Dr Paul Allen

When he sinned, man was cut off from the fellowship with God he enjoyed in the Garden of Eden . But that God’s Spirit continued to deal with man after the Fall is brought out in Genesis 6:3 where an end is proclaimed. “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he [mankind] is mortal; his [mankind’s] days will be a hundred and twenty years.” This passage is a difficult one in many respects. The one hundred-twenty years probably refers to a period of grace God was giving mankind before the Flood would come and destroy them all (except for Noah and his family). The word “contend” is variously interpreted as rule, judge, shield, abide in, or act in. The translation “abide in” chosen by some modern versions (including the Revised Standard Version ) as well as by a number of ancient versions is a pure guess. There seems to be nothing in the Hebrew to give any grounds for it. Yet many scholars still accept it, taking the verse to mean that God’s Spirit (as a vital principle or

Frieze of prophets (Photo credit: Boston Public Library ) In 539 BC , Babylon fell to a coalition of Medes and Persians. The new rulers of the Mid East made it their policy to restore captive nations to their respective homelands. Among those captives were the Jews . They returned to Judah with authority to rebuild their temple. Seventeen years later, construction still languished, and God raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to rebuke the neglect of his house. In 520 Haggai preached "Is it time for you to live in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruin?" Through Haggai, the Lord asked the Jews how they had fared since their return. "You have sown much and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put them into a bag with holes" (Haggai 1:6, Revised Standard Version ). Haggai said God wanted them to bring w