Advancing the Revelation of Truth 

 

S T U D Y   I N   G E N E S I S

THE GENERATIONS

 

Introduction: 

The following studies and prayerfully generated thoughts are divided into two parts. 

DIVISION ONE, which covers the whole of the book of Genesis, is the result of my desire to understand the plan of this record. It is divided into its natural PARTS and SECTIONS according to the correct understanding of what is meant by The Genesis or Generations, what is called by The Oxford dictionary, 'A Mode of Formation'. 

DIVISION TWO depends upon the understanding of the first part and grows naturally from it. In it I seek to understand the relationship between the meaning of the FIRST PART in which man is formed from the dust, and the SECOND PART in which he is created in God's likeness.

This study acknowledges the two Hebrew words which are translated 'generations':

1.   toledoth [Strongs: 8435]  generations, families, traces. 'the history of'.  Genealogy, pedigree.

2.   dor [Strongs: 1755]  an age, a generation of men. The period and circuit of the years of life.

The study concentrates upon the word toledoth, its meaning concerned with the details of our forfathers. Where confusion might exist in the translation, the references to the word dor are recorded.

DIVISION ONE 

The Divisions, are noted as PARTS [the creations] and SECTIONS [Generations] of Genesis.

In order to lay a clear ground on which to show reason for believing that man was first 'formed' and later 'created', to use the words of The King James Version, your attention is drawn to what I believe are these correct SECTIONS of the record in The Book of Genesis.

THE PARTS

PART TWO is that which should rightly be called 'The Seven Days of God's Formation and Creation ' of this present Earth and Heavens. It starts in chapter one verse two and concludes in chapter two verse three. It is preceded by 

PART ONE, which is contained in verse one of chapter one which tells us that it was God who created the original Earth and Heaven. This was a perfect creation. The finished work of God must be complete and perfectly. Then the use of the Hebrew term 'Tohu' and 'Bohu' in the second verse cannot be a description of the statement in the first verse because of its catastrophic and judgemental character. See here.

Mr. Weston W. Fields in his book: 'Unformed and Unfilled...A critique of the Gap theory', argues the following seven reasons for believing that Genesis ch.1 v.1 is a summary of the contents of that first chapter:

  1. The grammatical phenomena of the two verses involved, i.e. verses one and two. 

  2. The 'waw'(heb) disjunctive. 

  3. The circumstantial nature of the clauses of verse 2. 

  4. The nominal character of the clauses of verse 2. 

  5. The meanings of the hebrew word 'hayeta'(eng: was) verse 2. 

  6. The meaning of the hebrew words: 'tohu' and 'bohu'. 

  7. The meanings of the hebrew words 'asah' and 'bara' cannot be limited and so support the way that Exodus 20:11 can be ignored regarding its implications against the Gap Theory. He calls the Gap Theory 'fanciful cosmogony' and 'Satanology' and claims that it calls for thousands of years to be added to the biblical record.

My understanding cannot encompass such reasoning as that contained in Mr.Fields analysis of the Hebrew grammar. I cannot conclude that it is Spirit lead because there is a strong sense of the arguments being engineered to a predetermined end no matter what the scripture is teaching. On the other hand however there is an excellent paper written(1980) by Mr.Maurice Lloyd entitled 'The Genesis Gap Theory...a reappraisal', in the summary of which he gives the following seven reasons for his belief that a 'Gap' was present:

1. The hebrew word 'hayete' may only be translated 'was'. 

2. Verse one with its seven hebrew words stands alone, unique and complete as Dr. Young has shown. 

3. The 'earth' of verse two is emphatically introduced as the subject of the ensuing narrative and is to be equated with the 'earth' of verse one. 

4. The earth of verse one constituted the material out of which subsequently was formed the heavens, the seas, and the dry land of the following verses. 

5. It is deducible from the context that neither the heavens nor the earth mentioned in verse one can be identified with those references to the earth in the following verses. 

6. It is deducible from the context that Exodus 20:11 refers to the verses of ch.1 v.8 and v.10 and that it cannot be construed to make verse one either epitomise or form any part of the seven days of the creation process. 

7. The hebrew words 'tohu' and 'bohu' occurs but three times, viz. Gen 1:2, Isa 34:11 and Jer 4:20, the last two being set in a judgement context.

Mr. Lloyd concludes by saying that The Judgement Gap Theory is not a proven or provable fact; but it is a tenable theory for which no serious challenger has yet been proposed.

You may regard Mr.Fields' recent critique(1994) as a satisfactory challenge to the beliefs of those who accept a Gap Theory. I do not.

Let us close this subject by considering the problem on the basis of The Three Heavens referred to by the Apostle Paul:

 I knew a man in Christ.....caught up to the third heaven. [2Co 12:2]

If we do not include SECTION 1, Genesis 1:1 as an initial and separate creation, we shall be able to find only two creations of the Heavens in the whole of the Scripture record.

(The phrase 'The Third Heaven' does not imply one heaven of three co-existing heavens. This interpretation cannot be supported through Scripture analysis.)

The Three heavens are therefore:

1. PART ONE. In Beginning God created the heavens and the earth. GEN 1:1

2. In PART TWO, the record of the Second Day's activity. And God divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.....and called the firmament Heavens.(GEN 1:7)

3. In the N.T. the New Heavens referred to by the Apostle John: 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.' REV 21:1

[The first heaven' is interpreted, according to Thayer, as 'the former, previous, pristine' heaven, because the phrase is preceded by the definite article and the word 'first' is used as an adjective. Without the definite article it would have referred to a sequence in time. Amongst others, the translations which use the word 'former' include The Amplified New Testament and The Concordant Literal New Testament. Mr. Bullinger's notes in the KJV Companion Bible uses the word 'former' and points out that in the following fourth verse, where the same condition applies, the word 'former' is also used, as it is in most translations.]

THE SECTIONS

THE TEN SECTIONS of the rest of the book continue upon the theme of Genesis i.e. The Generations or Families. Otis Q.Sellers, as we know, has written at length defining the meaning of the word 'generation'. From his studies it is evident that the various meanings must be defined by their contexts, particularly in the New Testament upon which his study is based.

These TEN SECTIONS of Generations from SECTION ONE to SECTION TEN are recognised as Histories of Families. In this study, all including  SECTION ONE.

Considering SECTION ONE then, the first of the remaining ten, I do not believe that anyone having considered the details of Chapter one and two of the book of Genesis would disagree that there is a bad chapter break between them. Chapter one should end with verse three of chapter two. Thus the First Section should begin at the FIRST SECTION or first 'generation' title:  

'The generations of the heavens and of the earth.'

and end at verse 26 of chapter four prior to the commencement of the record of a new generation, i.e The Generation of Adam, The SECTION TWO title.

Mr.David Rosevear in his booklet 'Creation Science' (page 127-8), states that the conventional understanding regarding that to which this SECTION ONE title refers, when he writes that Chapter 2 verse 4 completes the story of the creation of the heavens and the earth by summing up: 'These are the generations of the heavens and the earth'. He then attempts to support his contention by seeking to establish the same rule for such progenitors as: Adam, Noah and others. Even a casual examination of these other Primary uses of the word 'generation (KJV) will show him to be incorrect.

In SECTION ONE then, we are told that the heavens have generated somebody or something and that the earth has generated somebody or something. The following passage of this section lists two generations, 

firstly that of Cain through Adam/Eve and [Gen 4:1]

secondly that of Seth through Adam/Eve. [Gen 4:25]

It is my firm belief that these two generations are those which are referred to in the title of the section. The Adam-Seth generation (Gen 4:25-26) is thus contrasted with the Adam-Cain generation (Gen 4:17-24) as to their future domain, one of earth, one of heavens.

This understanding and belief fits perfectly the reasoning concerning the titles of each of the NINE SECTIONS of the rest of The Book of Genesis. It is in conflict with the beliefs of many expositors of those Scriptures contained in the Book of Genesis. This majority belief causes this title to refer to and summarise God's action in the Seven Days of Creation. The full implications of what I believe to be the correct meaning of this title will not be examined in this paper because it would divert from the general theme. For those who might be interested however, may I commend a study of SECTION ONE whilst bearing in mind what is implied by the phrase 'Cain was of (gk. ek) the Evil One' (1John 3:12). See here also. 

In passing it is worthy of note that there is an interesting difference in the names that God uses of Himself between Section one and two and Section three. Up to the above title of Section three, God refers to Himself as The Elohim. Following this title, God refers to Himself mostly as The Jehovah Elohim except in the last part of Section Three i.e. chapter four of Genesis, where God names himself simply as Jehovah.

The most important 'generation' is, of course, that which is commonly called The Gospel of Matthew. Its title is given in the very first verse: 'The book of the generation of Jesus Christ' which as you know, traces the birth of The Christ back to the patriarch, Abraham and records the Life of The Christ in the rest of the book.

In the book of Genesis, this English word 'generation' Hebrew toledoth] is used twenty times, either in statements such as 'These are the generations of....' or in order to describe God's promises or blessings. Sometimes 'These are the generations of....' is repeated for the same generation. For clarity, 

Therefore, this study is based firmly upon the belief that: Genesis, the first book of the Pentateuch, is the Book of The Generations or pedigrees firstly of God and then those of man, and should therefore be correctly divided into sections of generations. 

Let us now observe the occurrences of this Hebrew word 'toledoth' translated 'generations' in its TEN PRIMARY uses where the detail of the generation follows the title.

PRIMARY uses of the word 'generations'(Heb: toledoth). 

Translated 'generations'(KJV) (ten occurances) 

  1. GEN 2:4       These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth. 

  2. GEN 5:1       This is the book of the generations of Adam. 

  3. GEN 6:9       These are the generations of Noah. 

  4. GEN 10:1     Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 

  5. GEN 11:10   These are the generations of Shem. 

  6. GEN 11:27   Now these are the generations of Terah. 

  7. GEN 25:12   Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son. 

  8. GEN 25:19   And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. 

  9. GEN 36:1     Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom. 

  10. GEN 37:2     These are the generations of Jacob.

SECONDARY uses of the hebrew words 'dor' and 'toledoth' 

Translated 'generations'(KJV) (ten occurances)

  1.              GEN 6:9 ....Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations(Heb: 'dor'), and Noah walked with God. 

  2.              GEN 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation(Heb: 'dor'). 

  3. GEN 10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations(Heb: 'toledoth'), in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood. Repeat of Gen 10:1.  (At that time...Seventy Nations in all, which did not include that of Abraham nor Cain and his descendants.) 

  4.              GEN 15:16 But in the fourth generation(Heb: 'dor') they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 

  5. GEN 25:13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations (Heb: 'toledoth'): the firstborn of Ishmael...... Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, Repeat of Gen 25:12

  6.              GEN 9:12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations(heb: 'dor'): 

  7.              GEN 17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations(heb: 'dor') for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 

  8.             GEN 17:9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations(heb: 'dor'). 

  9.             GEN 17:12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations(heb: 'dor'), he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. 

  10. GEN 36:9 And these are the generations(heb: 'toledoth') of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir: Repeat of Gen 36:1

'dor' is used seven times and 'toledoth' is used three times, and as can be seen, the three 'extra' uses of toletoth are repeats of those in the first 10: Noah, Ishmael and Esau. 

Beyond the Book of Genesis, the word toledoth, generations appears 26 times

There can be little doubt, when considering each of the contexts following the primary uses of the word 'generations' that it initiates the reference to the important details of the family of the person named in the title. Sometimes it is not readily apparent what families are referred to but, knowing the extent and limits of the SECTIONS, it is possible to examine and discover them. It may be that additional details of a particular generation are given under the title of another generation, as in Gen 37:2 with Gen 25:19 to 35:29. but we should take care to note what God is laying emphasis to by giving a title to what He considers more important.

These TEN SECTIONS, detail those generations to whom God made promises regarding their future and ours. The generations of The Christ, as recorded in the gospel of Matthew, start where these sections finish, at the patriarch Jacob. In the Gospel of Luke, the generations of Mary however, include Jacob and go back to Adam, the Son of God (See Luke ch.3 vs.34-38). As a further comparison, you will find included on the last page of this study two charts which show the Length of Years of The Patriarchs both before and after the Flood.

end of DIVISION ONE

DIVISION TWO

COMPARISON of God's forming and creation of The Man.

1. God formed(heb: yatsar) man from the dust of the earth. 2. God created(heb: bara) man in His own likeness. [ God created(heb: bara) the Heavens and the earth. ]

Were these two actions of God at the same time and in the same place? ......................................................................

Having established what I believe to be the correct sectioning of the Book of Genesis, we can now give our attention to the problems raised by the relationship between the SECTIONS ONE and TWO.

Let us first consider the meaning and use of the two hebrew words. God's work on the sixth day does not use the word 'form'(yatsar) in relation to the man, only the word 'create' (bara).

In PART ONE, GEN ch.1 verses 26-27, two hebrew words are used, 'make'(6213) once and 'create'(1254) three times. In PART TWO, GEN ch.2 verses 7-8, one hebrew word is used, 'formed'(3335) twice. In the reference to God's creation of man in the beginning of the fifth chapter of Genesis, two hebrew words are used, 'make'(6213) once and 'create'(1254) three times, as in the first chapter of Genesis.

From this we can conclude that, from God's point of view, each of these two hebrew words have a distinctive meaning even if our study aids blur the differences between them:

Meaning of the hebrew verb 'bara' to create, according to Gesenius: To Form by cutting. (1) To cut out, to cut or pare down, to plane and polish. (2) To create, to produce, to make smooth, to polish, hence to fashion, to create. Used of the creation of heaven and earth, Gen 1:1; of men, Gen 1:27; 5:1,2; 6:7. (3) To beget, whence a son. (4) To eat, to feed, to grow fat, so called from cutting [food.]

Meaning of the hebrew word 'yatsar' to form, according to Gesenius: To form, to fashion. (1) as a potter, clay (man in GEN 2:7) (2) an artist, statues (3) 'He who formed the eye'.

bara.......Heb..to create....56 times[7 x 8].....Strong ref...1254 

yatsar.....Heb..to form......63 times[7 x 9].....Strong ref...3335 

idzO.......Gk...to create....14 times[7 x 2]......Strong ref...2936

It is usual for Christians to believe that the description of the forming (heb:yatsar. 3335) of the man from the dust of the earth in Section Three, is simply an enlargement of the details given to us regarding his creation (heb:bara. 1254) as recorded in Section Two.

I propose however, that these two actions of God not only take place at a different time but also appear to be the necessary initial sequences in God's plan to bring to Himself many new Sons of a New Creation.

Here is the KJV version of the event:

THE KING JAMES VERSION GEN 2:4 

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, GEN 2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. GEN 2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. GEN 2:7 And 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. GEN 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.

The punctuation of this, the KJV version, makes the meaning of the first two verses difficult to assess but it is implied that they refer to the previously recorded seven days of creation. How does the Interlinear version put it:

HEBREW INTERLINEAR GEN 2:4 

These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when they Gen 2:5 were created,[.] in[In] the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. and every plant(shrub) of the field was not yet on the earth and every herb of the field had not yet grown (sprung up); [(]for The Lord God had not caused to rain upon the earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground. Gen 2:6 But a mist used to go up from the earth and watered (to water) Gen 2:7 the whole face of the ground.[)] And The Lord God formed the man [out of] dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils Gen 2:8 the breath of life; and the man became a living soul. And The Lord God planted a garden in Eden Eastward(from East), and He placed there the man whom He had formed.

Here I have suggested a change to the punctuation which highlights the term 'the day' and ceases to imply that The seven days of creation are referred to as A Day. One's mind immediately recognises that a particular day, in the seven, is being defined. In case you have any doubts about this reasoning, I give below the text of these verses from the Standard Revised Version together with its own paragraph break.

THE REVISED STANDARD VERSION GEN 2:4 

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, GEN 2:5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up---for The Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the GEN 2:6 ground; for a mist went up from the earth and watered the GEN 2:7 whole face of the ground---then The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the GEN 2:8 breath of life; and man became a living being. And The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, to the East; and there He put the man whom He had formed.

This interpretation of the fourth to the eighth verse of GENESIS chapter two, part of our SECTION ONE, is supported by the record in SECTION TWO:

The fowl of the air (heaven} were formed in SECTION ONE....

GEN 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. GEN 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air [heaven]; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. GEN 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air [heaven], and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

but these fowl of the air [heaven] are shown to be already present in PART TWO, (i.e. chapter one +) early on Day 6, prior to the creation of the man.

GEN 1:21 ....And God created...every winged fowl after his kind [that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven]... GEN 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. GEN 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. GEN 1:26 And God said, 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 [heaven], and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. GEN 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. GEN 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air [heaven], and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

If the 'forming' and 'creation' of the man took place at the same time how could the birds of the air [heaven] be present beforehand if they were formed from the earth afterwards ? ......................................................................

Let us now compare the detail in PART TWO in which God 'forms' the man with that in SECTION ONE in which God 'creates' the man.

GEN 2:4 to GEN 2:6 God defines the time at which he formed Adam from the dust. 'In the day of the making of Jehovah Elohim's earth and heavens and every shrub heb.siach 7880) of the field not yet was it on the earth, and every herb(6212) of the field, not yet had it sprung up

The Third Day GEN 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. GEN 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

GEN 2:4 In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, GEN 2:5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb(6212) of the field had yet sprung up......... GEN 2:7 ......The Lord God formed man of the dust of the earth. GEN 2:8 God puts the man into a garden which He plants in Eden. GEN 2:9 God plants in the garden every tree that is good for food including those trees called: 'The tree of Life' and 'The tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil'.

GEN 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb(6212) yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. GEN 1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb (6212) yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

GEN 2:10 The garden was watered by a river which came out of Eden. The river then divided into four heads after leaving the garden. GEN 2:11 to 2:14 The four rivers are described and the lands associated. GEN 2:15 to 2:17 God places the man in the garden in order to dress and keep it. God grants the man permission to eat only from certain trees of the garden.

GEN 1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

The Fourth Day Gen 1:14 God provides the planets, the sun and the moon for signs and seasons and to give light upon the earth.

The Fifth Day GEN 1:21 ....And God created...every winged fowl after his kind [that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven]... GEN 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. GEN 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

GEN 2:18 to 2:20 God plans a companion for the man. From the ground God formed every: Beast of the Field, Fowl of the Heaven. Adam gives names to every living creature including the cattle, but does not find a companion amongst them. GEN 2:21 to 2:24 Whilst Adam sleeps, God forms a woman from one of his ribs and brings her to Adam. Adam accepts her as an intimate companion and names her, Woman. GEN 2:25 Even as the animals, they did not recognise their nakedness.

The Sixth Day GEN 1:26 And God said, 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[heaven], and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. GEN 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. GEN 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air[heaven], and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

GEN 3:1 TO 3:7 By means of the Serpent, a particular and very cunning beast of the field, the woman leads Adam to disobey God's instruction regarding the availability of garden fruit for food. They eat fruit from the Tree of the 'Knowledge of Good and Evil' and thereby realise that they are naked. GEN 3:8 to 3:19 God discovers that Adam and the woman know that they are naked, the woman seeks to blame the serpent for their disobedience. God pronounces judgement, firstly over the action of the serpent, secondly over the disobedience of the woman and lastly over the disobedience of Adam. GEN 3:20 to 3:21 Adam names his wife EVE, recognising that she WAS the mother of all living. God gave them coats of skins to cover their nakedness. GEN 3:22 to 3:24 Still dwelling in the garden, Adam and Eve had become like God and His Sons, to know good and evil. God drives them out from the garden so that they cannot eat of the 'Tree of Life' and live for ever. They were to till the ground from which Adam was taken.

Finally, let us consider what this proposed order of activity, recorded in PART TWO and SECTION ONE, has revealed regarding the reason for the temptation of Adam and Eve.

SIMPLIFIED SUMMARY...........

GEN 2:4 In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb(Heb.'ESEB'. Strong: 6212) of the field had yet sprung up....The Lord God formed Man from the dust of the ground. 

GEN 1:11 It was on the THIRD DAY that God commanded the herb (Heb.'ESEB'. Strong: 6212) seeding seed to spring up

GEN 2:19 When the man was alone, God formed from the earth, the fowl of the air[heavens] for him to name one as a companion.

GEN 1:21 On the FIFTH DAY God let the birds of the heavens fly over the earth.

GEN 1:24 Early on the SIXTH DAY God commanded the earth to bring forth cattle(929)

GEN 2:20 The man named the fowl of the air(heaven) and the cattle(Strong: 929). 

GEN 2:22 God formed the man's rib into a woman. The man named her Woman.

GEN 1:27 Later on the SIXTH DAY God created the man(male and female) in His own image

GEN 3:1-7 Eve was tempted by the Serpent and led Adam to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil.

GEN 3:22 The Lord God said, behold, the Man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.

CHARTS showing THE LENGTH OF YEARS OF THE PATIARCHS, preFLOOD and postFLOOD

The following Bar Charts show the Length of Years of The Pariarchs. The bar is made up of two parts. For example: the Length of Years of Lamech is made up of a light blue bar and a green bar. The light blue indicates the time between his own birth and that of his son, Noah. The green bar is his remaining years. 

PreFLOOD........Generation of Adam through SETH

Notewothy points:

1.  'On the Earth' only Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth with their wives survived the Universal Flood. 'Every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the Earth' [Gen 7:23]. However, there were men not on the Earth at that time.  Some 1500years before, God had driven Cain out 'from the face of the Earth'. God qualifies His statements: 'It repented The Lord that He had made man on the earth' and 'I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the Earth'.

2.  Adam was still alive when Lamech was a lad. It seems that Noah was too busy building The Ark to have children for some 500years.

3.  The catastrophe of The Flood caused a big reduction in the length of years that a man lived. The PreFlood Patriarchs died nearly 1000years old including Noah, but after the flood Noah's son Shem lived only 600years and his son, Arphaxad died 62years before he did.

4.  The number of generations born before the flood, including Adam, is eleven

5.  These patriarchs are the forefathers of all the earth's inhabitants. There were no chosen people at this time. 

6.  Enoch was taken by God long before his expected time of death. He is a patriarch of the nations.

7.  Some time before Enoch, some of The Sons of God, the angels, were attracted by the daughters of men. Although they were spirit beings, they left their own habitation and dwelt on earth, copulating with these daughters. Their progeny were called Men of Renown. Whilst this was happening, the Nephilim had already returned to the earth. The angels could not return to their own habitation and therefore died as men.

PreFLOOD........Generation of Adam through CAIN

Notewothy points:

1.  There is little detail in the list of Cain's Generation. We know only the number of generations from Adam and the span of time between Adam's Sin and the time of the Universal Flood, some 1700years.

2.  The last generation mentioned is that of Jabal/Jubal/Tubal-Cain/Naamah, all being the children of Lamech. The number of generations born before the flood, including Adam, is therefore eight. This seems to indicate that the span of time from birth to that of their son's birth was half as long again compared to that of their Earthly cousins.

3.  We know that this generation was named by God as The Nephilim, because of the character of their generator, Cain.

4.  Because we know that this generation was living in the heaven [Gen 4:14 and 2:4], on the planet Mars, they were able to visit Earth at will. We know also that the Earth catastrophy of the flood affected Mars in a similar way, but did not destroy all flesh as on the Earth. The Nephilim were able to visit the Earth after the flood [Gen 6:4]. This residue was probably the last generation, that which is listed as the sons and daughter of Lamech.

5.  Because of the lower Martian gravity, these god/men individuals were of gigantic stature, the last generation being a) the teacher of such as dwell in tents and have cattle [Jabal], b) the teacher of all such as handle the harp and organ [Jubal], c) the teacher of every artificer in brass and iron [Tubal-Cain]. They survived the flood and 'were in the Earth after that' [Gen 6:4]. These are the three basic disciplines of man's activity......farming, the arts and industry.

6.  During the period in which this generation of Cain was active, there are two other Godly sources explaining the activities of its genealogy. The fundamental meaning of their Hebrew names and the confirmatory factors of their numerology.

7.  When comparing the generation of Adam through Seth with that of Adam through Cain, there is an obvious similarity of names: Kenan/Cain, Enoch/Enoch, Jared/Irad, Mahalaleel/Mahujael, Methuselah/Methusael, Lamech/Lamech. Why should this be ?

 PostFLOOD

Notewothy points:

1.  Shem is generally believed to have been the High Priest Melchisadec, the king of Salem, a town built in the place of the city now known as Jerusalem. He blessed Abram after the battle of four kings with five following which Abram fought and released his brother, Lot with all his people, women and goods .

2.  Eber is the 'father of The Hebrews'. He lived well into the life of Jacob, dying a few years before Jacob's encounter with 'the man' who wrestled with him being unable to gain the advantage, placed his thigh out of joint. 

3.  The record says that in 'the days of Peleg', i.e. those days between his birth and the birth of his son, the Earth was divided. Modern research has now caught up, showing this to be true. The red vertical bar represents those days, showing their relevance to the other Patriarchs. This was about the year 2400bc., 1758years after Adam's sin. See the diagram.  

4.  6000years ago the the speed of light was infinitely faster. The estimation of past times and dates are based upon the rate of decay of the carbon atom which is inversely related to the speed of light. Science erroneously assumes a constant rate of decay of the carbon atom. This has influenced the estimate of the time when the Earth divided, such that the many tens of thousands of years is shown to be highly inaccurate.

5.  The dividing of the single land of Eden, or as science names it, Pangea, reduced the length of the lives of all the patriarchs born after the event. Prior to the event the partiarchs who experienced it, Shem, Arphaxad, Salah and Eber, had life spans between 400 and 600 years.

6.  After the splitting of Eden into many islands or continents, Peleg himself lived only 239years compared with his father Eber's 464years. Over 4000years later, our length of years have now stabalised at approximately 80, one third of Peleg's. 

7. Until Abram and his seed were chosen, his forfathers were of the nations. In fact the peoples of the earth were divided into nations in the days of Noah's sons and their children, seventy nations in all [Gen 10:1-32]. There are many more than seventy to-day, in the 21st century, but these are the divisions set by God. No doubt it is according to these divisions of God that the nations will be assessed......Matthew 25:32.

 T H E  G E N E R A T I O N S.................................................................................................comments and additions 

  1. The Companion Bible supports the 'Gap theory' stating that all fossils and remains are from the original Earth and Heaven creation given in Genesis 1:1.

  2. The Companion Bible...page 1 gives an understanding of the GENERATIONS. but includes a false item: 'The Sons of Esau'. This does not exist in the Hebrew ['toledoth' being used for it]. Otherwise its total agrees with mine.

  3. 'In the Day'.....See Companion Bible  Appendix 18.

  4. 'toledoth' used thirteen times in Genesis. 'dor' used eight times in Genesis.

  5. We have no cause to believe that EDEN is any other place than the single landmass called 'earth' of SECTION TWO. The garden was planted in Eden, eastward.

  6. The man was 'formed' in EDEN not in the garden.... The garden was planted after the man was formed. See GEN 2:7-8.

  7. When the man was ejected from the garden, he was told to till the earth 'from which he was taken'.

George Morris October 1995 Emended June 2006.

 

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