In the beginning God created heaven and earth, that is, the essence of heaven and the essence of earth. No one should think that the six-day creation is an allegory; It is also inadmissible to say that what according to the description was created over the course of six days was created in one instant, and also as if in this description only names are presented, either meaning nothing, or meaning something else. On the contrary, one must know that just as heaven and earth, created in the beginning, are really heaven and earth, and not anything else is meant by the name heaven and earth, so what has been said about everything else that was created and brought into order after creation heaven and earth, does not contain empty names, but the very essence of created natures corresponds to the power of these names.

In the beginning God created heaven and earth. This was the end of the work of the original creation; because nothing else was created along with heaven and earth. Even the natures created on the same day were not yet created then. And if they were created together with heaven and earth; then Moses would have spoken about this. He does not say so as not to suggest that the name of natures is older than their existence. From this it is clearly revealed that heaven and earth were created out of nothing, because neither water nor air had yet been created, neither fire, nor light, nor darkness had yet come into being: they were produced later than heaven and earth. Therefore, they are creatures, for they came into existence after heaven and earth; and are not eternal, for they did not exist before heaven and earth.

After this, Moses speaks not of what is above the firmament, but of what is between the firmament and the earth, as if in the depths of some. He did not write to us about spirits, he does not tell us on what day they were created. About the earth he writes that

was uneducated and empty, that is, she had nothing on herself and was deserted. And he said this, wanting to show that emptiness existed before nature. However, I am not saying that emptiness is something that really exists, but I only want to show that at that time there was only one earth, and besides it there was nothing else.

Having spoken about the creation of heaven and earth and pointing to emptiness (since time is older than the natures created in time), Moses turns to the description of the natures themselves and says: and darkness at the top of the abyss. This shows that the depths of water were created at the same time. But how was she created on the day on which she was created? Although she was created on this day and at this time, Moses did not write in this place how she was created; therefore, we must accept that the abyss was created at the time it is written, and how it was created we must expect an explanation from Moses himself. Some consider the darkness at the top of the abyss to be the shadow of the sky. If the firmament had been created on the first day, then their opinion could have taken place. And if the heavens above were like the firmament: then there was deep darkness between the heavens and the heavens; because light had not yet been created and installed there, which with its rays would disperse the darkness there. If the heavenly region is light, as Ezekiel, Paul and Stephen testify, and the heavens disperse darkness with their light; then how did they spread darkness over the abyss?

If everything that was created (whether it is written or not written about the creation of it) was created in six days; then the clouds were created on the first day. Fire was created together with air, although it is not written about it, so the clouds were created together with the abyss, although it is not written about them that they were created together with the abyss, just as it is not written about the creation of fire along with air. For it was necessary that everything should be created in six days. The origin of the clouds is known to us, and therefore we must believe that the clouds were created together with the abyss; for they are always born from the abyss. And Elijah saw cloud ascending from the sea(1 Kings 18:44), and Solomon says: in his feeling the abyss opened up, and the clouds shed dew(Proverbs 3:20). That the clouds were created at this particular time, that is, on the first night, is convinced not only by the essence of the clouds, but also by their very action, for we believe that they produced the first night. Just as the clouds spread over Egypt for three nights and three days, and created night, the clouds spread over the whole world on the first night and on the first day of creation. If the clouds were transparent; then the first day was not without some illumination, because the radiance of the heavens was sufficient to replace the light created later on the first day.

After the end of the night and day, in the second evening the firmament was created; and from that time on, with her shadow, she produced the following nights. Thus, on the evening of the first night, the heavens and the earth were created, the abyss was created with them, the clouds were created, and they, spreading over everything, brought about the dark night. And after this shadow covered everything for twelve hours, light was created, and it dispelled the darkness that was spread over the waters.

Having said about the darkness that the darkness was spread out top of the abyss, Moses continues: and the spirit of God was floating on top of the water. The Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit of God the Father, emanating from Him timelessly, and in essence and creative power equal to the Father and His only begotten Son. This Spirit, in fact, specifically and independently distinguished from the Father, is called in the Divine Scripture the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit. It says about Him: worn over the waters, to put generative power into the waters, into the earth and into the air; and they were fertilized, gave birth to and produced plants, animals and birds. It was fitting for the Holy Spirit to be carried about as proof that He was equal in creative power to the Father and the Son. For the Father spoke, the Son created; It was fitting for the Spirit to bring His work. And He revealed this wearing, clearly showing that everything was brought into being and accomplished by the Trinity. Moreover, we should know that Scripture, when it talks about the creative power of the Divine, does not present us with a spirit that, as something created and produced, would hover over the waters together with God, but speaks of the Holy Spirit. He warmed, fertilized and made the waters fertile, like a bird when it sits on its eggs with outstretched wings, and during this prostration, with its warmth it warms them and produces fertilization in them. This Holy Spirit then presented to us the image of holy baptism, in which, by His presence over the waters, He gives birth to the children of God.

Having spoken about the creation of heaven, earth, darkness, the deep and the waters at the beginning of the first night, Moses turns to the story of the creation of light on the morning of the first day. So, after twelve hours of the night, light was created among the clouds and waters, and it dispelled the shadow of the clouds that hovered over the waters and caused darkness. Then began the first month of Nizan, in which days and nights have an equal number of hours; the light had to remain for twelve hours, so that the day would contain the same number of hours as the measure and length of time the darkness remained. For although the light and the clouds were created in the twinkling of an eye, both the day and the night of the first day lasted twelve hours.

The light that appeared on earth was like a bright cloud, or a rising sun, or a pillar that illuminated the Jewish people in the desert. In any case, what is certain is that the light could not have dispelled the darkness that embraced everything if it had not spread its essence or rays everywhere, like the rising sun. The original light was spread everywhere, and not confined to one known place; he scattered darkness everywhere, without movement; all his movement consisted of appearance and disappearance; upon its sudden disappearance, the dominion of the night began, and with its appearance its dominion ended. This is how the light produced for the next three days. So that the light would not turn into nothing, as having come from nothing, God especially testified about it, saying:

like goodness. And by this he testified that very kind all the creatures that came into existence before the light, of which it was not said that they were good. For although God did not say this about them, at the very creation of them from nothing; however, later, when he formed all of them, he confirmed this about them too. For to everything created, i.e. everything that was created in six days includes the words spoken at the end of the sixth day:

This original light, called good after creation, took three days to ascend. He is said to have contributed to the conception and generation of all that the earth was to produce on the third day; the sun, established in the firmament, had to bring to maturity what had already happened with the assistance of the original light. They say that from this light scattered everywhere and from fire, created on the first day, the sun, which is in the firmament, was built, and that the moon and stars are from the same original light, so that, like the sun that rules the days, illuminating the earth, together with thus bringing her works to maturity, so the moon, which rules the nights, not only moderated the heat of the night with its light, but also helped the earth to produce fruits and works inherent in its original nature. And Moses in his blessings says: from the fruit that the moon produces (Deut. 33:14).

It is noted about light that it was created on the first day, among other things, for earthly works. But although the earth, through the medium of this light, produced everything that happened on the third day, while the light was in its original state; however, all the fruits of the earth through the moon, as well as through the light, had to receive a beginning, and through the sun they had to come to maturity.

So, the earth produced everything from itself with the assistance of light and waters. Although God could have produced everything from the earth without them; however, such was His will, and by this He wanted to show that everything created on earth was created for the benefit of man and to serve him.

The waters that covered the earth on the first day were unsalted. Although there was an abyss of water above the earth, there were still no seas. The waters became salty in the seas, but before they were gathered into the seas they were not salty. When the waters were poured over the face of the earth to irrigate it; they were sweet then. When on the third day they were gathered into the sea; Then they became salty, so that, from copulating in one place, they would not rot, and so that, receiving the rivers flowing into them, they would not overflow. The water of the rivers flowing into the sea was sufficient nutrition for him. To prevent the sea from drying up from the heat of the sun, rivers flow into it. And so that the sea does not increase, does not go beyond its borders and does not drown the earth, taking into itself the waters of the rivers, their waters are absorbed by the salinity of the sea.

If we assume that with the creation of the waters the seas were created together and were covered with waters, and that the waters of the seas were bitter; then even then we must say that the waters above the seas were not bitter. For the seas were and were covered with water during the flood, but they could not impart their bitterness to the sweet waters of the flood that were over the seas. And if the seas could make the flood waters bitter, how would olives and all other earthly plants survive in them? Or how would Noah and those with him drink them during the flood? Noah was commanded to bring food into the ark for himself and for everyone with him, because there was nowhere to get food; But no water was commanded to be brought in, because those in the ark could drink the water that surrounded the ark everywhere. Thus, just as the flood waters were not salty, although they covered the seas, so the waters collected on the third day were not bitter, although the waters of the seas that were under them would have been bitter.

But since the meeting of the waters did not occur before God said:

gathering of waters called the sea. Therefore, the seas, at the same time as they received a name and occupied their container, changed and received a salinity that they did not have before they occupied their container. And the very container of the seas became deep at the very time when it was said: , that is, either the bottom of the seas became lower than the rest of the earth, and together with the waters that were above it, it took in the waters that were above the whole earth, or the waters swallowed each other so that there was enough space for them, or the bottom of the sea split, and a great thing happened deepening, so that the waters rushed down the slope of the bottom in the blink of an eye. Although the waters were gathered into one by God's command; however, even at the very creation of the earth, a door was opened for them so that they could gather into one container.

Just as when the waters of the first and second were collected, there was no such enclosed place from which they could not come out; so subsequently they come out from different streams and sources, and gather into their seas along the paths and paths that they have laid out from the first day.

And the waters of the mountains, on the second day, separated from the other waters by the firmament stretched between them, were as sweet as the waters of the valley; They are not the same as the waters that were salted in the seas on the third day, but they are the same as those separated from them on the second day. They are not salted because they are not subject to rotting. They are not on the ground, from which they could rot; there the air does not serve to give birth to and produce reptiles. For these waters it is unnecessary for rivers to flow into them; they cannot dry up, because there is no sun there to dry them up with its heat; they remain there as a dew of blessings, and are reserved for the outpouring of wrath.

It is also impossible to assume that the waters above the firmament are in motion, for what is brought into order does not swirl without order, and what is is not set in motion by what is not. What is created in something else, then during the creation itself receives for itself everything, both movement, and ascent, and descent in that in which it was created. And the mountain waters are not surrounded by anything; therefore they cannot flow down or swirl; for there is nothing for them in which they flow down or whirl.

Thus, according to the testimony of Scripture, heaven, earth, fire, air and water were created from nothing, but light was created on the first day, and everything else that was created after it was created from what was before. For when Moses speaks of being created out of nothing, he uses the word: create; God create heaven and earth. And although it is not written about fire, water and air that they were created, it is also not said that they were produced from what was before. And therefore they are from nothing, just as heaven and earth are from nothing. When God begins to create from what has already been, then Scripture uses an expression similar to this: God says, let there be light and everything else. If it is said:

And fire was created on the first day, although its creation is not written, because it is contained in something else. As existing not by itself and not for itself, it is created together with that in which it is contained. Since it does not exist for itself, it could not exist before that which constitutes the final cause of its existence. Fire is in the earth; nature itself testifies to this; But Scripture does not declare that fire was created together with earth; it simply says: in the beginning God created heaven and earth. Therefore, although now the fire will not be in the earth, but in the waters, wind and clouds, yet the earth and waters are commanded at all times to generate it from their bowels.

And darkness is not something eternal, it is not even a creature; because darkness, as Scripture shows, is a shadow. It was not created before the sky and not after the clouds, but together with the clouds and generated by them. Its existence depends on something else, because it does not have its own essence; and when that on which it depends ceases to be, then along with this, and like this, darkness ceases to be. But what ceases together with something else that ceases to be is close to non-existence; because something else serves as the fault of his existence. Therefore, could the darkness that was with the clouds and firmament, and which did not exist with the original light and the sun, be independent when one gave birth to it by its prostration, and the other dispelled it by its appearance? And if one produces darkness and gives it existence, and the other turns it into nothingness; then is it possible to consider it eternal? For behold, the clouds and the firmament, created in the beginning, gave birth to darkness, and the light created on the first day dispelled it. If one creature produced it, and another scattered it, moreover, one constantly, together with itself and at the same hour, brings it into visibility, and the other turns it into nothing at the very time when it turns into nothing; then it is necessary to conclude that one gives rise to its existence, and the other ceases its existence. Therefore, if creatures give existence to darkness and cease it, then it follows that darkness is the work of creatures (for it is the shadow of the firmament), and that darkness ceases to exist with another creature (for it disappears with the sun). And this darkness, which is completely enslaved to creatures, is considered by some teachers to be hostile to creatures - it, which does not have its own essence, they recognize as eternal and independent!

Moses, having spoken about what was created on the first day, proceeds to describe the creation on the next day, and says:

between the water that is under the firmament, and between the water that is above the firmament. The firmament, established between waters and waters, had the same extent as the waters were spread over the earth's surface. Because there are waters above the firmament as there are above the earth, and under the firmament there is earth, water and fire; then the firmament is contained in this, like a baby in its mother’s womb.

Others, believing that the firmament is in the midst of all created things, consider it the depths of the universe. But if the firmament had been created as the middle of the universe; then the light, darkness and air that were above the firmament when the firmament was created would remain above the firmament. If the firmament was created at night, then, together with the waters remaining there, darkness and air would remain above the firmament. And if it was created during the day, then, along with the waters, light and air would remain there. If they remained there; then those who are here are already different. Therefore, when were they created? But if you didn't stay there; then how did the natures, which were above the firmament when the firmament was created, change their place and find themselves under the firmament?

The firmament was created on the evening of the second night, just as the sky was created on the evening of the first night. Along with the origin of the firmament, the shadow of the clouds disappeared, which, during the night and day, served instead of the firmament. Since the firmament was created between light and darkness, darkness took its place above the firmament, just as soon as the clouds were removed, the shadow of the clouds was also removed. But the light did not remain there; because the measure of his hours was fulfilled, and he sank into the waters that were under the firmament. So, along with the firmament, nothing moved upward, because nothing remained above the firmament: it was appointed to separate the waters from the waters, but it was not appointed to separate the light from the darkness.

So, there was no light on the first night of the universe, but on the second and third nights, as we said, the light sank into the waters that were under the firmament and emerged from them. On the fourth night, when the waters were collected in one place, as they say, light was brought into the device; and then from it and from the fire came the sun, moon and stars. And these heavenly bodies have their places assigned; the moon is placed in the west of the firmament, the sun in the east, the stars are at the same hour scattered and located throughout the firmament.

About the light that was on the first day, God said: like goodness; about the firmament created on the second day, he did not say this, because the firmament was not yet completely perfect, did not receive complete structure and decoration. The Creator delayed to utter a word of approval until the luminaries appeared, so that when the firmament was decorated with the sun, moon and stars, and these lights, shining on the firmament, dispelled the deep darkness on it, then he could say about it the same thing that He said about other creatures , namely, that they very kind.

Having spoken about the firmament produced on the second day, Moses turns to the story of the gathering of waters, also about the grains and trees that the earth produced on the third day, and says this:

and God said: let the waters that are under heaven be gathered together into one, and let the dry land appear. Said: let the waters be gathered into one congregation, makes it clear that the earth supported the waters, and there were not abysses under the earth, holding on to nothing. So that same night, as God quickly spoke, the waters gathered together, and the surface of the earth was dried up in the blink of an eye.

When did both things happen? In the morning God commands the earth to produce all kinds of grain and grass, as well as various fruitful trees. The grains, at the time of their creation, were the products of one moment, but in appearance they seemed to be the products of months. Likewise, trees, at the time of their creation, were the offspring of one day, but in their perfection and in the fruits that loaded the branches, they seemed to be the offspring of years. For grains were prepared as needed as food for the animals that were created two days later, and grains as needed as food for Adam and Eve, who were expelled from paradise four days later.

Having spoken about the gathering of waters and about the growth of the earth on the third day, Moses turns to the story of the luminaries created in the firmament and says:

and God said: let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to separate between day and night, i.e. let one of them rule over the day, and the other over the night. God said: let them be signs, that is, hours, may there be times, that is, in the indication of summer and winter, let there be in the days, that is, the days are measured by the rising and setting of the sun, let them be in the summer, because years are made up of sunny days and lunar months.

God created two great lights: the great light at the beginning of the day, the lesser light at the beginning of the night, and the stars. In the days preceding the fourth day, the creation of the creatures was in the evening, but the bringing into being of the creatures of the fourth day was in the morning. After the third day ended, it was said:

Since the following days followed the same order as the first day, the night of the fourth day, like the previous nights, preceded the day. And if the evening of this day was earlier than the morning; then it follows that the luminaries were not created in the evening, but in the morning. To say that one of the luminaries was created in the evening, and the other in the morning, is not allowed by what has been said:

let there be lights, And: . If the luminaries were great at the very time they were created, and they were created in the morning; then it follows that the sun was then in the east, and the moon opposite it was in the west; the sun was low and partly submerged, because it was created at the place where it rose above the earth, and the moon was higher, because it was created where it happens on the fifteenth day. Therefore, at the time the sun became visible on the earth, both luminaries saw each other and then the moon seemed to sink. And the very place where the moon was at its creation, and its size and brightness show that it was created in the form in which it appears on the fifteenth day.

Just as trees, grass, animals, birds and people were together both old and young: old in the appearance of their members and their compositions, young in the time of their creation; so the moon was both old and young; young because she was barely created, old because she was full as on the fifteenth day. If the moon had been created, as it is on the first or second day, then in its proximity to the sun it could not shine and even be visible. If the moon had been created as it is on the fourth day; then, although it would be visible, it would not shine, and what was said would turn out to be incorrect: God create two great luminaries, and: may there be lights in the firmament of heaven to illuminate the earth. As the moon was created, as it is on the fifteenth day; so the sun, although it was the first day, at its creation had four days, because all days were and are counted according to the sun.

The eleven days by which the moon is older than the sun, and which are added to the moon in the first year, are the same days that are annually added to the moon by those who use lunar reckoning. The year of Adam was not an incomplete year, because the missing number of days of the moon was replenished at its very creation. According to this year, the descendants of Adam learned to add eleven days to each year. Therefore, it was not the Chaldeans who instituted the counting of times and years in this way, but this was instituted before Adam. Ps.49:11

Grow and multiply and fill, it doesn't say heaven, but earth, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and all livestock. But how could the ancestors possess the fish of the sea when they were not near the sea? How could they have possessed birds that flew to all ends of the universe, if the descendants of the ancestors were not subsequently to populate the ends of the universe? And how could they possess all the beasts of the earth if their race were not subsequently to live throughout the whole earth?

Although Adam was created and blessed to possess the earth and everything that is on it; but God settled him in paradise. So God, having pronounced a blessing on the progenitor, showed His foreknowledge, and by settling him in paradise, He showed His goodness. Lest they say: heaven was not created for man, God settled him in paradise, and lest they say: God did not know that man would sin, He blessed man on earth. And moreover, God blessed man before he transgressed the commandment, so that the crime of the recipient of the blessing would not withhold the blessings of the Blesser, and so that the world would not be returned to insignificance by the recklessness of the one for whose sake everything was created. Therefore, God did not bless man in paradise, because both paradise and everything in it are blessed. He blessed them before moving into heaven on earth, so that with the blessing that preceded goodness, they could weaken the power of the curse with which truth soon struck the earth. The blessing was only in the promise, because it was fulfilled after the expulsion of man from paradise; grace was in reality, because on the same day it settled man in paradise, adorned him with glory, and gave over to him all the trees of paradise.

STATEMENT OF THE MAIN MEANING OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT OF THE BIBLE

From the editor.

The Pentateuch is a brief history of the Jewish people. The text is written in a very ancient language, which has long since changed. Until now, no one has been able to interpret it correctly, except V.A. Khrustaleva.

The author has phenomenal abilities with which he communicates with the Higher Mind. The communication diary has been kept since 1989. More than two thousand pages have been written, many laws of the universe unknown to people have been discovered. All arguments are evidence-based.

V.A. Khrustaleva established the strict specific purpose of the Universe, the purpose and methods of its implementation, the role of humanity in the construction of the Universe.

Jesus brought the true Light. It was called enlightenment. The author expanded this concept.

The book of Genesis consists of fifty chapters telling about the beginning of the world and man, about the origin of hereditary sin, on which the belief in atonement is based, and contains the history of the emergence of Jewish statutes, laws, commandments, based on the ideas of Moses. My explanations provide criticism of these ideas and interpretation from the perspective of my knowledge.

In the interpretation of the following books of Moses, I will continue to analyze and prove the inconsistency of his thinking.

Chapter 1

« 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.”

It says here that the earth was not visible, and darkness was over the deep. Nothing else existed in our materialized world, i.e. there was no firmament, but an abyss. Water is given to mean vast space, and the Spirit of God is desire. This means that there was no Earth as a phenomenon yet. Nothing could touch her. Only the desire of the Creator flew in this space. He created images in the Other World, which happens very quickly, but materialization requires much more time.

People, like small universes, have the same qualities. We also create images. For example, when we want to bake pies, we first create them within ourselves. This creation takes a very short period of time compared to materialization. The image is vibrational field structures united by one spherical individual field. It stands on the border of reification, and just like desire, planning is located in our Other World, which those around us do not feel or perceive. It's in our heads, that is. in Paradise. There is the Garden of Eden, and nothing grows in it, but there is the “tree of life.” Only it is capable, with the help of knowledge in the image, of creating materialization and making phenomena. But to do this, you need to leave paradise into the open air and create images from field reality and turn them into three-dimensional form.

From the first words in the book of Genesis it is clear that first imagery was created in the brain center of the Creator, and then its materialization took place. From here it becomes clear that the Creator standing above us creates everything in the likeness of His methodology and His capabilities. This means that He is also a human essence and creates everything according to human capabilities. This means that the Universe is a human domain. Currently it is all organized.

Previously, the Creator followed the path of development and improvement of bodily capabilities, but it turned out that many entities (mermaids, mermaids, goblins, kikimoras, brownies, etc.) could not be materialized in our world, because could not be viable in our manifested world and were ballast. Now the Creator has directed us along the path of development of science and technology, and with its help, people expand their capabilities beyond the boundaries of the body, in order to create Heaven (information) with high-quality capabilities that should destroy our Universe. This is part of the Creator’s program, which consists of the beginning, development, creation of the New for the construction of more perfect, Higher worlds and the destruction of production waste.

The time has come. The facts are clear. The New Testament says about this: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away... and there will be no more death; There will be no more crying, no crying, no pain, for the former things have passed away... Behold, I create everything new.”(Revelation ch. 21, v. 1, 4-5). There will no longer be crude materiality and humanity with a heavy life in biomass.

« 3 And God said: Let there be light. And there was light. 4 And God saw the light that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light day and the darkness night. And there was evening, and there was morning: one day.”

From this point on in the story, people began to try to explain what they saw in nature, and from ignorance of astronomy they made unreliable conclusions. The word “God” for them means the Supreme Sovereign Ruler. In fact, life is controlled by seven titans: the Lord (the piggy bank of Heaven), God (carrying the kinetic energy targeted by the Creator for Heaven), Heaven - information (action program). Without energy it doesn't work. The sky, like an instrument, works selflessly along three steps: start, business, result (harvest), which is accepted by the customer.

We say: “Without God there is no threshold,” but we do not understand the real meaning of these words. Heaven is gained through gaining knowledge, experience, and skills. They are our subtle-material children who have an image and are able to come out of us and fulfill our desires outside the body. There, different Heavens, emerging from different bodies, can start a confrontation. We say: "War in Heaven." Heaven has field structures and has various specialties. They are our slaves. For example, a person has mastered a certain specialty. He goes to work. It is Heaven that feeds him with earnings. It permeates the body with its field of the doer and guides it as a mechanism for execution (realization). Those around him see this and discover his deed. It is called the revelation of Heaven.

Heaven can be useful, useless and harmful. We see people doing good and bad things. Murderers with selfish motives, thieves, foul-mouthed people and other pests of life have the corresponding qualities of Heaven.

If we lie for selfish purposes, build intrigues, then we grow a clownish Heaven. You cannot rely on them in the Underworld. They will interfere with the fulfillment of good desires.

Christ is also one of the titans. This is a system for selecting the best for the construction of New Heavens and New Worlds.

Angels are Heaven's guides along the steps from desire to result (received harvest from the deed). In our coarse material world we create them, for example, in the form of a switch in a washing machine from one operation to another. An angel with wings is an allegory. In fact, these could be radio waves sent to the rover to correct its movement. We do not see radio waves and cannot touch them.

Everyone says about themselves: “I”. “I” am a walker through life, a never-sleeping guard, a collector of Heaven and a sender of them to work. “I” gives targeted kinetic energy, i.e. God, for the work of Heaven.

Trinity - God, Heaven, Angel creates New. The Queen Mother (energy) gives birth to all this. She has the First Trinity: Queen Mother (potential energy), Queen Daughter (kinetic energy) and law (ethereal essence).

The seven basic selves create life. These are the Lord, God, Heaven, Christ, Angels, Self and the harvest obtained from their work. They are all interconnected and interdependent. If one link disappears from the step chain, then life will not happen. This collective is called the Creator.

« 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate water from water. [And it became so.] 7 And God created the firmament, and separated the water that was under the firmament from the water that was above the firmament. And so it became. 8 And God called the firmament heaven. [And God saw that it was good.] And there was evening, and there was morning: the second day.”

People saw water on the surface of the earth, saw springs gushing out of the ground, dug wells and discovered it underground. They also saw clouds in the sky from which water poured onto the earth in the form of rain, and described it.

« 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear. And so it became. [And the waters under the sky were gathered into their places, and dry land appeared.] 10 And God called the dry land earth, and the collection of waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, grass yielding seed [after its kind and after its likeness, and] a fruitful tree bearing fruit according to its kind, in which is its seed on the earth.” And so it became. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, grass yielding seed according to its kind [and likeness], and a tree [fruitful] bearing fruit, in which is its seed according to its kind [on the earth]. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning: the third day.

14 And God said: Let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven [to illuminate the earth and] to separate the day from the night, and for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years; 15 and let them be lamps in the firmament of the heaven to give light on the earth. And so it became. 16 And God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars; 17 and God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning: the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the water bring forth living things; and let the birds fly over the earth, across the firmament of heaven. [And it was so.] 21 And God created the great fish, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. 23 And there was evening and there was morning: the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds, cattle and creeping things and wild beasts of the earth after their kinds. And so it became. 25 And God created the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and the cattle according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to their kinds. And God saw that This Fine.

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 birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing, reptiles on the ground. 27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea [and over the beasts], and over the birds of the air, [and over every livestock, and over all the earth] and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said: 29 Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed that is on all the earth, and every tree that has fruit yielding seed; - this will be food for you; thirty and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to every [creeping thing] that moves on the earth, in which there is a living soul, gave I use all my greens for food. And so it became. 31 And God saw everything that He had created, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.”

According to their understanding, evening came, followed by night. God slept at this time, and in the morning he woke up and created all day. In fact, these are six actions that have a certain sequence and completion, i.e. achieving the goal is the construction of a coarse material mechanism with the help of which Heaven is grown to build a New incorporeal world without stars and planets.

Chapter 2

« 1 Thus are the heavens and the earth and all their hosts perfect. And God finished on the seventh day His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.”

The Creator had to perform six acts (and not six earthly days) through God, Heaven and Angel to achieve the goal of materializing what was conceived in rough materiality, i.e. create seeds for building New Worlds, and these are golden halos. They are energy comas with Heaven - programs embedded in them. Golden halos do not burn and remain after the collapse of the Universe. Only righteous people earn them. Christ the Supra-Ecumenical accepts them and launches them for the construction of New, Higher, Sinless Worlds. Christ Supra-Ecumenical stands above the Universe as we stand above technology.

« 3 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He rested from all His work, which God had created and created.”

The goal has been achieved, you can rest.

« 4 This is the origin of heaven and earth at their creation, at the time when the Lord God(The word “Lord” appears. A pair has been formed - God supplies kinetic energy, and the Lord fulfills the desires of the Creator with the help of His material and non-material capabilities) created the earth and sky, 5 and every bush of the field that was not yet in the earth, and every herb of the field that was not yet growing, for the Lord God did not send rain on the earth...”

In the word “God” people included the concept of the universal sole leader and creator of everything.

Next, God began to create the Other World, i.e. non-body, it is images consisting of field structures invisible to people. Six acts are listed sequentially. The compilers of that time, living in our materialized manifested world, did not understand this and tied the explanations to the surrounding coarse material world. Therefore, the act was mistakenly interpreted as a day, i.e. earthly day. The word “field” was understood as something that should grow in the fields of the earth, but did not grow because there was no rain. The scribes, out of ignorance of the essence, added their own conjectures.

Not only plants, but also the entire animal world, including humans as the most developed creatures, have field structures.

Man and woman were created as one for the continuation of life. Modern humanity misunderstands this unity and seeks to oppose them to each other. In the Otherworld, in the world of thought, men and women have equal rights. Both of them think, plan, create images of crafts and materialize them. There is no qualitative division. “...We had seven brothers; the first, having married, died and, having no children, left his wife to his brother; likewise the second and the third, even to the seventh; after all, the wife also died; So, in the resurrection, which of the seven will she be the wife?... Jesus answered and said to them: You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God, for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage...”(Gospel of Matthew, chapter 22, v. 25 – 30). Division according to functional responsibilities occurs only in biological organisms for the continuation of life. Likewise, the functions of religion are needed only in biological life. This system disciplines people.

Energy is the Mother who gives birth to everything, including God - She and the Mother of God. She doesn't have her own face. All women are Her faces. They give birth to Gods. Jesus said: “The Kingdom of God is within you”. (Gospel of Luke, chapter 17, v. 21). By offending and humiliating women, men commit a mortal sin, because... they offend the Most High Mother of God. Women are of great holiness. They are more moral than men. Women give birth to bio-children, i.e. they are launched into our world so that they accumulate knowledge and, after the death of the body, move on to the next, higher stage of life. The jesters interfere with this, take over the bodies of men, who say that women are great sinners, because... they give birth to suicide bombers. They don't know what they're doing. Knowledge of the truth and understanding will save them. Only repentance in our world will save them from the punishment of the Lord. To do this you need to study my works.

Creation in the image and likeness of God means that God is a higher human being than us. This means that He, like us, is inherent in planning, forecasting, experiments, mistakes, hierarchy of power, and the creation of social laws.

At the time the Bible was compiled, the Earth was considered flat, and the sky was a firmament in the form of a dome, where the stars were stuck and along which the sun and moon moved.

The seventh is the materialization of what God had previously created in images in the Other World, sanctified and rested on the laurels of His deeds. He created Yut - rough materiality, without which, like without a mechanism, it is impossible to create a New subtle materiality.

In the manifested materialized world «… 7 The Lord God created man from the dust of the ground(from biomass) , and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.”

The soul is headed by “I”. It is the director of its property, consisting of the Heavens subordinate to it, innate in the form of instincts and acquired by experience. The "I" sitting in Heaven with its desires is the soul. The soul is not a monolith, but a large collective of Heaven. The longer a person lives, the more new Heaven becomes in his soul.

« 10 A river came out of Eden to water Paradise; and then divided into four rivers.”

These rivers exist, but they have a biblical meaning attached to them. This single river must be understood as a stream that embodies all life.

« 11 The name of one is Pison: it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and onyx stone.

13 The name of the second river is Gihon [Geon]: it flows around the whole land of Cush.”

Gold means the purest and most expensive. These are righteous people, in whose souls there are decent properties - “precious stones”. The earth is a palace (our place of residence). The land of Havilah is a subsoil rich in minerals and people of various callings. The river Gihon is a vast space for the field of doing, and the land of Cush is a profit-giving one.

The reader can interpret verses 14–18 for himself, based on the given key for understanding the text.

« 19 The Lord God formed out of the ground every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought [them] to man, that he might see what he would call them, and that whatever man called every living thing, that should be its name. 20 And the man named the names of all the livestock, and the birds of the air, and all the beasts of the field; but for man there was no helper like him.”

Here we mean people. Only they had the opportunity to give names to animals and plants. The rest of the creatures do not have such a wide quality. Birds, for example, give their chicks names in the form of tonal sounds. The corresponding “yellow mouth” opens its mouth to this sound.

In order for created things to be visible and tangible, the images were materialized with biomass (formed from the earth).

« 21 And the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and when he fell asleep, he took one of his ribs and covered that place with flesh(embodiment of the essence) .

22 And the Lord God created from a rib taken from a man(i.e. from the essence of it, and not from the real rib of a person) , wife(life in biomass, not woman) , and brought her to the man. 23 And the man said, Behold, this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.(life follows the laws of biomass possibilities) ; she will be called woman, for she was taken from [her] husband. Life came from biomass - Adam. 24 Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife; and the [two] shall become one flesh.” Life will continue when children are born from a male and a female.

This text combines two concepts. The first is that life is created according to the capabilities of biomass, and the second indicates the immediate need for the continuation of life in biomass.

« 25 And they were both naked, Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed.” Only people, as higher beings, began to understand shame, good and evil, but animals did not reach such qualities. Only animals living with people can be offended, ashamed, or happy.

The book of Genesis has two sources. One of them, the earlier one, is “Yahwist”. The second, later one is the “Priest Code”. Thanks to the work of an unknown editor, the Priestly Code was combined with the Yahwist. Not only does the above passage contain a confusion of two conceptual views, this is present in many other places. This is understood by context.

Adam is the biomass with the help of which the Creator embodied images. Adam's wife (Eve) means life inside the biomass, according to its capabilities. Biomass is mortal because it came out of the earth and will go into the earth and become dust (the earth turns all the biological creations of the Creator into dust with the help of fire, oxidation, and decay).

Chapter 3

« 1 Serpent(wisdom) was more cunning than all the beasts of the field that the Lord God created. And the serpent said to the woman: Did God truly say: You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?

2 And the woman said to the serpent: We can eat fruit from the trees, 3 Only from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, “You shall not eat it or touch it, lest you die.”

If a person lives in biomass, the body will die of old age, illness or accidents.

« 4 And the serpent said to the woman: No, you will not die, 5 But God knows that in the day that you eat of them, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes and desirable because it gave knowledge; and she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave it also to her husband, and he ate. 7 And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed together fig leaves and made aprons for themselves.”

Life develops, progresses, people have appeared who, unlike lower animals, began to cover up the nakedness of their insidious plans with hypocrisy and lies. And scientific and technological progress began to make their lives easier.

9 And the Lord God called to Adam and said to him: [Adam,] where are you? 10 He said: I heard Your voice in paradise, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.

11 And [God] said: Who told you that you were naked? have you not eaten from the tree from which I forbade you to eat? 12 Adam(biomass) said: wife(life) which You gave me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”

Living in biomass forced people to hide a lot from outsiders.

« 13 And the Lord God said to the woman: Why have you done this? The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Wisdom and rationality pushed people to acquire new knowledge and creations. Jesus knew the meaning of the word serpent. He told His disciples: “...be wise as serpents...”(Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, v. 16).

« 14 And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock and above all the beasts of the field (Plants and animals did not have the opportunity to comprehend science and create technology. The Creator was afraid that people would learn His secrets and stop obeying .) ; will you walk(not crawl) in your belly(on the energy that you will receive from food through your stomach) and you will eat ashes(bodies of killed animals and plants) all the days of your life..."

“They saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb... He said to his disciples: Why is this man carrying a lamb with him? They told him: In order to kill him and eat him. He told them: As long as the lamb is alive, it will not eat it, but only if it kills it, and it will become a corpse.”. (Gospel of Thomas, 64).

The Lord God gave people a frank confession about a difficult life, and human wisdom learns the law of the way out of it. And the Creator cursed his “mistake” by giving people creativity. In fact, all stages of the life of the Universe are programmed. According to the law of cyclicity, the Universe is born, develops, and grows nimbus essences in our biobodies for the continuation of life in the incorporeal Fourth World. A woman gives birth to bio-children for this purpose. This is her main role. A woman of great holiness, giving passage through the bioworld, in which the necessary knowledge for incorporeal life is accumulated.

But the jesters slandered the woman, humiliated her, and thus prevented her from fulfilling her duty at this stage of development.

Currently, women have received equal rights, i.e. justice has prevailed.

« 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it will bruise your head, and you will bruise its heel.”

There is a consistency in this saying - the mind is driven by the creation, and the creation is driven by the mind. And the word “snake” personifies the wise decisions and deeds of people, which as a result will tear them away from bodily life and begin to use their achievements for themselves. This is Heaven, i.e. our workers will serve only us. With the death of the body we will leave slavery, i.e. Let us not be servants of God. And we will remove the image of aging and death from our program, i.e. Let's become immortal in the Fourth World. The image of the serpent, which is now equated with wickedness, is in fact our savior from incorporeal death, i.e. in the afterlife. The first is bodily death, and the second is incorporeal. There will be no second death for decent righteous people, because... they have developed a golden halo, and this is energy with information for building the next (incorporeal) world. The rest will be destroyed during the demise of our Universe.

« 16 He said to the woman, “By multiplying I will multiply your sorrow in your pregnancy; in illness you will give birth to children; and your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

Life was infused into the biomass, but in it it is very difficult, and the husband will dominate life, i.e. biomass possibilities.

« 17 And he said to Adam: Because you listened to the voice of your wife(biomass began to serve life) and you ate from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat from it.”(God was afraid that people in the process of development would discover His secrets and He would lose power over people) , cursed is the earth for you(people, exploiting the earth, will begin to destroy it) ; you will eat from it in sorrow all the days of your life; 18 she will produce thorns and thistles for you(the land, in retaliation, will begin to worsen the living conditions on it, as a consequence of people’s rash actions: they poison the soil, water, create a greenhouse effect, etc.) ; and you will eat the grass of the field..."

There are the same words that have different meanings, depending on the topic. For example, in Russian the word “braid” has three meanings: a maiden braid, a braid that cuts grass, and a braid that means sandbank. Context suggests meaning. In this case, “grass of the field” means something that grows in the fields.

« 19 By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground from which you were taken, for dust you are and to dust you will return (biomass becomes dust) .

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve, for she(life) became the mother of all living.

21 And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins(body cover) and dressed them.

22 And the Lord God said, Behold, Adam has become as one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and also take from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.”

Life develops and leads to the discovery of the secrets of the Creator.

The Creator programmed everything. All biological beings grow to fruition, raise offspring and die. Its pestilent secret lies in the fact that when creating a biological organism, images (matrices) are inserted into the program. They dictate to the body how to work at every stage of life.

The growth matrix smoothly ends its function (is depleted). It smoothly includes the matrix of puberty and reproductive function. It also gradually fades away and the matrix of aging, leading to death, is also gradually introduced into it. Look at photos of yourself from different times and you will see these stages.

There are people who have not yet stopped growing, but are already aging. This is a manufacturing defect, i.e. ugliness. The body lacks matrices of youth and maturity. This defect is not yet curable, because The method of introducing matrices into a biological organism has not yet been discovered. By discovering this method, we can remove the aging matrix. Probably, this possibility cannot be realized in biomass, but only in the incorporeal state of life, i.e. in another reality.

“I can refuse to give Knowledge because you want to reveal My secret. I don’t need to give that to you, because then you will stop covering My shore affairs with the law.(secret) , and then you will boast about your independence from Me. Then you will refuse, which will bring the Lord to your feet, that He will then begin to live only by God’s torment. Then you can confuse Me with your tribe, and then I will begin to fade away. I, the Lord, don’t need this and I can show you secretly(i.e. don’t reveal your secrets) ». (From the Contact Diary, dated 08/28/1989). These words apply to the entire human race.

« 23 And the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he had been taken.

24 And he drove out Adam, and placed Cherubim and a flaming sword that turned around at the east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Humanity has evolved from atom to people. A more perfect mind is given only to them. Lower animals did not have the opportunity to understand good and evil or develop technology. Their souls are wide open, they openly carry out their program, do not understand sin, but are not worthy of heaven because of the quality of their actions. The Lord God hid many of His secrets from people, but did not take into account that, according to the law of development, the mind gives them dissatisfaction with their condition, they learn creativity and expand their capabilities beyond the boundaries of the body: they swim across seas, oceans, dive under water, fly, count quickly, they transmit speech and vision over long distances, use radio waves, laser beams, and x-rays that they cannot sense, and they know what radiation is. There are unmanned aircraft, radio-controlled projectiles. We master subtle materiality. Now an electronic brain has been created, which is embedded in technology.

The computer system of the Lord God works on subtle materiality, governed by ethereal laws. This is His technical ability to control us by coding each organism separately and sending a targeted signal. We feel it in the form of desire. All changes in a person are instantly recorded by the Cosmic Computer. Our brain has a computer, a receiver, a transmitter and a constructor.

And our designer, with the help of brain activity, can complete the missing parts according to his accumulated knowledge or, if they are not enough, then he comes up with his own options. The brain, with the help of thought, according to instructions, can construct something completely new and imagine an image in the mind, and then release it into the open, “into the workshop of rough materiality” for reification. After all, the Universe is a spiritualized animate mechanism that builds everything in its brain center inside itself, and only then releases it into our world to create three-dimensional forms, starting from the throne (from the rough or subtle material currently available in our life).

The Space Computer operates on the same principles. It is constructed only from field, wave, beam electromagnetic, vibration structures. He is the brain center of the Cosmos, and is an impartial judge for those who have left biomass.

Our computerization is advancing by leaps and bounds, and in the near future it will reach the opportunities that the Lord God uses. And then He will lose His power. We will not be His slaves and will gain freedom, but we will no longer be a man, but will be God. This is what our Creator, the Lord God, feared, and yet he did not bypass the law of development, which stands above Him at this stage of His life.

Chapter 4

« 1 Adam knew Eve his wife(life in biomass began to develop and the number of people increased) ; and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” 2 And she also gave birth to his brother, Abel. And Abel was a shepherd of sheep, and Cain was a farmer.”

The text is allegorical, the names in it are not proper names, but mean the emergence of new qualities in the life of humanity. In the Russian language there are words “faith, hope, love”, each of which has its own meaning. For example, one man said that he took on a new task with love, which turned out to be difficult, but faith and hope helped him achieve his goal.

Biblically, it would look like this: to help in his business, one man took Love with him.

The matter turned out to be difficult, so I had to invite Vera and Nadezhda. It turns out that four people - one man and three women - together managed to overcome all difficulties.

In fact, there was only one man doing the work, and there were no women at all. This content contains one of the keys to understanding the meaning of the Bible. The meanings of many names are currently lost, but this does not prevent the essence from being revealed.

In the Old Testament there is no indirect speech and everything is presented in person, which is confusing. In this case, it is said that agriculture (Cain) and cattle breeding (Abel) appeared. They are called brothers because they had a common goal of feeding people.

« 3 After some time, Cain brought a gift to the Lord from the fruits of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord looked upon Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not respect Cain and his gift.”

Jews considered cattle breeding more profitable.

Popular wisdom came to the conclusion that agriculture in those days could not remain in one place for a long time, because... the land was depleted and the harvest was scarce.

“Cain was greatly saddened, and his face fell.

6 And the Lord [God] said to Cain: Why are you upset? and why did your face droop? 7 If you do good, don’t you lift up your face? and if you do not do good, then sin lies at the door; he attracts you to himself, but you dominate him.”

Farmers put in a lot of work, but did not understand the reasons for the poor harvest.

« 8 And Cain said to Abel his brother: [let's go into the field].And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.”

The farmers did not want to leave their usual place. This prevented cattle breeding from developing. It was primitive in nature. Wild animals were captured, penned, milked, and killed for food. But sheep breeding has already begun (Abel is the shepherd of the sheep). Subsequently, it became a profitable, honorable business among the Jews, and pastures began to occupy vast areas.

« 9 And the Lord [God] said to Cain: Where is Abel your brother? He said: I don’t know; Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Farmers thought only about their business, they were not interested in cattle breeding.

« 10 And [the Lord] said: What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries to Me from the earth; 11 and now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened its mouth to receive the blood of thy brother at thy hand; 12 When you till the land, it will no longer yield its strength for you; you will be an exile and a wanderer on earth.”

In order for agriculture to produce good results, it is necessary to leave old depleted places and move to new fertile lands (wander), and engage in cattle breeding on abandoned lands. It fertilizes the earth with droppings, produces meat, fat, and wool. The depleted land shows (cries out) that this is already the bloody business of the cattle breeders. Wild grasses grow and feed the sheep.

« 13 And Cain said to the Lord [God]: My punishment is more than can be endured; 14 Behold, now You are driving me from the face of the earth, and I will hide from Your presence, and I will be an exile and a wanderer on the earth; and whoever meets me will kill me.”

Farmers did not want to leave their homes and ignored such cattle breeding. It had to be improved by breeding domestic animals.

« 15 And the Lord [God] said to him, Therefore whoever kills Cain will have sevenfold vengeance. And the Lord [God] made a sign for Cain, so that no one who met him would kill him.”

Agriculture (Cain) cannot be killed (destroyed). He was given a sign - the harvesting of the harvest that always disappears from the face of the earth.

« 16 And Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod(on new fertile lands) , east of Eden." Edem means pleasantness, fertility. People believed that such places exist and should be looked for.

« 17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch(residents engaged in trade in products of the sea and land, and handicrafts) . And he built a city; and he named the city after the name of his son, Enoch.” This led to the emergence of ever larger settlements – cities.

« 18 To Enoch was born Irad [Gaidad]; Irad begat Mechiael [Maleleel]; Mechiael gave birth to Methuselah; Methuselah begat Lamech."

The listing of names means an approach to the New: the discovery of ore deposits, its extraction, metal smelting.

« 19 And Lamech took himself two wives(two directions in life) : the name of one: Ada, and the name of the second: Zilla [Sella]. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal: he was the father of those who dwell in tents with their flocks.”

Technology cannot develop without people, and the most important thing for people is nutrition, which is why it is put in first place.

« 21 His brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all those who play the harp and pipe.”

Music entered people's lives as an aesthetic trend that develops the intellect.

« 22 Zillah also gave birth to Tubalcain [Thovel], who was a forger of all tools of copper and iron. And Tubalcain's sister Noema."

With the advent of metals, the production of tools from them began, as well as related production (Noema).

« 23 And Lamech said to his wives: Ada and Zillah! listen to my voice; the wives of Lamech! listen to my words: I killed a man for my wound and a boy for my wound; 24 If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech is avenged seventy times seven.”

The men of the past crafts sneered at him, and some of them transformed theirs. They also interfered with this (injured). But the old was discarded, killed by the new. The technical direction was developing. For example, horsepower was replaced (killed) by various machines. Resistance to the new is punishable.

25 And Adam again knew [Eve,] his wife, and she gave birth to a son, and called his name Seth(Sif more perfect quality of cattle breeding) , because, [she said,] God gave me another seed, instead of Abel, whom Cain killed."

People began to abandon old ways and switch to new methods of raising livestock.

« 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enos; then they began to call on the name of the Lord [God].” Open public worship of God, prayers, faith and hope in God appeared.

Where the story is told about the mythological way of creating the Universe, the Planet, and humanity. Plus this is the history of the Jews.

I should probably remind you that each book in the Pentateuch of Moses has its own title. And it is slightly different from the original source. Because a huge number of translations suffered.

Russian name "Genesis" does not fully reflect the Greek translation – "Genesis"(“Book of Birth”, or “Book of Formation”). It is its Greek name that indicates that the book talks about:

• the origin of the world,
• first people
• the first human societies of patriarchal times.

But among the Jews the book was named after the first word of its contents - "At first".

This book speaks of what was “in the beginning of the world” in order to connect one “beginning” with another and derive one beginning from another; in other words, to interpret a person’s place among people as his place in the Universe.

Since the name of “Genesis” has a random origin, it coincides with its content.

In this book of Moses, a name synonymous with the word “Genesis” appears several times totedoth (“generation, origin of offspring”).

The Jews knew their genealogical lines along with historical and biographical documents, thanks to which history took shape.

This can be found on the first pages of the book itself, where the expression “ origin of heaven and earth” (Genesis 2:4), “genealogy of Adam” (Genesis 5:1), “life of Noah” (Genesis 6:9); “genealogy of the sons of Noah” (Genesis 10:1)“Genealogy of Shem” (Genesis 11:10), “genealogy of the macaw” (Genesis 11:27), “genealogy of Ishmael” (Genesis 25:12), “Genealogy of Isaac” (Genesis 25:19), “genealogy of Esau” (Genesis 36:1), “life of Jacob” (Genesis 37:1).

Thus, we can conclude that the Book of Genesis is a book of genealogies, giving us the concept of the Heavenly world as the first genealogy of the world and man.

Children are our continuation

As for the division of the book, the most correct one must recognize its division into two parts: one, consists of eleven chapters, consists of an introduction to world history, as it concerns the history of mankind;

other, consisting of thirty-nine chapters, already tells about one Jewish people, in the person of its ancestors - the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.

The authenticity of this book is proven by analyzing its contents. Studying its content more deeply, one cannot help but notice the sequence of events, where one story follows from another, there are no contradictions, and everything is intact and in harmony. The reason for such a finely constructed harmony in the writing of the book is the division into ten “genealogies” that make up the main parts of the book, from which more genealogies flow.

The authenticity of a work has both internal and external grounds.

The internal provisions also include a language that bears traces of deep antiquity. The book contains quite a large number biblical archaisms.

External evidence should include those ancient historical information that are associated with written monuments of other peoples of the Ancient East and archaeological data testifying to the extreme antiquity of this book.

For example, archaeologists have proven the connection of the patriarchs with Mesopotamia, especially with Haran, in the period preceding the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, that is, before 1200 BC. e., which is confirmed, in particular, by the coincidence of the names of the patriarchs with toponyms in the Kharana district. With Jacob's return to Canaan, this connection is suddenly interrupted.

Creation of the world according to the Book of Genesis

But what was in the “beginning?”

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was empty and idle, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God said:

“...Let there be light!” – and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness..." (Genesis 1:1-40).

The Will of God is Light

This beginning has many similarities with the Babylonian cosmogonic stories, but is opposite to them in meaning. Here the one God acts as the creator, concentrating in himself all the fullness of the forces for the creation of the world, and not the patriarchal clan of gods, in a series of marital intercourses, conceiving the personified possibilities of the future universe; that is, here cosmogony is completely separated from theogony. God is already opposed by his equal feminine principle, with whom he could fight in a cosmogonic battle, like the Babylonian Marduk fighting Tiamat. Perhaps the biblical Abyss (“Tehom”) is a memory of Tiamat, but then it is important to note the radical demythologization of the image. There is not a single word about the mother of monsters with an open mouth, like Tiamat, only “depth” or “abyss” - a mysterious image, perhaps mythological. But here this is understood differently than the actual mythological figure of Babylonian cosmogony. It is significant that in the biblical account of creation there is neither the effort of work nor the effort of battle; every part of the cosmos is created by a free act of will, expressed in the formula - “let it be.”

Indeed, numerous cases of external similarity between the plot of the story of the creation of the world in the book of Genesis and the plots of the cosmological myths of other peoples of the Ancient East leave no doubt about the material that influenced the biblical narrative. But the significant differences between these myths and the Genesis narrative are so great that the latter must be considered an original work.

For example, the pagan pantheon inevitably includes many forces and rulers in a state of struggle and rivalry in nature and in human society. The narrative of “Genesis” is based on the thesis of the existence of one God, standing outside the cosmos, the world and nature, which are His creation and therefore are completely subordinated only to His will.

The red line traces the religious goal in the description of the formation of the world. God is the primary source of everything on earth. Everything that is on the planet is not an accident, but the will of the Creator. And the Lord created man in the likeness of God, endowing him with an immortal soul. God created man for a great purpose - to do good.

The devil is the tempter and the cause of the fall of man. God has always cared about man and his actions in the world. The Lord guides him on the right path.

The Book of Genesis describes stable canons that a person must follow.

Such a concept and phenomenon as “” is revealed on the pages Genesis. “Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (2:24).

Theme of prohibition and taboo shown in the story of the Fall of Adam and Eve; the idea of ​​a taboo, the violation of which is associated with expulsion from the sacred space of the “Garden of Sweets” (Eden) and the loss of original harmony, is presented very clearly and freed from any detail.

Eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil also marks a “beginning”: the experience of good and evil begins with it, history begins with it as a confrontation between good and evil. Not only good, but also evil, have prototypes raised to a normative beginning; hence the importance of the figure of the first murderer on earth - Cain. He is such a sinner that he belongs directly to the judgment of Yahweh; he is marked with the proverbial “Mark of Cain.”

A little about the Mark of Cain

For his murder and unrepentant sin, Cain was cursed by God, a special distinctive mark was placed on him: “...And the Lord made a sign for Cain, so that no one who met him would kill him” (Gen. 4:15).

The Bible does not tell us what exactly it was, but it is probably not as important as the sign looked outwardly. The main thing is whether you and I today do not bear this mark of sin on ourselves: in our soul, character, actions, thoughts. Are we not the spiritual children of the eldest son of Adam: envious, rebellious, earning salvation by our own works, without needing Christ. “And Cain went away from the presence of the Lord; and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (Gen. 4:16). Since then, Cain's family began to live separately. It was his descendants who invented musical instruments, discovered the secrets of obtaining metals, and built the first cities (see Archaeological commentary on this chapter). But among his descendants, polygamy also appeared for the first time: “And Lamech took for himself two wives...” (Gen. 4:19) and the sins sown by Cain flourished.

Biblical story about the Flood

The biblical account of the Flood is the most exciting. Noah's family of 8 was righteous. Perhaps members of Noah’s family also had some sins. But they did not lead them to death. Now the human race is already beginning to descend from this family.

Thus, the grace of the Lord can be traced, since humanity, in the person of the Noah family, survived the Flood, leading to complete destruction and destruction. And God gave his grace to Noah and his family, and subsequent descendants, by the way, to us too.

“…And all the other living things from the ark were also blessed" ( Genesis 9).

“...And the whole planet is blessed by God.” ( Genesis 9-10).

“...We live thanks to God's Grace. We even breathe, move and exist by the grace of God, and not by ourselves.” ( Acts 24-28).

The first eleven chapters of the Book of Genesis depict the “beginning” in the most literal sense of the word: the beginning of the universe, the beginning of humanity.

Starting from the 12th chapter, another theme of the book is revealed - the prehistory of another beginning - the people of Yahweh. The heroes of the story, the biblical “patriarchs”, or “forefathers”, are Abraham, a native of Mesopotamia, the chosen one of God and the founder of a new people, his relatives, sons, grandsons and great-grandsons. Of the two sons of Abraham, God rejects Ishmael and chooses Isaac (Genesis, 7-8, 19, 21; 21:14; 25:6; 26:3-4); the process of election is then repeated for the descendants of Isaac (Genesis 35:9-12). The divine blessing received by Isaac's second son, Jacob, ends the period of the patriarchs and opens the era of the formation of the Israeli nation, for which God has destined a special party in the history of the world.

They are depicted as elders of small family-tribal communities wandering in the spaces of Canaan between Mesopotamia and Egypt. According to the biblical narrative, the distant descendants of these clans were destined to become the core of the Jewish people in 500 years.

The hypothesis has been repeatedly expressed that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are mythological figures in the narrow sense of the word, that is, local or tribal deities of pagan Palestine, only later “humanized” in accordance with the principle of monotheism. However, this hypothesis is becoming inconclusive as a result of recent archaeological evidence.

In general, the world of the biblical patriarchs corresponds quite closely to what has recently become known about northern Mesopotamia and Canaan of the Middle Bronze Age. Establishing the real basis of the saga of the patriarchs allows us to determine the genre affiliation of the corresponding eyes of the Book of Genesis. The whole nature of the presentation says that this is a saga, a family tradition, a historical legend, sometimes a historical fairy tale, but no longer a myth in the proper sense of the word.

Among the stories about the patriarchs, the episodes dedicated to Joseph stand out, they are very large in volume (chapters 37-50) and are distinguished by their novelistic details. These chapters describe how the virtue of the wise Joseph is rewarded by God and Divine Providence turns evil into good ( Genesis 50:20 ).

Many authors used the type of Joseph in their works

The image of Joseph has become widespread in literature, since his biblical story has had an exceptionally wide influence on entire eras of literary creativity in line with the Judaic, Islamic and Christian traditions.

Syrian literature of the 4th century gave the “Word of Joseph the Beautiful” by Ephraim the Syrian (Aphrem), where the image of an innocent sufferer developed its expressive capabilities, turning out to be a symbol and prototype of the suffering of Christ. The famous 12th sura of the Koran is dedicated to Yusuf (the Arabic version of the name Joseph), to which the poets of Islam looked back, singing the love of the biblical hero and Zuleika. For the entire range of literature of the Christian Middle Ages from the Euphrates to the Atlantic, “Chaste Joseph” is one of the popular characters; It is worth special mentioning the rich folklore tradition of Russian “spiritual poems” - folk tales, laments and lamentations about the sorrows of a righteous man sold to his brothers, dating back to the “Word” of Ephraim the Syrian.

Modern European literature also reflected a variety of stories related to the life of Joseph. In just a decade after 1532, many plays about Joseph appeared ( S. Birkk, T. Garth). A young man wrote about the development of this topic Goethe. At the beginning of the 20th century he turned to her T. Mann(novel tetralogy “Joseph and his brothers”, 1933-1943), turning the biblical topic into a subject for the application of psychoanalytic and religious scholarship and at the same time into a tool for the affirmation of liberal humanism.

The end of Genesis leaves the family of Jacob in Egypt; “ “ begins with this situation.

The problem of authorship

The most mysterious question remains who is the author of this scripture, since the author of the text is not precisely indicated.

Scholars suggest that Genesis was written by Moses. It is believed that the first five books of the Bible were written down by him during the forty-year wandering of the Jews in the Sinai desert. Initially, all the writings of Moses constituted one collection of God's revelations, the book “TORAH”, which means: Law, or under the name “book of Moses”

But it is necessary to take into account the fact that perhaps before Moses there was some person who wrote this story (Genesis 9: 1-17). Since the text reports events that occurred shortly after the Flood, that is, long before Moses. The author's name is not given in the text itself.

“Genesis” could have been written by Noah and his immediate circle. If the author of the text is Noah or a person from Noah’s inner circle, then the immediate addressee was Noah’s family.

After all, God somehow communicated His righteous truths to people. Perhaps through direct communication (Genesis 3:8-11; Genesis 4:4; Genesis 18:1-3) or some other form of revelation. (For example, a dream, a vision - Genesis 15: 1-2; Genesis 28: 10-16;).

The first chapters of Genesis are inspired by God, as is all of Scripture. Then the Lord continued to communicate His righteous truths. The chosen ones were able to complete what 50 chapters of Genesis look like now. That is, the first chapters of Genesis could have been written before Moses. And, for example, 34:5-12 was written by inspiration, but not by Moses. And after the death of Moses. All parts of Scripture were written not by human will, but by divine inspiration.

Conclusion

The book “Genesis” is a scripture about the creation of the world and man, the history of the Israeli tribes and a description of the process of their transformation into a single people.

The Genesis concept of God, man, the world and their relationships is unique and most essential for understanding these events.

At the same time, Genesis teaches a sublime concept of man. The creation of man represents the apogee of the cosmogonic process. Man is created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:26, 27) ; he is entrusted with the right to use natural resources (1:26, 28, 29) . The creation of man requires the special efforts of God; man directly receives the breath of life from Him. (Genesis 2:7).

One of the most significant aspects of Genesis is the concept of the relationship between God and man.

In the book of Genesis, man is the crown of God's creation, and the relationship between God and man, who undertakes to fulfill Him, is the result of the union between them.

To all who love and appreciate the simple Gospel of grace, I earnestly invite you to read this interpretation of the Book of Genesis, for it is characterized by its deep, soulful gospel spirit. Since I had the advantage of reading them in M.S., I can speak as having benefited from them. Man's destruction from sin and God's salvation in Christ are presented with amazing clarity and completeness in this book, especially in the first chapters.

It is very important for evangelistic ministers of Christ to have correct and authoritative indications of what is sin and that there is grace, and especially this is of great value at the present time, when superficial ideas are everywhere widespread.

The gospel of Christ, which meets the needs of human nature, its condition and character, is comparatively little known and even less preached. As a result, many of God's dear children have doubts, fears and unresolved questions that fill their hearts and trouble their consciences. Until the soul knows that the question of sin and the demands of divine holiness are fully satisfied on the cross, until then the peaceful rest of the conscience will be little known.

Only one perfect sacrifice of Christ, offered to God for us on the Cross, can satisfy the cry of an anxious, troubled conscience: “For our Passover, Christ, was sacrificed for us.” In this and only in this will be found full answer to every demand, because through faith they know that all grounds for doubt and fear are removed, the question of sin is forever closed, every divine demand is fully satisfied, and a firm foundation is laid for receiving the peace now established, in the presence of divine holiness. Christ, “delivered for our sins and raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25), finally resolves the issue of sin. The moment we believe in the Gospel, we are saved and should be divinely happy. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36).

We see the infinitely wonderful love of God for the sinner in His condemnation of sin in the person of His own Son on the cross. There God, with full grace to us, dealt with sin according to His infinite holiness and justice. He reached down to the very depths of our ruin and sin, measured it, judged it, and removed it forever, both root and branch, by shedding the precious blood of an unblemished sacrifice. He “condemned sin in the flesh,” that is, He there condemned that ungodly root of sin, which is in our flesh—our carnal nature. But He also offered Himself as a sacrifice “to take away the sins of many,” the actual sins of every believer. Thus the whole question of sin was dealt with between God and the Son and finally settled on the Cross. “Simon Peter said to Him: Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him: Where I am going, you cannot now follow Me.” Just as Abraham and Isaac were alone on the top of the mountain in the land of Moriah, so God and Christ were alone in the solemn silence of Calvary. Our only participation in the Cross was that our sins were there. Jesus one bore the full weight of their condemnation (compare Dan. 9:24; Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:26-28).

When this blessed truth is known from the word of God and stored in the soul by faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit, then the soul is filled with peace, joy and victory. It takes the believer away from himself - from his doubts, fears and questions. And his eyes look upon Him who, by His finished work, laid the foundation of divine and eternal righteousness, and Who is now at the right hand of God in heaven as a proof of a perfectly finished work for every true believer. The heart of the believer should be occupied with Him and only Him.

Faith knows for sure that when God takes away sin, it must be taken away completely - when Jesus cried, “It is finished,” then all was finished: God was glorified, the sinner was saved, all the power of Satan was completely destroyed, and peace was established on the most solid foundation. Here we find that "the God of peace, who raised up from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the everlasting covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ." He was God ships at the Cross. He is the God of peace at the opening grave. Every enemy is defeated and eternal peace is proclaimed through His blood on the Cross. “He rose from the dead by the glory of the Father,” He rose “according to the power of unceasing life,” and joins every believer to Himself, bestowing the power of resurrection life. Purified by His blood, believers are accepted just as He is accepted (see Eph. 1:6; Col. 2:10; 1 John 5:20).

After Jesus had completely finished the work given to Him to do and ascended into heaven, then the Holy Spirit came to us as a witness of the completed redemption, of the perfection of the purified believer forever, and of the glorified Christ in heaven.

Then the apostles began to preach the good news of salvation to the worst sinners. The subject of their sermon was: "Jesus and the Resurrection". And all who believed that He had risen and glorified were immediately saved forever. “This testimony is that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son: he who has the Son of God has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11.12). No blessing in The Person of Christ - the heavenly man;“for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Ever since that time God has presented before the sinner, in connection with His Gospel, the risen living Christ as the only object of faith: and "Christ is the end of the Law for the righteousness of everyone who believes" (Rom. 10:4).

When the eye is turned to the heavenly Christ, then all is light, joy and peace, but if it is turned to itself and is occupied with what it finds in itself and what it feels, or is generally occupied with anything that stands between the heart and Christ, all the soul will be filled with darkness, uncertainty and unhappiness. Oh, how blessed is the simple gospel of God's grace!

The essence of the message to the lost sinner is: "Come, for all is ready." The question of sin is not raised. Grace reigned through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ has satisfied God perfectly concerning sin and now the only question that arises between God and your heart is this: Are you completely satisfied with His Christ as the only destiny of your soul? This is the one great question of the gospel. Christ has settled all other matters for the glory of God, and now He intends to make a wedding feast for His Son in order to honor, exalt and glorify Him. Is your heart in complete harmony with God on this issue? The affairs are not required from your hands. No force needed. No fruit is expected. God prepared and arranged everything necessary. There is one grace in everything, the pure grace of God, just believe. "Come, for all is ready." The wedding feast, the wedding garment, royal honors, the presence of the Father, fullness of joy and endless pleasures. Everything is ready, ready now, ready to open. Dear reader, are you ready? Oh, what a solemn question. Are you ready? Did you believe this message? Have you embraced the Son? Are you ready to crown Him Lord of all? The table is set, the house is quickly filling, but there is still room. You heard the midnight call, the bridegroom is coming, come out to meet Him, and those who were ready entered with Nim to the feast, to the wedding feast, and the door was closed. “Be you also ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not think” (Matthew 22:25 Luke 12:14).

But I now direct my reader to the notes themselves, where he will find this blessed subject fully, purely and consistently presented, and many other subjects of deep practical importance; such is the clear position and perfect unity of the church of God, the present assembly of saints, the assembly of disciples and children of God, etc.

With the exception of the four gospels, I believe there is no other book in the Bible more deeply interesting than the Book of Genesis. It represents to us the complete freshness of God's first book to His people. Its contents are varied, instructive and very precious for the student of the entire book of God. These notes are again brought to the feet of the Lord with earnest prayer that He will accept them and release them under the banner of His divine approval. Amen.

When God rested from His work, the whole Universe received a blessing from this: God could not celebrate the Sabbath except by pouring out blessing on the whole earth. But, alas, the streams flowing from Eden soon ceased; the picture of earthly peace is disrupted: the invasion of sin interrupts the rest of creation. And, however, thank God, sin did not stop His actions, opening up only a new field for them; Wherever the action of God is felt, sources of water appear. Thus, when with a mighty right hand and an outstretched arm He leads His people, leading the hordes of the Israelites He has redeemed through the shifting sands of the desert, there appears in this desert a river flowing not from Eden, but from a cleft of the rock, a wonderful and sure type of abounding grace working for the good of sinners and covering their needs. Here we are talking not only about creation, but also about redemption. “The Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). Christ slain on the cross for the salvation of His people. The cut stone was in connection with Jehovah's dwelling place in the tabernacle; there is something morally beautiful in this relationship: God dwelling behind the veil and Israel drinking water from the cut rock! What eloquent, meaningful speech for every open ear, what a lesson for every circumcised heart (Ex. 17:6)!

As we progress in studying the history of God's ways, the river, we notice, is directed in a different direction: “Now on the last great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried, saying: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-38). Here we see that the river comes from another source and flows into another channel; although, in essence, , the source is still the same, that is, God Himself, but in Jesus our relationship with God rests on new principles.In the 7th chapter of the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus is presented in the spirit, outside the existing order of things, and calls himself the source of living water , the conductor of which must be the personality of the believer. In the old days, Eden was intended to distribute the waters contained in it outside of paradise, to irrigate and fertilize the earth; similarly in the desert, as soon as the stone was cut, it gave refreshing water to the thirsty crowds of Israel. It is the same now; every believer in Jesus is called to pour out the blessed streams of which he is the channel for the benefit of all around him. The Christian must look upon himself as a channel of "the manifold grace of Christ" for the good of a wretched, perishing world. The more generously he sows, the more abundantly he will reap. “Some give generously, and more is given to him, and another is thrifty beyond measure, and yet becomes poor” (Proverbs 11:24). Thus the Christian is called by his station to enjoy the highest spiritual privileges, and at the same time invested with the most solemn responsibility. He is designed to be a constant witness of the grace of Him in whom he believes, and to continually demonstrate that grace.

Therefore, the better a Christian understands his advantages, the better he will fulfill the responsibility entrusted to him. The more Christ becomes his every minute food, the more persistently he will turn his gaze to Jesus, the more the Holy Spirit will keep the Christian’s gaze fixed on Jesus, and the more his heart will be occupied by His adored Person; his life and character will become faithful and direct witnesses of the grace shown to him and perceived by him. Faith is at the same time the power of service, the power of testimony and the power of worship. Without living “by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me,” (Gal. 2:20) we will not be useful ministers, nor faithful witnesses, nor true worshipers of God. It is possible that we will act a lot, but not serve Christ; talk a lot, but do not show the testimony of Christ; show great piety and idleness, but there will be no worship in spirit and truth.

Finally, we meet the “river” of God in Rev. 22.1. “And he showed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” These are the same river streams that the Psalmist speaks of and which will “rejoice the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High” (Ps. 45:5; compare also Ezek. 47:1-12 and Zech. 14:8). No one can henceforth dry up the source that gives rise to these streams or interrupt the flow of their waters. “The Throne of God” is a type of eternal immutability; the presence of the Lamb indicates that this throne stands on the indestructible foundation of completed redemption. This is the throne of God, not as the Creator, not in His Providence, but as God the Redeemer. When I see "Lamb" I I immediately determine the attitude of the throne of God towards me as sinner. The throne of God itself is capable of arousing fear in me, like a sinner; but when God reveals Himself in the person of the “Lamb,” the heart strives for the throne, and the conscience is calmed. The blood of the Lamb cleanses the conscience stained by sin and introduces it in complete freedom into the sphere of the highest holiness, which does not tolerate sin. On the cross, all the demands of divine holiness were fully satisfied, so the better we understand this holiness, the more value we attach to the cross. The more we value holiness, the more we value the cross. “Grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:21). That is why, calling on the saints to praise Jehovah, the psalmist remembers the holiness of God. Doxology and praise constitute the precious fruit of redemption; but in order to give Him praise, thinking about the holiness of God, a Christian should contemplate this holiness, by faith taking a place on the other side of the cross: forgetting people and death, his thoughts are transferred to God and to the resurrection.

Having traced the course of the river from Genesis to Revelation, let us now briefly review Adam's position in paradise. In Adam we have already seen a type of Christ; but he should be considered not only as a type, but also as an individual personality, he should be seen not only as the indisputable personification of the second man, “the Lord from heaven,” but also as one invested with responsibility for himself as a person. In the midst of the wondrous picture of the creation of the world, God gave a testimony, which was at the same time to become a test of the created creature: among life it was talking about of death, because God said: “In the day that you eat of it, you will surely die” (v. 17). Amazing, impressive and at the same time scary words! But these words were necessary. Adam's life depended on his complete obedience to God; and this Obedience, based on wholehearted confidence in the testimony of the truth and love of God, was the bond that united Adam with God [It should be noted that in the 2nd chapter of Genesis the expression "God" is replaced by the expression "Lord God" This is a very significant change When it comes to about man, God calls Himself “the Lord God” (Jehovah Elohim), and He takes the name of Jehovah only when man appears. This is easy to follow by citing as an example some of the numerous passages of Scripture: “And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as He commanded God And closed it Lord(Jehovah) is behind him" (Genesis 7:16) God doomed the world to destruction, By Him created, But Jehovah will take care of the person with whom He made a covenant. “And the whole earth will know that there is a God (Elohim) in Israel” - “And all this multitude will know that the Lord (Jehovah) does not save by the sword” (1 Samuel 17:46 47) The whole earth had to recognize the presence of God, but Israel only it was given to see the works of Jehovah, with whom he was in covenant. Finally, 2 Chronicles 18:31 says that “Jehoshaphat cried, and the Lord (Jehovah) helped to him, and took him away their God(Elohim) from him" The Lord (Jehovah) rose up in defense of His servant, God (Elohim), unknown to them, acted on the hearts of the uncircumcised], who gave the first man the high position that he occupied in paradise; insofar as Adam trusted God, so much he could obey Him. In Chapter 3, the full importance, the whole truth of this fact is developed in more detail; here I would especially like to draw the reader's attention to the instructive difference that exists between the testimony given in Eden and the testimony given to us by God in present tense. In Eden, where everything was life, God speaks about of death; on the contrary, now that reigns everywhere death, God proclaims life. Then it was said: “On the day that you eat of it, you will die by death"; now, on the contrary, it says: “Believe, and you will live!" But just as then, in paradise, the enemy looked for an opportunity to destroy the testimony of God regarding the consequences of disobedience, that is, eating the fruit, so he also seeks in every possible way now to destroy the testimony of the Word of God regarding the consequences of faith in the Gospel. God said: "On the day that you eat of it, death you will die"; the serpent said: "No, you won't die." Now, since Scripture clearly testifies that “he who believes in the Son has eternal life"(John 3:36), the same serpent tries to convince people that life them Not granted, and they will not receive it until they will fulfill Not will feel and not will experience one or the other. Dear reader, if you have not yet believed the testimony of God with all your heart, I beg you, without heeding the suggestions of Satan, to listen to the voice of the Word of God, which says: “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed over.” from death to life" (John 5:24).

Chapter 3

This chapter presents us with a complete disruption of the order of things that have hitherto occupied our attention. It is full of important truths and has rightly served at all times as a subject of study and edification to all who set out to proclaim the truth regarding the fall of man and the means used by God to bring him out of this pitiful situation.

The serpent appears with a bold question, which aims to cast a shadow of doubt on divine revelation; he is a formidable example and harbinger of all questions of unbelief raised in the world by the too faithful servants of the serpent, unbelief which only the highest and divine authority of the Word of God can overthrow.

“Did God truly say: You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?” (v. 1) With this insidious question, the snake begins to confuse Eve. If the word of God had “dwelled richly” in Eve’s heart, (Col 3:16) her answer would have been simple, direct and decisive. The true way is to face Satan's questions and suggestions, treat them as his own inventions and reject them with the Word of God. A heart that agrees to stop through them, even for a minute, risks losing the only force that can defeat them. The devil does not appear to Eve openly, does not tell her: "I Satan, the enemy of God, has come to slander Him and destroy you." Such a technique is not in the nature of the serpent; he nevertheless manages to carry out his job brilliantly, raising doubts in Eve's mind and heart. Only positive unbelief could allow the question, “Did God really say,” when it was known what God said; the very fact of admitting this question serves as an admission of one’s inability to fight this question. The turn of Eve's response proves that she took Satan's question to heart; her answer does not adhere directly to the Word of God - she inserts her own thought into it. Adding or subtracting anything from the Word of God shows that it does not dwell in the heart and does not govern the conscience. Everyone who places his happiness in obedience to God, making him his food and drink, living “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” inclines his ear to him; Such a person will never remain indifferent to this Word. The Lord Jesus, in His struggle with Satan, timely and unusually accurately used the Word of God, because it constituted His food and was valued by Him above all else. He could neither make a mistake nor make a mistake in its application, nor could he remain indifferent to it. Eve acted differently: she added to what God said. The commandment was simple: “Do not eat from it”; to this Eve added her own words: “And do not touch him.” These were Eve's words. God said nothing regarding "touch"; whether Eve added these words out of ignorance, or out of indifference to the exact Word of God; whether she wanted to misrepresent God, or whether she did it for all these reasons taken together, in any case, Eve came from the ground of complete trust in the holy Word of God and submission to this Word. “By the word of Your mouth, I have kept myself from the ways of the oppressor” (Ps. 16:4).

There is nothing more convincing than the Word of God, in all its harmonious presentation from beginning to end; nothing brings greater blessing than complete submission to this Word, and this obedience to the Word of God is obligatory for us simply because it is precisely God’s Word. To raise doubts about the Word spoken by God is already blasphemy. We are the creature, God is the Creator; this gives Him every right to demand obedience from us. Let this obedience be “obedience to the blind” in the eyes of the unbeliever; for a Christian it is “reasonable obedience,” because by following it the Christian knows that he is following the voice of the Word of God. If a person did not have the Word of God, it would certainly be possible to say about him that he is in blindness and darkness, because neither in us nor outside of us does there exist a single ray of light that does not emanate from this pure and eternal Word. We need only one thing: to know that God said this or that: under such conditions, obedience becomes the highest sphere of our rational activity. Ascending to God, the soul reaches the highest source of authority. Not a single person, not a single human society has the right to demand obedience to its word, and therefore the demand of the Roman Church is arrogant and impious; in its demands for obedience, it enters into the rights of God, and everyone who submits to this robs God of His right, it considers itself has the right to stand between God and conscience; to whom is this given freely? When God speaks, man is obliged to obey; Blessed is he who does this; woe to him if he goes out of subjection. Unbelief can doubt whether God really spoke, superstition can, with an authority created by itself, try to stand between my conscience and God; both of these essentially separate us from the Word of God, and therefore from the great happiness that accompanies obedience to this Word.

Every act of obedience is associated with a blessing; but if the soul hesitates, the enemy takes possession of it and makes every effort to remove it more and more from God. So, in the chapter we are considering, Satan addresses the question: “Did God truly speak?” He also adds the assurance: “No, you will not die” (v. 4). Beginning by questioning the fact that God spoke anything to man at all, he then clearly contradicts God's spoken Word. This shows us firsthand how dangerous it is to allow even one doubt into your heart regarding the truth of the very revelation of God, its completeness and inviolability. Refined rationalism (human reasoning) comes into close contact with open disbelief; unbelief, which encroaches on the discussion of the Word of God, is not far from atheism, which denies the very existence of God. If Eve had not previously become indifferent and careless towards the Word of God, she would not have listened to Satan’s refutation of God’s words. And Eve passed, in modern language, through various “phases of faith” or “phases of unbelief.” In her presence, she allowed the creature created by God to deny the words of God, and she did this because the Word of God was already losing its authoritative meaning for her heart, conscience and mind.

In this regard, Eve is an eloquent and instructive example for those who risk succumbing to the fascination with rationalism. There is no true security except an unconditional and deep faith in the immutable inspiration and supreme authority of all “Holy Scripture.” The soul endowed with this has a solemn answer to every objection raised against the Word of God, whether it comes from Rome or Germany. "There's nothing new under the sun." The same evil that today darkens the sources of thought and religious feeling in the best parts of Europe penetrated into the heart of Eve in Paradise and destroyed her. Eve pondered the question: “Did God really speak?” And this first step entailed her death; step by step, gradually, she bowed before the serpent, recognizing him as her god and the source of truth.

Yes, reader, the serpent took the place of God, and the lies of Satan took the place of the truth of God. And what happened to the first man when he fell, the same happens to his descendants. The Word of God has no access to the heart of unregenerate man, but the lies of the serpent do. When the human heart is examined, it will be found that there is room for the lies of Satan, but there is no place for the truth of God. That is why the word of the Lord spoken to Nicodemus has great significance: “You must be born again” (John 3:7).

It is also important to notice the way the serpent devised to shake Eve's trust in the truth of God and to bring her under the influence of an ungodly mind. Satan achieves this by undermining Eve’s trust in the love of God and in what was said by God, and he inspires Eve that God’s prohibition from eating the fruit is not based on love: “Because,” he says, “God knows that on the day, when you eat of them, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil” (v. 5). With this, the devil seems to be saying: “There is a great advantage associated with eating fruits forbidden to you by God; why do you believe the testimony of God? You cannot believe the One who obviously does not love you at all: because if He loved you, would He deprive you of the essential and undoubted good? And if Eve had rested solely in trust in the goodness of God, she would have been safe and would have found within herself the strength to resist the action of these arguments of the enemy. She would answer the snake: “I unconditionally trust the goodness of God and do not even allow the thought that God would want to deprive me of something useful for me. If this fruit were good for me, God, of course, would give it to me; the fact is that God forbids me to eat it, proves that if I tasted it, instead of feeling better, I, on the contrary, would lose what I now have. love And truth I have no doubt about God; I consider you a slanderer who came to me to turn my heart away from the Source of goodness and true truth: get away from me, Satan." This is essentially the answer Eve should have given; but she did not say this: distrust of love crept into her heart and righteousness, and all is lost. In the heart of fallen man there is no longer room for either love or the truth of God; both are alien to him until he receives rebirth from the Holy Spirit.

It is interesting now to trace the transition from Satan’s lies regarding the love and truth of God to the blessing of the Lord Jesus, who came from the bosom of the Father to reveal the true nature of God. “Grace and truth,” both of which were lost by man at his fall, “came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Jesus was a faithful witness that there is a God (Rev. 1:5). Truth reveals God as He is; but this truth in Jesus is connected with the revelation of supreme grace. Thus the sinner finds to his inexpressible joy that the revelation of the essence of God does not entail his destruction, but becomes the basis of his eternal salvation “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John. 17.3). I cannot know God and not have life. The loss of the knowledge of God brought death; knowing God is life. This reveals the source of life entirely outside of ourselves, making it dependent only on the very essence of God. Whatever the degree of our self-knowledge, nowhere is it said: “This is eternal life, that they may know themselves,” although, without a doubt, knowledge of God and knowledge of oneself are closely related in many respects. Eternal life, however, is connected only with the first of these knowledges. Those who know God as He is have life; those who do not know God, according to the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, “will be subject to the punishment of eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thess. 1:9).

It is extremely important for us to become aware that for every person, ignorance or knowledge of God leaves an imprint on his character and his condition. This is what determines the character of a person in the present and decides his fate in the future. Even if a person is sinful in his thoughts, his words and actions, all this comes from his ignorance of God; if, on the contrary, he is pure in his thoughts, holy in his conversation and treatment of other people, full of mercy in his deeds, all this is nothing more than the practical result of knowing God. The same can be said about the future person. The knowledge of God is the sure foundation of infinite happiness and eternal glory; ignorance of Him is eternal destruction. So, everything lies in the knowledge of God: it enlivens the soul, purifies the heart, calms the conscience, elevates affection, and completely sanctifies the character and behavior in the world of man.

Is it surprising, then, that all of Satan’s efforts are aimed precisely at depriving God’s creation of the knowledge of the true God? He instilled in Eve's soul a false idea of ​​God, instilling in her that God is not good: this became the secret source of all evil. From that time on, no matter how sin manifests itself, no matter how it arises and no matter what form it takes, its source is still the same: the knowledge of God. The most refined and enlightened moralist, the most devoted religious man, the most well-intentioned philanthropist, if they do not know God, then they are as far from life and true holiness as the publican and the harlot. The prodigal son was the same sinner and was just as distant from his father at the moment when, leaving for a distant country, he crossed the threshold of his home, as when he was tending pigs in a distant country (Luke 15:13-15) So it was with Eva. From the moment she came out of obedience to God, out of a position of unconditional dependence on His Word, she succumbed to the influence of reason, which Satan used to completely destroy her.

Verse 6 introduces us to the three temptations mentioned by the Apostle John: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). In them, according to the apostle, is contained “all that is in the world.” Once God was excluded, man inevitably took over. Without being in the blessed confidence of God’s love, truth, goodness and faithfulness, we will certainly fall, if not into all three, then at least into one of the above-mentioned dangers, in other words, we will give ourselves into the hands of the devil. Strictly speaking, a person does not have free will: a person who controls himself is actually controlled by Satan, or he is controlled by God.

“The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” - these are the three active forces through which Satan dominates man. These same three techniques were used by Satan to tempt the Lord Jesus. The devil begins to tempt the second Man, the Lord Jesus, inviting Him to come out of the position of complete dependence on God: “Tell these stones to become bread.” He does not ask Jesus to take, like the first man, a position higher than He occupied, but invites Him to provide evidence of what He really is. He then offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; finally, placing Him on the wing of the temple, arouses in Him the idea of ​​appearing in an unexpected and miraculous way to the amazed people gathered at the foot of the temple (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). The obvious purpose of each of these proposals, obviously, was Satan's desire to force the Lord to come out of a position of complete dependence on God and complete submission to His will. But all his efforts were in vain. “It is written,” - such was the invariable answer of the one perfect Man, who retained His dependence on God and completely renounced Himself. Other people were looking for an opportunity to govern themselves; He submitted Himself exclusively to the management of God.

What an example for believing souls in all circumstances of their lives! Without taking His heart away from Scripture even for a moment, Jesus emerges victorious from temptation. With only one "sword of the Spirit" He won a glorious victory. What a difference between Him and the first Adam! To Adam, in the midst of the paradise he possessed, everything spoke for God; For Jesus, in the midst of the desert and the associated hardships in which he found himself, everything spoke against God; the first to trust Satan; the second believed God; the first was completely defeated; the second achieved a complete victory. Blessed be the God of all grace forever, who has given our help into the hands of Him who is so strong, so powerful to conquer and save!

Let us now ask what benefits Adam and Eve received from the promise of the serpent. This study will shed light on one of the important points of the fact of the fall of man. The Lord God arranged it in such a way that in the fall and through the fall he would receive something that he did not possess until that time: he received conscience, knowledge of good and evil. Obviously, before his fall, man could not have this. He could not have a concept of evil until evil happened and was known to him: he was in a state of innocence, that is, ignorance of evil. In and through the fall, man acquired conscience; and at first his conscience frightened him and made him fearful. Satan completely deceived Eve; he said: “Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil;” but at the same time he left out an important part of the truth, namely, that they will know good without having the strength to adhere to it, they will know evil, and will not be able to resist it. An attempt to climb higher on the ladder of moral existence entailed the loss of true sublimity: man turned into a fallen being, weak, tormented by fear, persecuted by conscience, into a slave of Satan. True, their eyes were opened, but they were opened in order to see their own nakedness, their pitiful situation: they were “miserable, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” - “and they learned that they were naked” - the bitter fruit of the tree of knowledge, Adam and Eve acquired no new knowledge of divine superiority; not a single new ray of Divine light flowing from the pure and eternal Source of this light illuminated their hearts. No: the first consequence of their knowledge and their pursuit of knowledge was - alas! - the discovery that they are naked.

It's important to understand this; It is important to understand what the effect of conscience is on the soul, and to learn that it is able to make only fearful creatures out of us, allowing us to feel what we essentially are. Many people are mistaken in this regard and are sure that conscience leads us to God. Did she, however, lead Adam and Eve to God? Of course not, and conscience does not lead a single sinner to God. And how can she do this? How can the consciousness of what am I like, lead me to God, if this consciousness is not accompanied by feeling, what is God? The consciousness of what I am produces in me shame, remorse, plunges me into anxiety; It may, however, awaken in me some efforts to get out of the situation that it reveals to me. But these very efforts do not bring me any closer to God, becoming rather a curtain hiding Him from my sight.

The discovery of their nakedness by Adam and Eve resulted only in fear on their part and an attempt to cover up their nakedness. “They sewed together fig leaves and made aprons for themselves” (v. 7). This is how we meet with a person’s first attempt to get out of his situation by means invented by him. Looking carefully at this fact, we draw from it a deep lesson concerning the true character of the religion of man in all ages. First of all, we see that not only when it comes to Adam, but in all similar cases, man directs his first effort to get out of his situation ; In this case, he is guided by the consciousness of his nakedness. He is naked, this is an indisputable fact, and all his deeds are the result of his nakedness: but no amount of effort will bring him out of this state. In order to be able to do anything pleasing to the Lord, I must first be convinced that I am endowed.

This is the difference between true Christianity and the religion of man: Christianity rests on the fact that man is clothed, while the religion of man rests on the fact that man is naked. The goal of human religion is the point of departure of Christianity. Everything that a true Christian does, he does because he is clothed, completely clothed, but everything that a naturally religious person does, he does in order to be clothed. The difference is huge. The more we study the nature of religion, of man in all its phases, the more clearly the complete inability of this religion to lead a person out of his condition or even change his attitude towards this condition comes to light. A person's religion can only last for a while; it satisfies the heart so long as death, judgment and the wrath of God are considered only from afar, if the thought of them arises in the mind of a person at all; but when one has to reckon with the presence of these terrible facts, then a person is convinced that human religion really is “a bed too short” to stretch out on, “a blanket too narrow” to cover oneself with.

As soon as Adam heard the voice of God in paradise, he was afraid, because, according to his own testimony, he was naked despite the apron that he had made for himself. It is obvious that this veil did not satisfy even his own conscience: if his conscience had divine satisfaction, he would not have felt fear. “If our heart does not condemn us, then we have confidence in God” (1 John 3:21). But if man’s conscience does not find peace in the efforts inherent in man’s religion, how much less can these efforts satisfy the holiness of God. The girdle that Adam put on himself did not hide him from the sight of God: Adam did not dare to appear naked before the Lord; and behold, he runs and hides from the Lord. The same thing always happens with our conscience: it forces a person to flee the presence of God, trying to hide from the face of God with an insignificant veil. In truth, it is a pity for refuge, because sooner or later a person’s meeting with God is inevitable, and if he has nothing but the consciousness of what he is, he can only be afraid, he cannot help but recognize himself as unhappy. And indeed, all that is needed is the torment of hell to complete the suffering of one who, knowing that he cannot avoid meeting God, feels personally unprepared to withstand His presence. If Adam had known the love of God, he would not have feared God, because “in love there is no fear, but perfect love casts out fear, because in fear there is torment; he who fears is not perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). Adam did not recognize the love of God, believing the lies of Satan. He saw in God everything except His love; therefore, he was ready for anything except meeting God. Yes, this, however, was quite natural and completely understandable: sin was evident, but God and sin are incompatible and cannot meet. That is why, as long as conscience is under the yoke of sin, the consciousness of distance from God does not disappear. “It is not natural for Thy pure eyes to look upon evil deeds” (Hab 1:13). Holiness and sin cannot live together. Sin, wherever it creeps, meets the wrath of God everywhere.

But blessed be God, there is something other than conscience, what I am, namely revelation of what He is; and this blessed revelation was given to me on the occasion of the fall of man. In creation, God did not reveal Himself in all His fullness; in creation He only showed: “His eternal power and Godhead” (Qeiothz) (Rom. 1:20) [Compare the words of Qeiothz (Rom 1:20) with the word Qeothz (Col 2:9) This brings us to a very interesting thought. They both mean Divinity, but they represent distinctive thoughts. The pagans might see something supernatural, something divine in creation, but pure, all-encompassing and incomprehensible Divinity dwelt in the person of the Son of God.]; all the secrets of His nature and character with all their inherent depth remained, however, hidden. And Satan greatly erred in his calculations, deciding to influence God’s creation; in this way he made himself the instrument of his own eternal shame, his own destruction. “His malice will turn on his head, and his wickedness will fall on his crown” (Ps 7:17). Satan's lies provided only the impetus and opportunity for full manifestation truth about God. Creation could never comprehend the full essence of God. In God there was something immeasurably higher than His wisdom and omnipotence; He also contained love, mercy, holiness, righteousness, goodness, tenderness, and long-suffering. And did not the world of sinners provide particularly favorable soil for the manifestation and development of these incomparable perfections of God? In the beginning, God descended to create; then, when the serpent dared to interfere with the work of creation, God came from heaven to save. The first word spoken by God after the fall of man is about this testimony: “And the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him: Where are you?” (v. 9). This question proved two facts, namely, that the man was lost and that God had come to look for him; proved the sin of man and the goodness of God. "Where are you?" What fidelity, what grace this word breathed, which at the same time revealed all the horror of the situation in which man had placed himself and revealed the true character and attitude of God towards fallen man. Man was perishing, but God came down to look for him, to bring him out of the refuge in which he hid among the trees of paradise, in order, through blessed faith, to give man the opportunity to find refuge in Himself. That was grace God's In order to call man into existence from the dust of the earth, all that was required was power God's; in order to find and bring a person out of his pitiful situation, it took grace. But it is impossible to express in words the full depth of the thought that God looking for sinner. What in fallen man could cause the All-Good God to seek him? God saw in man what the shepherd saw in a lost sheep, what a woman saw in a vanished coin, a loving father saw in his prodigal son: in the eyes of God, a sinner is precious.

How does a sinner respond to the faithfulness and goodness of the blessed God, who called him and said to him: “Where are you?” Alas, Adam's answer only reveals the depth of the evil into which he has plunged. He said: “I heard Your voice in paradise, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.” And God said: “Who told you that you were naked? Have you not eaten from the tree from which I forbade you to eat?” Adam said: "The woman whom You gave me she gave me from the tree, and I ate" (vv. 10-12). Adam, we see, places all responsibility for his shameful behavior on the circumstances created for him by God, in other words, indirectly on God Himself. This is what he always does fallen man: he blames everyone and everything except yourself. A truly humble soul asks on the contrary: “Isn’t this my sin?” If Adam knew himself, he would speak completely differently; but he knew neither himself nor God; that is why, instead of blaming himself alone, he places all the blame on God.

Such was the terrible condition of man. He had lost everything: his dominance, his sense of self-worth, his happiness, his innocence, his purity, his peace and, worst of all, he made God responsible for his misfortune. Lost, a sinner guilty before God, he was still deciding justify yourself and blame God.

But it was precisely when man reached this point that God began to reveal Himself to him and to unfold the plans of His redemptive love; this is the foundation of human peace and happiness. Only when a person has settled all accounts with himself, and not before he does this, can God reveal Himself to him as He is. In order for the Lord to be able and willing to reveal Himself, it is necessary for man to completely hide himself with all his arrogant demands, his vanity and his blasphemous judgments. Thus, at the moment when Adam was hiding behind the trees of paradise, God began to develop His wonderful plan of redemption through the seed of the woman; here we learn what can give a person the courage to stand before God with a peaceful and tranquil heart. We have already seen the failure of conscience in this regard. Conscience drove Adam behind the trees of paradise: the knowledge of God leads him into the presence of God. Conscience, giving a person knowledge of himself, fills him with horror; knowing God as He is calms the human heart. This is a truth that is infinitely comforting for a soul depressed by the burden of sin. The consciousness of what I am is destroyed by the consciousness of what God is; This is where salvation lies.

The meeting of God and man is inevitable: the only question is whether this meeting will take place on the basis of grace or on the basis of judgment: the meeting point is where God and man are the one what they actually are. Blessed is he who approaches this meeting by the path of grace; woe to those who must meet God in judgment. God deals with us and deals with us according to what we are; the ways in which He approaches us are determined by what He Himself is. On the cross, God, through grace, descended to the depths of our sinful condition, not only from the negative, but also from the positive side; and the consequence of this is the gift of peace. If God came to find me in my present situation and Himself prepared the appropriate means of salvation, then the whole question, of course, is settled once and for all. But all those who by faith do not look to God, who gave reconciliation through the cross, will soon meet Him in the path of judgment, in order to receive retribution from Him according to what God is and what we are.

From the moment when man is brought to the knowledge of his present condition, he cannot find peace until he finds God, who gave salvation on the cross; then he rests in God Himself. God is the peace and protection of the believing soul; Blessed be His name! Thus the works and righteousness of man are given once and for all their proper place. People who rest in their own deeds and in their own righteousness, of course, have not yet achieved true self-knowledge; this is completely obvious. The conscience, awakened by the power of the Holy Spirit, will find no peace in anything except the perfect atoning sacrifice of the Son of God. All the efforts that people make to create their own righteousness come only from the false idea that they make for themselves about the righteousness of God. Through God's promise regarding the "seed of the woman," Adam was to be convinced of the failure of the leaf apron. The great feat in question showed all the powerlessness of man to accomplish it. Sin had to be destroyed; Was man capable of this task? Of course not. It was through man that sin came into the world. It was necessary to “bruise the serpent’s head”; was man capable of this? Of course not. He himself became a slave of Satan. It was a matter of satisfying God's demands; could a person do this? No, this was unthinkable: he had already trampled on the demands of his God. Finally, the matter was about the extermination of death: was man given the power to do this? No; He did not have the strength to do this: through his sin he himself brought death upon himself, arming it with a terrible sting.

So, no matter which direction we turn, we are struck everywhere by the complete powerlessness of the sinner, and consequently by the arrogant madness of all those who think of coming to the aid of God in the wonderful work of redemption, as do all who rely on something else for their salvation. except "grace through faith."

Adam had to see, and, by the grace of God, he actually realized his powerlessness to do everything that should have been done; but God revealed to him that the whole work, down to the last iota of it, would be accomplished by God Himself through the seed of the woman. God, in a word, Himself undertakes to carry out the whole work; this question remains exclusively between Him and the serpent; therefore, although the man and the wife had to, each of them separately and in different ways, reap the bitter fruits of their sin, it was God who said to the serpent: “Because you have done this” (v. 14). The serpent was the cause of man's fall and misfortune; the seed of the woman was to become the source of redemption.

Adam heard this promise and believed it; and, in the power of faith, "Adam called his wife's name Eve [life], for she became a mother everyone living"(v. 20). From the point of view of human nature, Eve should be called the mother of all mortals", but through the promise of God, faith saw in her “the mother of all living." His mother... "gave him a name: Benoni ("son of my grief"). But his father called him Benjamin" ("son of my right hand") (Gen. 35:18).

The power of faith enabled Adam to endure the terrible consequences of his sin; in His infinite mercy, the Lord allowed him to be a witness to the words with which God addressed the serpent before he spoke to man.

Without this, Adam would inevitably fall into despair. If we were called to see ourselves as we are, and did not have the opportunity to contemplate God as He revealed Himself for our salvation on the cross, we would have nothing left but despair. Not a single child of Adam can, without falling into despair, give himself an account of what he is and how he has sinned against God; Only by standing at the cross does a person gain protection and salvation. This is why hope is excluded from the eternal abode of those who reject Christ. There people's eyes will be opened; there they will see themselves in their true light, they will see how much evil they have done, but at the same time they will lose the opportunity to seek relief and refuge in God. Then the fact that God is Himself will serve as the cause of irrevocable death for them is as certain as it is certain that Now God presents them with eternal salvation. The holiness of God will then forever testify against them, just as it now constitutes the source of joy of all believers. The more we now realize the holiness of God, the stronger our confidence becomes that we are safe; but for those who have rejected the grace of God, this very holiness - oh, how terrible this thought is! - will be a confirmation of their eternal condemnation.

Let us now turn our attention for a moment to the truth that follows from verse 21: “And the Lord made garments of skins for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.” The great principle of the righteousness of God in bright sanctification appears in this type. The clothing laid on Adam by God was a real veil that hid his nakedness, because God Himself prepared this clothing; on the contrary, the apron made of fig leaves was an invalid and useless garment, being an invention of the human mind. Moreover, the clothing with which God covered the nakedness of man was the fruit of death; blood was shed, which did not happen during the making of Adam's apron. So now the righteousness of God is manifested on the cross, while the righteousness of man is manifested in the works of his hands, stained by sin. Clad in leather, Adam no longer had to hide behind the trees of paradise with the words: “I am naked.” The sinner has every reason to rest when by faith he perceives that God has clothed him with the robe of redemption; but any peace not based on this work of God is the result of arrogance or ignorance of it. To know that the clothes I wear and in which I present myself before God are of His own making should give my heart complete peace. And there cannot be any true and permanent peace in anything else.

The last verses of chapter 3 are especially instructive. Fallen man in his fallen state should not be allowed to eat from the fruit of the tree of life, because this would bring upon him endless misery in this world. Eating the fruits of the tree of life and living forever in the conditions of our present life would be incredibly difficult and joyless. It will be possible to eat from the fruit of the tree of life only after the resurrection from the dead. It would be unbearably painful for a person to live forever in a mortal temple, in a sinful and mortal body. And this is why the Lord God “expelled man from paradise” into the world, which everywhere told man about the deplorable consequences of his fall. The cherub and the flaming sword made the tree of life inaccessible to man; but at the same time, the promise of God turned his gaze to the death and resurrection of the woman’s seed as the source of life, life placed independently of the power of death.

Thus, outside of Paradise, Adam found himself safer than in Paradise itself due to the fact that, remaining in Paradise, his life would depend on himself; meanwhile How outside paradise, his life was made dependent on something else, namely, on the promised Christ. And when Adam’s upward gaze met the cherubim and the flaming sword, he could nevertheless bless the Hand that placed them at the entrance of paradise in order to block his path to the tree of life; but the same Hand opened for man a path of hardship and a safer path to the same tree. A cherub and a flaming sword blocked the entrance to paradise; but the Lord Jesus opened a “new and living” way leading to the Father, leading to the Holy of Holies. “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me” (cf. John 14:6; Heb. 10:20). With the consciousness of this truth, the Christian now wanders in this world, which bears the seal of God’s curse, in a world in which traces of sin are visible everywhere; by faith the Christian found the path leading him into the bosom of the Father; by faith, already resting in the arms of the Father, he is consoled by the blessed confidence that He who brought him under the wings of God’s love has gone to prepare for him a place “in the many mansions” of His Father’s house and will return for him to bring him with Him into the glory of the Father’s Kingdom. Thus already now the believing soul finds its part, its future abode of glory and its sure reward in the arms of the home and the Kingdom of the Father.

Chapters 4 and 5

Every part of the book of Genesis provides new evidence that in this book we pass through, as one writer recently defined, the nursery of the whole Bible and not only that, but the nursery of all human history.

Cain and Abel represent two types of people: the ordinary religious man of this world and the true believer. Both of them were born outside of paradise, both were sons of the fallen Adam, so, it would seem, in their nature there was no reason for a significant difference in their characters; both of them were sinners, both bore within themselves all the inclinations of fallen human nature, neither of them was guilty. It is necessary to grasp this in order to form a clear idea of ​​the essence of grace and faith. If the obvious difference that existed between Cain and Abel were based on the difference in their natures, it would inevitably have to be admitted that they did not both inherit the equally sinful nature of their father, but that the consequences of the fall did not extend to them: and in this case there would be no room left for manifestations of grace and for the exercise of faith.

It is commonly believed that a person's innate good qualities and abilities, when properly directed, lead him to God. But Holy Scripture teaches us that Cain and Abel were not born in paradise, but outside Paradise, were the sons not of sinless Adam, but of fallen Adam. They entered the world already participating in the sinful nature of their father; and no matter how this inherent nature manifested itself, it always bore a carnal, sinful character. "That which is born of the flesh" not only shows its carnal imprint, but that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and “that which is born of the Spirit” is not only spiritual, but is spirit (John 3:6).

No time was as favorable for the manifestation of the most diverse qualities, abilities, needs and aspirations of man as the time of Cain and Abel. Man, by nature, had in his hands the means to restore his lost sinlessness and return to paradise; now he had the opportunity to prove this in practice. But Cain and Abel were dead sinners were "flesh"; they were guilty before God because Adam, having lost his sinless state, never returned to it. Adam is only the fallen ancestor of the fallen human race: “By the disobedience of one the many were made sinners” (Rom. 5:19). Adam himself personally became the vicious progenitor of sinful humanity, corrupted and fallen, the dead trunk of all branches of spiritually and morally dead humanity.

True, Adam himself, as we have already seen above, was subjected to the action of grace and expressed living faith in the promised Savior; but his faith was not inherent in his nature. He also could not pass it on to others, since faith in him was not hereditary; in himself she was the fruit of Divine love, infused into his soul by the power of God. Through heredity, Adam could transmit only that which constituted his nature, and nothing more. And therefore, by virtue of natural law, the son of Adam, as the son of a sinful man, could not help but be a sinner. As is he who begat, so are those born of him (cf. 1 John 5:1). - “Like the earthy, so are the earthy” (1 Cor. 15:48).

Nothing is more important in this case than a clear understanding of the so-called “law of heredity.” Reading verses 12-21 of the 5th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, which, however, I will not dwell on today, the reader will see that the Holy Scripture traces the origin of the human race to two ancestors. We find the same thing in 1 Cor. 15, in verses 44 and following. The first man (Adam) embodies sin, disobedience and death; the second Man (the Lord from heaven) is the personification of righteousness, obedience and life. Heirs of the nature of the first, we, at the same time, inherit the nature of the second Man. Of course, each of these natures in each individual case will manifest its own special energies, which will manifest their own special powers in each individual possessor. Yet there is undoubtedly the possession of a real, abstract, decisive nature.

Now, since the way in which we receive nature from the first Man is by birth, the way in which we receive nature from the second Man is new birth. Being born, we perceive the nature of the first; and being born again, we accept the nature of the second. The newborn baby, although not yet capable of committing the act of disobedience that made Adam a sinful being forever, already participates in the nature of Adam; the same is also the newborn child of God - a new regenerated soul, although it did not take any part in the accomplishment of “Man, Christ Jesus”, the work of complete obedience to God, nevertheless, the nature of the second Man is already inherent in it. It is true that sin is connected with the old nature, and righteousness is connected with the new nature - in the first case the sin of man, and in the second the righteousness of God; however, there is still a confident participation in natural nature, no matter what additions to it. The child of Adam takes part in human nature and what is inherent in it. The child of God takes part in the divine nature and what is inherent in it. The first nature is consistent with the “will of the flesh” (John 1:13), the second is consistent with the will of God, as Saint James teaches us by the Holy Spirit: “Having willed, He begot us with the word of truth” (James 1:18).

From all of the above it follows that by nature and the circumstances among which Abel lived, he was no different from his brother Cain; in this regard, “there is no difference” (Rom. 3:22). And yet a sharp difference existed between them, and it entirely was found in their sacrifices; This circumstance makes the lesson offered here by God accessible to the understanding of every sinner imbued with the consciousness of sin, to the understanding of every person who realizes that he is not only involved in the vicious nature of the first man inherited by him, but that he himself is a lost sinner. The story of Abel proves to us that the sinner cannot approach God by anything inherent in his human nature or connected with this nature; what he has to do outside of myself in the personality and deed of the Other, to seek the true and eternal basis of his relationship with the righteous, holy, one, true God. This idea is especially clearly expressed in the 11th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews: “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain; by it he received a testimony that he was righteous, as God testified of his gifts; by it he still speaks after death.” The point is not in Abel, but in his sacrifice, not in the personality of the sacrificer, but in the sacrifice itself; It is precisely in the difference in the sacrifices made that the enormous difference between Cain and Abel lies. This is what determines the different position of the sinner before the face of God.

Look what kind of sacrifices these were: “After some time, Cain brought a gift to the Lord from the fruits of the ground. Abel also brought from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat. And the Lord looked upon Abel and his gift; but Cain and his gift did not looked upon" (Gen. 4:3-5). Cain brought to Jehovah the fruits of the land, sealed with the curse of God, and his offering was not accompanied by the shedding of blood, removing the curse; he did not believe, and therefore made a bloodless sacrifice. If they had had faith, even in these early days of the history of fallen humanity, this divine gift would have revealed to them the great truth that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22). The wages of sin is death; Cain was a sinner, and as a sinner, death separated him from God. But, making a sacrifice to God, Cain did not take this into account; he did not sacrifice his life to God in order to satisfy the requirements of Divine holiness and appear before God as the Lord commanded the sinner. Ignoring the fact that man's sin had brought a curse upon the earth, he treated God as one of his own kind, allowing the idea that a holy God could accept as a gift fruits that bore traces of the sin of the cursed earth that produced them. This is what the “bloodless sacrifice” made by Cain testifies to. It also shows that he showed complete ignorance of the Divine requirements, of his own character and condition as a lost and guilty sinner, and of the new position in which he was offering fruits. Without a doubt, reason could say: “What can a person sacrifice to God more pleasant than a gift acquired by the sweat of his brow and the labor of his hands?” Such is indeed the voice of reason and even of the religious understanding of man; but God sees it differently; faith hastens to conform to the thoughts of God. God teaches, and faith believes, that life must be sacrificed, otherwise there can be no approach to God.

Thus, if we take a comprehensive look at the ministry of Jesus Christ, we will soon be convinced that if He had avoided death on the cross, His entire ministry would have been insufficient to establish our new relationship with God. Jesus throughout His life went from one place to another, doing good; This is true; but only after His death “the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51), and only His death could accomplish this. Even if Jesus had continued to “go about doing good” to this day, the veil would still be blocking our access to the Holy of Holies. This is the false position in which Cain appeared before God as a sacrificer and worshiper; the appearance before Jehovah of an unpardoned sinner with a “bloodless” sacrifice only proved his unforgivable arrogance worthy of punishment. True, Cain sacrificed the fruit of his hard work to God, but where did this lead? Could the work of a sinner lift the curse of sin and erase iniquity? Could he satisfy the demands of God, who is infinitely holy? Could he give the sinner everything he needed to be accepted by God? Could he abolish the penalty of sin, take away the sting from death and the victory from hell? Could he have done all of this, or even some of it? No, because “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Cain's "bloodless sacrifice", like any other bloodless sacrifice of a sinner, not only has no value, but is also an abomination in the eyes of God: it not only testifies to Cain's complete ignorance of his own position, but also proves his complete ignorance of the true character of God . “God... does not require the service of human hands, as if he needed anything” (Acts 17:25). Cain believed that man has the right to approach God in this way; Every person who has nothing but the religion generally accepted by the world thinks so. From time immemorial, Cain had thousands of followers. The world is full of people serving God in the spirit of Cain; it is the religion of outward, ostentatious piety, of the unconverted man, by which all the false religious systems under the sun are held together.

Man would be glad to make God his recipient, but this cannot be, because “it is more blessed to give than to receive”; (Acts 20:35) the first place everywhere belongs to God and undoubtedly God must have a more blessed place, that is, to give. “Without any contradiction the lesser is blessed by the greater” (Heb. 7:7). "Who gave it to Him in advance?" (Rom. 11:35). God accepts even the most insignificant gift from a heart that knows the meaning of David’s words: “All things come from You, and what we have received from Your hand we have given to You” (1 Chron. 29:14). But as soon as man encroaches to take the place of the one who gives “in advance,” God replies: “If I were hungry, I would not tell you” (Ps. 49:12) because God “does not require the service of human hands, as if He had need anything Himself giving to all life and breath and all things" (Acts 17:25). It is impossible for the great Creator, who Himself distributes everything, to need anything. We can give nothing to God except praise; we glorify God We can do so no sooner than we are imbued with the full consciousness of the forgiveness of our sins; this consciousness is given to us by faith in the atoning sacrifice made for us.

My reader should stop here and prayerfully read the following sayings from the Holy Scriptures, namely: Ps. 49; Is. 1.11-18; Acts 17,22,34, by which he will find the truth clearly stated concerning man's present position before God, and also the right basis of worship.

From the sacrifice of Cain we now move on to the sacrifice of Abel. “And Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat” (v. 4). In other words, Abel, by faith, assimilated to himself the glorious truth that with a sacrifice in his hands a sinner has boldness to approach God, that a sinner can put the death of another between himself and the consequences of his sin, can satisfy with the blood of an immaculate sacrifice both the requirements of the holy nature of God and the properties of His character, as well as your innermost spiritual needs. Here we encounter the doctrine of the cross in a condensed form, a doctrine in which the sinner finds peace for his soul; because on the cross God is completely glorified.

Every person convicted of sin by God knows that his crimes entail death and condemnation (see Luke 23:41) knows that he will not be able, no matter what he does, to change his fate. In vain he will labor and become weary; in vain will he obtain a sacrifice for himself by the sweat of his brow; the vows he makes, all the decisions he makes will be in vain, he will change his way of life, his character in vain; it will be in vain to become moderate, moral and religious in the generally accepted sense of the word; in vain, not having faith, he will pray, read and listen to sermons; in a word, it will be in vain to do everything that a person is capable of: nothing will dispel the dark clouds that cover his entire horizon; nothing will save him from the death and judgment that awaits him. All this stands before him; not being able to remove them by any of his deeds, he lives in eternal anticipation of the moment when a thunderstorm will break out and fall on his criminal head. By his own deeds, a sinner cannot be transported beyond “death and condemnation”, transported into life and glory; his very deeds are carried out only by preparing him, if possible, for a meeting with the terrible reality that threatens him.

And so, when the sinner comes to the realization of his complete helplessness, his gaze falls on the cross: the cross shows the sinner that God has already provided everything necessary to cover his guilt and spiritual poverty. On the cross, he sees, death and condemnation give way to life and glory. For true believers, Christ destroyed death and condemnation forever, replacing them with life, righteousness, and glory. He “destroyed death and revealed life and immortality through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10). He glorified God by taking away from us the fear of that which would always keep us far from the holy and blessed presence of God; He "has put away sin" (Heb. 9:26).

All this is clearly personified by Abel’s “best sacrifice.” Abel does not try to obscure the truth that reveals his own pitiful spiritual state and his inherent place as a sinner, does not try to remove the “flaming sword” that blocks his path to the tree of life; he does not arrogantly offer Jehovah a “bloodless” sacrifice, he does not sacrifice to Him the fruits of the earth lying under a curse: he humbly takes the place appropriate to a sinner, like a sinner he places the death of the sacrifice between himself and his sins, between his sins and the holy God who hates sin . Abel deserved death and condemnation, but Abel finds a Substitute.

This happens with every helpless sinner who blames and condemns himself. Christ is his atoning sacrifice, his ransom, his “best sacrifice,” his “all.” Like Abel, the sinner realizes that the fruits of the earth cannot benefit his soul; feels that bringing God the best fruits of the earth will not free his conscience from the burden of sin that lies on it, for “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Only the perfect sacrifice of the Son of God is powerful to pacify the heart and conscience; all who realize this truth of God by faith will enjoy the abundance of peace, which people can neither give nor take away. By faith this peace is already communicated to the soul: “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain” (Heb. 11:4).

This is not a matter of feeling, as many people think; it is exclusively a question of faith in an accomplished fact, of faith in the universe in the soul of a sinner through the power of the Holy Spirit. Faith is something completely different from the feelings of the heart and the arguments of the mind. Feelings and arguments of reason are not faith, no matter what they say. Some look upon faith as the agreement of reason with a certain proposition; this is terribly false, it makes the question of faith human, while it is in fact divine. This reduces it to the level of man, whereas it actually comes from God. Faith cannot exist today and disappear tomorrow; it is eternal and indestructible, just as its unchanging source is eternal - God. Faith comprehends the truth of God and fills the soul with the consciousness of the presence of God.

Everything related to the realm of feelings and thoughts never rises above its own source, which is our own “I”. But faith relates to God and His eternal Word, serving as a living connection between the heart that possesses it and God who bestows it. Human feelings, no matter how deep and pure they may be, can never connect the soul with God, these feelings are not divine, not eternal; they are human and fleeting. These feelings are like the plant of the prophet Jonah, which grew in one night and withered the same night. That's not what faith is. It is given all the significance, all the power, all the reality of the source that gives birth to it, and all this passes into the soul, whose property it is. By it “the soul is justified” (Rom. 5:1); she also “purifies the heart” (Acts 15:9); “He works through love” (Gal. 5:6); “faith overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4). Feeling and thinking are the property of human nature, of the earth; faith comes from God in heaven; the feeling is occupied with its own “I” and the affairs of this world; faith focuses on Christ, lifting our gaze to the images of heavenly things; feeling plunges the soul into doubt and darkness, occupying its attention with its own “I”, with its own unfaithful and changeable position; faith leads the soul to light and peace, riveting its attention to the immutability of the truth of God and the atoning sacrifice of Christ.

Of course, faith also excites feelings and thoughts, but spiritual feelings and true thoughts. The fruits of faith should never be confused with faith itself. I was justified not by feelings, not by faith and feelings together, but by faith alone. And why is that? - yes, because faith does not doubt the truth of God’s words, recognizing God as He revealed Himself in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what life, righteousness and peace are all about. To know God as He is is the totality of all kinds of happiness, present and future. The soul that has found God has found everything it has ever needed, present and future; but it is impossible to know God apart from His own revelation and faith, bestowed by Himself and always illuminated by Divine revelation.

Now, therefore, the power and meaning of the words become to some extent clear to us: “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain.” Cain did not have faith, and therefore offered God a “bloodless” sacrifice. Abel had faith, so he sacrificed “blood and fat,” which typified the atoning sacrifice of Christ and the incomparable perfection of His person. "Blood" represented sacrifice; "tuk" - perfection of personality; This is why the law of Moses forbade man to eat the blood and fat of the sacrifice. Blood is life; a person under the law did not have the right to life. Meanwhile, in the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John it is said that if we do not drink the blood of Christ, we will not have life in us. Christ is life. Outside of Him there is not the slightest spark of life; everything is dead apart from Christ. "Life was in Him," and in no one else.

But on the cross He gave His life to death; and this life took with it the sin imputed to it, nailed to the cursed tree. Having left life, Christ left along with it the sin imputed to it; so He really took upon Himself the sin of the world, leaving it in the tomb, from where He Himself rose victoriously in the power of new life; righteousness is a distinctive feature of the new life, just as sin was associated with the former life, which He abandoned on the cross. “The life of the body is in the blood, and I have appointed it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for this blood makes atonement for souls” (Lev. 17:11). All this requires great attention and gives a deep consciousness that the death of Christ completely and completely removed sin. There is no doubt that everything that contributes to the strengthening of our feelings and understanding regarding this glorious truth, at the same time, deepens our peace, making us capable of spreading the glory of Christ with greater zeal, both by our witness to it and by our service to it.

The story of Cain and Abel brings forward an important fact, which we have already touched upon above, namely: the identification of each of them with the sacrifices that they made. My reader should pay special attention to this. In both cases, the question was not about the person making the sacrifice, but about the nature of the sacrifice made. Therefore, about Abel we read that “God looked upon gift him." God looked not on Abel, but on his sacrifice. This clearly shows what constitutes the true basis for the peace of the believing soul and its acceptance by God.

Our heart is always inclined to base our peace and our access to God on what is in ourselves, even though we recognize that this “something” is in us the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is where our habit arises of constantly looking into ourselves, while the Holy Spirit would always like to direct our gaze outside ourselves. The position of a believer is not determined by what himself, but with what is Christ. Having approached God “in the name of Jesus,” the believer is united with Him and cannot be rejected by God, just as He in whose name he is accepted cannot be rejected by God. Nothing can touch the believer without touching Christ Himself, so that the believer's security rests on an unshakable foundation. A miserable and unworthy sinner in himself, the believer approaches God in the name of Christ; united with Christ, he is accepted in Christ as Christ is accepted; his life now belongs to Christ. God gives testimony not to the believer, but to his gift; His gift is Christ. How much peace and consolation this truth contains! Whatever accusation, whatever accusers arise against the believer, according to the blessed advantage given to him, he overcomes them by faith, pointing to them the atonement of his guilt before God accomplished by Christ. From Christ comes every good for us. We constantly boast about him. Without trusting ourselves in any respect, we completely trust Him who has done everything for us, we boast in His name, we believe in the work He has done; Our eyes rest on Him: we long for His return.

But the carnal heart soon reveals all the enmity hidden in it against the truth, which pleases and satisfies the heart of those who trust in the Lord. An example in this regard is Cain: “Cain was greatly saddened, and his face fell” (v. 5). What filled Abel with peace filled Cain with anger. Out of unbelief, Cain neglected the only way in which a sinner can approach God: instead of sacrificing blood, without the shedding of which there is no forgiveness of sins, he appears before the Lord with the fruits of his hands; then when not freed from his sins, he was not accepted by God, but Abel was accepted by Him in the name of the sacrifice he made,“He was greatly saddened, and his face fell.” But how could it be otherwise? Cain was given the choice to appear before the Lord in his sins or to obtain forgiveness of his sins; but since God could not accept him with all his sins, he did not want to sacrifice blood, which alone could atone for his sins, he was inevitably rejected by God; Having been rejected by God, he demonstrated by his deeds what the fruits of false religion are. He persecutes and kills a faithful witness of God, a man accepted and justified by God, a man of faith; thus he becomes the prototype and forerunner of all people of all times, professers of false religions of all ages. Man always and everywhere shows a peculiar disposition to persecute his neighbor on religious grounds more than on any other ground; that was Cain. Justification, complete, complete, all-encompassing justification, based solely on faith alone, makes God everything and man nothing. But man does not like to recognize himself as nothing; this makes him “greatly upset and his face falls”: not because there is a reason and justification for his anger, since in this case it is not at all about the person, but about the basis on which he approaches God. If God had accepted Abel for the sake of something inherent in his personality, this could have given Cain a reason to be upset and despondent; but since Abel was accepted only through his sacrifice, and it was not he, but his gifts that earned the testimony of God, Cain’s anger finds absolutely no justification for itself; This is proven by the words of Jehovah addressed to Cain: “If you do good, don’t you lift up your face?” (Translation of the seventy: orqwV prosenegchz “if you offer what is due, will it not be accepted?”) The words “if you do good” (“you offer what is due”) refer to Cain’s sacrifice. Abel “did good,” placing himself under the protection of a sacrifice pleasing to God; Cain did evil by making a bloodless sacrifice; and all his subsequent behavior was only the natural consequence of his false worship of God.

“And Cain spake to Abel his brother: and while they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him” (v. 8). At all times, the Cains pursue and kill the Abels. Man and human religion always remain the same, just as faith and the Religion based on it do not change; and wherever the Religion of man and the religion of faith meet, strife arises.

Cain's crime, as we have just noticed, is only a natural consequence of his false worship of God: the foundation on which the building of his religion rested was unsuitable; The entire building erected on it was also unusable. And so, not limiting himself to the murder of Abel, Cain, having learned the judgment of God pronounced upon him, falls into despair; not knowing God and His mercy, he doubts His forgiveness; and “he departed from the presence of the Lord” (v. 16). Then Cain built a city and became the founder of people who devoted themselves to the study of arts and useful and pleasant sciences; From his family came skilled people, farmers, musicians and smiths of all kinds of tools made of copper and iron. Not knowing the character of God, Cain thought that his sin was too great to be forgiven (according to the Greek translation) [In the translation of the seventy, verse 13 is translated as “My sin is too great to be forgiven” Verb used by Cain , found in Ps 31:1 in the same sense "To whom iniquities are forgiven." The Translation of the Seventy uses the same Greek verb cjeqhna "to be forgiven" (released).]; he thought this way, not because he really realized the importance of his sin, but because he did not know God; the very understanding of the character of God was already one of the fruits of the fall of man. He does not care about receiving the remission of sin because he does not think about God; does not know his true position and does not seek rapprochement with God; a completely corrupt, deeply vicious person, he wants only one thing: to hide from the face of God, to get lost in the world for the sake of the goals he pursues. He can manage perfectly well without God; he begins to decorate the world in every possible way in order to acquire an honorable position in it and to settle down in it as best as possible, despite the fact that this world is under the curse of God and Cain himself is a fugitive and a homeless stranger in it.

Such was the “path of the Cains,” this broad path, now chosen by thousands of people. I do not want to say by this that these people had no religion; they are even ready to make one or another sacrifice to God, finding themselves in the right to bring Him the fruits of the labor of their hands; they know neither themselves nor God; but at the same time they make every effort to ensure that improve peace, to make life pleasant, to brighten it up in one way or another. God's suggested remedy cleansing rejected and replaced by human effort improve peace: this is “the way of Cain” (see Jude 11).

And so, my reader, you just have to look around and see how this “path” prevails at the present time. Although the world is stained with blood greater than the blood of Abel, namely the blood of Christ, you still see what a pleasant, wonderful place man is trying to create here for himself.

Just as in the days of Cain, the captivating sounds of the harp and organ prevented the cry of Abel’s blood from reaching human ears, so even today the enchanting sounds of all kinds drown out the voice of the blood shed on Golgotha: it is not Christ crucified, but something else that attracts human gaze. Man expends all the strength of his genius to turn this world into a greenhouse suitable for the development of the rarest types of fruits so desired by the flesh. The genius of the human mind not only takes care of the immediate needs of man, but also strives to create such objects, one glance at which corrupts the heart and without which life then seems unbearable to him. For example, a few years ago people were content to travel a long distance in three or four days, now they can cover the same distance in three or four hours, and they are still not happy if they accidentally have to be five or ten minutes late. They need to travel without fatigue and hear news without testing patience. They lay iron rails and electric wires across all the seas, as if anticipating in their own ways that bright and blissful age where “there is no more sea” (Rev. 21:1) [Truly the Lord uses all this for the success of His gracious achievements, and the servant The Lord can also use them freely, but this does not prevent us from seeing the spirit that organizes and characterizes them.]. In addition to all this there is an abundance of so-called religion, so that love itself, alas! - has reason to fear that much that passes for religion is in fact only one of the main screws of the great machine, built for personal convenience and created for the elevation of man. Man does not know how to do without any religion; it is considered indecent; therefore, he is gladly ready to devote one day a week to religion or, as he thinks and expresses himself, to concerns about the soul and eternity, devoting the remaining six days to his temporary everyday affairs; but no matter what he works for - for the temporary or for the eternal - in essence, he always works for yourself. This is the "way of the Cains." Weigh all this, reader, and see where it begins, where it leads, and what this path leads to.

This is not the way of faith. Abel feels and recognizes the well-deserved curse; he sees all the horror of sin and, in the power of faith, makes a sacrifice that meets all the requirements of God. He seeks and finds refuge in God Himself and does not set out to build a city on earth; on it he finds only a grave. The earth, the appearance of which showed the genius and energy of Cain and his family, was stained with the blood of the righteous; Neither a man of this world, nor a child of God, nor a secular Christian who makes friends with this world should lose sight of this. The earth on which we walk is stained with the blood of the Son of God. This blood justifies the Church, while at the same time condemning the world. The attractive appearance and false splendor of this fleeting world cannot hide from the gaze of faith the dark shadows of the cross of Jesus. “The image of this world is passing away” (1 Cor. 7:31). The world in which we live will soon disappear. “The way of Cain” will be followed by “the error of Balaam”; then the “disturbance of Korah” will appear, after which the deep will open its mouth to swallow up the wicked and imprison them in “the darkness of darkness forever” (Jude 13).

In the 5th chapter, to which we will now move on, the thought we have just expressed is fully confirmed. This chapter shows us the weakness of man, subject to the power of death. Even if he lived for several centuries, giving birth to many sons and daughters, it is still always said about him in the right place: “and he died!” - “Death reigned from Adam to Moses,” and also: “It is appointed for men to die once” (Rom. 5:14; Heb. 9:27). Man cannot escape death. Neither steam, nor electricity, nor any other inventions of the creative genius of man can wrest from death its terrible sting. Increase convenience and joy life the person will be able to; but none of his energy can destroy the sentence of death.

Where did this strange, terrible death come from? The Apostle Paul explains this to us by saying: “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin” (Rom. 5:12). This is the origin of death: it came through sin. Sin broke the connection that existed between creation and the living God, giving man over to the power of death; he is unable to free himself from this power, which is one of the many proofs of man's complete inability to approach God. Communication between God and man is possible only in the presence of life; being in the power of death, a person in his natural state cannot have communication with God. Life has no more in common with death than light has with darkness or holiness with sin. It is necessary for the emergence of new foundations, new beginnings for a person to approach God, namely the emergence of a path faith: faith makes him capable of recognizing his own position as a “slave of sin” and, therefore, as a person doomed to death; and at the same time, faith allows a person to understand the character of God as the Giver of new life, life freed from the power of death and the enemy, which we can no longer lose through our own fault.

This is where the security of a believer’s life lies. His life is Christ - Christ risen and glorified; Christ, who conquers everything that rises up against us. Adam's life depended on his obedience; therefore, having sinned, he lost his life. But Christ, having life in Himself, came down to earth and destroyed all the consequences of man’s sin, whatever they were. Having suffered death, He overcame him who had the power over death, and through the resurrection became the life and righteousness of all who believed in Him. Satan can no longer encroach on this life, neither in its source, nor in its transmission, nor in its power, scope and duration. God is its source; The risen Christ is her guide; The Holy Spirit is power, heaven is the sphere, eternity is its duration. Everything becomes new for the person who has this life; and although in a certain sense we “live and die,” we can also say that “while we die we live.” The risen Christ leads His people into a place where death no longer exists. Didn't He destroy it? The Word of God tells us this. Christ drove out death and installed life in its place; So glory, and not death, now awaits the Christian; death remained behind him forever. As for the future, in the future he will have glory, unclouded glory. Perhaps the believer will have to rest in Christ in the near future; but to rest in Christ is not death; this is life, this is blissful reality. The possibility of leaving this world to be with Christ cannot change the inherent hope of a Christian “to be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, to be with Him and like Him forever” (1 Thess. 4:13-18).

Enoch is a wonderful type here; he alone constitutes an exception to the general rule of the 5th chapter. “He is dead,” that is the rule; “I have not seen death” is an exception. “By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death; and he was not, because God translated him. For before he was translated he received a testimony that he pleased God” (Heb. 11:5). Enoch was the "seventh" after Adam, and God did not allow death to defeat the "seventh"; God intervened and made it a sign of glorious victory over the power of death. This is a very important fact. Having heard the sentence six times: “And he died,” the heart rejoices when it meets the seventh, not dying. And how did he get rid of death? - By faith.“Enoch walked with God” for three hundred years: this walking by faith with God separated him from everything around him, because walking with God inevitably separates us from the sphere of thoughts of this world; Enoch accomplished this, for in his days the spirit of peace was manifested; and then, as now, the spirit of the world opposed everything that was of God. The man of faith realized that he had nothing in common with the world, among which he was only a long-suffering witness of the abounding grace of God and the coming judgment. While the sons of Cain refined their minds and spent their strength in the vain hope of improving the world under the curse, Enoch chose a better world for himself and already lived by the power of this future world [Obviously, Enoch did not even have the thought, so inherent in humanity, to extract the best for himself from both worlds or, strictly speaking, from the world and the sky. For him, in this sense, there was only one world - heaven. This should be the same for us.]. He received faith not to improve the world, but to walk with God.

"Walk with God!" What is not contained in these words! What kind of separation from the world is reflected in them, what self-sacrifice! What holiness and moral purity! What kindness and meekness! What humility, what tenderness! But what jealousy and energy! What long-suffering, forbearance, and at the same time, what loyalty, what firmness, what determination! Walking with God embraces everything that is achieved by the divine life, be it active or passive; walking with God does not just mean living according to known rules and regulations, making your own plans and decisions, going here or there, doing this or that; to walk with God is to do infinitely more than all these things put together; it means to live with God, to assimilate the character of God as it was revealed to us and to understand the relationship in which we stand to God. This life can force us to go against the thoughts of people, even our brothers, if the latter do not walk with God, it can arm everyone and everyone against us: they will find that we do either too much or too little; but faith, which makes a person capable of “walking with God,” will teach us not to attach importance to human judgments that have no value.

The lives of Abel and Enoch, as we have just seen, shed light on the sacrifice on which faith rests and the prospect which hope looks forward to; “Walking with God” embraces at the same time all the details of the life of faith that lie between these two points. “The Lord gives grace and glory” (Ps. 83:12), and between the grace already revealed and the glory to come lies the blessed assurance that “He does not deprive those who walk in integrity of good things” (Ps. 83:12).

The Cross and the return of the Lord are the two end points of the existence of the Church, and both of them are typified by the sacrifice of Abel and the taking of Enoch to heaven. The Church knows that she has been fully justified through the death and resurrection of Christ; and now she lives in anticipation of the day when He will come to take her. The Church “expects and hopes in the spirit for the righteousness of faith” (Gal. 5:5); she does not expect justification, which by the grace of God she has already received, but the fulfillment of her hope regarding the position allotted to her in the future.

It is very important to clarify this question for yourself. Many interpreters of prophecies have fallen into great error, not understanding the position, fate and hope of the Church. The hope inherent in the Church, “the bright and morning star” (Rev. 22:16), they obscured with such dark clouds that a great many Christians were unable to rise above the hope of the godly remnant of Israel, which consists in waiting for “the rising of the Sun of righteousness and healing in His rays.” "(Mal. 4.2). And that is not all; listening to various teachings that precipitate all sorts of events to the appearance of Christ, many Christians have completely lost the moral strength of the hope of the coming of Christ; contrary to the numerous and indisputable indications of the New Testament, they were persuaded that the return of Christ must be preceded by the restoration of the Jews, the fulfillment of the prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and the discovery of the man of sin.

In fact, like Enoch, the Church will be taken before all this from the evil that surrounds it and from the evil to come. Enoch was not left on earth to see how evil reached its extreme limit, how then the judgment of God came. He did not see how “all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened”; he was taken before these terrible events and thus appears to the view of the believer as a striking prototype of those “who will not die, but will be changed in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:51.52). Enoch did not taste death; he was taken up to heaven; in the same way the Church is called to “wait for His Son from heaven”; (1 Thess. 1:10) - this is her whole hope, this is the subject of her expectation. This fact is understandable to everyone; the simple, illiterate Christian can rejoice in this truth; and to a certain extent every Christian is capable of realizing all the mighty power of this hope. Even if it is not given to him to delve into the study of prophecies, he, thanks be to God, can anticipate the beatitude, the reality, the Power and the sanctifying effect of this heavenly hope, which rightfully belongs to him as a member of the heavenly body, which is the Church. The hope by which the Christian lives is not limited to expectation only the “rising Sun of truth,” no matter how good this hope may be; he awaits the appearance of the “bright and morning star” (Rev. 2:28). Just as in the physical world, the morning star is visible only in those who, while awake, anticipate the rising of the sun, so to the Church Christ will appear earlier as the morning star than the remnant of Israel will see the rays of the rising “Sun of Truth.”

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Filaret (Drozdov Vasily Mikhailovich; Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna; 1782-1867). Commentary on the Book of Genesis / Saint Filaret (Drozdov). – M.: Rus. chronograph, 2004 (Type. JSC Mol. Guard). – 702, p.; 21 cm.

The first edition of individual books of the New Testament translated from Central Slavic into Russian, undertaken through the efforts of the Russian Bible Society (1819), was an event of great importance for the entire Russian Orthodox Church, since it formed the basis for the creation of the Synodal Translation of the Bible (circa 1876), which we now use for home reading. Today we clearly feel the need for a manual that will help us understand one of the most important books of Holy Scripture, especially since Met. Philareta is not only one of the first, but also one of the main and most interesting works on the interpretation of Holy Scripture translated into Russian. When interpreting, not only the Greek translation of 70 interpreters (Septuagint), but also the later Masoretic (Jewish) list is taken into account, helping us to penetrate more deeply into the meaning of the Book of Genesis. The saint himself in the “Pre-Notice” considered it necessary to note that “all the expressions of the text that are found here, not word for word consistent with the Slovenian text, as well as the indications according to which the Slovenian text does not represent the sought word or thought, correspond to the Hebrew text, but in sayings quoted from the New Testament - Greek." This is one of the main advantages of Metropolitan’s work. Philaret, who developed the basic criteria for translating the Bible into Russian, and whose example in creating the Commentaries was repeatedly followed by later commentators. The book will be of interest to all readers and students of the Holy Scriptures and those seeking to become more deeply acquainted with the history of the creation of the world and man.

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And I gave my heart to himto exploreand try everything with wisdom, what is happening under the sky:it's hard workGod gave to the sons of men, so that they practice it.

I. NAME OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS - page 13
II. HER WRITER - page 14
III. RELIABILITY OF THE SCRIPTURES OF MOSES FROM HIS SIDE - page 16
IV. TIME OF ORIGIN OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS - page 17
V. ITS SUBJECT - page 18
VI. HER GOAL - page 19
VII. LOCATION OF ITS PARTS - page 20

CREATION OF THE WORLD - page 23

THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD IN GENERAL - page 23
SIX-DAY CONTINUATION OF CREATION - page 27
DAY ONE - page 29
DAY TWO - page 36
DAY THREE - page 39
DAY FOUR - page 42
DAY FIVE - page 46
DAY SIX - page 49
THE CELEBRAL END OF CREATION - page 60

THE CREATION OF MAN - page 72

A LOOK AT THE CREATION OF THE WORLD BEFORE THE CREATION OF MAN - page 73
THE IMAGE OF THE CREATION OF MAN - page 76
THE FIRST PLACE OF MAN - page 79
COMMANDMENT GIVEN TO ADAM - page 86
THE CREATION OF THE WIFE - page 90
ESTABLISHMENT OF MARRIAGE - page 95
STATE OF INNOCENCE - page 97

THE FALL AND RESTORATION OF MAN - page 101

TEMPTATION OF THE FIRST PEOPLE - page 101
THE FALL - page 108
REVOCATION - page 112
JUDGMENT OF GOD - page 115
NAMING A NEW NAME FOR YOUR WIFE - page 130
START OF CLOTHING - page 131
EXILEMENT FROM PARADISE - page 133

THE LIFE OF CAIN AND ABEL - page 140

THE BIRTH OF CAIN AND ABEL - page 141
LIFESTYLE - page 144
SACRIFICES - page 144
FRATRICIDE - page 153
CONSEQUENCES OF THE CRIME FOR CAIN - page 154

SPREAD OF THE REJECTED TRIBE - page 164
SPREADING THE SEED OF THE BLESSED - page 173
GENEALOGY AND RECORDING OF THE WIFE'S SEED - page 177
THE DEATH OF THE FIRST WORLD - page 185

REASONS FOR EXTERMINATION - page 186
FIRST WORLD - page 186
PREDESTINATION ABOUT THE FLOOD - page 191
NOAH'S CHOICE AND PREPARATION - page 193
ENTRY INTO THE ARK - page 201
IMAGE OF THE GROWING FLOOD - page 208
THE END OF THE FLOOD - page 213
DESCENT FROM THE ARK - page 221

Part two THE ORIGINAL HISTORY OF THE WORLD AND THE CHURCH AFTER THE FLOOD. ORIGIN OF THE CHOSEN PEOPLE IN ABRAHAM RENEWAL OF THE WORLD - page 229

SACRIFICE - page 229
PROMISE - page 231

RENEWAL OF THE CHURCH - page 235

UPDATING THE STATE OF NATURE AND HOSTEL - page 236
RENEWAL OF THE KINGDOM OF GRACE - page 243

THE HISTORY OF NOAH AND HIS SONS BY THE FLOOD - page 246

THE RUITS OF THE HUMAN KIND AFTER THE FLOOD - page 246
NOAH'S LIFESTYLE - page 247
FALL - page 248
PROPERTIES OF THE SONS OF NOAH - page 248
THE FATE OF THE SONS OF NOAH - page 249
RECORDING OF NOAH - page 253
THE PROGRESS OF JAPHETH - page 255
DESCENDANTS OF HAMA - page 260
PROGRESS OF SIM - page 269

THE DISPERSION OF NATIONS - page 276
GENEALOGY AND RECORDING OF THE DESCENDANTS OF SIMOV - page 288
THE LIFE OF TERAH - page 291
ABRAM'S RESETTLEMENT TO THE PROMISED LAND - page 297

REASON FOR RELOCATION - page 297
CIRCUMSTANCES OF RESETTLEMENT - page 301
IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCES OF RESETTLEMENT - page 304

ABRAM'S JOURNEY TO EGYPT - page 313
SEPARATION OF ABRAM AND LOT - page 322
CAPTIVITY AND RELIANCE OF LOT - page 332

WAR OF THE NINE KINGS - page 333
LOT'S TROUBLE AND ABRAM'S HELP - page 337
ABRAM'S TRIUMPH - page 338

REVELATION TO ABRAM ABOUT THE FATE OF HIS DESCENDANTS - page 346
THE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL - page 363

ABRAM'S MARRIAGE WITH HAGAR - page 363
DISAGREEMENT OF SARAH AND HAGAR - page 366
HAGAR'S REVELATION - page 368
THE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL - page 373

TESTAMENT - page 379

PREPARATION FOR THE COVENANT - page 380
A NEW STATEMENT OF THE PROMISE - page 382
VISIBLE COVENANT - page 386
PROMISE TO SARAH - page 393
ABRAHAM'S CONCERN - page 394
Petition for Ishmael - page 395
THE FATE OF ISAAC AND ISHMAEL - page 396
FULFILLMENT OF THE COVENANT - page 398

DIVINE VISITATION WITH THE LAST PREDICTION OF THE BIRTH OF ISAAC - page 403

THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND THE RELATED ADVENTURES OF LOT - page 414

REVELATION OF SODOM - page 415
PRAYER CONVERSATION ABOUT THE WAYS OF JUSTICE AND MERCY - page 419
HOSPITALITY LOT - page 422
THE EXTREME CORPTIVITY OF THE SODOMLANES - page 423
THE LAST SERMON OF SALVATION IN SODOM - page 426
RECORDING LOT FROM SODOM - page 427
CONSERVATION OF TSOAR - page 428
EXECUTION OF SODOM - page 430
MISTRESS OF LOTOVA'S WIFE - page 433
CONCLUSION OF THE PREVIOUS NARRATION - page 434
ADDENDUM ABOUT LOT'S PROGRESSION - page 435

THE TEMPTATION OF ABRAHAM IN GERAR - page 440

THE BIRTH AND INHERITANCE OF ISAAC - page 452
UNION OF ABRAHAM WITH ABIMELECH - page 466
THE GREAT TEMPTATION AND PROMISE - page 473

THE DEATH OF SARRA AND THE MARRIAGE OF ISAAC - page 493

HOUSE OF NAHOR - page 494
THE DEATH OF SARRA - page 496
ISAAC'S MARRIAGE - page 503

THE LAST ADVENTURES OF ABRAHAM - page 519

ABRAHAM'S MARRIAGE WITH KETURAH - page 520
ABOUT THE DEATH OF ABRAHAM - page 523
ABOUT THE LIFE OF ISHMAEL - page 524

Part three ISAAC, JACOB, JOSEPH
BIRTH AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ISAAC'S TWO SONS - page 529
ISAAC'S TEMPTATIONS DISSOLVED BY CONSOLIATIONS - page 538
THE BLESSING OF THE SONS OF ISAAC AND THE CONSEQUENCES FROM IT - page 548

OCCASION AND PREPARATION FOR THE BLESSING - page 549
REBEKAH'S CLICKH - page 551
BLESSING TO JACOB - page 555
BLESSING TO ESAU - page 558
CONSEQUENCES - page 562

JACOB'S JOURNEY TO MESOPOTAMIA - page 568

ASPECTIVE REVELATION - page 569
VOW - page 576
JACOB'S ENTRY INTO LABAN'S HOUSE - page 578
THE TWO MARRIAGES OF JACOB - page 580
THE FRUITS OF JACOB'S TWO MARRIAGES - page 584
JACOB'S HOUSE BUILDING - page 591
DEPARTURE FROM MESOPOTAMIA - page 598
PERSECUTION - page 603
AN ENCOURAGING REVELATION - page 611
FEAR - page 613
FIGHT WITH GOD - page 618
JACOB'S DATE WITH ESAU - page 626
ENTRY INTO THE LAND OF CANAAN - page 629

DINA'S MISCELLANEOUS AND REVENGE - page 639
WORSHIP AND THEOPHANY AT BETHEL - page 646
SOME FAMILY INCIDENTS AND THE KIND OF JACOB - page 653
GENEALOGY OF ESAU - page 657

CHILDREN AND TRIBES FROM ESAU - page 658
GENEALOGY OF SEIR - page 661
IDUMEAN DYNASTS - page 662
JOSEPH'S HOME ACCIDENT - page 667

THE ADVENTURE OF JUDAH AND TAMAR - page 678
THE TEMPTATION AND RISE OF JOSEPH IN EGYPT - page 690

TEMPTATIONS ACCOMPANIED BY CONSOLIATIONS - page 691
INGRATEFULNESS AND RELIEF OF HOPE - page 696
ACCIDENTAL RISE - page 702
PROVIDENCE THROUGH JOSEPH ABOUT EGYPT - page 711

RESETTLEMENT OF THE JEWS TO EGYPT - page 716

THE FIRST VOYAGE - page 718
SECOND JOURNEY - page 728
RESETTLEMENT - page 748
LIST OF RESETTED - page 751
DETAILS OF THE COMING TO EGYPT - page 757
RETREAT - page 761
CONCLUSION - page 766

JACOB'S TESTAMENT TO JOSEPH - page 767
ADOPTION BY JACOB AND BLESSING OF THE SONS OF JOSEPH - page 772
THE LAST PROPHECY AND THE DEATH OF JACOB - page 782

INTRODUCTION - page 783
PROPHECY ABOUT REUBEN - page 783
ABOUT SIMEON AND LEVI - page 784
ABOUT JUDAS - page 788
ABOUT ZABULON - page 793
ABOUT ISSACHARA - page 793
ABOUT DAN - page 794
ABOUT GAD - page 795
ABOUT ASIR - page 795
ABOUT NEPPHALIM - page 796
ABOUT JOSEPH - page 796
ABOUT BENJAMIN - page 798
CONCLUSION - page 799

BURIAL OF JACOB - page 805
THE LAST DAYS OF JOSEPH - page 809
NOTES - page 812

NOTICE

In interpretative works on Holy Scripture, it is usually assumed that the reader will have it before his eyes when reading the interpretation. This was also assumed in this book when it was first published. But now it has been decided to include in it the very text of the book of Genesis in the Russian dialect, both for the convenience of the readers, and so that the ongoing passage of Holy Scripture from the ancient, not understandable to everyone, into a new intelligible dialect, if possible, prepare the way further. Only the passages of Holy Scripture that serve to confirm interpretations are for the most part not written out, but indicated by the numbers of chapters and verses, for including their text in this book would increase it excessively. Analysis of some Hebrew words can be left to those who have the need and means to engage in research of this kind. The rest, such as it is, is brought before everyone's judgment. All the expressions of the text found here that do not agree word for word with the Slavic text, as well as the indications according to which the Slavic text does not represent the desired word or thought, correspond to the Hebrew text, and in the sayings cited from the New Testament - to the Greek. The pronunciation of proper names, as far as possible, is retained as used in the Slavic translation, as already familiar. It was deviated from in those cases where, in order to prevent errors or misunderstandings, it was necessary to strictly follow the Hebrew pronunciation. There is no doubt that all real experience, and especially that part of it where the spirit is sought letters And cases antiquities are considered as predetermined images(1 Cor. X. 11) of the future, have a need for the readers’ condescension to the shortcomings of the writer. If, however, this experience gives some an opportunity for reflection and an incentive to more successfully test the Scriptures, then this will already be a great reward for the one who worked.

PUBLISHER NOTICE

The publication of the Holy Books of the Old Testament in Russian translation attracted special attention to them from zealots of piety. But we have very few experiences of interpretation of the books of the Holy Scripture in Russian, and, moreover, only of certain books of the Holy Scripture ((For example, Irinea, Archbishop of Pskov, “Interpretation of the 12 Prophets,” 1821, and an unknown author on the book of Job , 1860)). Among these experiments, the first place in dignity is occupied by Notes on the Book of Genesis, compiled by the rector of the St. Petersburg Academy, Archimandrite, now Metropolitan of Moscow Philaret, but they, published in the second printing forty-eight years ago, have now become an extremely rare book. Taking into account the urgent need of the children of the Orthodox Church for a tool for understanding the most important of the books of Scripture, which tells about the origin of the world and man, the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment petitioned the author of the Notes on the Book of Genesis for permission to print them in a new edition. Permission was given with love and readiness to serve the good of the Church, and a new edition of the Notes is offered to the attention of pious readers. May it serve the children of the Orthodox Church as a guide to understanding the true history of the beginning of the world and man! And if it is permissible to desire some kind of reward for the work of publishing, then the publishers ask readers to combine their prayers with their prayers for the preservation of the precious life of the writer. July 3, 1867