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Discover how the Chinese written language
bears witness to the creative acts of God
The Chinese Genesis
Discover how the Chinese written language
bears witness to the creative acts of God
C
The Chinese Genesis
hina is one of the oldest civilization on earth – over 4700 years of recorded history. In fact, the Chinese
celebrated their lunar year 4714 on February 1, 2016, the
Year of the Monkey. When one studies the characters of
the Chinese language, one can readily see the connection
between the creation account in the book of Genesis, the
first book of the Bible and many of the Chinese words. In
the study of the origin of Chinese words, we begin to see
and understand a little of what the Chinese fathers had in
mind and what they were trying to convey to us. It tells
us what the Chinese fathers were thinking, seeing, feeling,
hearing, and experiencing at the time they formulated the
words.
The way the Chinese characters are put together are
very significant. They were not put together randomly
or without plan. At first the Chinese words were in
picture form, called pictograph, then later ideas were
added, called ideograph. After five millenniums, these
same characters are still in use among the Chinese.
They were in written form several thousand years
before any missionaries landed on Chinese soil. The
original religion of the ancient Chinese at the time
the written language was formulated was monotheistic. They worshipped the one true God, the Creator
of heaven and earth. There were no idols or any of
the many forms of idolatry that are in China today. The
polytheistic religions of Taoism and Buddhism came
approximately 2000 years later.
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T
he apostle Paul writing in Acts 14:17 said, “And yet He
(God) did not leave Himself without witness…” Besides creation itself with its marvelous designs that point
to and give witness to God’s creative acts, the Chinese
written language also bears witness to the creative acts of
God as recorded in Genesis, the first book of the Bible.
A SAMPLING OF WHAT WE MEAN
Chinese word for GOOD:
girl
boy
When God first created Adam, Adam was all alone.
In Genesis 2:18, God said, “It is not good that man
should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
And God did just that, by taking one of Adam’s rib and
made a woman and brought her to him (verse 22). The
Chinese word for good is written with a girl and boy
together.
Chinese word for PEACE:
roof
woman
Genesis 2:24 teaches, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.”
The Chinese fathers understood that God intended marriage to be monogamous, one man and one woman,
thus to insure peace and happiness. Therefore the word
for peace is one woman under one roof.
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Now let us examine some of the Chinese characters as
they relate to the creation account as recorded in the
Word of God, the Bible. We shall start with the creation account of man and the Garden of Eden.
I. CREATE – Genesis 2:7
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a living soul.”
dust
mouth
pieh, life or movement
walking or able to walk
The Chinese fathers believe and understood that God
was man’s creator, that God made man from the dust
of the ground and then breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life and man became a living soul – able to
walk. Adam was not a baby, but a man with a vast
God given intellect and ability. God made man in His
image and likeness, as a personal, rational and moral
being. Man was the crown of God’s creation. The
Psalmist declares, “I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Thy works”
(Psalm 139:14).
II. GARDEN - Genesis 2:7, 8.
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the
ground . . . And the LORD God planted a garden
eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom
He had formed.”
soil
mouth
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two people (a sideman
from his side)
enclosure, surround.
and another person
Note how well the Chinese fathers understood that
God is our Creator and how they are conveying
that truth to us in this word. God took the dust of
the soil and formed the body of man and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life. Since Adam was
without a loving companion, God said it was not
good for Adam to be alone. Then God took the
initiative and made Adam a wife, a companion,
one that is equal to him. He then placed them in
an enclosure (the beautiful Garden of Eden).
III. FORBID – Genesis 2:9, 15-17.
“And out of the ground the LORD God made
every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and
good for food. The tree of life was also in the
midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil . . . Of every tree of the garden
you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the
day that you eat it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:9,
16, 17).
two trees
radical, an abbreviated form of the word “God” and when the hook is added on the bottom, a verb is formed.
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Man was made in God’s image and likeness. As a
person, Adam was given the following attributes:
mind, will, and emotions. God gave man the freedom and ability to choose.
IV. DEVIL - Genesis 3:1.
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast
of the field which the LORD God had made. And
he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, ‘You
shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
“pieh” = life or movement
field or garden
man
secretly or privately
The Chinese fathers want us to see how cunning
and deceptive the devil was as he moved into the
Garden of Eden in the form of a serpent and spoke
privately to Eve with a voice of a man.
V. TEMPTER - Genesis 3:1-5.
“Now the serpent was more cunning . . . And he
said to the woman, has God indeed said, ‘You shall
not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (verse 1).
“And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not
surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat
of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like
God, knowing good and evil’.”
cover or covering
two trees
devil
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Here Satan the devil deceptively tempted Eve by:
1. Questioning the Word of God. By doing so, he
placed doubt in the mind of Eve concerning God’s
will.
2. Satan then blatantly denied the Word of God.
The Chinese fathers understood this deception of
the devil, how he approached Eve in the midst of
the garden where the tree of life and the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil were located. There
under the covering of the two trees, he tempted Eve
to rebel against God’s revealed will.
VI. COVET – Genesis 3:6.
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good
for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a
tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its
fruit and ate. She also gave it to her husband with
her and he ate.”
two trees
woman
The Chinese fathers obviously wanted to convey
to us the Chinese word for covet consists of two
trees and a woman. This story is found only here in
Genesis in the garden of Eden. Eve saw the beautiful fruit and she desired it. So by an act of the will,
she took and ate it. She then gave the fruit to her
husband who also ate it. Their sin was not merely
eating the forbidden fruit, but it was a deliberate act
of the will in direct disobedience to God’s revealed
will.
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VII. BEGINNING - Genesis 3:7,8.
And their eyes were opened . . . And Adam and
his wife hid themselves from the presence of the
Lord…”
woman
mouth
secret or private
When Eve saw the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, she desired it. A decision was made
in which she disobeyed the authoritative Word of her
Creator. God told them in no uncertain terms that the
consequences of disobeying Him would be death -spiritual death (separation from God) and eventually,
physical death (separation from the body). The Chinese
fathers formulated this Chinese word for beginning to
convey the beginning of sin – that is, the woman doing
something secretly or privately with her mouth.
VIII. RIGHTEOUSNESS - Genesis 3:21.
“Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made
tunics of skin and clothed them.”
lamb
me
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin entered the
human race. Adam and Eve became sinners and were
separated from a holy God. It is here that we see the
love of God demonstrated toward sinners. God took
the initiative by taking an innocent animal (a lamb)
and killed it and covered Adam and Eve with its skin.
Somehow, the Chinese fathers understood this biblical
truth and formulated the word for righteousness to be a
“LAMB” OVER “ME.”
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CONCLUSION:
What about today? How do these biblical truths as conveyed
by our Chinese fathers relate to us? Since these Chinese words
bear witness to the accuracy and reliability of the biblical
account of creation, we need to take to heart that God the
Creator is also God our Redeemer.
Dear friend, the God who created us has provided a
way for us to have our sins forgiven. Even though we
are sinners by nature and by practice, yet God loves
us. He demonstrated that love for us by sending His
only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to pay for the
penalty of sin on the cross of Calvary. Christ was “the
Lamb of God” Who took our place as our Substitute
and died for us. And all who placed their faith in Him
and receive Him as Savior are saved, with sins forgiven
and have eternal life. THE LAMB OF GOD OVER ME
MAKES ME RIGHTEOUS. This is the understanding of
the Chinese fathers who formulated the Chinese written
language five millenniums ago. And this is the gospel
truth of the Word of God today in the 21st century.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Please feel free to write us if we can be of any help to you
spiritually. We would count it a privilege to hear from you.
E-mail: [email protected]
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References
The Chinese Character Story. N.p.: Ends of the Earth Mission, 1997. Print.
Kang, C. H., and Ethel R. Nelson. The Discovery of Genesis: How the Truths
of Genesis Were Found Hidden in the Chinese Language. St. Louis: Concordia
Pub. House, 1979.
Tong, Davy, and Raymond Paul Petzholt. The True Spiritual Roots for All
Chinese. Arcadia, CA: Shangti Research.org, 2000.
“When you drink water remember the source”
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