Matthew 2:11 (ESV)
11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
The wise men did not visit Jesus in the manger, but later, perhaps as much as two months, in a “house.”
What was the significance of the gifts?
Gold – in honor of His diety
Frankincense – for His purity, that He would know no sin (incense had been ordained by God in Moses’ day to “cleanse the tabernacle.”
Myrrh – for His death! Jesus put on the incarnation of mankind for the purpose of dying (as a substitute sacrifice for our sins).
Acts 2:2-3 (ESV)
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
The disciples could not comprehend the significance of the Spirit’s arrival without the Lord sovereignly illustrating what was occurring with a visible phenomenon.
Wind – frequently used as a picture of the Spirit.
Tongues of fire - Just as the sound, like wind, was symbolic, these were not literal flames of fire but supernatural indicators, like fire, that God had sent the Holy Spirit upon each believer. In Scripture, fire often denoted the divine presence (Ex. 3:2–6). God’s use of visuals here parallels what He did with the dove when Jesus was baptized.
Acts 2:4-8 (ESV)
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because
each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
The issue of “tongues” is a hotly debated one. Nowhere in the scriptures is the speaking in tongues refered to as uttering unintelligible “glossolalia. Here and when Paul used the “gift,” the Holy Spirit supernaturally gave him the ability to speak a real known language. It came in handy as Paul traveled and preached throughout Asia, where there were many dialects (languages). The “gift” of Paul’s tongues
solved a language barrier, rather than create one!
The skeptics in the crowd tried to dismiss this miracle, claiming they were drunk – secular humanism in its infancy!
Genesis 5:1-5 (ESV)
1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.
Some “Christians” on this BB would have us believe that Adam was only symbolic; a mythical Asian myth. Do the above verses confirm or deny that? “Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” Romans 3:4
Genesis 5:24 (ESV)
24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Only Adam, Eve, and one other man is said to have enjoyed this intimacy of relationship in walking with God, Noah (6:9). Enoch experienced being taken to heaven alive by God, as did Elijah later (2 Kin. 2:1–12).
Genesis 5:28-29 (ESV)
28 When Lamech had lived 122 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying,
“Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”
Some who claim that Genesis 1-11 is largely Eastern mysticism must ponder that Lamech had knowledge of God’s curse upon Adam and all mankind in Gen 3. Whether it was written or verbal handed down knowledge cannot be ascertained.
Genesis 7:11 (ESV)
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
Skeptics claim that there is not enough water to cover the earth above the tops of the mountains. However, “the fountains of the great deep,” subterranean water gushed out of the earth. There are evidences of this in many spots on the ocean floor.
http://www.creationscience.com/ “Part II: The hydroplate theory. A few of the mysteries.”
There is no mention of “rain” prior to God telling Noah He would send it to cause the Flood.
the windows of heaven. The celestial waters in the canopy encircling the globe were dumped on the earth and joined with the terrestrial and the subterranean waters (1:7). This ended the water canopy surrounding the earth and unleashed the water in the earth; together these phenomena began the new system of hydrology that has since characterized the earth (Job 26:8; Eccl. 1:7; Is. 55:10; Amos 9:6). The sequence in this verse, indicating that the earth’s crust breaks up first, then the heavens drop their water, is interesting because the volcanic explosions that would have occurred when the earth fractured would have sent magma and dust into the atmosphere, along with gigantic sprays of water, gas, and air—all penetrating the canopy triggering its downpour.
Remember back in Genesis 1:7 (ESV) 7 And God made the expanse and
separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.
With findings of frozen water in space, it could well be that God gathered the “waters that were above the expanse” to bear on the earth to flood it? After the Flood, the waters returned to space. There is plenty of water to cover the earth and its mountains!
[ January 03, 2002: Message edited by: John Wells ]
