Bible interpretation 1 chapter Genesis. Bible. Interpretation of Genesis

1. Moses and the exodus in the church tradition. The image of Moses and the theme of the Exodus occupy an important, almost central place in prophetic writing and psalms. But for the New Testament they retain their significance. Christ the Savior Himself, naming the most important commandments, cites the ancient Mosaic confession of faith (Mk 10:19). In the Sermon on the Mount He gives an interpretation, deepening and transformation of the Law (Matthew 5:17-25). As St. Irenaeus of Lyons, the Lord "ordered to refrain not only from deeds forbidden by the Law, but also from wishing for them ... this is characteristic of the One who does not destroy the Law, but replenishes, expands and spreads" (Against Heresies, IV, 13, 1).

Although the events of the Exodus are separated from the Incarnation of the Word by more than thirteen centuries, the Church has always seen in them the deeds of the same God who revealed himself to people in Jesus Christ (see St. Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, II). According to app. Paul, the passage through the sea and the manna are types of the waters of baptism and the heavenly Bread - Christ (1 Cor 10:1-11). This is not a superficial analogy, but evidence of a deep connection between the two Testaments. In both, God reveals Himself as the Deliverer, the giver of salvation.

The mystery of salvation has a divine-human character. The Lord delivers, but the people must also participate in God's plans, respond to His call, as Abraham and Jacob once did. The free obedience of men is necessary in the divine dispensation. The Lord frees the faithful from bondage, therefore the hosts of Christ's witnesses in the Apocalypse (15:3) "sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb", therefore the symbolism of the Last Supper, the divine Meal of the New Testament, is permeated with symbols of the Exodus and Pascha. The motives of the Old Testament Passover (lamb, sacrifice, bread, deliverance, Covenant, meal, thanksgiving) are still preserved in our Eucharist . In early Christian frescoes, mosaics, icons, one can see a constant return to the history of the Exodus. The irmos of the first song in the canon of Matins are ecclesiastical, New Testament variations of the song of Moses.

2. Book of Exodus. The Book of Exodus narrates about the calling of Moses, about the deliverance from the slavery of the people of God and the conclusion of the Covenant.

Its composition is quite complex. The book contains an epic narrative about the slavery of the Sons of Israel in Egypt and the calling of Moses (1-5), about the struggle of Moses with Pharaoh for the liberation of the people (6-11), the charter of the Passover rites (12), the legend of the exodus from Egypt (13-14) . Further, the book includes the song of Moses (15), the story of the journey to Sinai (16-18), the conclusion of the Covenant and the giving of the Law (19), as well as the texts of the Law: Decalogue (Ten Commandments) and Book of the Testament (20-24); contains a description of the Ark and the Tabernacle (25-31), a legend about the golden calf and the renewal of the Covenant (32-34), about the construction of the Tabernacle (35-40).

This composition is due to the nature of the book, which is not a chronicle of events recorded by an impartial contemporary, but to a large extent arose as a liturgical and edifying text for prayer meetings (cf. Acts 15:21). First of all, Exodus is the book of Pascha, which was read at the feast of the Testament. Going back in its foundations to Moses, it, according to modern exegetes, received its final form after his death, and in it, as in other parts of the Pentateuch, four traditions can be traced (see §§ 15 and 16 above).

The main idea of ​​the Exodus is that God brings the faithful to freedom from slavery. Freedom, however, does not mean self-will, it is balanced by the commandments of the Law, which a person accepts voluntarily. Freedom requires from people a feat, a spiritual effort. The Holy Author shows that a person perceives this gift with difficulty and freedom can burden him. Israel's wandering in the wilderness becomes a test that people are often unable to endure. God not only frees the Old Testament Church, but also overcomes the timidity and rigidity of its members. Moses proclaims to Israel the Name of God (see below: 4), which indicates a new stage of Revelation.

The will of the Creator is to establish unity with people through the Covenant. With this is connected the name of God in the Exodus Ish milhama - the Man of battle (glory. Break the battle). “The living, revealing God chose the history of the world He created as a battlefield with human cruelty in order to bring man into communion with Himself. This battle of God makes history sacred” (priest A. Knyazev, Lord, Man of War, Orthodox Thought, 1949, c. VII, p. 114).

Note. One of distinctive features Exodus, as well as adjacent to the Pentateuch of Book. Joshua, an abundance of grandiose signs and wonders. Their understanding is connected with two problems: 1) the question of miracle as such and 2) the question of genres biblical narrative (see §9 above).

The first problem belongs to the realm of Fundamental Theology. The possibility of a miracle naturally follows from faith in the omnipotence of God. He Who created the laws of the world has the power to give them a different direction or to subordinate them to His will. Nevertheless, miracles - at all times - do not usually encroach on freedom man, do not impose faith on him (remember that the risen Christ did not appear to His enemies). A genuine miracle leaves room for doubt, for its acceptance or rejection. It reveals God's presence to the believing heart. This also applies to Old Testament miracles.

“When the angels sang a Christmas carol in front of the faithful shepherds and when the darkness of Golgotha ​​“was over the whole earth,” the outside world slept, ate, drank, bought, sold and whiled away its gray everyday life, not noticing anything special. When Moses, in a thunderstorm and a storm, ascended to Sinai for prayer and solitude, the believing people experienced the miraculous proximity of the appearance of God to them, and the surrounding nomadic peoples - the enemies of the new migrant Israel - did not notice any Pentecost, but saw only an ordinary cloud with lightning and thunder. For the Israelite people escaped from Egyptian slavery in the setting fabulous wonders and a happy run across the western gulf of the Red Sea at the moment of its ebb, with a favorable wind and God's obvious help in everything, was an unforgettable experience, marking the beginning of a new era of its existence ... And Egypt did not notice the importance and, all the more, the miraculousness of this incident and did not mark it in any way in memory” (A. V. Kartashev, Old Testament Biblical Criticism, pp. 42-43).

But why, then, do some of the miracles of the Old Testament, especially in Exodus and the books of Joshua and Judges, seem too obvious, irrefutable evidence of the power of God? Does the sea part, a pillar of fire moves in the camp, the sun dies down according to the word of Joshua, “the stars fight from heaven”? According to most modern exegetes, the descriptions of these miracles should be understood in the light of the hyperbolic language of biblical and Eastern poetry in general, which is characterized by colorful exaggerations, visual images that amaze the human imagination. For example, when Scripture says that “the mountains jumped like lambs,” it is not necessary to see an earthquake here: this is an image of the manifestation of the Glory of the Lord, before which the earth trembles.

Rationalist thought tried to reduce all biblical miracles to natural phenomena of nature. Meanwhile, history knows many natural disasters (for example, the eruption of Vesuvius), but they did not give rise to a new religion. What happened in the days of Moses and Joshua was something more rooted in the world of the Spirit.

3. Children of Israel in Egypt (Ex 1:8-22). As we already know (see $12.8 and $22.6), in 1580 B.C. the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt, their fortress Avaris was destroyed and power passed to the native dynasty. Its center was the city of Thebes (Egypt. Nut, Heb. But, or No-Amon, - City of the god Amun). Successful campaigns of the pharaohs in Nubia, Palestine, Syria and even the Euphrates lead to the creation of the Egyptian Empire. The rise of the imperial god Amun is helping monotheistic trends in the priesthood. The masses of the people continue to zealously honor the numerous local gods. This explains the failure of King Akhenaten, who tried to introduce the veneration of a single god under the name of Aton. However, even after the collapse of his reform, the inclination towards monotheism can be traced in many hymns and treatises (see Appendix 1.2).

All this time, the clans of the Sons of Israel live in the region of Goshen (Heb. Goshen) in the east of the Delta. The Bible does not say much about this long (about 400 years) period. He probably did not know any outstanding people or remarkable events. The monotonous life of peaceful pastoralists was not disturbed by anything during the life of many generations. Only three facts from this period of time should be pointed out:

a) Some of the Israelites returned to Canaan before Moses . According to the mean indications of 1 Chronicles 7:21,24, these people belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, which is indirectly confirmed by the following: Joshua occupied the region of Ephraim without a fight and made Shechem in central Palestine his residence. According to most biblical scholars, the presence of two streams of immigrants (who came with Moses and before him) laid the foundation for two cultural traditions Israel (northern and southern), the confrontation of which runs through the entire St. history. The time of the alleged first outcome has not been established. The Egyptian priest Manetho claimed that the Jews left the country of the pharaohs along with the retreating Hyksos (see I. Flavius. Against Apion, 1,14,15). The military annals of Thutmose III (c. 1500) mention the Palestinian city (or locality) of Josephel. It is possible that he is connected with the Ephraim settlers. Around 1400, the Egyptian protégés in Palestine were threatened by the Khabiri tribes (see §20 and appendix 3), who are sometimes identified with the Jews.

b) Living in Goshen, the Children of Israel preserved the traditions of the patriarchs and primitive times. These traditions formed the basis of the legends of Genesis 1-11.

c) During their stay in Egypt, the people did not have religious teachers and, apart from the “God of Abraham”, they honored the pagan gods (Is Nav 24:14; Ezek 20:5-8; 23:3,19,21). Among these gods was the desert demon Azazel, to whom the shepherds made sacrifices to protect their flocks from pestilence. The Egyptian national cults, apparently, did not penetrate into the Israeli milieu.

Chronology of the most important events in Egypt during the time of Israel's stay there

Approximately 1580-1570 Rebellion against the Hyksos and their expulsion. Ahmose I

1500 Wars of Thutmose III in Syria. Creation of the Empire

1380 Start of construction of the great temple at Luxor

1370 Akhenaten's Religious Reform

1314 Beginning of the 19th dynasty. Ramses II

Around 1280 Wars of Ramesses II with the Hittites

Approximately 1234 Death of Ramesses II. The reign of Merneptah. Invasion of the Libyans and the "peoples of the sea"

At the beginning of the 13th century, having finished the wars with the Hittites in Syria, Pharaoh Ramesses II moved his residence to the Delta and began extensive construction work. On the site of the old Avaris, the Hyksos he erects new town Pi-Ramses (House of Ramesses). Prisoners of war and slaves, as well as foreigners, were involved in the work. On the walls of the tomb of Rahmir (Thebes), Syrian workers are depicted making bricks, and one of the documents from the time of Ramses II contains an order "to distribute food for the soldiers and the aper, who deliver stones for a large pylon." The term "aperu" corresponds to the word "khabiri". The tradition of the Exodus (1.11) testifies that it was the Jews who built the cities of Ramesses and Pithom (Egypt. Pi-Tum). Therefore, Ramesses II could be the pharaoh "who did not know Joseph" and made the Sons of Israel state slaves (1,8). The calling of Moses took place under his successor (2:23), that is, under Merneptah.

Note. Pharaoh of the Exodus. The issue of the pharaoh of the Exodus is still controversial in biblical scholarship. According to 1 Kings 3:1, the Exodus took place 480 years before Solomon's Temple was built. Since the Temple began to be built around 958, the time of the exodus falls on the year 1440. But at this time and later, the pharaohs reigned supreme in Palestine (which the Bible does not mention anywhere). The capital of the Empire was then in the south, in Thebes, and Ramesses was still a heap of ruins. Meanwhile, from the stories of the Exodus it is clear that the headquarters of the pharaoh was located near Gosem, "the land of Raamses", that is, in the Delta (where Avaris-Ramesses was located). Apparently, the number 480 is a rounded sacred number (40 is the test period multiplied by 12 is the number of the chosen ones). A well-known difficulty for chronology is the stele (monument) of Merneptah, discovered by F. Petri in 1896. The stele dates from the 30s of the 13th century. It is inscribed with the victorious hymn of the pharaoh who defeated his enemies. It ends with the following lines:

Enemies are defeated and ask for mercy,
Libya is devastated, Hatta subdued,
Canaan is captive with all his evil,
Ascalon is captured, Gezer is full,
The tribe of Israel was depopulated,
His seed is gone …

Wilhelm Spiegelberg, one of the first researchers of the stele, suggested that the "tribe of Israel" should be understood as those Ephraimites who, even before the exodus, settled near Shechem. However, it is possible that the hymn contains an echo of the events of the Exodus. It is not about a city or locality, but about a people (tribe). It is possible that the Israelites took advantage of the turmoil caused by the uprising of the conquered peoples and left Egypt. The pharaoh portrayed his failure in the pursuit as a victory (this was common in military accounts). According to another opinion, the father of Ramesses, Seti I, was the oppressor pharaoh, and the exodus took place in last years Ramses. This hypothesis, although widespread, is questionable, if only because the reign of such a powerful pharaoh as Ramesses did not create favorable conditions for an exodus.

4. The call of Moses (Ex 2-4). The book of Exodus tells that the growth of the population of Goshen caused alarm at the court. The region was on the border with hostile peoples, and in Egypt they were afraid that the forced Apers would unite with the opponents of the Empire (it is significant that the agreement between Ramesses and the Hittites insists on the extradition of defectors). Attempts to force midwives to kill male babies were futile (the names of these women are common Semitic names of that era). The order to kill children could hardly be carried out exactly by the Egyptians, since this would have caused a mutiny and loss of labor, but for some time they apparently tried to carry it out. Wanting to save her son, a woman from the tribe of Levi laid him in reeds near the banks of the Nile. The child was picked up by the "daughter of Pharaoh" and received the name Moses (Heb. Moshe). Jewish tradition associates this name with the word "extract". However, it is more likely that the princess gave the adopted Egyptian name Mesu, which means son.

A similarity is noted between the story of the childhood of Moses and the tales of other ancient heroes: King Sargon of Akkad and Cyrus of Persia. But this alone does not prove the fiction of the Exodus story. In the environment of Ramesses II there were many people of Semitic origin. In particular, one of his daughters was married to a Syrian named Bent-Anat. The daughter of one of the many wives of Ramesses could be of mixed origin and feel sorry for the Israelite child.

There is a deep meaning in the story that Moses was rescued and raised by the Egyptians. The oppressors of the people of God themselves become involuntary instruments of Providence, thus showing that the will of the Lord is being done in spite of everything.

According to tradition, Moses was taught "all the wisdom of Egypt" (Acts 7:21-22). Philo wrote about this in his book The Life of Moses. In any case, it is obvious that the future leader and prophet in many respects stood above his ignorant fellow shepherds. Moreover, other Levites were closely associated with the Egyptians (Hophni, Phinehas, Merari, Pashur, and others had Egyptian names).

Since Moses' own mother was taken as a nurse (Ex 2:8-9), he did not lose touch with his people, although he grew up in an Egyptian environment. To what extent Moses was indebted to the lessons of the priests is not known, but some elements of the cult he founded (eg, the Ark) have analogies in the Egyptian religion. It is possible that he became acquainted with monotheistic views during the period of study in Egypt.

According to Flavius, Moses was made a military leader and participated in a campaign against Ethiopia, and after the victory he married an Ethiopian princess (Arch., II, 10). The authenticity of this tradition is not confirmed by anything, except for the mention in Numbers 12:1 of an “Ethiopian woman” as the wife of Moses.

The participation that Moses showed towards the bitter fate of Israel, brought to the brink of destruction, the apostle considers as a feat of faith. “By faith Moses, having come of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and rather wanted to suffer with the people of God than to have temporary sinful pleasure” (Heb 11:24-25). After killing the Egyptian overseer, Moses was forced to flee the country. But most likely, he had other, more compelling reasons to fear the wrath of the pharaoh.

In those years, as documents show, crossing the border of Egypt was associated with great difficulties - it was reliably guarded everywhere. Moses hid in the "land of Midian", in the northwest of the Sinai Peninsula, where tribes related to Israel roamed. There he settled in the family of the Kenite priest Jethro (Heb. Ietro), whom the earlier tradition (I) calls Raguel (note that the ancient Arabic inscriptions give the priests double names). The role of this man in the life of Moses was apparently significant, although much remains unclear.

Jethro gives his daughter as a wife to Moses, acts as his mentor and adviser; he professes faith in Yahweh and offers sacrifices to him (Ex 18). Some biblical scholars believe that it was from Jethro that Moses first heard St. Name of the Lord. The ancient Semites, as is known from the Ugaritic texts, revered God under the name of Yevo. Jethro could have been the servant of this God, who in the religion of Moses became Yahweh, the God of Israel. Nevertheless, the teaching of Moses was essentially original and exceptional. Even if he proceeded from some pre-existing beliefs, he put into them a completely different meaning and spirit (see below).

Priestly tradition (C) relates the calling of Moses to the period of his life in Egypt (6:2-30). She emphasizes that "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" only now reveals Himself under the name of Jehovah, YHWH. The revelation of a personal name meant that God not only announces the beginning of His unity with man, but also speaks of Himself as a Person acting in the events of history, as a Redeemer of people He has chosen from slavery. He is the God of promise, and not an unknown Deity, He is the One Who spoke with the forefathers of Israel.

The act itself vocations Moses marks a special moment of St. stories. Throughout its entire length, God repeatedly calls certain chosen ones to serve (from Abraham and the prophets to the apostles and St. Paul).

The most ancient traditions (I and E) tell that Moses was called by God in the wilderness when he was tending the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro. One day he finds himself at the foot of Sinai (or Horeb), a mountain that was considered sacred (3:1). There the Lord appears to him in a flame, which, engulfing the thorn bush, does not burn it. This image of Theophany symbolizes the closeness to man of God, who is "a consuming fire." Therefore, the “burning bush” is considered by the Church as a prototype of God-manhood and the Virgin Mary.

God "remembered His Covenant," which means the coming of the time of His saving deeds. He commands Moses to go to Egypt to the new pharaoh and demand that he release the people of Yahweh from the "house of bondage."

Moses, though prostrated in reverent awe before God, is full of doubts. Here we first encounter the peculiarities of the prophetic calling. The prophet says not from myself He even opposes the commandments of God, but the powerful subjugating call overcomes him.

a) Moses is sure that the Israelites have forgotten the "God of the fathers". They will ask: Who is He? What is His name?

To this the Lord replies: “Ekh'e ash'er eh'e” - “I am the One Who is”, that is, the One to Whom the existence belongs and Who bestows it on the creature, which is close to the name YHWH, which is associated with the verb “ haya” (archaic hava) - to be, to exist. According to the Mosaic revelation, being, life belongs only to God, all creatures receive life from Him. It is significant that the Lord Jesus often applied to Himself the formula "I am" - the equivalent of the Name of God (for example, Jn 8:24,28,58; 13:19; 18:5-6).

b) The prophet continues to doubt: people may not believe that the God of the fathers appeared to him, the pupil of the Egyptians.

To confirm his mission, Moses is given a sign. The rod in the hands of the prophet turns into a snake (a sign of God's power over nature. In Egypt, snakes personified the goddess of fertility). The hand of Moses is now covered with leprosy, then it is completely cleansed (a sign of God's power over man).

c) But again Moses is seized with hesitations: "I am a man without words." Having grown up among the Egyptians, he may not have been fluent enough in the language of his fellow tribesmen.

Then the Lord points Moses to his brother Aaron, who will become his interpreter, mediator, and “prophet” (“He will be your mouth, and you will be him instead of God” (4:16; cf. 7:1)).

So, the salvation of the Old Testament Church is not a human matter. Man - Moses - fully comprehended his impotence. Only the realization that "the Lord will be with him" gives him courage. He returns to Jethro, and then goes to Egypt with Aaron.

Note. The verses of Ex 4:24-26 present no small difficulty in interpretation. Usually they are understood as follows: Moses neglected the circumcision of his son, probably regarding it as a mere Egyptian custom. But a serious illness (God “wanted to kill him”) served as a sign to Moses that this rite of the Covenant must be performed. Not being able to do it himself due to illness, he entrusts the execution of the ritual to his wife. The phrase of Zipporah is believed by exegetes to be taken from a Kenite marriage ritual, which included the sprinkling of blood. The circumcision of the son became for the wife of Moses the consolidation of their union. After this, Zipporah temporarily retires to her father (cf. 18, 2), confident that from now on she is connected with her husband by unbreakable bonds.

5. Struggle for the Exodus (Ex 5-11). Together with his brother, Moses goes to the elders of the people, who at first treat them with complete confidence. However, in the future, people, seized with fear, will more than once oppose their liberator Moses, preferring a slavish, but reliable position to go into the unknown. Doing the will of God required the courage of faith.

The liturgical character of the text is especially clearly revealed in the legend about the struggle for the exodus. This is indicated by its composition and refrains. Each episode ("executions"), as in a song, begins and ends with similar words. The narrative is dominated by two main themes - the greatness of God and human opposition to Him:

a) The "plagues of Egypt" are described as a sign of Yahweh's power over nature. The Egyptians worshiped the sky, the Nile (Hapi), animals, earth and water - generally the forces of nature. But these forces, as is clear from the legend of the "executions", themselves obey the God of Moses. For the Israelites, this was evidence that He was stronger than the Egyptian gods (“Who is like You, Lord, among the gods?” - Exodus 15:11).

b) The pharaoh of the legend is a typological image man's opposition to the will of God . Terrible signs cannot change the inner direction of a person's will. In a moment of danger, the pharaoh yields, but then again continues to fight with God, hardening even more. In other words, apparent miracles do not yet generate genuine faith.

Wanting to lull the Pharaoh's vigilance, Moses tells him only about the opportunity for the Children of Israel to celebrate the spring cattle-breeding festival in honor of the "God of the Jews." They need to go to the desert "for three days' journey" (i.e., at a distance of about 100 km from the Delta), where Yahweh will be sacrificed. But the authorities do not agree to this either. Moses' preaching and his demands intensify the cruelty of the overseers. The murmur of the Israelites, exhausted by overwork, turns against the initiators of the exodus: “You made us hated in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants and gave them a sword in their hands to kill us” (5.21). Since then, the mournful path of Moses begins, his loneliness and bitterness, caused by a misunderstanding of the crowd. The Bible does not hide the harsh truth. The prophet is forced to confront a people who are afraid of any change. Such is the fate of all the prophets, and even of Christ Himself, and of many saints of the New Testament Church.

6. Passage of the "destroyer" and Easter (11:1 - 13:16). From Exodus 5:1,3 it is clear that the Jewish shepherds used to have a great spring feast, when they sacrificed the lambs of the first offspring. Some exegetes believe that it included rites designed to protect against the "destroyer" - a pestilence that threatened people and livestock. Perhaps the reason for this craze was seen in the evil demons of the desert (Azazel, etc.), from which they protected themselves by anointing the jambs and crossbeams of doors in houses with the blood of lambs.

The Passover story of the Exodus establishes a connection between the "destroyer" and the terrible epidemic that broke out in Egypt. She did not touch the Israelis and allowed them to leave the country. Probably, other hardships joined the epidemic (uprisings of neighboring peoples, which Merneptah had to suppress). Saved in the days of the plague, the Israelites rallied at last around Moses and prepared for the exodus.

The old New Year's holiday takes on a different meaning: it becomes, as it were, the birthday of the people of God. From now on, it will be celebrated in every family on the 14th spring month Nissan. The symbolism of the holiday is rethought in the spirit of exodus and liberation. The son will have to ask the head of the family a ritual question: what does all this mean? and receive the answer: “With a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage” (13:14). Thus, as Bl. Theodoret, God was pleased that the memory of salvation be preserved forever (Interpretation on Exodus, question 24). Unleavened bread (matzot), baked at the beginning of the harvest, now reminds us of the haste with which the meal was served on the night of liberation. People should be dressed in a marching way. The lamb and its blood signify Israel's consecration to God. There is a meal victim (Ex 12:27), it unites people not only among themselves, but also with God. She is also a symbol of the beginning of a new life (cf. 1 Cor 5:7).

When Christ Himself becomes the Lamb of salvation, He will be the "Passover" of the New Testament, deliverance from the bondage of sin. Therefore, He will choose the ancient feast of salvation for the conclusion of the Covenant at the Last Supper. Hence the close connection between the Paschal rites and the Liturgy (see N. D. Uspensky. Anaphora. - BT, 13). Ap. Peter, outlining the image of the Church, will use ancient Easter symbols. Just as the Israelites broke with their Egyptian past and hurriedly prepared for their journey, so the "new Israel" must be awake, remembering that they left behind the kingdom of sin. “Therefore, having girded up the loins of your mind, being vigilant, trust completely in the grace that is given to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts that were in your ignorance, but according to the example of the Holy One who called you, and be holy yourselves in all your actions; For it is written, Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:13-16).

Note. Originally, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of the Slaughter of the Lamb were perhaps two separate celebrations. But later they merged almost into one. The very word "Pesach" (aram. Easter) is usually derived from the word "passage", but its exact etymology has not been established. During the tsarist period and after the Captivity, rituals of washing hands, blessing wine and bread were introduced on the holiday. The habit of standing on time seder (Paschal meal) in the gospel era was no longer observed. According to the Talmud (Pesachim X, 1), the participants in the meal reclined on beds.

7. Exodus (13:17-15:21).“And the Children of Israel set out from Ramesses to Succoth, up to six hundred thousand men on foot, besides the children. And a multitude of diverse people went out with them... And the time in which the Sons of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years" (12:37,38,40). If this number is taken literally, then total strength Israelis at the time of the exodus exceeded a million people. Meanwhile, according to historians, the population of all of Egypt barely numbered a few million. Famous biblical archaeologist Flinders Petrie noted that the Hebrew word "eleph" (thousand) also means family or "inhabitants of one tent." In this case, according to Petrie's calculations, there were about five thousand Israelis. Sokhof is nothing else than the frontier fortress of Sekou, located east of Goshen ("the land of Raamses"). The number of years of Israel's stay in Egypt coincides with the period that passed from the time of the Hyksos (c. 1700) to Ramesses II and Merneptah (XIII century).

Exodus 12:38 contains an indication that rebels from other tribes joined the Israelites and joined their stream. Subsequently, these foreigners were called "gerim" (strangers), and the Law of Moses protected their rights (Ex 22:21; 23:9).

The closest route to Canaan was the road that a hundred years later was called Philistine . It led northeast along mediterranean sea. But just along it, the troops of the Syrians who rebelled against Egypt and the "peoples of the sea" (among them the Philistines), who recently invaded the Canaanite coast, were moving. Therefore, Moses led the crowds of fugitives to the southeast, to the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe present Suez Canal. On their way there was a reservoir, called in the Bible Yam Suf - "Sea of ​​Reeds". This is how the Egyptians called the chain of salt lakes, which in the south adjoined the Red Sea (in Greek and Russian translations, Yam Suf is simply called the Red, glorious Black Sea).

The holy writer, speaking of the exodus, emphasizes the spiritual meaning of what happened. He does not just talk about the flight of slaves, but announces the gospel of God the Savior. Outwardly insignificant is being done, but for St. history is a great event: the Lord delivers and builds up His people, His Church. In Book. Isaiah's teaching about the outcome as a creative act acquires the features of a mystical providence. Revealing Himself, the Lord grants new life and liberation. “And you will know the truth,” Christ will say, “and the truth will make you free” (Jn 8:32). An indication that the Lord Himself dwells among those who have gained freedom are the pillars of cloud and fire (cloud and fire are biblical symbols of Theophany).

The persecution of Israel by the Egyptian army is a completely natural fact: the authorities did not want to lose the labor force, which they constantly needed. There are reports of the pursuit of two or three slaves (KhDV. 1980, p. 103), all the more it was to be expected when several thousand people fled. In view of the hostilities in the East, Pharaoh's cavalry was ready and rushed after the Sons of Israel.

The early stories (I and E) say that Yahweh terrified the Egyptians (14:24-25). In addition, “the Lord drove the sea with a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land” (14:21). The enemy's chariots dragged along with difficulty, probably bogged down in the coastal sand, until the new rushing water overwhelmed them. Whatever natural causes were at work at that moment, they were a saving miracle that amazed the Israelites and inspired their faith in Moses and his God (see Ps 135).

The priestly legend supplements the story with a majestic picture of the procession of the people of God on a dry bottom between two walls of parted water. The rod of Moses, the messenger of Yahweh, as it were, rules over the elements, opening the way to freedom.

The Easter story ends with a hymn of thanksgiving to Moses and his sister, the prophetess Miriam (15). Comparison of the hymn with Canaanite poetry shows that it is one of the oldest in the Bible. Some of his verses (14-15) point to the period of Joshua, but the basis of the hymn, especially the main refrain (v. 21), undoubtedly came from the era of the exodus. This song is read and sung at the service of Great Saturday, which precedes the New Testament Pascha, deliverance from slavery to sin. In the early Christian Church, Easter was the day of mass baptism, and the reading of the Book. The Exodus resurrected the ancient prototype of the mystery of the water and the Spirit.

Note. The song of Moses (v. 17) speaks of "the mountain of thy possessions." Some interpreters believed that here we are talking about the temple Mount Zion and on this basis attributed Exodus 15 to the royal era. But, as it was established later, the "mountain" in the East meant the seat of the Deity in general. In particular, Sinai was considered such a sacred place (cf. Deut 33:2; 1 Kings 19:8; Habak 3:3).

8. Way to Sinai (15:22-18:27). For three months, the Israelis are moving south along the coast of the Red Sea. After the fertile land of Egypt, being in the desert seems unbearable to them. They constantly complain about Moses, who led them to these lifeless places. The carnal weakness of the Old Testament Church at the beginning of its existence is, as it were, reminded of the three temptations of Christ in the wilderness. While Israel demanded bread, fell into disbelief and was tempted by the cult of foreign gods, the God-man, the Head of the New Testament Church, "the new Israel", rejected these temptations. It should be emphasized that, in answering the tempter, the Lord cites three passages from the Book of Moses (Deut. 6; 8:3; 13:16). The Orthodox theologian M. M. Tareev believed that the entire history of the Church should be considered in the light of these temptations.

Condescending to the unbelieving, God shows them His help: the waters of the oasis of Merra lose their bitterness, manna saturates travelers, flocks of migratory quails give them meat. As many interpreters believe, the manna, never seen by the Jews, was the frozen juice of tamarisk, which fell to the ground in the form of grains (it still serves as food for the Bedouins). In biblical symbolism, manna means the heavenly bread that nourishes the faithful. This bread for the body is a type of the "Bread of Life" reviving the spirit (John 6:58). The legend of the disappearance of the manna on the Sabbath emphasizes the need to observe the sacred day of rest. In Ex 16:33, the sacred meaning of manna is noted, reminding us that the Lord feeds His people.

In the region of Refidim, near Horeb, the first military clash between Israel and the Amalek Bedouins, who considered themselves the masters of these places, took place. The prayer of Moses during the battle shows that it is not human strength, but the protection of God that protects the Old Testament Church.

There, at Horeb, Moses is met by his father-in-law Jethro. The first sacrifice to Yahweh is offered by his hands. This, as we have already seen, reflected the important (albeit now insufficiently clear) role of the Kenite priest in the Israelite religion. At the initiative of Jethro, Moses puts leaders over the people who are supposed to “judge” them, that is, to do justice. This civil institution gives Israel the foundations rights , which will later be developed in the Code of Laws of the Pentateuch.

No healthy society can exist without law. The law is the necessary regulator public life. He opposes power - the tyranny of the king and the anarchy of the mob. Therefore, legal statutes will be placed in the Torah next to the commandments. And although the legal norms of the Mosaic legislation have now lost their relevance, the very idea of ​​legality and law retains its value.

Review questions

1. What is the place of Moses and the Exodus in church tradition?

2. What is the main content, character and meaning of the book of Exodus?

3. From what two perspectives should the miracles of the Exodus be viewed?

4. What events took place in Egypt while Israel was there?

5. List three key facts about Israel's life in Goshen.

6. What led to the oppression of the Israelites by Pharaoh?

7. Who was supposed to be the pharaoh of the Exodus?

8. What does Exodus tell about the birth and childhood of Moses?

9. What does his name mean, and what might his upbringing have been like?

10. Describe the events of Moses' life before his call.

11. Outline the role of Jethro in the life of Moses.

12. What does the “burning bush” symbolize?

13. What is special about a prophetic calling?

14. What were Moses' doubts, and what did the Lord answer him?

15. What is the meaning of St. Name of God?

16. How is Ex 4:24-26 interpreted?

17. Determine the nature of the legend about the "plagues of Egypt." What is its meaning?

18. What does Pharaoh's "hardness" indicate?

19. What is the attitude of the people towards Moses?

20. What was the meaning of the ancient feast of the shepherds, and how was it rethought in the Feast of Passover?

21. What are the elements of the Passover meal?

22. How did this meal affect the Eucharist?

23. What is the meaning of the miraculous passage through the sea?

24. Describe Israel's journey to Sinai. What are the temptations of the people in the wilderness?

25. What is the meaning of giving manna?

26. What was the significance of the beginning of the legal order in the OT Church?

The foundation of all religion rests on our relationship to God as our Creator, and it is only fitting that the book of divine revelations, which was to be our guide, support, and rule of religion in this world, begins likewise with a simple and full description creation of the world in response to the first question of good conscience: "... where is God, my Creator?" (Job 35:10). In this matter, the pagan philosophers are grossly mistaken, being superficial in their ideas. Some declare the eternity of the world and its self-existence, others - about a random combination of atoms. Thus the world, by its wisdom, did not know God, but made great efforts to lose Him. That's why holy scripture Desiring to preserve and improve natural religion with the help of revealed religion, to restore it from extinction and correct its shortcomings from the moment of the fall in order to revive the precepts of the law of nature, first expounds this principle of the cloudless light of nature. He says that this world from the beginning of time was created by the Personality of infinite wisdom and power, which existed before the beginning of time and worlds. Familiarity with God's word sheds this light (Ps. 119:130). The first verse of the Bible gives us a more reliable and excellent, more satisfactory and useful knowledge of the origin of the universe than all the volumes of philosophers. The living faith of humble Christians understands this matter better than the lofty imagination of the greatest minds, Heb. 11:3.

This chapter gives (I) the general idea of ​​the creation process (vv. 1, 2).

(II) An accurate description of the affairs done on individual days, clearly and in a certain order recorded in the diary. Creation of light on the first day (vv. 3-5);

firmament - on the second day (vv. 6-8);

the sea, the earth, and its fruits, on the third day (vv. 9-13);

the light of heaven on the fourth day (vv. 14-19);

fish and birds on the fifth day (vv. 20-23);

creatures (vv. 24-25), man (vv. 26-28), and food for both on the sixth day (vv. 29-30).

III. Review and praise of the whole cause (v. 31).

Verses 1-2. These verses present the work of creation in its summary and incipient state.

I. In its summary (v. 1), where, to our own consolation, we find the first article of our religion, which says that God the Father Almighty is the Creator of heaven and earth, and in such a God we believe.

1. Notice four points in this verse:

(1) The result of the work done - God created heaven and earth, that is, the world, including the structure and contents of the universe - the world and everything in it (Acts 17:24). The world is a big house, consisting of the upper and lower floors. Its structure is stable and majestic, uniform and habitable, and each room is well and wisely furnished. Here Moses sought to describe his visible part, so he does not mention the creation of angels. But the earth has not only a surface adorned with grass and flowers, but also an interior enriched with metals and precious stones (which include most of its solid nature and are more valuable, although their creation is not mentioned here). Therefore, the heavens are not only adorned for our eyes outwardly visible shining lamps, the creation of which we read here, but also inwardly filled with glorious creations, which we cannot see, more heavenly, striking and surpassing them in dignity and excellence in the same degree as gold and sapphires are superior to lilies of the field. In the visible world it is very easy to observe the great multitude various kinds creations that are vastly different in nature and structure from each other. How many are Your works, O Lord, and how good!

For great beauty. The azure sky and the verdant earth captivate the eye of a curious observer, their decoration is much more striking. Then how excellent must be the beauty of the Creator!

For the greatest accuracy and consistency. To those who, with the help of a microscope, have the opportunity to carefully consider the works of nature, they turn out to be much more beautiful than any works of art.

For great power. The world is not a pile of dead and inactive matter, but every creation has a driving force to a greater or lesser extent; the earth itself has a magnetic force.

Behind the great order and interconnection of creations, behind the exact harmony of their movements, behind the admirable connection between causes.

Behind the great secret. Nature has a phenomenon that cannot be solved, mysteries that cannot be measured and explained. But based on what we see in heaven and on earth, we can easily draw a conclusion about the eternal power and trinity of the great Creator, and thus provide ourselves with many topics for His praise. And may our creation and placement as human beings remind us, as Christians, of our duty to always have heaven before our eyes and earth under our feet.

The presence of several persons in the Trinity - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The plural name of God in Hebrew speaks of Him as many persons, although He is one, and for the Gentiles, perhaps, it was a smell of death unto death, hardening them in idolatry, and for us, a fragrant smell to life, confirming our doctrine of The Trinity, which, although vaguely mentioned in the Old Testament, is clearly revealed in the New. The Son of God - the eternal Word and Wisdom of the Father - was with Him at the creation of the world (Prov. 8:31), moreover, Scripture often says that the world was created by Him, and nothing was created without His participation (John 1:3,10 ; Eph 3:9; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2). Oh, what lofty thoughts this must form in our minds about that great God to whom we approach in religious worship, and about that great Mediator in whose name we approach!

(3.) The manner in which the work was done: "God created heaven and earth," that is, made them out of nothing. There was no pre-creation material from which they were made. Of course, birds and fish were created from water, and creatures and man from earth, but earth and water were created from nothing. By the law of the ordinary forces of nature it is impossible to create something out of nothing; no craftsman can work until he has something to work on. But it is not only possible for the almighty power of God to create something out of nothing (since the God of nature is not obliged to obey the laws of nature), but it is also impossible for the creation to be the other way around, since there is nothing more offensive to the honor of the Eternal Mind than the assumption of the existence of an eternal substance. Thus the superiority of the power of God is shown, and all glory must be his.

(4) When this work was done: at the beginning, that is, at the beginning of time, when the clock was first started. Time began to exist from the moment when those creations that were measured by time were created. Before the beginning of time, there was nothing but the Infinite Personality who inhabited eternity. If we asked God why He did not create the world earlier, then with our illiterate words we would only darken the intention, for how can it be earlier or later in eternity? He created it at the beginning of time according to His eternal purposes, which originated before the beginning of time. Jewish rabbis say that before the creation of the world, God created only seven things: the law, repentance, heaven, hell, the throne of glory, the house of the sanctuary, and the name of the Messiah. But it is enough for us to say, “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1).

2. Therefore, let us learn that (1) atheism is foolishness, and atheists are the greatest fools in nature, for they see a world that could not make itself, and do not acknowledge the existence of a God who created it. They certainly have no excuse, as the god of this world has blinded their minds.

(2) God is the almighty Lord of all by indisputable right. Since He is the Creator, He is undoubtedly the owner and proprietor of heaven and earth.

(3) With God all things are possible, and therefore blessed are those who have him as their God, whose help and hope are in his name (Ps. 121:2; 1 3:8).

(4) The God we serve is worthy of our service and at the same time exalted beyond all praise and glory (Neh. 9:5,6). If He created the world, He does not need or benefit from our ministries (Acts 17:24, 25), but at the same time He rightly demands them and deserves our praise (Rev. 4:11). If everything comes from Him, then everything must belong to Him.

II. This is how creation is presented in its infancy (v. 2), where the first substance and the first moving force are described.

1. Disorder, chaos was the first substance. Here it is called earth (although the earth was not really created until the third day, v. 10), because it resembled most of all what was later called earth, simple earth, devoid of all ornaments, which was a great heavy mass. It is also called the abyss because of the vast space it occupies and the waters with which it was mixed and which were subsequently separated from the earth. And from this boundless mass of matter, later, by the power of the Eternal Word, all bodies, firmaments and visible heavens were created. The Creator could have done His work flawlessly from the very beginning, but by His gradual actions He demonstrated the usual method of working His providence and grace. Pay attention to the description of this chaos.

(1.) There was nothing attractive in it, for the earth was formless and empty. Toho and Bohu - ruin and destruction - this is how these words are interpreted (Isaiah 34:11). It was formless and useless, inhabited by no one, without ornaments, gloomy, uninhabited, without images of things to come and the very images of things (Heb. 10:1). Now the earth has almost returned to the same state because of the sin of man, from which creation groans. “I beheld the earth, and behold, it was desolate and empty…” (see Jer 4:23). For those whose hearts are in heaven, this lower world, in comparison with the higher, has remained ruin and destruction. Can't be seen on this earth true beauty and enjoy a satisfying fullness. All this can only be found in God.

(2) If there was anything pleasing to the eye in this chaos, there was still no light to be seen, for darkness, thick darkness, was over the abyss. God did not create this darkness (in the sense that Scripture speaks of His creation of darkness and disaster, Isaiah 45:7), because there was simply no light, which also was not needed, until there were objects that could be seen from help him. Light was not needed, and there was no need to complain about its absence, since there was nothing to see except disorder and emptiness. If the work of grace done in the soul is a new creation, then such chaos represents the state of the unregenerate, graceless soul. Disorder, confusion and evil deeds reign in it; there is no good deed in it, since there is no God in it either; it is gloomy and represents darkness. This is the state we have by nature until almighty grace brings about a blessed change.

2. The Spirit of God was the first driving force. He floated over the water. When we think about the land without form and empty, then a picture of a valley filled with dead and dry bones arises. Can they live? Can this chaotic mass of matter be formed into a beautiful world? Yes, if the spirit of life from God enters into him (Ezekiel 37:9). Therefore, we have the hope that since God began the work and continues it, then who or what can hinder Him? Scripture says that God created the world by His Spirit (Ps 32:6; Job 26:13) and a new creation is created by the same mighty power. He hovered over the abyss as Elijah stretched himself over dead child like a bird gathers her chicks under her wings and covers them with them to warm and caress (Mat 23:37), like an eagle calls her nest, hovers over her chicks (Deut 32:11). From here, know that God is not only the creator of our being, but the source of life and movement. Dead matter will always remain dead unless He makes it alive, and this encourages us to believe that God will raise the dead, and that the power that was able to create this world from disorder, emptiness and darkness at the beginning of time will be able to bring out our vicious bodies at the end of time. out of the grave (though it is a land of darkness... where there is no device, where it is dark as darkness itself, Job 10:22) and make them glorified.

Verses 3-5. In these verses there is a further description of the first day of creation, in which we see, (1.) That the first of all visible creatures God made light, but not in order to be able to see by it (for darkness and light are identical to him). but that by the light we may see his works and his glory in them, that we may labor while it is day. The works of Satan and his servants are the works of darkness, but He who does truth and good goes to the light and thirsts for it, that his works may be manifested (John 3:21). Light is a great beauty and a blessing to the universe. As the first-born, in comparison with all other visible creations, he is most like the great Parent in purity and strength, brightness and charity. It is very similar to the spirit, because through it we see other things and are sure of its existence, but we do not know its nature and cannot describe it or tell in what way the light is shed (Job 38:19, 24). May the light guide us and help us to see with faith Him Who is Himself light, the infinite and eternal light (1 John 1:5), to see the Father of lights (James 1:17), who dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16). The first work done in the soul of the new creation is light; the blessed Spirit will captivate the will and the senses, enlightening the understanding, and entering the heart through the door, like the good shepherd to whom the sheep belong, while sin and Satan, like thieves and robbers, make their way in another way. He who, through sin, was darkness, through grace became the light of the world.

(2) That the light was created by the word of God's power. He said, "Let there be light"; He wished and commanded him - and the light immediately appeared. And the light became exactly in the form that corresponded to the original idea of ​​the Eternal Mind. Oh, the power of the word of God! He said, - and it happened, really happened, effectively, forever; He not only put on a show so that the light would serve for some time, but He commanded, and it appeared; He had dictum, factum, the word and the world. The peace of God (i.e. His will and enjoyment of it) is swift and powerful. Christ is the Word, the fundamental eternal Word, by which light was produced, for in Him was light and He was the true Light, the light of the world (John 1:9; 9:5). The divine light that shines in the sanctified soul is created by the power of God, by the power of His word, and by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, which opens the understanding, dispels the accumulations of ignorance and error, and gives knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ, who in the beginning commanded the light to shine out of darkness (2 Corinthians 4). :6). Darkness would have covered the face of fallen man forever if the Son of God had not come and given us light and understanding (1 John 5:20).

(3.) That God approved of the produced light that He desired: "And God saw the light that it was good..." It was exactly what He desired, and fit the purpose for which it was intended. Light was useful and beneficial; the world that is now a palace was a prison without him. The light was friendly and pleasant. Truly sweet is the light (Eccl. 11:7), it gladdens the heart (Prov. 15:30). What God commands, He will approve and graciously accept; He will rejoice in the work of His hands. The good is that which is such in the eyes of God, for He sees differently than man. If light is good, how good is He who is the source of light, from whom we receive it, and to whom we are obliged to give praise for it and for all the services we do thanks to it!

(4) What did God separate the light from the darkness, that is, place them far apart, so that they would never unite or be reconciled, for what has light to do with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14). At the same time, He divided time between them, designating the day for light and the night for darkness, so that they would regularly follow each other. Although now the darkness was dispelled by the light, God did not condemn it to eternal exile, but decided to alternate it with the light and give it a certain place, since it too was useful; for as the morning light assists in the cares of the day, so the evening shade assists in the rest of the night; she lowers the curtain around us so that we can sleep better (see Job 7:2). God divided time between light and darkness in this way to remind us that this world is a mixture and change. There is perfect and constant light in heaven, and there is no darkness at all; absolute darkness reigns in hell and there is not even a glimmer of light; and in that world a great chasm is established between them. But in this world they are constantly changing, and every day we move from one to another, in order to learn to expect the vicissitudes of God's providence - peace and disaster, joy and sorrow - and could balance one with the other, adapting to both, as we do it is about light and darkness, welcoming them and making the best use of them.

(5) That God separated one from the other by different names; God called the light day and the darkness night. He gave them names, being Lord of both, for "Your day and Your night" (Ps 73:16). He is the Lord of times, and so it will be until day and night cease, and the stream of time is swallowed up by the ocean of eternity. Let us then acknowledge that God has ordained a perpetual change of day and night, and consecrate both to His honor, working for Him every day and resting in Him every night, meditating on His law day and night.

(6) That this was the first day of creation, and on that day good job. And there was evening and there was morning: one day. The darkness of the evening preceded the morning light and served as a contrast to it, in order to emphasize it favorably and make it shine brighter. It was not only the first day of the created world, but also the first day of the week. I paid attention to this to honor this day, because new world began likewise on the first day of the week early in the morning at the resurrection of Christ, the light of the world. In Him the fountain of light from above visited this world; and we can consider ourselves forever happy if this morning star has risen in our heart.

Verses 6-8. These verses describe the second day of creation, when the firmament was created, and we can read (1) God's command regarding it: "... let there be a firmament ..." - a space (emphasizes the Hebrew meaning of this word), similar to a spread sheet or a straightened curtain. This refers to all visible objects located above the earth, between it and the third heaven - the atmosphere, its upper, middle and lower spheres - the celestial globe, all celestial spheres of the highest light. This firmament reaches to those heights where the stars are located, since in Scripture it is called the firmament of heaven (v. 14, 15), and descends to the lower spheres where birds fly, since it is also called the firmament of heaven (v. 20). When God created light, he commanded the atmosphere to be a repository and a vehicle for its rays - to be a means of communication between the invisible and visible worlds, for although there is an incomprehensible distance between heaven and earth, nevertheless it is not an insurmountable abyss that exists between heaven and hell. This firmament is not a wall of separation, but a wall of fellowship (see Job 26:7; 37:18; Ps 105:3; Amos 9:6).

(2) About her creation. In order not to create an opinion that God only commanded, but someone else created, He adds: “And God created the firmament ...” What God requires of us, He first works out in us, or it will not be done. He who commanded to have faith, holiness and love creates them by the power of His grace, which accompanies His word, in order to have all the praise. Lord, give what You command, and then command whatever You please. Scripture says that the firmament is the work of the fingers of God (Ps 8:4). Although its vast length announces that it is the work of His outstretched arm, yet the attractive beauty of its structure demonstrates that this work of art is the work of His fingers.

(3) Of its purpose and usefulness: "... let it separate water from water," that is, it distinguishes between the waters rolled up in the clouds and those that fill the ocean, the waters in the atmosphere and the waters on the earth. Note that the distinction between the two is carefully observed (Deuteronomy 11:10, 11), and in this sense Canaan is given precedence over Egypt, for Egypt was drunk and made fruitful by the waters that were under the firmament, while Canaan was watered by the waters. from the firmament of heaven, even the dew of heaven, which does not depend on man (Micah 5:7). In the firmament of His power, God has chambers and storehouses from which He waters the earth (Ps 103:13; 64:10,11). He also has storehouses of snow and treasures of hail, which he keeps for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war (Job 38:22,23). How great is God, who is concerned about comfort for all who serve Him, and about ruin for all who hate Him! It is good to have Him as a friend, and it is bad to have Him as an enemy.

(4) As God called it: "And God called the firmament heaven." This visible heaven is the pavement for the holy city. Scripture says that above this firmament God sits on his throne (Ezekiel 1:26), as he prepared it in heaven; therefore the heavens are said to reign (Dan. 4:23). Is not God higher than the heavens? (Job 22:12). Of course, the contemplation of the visible heavens should induce us to think about the Heavenly Father. The height of the heavens should remind us of the superiority of God, of the infinite distance between Him and us; the brightness and purity of heaven should remind us of his glory, majesty, and perfect holiness; the vast expanse of the heavens, and the fact that they surround and influence the earth, should remind us of His immensity and His all-round providence.

Verses 9-13. These verses describe the third day of creation - the formation of the sea and land, the earth becomes fruitful. Until now, the power of the Creator has acted and been occupied by the highest part of the visible world: the light of heaven was kindled, the firmament of heaven was formed, and now He descends to this lower world, the earth, which was intended for the sons of men to be their dwelling place and provide everything they need for life. And these verses describe how she becomes to meet these two requirements - how a house is built for them and a table is laid. Note:

I. How the waters were gathered and the dry land was made, that the earth might become a ready habitation for man. Note that now, instead of the disorder that reigned (v. 2), when earth and water were mixed together and made a great mass, there was order now, by a division between them beneficial to both elements. God said, "So be it, and it was so"; as soon as it was said, it happened.

1. The waters that covered the earth were ordered to recede and gather in one place, namely, in those depressions that were convenient for them and were intended for their rest. Similarly purified water, collected and placed in the right place, He called the seas. Although they are many and they are in remote areas, although they wash different banks, but at the same time under the earth or on its surface they are all united with each other and thus represent one whole - a repository of waters, where all rivers flow (Eccl 1 :7). In Scripture, waters and seas often symbolize trouble and suffering (Ps 41:8; 68:3,15,16). In this world, God's people do not avoid such difficulties, but their comfort lies in the fact that these are waters that are under heaven (there is no water in heaven), that they are all in the place that God has appointed for them, and within the limits that are approved for them. These verses gracefully describe how the waters were first gathered together, how they are kept to the present time within the same boundaries that the Most High originally assigned them, and are mentioned in Ps 104:6-9 as a subject of praise. Those who go to sea in ships should recognize and thank the Creator every day for wisdom, strength and mercy, manifested in the fact that the great waters serve man in his trade and commerce; but those who sit at home must consider themselves indebted to Him who keeps the sea within its bounds and gates, and subdues the haughty waves, Job 38:10,11.

2. Dry land emerged from the waters and was called earth; He gave the land to the sons of men. It seems that the land existed before, but it was useless, as it was under water. Thus, many gifts received from God are useless, as they remain buried. Find them and they will be useful. We who enjoy the goodness of the land to this day (although since then it has once been sunk and dried up again), must recognize ourselves as its tenants, completely dependent on God, whose hands formed the land (Ps. 95:5; Jonah 1:9).

II. How the earth was arranged for human habitation and support (vv. 11, 12). In obedience to God's command, the earth immediately brought forth fruits for the provision of life and became fruitful, growing grass for livestock and greenery useful for man. The Lord also took care to provide for the future by keeping a constant inheritance of various kinds of vegetables, which were numerous, different from each other and unusual, producing seed according to their kind, so that during his life on earth, for his own good, man could take food from the earth. Lord, what is a person that You visit and care for him? What care is taken of him and what provision is made for the preservation and maintenance of his guilty and reprehensible life, which he might have lost a thousand times over! Observe here, (1.) That not only the earth belongs to the Lord, but also its fullness, for he is its rightful owner, and can distribute not only itself, but what is in it. The earth was empty (v. 2), but now, by the spoken word, it was filled with God's riches, which are still his, my bread and my wine...my wool and my flax (Hos. 2:9). Although we are allowed to use them, God still owns them and they are to be used for His service and honor.

(2.) That common providence is a process of continual creation, and our Father is still doing. The earth continues to obey His commands, producing grass, greenery, an annual harvest; and although, in accordance with the ordinary course of nature, these phenomena cannot be called miracles, at the same time they are constant examples of the indefatigable power and inexhaustible mercy of the great Creator and Lord of the world.

(3) Although God generally uses the action of secondary factors according to their nature, at the same time He does not need or attach himself to them, since although the precious fruits of the earth are usually produced by the influence of the sun and moon (Deuteronomy 33:14), at the same time time we find that the earth produced a great quantity of fruit, perhaps ripened before the creation of the sun and moon.

(4.) That it is better to take care of the necessities before they were able to use them: before the beasts and man were created, grass and greenery were prepared for them. Thus God has acted wisely and graciously toward man, so let man not be reckless and foolish toward himself.

(5.) That God should have glory for all the good we get from the fruits of the earth, either for food or for healing. Whoever hears heaven will hear earth also (Hos. 2:21,22). And if by grace we long for the One who is the source, then even when the streams dry up and the fig tree does not bloom, we can rejoice in Him.

Verses 14-19. These verses tell the story of the fourth day, when the sun, moon, and stars were created. A description is given of their creation, not in themselves as luminaries and their nature, to satisfy our curiosity, but in their interaction with the earth, which they were to serve as luminaries. This alone is enough to give us cause for praise and thanksgiving. St. Job mentions this as an example of the glorious power of God, who by the Spirit organized the heavens (Job 26:13), and in these verses we are given a description of their splendor, which not only adorns the world above, but is in great measure a blessing to the below, and although the heavens are high, they show respect to the earth, and therefore she must show respect to them. These verses describe the creation of the heavenly bodies:

I. In general (v. 14, 15), where (1.) The command is given concerning them, "Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven." Earlier God said, "Let there be light" (v. 3). And there was light, but it was a chaos of light scattered everywhere in disorder. Now he was collected and formed into several luminaries, thus becoming more illustrious and useful. God is the God of order, not chaos, and since He is light, He is the Father and Creator of the luminaries. These luminaries were supposed to be located in the firmament of heaven - that vast space that surrounds the earth and is visible to everyone, for no one, having lit a candle, covers it with a vessel, but puts it on a candlestick (Luke 8:16), and the firmament of heaven is a stable golden candlestick, from where these candles send their light to everyone in the house. Scripture says that the firmament itself has its own light (Dan 12:3), but it is not enough to give light to the earth. And perhaps for this reason, at the end of the second day, when the firmament of heaven was created, it was not clearly stated that it was good, until on the fourth day it was adorned with luminaries and became useful to man.

(2) Their usefulness to the earth is spoken of.

They were supposed to serve to distinguish between time, day and night, winter and summer, which follow each other depending on the movement of the sun, whose rising makes day and setting - night, approaching the tropics - summer, and moving away from them - winter. Thus, under the sun there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

They should serve to direct action, being signs of a change in the weather, so that the tiller may plan his actions with understanding, predicting by the appearance of the sky (when the secondary causes begin to work) the weather - whether it will be fine or unpleasant (Mt. 16:2, 3). They must also shine on the earth so that we can walk (John 11:9) and work (John 9:4) according to the requirements of each day. The heavenly luminaries do not shine for themselves or the world of higher spirits, which do not need them. They shine for us, for our benefit and pleasure. Lord, what is a man that You care about him so much! (Ps 8:3,4). How ungrateful and inexcusable we are if, after God has made the luminaries for our work, we sleep, amuse ourselves, waste the time meant for work, and neglect the great work for which we were sent into the world! The heavenly bodies are created to serve us, and they do it in good faith, shining at the right time without fail. And we are created as luminaries in this world to serve God, but do we in this way correspond to the purpose of our creation? No, our light does not shine before God as His lights shine before us (Mt 5:14). We burn our Master's candles without thinking of the work He has entrusted.

II. In particular (vv. 16-18).

1. Note, The luminaries of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars, are the work of the hands of God.

(1) The sun is the largest luminary of them all; it is more than a million times larger than the earth; it is more glorified and useful among all heavenly bodies, being a noble example of the wisdom, power and mercy of the Creator and a priceless blessing for the creatures of this lower world. Let us learn (see Ps. 18:2-7) to give God the glory worthy of His name, as the Maker of the sun.

(2) The moon is a lesser luminary, but it is also considered one of the great luminaries; and although, because of her size and borrowed light, she is inferior in rank to many stars, at the same time, because of her office, which governs the night, and her usefulness to the earth, she surpasses them. The most valuable are those who are most useful, and the greatest luminaries are not those who have the greatest gifts, but who humbly and faithfully do the good that is in their power. Whoever wants to be great among you, let him be your servant (Matthew 20:26).

(3) He also made the stars, which are here spoken of as objects open to the naked eye, without distinction into planets and fixed stars according to their number, nature, position, magnitude, motion, or influence, for the Scripture was not written to to satisfy our curiosity and make us astronomers, but to lead us to God and make us saints. These luminaries were made to rule (v. 16, 18);

this means that they were not to have supreme dominion as God, but to be His governing representatives, subject to Him. The lesser luminary, the moon, was supposed to rule the night, but in Psalm 135:9 the stars are mentioned with the moon to rule the night: "The moon and the stars to rule the night." They were only to light at night (Jer. 31:35). The best and most honorable way of government is to give light and do good, and this command is respected by those who shine like a lamp and whose life is useful to others.

2. Learn from all this, (1.) The sinfulness and folly of ancient idolatry, when men worshiped the sun, moon, and stars; it is believed by some to originate, or at least take the form of some forgotten tradition of the patriarchal times concerning the government and dominion of the heavenly bodies. The description given here shows that they were both God's creatures and servants of man, and therefore such idolatry, when man makes deities of them and gives them divine honors, is a great insult to God and a great reproach to man (see Deut. 4:19). ).

(2.) That we are wise to do our duty and worship God daily, who created all things and made his creatures for us what they are. The change of day and night obliges us to offer a solemn sacrifice of prayer and praise every morning and every evening.

Verses 20-23. Until now, each day has produced noble and excellent creations that we can never fully admire. But we did not read about the creation of any living creature until the fifth day, as these verses relate. The work of creation not only flowed smoothly from one creation to the next, but also gradually moved from a less perfect creation to a more perfect one, teaching us to strive for perfection and make efforts to make the last works our best works. On the fifth day the fish and birds were created; both are created from water. Although the flesh of fish and birds is different, at the same time they were created together and from water, since the First Cause can create different creations from the same secondary causes. Notice, 1. First, the creation of fish and birds (v. 20, 21). God commanded them to happen. He said: "... let the water bring forth abundantly ..."; this does not mean that water has its own productive power, but let living creatures be created from it - fish in the water and birds flying over it. He himself spoke this command - God created large fish, etc. Perhaps insects, of which there are so many varieties and as many in number as other animals, and the structure is as interesting, were created on the same day; some associate them with fish, others with birds. I remember Mr. Boyle saying that he admired the wisdom and power of the Creator in both the ant and the elephant. Here attention is drawn to the various kinds of fish and birds, which belonged to a certain species and had a certain number of created individuals, since the water produced them abundantly. The creation of great whales is especially noted - the largest fish, whose mass and strength exceeded the strength and mass of any animal, which is a wonderful proof of the strength and greatness of the Creator. There is an emphatic remark about the whale here (more than about anyone else), it seems, in order to define what animal is referred to by the name of the leviathan (Job 41:1). The skillful construction of the bodies of animals, their different sizes, shapes and natures, together with the admirable power of sensual life with which they are endowed, with due consideration, serve not only to stifle and shame atheists and unbelievers for their objections, but also to revive in the pious and pious souls high thoughts and high praise to God (Ps 103:25, etc.).

(2) On their blessing for further duration. Life is a dwindling thing. Her strength is not like the strength of stones. This is a candle that will burn out if it is not blown out first. Therefore, the great Creator not only created individuals, but also took care of the reproduction of various species. God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply (v. 22). God will bless His own work, and will not forsake it; whatever God does endures forever (Ecclesiastes 3:14). The power of God's providence preserves all creation to the same degree that His creative power first produced them. Fruitfulness is the result of God's blessing and should be attributed to Him. The annual breeding of birds and fish is also the fruit of His blessings. Therefore, let us give God glory for the continuity of the generation of these creatures until this day for the good of man (see Job 12:7,9). It is a pity that catching fish and birds (an innocent pastime in itself) is sometimes abused as a distraction from God and one's duty, when they can be used to lead us to reflect on the wisdom, power and goodness of the One who created these creatures. , and encourage us to stand in awe of Him, as birds and fish do to us.

Verses 24-25. In these verses we are presented with the first part of the creations made on the sixth day. The day before, the sea was filled with fish, birds were now flying in the sky, and on this day the creatures of the earth were created: cattle and crawling creatures related to the earth. On this day, as before, (1) the Lord said, "Let the earth bring forth...", but this did not mean that the earth had the capacity to produce animals, or that God had decided to impart to it His power to create; these words mean: “Let these creatures arise now to dwell on the earth; let them sprout from her, their respective species, consistent with each other and with the divine plans for their creation.

(2) He also did this work; He created them all according to their kind, not only giving them different appearance, but also a different nature, behavior, food and lifestyle. Some were made tame and attached to a person, others were wild and lived in nature. Some fed on grass and greenery, others on flesh; some were harmless, others greedy; some were bold, others fearful; some served man, but were not suitable for food (such as a horse), others were grown for food, but did not serve man (such as sheep), some were suitable for both (such as an ox) ;

and the third were not suitable for either one or the other ( wild animals). In all this, the wisdom of the Creator is manifested and proclaimed.

Verses 26-28. These verses describe the creation of man, who was also created on the sixth day, to which we must pay special attention in order to know ourselves. Note:

I. Man was created last of all creation, so that there would be no suspicion that he was in any way helping God to create the world. The question, "Where were you, or your kind, when I laid the foundations of the earth?" (Job 38:4) must humble and mortify him. Nevertheless, the creation of man last was a manifestation of honor and favor towards him - honor, since creation proceeded from less to more perfect, and favor, since it would not be good to place him in his intended place until it was fully prepared for him. and equipped with everything necessary for his salvation. As soon as man was created, all visible creations were placed before him so that he could look and be comforted. Man was created on the same day as the creatures, since his body was created from the same earth as their bodies, and while he is in the body, he inherits the same earth with them. God forbids us to indulge our bodies and their desires, so that we do not make ourselves like a creature that will perish!

II. The creation of man was a more significant and outstanding act of divine wisdom than the creation of other creations. These events are described with some solemnity and obvious difference from the rest. Until now, only “Let there be light,” “Let there be a firmament,” and “Let water or earth bring forth…” has been said, but now the command is more like a meeting: “Let's create a man for whom all other creations were created. We must take this matter into our own hands." On previous occasions he spoke as having authority, but here as having feelings, whose joy was with the sons of men, Prov. 8:31. This seemed to be the work He was eager to do, saying, "Finally done with the preparations, let's get on with the real thing now, let's make a man." Man had to be different from all creatures created before him. Flesh and spirit, heaven and earth were to be united in him, and he was to have common features with them. So God not only takes upon himself to do this work, but He likes to pretend that He has gathered a council to think about it: "Let's make a man." The three persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—consult and cooperate on this, for man had to be faithful and consecrated to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we, having a good foundation, are baptized into this name, because thanks to this great name we exist. Let the man be ruled by the One who said: "... let us make a man ..."

III. Man was created in the image and likeness of God. The words "image" and "likeness" express the same thing, but at the same time make each other more expressive. They signify the identical image and the closest possible resemblance of any of the visible creations. Man was not like any creature created before him, but was like his Creator; at the same time, God and man are separated by a great distance. Only Christ is the expression of the image of the Personality of Godhead, as the Son of His Father, who has the same nature. And only some of God's honors are conferred on a person who is God's image to the same extent as a reflection in a mirror or an image of a king on a coin. The image of God imprinted in man includes three moments.

1. His nature and constitution, but not the body (since God has no body), but the nature and constitution of the soul. With this honor God bestowed upon the body of man, that the Word might become flesh, and that the Son of God might put on a body like ours; and soon He will clothe our bodies with glory like His glory. And we can say with certainty that He, with the help of whom God created the worlds, not only created the great world, but also man, small world, having formed the human body at the very beginning according to the destiny determined for Himself at the onset of the fullness of time. It is the human soul, the great soul, that bears God's image in a special way. The soul is a spirit, a rational immortal spirit, an active active spirit - it is similar to God, the Father of Spirits and the soul of the world. The lamp of the Lord is the spirit of man. The soul of man, considered in its three noble qualities—intelligence, will, and active power—is perhaps the purest and most radiant mirror in nature by which we can see God.

2. The place assigned to him and the authority given: "... let us make man in Our image, and let them rule." Since man was given the right to rule over the lower creatures, he is the representative or vicar of God on earth. The lower creatures cannot fear God and serve Him, therefore God commanded them to fear man and serve him. At the same time, his management of himself, based on freedom of choice, is more in line with God's image than his management of creatures.

3. His purity and virtue. The image of God imprinted in man is knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness (Eph 4:24; Col 3:10). God created man upright (Ecclesiastes 7:29). All of it natural forces had an innate likeness to the will of God. His mind saw divine things purely and correctly, and there was no error or error in his understanding. His will readily and comprehensively carried out the will of God without resistance or obstinacy. All his feelings were right, and he had no immoderate appetites or passions. His thoughts were easily directed and concentrated on the best objects, and among them there was neither fuss nor disorder. All lower forces obeyed the decrees and instructions of the higher ones without any discontent or rebellion. So holy and happy were our first parents, who bore the image of God. And the honor given to man in the beginning is a good explanation why we should not speak ill of one another (James 3:9) and act ill towards one another (Gen. 9:6). This also explains why we should not humiliate ourselves by indulging in sin, but should devote ourselves entirely to the service of God. But how did you fall, son of the dawn? How was the image of God imprinted on man erased? How little of it is left in man, and how much he has been damaged! The Lord renews this image in our souls with His sanctifying grace!

IV. Man was created male and female, and they were blessed to be fruitful and multiply. God said: "Let us make man" - and the action immediately followed: "And God created man." He did what was decided. For us, words and deeds are different things, but not for God. He created man and woman, Adam and Eve: first he created Adam from the earth, and then Eve from his rib (ch. 2). It seems that God created many pairs of different creatures, but didn’t he make one man? (Mal 2:15, Engl., KJV). There was a remnant of the Holy Spirit in man, and this fact is used by Christ as an argument against divorce (Mt 19:4,5). Our first father, Adam, had only one wife, and if he drove her out, he would have no one to marry; this clearly implies that the bond of marriage should not be broken for the sake of pleasure. Angels were not created male and female, since they were not commanded to increase their kind (Luke 20:34-36), and man was created of two sexes so that his kind would continue and his number would increase. Fire and candles - the lamps of this lower world - have the ability to flare up before dying out; but it is not so with the luminaries of heaven: the stars do not kindle the stars. God created only one representative of the male and female gender, so that all the peoples of the earth would know that one blood flows in them, that they come from one common tree, and this would encourage them to love each other. God, giving people the opportunity to transmit the nature they received, said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." He thereby gave them, (1.) A great inheritance, commanding them to fill the earth; she was given to the sons of men. They were created to dwell on all the face of the earth (Acts 17:26). This was the place that God appointed for man to be a servant of His providence in the management of the lower creatures; that he should be, as it were, the mind of this sphere, governing the bounty of God, thanks to which other creatures live, but which they do not know about; that he be the gatherer of his glory in this lower world, and lift it up into the storehouse of heaven (Ps. 145:10);

and finally, that it pass the fit test for the best condition.

(2) A large and long family. In order for her to enjoy this inheritance, God blessed her, and through this blessing, their offspring were to spread to the farthest corners of the earth and continue until the last time. Fertility and reproduction depend on God's blessing; thus, Obed-Edom had eight sons because God blessed him (1 Chronicles 26:5). Thanks to this blessing that God spoke at the beginning, humanity still exists and the generation passes and the generation comes.

V. The day God created man, He gave him dominion over the lower creatures—over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air. Although man does not care for them, he has power over them, and even more so over every animal that creeps on the earth, which he cares about, and they are all at his disposal. Thus God desired to honor man, so that he would feel more strongly his duty to honor his Creator. Because of the Fall, this dominion has been largely lost and diminished. At the same time, God's providence continues to provide the sons of men with everything necessary for their safety and existence, and God's grace gives the saints a greater and better right than dominion over creatures, which was defiled by sin, for everything belongs to us if we are Christ's (1 Corinthians 3: 22).

Verses 29-30. These verses represent the third part of the creations created on the sixth day, which were not new creations, but were only a manifestation of gracious care for food for all flesh (Ps 135:25). He who created man and beasts took special care of their safety (Ps. 35:7). Presented here:

I. Food for man (v. 29). His food was to be herbs and fruits, including bread and all the fruits of the earth. This was allowed to him, but not the flesh, which was allowed to eat only after the flood (Gen. 9:3). Before the flood, much more before the earth was cursed because of the fall of man, its fruits were undoubtedly more palatable and more strengthening and nourishing for the body than fat and oil, than all royal dishes in our time. Pay attention here:

(1.) What should humble us. Just as we were created from the earth, so we are sustained by it. There was a time when people ate angel food, heavenly bread, but they died (John 6:49), it was like food from the earth to them (Ps 103:14). But there is food that endures for eternal life, and the Lord gives it to us forever.

(2.) What should make us thankful. The Lord is concerned about our body; from Him we receive comfort and support in this life, and we should give thanks to Him. He gives us everything in abundance to make us rejoice, not only the most necessary, but also many delicacies and various comforts for beautiful life and enjoyment. What a great debt we owe to Him! How, as we live by God's bounty, we should be attentive to Him and give Him glory!

(3.) Which should make us moderate and content with our lot. Although Adam was given dominion over the birds and fishes, at the same time God limited his food to herbs and fruits, and the first man never complained about this. Although he subsequently coveted the forbidden fruit in order to obtain the promised wisdom and knowledge, at the same time we do not read anywhere that he coveted the forbidden flesh. If God gives us food to sustain life, then let us not ask (like murmuring Israel) for food to satisfy our lusts (Ps 78:18; see Dan 1:15).

II. Food for animals (v. 30). Does God care about oxen? Of course, baked; He provides them with suitable food. God cares not only for the oxen that were used in sacrifices and served man, but even young lions and ravens did not escape the attention of His providence. They ask and receive their food from God. So let's give God the glory for his generosity to the lower creatures who daily feed from His table. He is a great householder, very rich and generous, satisfying the desire of every living creature. May this encourage the people of God to cast upon Him all the care of themselves, and not worry about what we eat and what we drink. He who provided for Adam, who did not take care of himself, and continues to provide for all creatures without their taking care of himself, will not allow those who trust in Him to need any good (Mt 6:26). He who feeds His birds will not let His children die of hunger.

Verse 31. In this verse we are presented with the approval and conclusion of the whole work of creation. As for God, His work was perfect; once He started the work, He will surely finish it with His providence and grace, just as in this case of creation. Note:

I. God looked at the works he had done: "And God saw all that he had made." Now He does the same. All the works of His hands are before His eyes. He who made everything sees everything; He who made us sees us (Ps 139:1-16). Omniscience cannot be separated from omnipotence. Known to God from eternity are all His works (Acts 15:18). But on this occasion, the Eternal Mind solemnly meditated on the works of its wisdom and the results of its power. So God showed us the example of examining our affairs. Having given us authority to meditate and survey, He expects us to use that authority to see our way (Jer. 2:23) and consider it (Ps. 119:59). Having finished the day's work and entering the night's rest, we should meditate with our hearts on what we did that day. Likewise, as we close the workweek and enter the Sabbath rest, we must also prepare to meet God. And when we finish our life journey and we have to enter the peace of the grave, then it's time to remember that we can die repentant and thus be freed from it.

II. God was satisfied with His works. When we review our affairs, we find, to our own shame, that many things were done very badly. But when God examined His own, He saw that everything was very good. He did not declare them good until he examined them to teach us not to answer a question until we heard it. The work of creation was done very well. God did everything well, there was no flaw or lack in His works.

1. Everything was fine. Good, because it agreed with the intention of the Creator and was the way He wanted. When it came time to compare the copy with the great original, it proved to be accurate; there were no typos and not a single misplaced smear. Good, because the creation was consistent with the purpose of its creation and fit for its purpose. Good, because it served the man whom God appointed as the lord of the visible creations. Well, because it was all for the glory of God. In all visible creation, there is something that demonstrates the Personality of God, His perfections, which tends to engender in the human soul a religious attitude towards God and reverence for Him.

2. It was quite good. Every day of work, with the exception of the second, was said to be good, but now very good. The reason for this was the following:

(1) Man was now created who was the director of the ways of God, whose destiny it was to be the visible image of the glory of God and the mouth of creatures in the glorification of God.

(2) Now all was created; individually, each component of creation was good, but all together it was very good. The glory and goodness, the beauty and harmony of the works of God, which are manifested in providence and grace (as well as in creation), are best revealed when they are completed. When the cornerstone is erected, then we can exclaim: "...grace, grace on it!" (Zech. 4:7). Therefore, one should not judge ahead of time.

III. The time when this work was completed: "And there was evening and there was morning: the sixth day." So God created the world in six days. This does not mean that God could not make the world in an instant. He said, "Let there be light." And there was light. He could say, "Let there be peace," and the world would suddenly be formed, in the twinkling of an eye, as at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:52). But God created the world in six days to show that He is not bound by anything and acts freely, doing His work in a certain way and at a certain time, so that His wisdom, power and mercy will be revealed to us, so that we can think about them more clearly, to bring us an example of labor for six days and rest on the seventh. Therefore, this became the basis for the fourth commandment. The Sabbath day was so supportive of religion in the world that God kept it in mind at creation. And now, after reading that God examined His work, let's reconsider our thinking about it; and we shall find them very unsatisfactory and insufficient, and our praise superficial and monotonous. So let us urge ourselves and all our inward beings to worship Him who made heaven and earth and the sea and fountains of waters, according to the exhortations of the everlasting gospel which is preached to every nation (Rev. 14:6,7). All His works in all places of His dominion bless Him, and therefore, my soul, bless the Lord!

The first two chapters of the book are devoted to description of the stages the creative period of God the Creator, when He began to create a different form of life, different from the one in which He resides: God is an INVISIBLE spirit to the human eye - a celestial being, and on earth God decided to create a person in a VISIBLE body. – Psalm 113:24.

Deciding to create a man, Jehovah - the God of the Bible - Ex.15:3 - created and made the planet Earth suitable for him, preparing it in such a way that it became possible for a carnal person and other inhabitants to live on it.

The creation of the planet and the formation of physical and climatic conditions on it that ensured the life of a future person lasted many millions or billions of years, however, God left a message to man that the period of His creation of the earthly world order consisted of 6 stages - or creative days, because God has an incomprehensible time interval for man, and one day for Him is like a thousand years for a man -2 Peter 3:8. They are the subject of Chapter 1 of the book. The period of creation of the spiritual world and other devices in the universe of Jehovah is not considered here

1:1,2 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.
The creation events are described from the position of an earthly observer, therefore, although it is said here that, as it were, in the first place ( at first) God created the earth and the sky - it should be understood that the Sun was created no later than the Earth, otherwise there would be nothing to keep the Earth in orbit in the solar system and it would fly away into the unknown distances of space (see also the analysis of Genesis 1:15)
Here we are talking about the fact that at the moment when God planned to create a man on earth - at first He drew attention to the fact that the Earth is unsuitable for life, light does not penetrate there(formless and empty, and darkness over the abyss ) and it's time to transform it.

«. .the spirit of God hovered. ." - what does this mean? Some translations of the Bible say here, "a strong wind blew." If you literally blow on something, a breeze forms. God in the process of creation used Your strength- Jer. 10:12,13, but just as the power of the invisible wind can only be seen by its manifestation and action : shakes trees, blows roofs, etc. So Jehovah offered to describe His power to people in the likeness of the wind: “the spirit of God was rushing about” - it can mean that The Creator acted by His power, because the process of creation was going on. God Created Using His Power . Later, Moses described how Jehovah “blows” with his power and works miracles with it - Exodus 15:8,10, Psalm 73:13.

1:3-5 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
The first thing God started with was the formation of light within the earth.
What does "become light" mean? Apparently, until this moment, the light of the sun did not reach the Earth due to the dense thickness of water that enveloped the planet Earth (this is clear from 6.7 texts)
But after certain transformations, light began to penetrate the Earth, and God liked it.

And there was evening and there was morning: one day ...second, third, etc. - only 6 such days of creation with God. Each day of God's creation ended in the evening, and in the morning the next day of creation began, and He was again ready to transform the Earth until the evening, by morning next day The Earth was ready to start the next stage of transformation - and so 6 times.
Is it a literal "day", calculated in human terms by the time of a 24-hour day? No, since the time of calculating the day on Earth began to be from the 4th "day" of creation (see Genesis 1:15).
This expression means that the period (stage or era) of any one transformation of the Earthhad its beginning and end, God created in stages, and not continuously: he finished the work of one stage - after that he moved on to the next.

Geologists today admit that the day of the creation of the world means a certain stage historical development our planet. And modern geological science divides the history of the development of the earth just into six major eras: pregeological, Archean (most ancient), Proterozoic (primary life), Paleozoic ( ancient life), Mesozoic (middle life) and Cenozoic (new life).

ON SCIENCE (FIRST DAY). According to Burleshine's theory, our planet has existed for at least 7 billion years. The scientist identifies the first day of creation with the early period of the pregeological era, which lasted 2-2.5 billion years. Of these, modern theorists assign from one hundred to several hundred million years to the formation of the Earth, the Moon, and other planets. solar system from a primary cloud revolving around the sun. With the formation of the earth's firmament, the concept of heaven arises. And the separation of light (day) and darkness (night) means the rotation of the Earth around its axis and at the same time around the Sun.

1: 6-8 And God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate water from water.
7 And God made the firmament, and separated the water that was under the firmament from the water that was above the firmament. And it became so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning: the second day.
In the second stage, God divided the layers of water enveloping the planet into the water of the planet and the water layer located above the sky (in the layers of the atmosphere)

And God said... and it became so - these words, which accompanied each stage of creation, contain information about the Creator, which reflect His essence.
Name "Jehovah" (tetragrammaton verb YHVG - Exodus 15:3, 33:19, 34:5 - means « giving to become» or « giving to be» everything that He has planned Psalm 32:9). Today He gives all of us the opportunity to BECOME Christians. His system of things or His being- are described in His word - the Bible.
Jehovah has the ability to carry out any of His intentions, or "makes everything become"(gives to be everything) that he intends to carry out. - Isa.55:10,11.
He also gives the opportunity to BECOME and each of the people - "in the image and likeness of His own. None of His creations can know His intentions, unless He Himself announces them - Isa.55:8,9., Amos 3:7. He has good intentions towards people, which he will surely fulfill in due time, EVERYTHING WILL BE so that there will be God - everything in everything - Jer.29:11, Rev.21:4, 1 Cor.15:28.

1: 9-13 And God said, Let the waters that are under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it became so.
10 And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters he called seas. And God saw that [it] was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, herb yielding seed, fruitful tree yielding fruit after its kind, in which is its seed, on the earth. And it became so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is its seed after its kind. And God saw that [it] was good.
13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
The third stage of creation formed land on Earth by collecting the planet's water in the seas. This made it possible to place vegetation on the land of the Earth.
of various kinds, including trees, necessary to form the composition of the air suitable for human breathing.
Recall from 1: 2: by this time, sunlight began to penetrate the earth, but as if in a scattered form due to the dense layers of the atmosphere, consisting of a large number moisture (dense fog). The penetration of sunlight set in motion the mechanism of plant photosynthesis, as a result of which the air was enriched with oxygen.
1:14-1 9 And God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to separate the day from the night, and for signs, and times, and days, and years;
15 And let them be lamps in the firmament of heaven, to give light to the earth. And it became so.
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;
I have not yet heard an intelligible answer (from those who deny God's authorship), from which the writer of the book of Genesis knew that the Sun is larger than the Moon, because for an Earthly observer they are the same, the Moon is even larger.

17 And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light to the earth,
18 and govern the day and the night, and 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.
The fourth stage of creation transformed the Earth's atmosphere, made it more transparent, the clouds gradually dissipated, as a result of which it was possible to see the sun, moon and stars from Earth: if an observer were on Earth at that time, he would decide that at that moment there were the heavenly bodies were "created" because until that moment he could not see them.
(Recall from Genesis 1:2: although the Sun was created before the fourth stage of creation, before the Earth was enveloped by the thickness of the water layer in the atmosphere, so the heavenly bodies from the Earth were not visible)

ON SCIENCE (FOURTH DAY). According to Burlechin's theory, the fourth day coincides with the late period of the Proterozoic era, which lasted about 100 million years. At this stage, the Earth's atmosphere becomes transparent, the earth's firmament after a long darkness of the previous stages is heated by the rays of the Sun, illuminated by the light of the Moon and stars. Therefore, the allegorical description of the divine act of the fourth day becomes quite natural and understandable. Otherwise, why would God need to re-create the Sun, separate the day (light) from the night (darkness)? After all, this deed was done by Him on the first day of creation.

The texts about the appearance of luminaries in heaven explain that the time of calculation for the earthly system of things for days or days according to the movement of the Moon and the Sun began to be in 4th stage of creation. Thus, these texts support the idea that the expression "day" cannot mean a literal 24-hour day, as some Bible readers believe.
In addition, if the period of the DAY of creation, described as "there was evening and there was morning, one day" - taken literally, then it turns out that in fact God created from evening to morning, that is, AND AT NIGHT, but DAY in Israel it was equal to 12 hours, not 24
Since the Bible books were written by the Jews (Rom. 3:2), then the concept of "DAY" should be perceived as a twelve-hour day ( with the literal perception of the word "DAY")
Understanding this also helps to understand that God's CREATION DAY could not have been a literal day of 24 hours, as the SDA believe, for example.

And understanding this, in turn, helps to determine that with this state of affairs regarding the periods of creation - a literal week, consisting of 7 days of 24 hours each - could not have been in the period of God's creation, as well as the Sabbath itself, which can be a literal seventh day only if the days of the week are counted in 24-hour increments.

1:20-25 And God said, Let the water bring forth reptiles, living creatures; and let the birds fly over the earth, in the firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great fish, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that [it] was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in 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 bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, after their kind. And it became so.
25 And God created the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing on the ground after its kind. And God saw that [it] was good.
(and 2:7,19 ) - in these verses the phrase is used for the first time "living soul". The meaning of the word “soul” has now been modified and has several variants, for example: the soul is the invisible inner part of the human body, which after his death continues to live in some other form and is an immortal substance. How exactly it continues to live after the death of a person - each nation, due to its traditions and mentality, assumes differently. However, all these opinions are not truthful - objective and do not reflect the true state of things, because they are human. An objective picture of the meaning of the word "soul" can only be given The Creator of the “soul”, explaining to people through His word - the Bible - its true meaning.

According to the Bible and the verses quoted, "living soul" - this is the creation of Jehovah, which lives, has the signs of life and performs the functions determined by God during life. It is known that living are not only people and animals. All BIO logical objects including the world of microbes and plants, have a number of identical features: the life cycle of development from birth to death, which is provided breath of the spirit of life. The spirit of life is not the soul, it is what makes the soul alive. No breath - no spirit of life - no life - no living soul - Genesis 7:22 (Below in the text - Gen. 2:7 - see what "spirit of life" means).

If we consider it primitively, then, for example, the clock runs on a charged battery. The energy of the battery has run out - there is no "life" in the clock. An imperfect person of this system of things, "disconnected" from the source of nourishment of "permanent" life - from Jehovah (Psalm 35:10) - in this sense, practically does not differ from the animal world. Its physiological cycle is similar to the cycle of any other living creature on earth: it is born, eats, sleeps, works to eat, looks for a mate corresponding to it, multiplies, grows old, dies. During life they breathe, after death they do not breathe and become an inanimate soul. - Eccl. 3:19.20

So, the biblical meaning of the word "living soul" is:
1. "living (biological) individual" in general;
2. "man" - Deut. 12:20; Ezekiel 18:4,20;
3 . « the inner essence of a person's personality » , his feelings and experiences (conscience), feelings or desires (Mat. 26:38; Exodus 15:9; Deut.12:20; 23:24);
4. "animal" - Numbers 31:28;
5. "life" - Matt. 16:25.

Since only Jehovah Is the Source of Life - Psalm 35:10 - a person cannot explain exactly what is life. However, he can understand the difference between living and non-living creation of Jehovah , dividing all created objects known to him into animate - living, and inanimate - inanimate. Man himself cannot create a living object, only Creator of life- Jehovah.

For people - God symbolically described the process of "revival" of Adam, who was as if fashioned from clay (created from the elements contained in the earth), and, until Jehovah did not revive him, he was "lifeless soul" and could not function as a biological system.

phrase "immortal soul" - not found in the Bible . On the contrary, the Bible says that "the soul that sins will die" - Ezek.18: 4.20. Since because of Adam everyone sins, so in everyone dies in this system - Romans 5:12. In order to have eternal life, it is necessary to be "connected" on a permanent basis to the source of eternal life - to Jehovah, that is fully trust and obediently submit to the Creator .

Devil is the first living individual to advanced the idea of ​​immortality despite disobedience to Jehovah , deceiving Eve that their life does not depend on the Creator - Genesis 3:4,5. Jehovah warned the first people that their life depended only on obedience to Him -Genesis 2:17. Without the guidance of the Creator, man is the essence of creation - unable to function for a long time with the benefit of himself for a long time. - Jer. 10:23. And everyone who believes in the possibility of living after death in some other form and at the same time neglecting the requirements of the Creator is deceived by the devil just like Eve.

A little about the state after death.
Any living soul means living biological individual, equipped with the spirit of life - life force . With the death of a living individual, the spirit of life disappears and the individual ceases to function, in particular, a person ceases to think, act and feel himself - Ps. after death, nothing continues the personality of the deceased.

The Bible also contains information that any a person, dying, becomes dust, no matter what lifestyle he led – Eccl. 9:2,3. To torment people on fire to God" didn't even cross my heart»- Jer.7:31b. Existence hell- In terms of places of torment- also a subjective fruit of human imagination due to insufficient knowledge about the Creator. For, for example, in prophecy on Christ said: " You won't leave my soulin hell and you will not let your holy one see corruption"- Acts 2:31,32, which actually happened: the body of Christ in 3 days in hell did not decay, for he was resurrected by the Father. Jesus, being sinless, could not be in hell in the sense of a "place of torment" . He was in hell In terms of "places of decay". From a Biblical Perspective "hell"(Greek word) or "underworld" mean in Russian - "grave"- a place of decay, burial of the dead, where you can hide from suffering –Job 14:13, Isaiah 57:1

In the parable of Lazarus, the word "hell" is mentioned and the torment of the rich man is associated with it (Luke 16:22,23), which may lead inattentive readers of the Bible to the idea of ​​the reality of torment in hell. If you read this parable carefully, you will notice that the rich man suffers after death, but in the Bible with death is described as a state of sleep or rest - Job 3:11-18, John 11:11-13, The deceased is called "departed" or "dead" - unaware that they are conveying his correct state.
In addition, in the parable he is tormented myself rich , and - bodily because he asks material water on carnal language which cannot be after death - Luke 16:24. This parable, like many of Jesus' parables, has not necessarily a literal, but a spiritual meaning about great difference in the essence of the death of the sinner and the righteous for the death of the righteous is still not the end and ahead of him is a wonderful future in the system of God - Proverbs 14:32, 2:21,22, Numbers 23:10.

All the righteous sleeping in the sleep of death - Dan.12:2, but during life who loved the Creator of life and life under His guidance - from John 5:25-30, as well as the unrighteous, who during their lifetime did not have time to decide on the choice of their life path for some reason - Acts 24:15 - will be "awakened" by Christ - they will be returned to life in God's system of things. All the rest who did not recognize the Creator and condemned by God , will never be resurrected and will not join the joy of the righteous - Psalm 48:15

What will a person who is brought back to life by Christ be like? Same in essence, what he was before your death , with the same set of contents of the mind and heart, realizing that it is him and not someone else - Job 19:25-27. It is similar to how a person, awakened from an ordinary sleep, continues to lead the way of life that he usually led. Jesus showed the essence of the resurrection: Lazarus, "awakened" - brought back to life by Christ, returned to his family, recognizing all its members in the same way as everyone recognized him - from John 11: 11-13,38-44, 12:1.
It would be unfair, for example, instead of the faithful friend of God Abraham back to life in heaven on earth someone else. It is also unfair not to allow Abraham to make sure that Jehovah will fulfill in relation to HIM His promise will give exactly HIM the opportunity to live on the true paradise land promised in the conditions of the heavenly "city" - the reign of Jehovah - Heb. 11:16

Just as a man who sows in the ground a seed of wheat, has no reason to expect a rose or a chick to grow so the human fleshly seed "sown" in the earth after death cannot rise up as a tree or an animal. T ak , through the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,The Bible refutes the human doctrine of reincarnation . However, the resurrected person will still be different from the person he was before death: reborn to life by the spiritual Father, the resurrected person will no longer inherit the sinful nature of Adam who sinned. The harmony between the desires of his flesh and spirit will no longer be disturbed - Rom. 7:15-25, and his new body will no longer grow old and die, as God intended from the very beginning, for in God's system of things - in the Kingdom of God - there will be no death, no old age, no sorrow - Rev.21:4 .

1:26 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 that creeps on the earth.
Only man, although like animals, was created from the dust of the earth - honored to be created in the image and likeness of God.
It is clear that the image and likeness of man with God cannot be literal and absolute, since God is Spirit, and man is material. This expression means that God was taken as a model as the basis for the characteristics of a person as a creation, therefore, in a person there is something from the image and likeness of God. For example, man has been given the ability to rule over the whole earth; a person has arms, muscles, eyes, ears - everything with which God figuratively describes His appearance acquainting a person with Himself through the Bible (Ps.89:14; Zech.2:8; Ps.85:1).

Man also has inner qualities God: a sense of justice, a sense of love and dignity, a sense of satisfaction from their deeds, etc., which together make a person personality - biological a person who has his own face(appearance) and aware of it through reason.
Man is also endowed and abilities God: the ability to create, analyze, think logically, make choices, etc.
In a word, the image and likeness of God means that everything that God endowed man with during creation, He himself possesses:
He who planted an ear, will he not hear? and he who formed the eye will not see? ( Ps.93:9)

Man cannot exactly know the fullness of God's nature. But, at least, what a person is endowed with - abilities, opportunities, personality traits, mind, feelings, etc. - in all this he is like the image of God (God has all this)

1:2 7 And God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Here the text does not contain the word "likeness", but one should not think that God, announcing the creation of man in the image and likeness of the Highest, created him only in the image, without fulfilling His intention. For it is further repeated that Adam was made in the likeness of God:
Here is the genealogy of Adam: when God created man, in the likeness of God he created him(Gen. 5:1)

Reason obliges man by observation and study of everything that surrounds him, come to a logical conclusion that exists Who created man and arranged his life well - Heb.3:4. To have a mind means have the ability to see more than the eyes see – understand causes what is happening. Other biological individuals do not have this property, do not have the opportunity understand who is behind all creation And have no desire understand it.

Learning to see the invisible is perhaps, moreover, very important - 2 Cor. 4:18. There are two ways that, according to the Creator, will help to see the Invisible, that is, to understand that He is.

1stway - looking at his creations- Romans 1:18-20, Psalm 18:1-5. When a person considers the creations of human hands, for example, a TV set, he can, by the method of reflection, characterize the designer of the TV set and imagine the state of his mental abilities and capabilities. In the same way, considering the creations of Jehovah - flowers, animals, people, the structure of the heavens, etc. - a person has the opportunity, by means of reflection, to imagine the Creator of all this, to characterize Him and evaluate what a colossal work has been done just to make people on earth feel comfortable.

This mindset will help develop a sense of gratitude to our Creator , wish get to know him better which is what Jehovah advises us through Jacob - James 4:8 - and as a result - to love God. Right away with love for God - one is not born, one must learn to love God all one's life.

After that you should use 2nd way- read His word , in which Jehovah left a lot of information about Himself, about His intentions regarding people and the future of the earth -1 Thess.2:13, from John. 5:39, which will also help you love God. All who do not use their mind to find God - Acts. 17:26,27 - and does not care to have God in mind - Romans 1:28 - like animals, unable to appreciate the actions of the Creator and be grateful to Him for everything they use for free - Eccl. 3:18. Animals - WITHOUT smart - without a thinking mind (unable to find the Creator, appreciate what he did for them and express their gratitude to Him). Like them, those people who deny the existence of the Creator are called “crazy” - Psalm.13:1, 48:11-15, Jer.4:22

1:28-30 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 birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is in all the earth, and every tree bearing fruit of a tree yielding seed; - you [this] will be food;
30 But to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to every creeping thing on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I [gave] all herbs for food. And it became so.
Having created people, God explained to them why He did it (explained to them the meaning of their life), and entrusted them with a responsible task - to take care of His creation and develop it -2:15. People had to first populate the entire planet with perfect descendants who knew their Creator - Father, who allowed them to use His "things": the planet, animals, plants, water, etc.
In other words, Jehovah settled tenants in HIS earthly apartment – ​​Lev. 25:23. It is similar to how people rent their apartment with things to tenants for a certain fee and enter into a kind of contract with them with certain requirements regarding the safety of the apartment. Similarly, Jehovah rented out His earthly home to people for eternity and invited them to fulfill the terms of the "covenant" discussed later in the text (see Gen. 2:9).

In fact, this “program” for the creative and harmonious development of a happy society on Earth under the care of the Creator- and there is that purpose(some people prefer the word "fate") destined by the Creator for the intelligent and perfect His creations.

1:31 And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.
Good very - Jehovah was pleased with what and whom He created during the 6 stages of creation. All His creations are good, perfect, complete, they can't be improved - to improve - that is, do better than God did - Second. 32:4, Eccl. 3:14.
If a person tries to improve the creation of Jehovah, having very limited knowledge about the relationship of chains in the harmony of the being created by Him, this inevitably leads to the destruction of the harmony of life on earth and grave consequences. For example, reckless deforestation, blocking the riverbed, the use of pesticides, shooting wolves, crows, sparrows, testing nuclear weapons and so on - lead to ecological catastrophe and global warming.

After this stage, the seventh stage was to begin.
However, as we shall see later, Stage 7 had no end , since the expression is not applied to him: “there was evening and there was morning, the seventh day” -2:1-3. We read the narrative only that the morning began after the completion of the 6th stage (there was evening and there was morning: the sixth day )
God is sure in that and the seventh stage in His creation will be worthy of His praise , so he sanctified and blessed future 7th day- the period when perfect people will live on the heavenly planet under His leadership, loving the Creator - Rev. 21:4., 2 Peter 3:18.

This is the period when Jehovah Can Rest - to rest in the full sense of the word, since He will no longer need to vigilantly control the vital activity of His earthly rational creations, for all who remain to live in the 7th day on earth will voluntarily choose the path of God in life, never again violate His harmony of being and discredit the essence of Jehovah.

This period is currently did not come because people have lost the state of perfection and violated the harmony of their relationship with the Creator - Deut.32:4,5. Day 7 is just forming and all those who want to live in God's new world still have the opportunity to prepare for this - 2 Tim.3:16,17.

Now is the day of salvation period in human history when through preaching and teaching about the government of God, people are found who love His way - Matt.24:14, Luke. 4:19, 2 Corinthians 6:2.
Warn of danger coming from God to the world of the wicked - Jehovah's Command for Every Person He Calls so that by His word to find the children of God who have gone astray and not be guilty of the death of those who disobey Him - Ezek. 33:7-9

This publication explains what the biblical Old Testament is. Sadly, many readers pay attention to the wars, prohibitions, genealogies and punishments that God sent for not fulfilling the commandments. It should be understood that this is not only the Bible. The Old Testament, just like the New Testament, testifies to a person and it just needs to be seen.

Let's start with the fact that these sacred books have been translated into many languages ​​of the peoples of the world. The Old Testament was translated into ancient Greek as early as the third century BC. It was intended mainly for Jews who could not read their native language, and is known as the Septuagint. He is the oldest one that has come down to us. According to the legend preserved in the message of Aristeas, the Septuagint was created by 72 learned men within 72 days. They tried for the ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy, who became interested holy book. And the sages lived and were engaged in the translation of the Holy sages on the island of Pharos.

From the beginning of the II century AD. Latin translations of the Bible appear, and created by Jerome at the end of the 3rd century. The Vulgate is recognized as the official text to this day. Around the same time, Egyptian and Coptic translations saw the light of day. In the fourth century AD, Ulfil translated the Old Testament into Gothic. In the next, fifth century, Armenian (Mesrop), Georgian and Ethiopian appear. The last two translations of the Holy Scriptures are still in use today.

The well-known King James Bible is the most common English translation, made at the beginning of the 17th century at the request of the king of England. Separate parts of the Holy Texts were translated into Russian in the 17th-19th centuries, but then they were not widely used. Generally recognized for Russian-speaking Christians today are the "Canonical Books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and A, their translation was made by decision of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1852, and printed in 1876.

Truth seekers are more interested in interpreting the Old Testament than in history and translations. The name of the collection, consisting of 39 books, testifies to some kind of agreement (union). A covenant is a union contract, and Genesis chapter 15 describes the ritual of making it. Abram sacrificed animals, shedding their blood on the ground, and then saw fire and smoke come down. These signs were accompanied by the Voice of God, which promised him and his descendants the land from the Nile to the Euphrates.

Also during the making of the Covenant (sealed with the blood of sacrificial animals), Abram learned that his people would live in enslavement for 400 years. Then God will free his descendants, lead them out of slavery and return them to the promised lands. Somewhat later, the Lord changes Abram's name to Abraham and promises to make him the father of many nations. The new name of the participant in the Covenant with God is translated as "Father of many nations."

In fact, he is the father not only of the Jews, but of all people who today recognize Jesus Christ as their Savior. This is exactly what is written in the letter of the Saint to the Galatians - 3:29. It says that those who belong to Jesus are the true descendants of Abraham and heirs of the promises of Heavenly Father. If the Old Testament implies the possession of earthly territories by a certain people, then today believing Christians expect from God a new earth and a new heaven, in which there is only room for righteousness and holiness. Another Apostle, Peter, writes about this in the third chapter of his second epistle.

As we read and interpret the Bible, we should keep the words of Christ in mind. He said that when you study the Scriptures (Old Testament), you need to know that they all testify of Him. Jesus said this to the Pharisees, who, diligently studying the Holy Books, could not see the Image of the Lord, who descended from Heaven and became like all of us.

If you arm yourself with the knowledge that the entire Bible is dedicated to Christ and diligently study it, you can see that His types are visible in each of the 39 books of the Old Testament. Also, all these Sacred texts prepare the children of God for the New Testament by faith in the crucifixion, death and resurrection of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. God loves the crown of his creation - man, and this should be known and remembered while reading the Bible.

OLD TESTAMENT

Introduction to the Old Testament (lecture notes) Fr. Lev Shikhlyarov

The word "Bible" in Greek means "books" (papyri for ancient books were produced in the Asia Minor city of Byblos). Plural in this name, it originally emphasized the structure of the Holy Scriptures of the Jews, consisting of many books, but over time acquired a different, majestic meaning: something like "The Book of Books", or "to all books - the Book." After many years of atheistic ideology and in the years of spiritual pluralism that came to replace it correct understanding The Bible becomes for Orthodox Christian not so much a sign of education as one of the conditions for salvation. The term "revelation" is often used in spiritual literature.

Lectures on the Old Testament by Archpriest N. Sokolov

Today we begin a series of lectures on one of the greatest books in the world - the Bible, or rather its first part, which is called the Old Testament. The theme of our lectures for two years will be the experience of theological understanding and disclosure of the meaning of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament as an enduring value in the realm of spiritual values, as a value that receives its interpretation in the light of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament and in the general context of the church understanding of the ways of the saving Divine Providence.

Lectures on the Introduction to the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament by D.G. Dobykin

This course of lectures does not claim originality and is a compilation of a number of pre-revolutionary and contemporary research and publications on the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament. The aim of the compiler is such a course that would be interesting to all those who do not yet know, but want to know what the Old Testament is ....

The Bible and the science of the creation of the world Fr. Stefan Lyashevsky

The real experience of the theological analysis of the Biblical story is the first part scientific research(narratives) about the creation of the world and man. The second part of the study is devoted exclusively to the first people on earth, whose life is considered in the light of modern archaeological data on prehistoric man.

In the field of geological, archaeological knowledge, there are well-known provisions that are absolute truth, and there are controversial provisions on which there are several judgments and theories.

Turning exclusively to the scientific data of geology and paleontology, and in the second part of the book to archaeological research, I could, of course, freely choose between various hypotheses, and in some cases express my personal opinions. The degree of persuasiveness of this study can be judged by everyone who wants to look at the world and man from the point of view of divinely revealed knowledge, which the first pages of the book of Genesis tell about.

Tooth for a tooth Andrei Desnitsky

Executions, fines, observance of harsh laws - how can the God of Love demand this from a person? But this is exactly how many of our contemporaries see the Old Testament, which requires "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."

Is the Old Testament cruel? Deacon Andrei Kuraev

It is easier to understand the mystery of Israel today than it was a hundred years ago, because in order to understand it, one must imagine a world in which only Gentiles live. It is necessary to imagine a world in which the Gospel has not yet been preached, and magicians, sorcerers, shamans, spirits and "gods" are swarming around. Today it is easier to do this. Again, the townsfolk scare each other with corruption and evil eye, again wandering shamans offer their services in "love spell" and "lapel". Around the fair again there is an abundance of names and masks of various spirits and deities, occult words denoting all kinds of "planes", "eons" and "energies". People have forgotten that you can simply stand before God and, without any complex rituals, spells and eloquent names, say: “Lord!”
And how rare it is to find a book about Orthodoxy in bookstores today, just as rarely three thousand years ago one could hear a word about the One God on earth.

Lifting the veil of time Ekaterina Prognimak

“And I will say to them, if it pleases you, then give Me My wages; if not, don't give; and they will weigh thirty pieces of silver in payment for Me.” No, this is not a quote from a hitherto unknown gospel text describing the betrayal of Judas. All this was predicted by the prophet Zechariah 500 years before the birth of Christ. And the words about thirty pieces of silver, and other equally accurate predictions of Zechariah can be easily found in any edition of the Old Testament.

But how could the prophet Zechariah know about the impending betrayal, if he lived long before the events described in the Gospel?

Conversations on the Book of Genesis Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev

Why read the Old Testament? Deacon Roman Staudinger

The book is compiled from the conversations of the famous Moscow priest Oleg Stenyaev, cleric of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and All Who Sorrow on Ordynka in Moscow, head of the Program for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Non-traditional Religions of the Missionary Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, and a regular participant in the programs of the radio station Radonezh.
In his conversations Father Oleg shows that Biblical Revelation is the key to understanding and solving many of our political, social, family and personal problems.

The Old Testament in the New Testament Church Mikhail Pomazansky

MANY AGES separate us from the time of writing the books of the Old Testament, especially its first books. And it is no longer easy for us to be transported into that structure of the soul and into that environment in which these divinely inspired books were created and which are presented in these books themselves. Hence, perplexities are born that confuse the thought modern man. Especially often these perplexities arise when there is a desire to harmonize the scientific views of our time with the simplicity of the biblical ideas about the world. There are also general questions about the extent to which Old Testament views correspond to the New Testament worldview. And they ask: why the Old Testament? Are not the teachings of the New Testament and the Scriptures of the New Testament sufficient?
As for the enemies of Christianity, from time immemorial, attacks against Christianity begin with attacks on the Old Testament. And today's militant atheism considers the legends of the Old Testament the easiest material for this purpose. Those who went through a period of religious doubt and perhaps religious denial, especially those who went through Soviet anti-religious studies, indicate that the first stumbling block for their faith was thrown to them from this area.
The short review of the Old Testament Scriptures cannot answer all the questions that arise, but, I think, he indicates the guiding principles in which a number of misunderstandings can be avoided.

Why make sacrifices? Andrey Desnitsky

Why are there sacrifices in the Bible? In primitive ancient paganism, of course, people thought that it was inconvenient to address a deity or spirit as a boss without a gift-bribe. But why did the One God demand sacrifices, to Whom the whole universe already belongs? And why, finally, the death of Christ on the cross is described as a sacrifice of a special kind - who brought it to whom and why?..

Why is the Old Testament so petty? Andrey Desnitsky

Opening the Bible, a person expects first of all great revelations. But if he reads the Old Testament, he is usually struck by the abundance of petty prescriptions: eat meat only from animals that have cloven hooves and chew the cud. Why all this? Does God really care what kind of meat people eat? And why these endless ritual details: how can He offer different sacrifices? Is this the main thing in religion?

Historical and Cultural Context of the Old Testament V. Sorokin

The question of the origin of the Torah is one of the most complex and confusing in modern biblical studies. At the same time, two aspects of the problem must be kept in mind: the question of the sources of the Torah, that is, those texts that preceded the appearance of its final version, and the question of codification, that is, the recognition of a known text or group of texts as the Torah...

Unfortunately, today many people come to churches who either never opened the Gospel at all, or read it superficially. But if the reading of the New Testament is nevertheless recognized by the majority of Christians as a necessity - it would be strange if it were otherwise, then acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament is limited to the "Law of God" by Archpriest Seraphim Slobodsky...

How to read the Bible? Archpriest Alexander Men

The book is an anthology of biblical texts compiled by a famous theologian, Orthodox priest Alexander Men. The sequence of the texts corresponds to the chronology of the Salvation story. The book consists of three parts. The proposed first part begins with the Pentateuch and ends with the Song of Songs traditionally attributed to Solomon. All biblical texts are provided with a brief scientific commentary. The introductory section tells about the history of the creation of the Bible and its impact on world culture.
The book is accompanied by a brief bibliography, a diagram of biblical sources, chronological tables of the history of the Ancient East and maps. Designed for the widest range of readers interested in the world of the Bible ...

How to read the Old Testament? Protopresbyter John Brek

Speech delivered by Priest John Brek, professor at the St. Sergius Theological Institute, at a meeting of participants in the Nepsis youth movement at the Archdiocese of the Romanian Patriarchate in Western Europe on April 21, 2001. Published in: Mensuel Service Orthodoxe de Presse (SOP). Supplement No. 250, juillet-out 2002.

The Christian tradition of reading and understanding1 the Old Testament is dear to me. It has boundless significance for us, because we acutely feel that for many years, if not centuries, being Orthodox, we somehow neglected to read the books of Holy Scripture and, in particular, the books of the Old Testament.
I think that we should start with the main statement: this is a conviction that puts us in a certain connection with the great church tradition, represented both by the Fathers of the Church and by the holy writers of the books of the New Testament. This conviction boils down for us to an understanding of the Old Testament in accordance with the Apostle Paul (cf. 2 Cor.), namely, as a collection of books deeply and essentially Christian.

Reading the Old Testament Konstantin Korepanov

Very often one hears that for a full-fledged Christian life, only the Holy History of the New Testament is necessary for a Christian - Christ said everything with which one can fully nourish one's spiritual life. On the one hand, this is true, but, nevertheless, there is a certain belittling of the entire fullness of the Revelation and Holy Scripture ...

NEW TESTAMENT

Interpretation of the Gospel by B.I. Gladkov

Review of the Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt on the book "Interpretation of the Gospel" by B. I. Gladkov
January 18. 1903

Beloved in Christ brother Boris Ilyich!

I read with the greatest interest both your preface to the highly esteemed work of explaining the Gospel, and excerpts of the explanation. The former time of your delusion and the state of spiritual dissatisfaction and longing for the truth of God served to an amazing sophistication of your logical, philosophical mind and to the purification of the eye of the heart, to the most subtle distinctness and clarity in judgments and subjects relating to faith. I received great spiritual satisfaction from reading your explanation.
Your sincere admirer
Archpriest John Sergiev

Introduction to New Testament Ioannis Karavidopoulos

The first edition of the Introduction to the New Testament, which began the Bible Library series, has served the needs of both theology students and anyone who reads Scripture for over 20 years. During this period, from 1983 to the present day, the list of books on biblical studies in Greek has been replenished with works that, although they do not contain anything revolutionary new in solving general and particular issues of New Testament biblical studies, nevertheless offer fresh material. and new aspects to explore. This material has been included in the present, third edition of the textbook, with the restriction, of course, so as not to deviate from the goal of the "Bible Library" series, and therefore new data are presented mainly in the section of editions of the text and translations of the New Testament. It goes without saying that all old and new special bibliography is given at the beginning of each chapter of this Introduction to the New Testament.

Introduction to the New Testament V. Sorokin

The Bible has been and is being read by many people, and everyone reads it in their own way. For some, this is a historical source, for others - a wonderful example of a poetic genre ...

Legacy of Christ. What is not included in the Gospels? Deacon Andrei Kuraev

The book by Deacon Andrey Kuraev, professor at St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Institute, is devoted to an issue that is at the center of Orthodox-Protestant discussions - the question of what place the Bible occupies in the life of the Church. Did Christ leave only the Bible to people? Is it only through the Bible that Christ comes and speaks to us?

The book raises questions about the relationship between Scripture and Church Tradition, about the Christian perception of history, about the relationship between matter and Spirit.

The purpose of the book is to protect people (both Protestants and Orthodox and secular scholars) from an overly simplistic understanding of Orthodoxy and to explain what exactly makes Orthodoxy a religious tradition that is essentially different from Protestantism.

New Testament. Introductory part. Lectures A. Emelyanov

The study of the New Testament traditionally begins with an introductory part, which is often referred to by the Greek word "isagogy". Isagogy includes the study of the history of the New Testament, the study of parallel civil history for the completeness of the presentation of Sacred history, the study of textual criticism of the New Testament, i.e. the study of the origin of the text and other auxiliary sections. But before turning to this introductory part, I will make a very brief digression into the history of the Old Testament. To make it easier for you to structure the Sacred History that you need to know in order to fully understand New Testament history, I offer you the Atlases of Biblical History, which are now available and sold by the Bible Society.

Interpretation of John Chrysostom on the Gospel of Matthew

The first and second books of the seventh volume of the collected works of John Chrysostom. That is, the proposed book contains the complete Commentary of John Chrysostom on the Gospel of Matthew.
“Matthew rightly called his work a gospel. In fact, he announces to everyone - enemies, ignoramuses, sitting in darkness - the end of punishment, the resolution of sins, justification, sanctification, redemption, sonship, inheritance of heaven and kinship with the Son of God. What can be compared to such an evangelism? God on earth, man in heaven; everything is in unity: the angels made up one face with people, people united with angels and other heavenly forces. It has become obvious that the ancient warfare has ceased, that the reconciliation of God with our nature has taken place, the devil has been put to shame, the demons have been expelled, death has been bound, paradise has been opened, the oath has been abolished, sin has been destroyed, error has been removed, truth has returned, the word of piety is sown and grows everywhere...

Interpretation of the Gospel of John Euthymius Zigaben

Compilation of patristic texts, mainly John Chrysostom.
Men' wrote about Zygaben's interpretations of the New Testament: “His commentary on the New Testament seems to be more independent. He tried to solve some exegetical difficulties, for example: were there three anointings of Christ with chrism or two? Where did Peter's denial take place: in the house of Anna or Caiaphas? Why did the Lord say: “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28)? In all these cases, Sigaben resorts to his own. inferences. Unlike St. John Chrysostom Zigaben has two anointings; The question of Peter is solved by the hypothesis that Caiaphas and Anna lived in the same house, and the Savior's words in John 14 are explained by the fact that He had to take into account the degree of understanding of His words by the disciples. Sometimes Zigaben used the allegorical method in interpreting the Gospels. In general, “his explanations are short and concise; attempts to reconcile the differences of evangelicals are often very…