Genesis, Exodus and the New Testament - “Bringing sons to glory” - Session 24 of 24 - The Living Word - thelivingword.org.au

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Genesis, Exodus and the New Testament

The first two books of the Bible, Genesis and Exodus, are foundational. They teach vital lessons for everyone who wants to take God seriously. The New Testament shows that righteousness is by faith ... faith in Jesus Christ. There is a powerful connection between Genesis, Exodus and the New Testament. The books are linked ... supernaturally. And there are important lessons for the modern-day church highlighted in the words and divisions of these books.

Transcript

• 0:08 There is a clear division 
• 0:09 in the book of Genesis. There are 50 
• 0:12 chapters in Genesis the first 11 
• 0:16 chapters cover creation, the fall,
• 0:18 the flood and the tower of Babel.
• 0:20 The last 39 chapters are the story of 
• 0:23 Abraham 
• 0:24 and his family. Abraham was declared 
• 0:28 righteous in the eyes of God 
• 0:29 because of his faith. "He believed in the 
• 0:33 LORD 
• 0:33 and the LORD reckoned it to him as 
• 0:35 righteousness." 
• 0:37 The last 39 chapters of Genesis are
• 0:40 foundational, 
• 0:41 because they show the vital importance 
• 0:44 of faith, 
• 0:45 and what faith looks like. 
• 0:48 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not perfect 
• 0:51 people. 
• 0:52 The Bible shows their very human flaws 
• 0:55 and failings. 
• 0:57 Furthermore, they did not follow a
• 0:59 religion. 
• 1:01 There was no priesthood to conduct
• 1:02 religious rituals, 
• 1:04 and there was no set of written laws to 
• 1:06 be obeyed. 
• 1:07 But they had promises from the LORD and 
• 1:10 they believed Him. 
• 1:13 They lived simple lives in relationship 
• 1:16 with God. 
• 1:18 Their faith wasn't triumphal. They
• 1:20 erected no monuments or symbols,
• 1:22 no buildings for worship. 
• 1:24 Their faith wasn't something they
• 1:26 paraded before 
• 1:28 others. They simply believed the LORD 
• 1:32 and, when they knew He was speaking, 
• 1:34 they obeyed. 
• 1:36 Their obedience demonstrated their 
• 1:38 belief in Him. 
• 1:40 It is impossible to overstate the
• 1:43 importance of this, 
• 1:44 if we are to understand what it takes to 
• 1:46 be right with God. 
• 1:49 The story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is 
• 1:52 related in the last 
• 1:53 39 chapters of Genesis. 
• 1:56 39 expressed by its prime factors
• 2:00 is 3 x 13. 
• 2:04 We should also note that 
• 2:06 13 chapters 
• 2:07 (from Genesis 12 to Genesis 24) cover 
• 2:10 the patriarch 
• 2:11 Abraham. Another 13 chapters 
• 2:15 (from Genesis chapters 25 to 36 plus 
• 2:18 chapter 38) 
• 2:19 are the account of Isaac and Jacob and 
• 2:21 his sons. 
• 2:23 And 13 chapters (genesis 37 and chapters 
• 2:26 39 to 
• 2:27 50 are the account of one of Jacob's
• 2:30 sons, 
• 2:31 Joseph. So the 50 chapters of Genesis may 
• 2:35 be summarized 
• 2:36 as follows: 11 chapters plus 39 chapters, 
• 2:40 or 
• 2:42 11 plus 
• 2:45 (3 x 13). The book of 
• 2:48 Exodus follows the book of Genesis. There 
• 2:51 are 40 
• 2:52 chapters in Exodus. So we have
• 2:55 11 + (3 x 13) + 40 
• 2:59 chapters in Genesis and Exodus.
• 3:02 We know that what is hinted at in the 
• 3:04 Old Testament finds fulfillment
• 3:07 in the New Testament. There are
• 3:11 137,720 Greek words in the original text of 
• 3:15 the New Testament. 
• 3:17 137,720 is 
• 3:21 11 x 313 
• 3:24 x 40. 
• 3:27 If this is a coincidence, then it is
• 3:30 a big coincidence. 
• 3:31 11 313 40 
• 3:34 chapters. 11 313 40 
• 3:38 words. Old Testament. 
• 3:42 New Testament. It looks like 
• 3:45 design. It looks like a mathematical 3:48 feature that was built into the 
• 3:50 original text of the Bible. 
• 3:53 Why? Well, first, it sends a message 
• 3:57 that the supernatural hand of God 
• 3:59 directed those who recorded the words of 
• 4:02 scripture. 
• 4:04 Second, it verifies that the division of 
• 4:06 chapters in the Bible are there by the 
• 4:08 intent of God, 
• 4:10 and it verifies that the 137,720 
• 4:14 words are the correct count for the
• 4:16 original 
• 4:17 Greek text of the New Testament.
• 4:21 But third, it raises a question. 
• 4:24 Do these divisions (11 313 
• 4:28 and 40) symbolize 
• 4:31 lessons that send a message to the
• 4:34 church today? 
• 4:36 And the answer, we believe, is "yes". 
• 4:40 This number (313) seems to symbolize 
• 4:44 faith. The simple faith of Abraham. Faith 
• 4:48 not expressed as a religion of outward 
• 4:51 show, 
• 4:51 and not marked by rules and regulations 
• 4:54 and rituals, but 
• 4:56 lived in relationship with God.
• 5:00 This number (40) shows up frequently in 
• 5:03 the plain text of Scripture in 
• 5:05 connection with a period 
• 5:06 of testing. In the time of Noah 
• 5:10 and the flood, it rained for 40 days
• 5:12 and 40 nights. 
• 5:14 Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the 
• 5:16 Law for 40 days and 40 nights. 
• 5:19 Jesus fasted in the wilderness for
• 5:21 40 days and 40 nights. 
• 5:25 The book of Exodus has 40 chapters. 
• 5:29 A test is on view for the tribes of 5:32 Israel. 
• 5:33 They saw miracles when God brought them 
• 5:36 out of Egypt, but 
• 5:37 they complained. They did not believe in 
• 5:41 God, 
• 5:41 and they did not trust in His salvation, 
• 5:44 it says in Psalm 78:22. 
• 5:48 They failed the test. So God placed
• 5:52 them under the Law. The Law is not 
• 5:55 10 commandments. The Law has 613 
• 5:58 commandments. 
• 6:00 Israel said they would obey the Law. 
• 6:03 "All the people 
• 6:04 answered together and said, 'all
• 6:07 that the LORD has spoken we will do.'" 
• 6:12 But they didn't. And they haven't.
• 6:16 Do Christians face a test of faith in
• 6:19 Jesus Christ? 
• 6:20 Yes. The New Testament says that we are 
• 6:23 in a spiritual battle. We are 
• 6:25 running a race. We must stay in faith 
• 6:29 in Jesus to the end. 
• 6:33 What about this number (11)? 
• 6:36 The 11th chapter of Genesis is the
• 6:39 conclusion of the first of the divisions 
• 6:41 in that book. 
• 6:43 It is the story of the tower of Babel.
• 6:46 At Babel God humbled man. 
• 6:50 God demonstrated that He is not
• 6:52 interested in what can be achieved in 
• 6:54 human strength, 
• 6:54 even though man's ability is 
• 6:57 considerable. 
• 6:59 At the fall, man acted in pride. He wanted 
• 7:02 to be 
• 7:02 like God, and he disobeyed God.
• 7:06 Since then, God has been in a process of 
• 7:09 reversing 
• 7:10 that pride by humbling man. 
• 7:13 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob built nothing 
• 7:16 lasting. They lived as pilgrims 
• 7:18 and wanderers. They waited. 
• 7:22 That's humbling. When God placed Israel 
• 7:25 under the Law 
• 7:26 He did it to show that men cannot 7:28 achieve righteousness 
• 7:30 by their own efforts. We need a Savior. 
• 7:34 That is a rebuke to human pride.
• 7:37 When God sent pagans to destroy the 
• 7:39 temple in Jerusalem, He did it to show 
• 7:41 that the enduring temple 
• 7:43 will not be man-made. It will be
• 7:46 a spiritual work 
• 7:47 of living stones. A work of God. 
• 7:51 And when Jesus came, He declared that 
• 7:54 "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the
• 7:56 ground 
• 7:57 and dies, it remains a single seed. But 
• 8:00 if it dies, it bears much fruit." 
• 8:05 Death to self. Death to pride and human 
• 8:08 ambition 
• 8:09 is God's way. And Jesus, 
• 8:13 although He is God and the Creator, 
• 8:16 humbled Himself unto death on a cross, 
• 8:21 and out of that humility and sacrifice 
• 8:23 and obedience 
• 8:25 comes resurrection life. There is
• 8:28 no more stark rebuke to the pride of man 
• 8:32 than the cross of Jesus Christ. 
• 8:36 Back to the beginning ... to Babel. We read 
• 8:39 in Genesis chapter 11 
• 8:40 man said, "Let us 
• 8:44 build for ourselves a city and a tower 
• 8:47 to reach into heaven, and let us
• 8:51 make a name for ourselves." 
• 8:54 And God noted that, when they were of one 
• 8:57 heart and mind, 
• 8:58 men would be able to accomplish anything 
• 9:01 they desired. 
• 9:03 But God won't have that. He won't have 
• 9:05 man exalt himself. 
• 9:08 God has a purpose. To humble man. 
• 9:12 So God scattered man over the face of 
• 9:15 the earth. 
• 9:17 And that's a lesson too easily forgotten. 
• 9:20 Yes, 
• 9:21 man has abilities. Together with other 
• 9:24 men 
• 9:24 in unity, he has almost unlimited 9:27 potential. 
• 9:28 But the lesson of chapter 11 
• 9:32 is that God wants us to be dependent on 
• 9:35 Him. 
• 9:36 In God alone is life. 
• 9:41 Jesus didn't establish an organization 
• 9:44 of men. 
• 9:44 Jesus didn't set a priesthood between 
• 9:47 believers and God. Jesus 
• 9:50 sent the Holy Spirit to lead men
• 9:54 into the purposes that He has 
• 9:57 for eternity. The LORD is building
• 10:00 His house. Only what He builds will 
• 10:04 endure. What He is building is evident 
• 10:07 only in the spirit. It is not physical. 
• 10:10 It is 
• 10:10 spiritual. It exalts the LORD,
• 10:14 not man. It is by faith, and 
• 10:17 faith will be tested. 
• 10:20 It was this way for Israel, and it is
• 10:22 this way for the church. 
• 10:25 God had 2,000 years of dealings with the 
• 10:27 Jews from Abraham to Jesus.
• 10:30 God has had 2,000 years of 
• 10:32 dealings with the church 
• 10:34 from Jesus to today. And Jesus said 
• 10:38 that the times of the gentiles will come 
• 10:41 to an 
• 10:42 end. It is a good time to assess
• 10:46 what we are doing, and how we are doing 
• 10:57 it.