Category: Creation Science

Cain Came and Brought Shame #4

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

The Bible says, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh” (Hebrews 11:4). Abel brought the blood sacrifice that God specified, but Cain did not believe God’s Word, so he did not bring the proper sacrifice (Genesis 4:1-5). Cain simply did what he wanted, and literally offered the fruit of his own efforts; thus, God rejected him.

Verses 6-8 continue, “And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.”

Despite Adam and Eve’s high hopes for their firstborn son Cain, he brought them unspeakable heartache: he mercilessly murdered his younger brother, Abel. Moreover, the son they once thought was the Redeemer (“a man from the LORD;” today’s Scripture cf. Genesis 3:15), Cain, was now exposed to be a Bible-rejecter and a murderer. What disappointment they felt that he exacerbated Satan’s corruption of creation, and especially of mankind! Adam and Eve were now bereaved of one son due to fratricide, and they would soon lose their remaining son to organized false religion (see Genesis 4:9-17).

The historical narrative of Cain and Abel—yes, it literally happened—seems to many to be nothing more than “boring antiquity.” We fervently disagree. Dear friends, there is a prophetic significance to this account, and it affects the world even today. We should not think of the account of Cain and Abel as “a thing of the past….”

Cain Came and Brought Shame #3

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

At Cain’s birth, Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the LORD” (today’s Scripture). Eve and her husband, Adam, had great hopes for Cain, their firstborn son (they named him with Genesis 3:15 in mind, assuming he was the Redeemer whom God had promised, the Man who would undo what they did). Genesis 4:1,2 says Cain matured and worked with his father as a tiller of the ground; Abel, growing up in his older brother’s “shadow,” was overlooked, and thus had the lowly task of tending sheep.

When Cain and Abel were old enough to be accountable to God, they brought sacrifices to Him. Genesis 4:3-5 explicates: “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.”

The Bible says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Hebrews 11:4 explains what happened in Genesis chapter 4: “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” The Bible says Abel brought a blood sacrifice by faith, so that means that Cain brought his sacrifice of vegetation in unbelief. Cain brought a sacrifice that God never instructed him to bring, whereas Abel did exactly as God said. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and He rejected Cain’s. (Cain should not have been surprised at his rejection, for he knew God’s decree.)

Still, Cain was determined to avenge himself… even if it meant murder… even if it meant Abel….

Cain Came and Brought Shame #2

Monday, June 23, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

Moments after Adam and Eve—literally, all of mankind—fell into sin, the wise Creator God promised the first Good News (or Gospel) recorded in Scripture: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). Essentially, God promised that He would send a Man who would destroy Satan’s works, a Man who would do what Adam failed to do.

We see Adam’s faith demonstrated in verse 20: he called his wife’s name “Eve” (meaning “life-giver,” or “the mother of all living”). Adam knew that he and Eve would physically die as the result of sin (verse 19), but he believed God’s promise that he and Eve would live long enough to have children (verse 16).

An indeterminate period of time passes, and Adam and Eve have two sons (Genesis 4:1,2). Cain is “a tiller of the ground” (farmer) and Abel is “a keeper of sheep” (shepherd). Recall that God had placed Adam on the earth to “dress and keep” (cultivate and reign over) the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). Cain works with his father Adam in the “family business” of farming, while Abel is an outcast and a herder of (stinky!) sheep. These facts provide insight into why Eve said in today’s Scripture, “I have gotten a man from the LORD.”

When Eve conceived her first son, both she and Adam remembered the Good News God had spoken to them just after their fall, that “her seed” (one of her descendants) would defeat Satan. Adam and Eve concluded that Cain was that special Man, which is why they named him what they did (“Cain” in Hebrew is related to a Hebrew word meaning, “recover, redeem, possess”).

Nonetheless, to Adam and Eve’s heartache, Cain would not destroy Satan’s plan of evil. Cain would actually advance it….

Cain Came and Brought Shame #1

Sunday, June 22, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

Unfortunately, modern English translations water down today’s Scripture (like they do with countless other verses!). The NIV, representative of the modern English “bibles” and their underlying (and corrupt) Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, complete with an extra wresting by minds polluted with textual criticism and its vain theories, reads in today’s Scripture: “Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.’” (And this is “more scholarly” than the “archaic” King James Bible?!)

It is a very subtle rewording, but, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man,” notice how God’s Word is retranslated so that it exalts Eve—Eve did it with God’s “help!” Friends, we sinners do not need God’s “help” to do anything; we sinners need God to do everything for us!

However, unlike many (if not nearly all) of the modern Bible translators, we are people of faith, and we have God’s Holy Spirit to teach us. We do not look at the Bible with unbelieving minds and eyes and “correct” it when it does not make sense to us. God’s preserved Word in English, the King James Bible, says exactly what He wants it to say, and how He wants it said. Re-translation causes us to miss subtleties in vocabulary and semantics; if we simply leave the King James Bible alone and just believe it, it will correct our thinking and cause us to appreciate a seemingly insignificant doctrine.

Indeed, it takes some thoughtful study (which Bible readers rarely do!), but there is something special being communicated in Eve’s words as found in our “old” King James Bible. Take this time to consider why Eve said what she did, and, in the coming devotionals, we will discuss why she said, “I have gotten a man from the LORD….”

Solace for Circumspect Students

Thursday, June 5, 2014

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9 KJV).

To our readers who are now high school graduates, I send my personal congratulations!

A major chapter in your lives has thus concluded, and another has already begun. You have reached early adulthood; you are in your final seven or eight years of forming the worldview that will govern your belief system and behavior (most probably) for the remainder of your earthly lives (so, make wise decisions now regarding what to believe!).

In the near future, you will probably pursue a higher education of some sort—college, trade school, et cetera. Human “wisdom” (philosophy) so heavily dominates these institutions of “higher learning,” so be sure that you have your King James Bible in hand, in head, and in heart. Amidst all the foolish notions you will hear in your higher-learning experience—I have been hearing them for eight years now myself in my scientific training!—you can guard your mind and heart from the deprecating, blasphemous, deceptive, vile, ridiculous information Satan’s evil world system and its participants parade most shamelessly under the guise of “higher learning.” You can attend the classes while disagreeing with the information discussed.

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). Having trusted Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork alone as sufficient payment for your sins, you as a Christian student can utilize your higher-learning experience to your benefit. You can inform yourself about the world’s vanity, thus better understanding where they are coming from, how desperately they need the only true God and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Word, the only true wisdom! You can be God’s vessel, radiating His spiritual light in the midst of ignorance and darkness.

While many will not be open to God’s truth (I speak from experience), rest assured they will respect you for being “different” (I speak from experience). If I can ever be of any assistance to you during your higher-learning experience—answering Bible objections, especially creation/evolution science issues—I am more than eager to help you (my email address is arcministries@gmail.com).

*You can also refer to our studies, “A Higher Education” and “The Spirit-Filled Student.”

Enoch the Bible Teacher

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

“And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Genesis 5:23,24 KJV).

How did this most enigmatic Bible character “walk with God?”

Scripture says very little about Enoch, the father of the oldest man in the Bible (Methuselah). The genealogical records of Genesis indicate that Enoch was born about 600 years after creation (he lived contemporaneously with Adam for 300 years, so they doubtless knew each other!). Enoch “walked with God,” lived to age 365 years, and “he was not, for God took him” (today’s Scripture)—he disappeared from earth hundreds of years prior to the Great Flood (God spared him from witnessing such a horrific sight!).

Through the writer of the book of Hebrews, the Holy Spirit elaborates: “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him:…” (11:5,6a). Enoch “walked with God” by having faith in God’s Word to him; moreover, interestingly, the Bible confirms that Enoch never experienced physical death.

Although Enoch certainly did not have a written, completed Bible like we do, Jude explains what revelation Enoch had from God: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (verses 14,15).

Enoch was a prophet, someone who preached God’s Word. Now, in hindsight, with a completed Bible in hand, we can see that Enoch foresaw the Lord Jesus Christ returning to earth at His Second Coming with all the holy angels with Him, to pour out His wrath on unbelieving mankind. Enoch was a Bible teacher in the midst of that most wicked primitive world. This is most interesting, seeing as to “Enoch” means, “teach,” “train up,” “discipline.”

Roll Call in the Heavens

Monday, June 2, 2014

“Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth” (Isaiah 40:26 KJV).

Today’s Scripture explains how the Almighty Creator calls His universe to order!

As NASA’s Voyager 1 space probe was exiting our solar system in 1990, technicians turned its camera around to take a most stunning snapshot, “Pale Blue Dot” (search the internet for the image). From a distance of 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers)—roughly 40 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun—Voyager 1 captured a photograph of a literal blue speck suspended in a vast field of blackness. It was truly “Earth viewed against the grand scheme of things!”

As Earth rotates on its axis, sunlight disappears, night falls, and God “bringeth out their host by number” (today’s Scripture). We “lift up [our] eyes on high,” and see a few thousand dots of light—stars, spheres of bright gas—but we are viewing the heavens through a ridiculously-small window. One estimate of the number of stars in our universe is a number that exceeds the sum of the sand grains on all of Earth’s beaches!

Today’s Scripture provides a most striking illustration. JEHOVAH, the Lord Jesus Christ, “calls roll” regarding the quadrillions upon quadrillions of stars appearing in the celestial sphere at night; as less sunlight is seen, more stars shine. They appear as He calls them individually. “He telleth [or, counts] the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names” (Psalm 147:4). Yes, the God of the Bible has a name for every single star!

The context of today’s Scripture is the Prophet Isaiah’s discourse about JEHOVAH, Israel’s God, versus pagan idols that Israel foolishly worships (chapters 40-48). JEHOVAH asks in the verse prior to today’s Scripture, “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One” (verse 25). It is a rhetorical question in light of today’s Scripture. The answer is, “Only JEHOVAH can call roll in the heavens!” 🙂

A Mind Worth Guarding

Friday, May 30, 2014

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psalm 139:14 KJV).

Verily, verily, the human mind is “fearfully and wonderfully made!”

A neurosurgeon recently described the miraculous, mindboggling human brain (surely not the result of random, mindless evolutionary processes!). We could learn one new fact every second, and our brain would take three million years before it would overload! Even in its fallen state, our mind can process two million bits of information per second! Our most powerful supercomputers cannot compare to the “computer” the Lord Jesus Christ made inside our craniums.

Every image we have ever seen and every book we have ever read, we do not remember them immediately, but these thoughts are deep inside our minds. In fact, the neurosurgeon said a certain medical procedure could stimulate our brains and cause us to access any and every memory we have acquired throughout our lifetimes. What was most amazing of all, he said that, if stimulated by such a procedure, we could even quote verbatim a book that we read several decades ago!

Due to the curse of sin, we actually use a very small percentage of our brain’s capabilities. We can only imagine the intelligence that Adam and Eve had just prior to their fall into sin. Recall what Adam did when he was just hours old: “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field…” (Genesis 2:19,20).

Saints, our minds are powerful, so we need to be careful what we let into them, for what we let in will literally remain there for the rest of our earthly lives. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

Iniquity Not Yet Full #2

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

“But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Genesis 15:16 KJV).

Today’s Scripture expressly declares why the God of the Bible “takes His time” when dealing with sinful mankind.

The God of the Bible is very orderly; He is organized and does not act on haphazard whims. On one hand, His justice demands that sin be punished in full, and His wrath inflicts a punishment to satisfy His offended righteousness (ultimately, everlasting hellfire, banished from His presence forever). On the other hand, His mercy, love, and grace provide a means so that the sinner can escape that wrath via substitutionary atonement (ultimately, the sinner can come by faith alone in Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork, where Christ suffered God’s wrath on our behalf, and be accepted of God). Whether operating in wrath or in grace, the God of the Bible is completely fair and wise in every deed.

Certain limits must be breached before God’s wrath falls on the sinner, and while only God Himself knows those parameters, the entire Bible’s canon demonstrates that this is how He deals with wicked humanity. For example, consider three major events of sin in the book of Genesis:

  • God could have destroyed Adam and Eve immediately after they sinned; however, He responded to them in mercy and grace, seeking them while they hid from Him, and then killing animals to cover them physically with those skins, as well as clothe them spiritually with animals’ blood (a type of Jesus’ blood which was shed millennia later) (Genesis 3:21).
  • Before the Great Flood of Noah’s Day, some 1,700 years after creation, God gave sinful mankind 120 years to straighten up (Genesis 6:3), and then His judgment came and swept them all away (excluding Noah and his family on the ark)!
  • It was not until Sodom and Gomorrah had reached their limit of sin that God finally sent two angels to destroy those two wicked cities (Genesis 18:20,21; Genesis 19:13).

Let us continue skimming the Scriptures for other instances of the longsuffering, yea, the patience, of God…

Heart Service #7

Friday, May 2, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

The moment we trusted exclusively Jesus Christ’s bloodshed, death, burial, and resurrection as the sufficient payment for our sins, we received the very life of God Himself. We died with Christ, we were buried with Him, and we were resurrected with Him (verses 3-11). God could do nothing with our flesh, our ability, so He killed it. He made us a “new creature [in Christ]” (2 Corinthians 5:17), a new type of humanity, identical to Adam’s righteous standing before the fall!

Follow the logic, the way God thinks, how He would have us to think. It is senseless for us Christians to return to our old identity in Adam, to think those old, vain, sinful thoughts that only lead to wrecked Christian lives. It is senseless to place ourselves under any law-based system: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). The Bible says sin will dominate your life when you return to religious performance, whether it be the Mosaic Law, a church’s law, a preacher’s law, my law, your law, any system that makes you the issue.

The verse that follows today’s Scripture says, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (verse 18). How do we have victory in the Christian life? We already have it in Christ by God’s grace! Jesus Christ paid the price to liberate us from sin’s dominion. “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:22,23). Dear saint, if you want the eternal life, God’s life, you already have in Christ, to be brought into your experience, it is through Jesus Christ our Lord, not through you!

Oh, the wonderful grace of God….