Issued: 6/11/21 Revised: 10/15/23

PLEASE NOTE:  Because Bible versions sometimes differ from each other in crucial ways, the version quoted here will be the one that best clarifies the point being made.  For a quick comparison between versions, please go to: http://www.biblehub.com.

   All bracketed material may be authorial comments, attempts at proper syntax, or minimal rewordings of Scripture for the sake of clarity and continuity.  These emendations will not be italicized.

   The “/” will be used to signify “and/or.”  The symbol “↔” is used to connect verses corroborating each other and so establishing doctrinal truths (Matthew 18:16↔2Corinthians 13:1).

   In differentiating between Yahweh Son [Jesus] and Yahweh Father [the Most High God], lower case letters have been used when discussing the former; upper case letters are reserved for the Only and Most High God.  Since Jesus was at pains to differentiate himself from Father, we have followed his lead here.

   The term neo-Christians will be used to differentiate between false Christians and Jesus’ true followers.

   In the New Testament it is very easy to differentiate between Son [Jesus] and Father [Most High God].  Son was on earth; Father in Heaven; and Son continuously credited Father for everything he preached and accomplished.  Even in the epithet he used to describe himself, “Son of Man” (Mark 10:45), Son was bearing witness to his divine provenance and to the gender Father wanted to be identified with; for in reality neither Father nor His Spirit—nor angels for that matter (Matthew 22:30)—have any use for sexual organs.  Sex is a human limitation, the means by which people procreate themselves.  Father calls non-existent things into being (Romans 4:17); while Son interacts spiritually with humans to raise progeny for himself.  Thus the word “Man” as applied to Father is technically a figure of speech; though it also tells us that when calling Son into being, and later through Son creating Man, Father impressed upon both the ‘male’ image He had chosen for Himself (Genesis 1:26; Colossians 1:15).¹

   In the Old Testament, differentiating between Father and Son is quite a challenge.  First of all, they share the name Yahweh (Exodus 23:20-22).  Secondly, they were both in Heaven; though while speaking to men only Son did so, since Father has never spoken to any human being (John 5:37).  This is why Son is called Father’s “Word/Verb” (John 1:1; Revelation 19:13)—in other words, Father’s Spokesman and co-Ruler, the exact synergy between Pharaoh and one of Son’s early symbols, Joseph (Genesis 41:40-41,44).  If what Paul said about Jesus [Son] in Hebrews 13:8 is correct, then the man Christ Jesus, the only mediator between God [Father] and men (1Timothy 2:5), has to have been the Angel God, Yahweh of hosts [Son], who interacted with Israel on behalf of Yahweh the Most High [Father].

   Since we will be dealing mostly with Old Testament Scriptures, we want to differentiate between the speaking Yahweh [Son] and the Yahweh [Father] Son is speaking for; thus, Yahweh Son = the proxy Angel God; and Yahweh Father = the unheard, unseen Most High God (John 5:37; 1Timothy 6:16; 1John 4:12).  It is vital that readers keep in mind these distinctions; for throughout these series, they rebut many of the ‘contradictions’ with which the unenlightened try to disparage Scripture.  When dealing with New Testament Scriptures, Jesus will be so named.

Adam in relation to the Messiah’s roles

   It was the Apostle Paul who first established the link between Adam and Jesus: “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.  The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven…The first Adam became a living being; the last Adam [Jesus] became a life-giving spirit”²(1Corinthians 15:46-47, 45).  “Since death came through a man [Adam], the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man [Jesus].  For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.  But each in turn: Christ, the first-fruits; then when he comes, those who belong to him” (1Corinthians 15:21-23).

   Here we have the dynamics of the First Resurrection. Before entering heaven, mortal flesh must be made immortal (Ezekiel 37:1-14; 1Corinthians 15:51-53); therefore the implicit suggestion of some higher truth behind Adam’s creation—the shadow versus substance argument.  Since Yahweh Son, wielding Yahweh Father’s power, was Adam’s de facto Creator, it was by ‘breathing’ a soul into Adam’s nostrils that man became a living person (Genesis 2:7).  Now, we know that flesh has no life of its own unless having a soul (John 6:63); and we see this dynamic in Genesis 35:18 [Rachel’s death]; in the revival of Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:52-55); and upon Jesus’ own expiration on the cross (Luke 23:46; John 19:30).  While these soul departures and returns are specific to mortal flesh, the ‘breath’ of eternal life imparted by the Holy Spirit is a different matter; so as to identify himself as Adam’s soul-giver [shadow], Jesus “breathed” the Holy Spirit [substance] on his Apostles (John 20:22).  Thus we come back to Paul’s argument, here rephrased:  The first Adam became a mortal, living being; the last Adam [Jesus] became the giver of the immortal life-giving Spirit (1Corinthians 15:45).

    But there are an even clearer links between Adam and Jesus:  His roles as Name Giver, Seed Sower, and Husband of the Church—which we will discuss in Part III.

Name Giver

   Genesis 2:19 tells us that “whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.”  And in Isaiah 43:1 we find the following testimony:  “Thus says [Yahweh Son] who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel:  Do not fear, for I have redeemed you [see Isaiah 44:6]; I have summoned you by name.”

   Let us remember that Yahweh Son changed Jacob’s name to Israel following their hand-to-hand struggle (Genesis 32:24-30); as he had previously done with Abram to Abraham (Genesis 17:5) and Sarai to Sarah (Genesis 17:15). [During his earthly ministry, Jesus would do the same by renaming Simon as Cephas/Peter (John 1:42)].  These name changes have specific meanings in Hebrew that are not apparent in other languages; but they are bestowed on people serving crucial purposes in Yahweh Father’s redemptive plan.  Technically, since Moses was Yahweh Son’s ‘stand-in god’ to Pharaoh and Aaron (Exodus 7:1), as well as Israel’s lawgiver/judge and Jesus’ precursor (Deuteronomy 18:15), it could be argued that changing Hoshea’s name to Joshua (Numbers 13:16), the Promised Land’s conqueror, followed the aforementioned pattern.  Joshua, or more correctly, Yeshua, an alternative form of the name Yehoshua [meaning, Yahweh is salvation], corresponds to the Latin spelling Iesvs,³ the Greek spelling Iesous, and the English spelling Jesus.  Scripture had somehow to make the link between Joshua and Jesus as deliverers of their respective nations.

   In these name changes we see the pattern prophesied by Isaiah 65:11-15:  Those who reject Yahweh Father will be done away with; but His servants will be called by another name given them by Yahweh Son:  “To him who overcomes I [Yahweh Son] will give…a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it… I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of Heaven from My God.  And I will write on him my new name” (Revelation 2:17, 3:12).

   We see, then, that there is “hidden wisdom” in Genesis 2:19 insofar as identifying last Adam [Jesus] as the Name Giver of both animals and people represented by them.  For example, the noun ‘dog’ identifies the animal we are familiar with; but Jesus and Paul used it to identify men obedient to masters irrespective of morality and bereft of God (Matthew 7:6; Philippians 3:2↔Psalms 22:16,20; Proverbs 26:11; Isaiah 56:10-11; Revelation 22:15).  We are familiar with pigs as animals; but in Scripture they represent people incapable of appreciating precious things, or those who having been cleansed of their sins, go back to their old ways (Matthew 7:6; 2Peter 2:20-22).  Likewise, Deuteronomy 22:10:  “Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together,” can be seen as an advice not to pair recalcitrant human beings [donkeys] who might impede the work of steadfast, uncomplaining oxen [apostles and preachers].  Certainly Paul was aware of the implied symbolism (1Corinthians 9:9-10).

Seed Sower

   Which brings us back to Genesis 3:17-19:  “Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.  Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread till you return to the ground.  Because from it you were taken; for you are dust and to dust you shall return.”  Unless we are simplistic enough to believe first Adam’s punishment for disobedience was to be saddled with farming, we must find the “hidden wisdom” implicit in these Scriptures.

   What did Jesus tell us in Matthew 13:37-42?  The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom;⁴ the tares are the sons of the devil, the enemy who sowed them; the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are the angels who will gather the righteous while leaving the unrighteous behind in a world where the weeping and gnashing of teeth will be—the so-called Valley of Slaughter/Decision (Jeremiah 7:32; Joel 3:2,12-15), specifically Armageddon following the resurrection of the unrighteous (Revelation 20:5-10).

   Let us separate sentences in Genesis 3:17-19 and interpret their true meanings:

a) “Cursed is the ground [i.e., the world↔Matthew 13:38] because of you.”↔Through one man’s transgression sin as well as death [Satan’s realm (Hebrews 2:14)] entered into the world, resulting in condemnation to all men (Romans 5:12,18). 

b) “in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.  Both thorns and thistles [see Ezekiel 2:6; Matthew 7:16] it shall grow for you…by the sweat of your face you will eat bread [see Matthew 4:4; John 6:51] till you return to the ground.”↔Preaching the Gospel will be a lifelong ordeal (John 16:33; Luke 9:23; Acts 14:22) that will make you enemies (John 15:18-19; 2Timothy 3:12); yet however hard the endeavor, the Gospel will sustain you if you patiently persevere at it (Luke 21:19; Hebrews 12:11).

   So if first Adam had everything given to him prior to transgressing, post-sin he had a task to perform until he died; similarly last Adam [Jesus] had a Gospel to preach until he was crucified.  While first Adam toiled in the ‘shadow’ realm of things, last Adam [Jesus] toiled in its ‘substance’ counterpart; which allows for a more detail rendering of the sower’s parable:  The field is the world (Matthew 13:38); the seed is the word of God (Luke 8:11); since Adam was made from earth and he is the father of mankind, so earth symbolizes the hearts of ‘earth-men’ where the seed is to be planted (Matthew 13:19).  Jesus is the sower (Matthew 13:37).  When unbelievers [“the wayside”] hear the Gospel, they fail to understand it and are easily led astray by false doctrines (Matthew 13:19↔Ephesians 4:14; 2Timothy 4:3-4).  When men of no deep conviction [“stony ground”] initially receive the Gospel with joy (Ezekiel 33:31-32), they stumble when tribulation and persecutions befall them (Matthew 13:20-21).  Men who prefer the riches and temporal delights of this world [“thorns”] reject the Word and thus become unproductive (Matthew 13:22).  But the children of the kingdom, the good seed as opposed to Satan’s ‘seed’ (John 8:44), hear and understand the Word, bearing much fruit (Matthew 13:38-39, 23).

   In similar fashion, when Paul is talking about those who partook of divine gifts but betrayed God by sinning again (Hebrews 6:4-6), he uses ‘farming’ imagery:  “But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, in danger of being cursed…and burned in the end” (Hebrews 6:8)—“thorns and thistles” symbolic of God’s enemies, as alluded to in Genesis 3:18; Isaiah 5:5-6, 27:4; Ezekiel 2:6; Micah 7:4].  Because of their opposition, tilling the soil would be arduous and painful—both elements of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

   That leaves ‘oxen,’ symbolizing Gospel preachers, to have the complete picture:  With their help the team driver, Jesus, tills the field to make it easier to plant the seed; oxen being animals that patiently pull the plow mindless of physical discomfort and totally obedient to the team driver—a metaphor Paul applied to preachers (1Timothy 5:17-18).  And this is the reason why Deuteronomy 22:10 forbids the pairing of oxen with donkeys, the latter being stubborn, rebellious animals resisting all efforts to lead them in the right direction.

   Here are Paul’s further contributions to Jesus’ ‘farming’ metaphor:  “I [Paul] planted; Apollos [see Acts 18:24-28] watered; but God was causing the growth.  So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God Who causes the growth.  Now he who plants and he who waters are one [working towards the same goal, just as God and Jesus operate (John 10:30)]; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor (Romans 2:6).  For we are God’s fellow workers [as angels are ours (Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 22:9)]; you are God’s field (Isaiah 5:7, 61:3), God’s [yield].”  “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8).

   One final trio of related prophecies using similar terminology—the last two particularly pertinent to our end-times generation:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout; and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be, going forth from My mouth but not returning to Me without accomplishing what I desire and succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.  For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace.  The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you; and all the trees of the field [symbols for men (see Mark 8:24)] will clap their hands.  Instead of the thorn bush, the cypress will come up; and instead of the nettle, the myrtle will come up.  And it will be a memorial to the Lord, an everlasting sign [the Kingdom of God] which will not be cut off”

(Isaiah 55:10-13);

and,

“I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground [symbols for people searching for God’s word (Amos 8:12)]; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants (Isaiah 44:3)…Your sons and daughters will prophesy; your old men will dream dreams; your young men will see visions…on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.  I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth (Matthew 24:29), blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness (Amos 8:9) and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord”

(Joel 2:28-31). ⁵

   Which tells us what?  That in the midst of the apostasy Christendom is now mired in (2Thessalonians 2:3), the period of grace will not end (Zephaniah 2:1-3) until God makes one last appeal to men to convert to Him.

Unanswered Questions

   Thus we see that Adam’s doings [shadow] prefigured much of the substance of Jesus’ ministry.  There is so much “hidden wisdom” in the Book of Genesis that one marvels at how often it is glossed over and underappreciated.  Yet it fails to address a slew of nagging questions:  Will Adam be saved?  Did he repent of his disobedience?  Was he tormented by the knowledge of the curse he had unleashed upon the world?  Was he angry at Yahweh for his eviction from Eden or did he try to make his way back to Him? 

   Adam begat Seth at 130 years of age; he lived 800 years more and was 930 years old when he died (Genesis 5:3-5).  Seth begat Enos when he was 105 years old (Genesis 5:6); Adam would have been 235 years old by then.  But Scripture tells us that only when Enos was born, men began invoking Yahweh’s name (Genesis 4:26).

   What was Adam’s relationship with Yahweh during those 235 years?  Did he undertake preaching to subsequent generations as he had been tasked?  Was Enoch, seventh from him, galvanized into preaching by Adam’s legacy (Jude 14-15)?  Or is the fact that Yahweh’s name was not invoked during those 235 years proof enough that Adam rejected his commission?

¹ Please pay attention to the wording of Genesis 1:26:  “Let us [proxy Creator Son acknowledging wielding Father’s power in the creation process] make man in our image, after our likeness.”  Some scholars incorrectly interpret ‘our,’ the first person plural possessive determiner, as an indication of polytheistic tendencies amongst early Jews.  Nothing of the kind:  Scripture is suggesting there were two Gods working in tandem during Creation, one de facto Creator wielding the power of a higher God.

   Expanding on this, Genesis 1:27 reads:  “God [proxy Creator Son] created mankind in his own image [Father’s image impressed upon him by Father]; in the image of God [Father] he [proxy Creator Son] created them; male and female he [Son] created them.  However, Woman’s creation took place after Adam’s (Genesis 2:22-23); so that unlike Adam who was made out of ‘earth’ like all land-dwellers (Genesis 1:24-26), Woman was created out of one of Adam’s ribs (Genesis 2:21)—the reason why females are subservient to their male heads (1Corinthians 7:36-38; Ephesians 5:22-24; 1Timothy 2:12; 1Peter 3:5-6), just as body parts follow the brain’s instructions.

   Since everything created was placed under Man’s control (Genesis 1:26), so was Woman; though in the eyes of God, Man and Woman are viewed as one, indivisible individual (Genesis 2:23, 5:1-2).

² Paul’s wording is ambiguous, for Father resurrected Jesus not as a spirit but in bodily form (Luke 24:39; John 20:27).  So when Paul calls Jesus “a life-giving spirit,” he must have been either intimating Jesus previous angelic nature [which he confirmed in Acts 27:23-24] or the fact that Jesus anointed the faithful with the life-giving Holy Spirit—the substance side of John 6:63 [↔John 15:26; 1John 2:27].

³ The meaning of the first letter in the acronym nailed in the cross above Jesus’ head:  Iesvs Nazarenvs, Rex Ivdaeorvm (John 19:19)—Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.  In Latin, the letter “v” was used as “u.”

⁴ For Luke the “seed” was the word of God (Luke 8:11); while for Paul the word of God was the Spirit’s sword (Ephesians 6:17).  These Scriptures do not contradict themselves.  Planted in righteous hearts, the seed will ‘sprout’ into genuine converts, who will wield the sword of the Spirit [i.e., preach] to engage in spiritual warfare and bear fruit.  In terms of imagery regarding the suffering of the righteous, both Matthew’s and Luke’s rendering of Jesus’ parable are in keeping with Psalms 126:6:  “They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.”

⁵ See Joel 2:23.  He speaks about “early” and “late rains” given by God for our vindication; obvious references to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit from above.  In this sense, the early rains were the dispensation of the Holy Spirit through Jesus throughout Christian history; the late rains refers to worldwide, final outpourings of the Holy Spirit between the Great Tribulation and the second coming of Jesus.