I remember when the classic Spielberg movie Jaws first came out.
It was a beautiful sunny day in rural Minnesota.
I was about 12 years old and riding in a truck with my mom and her friends.
Suddenly, in a burst of excited inspiration it was decided that we would all go and see this film.
I was soooooooooooooo pumped up and happy!!!
When you’re 12 years old, who doesn’t want to go see a movie about a humongous shark chomping up a bunch of humans into itsy bitsy pieces?!
However, there was a problem.
We couldn’t find a cinema in our area where Jaws wasn’t sold out.
In desperation, one of the guys got on his walkie talkie and started corresponding with other truckers in the area.
Finally, after much going back and forth, we were able to locate another movie theater.
However, when we got there, we encountered another problem.
The movie had already started.
And not just by a couple of minutes.
More like closer to an hour.
Well, we weren’t about to be dissuaded.
After all that trouble, we decided to pay full ticket price and watch the remaining half of the movie.
Although disappointed, we still enjoyed it.
Nevertheless, there were a lot of pertinent details that had we not have missed would have made the movie a much more satisfying experience.
Watching a movie with a simple storyline like Jaws from the halfway point isn’t so bad.
But imagine watching a historical piece or a detective movie from the halfway point.
Contextually speaking, you would be completely lost.
This is the exact problem one encounters when reading the Bible starting from the New Testament.
Remember, and this is no exaggeration, 50% of the NT are direct quotes from the OT.
A whopping 50%!
It is simply impossible to properly understand the NT without a solid Torah foundation.
There is another important reason why you should start your Bible studies from Genesis Chapter One.
In the Bible, events in the past point to events in the future.
For example, the creation story as told in the first chapter of Genesis depicts an environment where man and beast are not in conflict with each other.
However, soon after, Adam and Eve sin causing murder and destruction to enter the world.
But that’s not the end of the story.
According to the prophet Isaiah, in the future when the Messiah returns to establish His Kingdom, man and beast will again be restored to their original state of harmony. Thus, here is one pattern out of many where the past foreshadows what is to take place in the future.
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. Isaiah 11:1-7
NEXT TIME WE WILL BEGIN GENESIS CHAPTER 2
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