Articles

Following the Fall, the LORD confronted Adam and Eve about their guilt and responsibility for the Fall (Genesis 3:8-13) but judgment is pronounced first on the Serpent[1] The Serpent instigated Eve’s deception that led to Adam’s willful decision to sin (Genesis 3:14-15; cf. 1 Timothy 2:4). Within this pronouncement of judgment on the Serpent is a prophecy concerning the conflict that would exist between the woman and the Serpent and between their respective "seed" until a climax was reached in which the woman's "seed" would crush the Serpent's head, despite the Serpent dealing a crushing blow to her seed's heel (Genesis 3:15). Because the Hebrew term אֵיבָה (‘eba) is always used of “enmity” between moral agents (Numbers 35:21-22; Ezekiel 25:15; 35:5) and who in this context are the progenitors of future historical figures, this verse has been traditionally interpreted as the conflict between Satan and the Savior resulting in the triumph of salvation. For this reason it has been called the “Gospel in the Garden” or the Proto­evangelium ("first gospel") ...

The Scofield Reference Bible stated that “dispensationally, this [text of Acts 15:13-18 which quotes Amos 9:11-12] is the most important passage in the NT.” It went on in that same context to argue:

The verses that follow in Amos describe the final ingathering of Israel, which the other prophets invariably connect with the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant.

On the other hand, O. T. Allis, the late titular Dean of Evangelical Old Testament professors, if I might make such a new appointment and title, in that same earlier twentieth century generation when the above statement was being made, announced a somewhat different conclusion about this passage. Allis taught:

That James declares expressly that Peter’s experience at Caesarea, which he speaks of as God’s visiting ‘the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name’ was in accord with the burden of prophecy as a whole and quotes freely from Amos in proof of it.

So which analysis is correct? ...

THE TORAH

At the heart of the Jewish community is a synagogue. At the heart of the synagogue is the ark (Aron Ha-qodesh) and inside it there is a sefer Torah (a Torah scroll). In Judaism nothing is more precious and more treasured than a Torah scroll. Each Sabbath a portion of the Torah is read publicly. Every year the rabbis read through the Torah in the synagogue. Even in the first century the Jews read from the Torah each Sabbath. Paul wrote, “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath” (Acts 5:21). ...