Continued: Chapter I-The Chronological Suspension Bridge

Tablet one is not ascribed to any human author. The colophon to it simply states that it is the historical origin or the account of the historical origin of the heavens and the earth. It is altogether possible that the Lord gave this account in a complete form to Adam, just as He gave the tablets of stone of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. On this point, however, I shall not be dogmatic, though the circumstances seem to point in that direction.

Adam, by the inspiration of God, wrote the second tablet and joined it, as we have just seen in the last section, to the one which God gave him. He did this, as we have also seen, by the usual, normal, literary aid of his time. The method which he chose on this occasion was the use of the title words. Doubtless in his will (if men had such in that day and time) he entrusted the preservation of these two tablets--the one given to him by God directly and the one which he by inspiration wrote--to one of his faithful sons or grandchildren who in turn passed them on to faithful Noah.

This righteous man of God, who walked with the Lord by faith, was led by the Spirit of God to trace the genealogy of the theocratic line from Adam to himself and to give a brief description of the moral and religious situation in his day and time. As seen before, he connected his contribution to the former one by adopting the literary method of repeating the title of the former tablet. When he laid down life's burdens he passed on these precious tablets to his son Shem.

Noah's three sons who passed through the exciting days of the prediluvian experiences and were with their father in the Ark came out with him after the flood and began life anew. They were eye-witnesses of the things which are incorporated in the document which bears their names. Shem passed on to Terah the Oracles of God which were in his possession who in turn delivered them to the next generation. They came into the possession of Isaac and through him to Jacob. Without doubt he took them as his most prized treasures when he went down into Egypt. From him Joseph received them. Upon his death they were kept in the theocratic line and at the proper time came into the hands of Moses.

Moses, being called and commissioned of God to deliver his brethren and to transmit to them the Sacred Oracles, naturally welded them together into one complete literary unity and then continued the story of the Chosen People by writing the last fourteen chapters of the book. This section constitutes the connecting link which binds the former revelations with the one which God gave directly through the Great Lawgiver. As stated before, Moses is the only one who was thoroughly qualified to do this editorial work and to give an accurate account of the life and labors of Joseph. In making this statement I am speaking only of the human qualifications. Of course, the Spirit of God guided him in his labors.

Archaeology has revealed the fact that there was an ancient script which antedated even the Sumerian writing. By Moses' time a knowledge of this primitive language doubtless had largely died out. The children of Israel would not be able to read or to understand it. Therefore it had to be translated into the language of the day. Unquestionably Moses is the one who was best qualified for this most difficult task, and whom God chose to perform it.

Moses' translating the tablets falling into his hands explains a situation that cannot be understood otherwise. The matter to which I refer is the use of the name Jehovah in the early part of Genesis. Beginning with the second chapter, we find its frequent occurrence throughout the entire narrative. Notwithstanding this fact we read in Exodus 6:2,3 the following statement made by the Lord to Moses: "I am Jehovah: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them." The plain common-sense meaning of these words is that God never revealed Himself to any of the patriarchs by His memorial name Jehovah, which He made known to Israel at Sinai for the first time. To the Hebrew Fathers, however, He revealed Himself as El Shaddai, God Almighty. The first occurrence of this particular name is in Genesis 17:1. But to Melchizedek king of Salem the Lord revealed Himself as God Most High. Notwithstanding these plain statements informing us that He did not reveal Himself as Jehovah, we read in Genesis 4:26 the following sentence: "Then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah." This statement was speaking of the days of Enosh, the grandson of Adam.

If God did not reveal Himself as Jehovah until Israel came to Sinai, how could Enosh call upon the name of Jehovah, which had not been made known at that time? The facts in the case seem to have been these. At first God revealed Himself as the Strong One, for such is the meaning of the word used to refer to the Lord in Genesis 1. By the third generation men began to depart from God and to deify nature. This development was the beginning of polytheism. But the minority who loved the Lord refused such ideas and continued to worship the true God. Then in order for them to distinguish the Supreme Being from the false gods that were springing up on every hand, the Lord revealed a name, in the primitive language, by which His servants could call upon Him. As idolatry increased, He made a further disclosure of Himself by making known His name God Almighty. This new name would help further to differentiate Him from the false gods.

When Israel left Egypt, there was a pressing need for God to unfold before His Chosen People an additional revelation of His true nature and being; hence He made known His everlasting, memorial name Jehovah. This appellation is the one by which He will always be known. It signifies "the One who causes" things to come into existence and to continue. In other words, He is "The Uncaused Cause" of all things. When the Lord revealed His permanent name, by which He is to be known throughout all eternity, Moses, in translating the precious documents which had come into his hands, could render the sacred name given in the days of Enosh only by the newly revealed appellation Jehovah. Every translator can easily recognize that such was the only thing that Moses could do. The word Jehovah is a Hebrew word. The original sacred name was the proper one in the primitive language. But when the great Lawgiver came to translate this word, he was, of necessity, forced to render it by the final name by which God had made Himself known.

In view of these facts we can see how it is that this sacred name appears from the beginning of the history of the human family, although this name was never revealed to man until Israel came to Sinai. This is the only reasonable, sane explanation of all the facts. This hypothesis accepts all the data at their face value without forcing any strained meaning upon a single passage.

All other problems connected with the Genesis account become luminous in the light of the explanation which has been given concerning the nature and the composition of this book of Beginnings. May the Lord God of Abraham lead us into a fuller light of this most marvelous revelation.

This analysis has shown us that Genesis is undoubtedly a composite document consisting of early writings of men of God which by God's overruling providence came into the possession of Moses. He, according to the methods of literary composition in vogue in his day, welded them together into one sublime whole and has given us an inspired, authentic book telling us of the origin of all things. For this divine revelation we thank and praise the Lord.

The second pillar upon which the Scriptural chronological bridge is suspended is the book of Daniel. Its unique place in the revelation of the development of the order of events becomes immediately apparent when one studies carefully chapter 9. Here we learn that Daniel was reading Jeremiah's prophecies and understood them in the light of "the books." Undoubtedly he was reading Jeremiah, chapters 25 and 29. The former of these links Biblical history with world movements. It likewise traces the chronology backward for 23 years and synchronizes the trend of events in Judah with those of the world empire, Babylon. Daniel 9 also looks out into the future and tells of a period of 490 years, which will be studied in chapter XIV. In this discussion we shall see that this inspired man of God traced the future to the close of the present age and beyond that period "until time shall be no more." These statements being true, one can see why the book of Daniel is the second mighty column upon which the chronological bridge is suspended.

Because of its unique position in the revelation of God, and because of the exactness with which the predictions outlined therein have been fulfilled, the rationalistic critics have waged an incessant warfare against this portion of the Scriptures. Daniel has correctly been said to have been incarcerated in the den of the critics as well as that of the lions. But truth crushed to earth will rise again, for all the eternal years of God are hers. The faithful labors of scientific scholars, who have had a passion for truth and facts alone, have proved beyond a question the genuineness and the authenticity of this marvelous book. The evidence which they have brought forward is of a very positive nature, proving its divine inspiration and overthrowing the spurious objections brought against it; that is, they have produced the absolute evidence of its genuineness. At the same time they have brought forth, in their rebuttal, concrete testimony which completely disproves the negative criticisms. The book of Daniel, therefore, in the eyes of those who are acquainted with the controversy stands as an unimpeachable witness to the truth of God. Since the many excellent works which have shown its genuineness are inaccessible to the reading public, it becomes necessary for me to call attention, in a brief way, to the evidence which proves the inspiration of Daniel and to the rebuttal proof which counteracts the negative criticism.

Ezekiel was taken captive with Jeconiah and engaged in his ministry among the captives in Babylonia. On one occasion the elders of Israel came to him, their purpose for doing so not being revealed. The word of the Lord came to the prophet, informing him of their spiritual condition. Thereupon he demanded of them saying, "Return ye, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations." For the third time the word of God came informing him, "though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord Jehovah" (Ezek. 14:14). The same thought is repeated in verse 20. This reference shows that, in the prophet's thought, there had been three real men bearing these names, who stood head and shoulders above the great masses. To him none of them was imaginary.

Whenever the name Noah was pronounced, instantly everyone thought of the man who built the Ark (Gen. 6-9). The mention of Job immediately called to mind the hero of the book bearing that name. In the same manner the reference to Daniel focused the attention of the hearers upon the hero of the book of Daniel. It is true that there were two other Daniels of whom we read in the Scriptures. They, however, were so very insignificant that no one thought of them. The force of this argument may be seen by a parallel case. In America today the mention of the name Roosevelt calls the attention of the hearer to our president. No one thinks of anyone else but him, unless there is some qualifying statement drawing attention from him to the other. The same thing is true with reference to Herbert Hoover, our ex-president. These men stand out from the masses because of the positions which they occupy. The same thing was true of Daniel. As a boy he was taken in the first deportation of captives in the third year of Jehoiakim. Eight years later Ezekiel was led to Babylon with Jehoiachin.

There can be no doubt concerning Ezekiel's knowledge of Daniel and the position to which he had been advanced. The latter as a young man was faithful to God and was a believer in prayer. In answer to his petitions God granted him marvelous revelations. This fact brought him to the attention of his contemporaries and gave him a place among those who had power with God in prayer. Since the other two Daniels of whom we read in the Scriptures lived in obscurity, and since Daniel of the book bearing his name stood head and shoulders above everyone else, there can be no doubt concerning Ezekiel's referring to him. This passage of Ezekiel fits into the facts presented by the book of Daniel as a single piece of a jig-saw puzzle does into its proper place. This evidence is so very clear that it cannot be questioned.

Some have endeavored to break the force of this testimony by calling attention to the fact that Daniel is placed between Noah and Job. There was no occasion for his mentioning them in chronological order. Various considerations determine the order of names in a given list. Many are the factors which might determine the place which a name occupies in such a tabulation. Hence the objection, weighed from the standpoint of the chronological order, falls under its own weight.