David Pawson - ’Unlocking the Bible’ Podcast David Pawson Ministry

The Old Testament is a library of 39 books written over a period of 1000 years with most of its writings covering the 2000 years of history leading up to the birth of Christs. The Old Testament is unique in that it starts before any other history book was written in that it covers the creation of the world. This talk shows how these books fit together and explains each book in the context of history.

In the Beginning: The first book in the bible, Genesis, is the foundational book for the whole Bible - the key that unlocks the rest of the Bible. Jesus was constantly endorsing it. Genesis tells us exactly what has gone wrong with our world and the rest of the Bible tells us how God is going to put it right. Only God could solve a problem the size of our world. Genesis is about the Creator, not creation. It shows us that God is personal, powerful, uncreated, creative, 3-in-1, good, loving, living, speaking, like us - but unlike us. Most of Genesis is made up of hero stories and family trees so it is obviously a compilation of memories that Moses picked up from the slaves in Egypt that had been passed down through the generations in spoken form. Genesis 1v1 - 2v3 must have been dictated to Moses by God. The style is very different and has all the hallmarks of having come directly from God. The word Genesis means origin and the book contains the origin of the universe and everything in it. It also deals with many ultimate questions that can’t be answered by any human being as no one was there to either observe or record how it happened. Is Genesis the result of human imagination or divine inspiration? A series of guesses from human speculation - or the answer from the Person who was there and indeed was responsible for it? .

Part 3 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 
David Pawson says God wanted the story of creation to reach everybody in every time and in every place, so he made it utterly simple. So Genesis 1 was not written in scientific language but in simplistic language. It takes a genius to be that simple. The structure is beautifully put together, so orderly and mathematical. There are 3 ways of handling the problem of science vs scripture - repudiate, segregate or integrate. God is Creator and Redeemer. Physical and spiritual belong together. Scripture and science are overlapping circles - they are dealing with some things that are the same and therefore there are apparent contradictions between them. We need to remember 2 important things, science changes its views. What was once thought of as scientific fact, is no longer. And traditional interpretations of scripture change. Each of the 7 days in which God created everything, can be looked at in different ways: 24 hours, an era, a myth, a day on which Moses was taught by God part of what he created, or a God day (i.e. time is relative).

Part 4 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 
David Pawson notes a radical shift in style, content and viewpoint from Genesis chapter 1 to chapter 2. In chapter 1, God was the centre and everything was from His perspective. Chapter 2, man is the centre. There are 3 dimensions to our relationships which every human needs – with God above, with creatures below and with other people. When sin comes in, all these relationships are spoiled. There is an affinity with God that humans have and animals don’t, because we were made in his image. We are like God and yet not like God. We need to keep that balance to have a good relationship with Him. God retains moral authority over us. He has the right to tell us what is good for us. Science poses two questions in relation to creation. Where does prehistoric man fit in? and Is man directly and physically related to the animal world? David gives answers. Nothing has yet been found that is half ape, half man. Mutations deform and cause species to die out. Inter-breeding usually causes sterility. The effect of the evolution theory on humans is devastating suffering. Fascism, capitalism, communism and early colonialism all wiped people out in the name of progress and “survival of the fittest”. This idea when applied to human beings, has caused more suffering than any other idea. It has also faced us with two huge choices, a mental choice as to what we believe and a moral choice, what we do.

Part 5 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 
David Pawson says, when God finished creating our world, He said that’s very good. Genesis 3 tells us what went wrong and when. Satan went for Eve as women are generally more trusting. There are 3 ways in which people misquote the word of God - by addition, by subtraction, and by alteration. Satan knows his Bible very well and did all 3 to God’s command. Satan’s strategy always uses 3 devices, to get us to doubt with our mind, desire with our heart and disobey with our will. We should have learned from Eve’s situation. In chapter 3 God’s holiness comes out clearly. He hates sin and must deal with it. If He’s really a good God, then He can’t let people get away with badness. God gets angry with Adam and Eve because of their disobedience and punishes Adam in relation to work and Eve in relation to family. There was a ripple effect caused by their sin that went down through the generations and out through the nations. Chapters 4-11 cover many centuries, but God picks out the events that most affected Him and His purpose. Three events that mattered most to Him for the next many centuries were Cain and the weapons of mass destruction that came from Cain’s line; Noah and his ark; Nimrod and his tower. God shows His justice and His mercy in these events.

Part 6 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 
Looking at Genesis, David Pawson says, the God of the Jews is the God of the Universe - The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Bible is not God’s answer to our problems, but God’s answer to His problem – what to do with a race that doesn’t want to know you, love you or obey you? God created humans because He wanted a bigger family. The God of the entire universe makes a friend called Abraham. God freely initiated the relationship. God would rather have a believing man than a good man. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had faith. Ishmael is the father of the Arab nations today. Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel were all very beautiful and had the lasting beauty of inner character. God began creation with one man and began redemption with one man. A covenant is made by one party to bless the other. God makes covenants and He keeps them. He promised Abraham a place to live, descendants, and that He would use them to bless or curse every nation. The calling of the Jews is to share God with everybody. In return, God expected that every male Jew would be circumcised, as a sign that they were born into that covenant, and that Abraham would obey God. They were all commended for their faith yet none of them received what was promised to them.