have done? Walk with God. Walk with God. They are invited to walk with God in the beginning. And the point is that they don't. And the people who God makes his covenant with, and the people who God blesses, in the case of Enoch, are the people who enter into that relationship and walk with him. That doesn't mean they're sinless. Right? And I think we have a tendency sometimes to hold up Noah or Abraham or David or whoever in the Old Testament and be like, they're amazing, and they're like basically sinless, and they're not. They are nightmares. Like King David is a rapist and a murderer. We should not try to avoid that. Right? The point is that they seek God still in spite of their sin. Right? Abraham is quite clearly keeping slaves because God makes a covenant in relationship to that, if you look at the text. If you have a slave, you should have them circumcised. I'm not okay with that. Right? We need to reconcile with these intentions that these people are not perfect, and yet they won't walk with God. So how am I that right to come?

SPEAKER_01 27:28

Walking seems to be the condition of the covenant. And I think if you go back, I think if you walk with God, like that's the remit, and then what comes is that God would take you away. Is it okay? We just go back to the bottom. Yeah, sorry. Um like I found it interesting. Um with between Enoch and Noah, those those guys are the people in this verses who explicitly walked faithfully with God. Abraham, that verse says, if you like, if you do, yeah. But um Enoch walked faithfully with God and then God took him away. Noah walked faithfully with God and God took him away. Well saved him and then yeah, yeah, saved him with that.

SPEAKER_04 28:16

And seems to say yeah, so yeah, walking with God, relationship with God is a precondition for this. And the it is important that we are still in the Old Testament world, and so there are other obligations like circumcision, for example, that they have to do. Um but these things aren't like a vacuum, they are implying a relational like characteristic of God towards humanity and towards these specific humans, not just a human. We'll get into that sort of broad approach with New Testament stuff. But I was thinking about where do we see this in the New Testament? Uh bad font, bad colour choice, I'm sorry. Um so 1 John 2 5 to 6. Whoever obeys his word, truly uh in this person the love of God has reached perfection. But this we may be sure that we are in him. Whoever says, I abide in him, ought to walk just as he walked. Uh Colossians 2 6, therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in him. Galatians 5 16. But I say walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. This like language of walking in God, your translations might say like abide in God for some of these places, but it Greek is about walking, right? Usually go on if you've never used Bible Hub, highly recommend it. Um there's a like lexicon for Bible Hub, it's uh excellent, terrible, it's a horrible looking website, but it's really useful. Um, it's honestly horrible, but it's so helpful, and you can go look at what the Greek words are trying to do. And so we have this mirroring in the New Testament about Genesis, about relationally walking with God, and I think that's interesting. Um when we think about covenant in the New Testament, we have um Luke 22, 20. Uh in the same way after supper, he took the cup, saying, This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. Anyone know what Jesus was referencing? What was that?

unknown 30:38

The wine.

SPEAKER_04 30:38

Yes, the wine, but what when he says new covenant? Anybody know what he's talking about? Where does that come from? Is he making the up? Is he making up the idea of a new covenant?

SPEAKER_01 30:50

Is it Jeremiah?

SPEAKER_04 30:52

It is Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34. Um just I'll just read out verse 31 uh for now. But it says, The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with uh with the people of Judah. So Jesus is pulling on this theme in Jeremiah, which is pulling on a theme in Genesis about God's covenant with Israel. And Jesus is saying, This is for being fulfilled now. Right? But what we've started with in our brief 25 minutes so far, is that covenants are binding agreements that are relational that come with both promise and obligation. So does the New Testament require obligation of you? And and also does it bring promises? And if so, what are they? So does God require something of you?

SPEAKER_07 31:47

It requires us not to say.

SPEAKER_04 31:51

Have a chap. What does it promise? What does it promise and what does it require?

SPEAKER_07 31:56

The promise is a double line.

unknown 32:08

Do we have obligations? We have to reset. I think we need to do the I'm 22.

SPEAKER_04 32:39

What could you think about it? Probably the NIP, but it could be the NRI. It's definitely not the same.

SPEAKER_06 32:53

Yeah, I've got to do that. So we'll probably find that.

SPEAKER_07 32:58

What is your quiet?

SPEAKER_04 33:39

Actually, that's what I mean. Which is quite helpful. Okay, what do you think? I'm I'm gonna get you this one. Firstly, what does it promise?

SPEAKER_07 33:51

Eternal life.

SPEAKER_04 33:52

Eternal life or everlasting life. Might be slightly different. Does it require anything of you?

unknown 34:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 34:05

Walk with Christ. Trust him. Trust in him. Believe him. Belief. Turn from your old ways. Turning from your old ways. Anything more practical?

SPEAKER_10 34:14

Repentance.

SPEAKER_04 34:15

Repentance. Okay. So I agree with all of that. If I repent, trust in God, turn from my old ways. Is that it?

SPEAKER_07 34:34

No, basically you're to surrender. What does that mean? Surrender is to give your whole life to Christ. Basically walk the way Jesus walked.

SPEAKER_04 34:44

Okay. So James 2.17. So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

SPEAKER_07 34:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:54

Hebrews 12.14. Pursue peace with everyone and holiness without which no one without which no one will see the Lord. John 1. John 4.8. Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. And Mark 16, 16. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. But whoever does not believe will be condemned. So James seems to probably have to do something. Not just turn away, not just love, but do something.

SPEAKER_05 35:30

Are we talking about doing something to see the consequences of the kingdom, or are we talking about do something to inherit salvation? What do you think?

SPEAKER_04 35:44

Right? So, but we also have so that's attention straight away. Because he's saying, because James is saying, well, that faith, if it has any works, is dead.

SPEAKER_05 35:54

It's not real faith. I suppose it would be be transformed by your faith and you want to be able to do it.

SPEAKER_04 36:00

Okay, so your faith might lead you to do works. But what if it doesn't? So is it not real faith?

SPEAKER_05 36:07

You can recognize somebody by the fruits.

SPEAKER_04 36:09

Okay, yeah. Great. So, but that means we are basically saying you have to do something. Because if you're not doing something.

SPEAKER_05 36:16

That to doing something is a consequence of the faith that you already have.

SPEAKER_04 36:20

Okay, so what about Mark 16? Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Belief in Jesus in the New Testament is always accompanied with baptism. Or at least 95% of the time.

SPEAKER_05 36:32

Pretty sure it's always, but might be. Great point.

SPEAKER_04 36:37

Or is he? He's not baptized in water, but is he baptised in spirit? Baptist in it. I say baptism twice. Pursue peace with everyone, the whole and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. You can enter into relationship with God, but can you do that if you can't see the Lord? Can you do that without holiness? Do we have time for a few for one final question? Why is baptism linked to salvation in Mark 16, 16? And actually pretty much everywhere in the New Testament. Is it necessary to be baptized to be saved?

SPEAKER_07 37:25

And if so, why and why not? Baptism is only baptism is an act of obedience. Sure. Yeah, because what Jesus commanded it. Let it be done so to fulfill all words.

SPEAKER_04 37:39

Yeah. But um whoever believes in debapti and is baptized will be saved. Yeah. When he's linked to it says salvation, it's not, it's Mark seems to imply this is more than salvation.

SPEAKER_02 37:55

I'd like to add something about the idea of marriage. Um man and wife truly love each other. In a Christian sense, they get married and just what it is. In the same way, baptism is a way of showing your devotion to God. So in some ways, is anything happening in baptism?

SPEAKER_04 38:34

Is that is that only what happens in water bottles?

SPEAKER_08 38:42

In my opinion, I think I just said that.

SPEAKER_04 39:00

So there's another thing in the Holy Spirit happens in for Jesus. It does for Jesus.

SPEAKER_07 39:07

It does for changes when where when we become when we become Christian, we give our life to God. You should? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:18

When is it? I think um, yeah, like when you mentioned I was of the biblical canon, yeah. I think baptism uh probably symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Symbolizes only or more than symbolizes? Um I think it I think it more I think it symbolizes like the Holy Spirit coming to you that is the enabler of the faith that would that so it's the enabler that makes you do the acts of believing. So like there's one part of believing, but then the baptism gives to the Holy Spirit that enables you. How are you able to believe?

SPEAKER_04 39:54

So for Calvin, uh the Spirit works through baptism to enable faith, which is why we should baptize influence. Also, that is according to Luther, also according to the Roman Catholic Church, also according to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Not according to the Anabaptists, who believe that uh baptism is always under professional faith, and they suggest that the Holy Spirit comes at another point. But what I what I'm saying is that you have to like work out the theology of what's happening with faith, how does that relate to the movement of the spirit, and what does that mean for your belief about baptism? Right? Because in the New Testament, just to bring it back to covenant, like baptism seems to be related to these things. Again, to just for John Calvin, Calvin thinks that you should one of them another reason you should uh baptize children is because baptism replaces circumcision as a sign of the new covenant. When do you circumcise children? You circumcise them on the eighth day. So baptise the children. He also would quote Jesus when he says, You shouldn't stop the little children coming to me. Calvin says, Children can have faith, it doesn't matter if you can't understand it. Now, for the record, I don't think Calvin's right. I'm just playing devil's habit up in the front. But I do think baptism is more than symbolism, and I do think baptism is really important. If you want to know more about that, ask me another point because I've run out of time. Are there any final questions?

SPEAKER_07 41:28

Coming back to baptism.

SPEAKER_04 41:31

Another time, ask me the edit. The final thing I would probably just say is that um what's happening with covenant in Genesis is being mirrored in the New Testament. And I do think there are obligations on us. I don't think those obligations function in the same way that they do in the Genesis narrative. So, for example, um I don't think not being baptized, for example, casts you out of Christ's love. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't pursue things like holiness and relationship with God. In more of a I think in some ways the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost actually puts more of an onus on the new covenant than you get in the Genesis narrative because the presence of God is with you individually and personally, right? And that matters to how you live your everyday lives, whether that's through good works or through baptism or through communion, through prayer, like everything, all of these things become connected participation moments with God. Does that make sense?

unknown 42:39

Cool. Great, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 42:41

Thanks so much. Thank you. I think with the I think with starting in Genesis, the themes do roll through scripture. And it's interesting to see where covenant starts in Genesis. Even when Mount Sinai uh with Moses, the covenant's kind of renewed, and the covenant expectations um as you go through the scripture, obviously covenant that is is is kind of broken and broken, and so eventually a new covenant has to come. And again, I just think it's a fascinating thing to give some thought to. Um but just for the last little bit, um I've just got eight little things. When um when Jesus talks about um on the road to Emmaus, all scripture, starting with Moses, explains about himself. Um just have a little look at a few few spaces, then I want you you to do a little uh little look at one passage uh in little groups, um, and then we'll have a look at a few more. So um where where is Jesus seen in the book of Genesis? So if if Genesis is like kind of um the seed bed where little seeds are planted, and as you go. Through the story of scripture, those seeds start to germinate, start to poke the soil, and start to become a bit more of a and actually then when you come to Jesus, Jesus is the is the full tree plant, bush, whatever it is. So there's all kind of seeds that are planted in Genesis. And I think um we see some of those things. Uh even Jesus' divinity. So maybe on the road to Emmaus, he's saying, Do you know? Remember back in the book of Genesis where it says, Let us make marry on it. Who who who is who is who is the us? Hmm. Kind of the the monotheistic kind of the Jews who believed in one God, and yet here in Genesis it talks about an us. Um uh I wonder if again some of those first writers, as they start to understand who Jesus was, Paul here says, the Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him, Jesus, all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. So they would begin to have this idea that actually maybe Jesus, when it says let us make man or an image, actually Jesus might have been even been involved in the creation of things visible and invisible. Was Jesus involved in the physical creation of mountains, oceans, birds, plants, animals? Was he involved with creating angels and uh archangels and seraphim and living creatures? Was he involved in creating all the spiritual beings as well? Well, they're beginning to think actually, yeah, maybe Jesus was involved there. Um when John says, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God, he was with God in the beginning, and through him all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. Again, the influence that actually in the creation story, the us did include Jesus. That Jesus was was there at the very beginning, at the very start of this intentionality of God to create a physical environment where a supernatural God can make meet with his created beings, uh, he could love them, they could love him in return. Actually, Jesus was involved there. So even right back at the beginning, this idea of of the of the us was was there, that the God being part of the Godhead. Actually, part, and one of the things that that most religions would say is that the the kind of there was a God's created, and Jesus would maybe wrote a mayor, say, actually, maybe do you remember what I said that I was one of the us, I was there when it all started. Um the second thing I think that appears to Genesis is the um is this idea of the seed of woman. Do you remember that in Genesis chapter 2 when uh God talks to the woman and says about how he talks about child bearing, actually, and and you're in that childbearing, actually there's going to be pain. Uh but there will be a child that's born to a woman, and actually that child, Jesus, um he will crush the serpent's head, and the serpent will snap at his heel. There will be pain, there will be a bite, there will maybe be a bit of venom, but actually, kind of something's gonna happen to the seed of woman, uh, but that seed of woman is gonna crush the serpent's head. And again, there's just a little thought about deliverance, about freedom, about the vanquishing of evil. Uh, there's going to be something about some suffering that's going to be involved. It's not just going to be a just a stamp, there's a bite as well. Um, and again, where maybe Jesus, even talking to those, that couple on the road to Mayus, said actually, do you know when I went to the cross, kind of when I when the Messiah was going to die, actually that's where the resolution of kind of the crushing of evil, that's where it was going to happen. When I hung on the cross, that was the bite of the heel. But actually, what happened there is the serpent's head was was crushed. Um I think the themes of death and resurrection uh come through the book of Genesis. Um whether it's uh Noah, uh the story of Abraham, Mohammed, and Isaac on Mount Moriah, uh Joseph that we've seen in the book of Genesis. Um maybe again if you if you've got your Bible with you, and um again, maybe this story was a story that Jesus referred to. So Genesis chapter 22, so we've got a Bible, Genesis chapter 22. Um uh I'll just I'll just read through some of it and then and and again think could Jesus have used this story when he talked about himself? So sometime later God tested Abraham and said, Abraham, here I am, he replied. God said, Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah, sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, I will tell you. Uh so then he gets his donkey and he travels. Um, and uh Abraham took, so verse six, Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. And he carried, he himself carried the fire and the knife. And as the two of them went up, Isaac uh spoke up and said to his father Abraham, said to his father Abraham, Father, yes, my son. Abraham replied, The fire and the wood are here. Isaac said, But where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham answered, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. And the two of them went on together. And when they reached the place God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it, and he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out at him from heaven, Abram, Abraham, here I am, he replied. Do not lay a hand on the boy, he said. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. Abram looked up, and there in a thicket was that he saw a ram caught by its horns. So he went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place, the Lord will provide. And to this day it's called, on the mountain, it is said, on the mountain, the Lord will be uh the Lord it will be provided. Okay, just two or three minutes. Looking at those verses, how do you think Jesus might have on the road to Emmaus talked about these verses and talked about himself? What might you have picked out? Okay, one, two, three, go.

unknown 52:24

And also I think on the page of it. Twenty five seconds.

SPEAKER_06 53:18

Well keeping back on ten minutes.

unknown 53:41

We have the five questions. So I don't know. I just call that. Yeah, we'll find out.

SPEAKER_03 54:34

Okay, but what what are some of the things you you think from this story you think you know what? That that kind of is Ah. Um when when it talks about um the Old Testament being like uh a shadow, so the the Old Testament like a shadow. So so if you like like today when the sun was out, if you if you if you stand, kind of uh you are the reality, but because of the sun shining, it casts a shadow, which is kind of like a it's an outline of you. You it's not you, but there's a little bit of something that resembles you. And as we read through scripture, I'm particularly in the book of Genesis, it's kind of there's a bit of something here that kind of resembles Jesus. It it kind of it's a shadow and the reality is in Jesus. And here, this little story is like a little shadow of of Jesus, and and the shadow helps us to inform us about the reality. So, what what from that story do you think is a little kind of pointed towards Jesus? What did you what do you say?

SPEAKER_06 55:35

I wondered if um well we've got lots of different things there. One thing that came to mind to I I wondered if um it is is being told about the sacrifice of a child and and and the impending pain, but there was the obedience prepared to go through with it because I thought about Jesus going through with the pain of the cross. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When you done nothing wrong, yeah, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:01

Yeah, so so there's there's there's Jesus was obedient even to death on a cross. Kind of there's something about obedience here, yeah. What are you gonna say here?

SPEAKER_02 56:16

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:25

Yeah, that little phrase, your son, your only son, dearly beloved son. Actually, here's Jesus, he's the only son, the dearly beloved, the firstborn of all creation.

SPEAKER_01 56:34

Um the Ram that took the place of like Isaac, which is kind of like the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Literally replaced us as men in human beings.

SPEAKER_03 56:54

So in some ways it kind of flips now, so rather than it being Jesus is seen in Isaac, actually Jesus is now seen in the Ram. But it's instead of kind of uh a human being dying, this ram dies in its place. And and that theme of sacrifice goes again goes through the whole of the Old Testament, through the old covenant uh to Moses, through to the to Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 57:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 57:20

God himself will provide the lamb.

SPEAKER_03 57:22

Yeah, God's gonna provide. Actually, that it's not to do with your own doing. Actually, Jesus was said, actually, there's nothing that old Judaism could get you to walking back with God again. Actually, there's God's gonna provide something, and actually, here God provides Himself. Anything else about the story?

SPEAKER_08 57:52

Yeah, so that just kind of parallel.

SPEAKER_03 58:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and then that was that uh the not answer uh Isa Lamb was shed, but um poor RAM. Actually a lot of his lamb was shed.

unknown 58:23

Anything else on the story?

SPEAKER_03 58:36

Yeah, we're we're not quite sure what what age he was. I mean one of the other languages I think here is is that um Isaac carried the wood. And again, as Jesus goes, uh and and some people think Mount Mariah was it's was that kind of almost was that the hill outside Jerusalem was that in that kind of region? And here's Isaac and he's carrying the wood up the mountain, and here's Jesus carrying the cross uh kind of um until he gets Simon to carry it for him, but actually the wood has been carried up the mountain. Um other things that you think might be interesting there.

SPEAKER_01 59:27

You mentioned him with the carrying on the wood and the carrying on the cross I need to see that.

SPEAKER_03 59:32

Yeah, yeah, the wood the wood's been carried up up to the mountain. Which is going to be used for the sacrifice. Yeah, and here's the Jesus' cross being carried up to the mountain. And again, maybe the same mountain at Ryan.

SPEAKER_07 59:52

Yeah. Yeah, transforms go as well. Yeah, it takes three days to get there, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:01

Yes, a three-day journey. Yes. Yeah. And it's interesting that I I didn't actually read that a little bit, but he says to the servants, wait here. Um, as it says, uh on the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to the servants, stay here with the donkey, while I and the boy go over there, we will worship, and we will come back to you. I just like somebody saying that he said, and we will come back to you. But in his head, he's thinking, I'm gonna go and sacrifice Isaac, he's gonna die. But in his heart he knows that actually, but we will we will return because Isaac's the child of promise. And and and and that's why figuratively he did receive Isaac back. Actually, there's a there's a resurrection kind of thing going on there as well, is that he he knew that he was going to go to the death of his son, but somehow he also knew that he was going to come back and we will come back to you. So this idea of death, but also life after death. He he had this faith that there was going to be something out. He didn't know how that was gonna work, but his his promise to his servants was we will return. I'm going to go and worship, and the worship involves sacrifice, but we will return. And again, I just think that's an interesting death and resurrection. There's something about his his faith that in that encounter, kind of he could have died, but he did return. Um I think when when Jesus spoke. Again, he he says that this little thing in John 8, verse 56, he says, Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day. He saw it and was glad. And I kind of wonder what what day did Abraham see that was going to be Jesus' day. And actually, maybe it was on that mountain that he he that as his son was taken off the altar and this ram was killed and put on the altar in his place. Actually, somehow Abraham he just kind of got a fast forward, he he caught a glimpse of my day, and somehow he was glad. And again, it's just this little mysterious thing that that the book of Genesis is it's kind of thousands of years before, actually, it's pointing towards Jesus in a mysterious, dramatic, wonderful kind of way. And that that even kind of uh Abraham got a glimpse of the salvation story. This big salvation story that starts at Genesis, comes through the Old Testament to the person of Jesus. He saw my day, kind of uh the thought to see my day, he saw it and was glad. I just think that's an amazing thing that Jesus says about him, and maybe this incident is the incident he's referring to. I don't think that makes sense now. Um, so uh so yeah, I so I think there is there is death and resurrection. So we would look at some of those kind of with the idea of Noah, with the idea of Abraham, uh again with um with Joseph, uh this idea of going into into kind of into the pit uh and being a slave and then rising up in Potiphar's household and then being chucked in prison, and again he's kind of and coming back out of prison to be uh a ruler of the nation. And again, the theme of death and resurrection is a little seed in the book of Genesis. Uh I think that um the idea, and then and this is this strange little story of Melchizedek. Again, this this idea that the writer to the Hebrews picks up on. That there's this person called Melchizedek. So um, this is Genesis chapter 14, verse 18. Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, bought out bread and wine, and the priest of the Lord most high, and he blessed Abraham, saying, Blessed be Abraham by God most high, creator of heaven and earth, and praise be to the God most high, who delivered you from your enemies, uh delivered your enemies into your hands. Then Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. Now, I mean again, just this is this this person just so Abraham uh has been to a battle, he's won the battle, he's coming back, and he meets this mysterious character called Melchizedek. Actually, what's Melchizedek got with him? So Melchizedek, kind of uh king of Salem. Uh Salem is is is peace, he's the king of peace. Um, we get the word kind of shalom, comes from the same kind of root there. Um he he brought bread and wine. What a strange thing for this priestly king to bring as a as something for Abraham here, have some bread and wine, and this this kingly priest gives bread and wine. And you think, well, who's who's that? And the writer of Hebrews can he obviously says actually um that where are we? Uh um I can put it there. So Hebrews chapter 5, verse 5 and 6. Um he looks back to that Genesis story, um, uh and he says this so Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest, for God said to him, You are my son, today you become my father. And he says in another place, you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Um during the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered. And once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obeyed him, and was designated by God to be a high priest in the order. Of Marquiside. And again, 6 chapter 6, verse 19 and 20, it says this we have this hope as an anchor to the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our path. He became a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. And then chapter 6 explains that this Melchizedek was King of Salem, the priest of the Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him. And Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name was King of Righteousness, Melchizedek, and also King of Salem, which means King of Peace. Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning or end, like the Son of God, who remains a priest forever. So here's this again this strange little story of this righteous kingly priest person who arrives with bread and wine, Last Supper. And Abraham's response is, I'm going to tithe, tithe to you. We're talking in the senior Egypt team, trustees last about again how is the idea of tithe gone out of fashion at the moment? Do we talk much about giving within church? Maybe we don't talk as much as we could do. Jesus certainly talks a lot about money. But but here, Abraham's response was to give a tenth. Of all that God had given him through the victory in battle, he gave a tenth back to uh this high priest. I mean, I I just think that, ah, isn't that strange, isn't it? I mean, it's strange that bread and wine is there. I mean, that kind of right back then, the what Jesus was going to do with his friends at the Last Supper is kind of this kingly priest has got the bread and wine. He could have come and all kinds of stuff.

SPEAKER_09 1:07:55

This this um he he's mentioned only twice in a very short space of time. But the sort of order of things uh indicates that he is actually higher than Abraham because Abraham gave him a tenth of everything, and the other way around. Um and yet the the convention of the two times is very brief, whereas the story of Abraham is very, very detailed and over a long period of time. Yeah. And you would have thought Abraham would be at the height or higher than it.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:33

Yeah. I mean, I I think so so um I do a little session, um, and maybe it's on one of the Bible saw things around what what is election when when we think about the elect or election through through the Bible, particularly in in Romans where Paul talks about election. And uh election is never to do with being super spiritual uh or being super super blessed. Actually, uh election is uh always for a task. There's a task to be done, and that task to be done isn't doesn't give you any spiritual merit, it's just a task to be done. Um, and so Abraham kind of um was was chosen for a task, a bit like we elect an MP. An MP will go to parliament on behalf on behalf of the constituent. It should he should represent the constituents' thoughts in parliament. Actually, Abraham was there to represent God in the the parliaments of humanity. Kind of he was the elect. Now it doesn't, and and unfortunately, the the Jews thought that election made them super spiritual, made them the top dog, made them the most important. But actually, here obviously Abraham wasn't the top dog, he wasn't the most kind of he was he was obedient, and his faith was credited as righteousness. Kind of that was that was the deal, but it seemed to be that there was somebody who was maybe more spiritual than Abraham. So election's not to do with how spiritual you are, it's just there's a task to be performed, and will you be obedient to that task? Any other questions about uh kingly priest about uh kingly priests muck is there? Okay. Um okay, uh I think this idea of kingly reign and and kingly reign linked to the tribe of Judah. So in chapter 49, which is right towards the end of the book of Genesis, um there's this uh story of um uh Jacob, who's now called Israel, and and he he gathers his twelve sons round to to bless him. And and if you know the story, at this point, Joseph is like prime minister of the whole of Egypt. I mean, he is the ruler. I mean, Joseph says something and it gets done. Um and so here's the here's the dad, he's getting quite old, he calls the sons in, and he he comes to Judah, and he says that so this verse 49, verse 8, Judah, your brothers will praise you. And as soon as that said, oh dad, hang on a minute. No, Joseph he had the dream about his brothers bowing down to worship him. Kind of, you've got the wrong son. It's not, it's not Judah, it's Joseph. Move your hand over this way. And he no, it carries on. No, um, your hands will be on the necks of your enemies. Your father's son will bow down to you. You are the lion's cup, oh Judah. You return from the prey, my son. Like a lion who crouches, he lies down, like a lioness. Who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's star from between his feet. Oh no, Dad, you've got it wrong again. No, it's Joseph, he's got the scepter. Joseph is the one who's ruling. Actually, Joseph is the one who's going to be, but no, he carries on and says, No, um, until he to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nation is his. And again, there's this little kind of strange little thing. He will tend his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, and his eyes whiter than milk. And again, it's there's this kind of strange little kind of, there's going to be this ruler, this king. Actually, this king got something to do with a a donkey and the cult of a donkey.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:24

Hmm.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:25

Where do we see that again? Falcon Sunday. Actually, we see it in Zechariah, don't we? Zechariah picks up this idea of that there's going to be a king and there's going to be a donkey and the cult of a donkey. But actually, here, kind of again, a thousand years beforehand, it's like it's a little shadow that's been cast over here. And it and even in the farthest reaches, there's going to be a king, he's going to rule forever. This king is going to be riding on a there's going to be a donkey involved. It's actually, there's going to be wine involved. Actually, wine that's going to wash, it's going to wash clothes in wine. And again, this idea of salvation, of uh, here's this cup is a sign of a new covenant. It's a sign of my blood that's that's shed for you. Um uh uh again, blood of the blood of grapes, this grape juice, kind of, and again, it's not super duper duper clear, but again, Jesus might have said on the road to Remaus, actually, do you know when there was a promise to Judah? Actually, do you know I'm I'm from the trying to judge. Actually, there's something about me that even back then, do you remember kind of last something before last kind of when when I came into Jerusalem, that was the donkey and there's a colt. Remember the next kind of and and he said actually explained about scriptures and said, actually, this is what the a Messiah who's there's a donkey, there's uh a roar of a lion, uh, there's uh a branch. Um ah, this is me. Is that I think it's just it's fascinating that that even here um that uh Jacob has this prophetic insight that it's not Joseph who's gonna be the king forever, but somehow Judah from your descendant will be a king, he's gonna be a king, a king forever. Any thoughts or any questions on that? Well, I just think here's an old man giving a little pro prophecy that's that's there about about Jesus. Okay, Faron? Um I think the blessing blessing for all nations, I think the fulfillment. So uh the Genesis 12, verse 2, that's the promise to Abraham is that uh kind of I'll bless you, and through you all nations will be blessed. As you go through the Old Testament, just occasionally other nations do get blessed. Occasionally you see of people who are uh who are non-Jews coming into people of God, they get blessed alongside the people of God. Uh occasionally, like I don't know, in time of Solomon, Queen of Sheba comes and she gets a little bit of blessing from Solomon. Uh, but actually, really at the end of the day, the nations aren't blessed. Book of Esther, there's this kind of strange thing that people decide to become Jews, kind of uh the nations getting blessed. But when Jesus comes, Day of Pentecost, actually the nations getting blessed. Here's people from all over the known world on the day of Pentecost, and they're hearing the praises of God in their own languages, and actually something goes from there to Cornelius to the uttermost parts of the world. And actually, this promise of blessing of all nations uh is with Jesus. And maybe again Jesus talks to his followers and says, When I command you, kind of here's the great commission, go and make disciples of all nations. Actually, that was the that was the promise to Abraham. And do you know what, God? You get to be part of the blessing of all nations. Go to all nations, make disciples, teach them to obey everything I've commanded you, kind of baptizing them, name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Actually, go and do it because this is the fulfillment of the promise took to Abraham. All nations are going to be blessed through me, and you get to join in and be part of that. Um just the last two. Um I think the um the Tara Babel is just an interesting thing that that when Jesus says uh it's to your advantage that I go, because when I go, I will send you your Holy Spirit. And and when the Holy Spirit comes, uh a mark of the Holy Spirit is that human language is affected. So on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes and they all start speaking in languages that aren't their native language. Uh uh, and and so and but actually there are they are other human languages, so other nations that speak all kinds of different languages, on that day they all hear God's praises in their own language. There's a united message that's being proclaimed, and that's a total reversal. So on the Tower of Babel, they wanted to build a tower from earth to heaven. Actually, they wanted to make a name for themselves. Actually, God said, with this kind of action, nothing's going to be impossible, with this kind of unity, nothing's going to be impossible for them. Therefore, I'm going to do it and we're going to go down and confuse the language. So actually, a Babel he confuses the language so that they they can't get from heaven, sorry, get from earth to heaven. Uh so that they're not united, they can't do everything that they put their mind to. But at Pentecost, it's reverse. Rather than going from earth to heaven, the Hudson comes from heaven to earth. Uh, and and there's people that again, there's a variety of languages, but the variety of languages is supposed to bring unity. Unity why? So that nothing you put your mind to will now be impossible. And what's that? Go into all the world, make disciples, teach them to obey, actually, wait for the spirit to come upon you. You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. And actually, in some ways, the day of Pentecost is the flip-side reversal of what happened at the Tower of Abel. Um, and just the last thing, um uh, yeah, Jesus' return. When Jesus talks about his his return, he um he talks about uh about Noah and the flood. So um in Matthew 24, um he refers to the the story there of Noah and says, just as that kind of decreation and new creation, as as Jack was saying, that image of things have got so bad there's going to be a decreation, but a recreation, uh, that when I return, um so this is Matthew 24 um verse 37. Uh he says this um uh for as in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. So there's something about the story of Noah, that when I, Jesus, the Son of Man, when I return, something like that is going to happen then. So um, just as in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the Ark. And they knew nothing of what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. This is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in a field, one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be blinding uh at a handmill, one will be taken, and the other will be left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day the law will come. Um who who are taken and who are left in the story of Noah? Sorry? Were were were taken or left? They were taken. But in some ways, I th I think the the flood took all the unrighteous people.

SPEAKER_07 1:20:29

All the people who died were taken. Sorry? All the people are accepted Noah.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:33

Yeah, I I I think, yeah, yeah. Um but but but Noah was the one who was was kept safe. Um so when there's two people in the field and one's one's taken and the other's left, who's the who's the again? Because some people will refer this like to the rapture, that actually that the one that's taken, the good people are taken and all the rotten people are left on the earth. Actually, I think actually the wrong people are going to be taken and the good people will inherit the earth. That's that's kind of and I think when when Jesus returns, actually, what will happen is there'll be judgment, and actually the ones who will be taken will be the unrighteous. Actually, the ones that will remain in the new heaven and the new earth will be the righteous. Just in the time of Noah, it was the righteous. Noah, plus his family, were not taken, and everyone else, when judgment came, were taken. So, in the time of Noah, so that will be in the time when Jesus returns. Is that all the sin and the rottenness and kind of actually that will be like with Noah, that will be washed away. No more pain, no more sadness, no more tears. Actually, a new heaven and a new earth. There will be a new kind of creation, and a new covenant, a new kind of new rainbow. Actually, here can be a new earth, a new heaven and a new earth that's going to come when uh all the evil of this world is washed away, and and that's that's taken away, and what's left is the righteous, those who are written in the Lanama's book of life, who own this his name. And I think Jesus refers to that. Um again in uh Peter in 1 Peter chapter 3 um refers to uh yeah, what's going to happen towards the end of the world and um how how it uh how the story of Noah gives us a little bit of an insight. Uh, again, he says this in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 20. Um so about those uh well verse verse 18 for context. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body while made alive in the spirit, through whom he went and preached the spirits in prison, who long who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. It was only a few, eight and all, who were saved through water. And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also, not by the removal of dirt from your body, but the pledge of a good conscience towards God. It saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone to heaven, and it's God's and is at God's right hand with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him. Um again, Peter refers to that the story of Noah, and it's again it's to do with salvation and to do with rescue. Um save by baptism. There you go. Yeah, there it is. I mean I think it's fascinating. But I love the Bible, but I think it's fascinating that that if you look for Jesus, actually it's surprising where you can see him. Uh and it's not sometimes crystal clear, which is why it's like a those things like a shadow, and the reality is found in Jesus. But those those shadows give us the form of Jesus. So as you look through the story of Scripture, when Jesus comes, you think, ah, it was you. And I think there's people that talk about in Hebrews where they died still waiting for something, waiting for the promises, waiting for the purposes of God. Actually, in those days between those days between Jesus' death on Good Friday, this resurrection on Easter Sunday, kind of where did he go? Well, he descended to the dead, the Greek says. Actually, he he preached those spirits out of prison. Actually, when he goes there, I think the people who are there in Hades, kind of waiting, actually, when Jesus comes, they will say, Jesus, it's you all along. We were hoping for this city, this this kingdom, this promise, this messiah. And and somehow, when they in that moment see Jesus, they think, actually, all the stories we read through scripture of pointing towards him, actually, there would be something, those that have been wholeheartedly longing for the king, longing for God, actually, when they see Jesus, they think, actually, you are the one. You can't you came to fulfill all that was written in this in the prophets, in Moses, the prophets, the Psalms. Actually, Jesus, you fulfill them all. Um, which is why I think reading scripture, the word of God, looking for Jesus, the word of God, is the best way to interpret the scripture. Um I think you can use the Bible to do all kinds of awful things, but actually, if you're looking for the Word of God, Jesus in the Word of God, actually, I think we can go far along. And I think Genesis is a great book for that. So um it's nearly quarter past, it's no time to finish. Um again, I don't know whether with any of that we've said, uh from what Jack was saying about Covenant or those eight things of seeing Jesus in Genesis. Any questions, comments, thoughts before we finish?

SPEAKER_07 1:25:54

I've always had a thing about the where it says firstborn in the Bible. What's the meaning of the word firstborn?

SPEAKER_03 1:26:06

The one who's born first.

SPEAKER_07 1:26:08

Yeah, when it says about firstborn of all creation. Yeah. What does it mean by that?

SPEAKER_03 1:26:15

I think it um so the the first is is if you've got a family of children, the first one is the is the origin the original one.

SPEAKER_07 1:26:25

But just wasn't born, he wasn't created, he wasn't born, he was is he's eternal. Yes, he's always been eternal. Yeah, he wasn't born in at all, was he? So we can't be born.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:36

Yeah. I mean so so we could do a whole thing on the Trinity. Yeah, I know, but which is kind of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_07 1:26:45

I understand that. Yeah, yeah. But Jesus is was divine. He he had deity with God.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:58

Uh the rights and privileges associated with a firstborn, so inheritance, power, etc. Jesus is described as firstborn because it um it it describes a thing of his status rather than rather describing a um psychological reality.

SPEAKER_07 1:27:24

So it's it's a symbolic thing rather than a symbolic based on state as of what he is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:30

I think I think that applies when it when we say that we are the sons of God, it's not saying that we are you all have to think of yourself as male, it's again a big privilege. Um great. It's half past. It's okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:41

If I just say sorry, did you want to ask if you're not gonna be able to I was gonna ask why Judah called my um Who's read Genesis chapter 37? That's like the weirdest, I think it's the one that is the Judah and the bad department. That's like the weirdest story in the Bible, period. Um Judah was the Guy who was like, hey, I'm gonna sell my brother to slavery. It was his idea. Um Ruben was the he tried to be the hero. But like Judah is kind of like a sketchy dude. Um why I don't know, like yeah, that's something I would have just wondered.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:16

Yeah, yeah. I mean there's all kinds of theories around okay, Reuben was bad and naughty. So there's there's he was so Judah was the fourth son. But the first three, uh, again, if you look at some of their stories, actually did things even worse than Judah. So so maybe he was the first kind of slightly pleasant one, although he wasn't perfect. Um uh there's something about praise that is there, his name means praise for God, and there's something about God living, Jesus living his his life to do the will of the Father, and there's something to have praise towards God.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:52

Yeah, I there's something in that family. I can't remember if this answers the question or not. It might not be some of them have different others, and you have uh things a lot of stuff where there's an thing that it says. Look at these examples and family is a good idea, and one of those is often multiple words, and so you end up with these family tensions because they have uh like inner family dynamics at play where they are competing because of their happy motors. And so I can't remember that's happening with Judah.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:29

Yes, so so so Judah is the fourth son of Leah. So the first three names are kind of um maybe my husband will love me. Maybe now my husband will love me, even now my husband will love me. But actually, the fourth one says, actually, now do you know what God? I'm just gonna praise you. And that's why it kind of and it shifted from kind of I'm doing this to please, I want to get my husband's off, I want to get my husband's on, I want to get my husband's love. Actually, in the end of the day, God is it's about about you. Um and in some ways, maybe there's there's part of that in there as well. Actually, if you if you want the notes, if you uh again, if you haven't signed up already, if you use that QR code uh and just give me the name and email address, we'll send you the notes from the place. Okay. So if I say a little prayer for us, and again, if you've got any other questions, you can ask, but um uh it's time to finish it. So um Jesus, thank you so much that uh you are the living word that became flesh and dwelt amongst us. And thank you as we read the written word that you speak to us. Thank you that when you in those resurrection days that you took scripture and you just opened it to your friends and followers and you said, Here am I, here am I, here am I, do you not see what I've done? And uh somehow that really inspired them and ignited their faith. And I pray for us as we read the Old Testament and read books like Genesis that you would inspire our faith in you, our trust in you, our understanding of your purposes within this world, and the final destiny you're calling us to, you're calling us to walk with you in uh having a relationship that is strong, even when we fail, when we come to you and confess our sins and your faith in us, and you do forgive us, and each time we take communion, and times when we witness battles, and actually these things kind of point us towards the reality that you're saving work and say thank you, Jesus, thank you for you. Continue to to speak to us and lead us and guide us and help us to live our lives intentionally for you. Amen. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. Um Bible will be back in the summer. In August, we're gonna do uh the um wisdom literature. So uh in the book in Tuesday, uh every Tuesday in August we'll we'll do that. Okay, what's that? August Proverbs, uh, Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes.

SPEAKER_06 1:31:56

Um decide up, will I get the next?

unknown 1:31:59

Yes, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:02

Do you have dubs and biscuits on the way out or someone agree with that?

unknown 1:32:09

Um it's beautiful poetry.

SPEAKER_04 1:32:15

Yes, but also doing a right side if you're trying to find an identity. Well, this is all this is the bag.

SPEAKER_05 1:32:25

So like does mean it's a bit of it.

unknown 1:32:36

Of course, but what did you work your entire life on in your business is done? Like we're still all very fun. But then you have some. So I have a file. Um does that too big.

SPEAKER_05 1:33:16

That's what I know. Okay.

unknown 1:33:33

Except that I don't think I think I don't think separate things.

SPEAKER_04 1:33:40

Uh yeah, it's not that. It's doing something reflecting what you're not.

unknown 1:33:49

But what I do I think all of this is like is that on the point of your or is that bad? Is that or is it actually what it went or they're different things, right? But we don't really want to know that because that's what is next. Is that okay? All of this. I think that's the one.