Genesis.

In the Holy Scripture, the first Book of Moses is called by its first word Bereshit which means

.in the beginning.. The Greek name for this book . .genesis. points to its context: an account

of  the creation of the world, the first people and the first communities in patriarchal times. As

was already stated, the description of the creation of the world follows a religious and not a sci-

entific aim, specifically: to show that God is the primary Designer and Cause of all being. The

earth and all that fills it did not originate haphazardly, but through the will of the Creator. Man is

not just an animal, for he holds within himself the breath of God . an immortal soul, made in

the likeness of God. Man was created for the highest aspirations . to perfect himself through

virtuosity.

  The devil is sinfully responsible for the fall of mankind and is the fountainhead of evil in the

world. God constantly concerns Himself with the salvation mankind and directs it toward good.

Here in a few words is that religious perspective with which the Book of Genesis describes the

emanation of the world, mankind and ensuing events.

  The Book of Genesis was written with the purpose of giving mankind a concept of the world

and of mankind.s history, after traditions began to be forgotten, and to preserve in purity the first

prophesies regarding the Messiah, the Divine Savior of mankind.

  At a finer level of detail the content of Genesis can be subdivided as follows. It begins with

an account of how the universe came into existence (1:1-2:14), creation of Adam, placing him in

a special .garden,. Paradise, located to the East of Eden and the story of Eve (2:15-25) and their

sin  (3:1-13),  the  consequences  of  their  sin, as well as the promise of the Savior given to Eve

(3:14-24).

  In the second section, (4-11) descendants of Adam are described . the crime of Cain and

his impious descendants (chapter 4), preserving of faith through the longevity of the OT patri-

archs (chapter 5), increased impiety and sinfulness and selection of Noa in order to preserve faith

(chapter  6),  disastrous  flood and its subsiding, the sacrifice of Noa (ch. 7-8). Resumption of

God.s promises after the Flood, and Noa.s prophecy about his children  (chapter  9),  nations

spread across the Near East after the Flood and the separation of the tongues, the descendants of

Shem are listed (chapters 10 and 11).

  In the third section, that takes the final 39 chapters of Genesis, Abraham becomes prominent

after  obeying  God's  call  (12:1-25:20), promises and covenants with him are also found here.

Thereafter the narratives continue with Isaac and promises to  him  (25:20-28:1-9),  and  Jacob

(28:10-38:30), the story of Joseph's life (chapters 39-47).  This  section  concludes  with  the  pro-

phetic blessing of the sons of Joseph by Jacob (chapter 48), blessing of Jacob given to his own

sons (chapter 19, this chapter also contains an account of the destruction of the cities of Sodom

and Gomorrha, primarily for the sin of sodomy (homosexuality), death and burial of Jacob, Jo-

seph.s faith in eventual return of the people of God into the promised land (chapter 50).

Narrative of the Creation of the World.

(By Protopresbyter M. Pomazansky)

The first place in the book of Genesis is occupied by the origin of the world. Moses, the

seer of God, speaks briefly about the creation of the world. His account occupies about one page

of the Bible. But at the same time he took in everything with a single glance. This brevity dis-

plays profound wisdom, for what loquacity could embrace the greatness of God's work? In es-

sence this page is an entire book, which required great spiritual stature on the part of the sacred

author and enlightenment from above. It is not without reason that Moses concludes his account

of the creation as if he were concluding a large and long work: This is the book of the generations

of the heavens and the earth, when they were made, in the day in which the Lord God made the

heavens and the earth (Gen. 2:4).

This was a mighty task . to speak of how the world and all that is in the world came to

be. A large enterprise in the realm of thought requires a correspondingly large store of means of

expression, a technical and philosophical vocabulary. But what did Moses have? At his disposal

was an almost primitive language, the entire vocabulary of which numbered only several hundred

words. This language had almost none of those abstract concepts which now make it much easier

for us to express our thoughts. The thinking of antiquity is almost entirely expressed in images,

and all its words denote what the eyes and ears perceive of the visible world. Because of this,

Moses uses the words of his time with care, so as not to immerse the idea of God in the crude-

ness  of  purely  earthly perceptions. He has to say .God made,. .God took,. .God saw,. .God

said,. and even . .God walked;. but the first words of Genesis, In the beginning God made,

and then, The Spirit of God moved over the water, already speak clearly of God as a spirit, and

consequently of the metaphorical nature of the anthropomorphic expressions we quoted above. In

a later book, the Psalter, when the metaphorical nature of such expressions about the Spirit be-

came generally understood, we encounter many more such expressions, and ones which are more

vivid. In it we read about God's face, about the hands, eyes, steps, shoulders of God, of God's

belly. Take hold of weapon and shield, and arise unto my help (Ps. 35:2), the psalmist appeals to

God. In his homilies on the book of Genesis, commenting on the words, And they heard the voice

of the Lord God walking in the garden in the afternoon, Saint John Chrysostom says:

.Let us not, beloved, inattentively pass over what is said by Divine Scripture, and

let us not stumble over the words, but reflect that such simple words are used be-

cause of our infirmity, and everything is accomplished fittingly for our salvation.

Indeed, tell me, if we wish to accept the words in their literal meaning, and will

not understand what we are told at the very beginning of the present reading. And

they heard, it is said, the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the afternoon.

What  are  you  saying? God walks? Surely we are not ascribing feet to

Him? And shall we not understand anything higher by this?  No,  God  does  not

walk . quite the contrary! How, in fact, can He Who is everywhere and fills all

things, Whose  throne is heaven and the earth His footstool, really walk in par-

adise? What foolish man will say this? What then does it mean, They heard the

voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the afternoon? He wanted to

awaken in them such a feeling (of His nearness), that it would cast them into anxi-

ety, which is what actually happened: they felt this, trying to hide themselves from

God Who was approaching them. Sin happened . and the crime . and shame

fell upon them. The impartial judge, the conscience, rose up, cried out with a loud

voice, reproached them, exposed them and, as it were, exhibited before their eyes,

the seriousness of the crimes. In the beginning, the Master created man and placed

the conscience in him, as an inexorable accuser, which cannot be deceived or flat-

tered ....

In our era of geological and paleontological research and discoveries, the world of the past is de-

picted on an immeasurably vast time scale; the appearance of humanity itself is ascribed to im-

mensely distant millennia. In questions of the origin and development of the world, science fol-

lows its own path, but it is not essential for us to make efforts to bring the Biblical account into

congruence and harmony in all points with the voice of contemporary science. We have no need

to plunge ourselves into geology and paleontology to support the Biblical account. In principle

we are convinced that the words of the Bible and scientific data will not prove to be in contradic-

tion, even if at any given time their agreement in one respect or another is still not clear to us. In

some cases scientific data can show us how we should understand the facts in the Bible. In some

respects these two fields are not comparable; they have different purposes, to the extent that they

have contrasting points of view from which they see the world.

Moses' task was not the study of the physical world. However, we agree in recognizing

and honoring Moses for giving mankind the first elementary natural history; for being the first

person in the world to give the history of early humanity; and, finally, for giving a beginning to

the history of nations in the book of Genesis. All this only emphasizes his greatness. He presents

the creation of the world and its history, in the small space of a single page of the Bible; hence it

is already clear, from this brevity, why he does not draw the thread of the world's history through

the deep abyss of the past, but rather presents it simply as one general picture. Moses' immediate

aim in the account of the creation was to instill basic religious truths into his people and, through

them, into other peoples.

The principal truth is that God is the one spiritual Being independent of the world. This

truth was preserved in that branch of humanity which the fifth and sixth chapters of the book of

Genesis call the .sons of God,. and from them faith in the one God was passed on to Abraham

and his descendants. By the time of Moses, the other peoples had already lost this truth for some

time.  It  was even becoming darkened among the Hebrew people, surrounded as they were by

polytheistic nations, and threatened to die out during their captivity in Egypt. For Moses himself

the greatness of the one, divine Spirit was revealed by the unconsumed, burning bush in the wil-

derness. He asked in perplexity: Behold, I shall go forth to the children of Israel, and shall say to

them, “The God of our fathers has sent me to you” — and they will ask of me, “What is His

name?” What shall I say to them? Then, Moses heard a mystical voice give the name of the very

essence of God: And God spoke to Moses, saying, I am the Being. Thus shall ye say to the children

of Israel, the Being has sent me to you (Ex. 3:13-14). 

Such is the lofty conception of God that Moses is expounding in the first words of the

book of Genesis: In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. Even when nothing mate-

rial existed, there was the one Spirit, God, Who transcends time, transcends space, Whose exis-

tence is not limited to heaven, since heaven was made together with time and the earth. In the

first line of the book of Genesis the name of God is given without any definitions or limitations:

for the only thing that can be said about God is that He is, that He is the one, true, eternal Being,

the Source of all being, He is the Being.

A series of other truths about God, the world, and man, are bound up with this truth and

follow directly from the account of the creation. These are:

. God did not separate a part of Himself, was in no way diminished, nor was He

augmented in creating the world.

. God created the world of His free will, and was not compelled by any necessity.

. The world does not, of itself, have a divine nature; it is neither the offspring of

the Deity, nor part of Him, nor the body of the Deity.

. The world manifests the wisdom, power, and goodness of God.

. The world which is visible to us was formed gradually, in order, from the lower

to the higher and more perfect.

. In the created world .everything was very good"; the world in its entirety is har-

monious, excellent, wisely and bountifully ordered.

.  Man  is  an  earthly being, made from earth, and appointed to be the crown of

earthly creation.

. Man is made after the image and likeness of God, and bears in himself the breath

of life from God.

From these truths the logical conclusion follows that man is obliged to strive towards moral pu-

rity and excellence, so as not to deface and lose the image of God in himself, that he might be

worthy to stand at the head of earthly creation.

Of course, the revelation about the creation of the world supplanted in the minds of the

Hebrews all the tales they had heard from the peoples surrounding  them.  These  fables  told  of

imaginary gods and goddesses, who a) are themselves dependent on the existence of the world

and are in essence, impotent, b) who are replete with weaknesses, passions and enmity, bringing

and spreading evil, and therefore, c) even if they did exist would be incapable of elevating man-

kind ethically. The history of the creation of the world, which has its own independent value as a

divinely revealed truth, deals, as we see, a blow to the pagan, polytheistic, mythological religions.

The  Old  Testament concept of God is expressed with vivid imagery in the book of the

Wisdom of Solomon: For the whole world before Thee is as a little grain in the balance yea, as

a drop of the morning dew that falleth down upon the earth! (Wis. 11:22). The book of Genesis

confesses pure, unadulterated monotheism. Yet Christianity brings out a higher truth in the Old

Testament accounts: the truth of the unity of God in a Trinity of Persons. We read: Let us make

man according to our image; Adam is become as one of us; and later, God appeared to Abraham

in the form of three strangers.

Such is the significance of this short account. If the whole book of Genesis consisted only

of the first page of the account of the world and mankind, it would still be a great work, a mag-

nificent expression of God's revelation, of the divine illumination of human thought.

The Dawn of Humanity.

(By Protopresbyter M. Pomazansky)

The second and third chapters of the book of Genesis unfold a new theme; we can say

that they begin a new book: the history of mankind. It is understandable why Moses speaks twice

about  the  creation of man. It was necessary for him to speak of man in the first chapter as the

crown of creation, in the general picture of the creation of the world. Now, after concluding the

first theme: And the heavens and the earth were finished, and the whole world of them — it is

natural that he should begin the history of humanity by speaking again of the creation of the first

man and of how woman was made for him. These are the contents of the second chapter, which

also describes their life in Eden, in paradise. The third chapter tells of their fall into sin and their

loss of paradise. In these accounts, together with the literal meaning, there is a symbolic meaning

and we are not in a position to indicate where precisely events are related in their natural, literal

sense, and where they are expressed figuratively, we are not in a position to separate the symbol

from the simple fact. We only know that, in one form or another, we are being told of events of

the most profound significance.

A symbol is a relative means of expression, which is convenient in that it is pictorial, and

therefore makes an  impression  on the soul. It does not require great verbal means to express a

thought. At the same time, it leaves a strong impression of the given concept. A symbol gives one

the possibility of penetrating more deeply into the meaning of the thought. Thus, in quoting the

Psalmic text, Thy hands have made me, Saint John of Kronstadt accompanies it with the remark:

.Thy hands are the Son and the Spirit.. The word .hands. in relation to God suggests to him the

idea of the Most-holy Trinity (My Life in Christ). We read similar words in Saint Irenaeus of Ly-

ons: .The Son and the Holy Spirit are, as it were, the hands of the Father. (Against Heresies, bk.

5, ch. 6).

It is essential to make a strict distinction between Biblical symbol and imagery, with the

special meaning which is hidden within it, and the concept of myth. In the Bible there is no my-

thology. Mythology belongs to polytheism, which personifies as gods the phenomena of nature

and has created fantastic tales on this basis. We are justified in saying that the book of Genesis is

a .de-mythologizing. of ancient notions, the unmasking  of  mythology,  that  it  was  directed

against myths.

It might be said that one can also see symbolism in mythology. This is true. But the dif-

ference here is that the truth . often deeply mysterious . lies behind Moses' figurative expres-

sions; but mythological stories present fiction inspired by  the phenomena of  nature.  These  are

symbols of the truth; the others are symbols of arbitrary fantasy. For an Orthodox Christian this is

similar to the difference between an icon and an idol: the icon is the depiction of a real being,

whereas an idol is a depiction of a fictitious creation of the mind.

The symbolic element is felt most strongly where there is the greatest need to reveal an

essential point. Such, for example, is the account of the creation of the woman from Adam's rib.

Saint John Chrysostom teaches us:

And He took, it says, one of his ribs. Do not understand these words in a human

way, but know that crude expressions are used in adaptation to human infirmity.

Indeed, if Scripture did not use these words, then how could we come to know the

ineffable mysteries? Let us not, then, dwell only on the words, but let us take eve-

rything in an appropriate way, as relating to God. This expression  'took' and all

similar expressions are used on account of our infirmity (loc. cit., pp. 120-1).

The moral conclusion of this story is comprehensible to us. Saint Paul points it out: woman is

called to be in submission to man. The head of the woman is the man; the head of every man is

Christ ... ; for the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man (1 Cor. 11:3,8). But why

did Moses speak specifically of the manner in which woman was created? He undoubtedly had

the intention of protecting the minds of the Hebrews from the fictions of mythology and, in par-

ticular, from the mythology of ancient Mesopotamia, the homeland of their ancestors. These sor-

did and morally corrupting tales tell of how the world of gods, the world of man and the world of

animals are in some way merged together: goddesses and gods form unions with men and ani-

mals. We find a hint of this in the depictions of lions and bulls with human heads, which are so

widespread in Chaldeo-Mesopotamian and Egyptian art.' The Biblical account of the creation of

woman  supports  the concept that the human race has its own, absolutely unique, independent

origin and keeps its physical nature pure and distinct from the beings of the supernatural world,

and from the lower realm of animals. That this is so is evident from the preceding verses of the

account: And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; let us make for him

a help suitable for him (Gen. 2:18). And He brought all the wild beasts to Adam, and Adam gave

them names, but for Adam there was not found a helpmate like to himself (Gen. 2:20). Then it

was that God put a trance upon Adam and made him a wife out of one of his ribs.

Thus, after the truth of the unity of God,  the  truth  of  the  unity,  independence, and dis-

tinctness of the human race is confirmed. It is with these two basic truths that Saint Paul begins

his sermon on the Areopagus in Athens: God is one, and He hath made of one blood all nations

of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth (Acts 17:26). The account of the creation of man

and of the origin of the human race which is given in the book of Genesis deals just such a blow

to polytheistic, mythological concepts, as did the story of the creation of the world.

The first people lived in paradise, in Eden, that most beautiful garden. The dawn of hu-

manity is illumined by rays of the Sun of Grace in Moses' account. Now, under the influence of

some cave discoveries, early man is usually depicted for us in the gloom of a cave. However, the

Bible tells us that, although man was in a childlike state in the spiritual sense, he was still a noble

creature  of God from  the beginning of his existence; that from the beginning, his countenance

was not dark, not gloomy, but radiant and pure. He was always intellectually superior to other

creatures. The gift of speech gave him the opportunity to develop his spiritual nature further. The

riches of the vegetable kingdom presented him with an abundance of food. Life in this most be-

neficent climate did not require much labor. Moral purity gave him inner peace. The process of

development could have taken on a higher form, one which is unknown to us.

In the animal world, although it stands lower than man, we observe many noble-featured,

harmoniously  built  species  in  the  kingdoms  of  fourlegged  animals  and  birds  which  express

beauty and grace in their external features. We observe so many gentle animals, prepared to show

attachment and trust and, what is more important, to serve in almost a disinterested way. There is

also much harmony and beauty before us in the plant world and, one could say, the plants com-

pete to be of service with their fruits. Why then is it necessary to conceive of early man alone as

deprived of all the attractive and beautiful features with which the animal and plant kingdoms are

endowed?

The Fall into Sin.

(By Protopresbyter M. Pomazansky)

Man's  blessedness  and his nearness to God are inseparable, “God is my protection and

defense: whom shall I fear?” (cf. Pss. 27:1, 32:7). God .walked in paradise,. so close was He to

Adam and Eve. But in order to sense the beatitude of God's nearness and to be aware that one is

under God's protection, it is necessary to have a dear conscience. When we lose it, we lose this

awareness. The first people sinned and then they  straightway  hid  from  God.  Adam, where art

thou? — I heard Thy voice, as Thou walkedst in the garden, and I feared, because I am naked,

and hid myself.

The Word of God tells us that God is omnipresent, and He is always near. The awareness

of this nearness is dimmed only because of man's corruption. However, it does not become extin-

guished completely. Throughout all the ages, it has lived and continues to live in holy people. It

is said of Moses that God spoke with him face to face, as a man would speak with his friend (cf.

Deut. 34: 10). Near art Thou, O Lord, we read in the psalms (Pss. 119:151; 145:12). .My soul

lives in God as a fish lives in water or a bird in the air, immersed in Him on all sides and at all

times;  living  in  Him,  moving  in  Him,  at  rest  in  Him,  finding  in  Him  breathing  room,.  writes

Saint John of Kronstadt. In another place he reasons: .What is the meaning of the appearance of

the three strangers to Abraham? It means that the Lord, in three Persons, continually, as it were,

travels over the earth, and watches over everything that is done on it; and that He Himself comes

to those of His servants who are watchful and attentive to themselves and their salvation, and

who seek Him, sojourning with them and conversing with them as with His friends (We will

come unto him, and make Our abode with him . John 14:23); while He sends fire upon the un-

godly. (My Life in Christ).

This closeness was lost, and so was blessedness. Blessedness was lost and suffering ap-

peared. Moses' account of the fall into sin is essentially the same as the Lord's parable about the

Prodigal Son. He left the father, hid himself from him, that he might be satiated with the sweet-

ness of a free life. But instead of pleasure, he was rewarded with husks, which were used to feed

animals, and these not to satiety. It was the same with our forefathers; their fall was followed by

grief and sufferings. I will greatly multiply thy pains and thy groanings; in pain thou shalt bring

forth children... In pain..., in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, until thou return to

the earth, out of which thou wast taken...

Eating the forbidden fruit, it would seem, was such a minor offense. Could it really have

such  consequences  or  bring such a punishment? But everything in life has its beginning; great

things arise from insignificant, small ones. An avalanche in the mountains begins from a slight

tremor. The Volga originates from a little spring, and the broad Hudson from the .tear clouds.

which are lost in the mountains.

Simple  observation tells us that there is a connection between vices and suffering, that

they lead to suffering and that man thus punishes himself. If death and many of the hardships of

life constitute a chastisement from God, still it must be recognized that the majority of man's suf-

ferings are created by humanity itself. This applies to savage wars, accompanied with the terribly

inhuman treatment of the vanquished. Wars, in fact, constitute the entire history of humanity. It

also applies to those types of suffering inflicted by man on man, which have accompanied the

peaceful periods of history: slavery, the yokes of foreign invaders, and the various kinds of vio-

lence, which are caused not only by greed and egoism, but also by a kind of demonic passion for

cruelty  and  brutality.  In  a word,  all  this  is  expressed  in  the  old  proverb: man's worst  enemy  is

man.

Would man have enjoyed complete blessedness on earth if the  fall  had  not  occurred?

Would he be free from worries, annoyances, sadness, accidents? Apparently the Bible does not

speak  of such  tranquility  in life. Where there is light, there is also shadow; where there is joy,

there must also be sorrow. But what sorrows can last long, if the Lord is near?... if He commands

His angels to protect His supreme creatures, those who bear  His  image  and  likeness  in  them-

selves? The Church teaches that man in paradise was created for immortality, not only that of the

soul, but also of the body. Yet even if he were not eternal in his earthly body, what woe could

there be if he perceived his immortality with all the powers of his soul? If he knew and felt that a

transformation into a yet higher form of life awaits him?

The Problem of Evil.

(By Protopresbyter M. Pomazansky)

Now we have touched upon one of the very broadest questions, that of the general prob-

lem of suffering in the world which is so very difficult for religious philosophy to explain. Why

is the law of the constant renovation of life, the beneficent law of the life of the world, conjoined

with  suffering?  Is  it  inevitable  that creatures should mutually destroy each other? That some

should be eaten by others to support their own life? That the weak should be in fear of the strong,

and brute force should triumph in the animal kingdom? Is the struggle of one creature with an-

other an eternal condition of life?

The Bible does not give a direct answer to our questions. However, we do find indirect

indications of a solution. Here is what is said about the first law of nourishment which God gave

His creatures. God appoints the seeds of plants and the fruit of trees as food for man. Only after

the flood does he also make meat lawful for him. For animals, God declares: And to all the wild

beasts of the earth, and to all the fowls of heaven, and to every reptile creeping on the earth,

which has in itself the breath of life, [I have given] every green plant for food, and it was so

(Gen. 1:30).

But the fall occurred. Before the flood, the human race had become corrupt. This corrup-

tion also touched the world of earthly creatures: And the Lord God saw the earth, and it was corrupted;

because all flesh had corrupted His way upon the earth (Gen. 6:12). The law of concord

gave way to the law of struggle. And Saint Paul writes: For the earnest expectation of creation

awaiteth the manifestation of the sons of God. For creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly,

but by reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope, because creation itself also

shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of

God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

And not they only, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves

groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body (Rom. 8:19-23). 

This means that the groaning of creation is not eternal; obviously then, neither is the law

of conflict, the right of the strongest. And is it, indeed, indisputably a law of life? Do we not ob-

serve that the ferocious, bloodthirsty, and formidably strong representatives of the animal world

disappear more quickly from the face of the earth than the apparently defenseless, gentle crea-

tures, which continue to live and multiply? Is this not an oblique indication to humanity itself not

to rely on the principles of force? The holy Prophet Isaiah speaks of the temporary nature of the

principle, when he prophesies about the time (of course not in this sinful world) when the wolf

shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down together with the kid (Is. 11:6).

The account  of  the  origin  of evil in the world, of moral evil, and physical and spiritual

sufferings, is given in the third chapter of the book of Genesis, and constitutes a new, third blow

against pagan mythology. According to the mythological tales, the gods experienced passions and

vices and the sufferings which resulted; conflicts, treachery and murders take place among them.

Then there are religions which postulate that there is a god of good and a god of evil; but one

way or the other, evil is thus primordial. Hence, suffering is a normal condition of life, and there

is no path to genuine moral perfection. This is not what the Bible tells us. God did not create or

cause evil. What was created was .very good. by nature. Sin came into the world through temp-

tation; that is why it is called .sin,. i.e., a missing of the mark, losing of the way, a deviation of

the will to the wrong side. After sin came suffering.

The author of the Wisdom of Solomon says: For God made not death: neither hath He

pleasure in the destruction of the living. For He created all things that they might have their being;

and the generations of the world were healthful, and there is no poison of destruction in

them, nor the kingdom of Hades upon the earth... For God created man for incorruption, and

made him to be the image of His own eternity. But through the envy of the devil, came death into

the world; and they that are of His portion experience it (Wis. 1:13-14; 2:23-24).

But the moral law is not destroyed by man's fall. It continues to shine, the distinction be-

tween good and evil is not lost. Man retains the possibility of returning to his lost riches. The

path to it lies through that grief which leads to moral purification and rebirth, through the sorrow

of repentance, which is depicted at the end of the third chapter of Genesis, in the account of the

expulsion from Paradise. From the last verses of the third chapter of Genesis, we begin to see the

radiant horizon of the New Testament far in the distance, the dawn of the salvation of the human

race from moral evil and, at the same time, from suffering and death, through the appearance of

the Redeemer of the world.

Thus, the story of the fall into sin is of exceptional importance for understanding the en-

tire  history  of  humanity,  and  is  directly connected with the New Testament. A direct parallel

arises between the two events: Adam's fall into sin and the coming of the Son of God on earth.

This is always present in Christian thought, in general and particular terms. Christ is called the

Second Adam; the tree of the Cross is contrasted with the tree of the fall. Christ's very tempta-

tions from the devil in the desert recall, to a certain extent, the temptations of the serpent: there it

was .taste of the fruit. and .ye shall be as gods;. here, If thou be the Son of God, command that

these stones be made bread. The Church Fathers prefer a direct, literal understanding of the story

of the fall into sin. However, even here the real element, the element of the direct meaning, is so

closely intertwined with the hidden, spiritual sense, that there is no possibility of separating them.

Such, for example, are the mystical names .tree of life. and .tree of the knowledge of good and

evil.. The Church, rejoicing in her salvation in Christ, turns her gaze towards the same .Paradise

of old,. and she sees the Cherubim, who were placed at the gates of Paradise when Adam was

expelled, now no longer guarding the tree of life, and the flaming sword no longer hindering our

entry into Paradise. After repenting on the cross, the thief hears the words of the Crucified Christ:

Today thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.

Exodus.

  This book was originally called by its opening words .elle-shemot. which in Hebrew means

.These  are  the  names....  because it begins with the list of names of the descendents of Jacob 

who migrated  to Egypt in the times of Joseph. The Greek name, Exodus, indicates the book.s

contents: the exodus of the sons of Israel from Egypt.

  The book relates how the sons of Jacob, a small tribe of wondering shepherds, became a

God chosen nation. The covenant was central to this event. It bound God and Israel in an agree-

ment by which God undertook to provide for all His people's material needs, including a land in

which to live, if they would worship Him alone as the one true God and live as a holy commu-

nity.  Central  to  the rules of the covenant were the Ten Commandments, which are still funda-

mental to any relationship with God. The tabernacle was a portable temple of worship which was

placed in the center of Israel's wilderness encampment, symbolizing God's  presence  in  their

midst. The religious and moral laws listed in the Book of Exodus did not lose their importance

until this day, in fact, in His sermon of the Mount, Lord Jesus Christ has taught the deeper level

of their understanding. In contrast, the civil laws and religious rites given to Hebrews and listed

in the book of Exodus have lost their importance and were revoked by the Holy Apostles in the

council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15).

  This book deals with the miracle of Israel's deliverance from Egypt and with God's covenant

relationship with the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Exodus can be subdivided into two main sections,

historical and that of the giving of the Law. Preliminaries to the departure from Egypt (Ex. 1:l-

4:28), where the providential acts of the Lord in the life of Moses, chosen by God for the deliver-

ance of His people are listed, followed by the circumstances leading up to the Exodus, including

the ten plagues of Egypt and the celebrating of the first Passover (4:29-12:39). The deliverance

from Egypt and the subsequent journey to Sinai (chapters 12-18) precede the giving of the Law

of God through Moses, where chapter 19 describes the circumstances of the giving of the Law,

and consecutive chapters contain the codex of the moral and civil laws, sealed by Hebrews enter-

ing into covenant with God (chapters 20-24). Next follow the laws related to church services and

priesthood (chapters 25-31), transgression of the Law in intervals of idolatry (chapters 32-33). A

renewal of the covenant relationship (chapter 34) is followed by narratives describing the con-

struction of the tabernacle and implementation of the Lord.s directions by Moses (chapters 35-

40).

  It is instructive to put the accounts of Exodus in a historical perspective. Joseph was sold to

Egypt by his brothers during the reign of the Hyksos, a Semitic tribe known as shepherd kings

(some 2000 years BC). At that time Egypt was highly prosperous and mighty. The Pharaoh was

most likely Amenemhet IV. He elevated Joseph in rank when he saved the Egyptians from fam-

ine  and  bestowed great blessings on him and his family. However, the ethnic Egyptian nobles

united in Thebes and slowly drove out the Hyksos. Afterward there entered the 18th dynasty of

the Pharaoh Amasis 1st (Ahmose I) The new rulers changed their relations toward the Jews.

There began persecutions which turned to oppressive slavery. The new Pharaohs while working

the Jews as slaves and forcing them to build cities, were at the same time concerned that the Jews

would unite with outlying nomadic tribes and seize dominion in Egypt. The exodus of Jews from

Egypt  falls  sometime  in the mid 15th century BC. At that time the Pharaoh most probably was

Thutmose I. The book First Kings 6:1 states that Solomon began building the temple .in the four

hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt.”

Solomon is thought to have begun construction about 960 BC, a fact that also places the time of

Exodus to the midst of the 15th century BC.

Leviticus.

  The Greek name of this book indicates that it contains the codex of rules, related to the ser-

vice of the descendants of Levi (one of Jacob.s sons) in the Old Testament temple. These priests

were responsible for teaching the Law to the people, conducting sacrificial worship in the taber-

nacle according to the directions given by God, and ordering the life of the community. Because

Israel was meant to live as a holy people (Ex. 19:6), Leviticus contained regulations for both the

spiritual and material aspects of life. These rules can be divided into the following sections: sac-

rificial  laws  (Leviticus  1-7);  laws governing ordination (Leviticus 8-10); laws about impurities

(Leviticus  11-16); laws about holiness (Leviticus 17-26); and rules governing vows (Leviticus

27).

  All this material was divinely revealed to the nation of Israel directly from God. No part of it

has been adopted from any other nation. The Year of Jubilee legislation (Lev. 25:8-17) is unique

in the Near East. Leviticus continues the narrative of Exodus, but it emphasizes the way in which

God is to be worshipped and the manner in which His people are to live. Holiness must govern

the community (Lev. 11:44); and this must be reflected by everyone, not just the priesthood.

Numbers.

  This book follows the lead given by Leviticus in emphasizing the holiness of Israel. All the

various elements that make up the book bear upon this important concept. The book can be di-

vided  into  three  broad  sections:  the  departure from Sinai (1:1-10:11); the journey to Kadesh

(10:11-20:21) and the journey from Kadesh to Moab (20:22-36:13). The holiness of the taberna-

cle is central, as is the important place that the Levites occupied (8:5-26) in  relation  to  the

Aaronic  priesthood. The description of the wilderness wanderings shows how quickly divine

blessing could turn to severe judgment whenever God's commandments were broken.

  This book contains a lot of laws, in part new, in part the same as already listed in the books

of Exodus and Leviticus. These laws have lost their meaning in the New Testament times. As

Apostle Paul wrote to Hebrews, the Old Testament sacrifices were the prototype for the redemp-

tive sacrifice of our Lord and Savior at Calvary. The prophet Isaia wrote about this with much

greater emphasis in the 54th chapter of his book. The priestly dresses, altars, candlestick  and

other ordinances of the OT temple worship were made by Moses after the examples directly re-

vealed by God on Mt. Sinai, and are still used in modified form, in our church services.

  The disobedience and idolatry of the Israelites is a sad theme in Numbers. Once even Moses

was not totally obedient to God. Although he brought Israel to Moab and  within  sight  of  the

Promised Land, he was not privileged to lead the nation across the Jordan River. The book ends

with the nation looking forward to the settlement of Canaan.

Deuteronomy.

  The Greek name for this book indicates that it summarizes the laws given earlier, sometimes

providing more details. This book may be described as a covenant-renewal document that begins

with a review of Israel's departure from Sinai (1:1-4:40); describes the religious foundation of the

nation  (4:44-26:19),  reestablishes the covenant (chapters 27-30), and narrates the final days of

Moses (chapters 31-34). In Deuteronomy Moses looks back upon God's blessing and provision

while looking forward to the time when Israel will occupy the Promised Land.

  The language of the book is noble oratory that glorifies the righteous and faithful God of Si-

nai and encourages the response of His people in obedience and faithfulness. The God revealed

in Moses' addresses is not only the Judge of all the earth, but also the loving Father of mankind.

Israel is reminded that the privileges of covenant relationship with Him also carry responsibili-

ties. Moses predicts a dark future for the nation if it does not follow the covenant principles and

remain faithful to God.

  In  conclusion  of  this  brief overview it  should be stressed that the Law contained in the

Pentateuch constitutes a very unique judicial code --- much more noble that any other ancient ju-

dicial code. Of course some similarities can be found between the Ten commandments and laws

of ancient nations that inhabited the northwestern part of Mesopotamia (well-known laws of the

Sumerian king Ur-Nammu (2050 BC), the Amorite king Bilalam,  the  Sumer-Akkadian  ruler

Lirit-Ishtar, the Babylonian king Hammurabi (1800 BC), and the Assyrian and Hittite laws com-

posed around 1500 B.C.). These similarities stem from the fact that ultimately the moral law is

ingrained by God into the human soul, so that all people, even when they don't know anything

about God or His revelation, have a good feeling of what is right and what is wrong. This is so

much  so,  that  if  our  nature  was  not  corrupted  by  primordial  sin,  it  is  most  likely  that  just  the

voice of conscience would be sufficient to regulate our personal and social life.

  However, whatever similarities of detail there might have been with other ancient codes,

the Law of Moses has nothing in common with them in its religious values. Indeed, the central

message is the monotheism which the Hebrew people were the first to expound . the worship of

one single, invisible and just God, and the rejection of every form of idolatry which was so pre-

vailing  among  pagans.  The  first  and  most  in  most  important  of  the  Ten  commandments was:

“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exod. 20:3).

  Because  at  the  time  of  Moses  the tribes of Israel were forming into a nation the Mosaic

Code goes far beyond religious observance. It deals with political, social and family affairs in a

progressive spirit well in advance of its period. For example: there must be no arbitrary exercise

of power; even a king must fear God and obey the law, “that his heart may not be lifted up above

his brethren, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or

to the left” (Deut. 17:20).

  Justice must be impartially administered, for rich and poor alike: “You shall appoint judges

and officers in all your towns which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes; and

they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not

show partiality; and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and subverts

the cause of the righteous” (Deut. 16:18-19).

  Special  protection is extended to the needy and the under-privileged, to fugitive slaves,

debtors, hired servants, orphans, widows and foreigners. Women must be respected, and a slan-

der against the chastity of a wife is a crime. Even the ox may not be muzzled while it is treading

the grain on the threshing floor, and the mother-bird must be spared if eggs are collected from her

nest. There must be fair practices in commerce . “a full and just weight you shall have, a full

and just measure you shall have” (Deut. 25:15). Men shall be exempted from military service if

they have recently built a house, planted a vineyard or betrothed a wife, or are faint-hearted. Al-

ways, in his dealings with others, the Hebrew must say to himself: .Love the sojourner therefore;

for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Deut. 10:19).

  For century after century, the Jewish rabbis and sages  discussed  and  refined  the Laws  of

Moses. Their commentaries were gathered together in the huge tomes of the Talmud, which a

learned man might study all his life without exhausting them. In this fashion was shaped the dis-

tinctive outlook and way of life which the Jewish people carried with them to all the countries of

their dispersion. Through Christianity, the Law of Moses profoundly influenced the civilization

of the Western world.

A note regarding the authorship of the Pentateuch. Jesus Christ names Moses as the author of Pentateuch: “If

you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46, Mark 12:26; John 7:23). The Penta-

teuch itself depicts Moses as having written extensively (see Ex. 17:14, 24:4, 34:27, Num. 33:2, Deut. 31:24). Acts

7:22 tells us that “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” In the notes accompanying the text we

observe a number of loan-words from Egyptian that are found in Genesis, a fact which suggests that the original au-

thor  had his  roots  in Egypt,  as  did Moses. Deuteronomy identifies the book's content with Moses: “These are the

words which Moses spoke to all Israel” (1:1). “Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests” (31:9) may well

refer to his writing of the entire book as well. .Moses. name appears nearly forty times in the volume, and the book

clearly reflects Moses. personality. The first person pronoun used freely throughout its pages further supports Mo-

saic  authorship.  Both  Jewish  and  Samaritan  tradition  are  unanimous  in  identifying  Moses  as  the  author.  In  the

post-exilic writings the Law, or Torah, was often attributed directly to Moses (Neh. 8:1; 2 Chr. 25:4; 35:12). Also

Apostles Peter and Stephen Christ acknowledges Moses as the author of the book's content (Matt. 19:7; Mark 10:3-4;

Acts 3:22; 7:37).