The Discovery of Genesis (79 page)

God’s throne must be the center of the whole universe. How fitting then that in the Chinese character for
imperial domain
is seen the
Garden
of Eden! The radical,
to wrap up
, looks like a giant hand gathering up the
Garden
of Eden
, “wrapping it up.” to become the future capital of the New Earth, the
Imperial Domain
, God’s eternal dwelling place.

On that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley. … then the Lord your God will come, and all the holy ones with Him. On that day there shall be neither cold nor frost. And there shall be continuous day. … On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of these to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. And the Lord will become king over all the earth (Zechariah 14:4, 5, 6, 8, 9).

Now stand back and look at the entire mosaic of the “City” from a distance. The light has to be adjusted right or one is not attracted to its beauty. All of the time should not be spent absorbed in examining the details, for in so doing, one is apt to become critical and near sighted. Unless the entire picture is seen and in focus, one cannot envision what the Master Artist and Creator has really intended. It has taken the perspective of millennia to catch the true glory of the scene, to put it all together, and grasp the inspiring magnificence and total loveliness of what God has been trying to tell preoccupied and self-centered mankind in a multitude of ways for 6,000 years!

God loved the world so much that He provided the way from a temporal existence to eternal life through His beloved Son, the sacrificial Lamb. The first people in the garden — surrounded by so much righteousness chose death. Subsequent generations have had the way to life prepared, by promise and fulfillment — even while surrounded by so much wrong — through the Tree of the Cross. Whoever accepts the life, death, and resurrection of Christ by faith is invited to partake of the Tree of Life in eternity.

Study Notes and References

Prolog … Genesis

1.
K. T. Khang (C. H. Kang),
Genesis and the Chinese
(Hong Kong: Independent Printing, 1950).

2.
See Chapter 9, note 2.

3.
Edward Reese and Frank R. Klassen,
The Chronological Bible
(Nashville: Regal Publishers, Inc., 1977), p. 17.

4.
G. D. Wilder and J.H. Ingram,
Analysis of Chinese Characters
(Taipei: Chin Wen Publishing Co., 1964). See also G. Blakney,
A Course in the Analysis of Chinese Characters
(Shanghai: The Commercial Press, Ltd., 1926); G. Bourgois,
Dictionary and Glossary for the Practical Study of the Japanese Ideographs
(Yokohama: Tokyo-Kyo Bun Kwan Co., n.d.); Leo Wieger,
A History of the Religious Beliefs and Philosophical Opinions of China
(Hsien: Hsien Press, China, 1927); Yuen Ren Chao,
Language and Symbolic Systems
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960).

5.
Lin Tze Ching,
Ting Jung Liu Shui Tong
(Nanking: Quang Ee, China, 1937).

Chapter 1: Not Without Witness

1.
Edwin Yamauchi,
The Stones and the Scriptures
(Philadelphia, Pa.: J. B. Lippincott, 1972), p. 36.

2.
John Ross,
The Original Religion of China
(London, Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, 1909), pp. 19, 20.

3.
Terrien De La Couperie,
The Language of China Before the Chinese
(Taipei: Ch’eng-wen Publishing Co., 1966), p. 114.

4.
Yamauchi, pp. 36–91.

5.
George Alexander and John Dart, “Tablets Shed New Light on the Bible,”
Los Angeles Times
(June 7, 1976). See also Giovanni Pettinato, “The Royal Archives of Tell Mardikh-Ebla,”
Biblical Archaeologist
39 (1976), pp. 44–52.

6.
Ivan T. Sanderson, “Riddle of the Quick-Frozen Giants,”
Saturday Evening Post
(Jan. 16, 1960), p. 82. See also Harold G. Coffin,
Creation–Accident or Design?
(Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Assoc, 1969), p. 203.

7.
Donald W. Patten,
The Biblical Flood and the Ice Epoch
(Seattle, Wash.: Pacific Meridian Publishing Co., 1966), pp. 196–208.

8.
Rene Noorbergen,
The Ark File
(Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Publ. Assoc, 1974), p. 66, 114–129.

Chapter 2: Imperial Intrigue in the Chinese Dark Ages

1.
Terrien De La Couperie,
The Language of China Before the Chinese
(Taipei: Ch’eng-wen Publishing Co., 1966), p. 114.

2.
Robert K. Douglas,
The Language and Literature of China
(London: Trubner and Co., 1875), pp. 66, 67.

3.
Raymond B. Blakney,
A Course in the Analysis of Chinese Characters
(Shanghai: The Commercial Press, Ltd., 1926), p. 12. See also Douglas, p. 15; R. H. Mathews,
Chinese-English Dictionary
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Twelfth Printing, 1972), p. 984, col. 1, #6707, item 9; Joseph Edkins,
The Evolution of the Chinese Language
(London: Trubner and Co., 1888), p. v; Hsin Cheng Yu,
Ancient Chinese History
(Taiwan Commercial Press, 1963), p. 6.

4.
W. A. P. Martin,
The Lore of Cathay
(London: Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, 1901), pp. 165–198.

5.
James Legge,
The Notions of the Chinese Concerning God and Spirits
(Hong Kong: Hong Kong Register Office, 1852), p. 50.

6.
Legge, p. 28.

7.
Legge, p. 28.

8.
Legge, p. 29.

9.
W. J. Clennell,
The Historical Development of Religion in China
(London: The Theosophical Publishing House, Ltd., 1917), pp. 19–32.

10.
Audrey Topping, “China’s Incredible Find,”
National Geographic Magazine
, 153 (April 1978), pp. 440–459.

11.
Ibid., pp. 440–459.

12.
Regis,
Yih-king
, Vol. II, p. 411.

13.
Legge, pp. 46, 47.

14.
Legge, p. 44.

15.
Legge, p. 7.

16.
Legge, p. 32.

17.
Note the interesting phonetic similarities in
Shen
;
ShangTi
(also pronounced “
Shangdai
”); S
heng
and the Hebrew term for
the Almighty
, “Shaddai” (as used in Genesis 17:1, Psalm 91:1, for example). It is possible these words
Shang, Sheng
, and
Shen
may have originally been identical in pronunciation.