PATERNITY RAP
by Walt Giddings
May 23, 2021
1 John 3:1-2
Greetings kindred. We are on a first name basis here. My name is walter. This lesson comprises Scriptures that have puzzled me for a long time. Quick Review: the last time we met on the Bible subject matter of twins in the womb by two different fathers we asked a question. That question sourced from a pejorative street question, a rude, in your face interrogatory. That question is “Who’s your Daddy?”
Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father.
Who has forgotten that old song from our first songbook, The Bible? We can still find it in First John 3:1. (Db):
1 John 3:1-2
(1) Behold what manner of love the Father hath given unto us
(2) That we should be called the sons of God.
Who’s your Daddy? Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name!
To illustrate why we used such a street scandalous question, may we visit an earlier period of American history. It is the time when the Republic functioned because men of God viewed their oaths of office as solemn and binding obligations, the forswearing of which could impact on their eternal destiny. In short, we return to a time before the not-so-civil civil war.
In 1843 John Bouvier published his 2nd Edition of A Law Dictionary adapted to the constitution and laws of the United States of America and of the several states of the American Union. He dedicated each edition to Joseph Story, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Bouvier’s is the only law dictionary to date to receive Congressional sanction. On page 135, Volume II, let me read you the entry for Maternity. Let us have ears to hear.
"MATERNITY, is the state or condition of a mother. ..... (skip down) Maternity is always certain, while the paternity, ( q.v. ) is only presumed. " 2 Bouvier II, 135. (1843).
The abbreviation q.v. stands for the Latin expression quod vide, meaning “which see.” Shall we take Bouvier’s advice and “see” the entry for Paternity?
"PATERNITY. The state or condition of a father. The husband is prima facie presumed to be the fa ther of his wife’s children, born during coverture, or within a competent time afterwards; pater is est quem nuptiae demonstrant. (The father he is who demonstrates, or proves nuptials.) 7 N. S. 553.
But this presumption may be rebutted by showing circumstances which render it impossible that the husband can be the father. ( Cits. of ten American cases. ) 2 Bouvier II, 304. (1843).
Shall we scroll back through what we just read? Did we hear that the presumption of an husband’s fatherhood is a rebuttable presumption? Did we hear that the rebuttal of an husband’s fatherhood, or paternity, must demonstrate “circumstances which render it impossible that the husband can be the father”? The citations to ten American cases demonstrate not just the prevalence of the question, but the importance of it. Did we hear the necessary and imperative basis for the husband’s prima facie presumptive paternity of his wife’s children? The basis is “born during coverture, or within a competent time afterwards”? Did we also just hear that basis for the presumption in Latin: “pater is est quem nuptiae demonstrant (The father he is who demonstrates or proves nuptials.)”? Who’s your daddy?
This is Twins, Lesson 6. The subtitle for this lesson is Paternity Rap. It is based on a rude, scandalous street interrogatory “Who’s your Daddy?” In the 1843 Bouvier’s Law Dictionary we discovered that the necessary imperative for the husband to be the presumptive father of his wife’s children is coverture. How many here were also here for Lesson 5? Who recalls the Scripture on coverture we discussed in Lesson 5?
1 Corinthians 11:10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
Does this Scripture say “the woman” ought “to have power on her head”? What does that mean? The Greek word translated power has for its seminal signification “delegated authority”. Is the husband the power or authority on her head?
Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
In Genesis 3:16 we read “he said”. Who is he? In verse 14 the pronoun “he” has for its antecedent the Great I Am God. We know who is speaking. In Verse 16 this is the clear dictate of God’s Will. The phrase “thy husband ... shall rule over thee” leaves little room for questions. With the skills of a stonemason and the proper tools we can rule over a rock. Our wives are not rocks. One question, what kind of rule (?), begs reply. Our Heavenly Father’s reply is beautiful. That’s another lesson.
In 1843 Bouvier did we read, “the husband is prima facie presumed to be the father of his wife’s children, born during coverture.” What if the woman runs for cover? What if the woman runs out from under cover?
Wives, dearly beloved sisters in Christ, as the Queen of your House, what is most important to you: the welfare and state of mind of your precious sons and daughters, or wreaking vengeance on that clod to whom you are married?
Husbands, dearly beloved brothers in Christ, as the King of your House, in our designer society of Mystery Babylon, all your wealth is already invested in the Queen and your children. Or, you are the main attraction of attention by a huge, profitable, court ordered industry pursuing deadbeat dads. If any of my brothers in Christ are concerned that I have taken too much Liberty in referring to husbands as clods, my answer to that is six words: “It takes one to know one.”
What is a clod? A clod is a packed dirt pile. Just because I march under the suburban banner of Levi does not mean I do not know how you rural land tribes talk! I had better get this on the record: I am sorry, Maggie, that I am such a clod. Every husband in Adam harbors within him a conviction of warning. The tempter, called the serpent, is the enchanter. And we instinctively know he is far and away a better romancer than we could ever hope to be.
With reference to Adam on this earth that rebel angel is centuries here longer than any of us, millenia even. The seminal, or seed, meaning of the Hebrew word translated “serpent” is enchanter. A woman, who has been enchanted, can become disenchanted. Selah!
Shall we examine the Scriptures to see if, at any time, the woman was alone, and her husband away? At the very end of Lesson 5 we asked the question, was the woman alone with the serpent?
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
What is the serpent’s first recorded act of “subtilty” to the woman? Is it the classic question, “Yea, hath God said .. “? Did the serpent purpose to foster in Eve mistrust? Fan the embers of mistrust to the roaring fire of unbelief? What was Adam’s answer? Or was he here then?
Can we find the first mention of Adam on this scene before verse 6? Was the woman alone? When was she alone with the serpent?
Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
Does verse 6 say that her husband was with her? Undeniably! Does that mean he was with her when she ate? Or was he with her when he ate? (). To answer this question, what witnesses do we find in The Scriptures?
1 Timothy 2:13-14
13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Is God an Author of few words? Can we hold the Library of God in one hand? Verse 14 says Adam was not deceived. If Adam was with the woman, would she “eateth”?
Proverbs 30:20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman: she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
Was it the serpent’s design to get the woman alone?
Was Adam with her when she ate? Was Adam with her when he ate? In Lesson 3 we studied the mythology of twins conceived by two fathers. We shared three different Greek mythological accounts of the couple, Amphitryon and his woman who had twin sons Heracles (Hercules) and Iphicles. With the exception of two or three added facts, all three stories are remarkably similar. All three versions of the myth report Amphitryon’s absence: “When Amphitryon was away fighting a battle”; “During Amphitryon’s absence”; and “While Amphitryon was away”. The first report, that “Amphitryon was away fighting a battle,” raises a question. Was the man subduing the earth, and having Dominion?
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion ...
We have three witnesses from mythology. But what evidence from the Scriptures do we have indicating Adam’s absence? (). We saw that Alcmene was not in coverture while Amphitryon was away. Zeus was there while Amphitryon was away. What about Adam? Do we recall from Lesson 4 our discussion of The Parable of the Tares in Matthew 13? Did we say in that Lesson that we have, contained in Matthew 13, “the second witness to the existence of two seeds”?
Matthew 13:24-25
24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Was the sowing of the tares while men slept? Did we all sleep in our first father Adam before he fell into the image of the earthy? Can that figure of speech apply to us?
We have no mention of Adam in Genesis 3 until verse 6 where he eats the forbidden fruit he gets from Her. And the sowing of the tares was while men slept. Do we have two witnesses to the absence of Adam? While Adam was absent did the woman remain in coverture?
1 Timothy 2:13-14
13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14 And Adam was not deceived,but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Do we see the woman did not remain in coverture because she was deceived? Do we see that Adam found her “in the transgression”? (). Where in the Scriptures can we find a woman alone with an angel, who runs for cover? What occasion, what event, what instance is reported in The Bible where a woman receives from an angel an invitation to conceive and runs for cover?
Judges 13:3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and barest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
In Judges 13, was Manoah’s wife alone with the angel? Look at verse 6.
Judges 13:6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
Did the woman tarry with the angel? Or, did she come and tell her husband? Look at verse 7. Did she tell her husband about the offer to conceive? Did Manoah believe his wife? Did he believe what the “man of God” said?
Judges 13:8 Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.
Did Manoah have faith that the LORD had sent the man of God? Was the seed of his faith his wife’s report? Look back to verse 6. Did his wife tell him that “the man of God” was an angel? No! She told him the man’s countenance was like unto an angel’s. If Manoah and his wife did not surely know the man was an angel, how do we know he was? Verse 3 !Verse 9. Did the angel come again? Where was her husband? Was she alone with the angel a second time? What did she do? Did she run for cover the second time?
Did Adam’s wife run for her husband’s cover twice? Do we have a lack of evidence on that question? Was Adam even available? Earlier in this lesson did we already see two witnesses he was not? First Timothy 2:14 revealed Adam found her “in the transgression”. Genesis 3:6 verified Adam was with her when he ate. Matthew 13:25 said, “But while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares ...” What a curious phrase that is! “While men slept” has puzzled many a serious student of The Scriptures. Dr. Gail Riplinger, former Graduate School professor, Kent State University, Ohio, has done intensive research into the source of the Authorized Version 1611. Is she correct when she says The Bible has a built-in dictionary? Does The Bible define its own terms?
John 11:11-13
11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
What did the disciples mean by “sleep”? Verse 13 says “they thought he (Jesus) had spoken of taking of rest in sleep”. In verse 12 did the disciples say, “he shall do well”? How many country doctors have safely left the bedside because a child indicates the end of a great struggle by falling into a restful sleep? Of what did Jesus speak? Lazarus’ death? Will we choose to take the disciples’ meaning of “sleep”? Is Jesus Christ the Master Prophet? Shall we continue our pattern in these lessons and get a second witness?
2 Peter 3:3-4
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days, scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Even scoffers walking after their own lusts know what Jesus means! Can we see that “sleep” indicates spirit and soul without a house, without a body? Do even demons and unclean spirits know that is where the action is? If the sons of Adam are yet unborn, that is without the body, without the house, do they sleep?
John 11:14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
Of what did Jesus speak? Lazarus’ death. The Apostle James reminds us in his general epistle to the twelve tribes of Israel scattered abroad, “... the body without the spirit is dead...” Lazarus’ spirit and soul are departed. Pastor Jerry has been constrained to remind us that bodies lie in tombs and graves. Spirits and souls do not.
John 11:39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
In the tomb the body of Lazarus was without spirit and soul. We read, in John 11:11, where Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth”. Does “sleep” indicate a spirit and soul without a house, absent the body?
Matthew 13:25 said, “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.” Does that mean the entire line of tares was sown even before Adam’s firstborn was conceived? Does that mean the progeny of the serpent was sown even before Adam’s firstborn was conceived? Does conception give spirit and soul a body? Before we were conceived, were we “asleep”?
Among students of the Bible, some use two Scriptures as the foundation of the claim that belief in a serpent seedline is rank heresy. Those two Scriptures are Genesis 4:1 and Genesis 4:7. Concerned about their brothers espousing rank heresy, they point out that Genesis 4:1 mentions but one knowing, one conception, one birth and one father Adam. Shall we examine those claims?
Genesis 4:1-2
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
In Verse 1, do we see one knowing, one conceiving, one bearing, and one father with the mother? Should we consider Verse 1 in its context? In Verse 2, do we have a second bearing, a second birthing. Does Cain’s mother deliver a second son? Do we have a separate conception after Cain’s birth? Do we have a second knowing? In Verse 2 do we have a lack of evidence for the last two questions? In Verse 2, do we see two womb brothers occupying, or transacting in their work?
Does it help, on occasion, to note what a verse does not say? Verse 2 does not say, And she bare his brother Abel. “And she again bare ..“ What does “again” mean? (Verse 25). The second time the English word “again” is used in the Scriptures is here:
Genesis 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: ...
In verse 25 the word “again” is translated from the Hebrew word meaning iteration, or a repeat occasion. A repeat occasion. This Hebrew word translated “again” is not used back in verse two. In Genesis 4, verse 2, it is a different Hebrew word translated “again”. The Hebrew word, translated “again” in verse 2 has the seminal meaning “to continue to do a thing”. If we plug in this Hebrew meaning into verse 2 we have, “And she continued to bare his brother Abel.” Do we have two witnesses that this plug-in “continued to bare” is in harmony with the Scriptures? Or does it corrupt the harmony of The Scriptures by creating disharmony? We will use one of the Laws of Bible Study, the Harmony of the Scriptures. Should we assure ourselves that our reading and understanding of a scripture is in harmony with the clear meaning of the other Scriptures? If our understanding of a Scripture conflicts with the clear expression of the other Scriptures, should we accuse God of error, or focus on the the fallibility of our own fallen minds?
Genesis 4:3-4
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Did Abel bring his offering at a later time? How can we say both offered at the same time? Is Cain older? Was Cain born first? Did he come of age before Abel? Did he offer a year before Abel offered? Look at verse 5. Did Cain offer rightly before God? How well can we read with understanding? Did God have respect unto Cain and unto his offering? No! Verse 5. Was Cain wroth? Did his countenance fall? Church, how many times have we elected to check in with our Heavenly Father privately before we acted, and He saved us from open and public embarrassment? How public was Cain’s embarrassment? Is this an appointed place? Is this an appointed time? Was Cain a spot in this feast? Are Adam and Eve in attendance? Did God’s respect unto Abel and his offering, and God not respecting Cain and his offering fuel Cain’s wrath? Did Cain’s public embarrassment ignite the fuel? Until Abel came of age he was under his father’s cover. Verse 4 says, “And Abel, he also brought.” If Abel and Cain came of age at the same time, were they twins? In Twins Part 4 did we read in 1 John 3:12 “ ... And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” Do we have two witnesses that the plug-in expression, “And she (continued to) bare his brother Abel”, is in harmony with the other Scriptures?
For nineteen hundred plus years in John 8, Jesus has flat told us that a sect of people among the Pharisees have not God as their father. Who’s your daddy? Jesus told them, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” If Cain is busy doing the lusts of his father, what time will he have to listen to somebody else’s daddy? In Genesis 4 what is Cain doing here on holy ground? Is Cain attending church because he is religious? Is Cain bringing an offering “of the fruit of the ground”? Is someone aggressively sponsoring Cain’s presence among the Church Body? Is that aggressive sponsorship why God intervened ? Is that why the Great I Am God of Adam’s Race put a difference between Abel and Cain?
With all the evidence showing Eve out from under her husband’s cover, outside coverture, is Adam’s paternity of Cain a bad rap? Is Adam innocent of Cain’s paternity? Who’s your Daddy? To be continued, God willing, on another occasion.
Scriptures
Old Testament Judges 13:2-13 12 verses
New Testament John 11:11-27 17 verses
Responsive Reading Genesis 4:1-8 8 verses
Lesson VI
[ Song: 1 John 3:1 ].
1. Galatians 4:6
2. 1 John 3:1
3. 1 Corinthians 11:10
4. Genesis 3:16
5. Genesis 3:1
6. Genesis 3:6
7. 1Timothy 2:13
8. Proverbs 30:20
9. Genesis 1:28
10. Matthew 13:24
11. 1 Timothy 2:13-14
12. Judges 13:3, 6, 8
13. John 11:11-13
14. 2 Peter 3:3-4
15. John 11:14
16. John 11:39
17. Matthew 13:25
18. Genesis 4:1-2
19. Genesis 4:25
20. Genesis 4:3-5
21. 1 John 3:12
22. John 8:44