Thursday, September 24, 2009

Genesis 3:7-9 Adam.... Where Art Thou?


"And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?

This verse has sparked controversy throughout the years. Non-believers point to this and say that there are errors in the bible. They say that the bible indicates that G-d knows all things and this verse shows he had no idea where Adam and Eve were.

First of all let’s set the record straight aboutG-d. I John 3:18-20 states:

“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.”

G-d knows all things. However, does G-d allow things to occur on a daily basis without taking notice of them? ….Or…. Does G-d choose to not to remember things? The answer to both is yes. A good example is the fact that because we live in him, he chooses not to remember our sins no more. Hallelujah!!!! Beruch Y’Shua!!!! That’s G-d way of forgiveness. Also, he doesn’t intervene in our daily lives until he is asked.

With that said, here in this verse there were two possible going on.

1. G-d chose not to perceive what was going on in order to allow Adam his free will.

Or

2. G-d perceived what had happened and was giving Adam and Eve a choice. They had to choose whether to continue to disobey and come running at the sound of his voice.

We have that same choice today. Will you come running at the sound of G-ds voice or continue to hide from him and wallow in your sin?

If G-d chooses not to perceive what is going on in our lives, it doesn't mean he doesn’t love us. No. G-d chooses not to perceive in order to allow us our free will. However, G-d can and will remember at a moments notice what has happened if you call on his name.

Will he intervene? Yes. He always does. He just doesn’t always respond in our time and the way we want all the time. Don’t get angry as the world does and claim he doesn’t exist. Remember and rest in the fact the Father knows best.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Genesis 3:7 The Covering. Part One.


"And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."

The phrase “the eyes of them both were opened” is “paw-kakh ah'-yin shet-tah'-yim” which means that their conscience was laid bare. Traditional thought has taught that it was their literal eyes were open. No. It was that their minds were opened to the concept of disobedience. The phrase “…and they know that they were naked” means that they were aware of and ashamed of their disobedience.

We should keep in mind that it wasn't the fruit that made them fall. It was the fact that they disobeyed a direct commandment from G-d. It could have easily been, "Don't pick the flowers".

Now come the interesting part. They made themselves a covering to hide their shame. There have been many sermons indicating that the fruit, which they ate, was an apple. Unfortunately, that comes from an erroneous Latin interpretation of the scriptures. If we back up and look at the whole counsel of G-d. There is one tree that is constantly withering, cursed or brought back to reconciliation, and that is the fig tree. This makes sense when you see that Adam and Eve attempted to hide their shame with the source of the disobedience.

I challenge you to perform a study of fig trees throughout the scriptures. I’m sure that it will be fruitful. ;-) Sorry for the pun, couldn’t resist the temptation. ;-) Better stop while I’m ahead.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Genesis 3:2-6 : The Three Stages of Temptation and An Incredible Act of Love


And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 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.

As we ended last time, we see that Satans tactics have been the same since the beginning. In one form or another, he will tempt you with the following atatements:

1. Did G-d really say that?
2. G-d didn't really say that
3. Actually G-d doesn't want you to do that because he doesn't want you to enjoy things. This is especially true when he taps into one of your desires.

We see this exact modus operandi during his encounter with Eve.

1. Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2. We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.Ye shall not surely die: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
3. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

One of Eves hidden desires or lust was the need for knowledge beyond the here and now or Satan would not have so easily and successfully tempted her. The proof is in the meaning of the Hebrew word, ta'avah, translated here as pleasant. Its root meaning is the longings of one's heart, ones lust, appetite and covetousness.

Eve fell due to her ungodly lust for whatever the fruit of the tree would give her. However, that is not the most incredible part of this story. Notice that Eve was tempted but Adam was not. All Adam had to do was to step back and say, "Girl...you're in trouble." and start pointing the finger, but he did not.

Adam freely took of the fruit and entered into Eves predicament. The penalty for disobedience, death. Was he stupid or was it an incredible act of love? If we step back and look at it, we see that it emulates the exact thing that G-d would do for us approximately 4000 years later.

G-d saw our predicament and took upon himself our death penalty of our sin. G-d gave himself as the only legitimate sacrifice. What an incredible act of love. In the same way Eve was given a new lease on life, we too have that same option. All we have to do is accept the gift.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Genesis 3:1: The Serpent.


"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made."

The Hebrew word here translated as serpent is "naw-khawsh" which does mean serpent. However, its root gives us a better understanding who our advisary is and how he works. Its root meaning is to whisper a spell. This is interesting because this is how he operates. He is constantly whispering into our inner conscience and attempting to persuade us into disobedience.

As a side note, in Samarian, "naw-khawsh" is "cachash" which means a liar or deceiver".

How does he know what to say? A further look, at what his name means, tells us that he learns by experience by diligently observing. He doesn't miss a lick. He and his cohorts know you better than the people around you. Therefore, when you see serpent here in chapter three, it means that Satan is very slick in how he does his job.

A great example of this is a snake charmer. He gets you so mesmerized on something that you don't see what his next step is until it's too late. That's why your best defense is not taking your eyes off of G-d.

He is "more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made." The word "awroom" translated here as subtle means cunning. And the phrase, "khahee min-nay kole saw-deh" translated here as "beast of the field" means "all of the living on earth". The first part of this verse means that Satan is more cunning than any of G-ds creation. Unfortunately, as we are about to see, he is very successful when he first tempts Eve.

"And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"

One thing you can take to the bank is the fact that, above all things, Satan is consistent. His methods haven't changed for thousands of years. He certainly has fine tuned his skills but he hasn't changed his tactics. He tempts us with the same garbage he first tempted Eve. I guarantee the first thing that Satan and his cohorts says to us is the same thing he said to Eve. Did G-d really mean it that way? Couldn't he have meant it this or that way? The sad thing is that it works.

The front line defense for us is to follow the example of those in the U.S. Treasury Department. They tell their employees not to study the different counterfeiters and their methods but to study the real thing. Get to know it inside and out. That what G-ds Word says. We are to study and know G-ds Word as our own. That way, when Satan comes along and asks, "Did G-d really mean it that way?", we can say without a doubt, Yes he did. And tell Satan the same thing that Y'shua said to him when confronted him through Peter.

Get behind me Satan.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Pre-Genesis: A Prelude to Creation. Part Two


G-d looked up from the three archangels and spoke,

"Shamayim! Erets! Begin your journey."

Outward from the fingertip of G-d, sprung forth the entire universe. In its wake, it left what appeared to be rolls of a scroll.

It was time.

After what appeared to be billions of years but only a moment in time, Erets, Earth formed from amongst the debris.

G-d turned to the three archangels who was watching the beginning of creation and said,

"B'nai Elohim, do my will."

And so the three archangels, with the help of thousands upon thousands of angels, reigned over all creation doing the will of G-d. They served faithfully until iniquity was found in Ba'el.

Ba'el was full of wisdom and beauty, but pride swelled up inside of him. He was able to persuade a third of the angels to rebel with him against G-d.

As they prepared themselves for war, Ba'el stood in their midst and assured them of victory. Using the power given to him by G-d, he rose up and hovered just above them. He held his arms in front of him as he emulated the stance of the Most High G-d and spoke,

"I will ascend into heaven."

A roar of cheers cried out from the angels in support.

"I will exalt my throne above the stars of God"

Again, the exaltation of Ba'el rose up, louder than before.

"I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north"

"I will ascend above the heights of the clouds"

Ba'el basked in the glory of this moment which seem to go on forever. And as the cheers died down to simmering excitement. Then Ba'el cried out at the top of his voice,

"I will be like the most High."

Which sent the crowd into a frenzy. At this, Ba'el lept upward toward the heavens with his cohorts following, leaving the earth behind.

They were met by the faithful Angels led by Mich'el. Each wave of the rebellion was turned back by the righteous fighters until G-d cried out with a loud thunderous voice,

"Enough"

All stopped and bowed before the Almighty Elohim. All except Ba'el.

"O How art thou fallen from heaven, O Heyl'el, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground"

With G-ds final word, light engulfed the rebellion and Lucifer and his followers were thrown down to the earth. When they hit, the earth became a brilliant ball of fire. The earth, which was the crown of G-ds creation, was judged because of the rebellion and became formless and void and the darkness of the rebellion was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And G-d said, "Light.....come forth."


And God saw light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.


And the new creation began.


I hope you enjoy this. Of course this is not biblical. However, it is biblically based. I would have loved to have embellish a lot more but that would have gone outside the parameters of the bible.

I hope you will continue to study the rest of Genesis with me as we pick up where we left off a few weeks ago, at the beginning of chapter three.

Please feel free to express what your vision of what might have happen just prior to Genesis 1:1.

Thanks again and may G-d Bless You.

Note: Heyl'el, Lucifer, are the biblical names of Satan.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Pre-Genesis: A Prelude to Creation. Part One


Before time began, before the here and now, there was G-d.

Without a word spoken, showing the awesome power of the creator, the universe, including the earth, sprung into existence. This was a pre-man universe. If the legends are true, G-d created the angels during this time. This included the three main archangels, Lucifer, the most beautiful and wise, Mich-el, the military leader of the angelic armies of G-d and Gabri-el, the messenger of G-ds Word. Their creation could have been something like this.

A Prelude to the Beginning.

Before this begins, we know that some of you will rebel against us and eventually we will have to banish you from our presence. However, whether you are Ang-el or Adam, you must play out your destiny in order for us to reach the goal. For we desire not to have mindless servants but dedicated and loving companions who desire to be with us and serve all through a committed and brotherly love.

We could create beings that would do our beck and call but they would not be what we desire because they would not have reached the goal through your own free will. Such companionship can only be obtained by taking a journey along the path of your own choosing. On this journey, you will always be in our presence or have the evidence of our existence. However, you have to choose your way based on faith, not by sight. We will now embark on that journey.

Are we committed?

We are committed.

Let it happen.

The Word of Elohim spoke out, “Hey-El, come forth.”

There before God, a light appeared. The light began to shimmer due to the presence of the power of the one who created it, Ruach-Elohim, God’s Spirit. The light, for the first time in its existence, bowed before his creator and spoke.

“Abba, my God”

“Hey-El. You are our son and we love you. You are our model of perfection, perfect in beauty and full of wisdom. You will be known as the cherub that covers. All of our creation, except Adam, will be at your beck and call, to do our will. Are you willing to perform the duties of your position?”

“Yes, my Father”

“To perform your duties, you will have others to help you.”

Upon saying this, The Word of Elohim spoke out again.

“Mich-El, Gabri-El, come forth.”

Once again, two lights came into existence, fluttering as the Spirit of God swirled around them.

“Adonai” they uttered as they fell on their faces.

Elohim responded, “Arise, you are B’nai Elohim, sons of God.”

Monday, August 10, 2009

Genesis 2:21-25 Eve, A Model of the Body of Christ.


“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Pretty straight forward. However, the observant reader must ask, “If G-d created everything else from scratch, then why did he create Eve from the side of Adam?” There must be something else here. We see that from the very beginning, G-d instituted the relationship between the man and the woman as “echad”. Echad is the Hebrew word for one. It is used in the “sh'ma”.

Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.

Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

This same oneness is modeled by a husband and wife relationship. Haven’t you ever wondered why a monogamous relationship is so important to G-d after Y’shua, when in the Tanakh, it appears that he kind of turned a blind eye to polygamy? Because, it’s not so much about a man and his mate but more about how it represents G-d’s relationship with his people, the Messiah with his bride, the church. Our marriage should represent Agape, a dedicated and totally committed love. No matter what happens within the marriage, you are to be committed to one another. This is the same way that G-d feels about us.

The reason why G-d hates divorce so much is the fact that it makes a mockery of the model.

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh"

One of the greatest bonds you have going into the marriage is the one between the man or woman and their parents. G-d tells us here in these verses that we are to make the bond between ourselves and to G-d greater than the one between you and your parents. So great, that we must break our parental bonds if it gets in the way between you and your spouse and G-d. Yeshua drives this point home in Luke 14:26.

“ If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed”

They were innocent as children. That’s all this verse means. It models what Y’shua said in Matthew 18:4.

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”