Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight, is study #37 of Genesis, chapter 14 and we are going to read Genesis 14:19-22:

And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto JEHOVAH, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,

I will stop reading there. We have been looking at the Hebrew word translated as “possessor” and we saw it is a word that is translated as “purchase.” It has to do with buying or redeeming someone. That is the idea behind “redemption.” When you or I buy something, we own it and it becomes our possession. So, it was accurate for the King James translators to translate this passage as saying that the most high God is the possessor of heaven and earth.

But notice that it does not say, “creator of heaven and earth.”" It very well could say that because God did create the heaven and the earth. By using this specific Hebrew word, the intent was to express “purchase.” This could read: “Blessed be Abram of the most high God, purchaser (buyer) of heaven and earth.” Because the Lord used this Hebrew word, we have to ask the question: “Why is God the purchaser of heaven and earth?” If He just created it, that does not give the idea of a purchase. It was originating everything. But we know that Jesus, as the Son of God, created the world, according to Hebrews, chapter 1. We know that as the first begotten from the dead, He was the beginning of all creation, according to Colossians, chapter 1.

The Bible does teach that Jesus and His atoning work accomplished at the foundation of the world is tied together with the creation. You cannot separate the two; that is, Christ’s payment for sin as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world was the basis for God creating this world and the basis for God creating the new heaven and the new earth. We can more readily see how Christ’s atoning work is involved with the coming heaven and earth because God will complete His salvation program and judgment program for this earth and then He will gather all those He has saved out of this world and bring us into the new heaven and new earth. So, salvation has everything to do with it. It is based on the promise to Abraham and his seed. There would be a seed and they would receive a Promised Land, so the new heaven and new earth is that Promised Land that Christ (the seed) and all those that are in Him (the seed of Christ) will inherit for evermore.

But this present earth was created because of the atonement and sacrifice of Christ at the foundation. For instance, let us go back to Genesis, chapter 2. We looked at this in our study of chapter 2, but I am going to read Genesis 2:1-3:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

We see an emphasis on God’s work and it being finished. On the seventh day God ended His work which he had made and then He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. Do you see the emphasis on His work? Historically, it is referring to the creation of the heavens and the earth, as it says in verse 1, and, yet, it is telling us of finished work. The work God made, He ended. And then He rested from all His work. Now let us go to the New Testament in Hebrews 4:1-2:

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

This refers to Old Testament Israel. God preached the Gospel to New Testament churches as well as to the Old Testament Jews. The word preached did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith and this is the same problem the professed Christians in the New Testament churches and congregations had because it was not mixed with the faith of Christ and they did not have true salvation.

Then it says in Hebrews 4:3:

For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said…

And where did God say that? We just read it in Genesis 2 that He worked six days and when He ended His work the seventh day He rested. Then it goes on to say in Hebrews 4:3:

…As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished…

Again, that is what Genesis 2 was telling us. God worked six days and then He finished the work and rested, but notice what it says next in Hebrews 4:3:

… although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

The foundation of the world did not take place in time, but it goes back to eternity past and before the world was created.

Some people get confused because they cannot understand or accept the idea that God was actively working in eternity past to create the heavens and the earth; that is, He was working to create this world and the world to come. How did He do that work? He performed the work through His death and resurrection from the dead to be declared the Son of God, the firstborn from the dead.

When we go back to Genesis, chapter 2 where God strongly emphasized in the first couple of verses that He finished His work. Then it says in Genesis 2:4:

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that JEHOVAH God made the earth and the heavens,

In his booklet “The Glorious Garden of Eden,” Mr. Camping pointed out the seeming redundancy of this verse because God said, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created,” and then He says again, “in the day that JEHOVAH God made the earth and the heavens.” They are the same statement, except the word order is reversed. In the first part of the verse it says, “heavens and earth” and in the second part of the verse it says “earth and heavens.” In his study, he pointed out that God does nothing incidentally and this is significant and it is not all that common to reverse the word order, but we do find it reversed in Revelation 20, where it speaks of Judgment Day, the time we live in and the time that is the closing of this present heaven and earth and the beginning of a new heaven and new earth. It says in Revelation 20:11:

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

The fleeing away of the earth and the heaven would identify with Revelation 21:1:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

The one creation goes and the other creation comes to be. So, at the point of the finished work, amazingly, Hebrews 4, verse 3 uses the language of “work and rest” and then it makes the statement, “although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” When we put everything else the Bible says about the foundation of the world along with this, we know it is speaking of the atonement that the Lord Jesus Christ performed as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world and that “work” was finished and made and, so, it says in Genesis 2:4: “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day…” It is the “day of salvation.” The Bible says in Psalm 118: “This is the day which JEHOVAH hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Again, it says in the last part of the verse in Genesis 4:2: “…in the day that JEHOVAH God made the earth and the heavens,” and that is when He formed the foundation Rock upon which everything else would be built in this world and in the world to come. Christ’s death, resurrection and the declaration of Sonship are the foundation and that is why the Bible insists He was slain at the foundation of the world. We should not think of this in terms of “time,” but rather we should think His death is that foundation, even though it occurred in eternity past.

I am going to read these verses, again, in Colossians, chapter 1 so we can get the idea of how this all goes together. It says in Colossians 1:13-17:

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

The death of Christ that made Him the “firstborn” of all creation and it was upon Him and His rising from the dead that all things flow forth from and follow. He created, based upon that death and resurrection and that is why it said He was the firstborn of all creation. Then it tells us in Colossians 1:18:

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

He was the “protos” or “prototype.” He is the original and everything started with Him. When we read, “Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth,” it was 2,100 years, or so, before the earthly ministry of Christ and thousands of years of history had elapsed from the time of creation and, yet, God had already purchased the heaven and the earth. It was still a couple of millenniums from the time that Christ would be born and then go to the cross to die, even though theologians insist that Christ performed His work of redeeming or purchasing His people in 33AD. But that is not so because He was already the purchaser, just as we saw in Psalm 74:2:

Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

He had purchased the congregation “of old.” He had purchased the world and the only time He could have purchased it was at the foundation of the world when the Lord Jesus died as the Lamb.

Now, let us go to a parable that Christ spoke. Christ spoke a simple parable, but it is incredible the amount of truth that a single Scripture verse can hold. We often talk about the depths of the Word of God and how we can never plumb those depths sufficiently; there is always more and more to learn. A verse like this highlights that truth, as it says in the one-verse parable in Matthew 13:44:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

This is the end of this parable. There is another parable that follows and presents a similar idea. Jesus spoke many parables. He had already spoken about the wheat and the tares, but then He gave this simple parable. Who would have thought it would involve so much truth? Again, it says, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.” What is the field? We are helped because the Bible defines its own terms. We use that language a lot. Christ had spoken the parable of the wheat and the tares and right before these verses and He defined some of the terms there in Matthew 13:37-38:

He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world…

The field is the world, so we now have a definition that God has provided for the word “field.” That means that whenever we find the word “field” in the Old Testament or the New Testament, we must consider: “Is this referring to the world?”

You know, Christ spoke parables in order to help us understand the entire Bible – it is not just limited to that one parable. This serves as a definition for future encounters with the word “field” in the Bible and we must consider if the word “world” would fit. So, when we go back to Matthew 13, verse 44, where it says, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field,” can we substitute the word “world,” and it would read this way: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in the world; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that world.” This man found treasure in the world and he hides it and then, for joy, he sells everything he has and buys or purchases the world. Do you see how that fits in with what we are considering? The most high God is the purchaser of the heaven and earth and the earth is the world. He has purchased the world.

Interestingly, the man in the parable is not so much concerned with the whole field; the field might have been very large, maybe even several acres. But he has found hidden treasure in one location, but after finding it he hides it again. To get the treasure, he must buy the field. In the parable, the field does not belong to him, so to have right to the treasure, he must buy the whole field. Once he buys the whole field, he will own everything in the field, including the treasure. So, when the man in the parable goes to the owner of the field, he would not tell him the whole story. He probably just says he wants to buy the field and he says nothing about the treasure. The deal is made for the field. The field is being purchased and once he purchased the field, then he could go after the treasure. He was not interested in the weeds in the field or the rocks in the field or a great many things in the field, but he only wanted the treasure.

You see, sometimes we have been confused by the language that says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” We wonder, “What does the world have to do with this because God did not die for every person in the world?” But, it helps us to understand that God is the purchaser of the heaven and the earth and He bought the world through His work of redemption. When it says that the man, for joy, went and sold all he had to buy the field, that would tie in to the Lord Jesus emptying Himself of His glory, and so forth. But we are running out of time, so we will look more at this when we get together in our next Bible study.