Bully's Blog » Adam

BioLogos’ Jenga Bible

Mike Bull — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 02:19:38 +0000

Daniel Harrell tries to marry chalk and cheese by positing that Adam and Eve were real people, just not the first real people. They were the first people with whom God entered into a Covenant relationship.[1] The Rev. Harrell is sitting on the fence, an extremely pointy fence.

For many Christians, the biblical characters Adam and Eve can present a significant challenge to accepting evolutionary theory—that is, when they are cast as historical figures who are also the biological progenitors of the human race. …the Rev. Daniel Harrell discusses how there may be some “middle ground” in the way that Christians understand Adam and Eve. Harrell points out that the historicity of Adam and Eve does not necessarily conflict with science. Rather, the claim that conflicts with science is the idea that Adam and Eve were the first humans, who were the only original biological ancestors of all humans today.

[This post has been refined and included in Sweet Counsel: Essays to Brighten the Eyes.]

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Greater Eve

Mike Bull — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 09:54:56 +0000

The Head is always singular. The Body is always plural.

But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. —Genesis 2:20-22

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” —John 12:24

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. —Matthew 27:50-53

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. —Philippians 3:20-21

Horns of Moses

Mike Bull — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:53:19 +0000

or Meat to Eat – 1

“And whanne Moises cam doun fro the hil of Synai, he helde twei tablis of witnessyng, and he wiste not that his face was horned of the felouschipe of Goddis word..” —Exodus 34:29, Wycliffe

Perhaps you’ve seen those bumper stickers that say, “If we’re not meant to eat animals, why are they made of meat?”

NOTE: THIS POST HAS BEEN REMIXED AND INCLUDED IN GOD’S KITCHEN.

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[1] See Omega Males.
[2] Jordan notes that the “pulse” that Daniel and friends ate in Daniel 1 is literally “seeds.” But he did eat the king’s food later on. See Touch Not, Taste Not, Handle Not for the biblical theology behind this.
[3] This might explain the three tusks/horns in the mouth of the Persian bear in Daniel 7:5. Jordan suggests that are they Daniel, Nehemiah and Mordecai—remnants of the throne of Solomon enabling Persia to devour the world. In the Bible, it’s the good angels (cherubim) that have the horns, and Daniel’s four beasts surrounded the throne of a resurrected Jew-Gentile kingdom, the oikoumene. This, of course, predicted “the age to come”, the gospel age, in which satan not only has no horns, but as the accuser he is now toothless. We have the teeth and the horns, the gospel.
[4] That is why it is mentioned in Revelation 18:12. Its position in the passage also supports this interpretation. See Totus Christus.
[5] Exodus 25-31 corresponds the Bronze Altar with the “four-cornered” Land of Day 3. Later, Canaan became the Altar. When Israel sinned, God basically turned the horns inward against those on the Land to scatter them. Zechariah shows the craftsmen rebuilding the Altar of Incense, not the Bronze Altar. This too had four horns, but it was a higher altar that Israel now represented. The Incense Altar (Day 5) is a Bronze Altar (Day 3) that has been slain under the Law (Day 4) and resurrected. Revelation also shows four angels ready to judge Herodian worship, thirsty for blood to atone for the murder of the prophets and the saints.
[6] In Exodus 24, Moses feasted with the elders and the Lord on the “crystal sea” (Exodus 24:10). Here, Moses was a “Solomon,” a king. It was the end of the “Egypt” cycle. However, when Moses ascended Sinai to receive the Law, he fasted. He was “eaten” as a priest. See Fasting as Sacrament. It was the beginning of a new cycle of creation and maturity.

Liturgical Man, Liturgical Woman

Mike Bull — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:25:12 +0000

Some excerpts from James Jordan’s thought-provoking 2 part article:

“The ordination of women to the Christian ministry, specifically the pastoral office of overseeing worship and performing preaching and the Lord’s Supper, is a recent development in Church history. From the early church until the late 20th century, women were never ordained as ministers, not in any branch of the Church, East or West, Protestant or Catholic. Only in a few sects, almost always anti-theological and/or ‘pentecostal,’ were women ‘ordained.’

It is today often assumed that the Church has been wrong about this, universally and consistently, for nearly 2000 years. This assumption holds that the Holy Spirit has either misguided the Church on this matter, or that the Spirit has allowed the Church to remain in error, for His own good reasons, and is only now correcting that error; it is assumed that only now has the Church grown and developed to the point where she is able to recognize this error.”

“My thesis is that the differences between men and women are, by creation design, fundamentally liturgical and only secondarily biological and psychological. To put it another way, my thesis is that the physical and psychological differences between men and women are grounded in their differing liturgical roles.”

“Adam was created not homo sapiens but homo adorans, worshiping man. His first and most important purpose was to worship the Father, as the Son and Spirit worship the Father. And as the Father is worshiped by two, not by one, in the Godhead, so in the creation there is a need for two worshipers, not merely one. John 4:23 says that the Father seeks worshipers, who worship in truth (like the Son) and spirit (like the Spirit). Worship happens when ‘two or three’ are gathered. A ‘testimony of two witnesses’ is needed for this kind of worship. To be sure, we can worship privately and individually, but that is not the best and highest form of worship. For the worship in the Garden to be true and complete, Adam needs a liturgical helper.

The fact that she is intended as a liturgical helper already indicates that Adam is the leader in worship. But there is more in the passage that is important to consider. Before Eve was formed from Adam, God had already pointed out the two sacramental trees to Adam and forbidden him to eat of the Tree of Knowledge. After Eve was made, God told both of them that every fruit-bearing tree would be for them to eat (Gen. 1:29). Hence, what Eve heard God say implied permission to eat of every tree in the Garden.

How, then, did Eve learn that the Tree of Knowledge was (temporarily) forbidden? The answer is that Adam told her. Adam was her teacher in liturgical matters. This does not mean that Adam was to be her teacher in all matters, nor does it mean that he would never be instructed by her. What it does mean is that God set up the world in the beginning so that in matters of worship the woman is taught by the man.”

“It is argued by some that Paul did not tackle the matter of women as ordained ‘priests’ in the Church because of cultural reasons. The time was not right, it is said. To which we must reply that this is nonsense. Paul is not in the least hesitant to attack sabbaths, circumcision, food laws, calendar issues, and other matters of intense cultural and traditional relevance. He does not hesitate to offend Jew and Gentile alike. Had women’s ordination been part of the Divine agenda for the New Covenant, it would have been part of that list of extremely controversial issues.”

Liturgical Man, Liturgical Women — Part 1
Liturgical Man, Liturgical Women — Part 2

Calling a Spade a Spade…

Mike Bull — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:52:53 +0000

A further thought on confession related to Your Own Private Sheol:

At the seduction of Eve, Adam was faced with a creature he had previously named. This naming was the first expression of his dominion.

Adam failed to name the light of the law of God “day”, and the darkness of the lawlessness of the serpent “night.”

Which then leads to the Lord’s request that both Adam and Eve name, or confess, their sin. As discussed, they failed again, and the world was plunged into shadows.

The first step in dominion over sin is in naming it as darkness.

We could apply this to the current financial bailouts. We sinfully dug ourselves a hole and now want to dig our way out of it.

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Pic: www.joelchua.com

Ish and Isha

Mike Bull — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:16:14 +0000

Time for another weird post I think. Here’s some thoughts on Genesis 2:

“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Why the change from Adam and Eve to Ish and Isha? Perhaps because the words are symbolic, and symbols describe relationships.[1] There is the possibility that these words were used because they sound like eish (fire), regardless of their differing derivations (the jury is still out on this one after 6000 years). Jordan mentions that Adam was to be an Altar made of earth, and with his own blood shed comes the “fire” of Isha, the woman as the shining on the altar, the glory cloud on Mount Sinai. It certainly corresponds with the feasts. Adam “ascends” to headship over Eve in marriage (Firstfruits), and then he is to “open the Law” to Eve and fill her with light (Pentecost), which he did, but failed to repeat the Law (Trumpets) after she was tested. Atonement followed.

But there is also the idea of fire-and-fire. He is the blazing torch and she the smoking firepot; he the Ark and she the Incense Altar (smoke), awesome as an army with banners; he the High Priest’s golden forehead, and she the breastplate carrying the tribes. Adam is the head, and Eve is the body. Adam fills Eve with light (as the Lamb in the holy city), and she fills the world with a holy host.

Day 1 Sabbath – Word to Adam (Ark) [2]
Day 2 Passover – Adam is divided (Veil)
Day 3 Firstfruits – the Lord fills Adam (Bronze Altar/Table of Facebread)
Day 4 Pentecost – Adam fills Eve (Lampstand)
Day 5 Trumpets – Eve fills the Land (Incense Altar)
Day 6 Coverings – Eve, as Land, (feminine in Hebrew) begets a Man from the Lord (Laver)

Because of Adam’s failure, every child that opened the womb was a “man of sin” and required redemption by blood.

We also see this pattern in Leviticus 1. The priest puts the fire on the Altar on “Day 4.”

Satan is the false light-bearer (a shining beast, like a golden calf), and demons are “strange fire” on the Altar, scavenger birds that need chasing away.

So Ish and Isha are terms related by Covenant. And they are brought near (sacrifice/offering in the Old Testament is literally “nearbringing”) by blood sacrifice. Based on this, when Ish (husband) fails to “die”, Isha (wife) is filled with darkness. Blood opens the veil between the Ark and the Incense Altar, and head and body are united to conquer the world.[3]

In the first century, the last Adam died and filled the church with the seven Lampstand lights of Pentecost. But a Herod also ascended—unwilling to die—and the false church was filled with seven demons (Matthew 12:45). False Eve worshipped the image of a beast, and begat a man of sin, a Cain, whom the Lord destroyed on “Day 7″ with the breath of His coming.

“Now when He rose early on the first day of the week,
He appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom He had cast seven demons.” Mark 16:9

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[1] Chilton observes that Bible symbols are not primarily to describe the “spiritual essence” of something, but rather to describe the thing’s symbolic value in relationship to something else. Jordan points out that in Revelation 12 Satan is a serpent to the Women (deception) but a Dragon to her offspring (persecution). This could also be a solution to the problem of how many wings cherumbim have. When in relationship to the four cornered Bronze Altar of the Land (Israel) they have four wings, but when seen in heaven, in relation to the Trinity, they have six wings. There are thus twenty four elders mediating between heaven and earth.

[2] The instructions for the Tabernacle in Ex. 25-31 follow the days of the Creation week.

[3] Note that despite the picture above, there were no stairs in the Tabernacle or Temple. Each section did imply an “ascension” to a higher level, but this “ladder to heaven” was laid out on flat ground in all cases. Actually, there’s a lot wrong with this picture, but you can see the Table, Golden Altar and Lampstand before the Veil.

Cutting off Flesh by Water

Mike Bull — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:14:55 +0000

or Why Are We Baptizing the Dead?

Peter Leithart writes concerning baptism:

“In Genesis 9:11, Yahweh promises not to “cut off flesh” by water. That is the covenant with Noah.

A few chapters later, Yahweh tells Abram that he must cut off the flesh of all male children of Israel, not by water but by a knife.

That means that Abram’s children receive the “cutting off” that all flesh deserves, and got, in the flood. Or, it means that Abram’s children are the people who live beyond flesh, the people who have passed under the knife and through the flood that removes flesh.

It also means that the Noachic covenant is over. The world that then was was destroyed by a flood, and a new world came into being. But now God does again cut off flesh through water, the water, the water of baptism.”

If you have read my articles on baptism (See, Weapons of War, articles 3, 4 and 5), you will know I think that not only is there no Scriptural evidence for paedobaptism, but the typological freight train of all Scripture is against it as well. So, how would I deal with this excellent observation on Noah and Abraham?

Once again, all depends on the crucial distinction between Passover and Atonement, between the head and the body.

Sabbath – initiating Word
……..Passover – blood and water (Red Sea – death)
…………….Firstfruits – presentation of head
……………………Pentecost – head rules body
…………….Trumpets – presentation of body
……..Atonement – water and blood (Jordan – resurrection)
Booths – head and body united in God

Concerning Adam, the flood was Atonement. It was judgment at the corporate level.

Sabbath - Creation of Adam
……..Passover - Animal substitute slain to cover Adam’s sin as head (singular death)
…………….Firstfruits - Enoch preaches (Lev.) and men
…………….draw near to God. Enoch ascends
……………………Pentecost - head fails to rule body.
……………. “Adultery” in the “wilderness” (Gen. 6)
…………….Trumpets - Noah preaches (Deut). Substitute body
…………….as animals submit instead
……..Atonement - the flood divides body (corporate resurrection)
Booths - head and body united in God (Noah and animals in a new world)

However, concerning Noah, the floodwaters were a “Red Sea” baptism, a setting apart of the head, not the body (as with Adam’s and Abraham’s personal “covering”). For Noah as High Priest, it was Atonement, inside the Most Holy, behind the veil. For Noah personally, it was Passover, inside the ark, behind the closed door.

Sabbath - Call of Noah
……..Passover - Noah’s exodus through the flood (singular death)
…………….Firstfruits - God’s blessing. Noah makes a sacrifice. Law given (Lev.)
……………………Pentecost - head fails to rule body.
……………………Ham seizes the robe and uncovers nakedness
…………….Trumpets - Law repeated (Deut.) Noah judges Ham. Children multiply
……..Atonement - Joktanites DO NOT separate from Nimrod (corporate death)
Booths - The Lord destroys the “Tabernacle” and scatters their children

Now, because this entire process of planting (grain of wheat) and harvest is chiastic, it does allow the Bible to use them interchangeably. For instance, in Ezekiel 1-8, the prophet’s own fall-down-as-dead “death” is Passover, and the slaughtering Levites appear as Atonement. But in the structure of the whole book of Ezekiel, the Levites appear as Passover, with the destruction of Gog and Magog as Atonement (and the description of Ezekiel’s temple follows as Tabernacles/Booths).

Jesus’ baptism was a “Red Sea” baptism. Typologically, Passover (Red Sea) is circumcision and Atonement (Jordan) is baptism. One deals with the male head, and the other with the whole body (puns intended).

But for the saints, Scripture consistently aligns Christian baptism with the Jordan, conquest and government. I posted yesterday on the structure of 1 Cor. 1-3, which also puts Paul’s baptisms in this spot.

So circumcision cuts off the flesh of the head, the sole mediator. It rescues slaves. Baptism cuts off the flesh of the body. It concerns resurrection – the resurrection of the resulting corporate mediator. It enthrones tried and vindicated governors.

Sabbath - the Word of God calls a sinner from the old city
……..Passover - he is cut to the heart by the Word (to the joints and marrow)
……..and covered by a circumcision made “without hands”
…………….Firstfruits - the Covenant “scroll” is opened to him
……………………Pentecost - now legally perfect, he is filled with the Spirit and
……………. enthroned with Christ outside the city
…………….Trumpets - the saint presents himself to God as a
…………….member of the army (enrobed)
……..Atonement - he is symbolically resurrected to the
communion of saints, into the new city (washed)
Booths - and invited to dine with Christ (seated)[1]

The debate over paedocommunion evaporates if we only baptize believers, including believing children. We have grandchildren, but Jesus doesn’t. He is the Covenant head, not parents. We will still have a problem with baptized unbelievers, but at least we’re not playing on the highway.

Baptizing children is fine, as long as they believe. Let the little children come , for baptism and for communion, but on their own legs.[2] The New Covenant is not about redeeming a “birth” of sin but about a redeemed living body approaching God in response to Jesus’ call to arms. It is the elders following Moses and dining with the Lord on the crystal sea (Exodus 24:10). It is about resurrection to govern over a new world.

Humbly submitted for comment.

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[1] Notice that when Peter saw Christ on the beach, he too was “enrobed, washed and seated”.

[2] Jesus laid hands on babies. He didn’t circumcise them or baptize them. If anything is to be drawn from this besides trusting childlike faith, it is that baby dedication is a good thing. But it should not be confused with baptism. We don’t confuse this passage with circumcision, do we?

P.S. Yes, that is the ugliest, most unsettling paedobaptism picture I could find.

P.P.S. I came across this quote the other day, which is a logical conclusion but based on the same confounding of head with body:

“Not to warn parents of the dangers of not baptizing must be seen in light of Genesis 17. Not to have the sign is to be rejected by God; to be his self declared enemy. God told Abraham not that he would only love him but that he would also love his children.”

Surely they which are of faith are the children of Abraham?

And this one from Dr. R. Scott Clark:

“The complementary messages of the the NPP and FV are corrupting. They are corrupting of the peace of the churches. They are corrupting of the assurance of believers. They are corrupting of the gospel itself. In the case of the NPP, the radical re-definition of “justification” from “forensic declaration by God that a sinner is accepted by God on the sole basis of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness and received the faith resting and receiving alone” to a socio-religious boundary marker is nothing if not a corruption.”

What I find most amazing is that I agree with everything the Federal Vision theologians say about baptism, but only if it is limited to credo-baptism. If they refrained from baptizing infants, their “boundary-marking” theology would make total sense to me. And to John Piper!

Not Just Any Old Cloud

Mike Bull — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:10:52 +0000

Or, Adam as bread; Christ as bread and wine.

“Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” –Acts 1:9

“Jesus went through everything He went through, His incarnation, His life, His death, His resurrection, in order to ascend as man to heaven in the cloud… The glory cloud is God’s mobile home, a chariot-throne in which He drives around and manifests His presence, glory, grace and judgment.

This cloud shows up a lot more often in Scripture than you would think. We all know that the cloud brought the people through the wilderness, but the cloud is all over the place in the Bible. Sometimes you only get a hint that it’s there by the sound that it makes, its voice, a sound like a rushing mighty wind.

The cloud was at the Creation, at the Red Sea crossing, at Mount Sinai, in the wilderness, in the Tabernacle and in the Temple. It is God’s throne room, His sanctuary. This is where Jesus Christ ascended. The ascension marks the climax of what the Word was made flesh for. God created man for the purpose of ascension and transfiguration.

When Paul talks about the natural body versus the spiritual body, he doesn’t mean physical versus non-physical. He is contrasting the physical body with which Adam was created with the ‘supra-physical’ body which Christ now has…

Christ divested Himself of the glory of His divinity, in order to receive the glory that He had before, but now to receive it as Man, and to share it with us.”

“The first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life giving spirit” –1 Corinthians 15:45

– David Chilton, Ascension and Kingdom, Basilean Lectures 1990. Available from www.wordmp3.com

Sleep Like A Man

Mike Bull — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:40:03 +0000

James Jordan writes:

High culture naturally self-destructs apart from true faith. Lacking a true sabbath context, the increase of leisure time in high cultures eventuates in high amounts of psychic stress, decadence, and homosexuality. We see this in America today. Unless a high city culture is founded in the Biblical principles of true worship and free labour, it will collapse under its own decadence.1

I want to concentrate on the psychic stress (see any baptist preacher on decadence and search Doug Wilson on PoMosexuality).

Perhaps part of the reason for our stress is the fact that we have realised that reason and science will never give us total control. Even with all our modern conveniences, and growing mastery of the world, we are still not the masters of our own lives. This desperate grasping, like most else, began in Eden.

But the Apostle Peter, after Pentecost, was like Christ, and not like Adam. Chained up between two soldiers and awaiting a likely execution, he was in a deep sleep. Okay, perhaps he was exhausted, but if it were me I would have been pacing the floor as far as those chains would let me, no matter how exhausted I was. Hey, the deadlines in my cushy job often have me doing that.

Peter realised that life was not his to control. He could eat the true bread in contentment and wait for Jesus to give him the kingdom wine. He was totally abandoned to the will of God. With perfect trust in Christ to do the very best for Peter and for those around him, the apostle could enjoy a slumber that seemed totally irresponsible. With the wisdom of Christ to know what was within his power to change and what was not, even on this terrible eve he could sleep, not like a baby, but like a real man. Perhaps he had seen Someone else do this on a dark and stormy night.

Ignore that high-culture false-conscience berating you as grossly irresponsible, and sleep in the Sabbath rest of the Spirit of Christ.

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1 OPEN BOOK, Views & Reviews, No. 39: The Case Against Western Civilisation, Part 4: The Nephilim Factor

The Go-Betweens

Mike Bull — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:27:38 +0000

The LORD called out to the man and asked, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9

For those who wonder why God doesn’t fix all the wrong in the world right now, C. S. Lewis wrote that when the Author walks onto the stage, the play is over. That is true, but narrow…

God is patient and longsuffering, and does not want anyone to perish. But this disregards the major theme of the Bible, which is the pattern of growth from childhood to maturity. Salvation is certainly central to us, but it is a means to an end, and that end is our development from red earth to glorious metal, from craven sinners to wise judges who not only reflect the Solomon-glory of Christ, but are useful to God. Passover is just the beginning.

The world is a place of Adam-mediators, those who stand in the gap between God and others and demonstrate both His goodness and severity. This requires time, and allows for failure.

80% of the world’s hungry children today are in countries with food surplusses… Why does God not step in and oust these corrupt or inept governments?

That mother and her children, beaten almost daily by an alcoholic husband… Why does God not step in and deal with him?

That minister who intimidates, or fleeces, or even molests people in his congregation… Why does God not step in and incinerate his corrupt priesthood?

That woman who leaves her infant children alone in the car while she spends her grocery money at the casino… Why does God not step in and deal with her?

The answer is, all those in power are mediators. Every one of us has a God-given dominion, and God gives us time to make it flourish–or not. Then, He does step in to evaluate us eventually, in His perfect timing. This is the pattern of Covenants in the Bible. All government, all marriage, all parenting, all employment, all ministry is by nature a covenantal privilege.

Of course, as we also see in the Bible, when God doesn’t step in (such as in Habakkuk), He is accused of being unjust. And then when He does step in (such as in Ezekiel), He is also accused of being unjust. By faith, we know that God is just when He speaks and blameless when He judges (Ps. 51:4) because He has shown us our own condition.

We have a Great Mediator in heaven Who is all wise and all powerful. He knew exactly what He was doing with the domain given to Him at His ascension to the throne of David and it resulted in purification and ascension for the saints, and destruction for His enemies, as He threatened. It brought about the end of the Old Covenant.

Now ruling the world in a similar fashion, we can be confident that He not only knows what He is doing and will bring it to a similarly glorious end for the saints, but that as mediators–Temple bowls–we can approach Him for all the wisdom and strength we need to feed and correct in our given domains, as part of bringing about that glorious end–the victorious end of the New Covenant.

It is certainly the duty of a Christian man to ascend higher than merely to seek and secure the salvation of his own soul . . . If we wish to belong to Christ, let no man be anything for himself. But let us all be whatever we are for each other.

- John Calvin