Siloam Inscription ca. 700 BC “The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?” 2 Kings 20:20 “And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem, he planned with his officers and his mighty men to stop the water of the springs that were outside the city; and they helped him. A great many people were gathered, and they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the land, saying, ‘Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?’” 2 Chronicles 32:3-4

Siloam Inscription ca. 700 BC

... the tunnel... and this is the story of the tunnel while... the axes were against each other and while three cubits were left to cut... the voice of a man... called to his counterpart, (for) there was ZADA in the rock, on the right... and on the day of the tunnel (being finished) the stonecutters struck each man towards his counterpart, ax against ax and water flowed from the source to the pool for 1200 cubits. and 100 cubits was the height over the head of the stonecutters...

Adam: The Image of God Roadmap of the Bible Creation New Creation Adam Noah Abraham Moses David Jesus You are here: Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:4-25

Approaches to Understanding the Image of God “Just use your imagination.” “Just the text, please.” “How would the Israelites themselves have understood it?”

Man as the King of Creation Kings installed images of themselves in conquered territory.

Man as the King of Creation “Sargon, king of Agade, came to power during the reign of Ištar and he had neither rival nor equal. His splendor, over the lands it diffused. He crossed the sea in the east. In the eleventh year he conquered the western land to its farthest point. He brought it under one authority. He set up his statues there.” Chronicle of the Early Kings

Man as the King of Creation “At that time, I paid homage to the greatness of all the great gods and extolled for posterity the heroic achievements of Ashur and Shamash by fashioning a sculptured stela with myself as king depicted on it.” Shalmaneser III, Monolith Inscriptions

Man as the King of Creation “I marched straightaway, unopposed throughout the wide seashore. I fashioned a stela with an image of myself as overlord in order to make my name last forever and erected it near the sea.” Shalmaneser III, Monolith Inscriptions

Man as the King of Creation “As to Hanno of Gaza who had fled before my army and run away to Egypt, I conquered the town of Gaza, … his personal property, his images… and I placed the images of my gods and my own royal image in his own palace.” Tiglath-pileser III, Building Inscription

Man as the King of Creation

Kings installed images of themselves in conquered territory. Kings thought of themselves as their gods’ living image on earth. Kings considered themselves sons of their gods.

Man as the King of Creation “You are my beloved son, who came forth from my members, my image, whom I have put on earth. I have given you to rule the earth in peace.” Amon-Re to Amenhotep III

Man as the King of Creation Kings installed images of themselves in conquered territory. Kings thought of themselves as their gods’ living image on earth. Kings considered themselves sons of their gods.

Man as Priest in a Garden Temple Eden is strikingly similar to the Tabernacle/Temple (Or maybe it’s the other way around…). Adam has priestly duties in the garden temple.

The Image of God: Summary

Adam’s Big Job 1.Blessing 2.Multiplying 3.Ruling The key to understanding the Old Testament story is noticing when “Adam’s Big Job” is passed from one main character to the next.