"Doc Notes" Lesson 2 Part 13

The Magnificent Seven

Gentle Reader,
My “vacation” is being spent in study Not a vacation for some but for me with nothing on my hands but time (see my study on time) it is “relaxing and rewarding”. As you should already know I like titles so this next few studies that we are considering of the seven most preeminent men to be found in the book of Genesis (there be more but these are my choices) Now to begin with lets consider why I would choose only seven.
SEVEN: Spiritual perfection and fullness or completion. It is the number of Covenant and of the Holy Spirit. 7 is the second perfect number.
In Hebrew 7 is shevah (shebah) from the root shava (shaba or sheba), to be full.
God rested on the seventh day (Saturday) after creation [Genesis 2:2]
To swear an oath in Hebrew is "to seven oneself"
There are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (CCC#1831; Isaiah 11:1)
The sacred Menorah has 7 branches, six on each side of a central shaft, and 7 cup shaped lamps for the olive oil
There were 7 classes of furniture in the Tabernacle: Bronze Altar, Bronze Laver, Golden Menorah, Golden Table of the Bread of the Presence, Golden Altar of Incense, Ark of the Covenant, and the Seat of Atonement
The Tabernacle was built in 6 days and dedicated on the 7th [Exodus 40:17]
It took Solomon 7 years to build the Temple in Jerusalem. [ 1 Kings 6:37-38]
There are 7 holy annual feast days in the Sinai Covenant [Leviticus 23:1-44]
The Feast of Passover is the 1st month of the liturgical year but the 7th month of the civil year. [Exodus 12:1-2]
The Feast of Tabernacles completes the cycle of Holy Days on the 7th month of the liturgical year.[Leviticus 23:33-43]
There are multiple sevens in the Book of Revelation including
seven Spirits of God [ Revelation 4:5]
seven Seals [ Revelation 5:1]
seven Angels with Seven Chalices [ Revelation 15:5-7]
mammals and birds have a gestation of multiples of 7:
mouse: 21 days (3 x 7) cat 56 (8 x 7) Sheep 147 (21 x 7)
hare and rat, 28 ( 4x7 ) dog 63 (9 x 7) hen 21 (3 x 7)
humans 280 days ( 40 x 7) lion 98 (14 x 7) duck 42 (6 x 7)

With insects the ova are hatched in seven half-days (the wasp, bee, etc). But with other insects it is seven whole days. The majority of insects require from 14 (2x7) to 42 (6x7) days and the same applies to the larva state.
Man's pulse beats on the seven-day principle. For six days out of seven it beats faster in the morning than in the evening while on the seventh day it beats slower. The seventh day is the day of rest!
7 days in a week
7 colors in the spectrum'the seven colored rainbow was the sign of the covenant with Noah
There are 168 hours in a week = 7 x 24

So Gentle reader, I have determined to use the number seven hence the title of The Magnificent Seven, for the seven prominent men in Genesis.
1. Abel

And she again bare his brother Abel (Gen 4:2) - Literally, She added to bear (ותסף ללדת vattoseph laledeth) his brother. From the very face of this account it appears evident that Cain and Abel were twins. In most cases where a subject of this kind is introduced in the Holy Scriptures, and the successive births of children of the same parents are noted, the acts of conceiving and bringing forth are mentioned in reference to each child; here it is not said that she conceived and brought forth Abel, but simply she added to bring forth Abel his brother; that is, as I understand it, Cain was the first-born, Abel, his twin brother (?), came next.
Abel was a keeper of sheep - Adam was originally a gardener, Abel a shepherd, and Cain an agriculturist or farmer. These were the three primitive employments, and, I may add, the most rational, and consequently the best calculated to prevent strife and an immoderate love of the world.
What was the marked characteristic of Abel? His Name, his choice of occupation, his sacrifice, and the reflective comments of the New Testament concerning him, together mark him out as being distincitively and representatively the man of spiritual desire.

Cain the man of earthly desire is the first-born. Abel, the man of spiritual desire comes afterwards. The order is ever thus. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. (1Co 15:46) The name “Cain” means possession, pointing, as did Cains life, to hopes fixed on earthly things. Cain Literally possession; a spear.
The first-born son of Adam and Eve (Gen. 4). He became a tiller of the ground, as his brother Abel followed the pursuits of pastoral life. He was “a sullen, selfwilled, haughty, vindictive man; wanting the religious element in his character, and defiant even in his attitude towards God.” It came to pass “in process of time” (marg. “at the end of days”), i.e., probably on the Sabbath, that the two brothers presented their offerings to the Lord. Abel's offering was of the “firstlings of his flock and of the fat,” while Cain's was “of the fruit of the ground.” Abel's sacrifice was “more excellent” (Heb.11:4) than Cain's, and was accepted by God. On this account Cain was “very wroth,” and cherished feelings of murderous hatred against his brother, and was at length guilty of the desperate outrage of putting him to death (1John 3:12). For this crime he was expelled from Eden, and henceforth led the life of an exile, bearing upon him some mark which God had set upon him in answer to his own cry for mercy, so that thereby he might be protected from the wrath of his fellow-men; or it may be that God only gave him some sign to assure him that he would not be slain (Gen. 4:15). Doomed to be a wanderer and a fugitive in the earth, he went forth into the “land of Nod”, i.e., the land of “exile”, which is said to have been in the “east of Eden,” and there he builded a city, the first we read of, and called it after his son's name, Enoch. His descendants are enumerated to the sixth generation. They gradually degenerated in their moral and spiritual condition till they became wholly corrupt before God. This corruption prevailed, and at length the Deluge was sent by God to prevent the final triumph of evil.

The name “Abel” means exhalation (or vapour), speaking of ascent to higher regions. Cain a tiller of the ground, Abel a keeper of the sheep (perhaps a type of Christ) -the tent dwelling pilgrin, desiring something beyond. Cain goes “out from the presence of the Lord,” and busies himself with “cites” and with works “in brass and iron.” Abel reaches for better things But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Heb 11:6), seeking rest in God; suffering and dying in hope of the “better resurrection.” Cain ignoring what had transpired with his parents is all for a religion of self-culture, offering the fruit of that which is under the curse And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (Gen 3:17)

Abel, the man of spiritual aspiration, offers a sacrifice which is at once an acknowledgment of his inability to hit the mark of the “holiness” of the Lord, and the expression of that strong desire for fellowship with God on the ground of forgiveness through sacrifice and faith. Abel, is the man of spiritual desire.

Next time we will consider Enoch...
To be continued......























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*Note: something to think about