Blessings, Creation, Death, Encouragement, God's Plan, Prophecy, Relationship to Christ, Repentance, Restoration, Salvation, Sin, Tithe, War

Jesus in Genesis

Although Jesus’ name is not mentioned specifically in Genesis, we do see types and shadows of Jesus.  Today’s Bible Journaling is centered on Genesis 14, where we see Melchizedek, the King and Priest of Salem (also known as Jerusalem), helping Abram. To give a little background, Sodom and Gomorrah were attacked by four kings after Sodom and Gomorrah refused to be subject to them. The kings of Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela joined forces with Sodom and Gomorrah in battle. The enemy took all the possessions and provisions, and Lot and his possessions. One person was able to escape and came to Abram and told him that Lot had been captured.  When Abram heard this, he gathered his men and went to rescue Lot. Abram defeated the kings and returned with all the possessions that had been taken. When he returned, Melchizedek, the High Priest and King of Salem, came out to meet Abram.  He brought with him bread and wine and blessed Abram. Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything that he had recovered. Our Bible Journaling Scripture highlights the blessing of Melchizedek over Abram, “And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.” (Genesis 4:19-20 ESV) 

The Scripture shows us that Melchizedek was no mere human. The Bible says that Melchizedek was the Priest of God Most High. (verse 18). Hebrews 7:3 states that Melchizedek had no father, mother, or genealogy, nor did He have a beginning or ending of days.  Because of this, many Bible Scholars believe that Melchizedek was a pre-Bethlehem appearance of Jesus.  Psalm 110:4 says, “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’” (NASB 1995)  Jewish priests were to come from the line of Aaron, however, David foretells that the Messiah will be after the order of Melchizedek, not Aaron. 

This is not the only instance in Genesis that we see a mention of Christ.  At the very beginning in Chapter 1, at creation, Jesus is there with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5 NIV)

We also see a shadow of Christ when God proclaims a curse on the serpent for deceiving Adam and Eve. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 NIV)  The “he” referred to here is Jesus.  God already had a plan for saving us!  God foretells how Jesus will defeat Satan, but also shows how Jesus will have to be sacrificed so that the Plan of Salvation can go forward.  I am so glad God already had a plan in place to save us from our sins and conquer death and the grave.

Jesus is seen all through the Old Testament, not just in Genesis.  If we pay close attention to what we read, we will find Him, even though Jesus’ name never appears in the Old Testament, He is there!  I trust that as you search God’s Word, you will find Jesus!

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Donna Knuth Rice

I am trying a blog for the first time in my life, and frankly, I feel like I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing! But, here goes. I work at a Christian Television network in the Correspondence Department, where I write letters and emails to our viewers, pray with them for their needs, and send materials they request. I am a Christian. I was saved at the age of 11 during a youth meeting at my church. My pastor led me to the Lord, and to say the least, my life has been an adventure. I am a widow. My late husband, Allen, passed away after 34 1/2 years of marriage. He had been sick the last seven years of his life, and it was a struggle, for him and for me. We met as part of a singing group that was affiliated with a Christian Radio station, and we sang together all through our lives together. We both worked in television and radio all through our married life, mostly for Christian stations. Besides singing I also play flute. I had the luxury of having parents who started out as music teachers...so music was in our house constantly. Some people describe me as being a loud-mouthed lime type...can't disagree with that. I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count! I also have a tendency to say exactly what's on my mind...which is why I get myself in so much trouble! LOL! Trust me, that's something me and God have been working on for a very long time. I have no children here on earth, although I have a baby in heaven. My baby here is my dog Jack. He's a black lab/ chow mix. He's a big boy....thinks he's a lap dog! Can't think of much else to say. The reason I started this blog is because a few months ago in church, a guest pastor came and delivered a message, and when he asked for those of us who wanted prayer to come forward, I did. When he came to me he asked me if I did any journaling. I told him no 'cause I wasn't very good at it. He told me to start, and prophesied over me that my journal thoughts would impact other people. I wasn't sure just how I was to go about doing this. In fact, I was a little hesitant at first. I started journaling at home, and our assistant pastor's wife asked me to submit something for our Senior newsletter. I didn't the first edition, but something I had heard on Christian radio a long time ago and has stuck with me all these years, came to mind so I submitted an article. That article will be my first post. I don't claim to have all the answers, and my thoughts may seem a little "out there", but I feel God has been prodding me to do this, and so here I am. I hope what I post will bring encouragement, and "Something to Think About".

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