for the week ended November 1, 2008
Link to the current lesson study guide: http://ssnet.org/qrtrly/eng/08d/less05nkjv.html
This week’s lesson is all about the early gospel references in the Old Testament.
Outline:
- After Eve and Adam’s fall, God provides some cryptic information about the future
- God declares His forgiving nature.
- Abraham’s Test
Part 1: Let’s start off with the very first reference to the gospel in Genesis 3:15.
“…And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
This statement foretells the war that was to come between Christ and Satan and their respective followers “offspring”.
Q1: Why has God put ‘hostility’ between the woman and the serpent? Put another way, what would be the situation if this hostility hadn’t been put there?
I think that in line with God’s character of love, this act was for our own protection.
…if God had not interfered in man’s behalf, Satan and man would have formed a confederacy against heaven.. …evil will always league against good… Ellen White Signs of the Times, July 11, 1895 par. 5
Q2: Do you think the consequences of Eve and Adam’s sin were disproportionate to their act? Does God have a zero-tolerance policy with regard to sin?
God clearly states that the wages of sin is death – and that applies to all and every sin. Why is this? Could it be because sin disconnects us from God, the source of all life?
God’s original test in the garden of Eden was a very simple test for Adam and Eve – one that could have easily been avoided. But disobedience in this test would lead to other compounding sins.
There is certainly the element of cause and effect here as well – just a disregard for the law of gravity has consequences, so does a disregard for the laws of God.
But while there is the harsh reality of the wages of sin, God’s pure and holy nature is balanced by His love and desire for reconciliation – and this is why He had a plan to save humanity from the ultimate consequences of their sin.
God however pronounces some tough burdens on Adam and Eve following their ‘fall’ ie. expulsion from the garden, difficulting in tending the land, pain in childbirth etc. Was this God forseeing the natural results of their sin, or was it something that God explicitly brought to bear as judgement or was it for our own good?
Q3: What’s with all the striking of heads and heels? How does this relate to the gospel?
The striking of the heel is a reference to Satan crucifying Jesus – something that ended up being only a very short-lived victory for him. It was however a permanent victory for Jesus and legitimised our salvation. The cross sealed Satan’s fate – the crushing of his head will occur at the end of time.
Part 2: God’s forgiving nature:
When God met with Moses, He passed before him and proclaimed the essence of His character:
“The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Ex 34:6,7.
I like the references here to ‘merciful’ and ‘forgiving’ – and while the text doesn’t go into the specifics of how God’s forgiveness is provided, it shows the divine character behind the ultimate plan of salvation.
I believe the pronouncement of ‘visiting the iniquity of the fathers’ on the children is not one of active judgement, but a forecast of the natural effects of sin and a sinful disposition towards God, passed from parent to child. Elsewhere we have stated clearly in the Bible where God judges each person on their own merits.
“The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity…” Ez 18:20.
Q4. Someone I know recently denounced God’s actions in the Old Testament, but thought that Jesus in the New Testament was much better. From texts above, can we see that mercy and forgiveness run through the whole Bible, not just the NT?
Part 3: Abraham is asked to sacrifice his only son.
This is a tough story – I wonder how Abraham resolved to commit human sacrifice despite all he would have known about God’s normal laws to the contrary. I can only presume that Abraham had such a close relationship with God that he knew this was truly what He required of him.
Isaac asked Abraham where the animal was to be sacrificed. Abraham at that stage couldn’t bring himself to tell Isaac that he was to be the sacrifice. Abraham uttered “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”. This statement proved perfectly true as God intervened and a ram was sacrificed instead. But Abraham’s saying was prophetic – God truly did provide Himself the ultimate sacrifice in the form of His Son Jesus.
Q5. Given all you know about the essence of God’s character, why do you think He put Abraham through this particular trial?
That’s it for this week…as always, we’re interested in your thoughts on the material above in the comments below.
