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(Day 2—FOT)
Fred R. Coulter—October 11, 2022
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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to the Day 2 of the Feast of Tabernacles!
- Why are we here?
- Why is it called the Feast of Tabernacles?
- What is going to be the purpose in it?
- How is this going to affect our lives?
- How is this going to affect the whole world?
It will, because let's begin at the ending. Then we will go to the beginning. This is going to be exciting and fulfilling!
Ephesians 3:14—Paul writes: "For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… [to the Father and the Son, both] …of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." That's the ending!
Let's look at another thing, the promises given to us by God.
- why we're here
- why we study
- why we pray
- why we live our lives according to the Word of God and His commandments and laws
Because of the Family of God and the dwelling place of God is the whole purpose of why we're here!
Let's see what Peter wrote, because he understood God's plan in great detail.
2-Peter 1:1: "Simon Peter a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained the same precious faith…" That faith and that belief comes from God and His Spirit!
"…as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" (v 1)—Christ in out lives! That's an amazing thing; we'll talk about that a little later!
Verse 2: "Grace and peace be multiplied to you…" Not just give to us, but multiplied over and over and over again!
"…in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord" (v 2). We're going to learn more of God's way today!
Verse 3: "According as His Divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life… [this life and eternal life] …and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and virtue." Think of that! Think about the calling that God has given to each one of us!
Verse 4: "Through which He has given to us the greatest and most precious promises… [three can't be anything greater anywhere on earth or in heaven] …that through these you may become partakers of the Divine nature…"
Becoming a son or daughter of God and living with God! Imagine that! Yes, that's what God's plan pictures!
"…having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (v 4)—then Peter gives the steps on how to do it!
We're going to look at some overall things that are going to help us understand what God is doing.
Titus 1—It's very interesting that God did not reveal this to Paul until the very end. The very last when he was in prison, just before he died. This is the capstone that he understood, and he wants us to understand, as well, that we're not just dealing with a religion:
- to make you better people in the world
- to make us more acceptable
- to make us more delightful
Hopefully, we will be better that way, but that's not the whole plan. God has something greater than that!
Titus 1:1: "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect…"
- the faith that He gives to us
- the belief
- the strength
- the intervention
- the knowledge
"…and the knowledge of the Truth…" (v 1).
That's what we need, brethren, and that's what's missing in the world! They have the knowledge of good and evil and they can't discern good from evil today! They're so evil and captivated in this world that Satan rules profoundly today.
"…that is according to Godliness; in the hope of eternal life…" (vs 1-2)—to live forever!
That's what all religion pretends to give, a substitute for the real thing that God has already promised: eternal life!
"…which God Who cannot lie promised before the ages of time" (v 2).
So, we are reaching way back beyond. Let's see some of that, and let's see how that fits into the Feast of Tabernacles, because it's so important. So important was this, that Paul also wrote it in 2-Timothy. Paul wrote 2-Tim. and Titus at the same time. This was the last time Paul wrote to Timothy; he knew that he was going to die.
There are some insights here that we have covered before, but let's go over them again, because this adds to our understand for the Feast of Tabernacles and the plan of God!
2-Timothy 1:6: "For this reason, I admonish you to stir up the gift of God that is in you by the laying on of my hands." That's the receiving of the Holy Spirit!
In this age, and in this time, we need to do that, as well; "…stir up the gift of God that is in you…" How do you do that?
- through prayer
- through study
- through understanding the Word of God
- through looking in at the world and seeing the vast chasm that is opening up between the world and the people of God
Verse 7: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound-mindedness. Therefore… [based on that] …you should not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner; but jointly suffer with me for the sake of the Gospel, according to the power of God" (vs 7-8).
Things were going so bad for the Church at that time that it looked like it was going to be exterminated and removed from the face of the earth. But it wasn't, because this is God's work!
Verse 9: "Who has saved us and called us with a Holy calling—not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace…"
That's quite a thing to understand and really put it together. Let's understand something about grace.
Sidebar: Grace is not the 'escape hatch' so you can continue to live in sin while you profess faith and belief in Christ! Grace is the foundation of the knowledge and the relationship that we have with God the Father and Jesus Christ! That we have direct connection to Them spiritually, with the Spirit of God through prayer, study and yielding to God! Add to that the power of faith, meditation and fasting to draw close to God.
"…which was given us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time" (v 9).
Isn't that amazing! You look at everything that there is and you see that it's all planned out, all designed and that also tells us that God has greater overall plan! Let's see what that is; let's understand what God is doing! We will see some other things that fill in the blanks that are not filled in Genesis but are in other places.
Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God… [there was God and Christ before the ages of time] …created the heavens… [full stop] …and the earth."
We've seen some awesome and fantastic new pictures of the heavens going out 13-billion light years through the James Webb Telescope. In between creating the heavens and the earth was the creation of the angels.
Job is quite an interesting book, and it's awfully hard to understand for some people. It is because Job was so righteous and good. But a quick summation of Job's problem:
Job 35:1: "And Elihu answered and said"—he's talking to Job, because Job was so righteous that he wanted to have a judge setup that would come down and he would judge between him and God. Elihu saw Job's sin; Job's other three friends didn't see it. So, Elihu asked him this question:
Verse 2: "Do you think this to be right, you that say, 'My righteousness is more than God's'?" That can never be!
I want you to read all of Job 35-37! Job pleaded that 'Oh that God would come down and talk to me!' God answered his request and came and talked to him. Here's where we find out that between the creation of the heavens and the earth, God created the angels. It's the only place in the Bible that really shows it clearly.
Job 38:1: "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man; for I will demand of you, and you shall answer Me'" (vs 1-3).
That was quite a conversation! In order to the let Job see—read all of Job 38-39, and that will give you an overall picture of it—God asked Job this:
Verse 4: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?…. [You're so righteous, Job]: …Declare it if you have understanding! Who has determined its measurements if you know?…. [What are the measurement of the earth? Pretty big! And the universe? Awesome!] …Or who has stretched the line upon it? On what are the foundations fastened to? Or who laid its cornerstone" (vs 4-6).
Verse 7 talks about angels. Here is God laying the foundation of the earth and: "When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
Why? Because God originally gave the earth the angels! That's why! We will see that this helps answer the question of some of the difficult verses in Gen. 1.
What happened? In order to understand what happened, we have to come all the way back to Rev. 12. This is quite a thing, and why we need to put the Scriptures together to understand what they're telling us; what the meaning is.
Rev. 12 reaches back in time before the angels of God—some of them—rebelled with Satan. How long a time were they on the earth before they rebelled? We answered some of those questions on the Day of Atonement before we came to the Feast of Tabernacles.
Revelation 12:1: "Then there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and having the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." This is the plan of God as pictured by a woman!
Verse 2: "And being with child, she cried in travail, and was in pain to deliver." That's a forward projection to the birth of Jesus Christ!
Verse 3: "And another sign was seen in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads; and his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven… [a third of the angels] …and cast them to the earth…." (vs 3-4).
Let's put this together with Job: When God created the earth and laid the foundation, they all rejoiced! But when God revealed His plan that all of the angels now would be beneath the coming sons and daughters of God—through the creation of man and woman—Satan rebelled and took a third of the angels with him!
Then it goes clear forward to the birth of Christ. Let's put those two things together and come back to Gen. 1. We see with the earth that now God is renewing the surface of the earth for human life.
Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heavens… [and then as we saw with the other Scriptures, the angels] …and the earth"—and they were all happy and rejoicing!
But then they rebelled and left their habitation and they left the creation of God that God gave to them and Lucifer was the one who wanted to be as the Most High! He was cast down and a third of the angels went with him to the earth. What happened to the earth when they were cast down? Right here it tells us:
Verse 2: "And the earth was… [or became, meaning it was created before it became this]: …without form and void…" Hebrew: 'tohu' & 'bohu'—chaos and confusion! God never created anything in chaos and confusion!
"…and darkness was upon the face of the deep…" (v 2). So, there was a first flood! Even science today can see by the strata that there were two floods. This one and the one of Noah.
"…and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (v 2).
This is when God began to renew the earth for mankind,and all of the things that go on the earth to make it a complete habitation for man!
Verse 3: "And God said, 'Let there be light.' And there was light"—and darkness, and called it day and night (v 5). Then we go through everything that God made.
He made the waters, brought forth dry land, the herbs and grass and things. Then He set the sun and moon in their proper positions for the appointed times, appointed seasons! (vs 14-16).
Then we find in v 20: "And God said, 'Let the waters abound with swarms of living creatures…"
All of the creatures that God has made that are in the waters and oceans. They're absolutely astounding! There is life in the deepest parts of the ocean that men did not know anything about until we have had the modern equipment that we have today that can go seven miles down into the depths of the abyss of the ocean. They find that there is life!
"…and let fowl fly over the earth on the face of the firmament of heaven" (v 20). That's an interesting statement there!
Since birds and fish and different creatures live their lives being guided by the sun, God set the sun its proper place and the moon in its proper place before He created the fish and the fowl and certain of the other animals that had to go by the use of the sun. So, it's all in perfect order as God created it.
Verse 21: "And God created great sea-animals, and every living creature that moves with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged fowl after its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the fowl multiply in the earth'" (vs 21-22).
Is that not amazing? Sometimes when a lot of the birds get together in one place it's an amazing thing! God has made all of them and for the purpose to take care of the earth:
- get rid of insects
- clean the water
- provide food for mankind
That was the fifth day (v 23).
Verse 24: "And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind—livestock, creeping things, and beasts of the earth—each after its kind.' And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and every creeping thing upon the earth after their kind. And God saw that it was good" (vs 24-25).
Here comes the creation of man—and that means mankind—and woman. Nothing in all the creation of God has been in the image and likeness of God as man has been.
Verse 26: "And God said, 'Let Us…"
We know that this means God the Father and Jesus Christ in the New Testament and the Most High and Jehovah in the Old Testament. It doesn't me angels, the angels have no creative power.
"…make man in Our image, after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of heaven and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that crawls upon the earth" (v 26).
What a statement that is; this is quite a thing! This is why human beings have the abilities that they do. Everything was to reproduce after its kind! Let's read this again:
Verse 26: "…'Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness…'"
The untold phrase that the rest of the Bible shows is this: and after Our kind! That's what God devised before the ages of time!
Verse 27: "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female."
It's always been male and female! All of the animals are male and female, all of the birds are male and female. Satan's way is to destroy it! Satan's world is what's going on today! Trying to say that men can give birth! They're working feverously for scientific ways in order to make that happen. But they will never be able to do it without using what God created in woman first! They're never going to be able to replicate God's creation!
In their rebellion they want to destroy the male and female creation of God and mix the genders and have transgenders and all the lying deception that goes with it. They're all going to suffer the penalty from God for defying God, for trying to replace God with their own way!
That's inspired by Satan the devil; that's what Satan wanted to do when he rebelled against God. He didn't like the thing of seeing God make human beings. No, no, no! because he rebelled and because he went against God, God made man after His own image and after His own likeness and gave man the dominion of the whole earth so that He (God) could be with man and they could dwell together.
We will see that Adam and Eve were in the dwelling place of God called The Garden of Eden!
So, after God made them male and female, v 28: And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth'"—and it is so! That's exactly what has happened!
Verse 31: "And God saw everything that He had made, and indeed, it was exceedingly good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
It says He made male and female, and that had to happen on the sixth day, because God made the most important day of the earth for all mankind: the Sabbath!
Genesis 2:1: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And by the beginning of the seventh day…" (vs 1-2).
That's what it means; it doesn't mean on the seventh day, because He would have been working on the Sabbath.
Verse 2: "And by the beginning of the seventh day God finished His work, which He had made." That means that He also made Eve on the sixth day!
Verse 3: "And He rested on the seventh day from all His work, which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it… [made it Holy] …because on it He rested from all His work, which God had created and made."
Verse 7—this backs up to the sixth day, and the rest of Gen. 2 covers the sixth day: "Then 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 being."
Breathing in the breath of life He breathed in the spirit of man as we know in 1-Cor. 2 there is a spirit in man that gives him:
- consciousness
- life
- power of thought
and with his mind
- the power of choice—free will choice
But remember with that—we all have it; there is none of who do not have it—in order to know right from wrong, we have to know the Word of God! That knowledge has to come from God! No other place!
- Gen. 1:27 it tells us that God made them
- Gen. 2:7 also including Eve a little later—tells us how He made man
Verse 8: "And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The Tree of Life also was in the middle of the garden, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" (vs 8-9). Then comes the rest of the creation of God!
Verse 15: "And the LORD God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'You may freely eat of every tree in the garden, but you shall not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for in the day that you eat of it in dying you shall surely die.'" (vs 15-17).
So, Adam were told right off! Of course Adam had no consciousness of what death was.
Verse 18: "And the LORD God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helper compatible for him.' And out of the ground the LORD God had formed every animal of the field and every fowl of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature that became its name" (vs 18-19).
Apparently God made Adam early in the morning and put him in the garden, brought these animals and things all past him. Here they came, all the animals—male and female—the birds and creeping things, also male and female.
What was missing? Here was Adam, a male, but there was no female! So, here's what God did after Adam names all the living things:
Verse 20: "And Adam gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field, but there was not found a helper compatible for Adam. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall over Adam… [sometime on the sixth day] …and he slept. And He took one of his ribs, and afterward closed up the flesh underneath" (vs 20-21).
Verse 22: "Then the LORD God made the rib (which He had taken out of the man) into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said… [he knew what was going on; he knew what God was going to do] …'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man.' For this reason shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed" (vs 22-25).
We'll get through the rest of the story, and the dwelling place for God!
(break@42:30)
Before we get into Gen. 3, there are certain things that we know that we don't know. We know that God lived in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden. Obviously, God had His place and Adam and Eve had their place. How long they lived that way before we come to Gen. 3 we don't know.
But we do know that God never subjects a person to the trial that they went through here without knowledge of the Truth first. This didn't mean that they received the full knowledge of God's plan and everything like that; no they didn't. But they were certainly taught the Law of God. Whatever God commanded them to do was the Law. So, that was before the serpent—Satan the devil—was let into the Garden of Eden to test Adam and Eve.
Since God gives free moral agency, we need to have some circumstances to substantiate and prove that we will choose what is right and do what is right. There is good and there is evil! There is right and there is wrong.
We can see—from the generation that we're living in today—when you have a generation that is not taught right from wrong and good from evil. They are taught to love themselves and each individual becomes an entity unto himself. In other words, he becomes in his own mind 'God,' because he decides what's right and wrong and good and evil.
We will see that's exactly what happened to Adam and Eve. So, God would not let the serpent in there until they had full knowledge!
The point is that it doesn't matter how long the time was, it matters what they chose! Just like with our own children growing up. We tell them 'don't do that'! If they don't do that, then everything is well. But if they do that, and they get themselves in trouble, then what happens? Everything becomes a fight! Then discipline must come for the infraction of what was done.
That's a basic common tenet that we find in everything, because God is the One Who has established right and wrong and good and evil. God is the One Who is to decide what is right and what's wrong and what is good and what's evil.
So therefore, what is good, He made it His Law to do! What is evil is to not obey His Law! The three words we need to remember though all this episode is: Obey My Voice! As we go through and see this in the survey of what we're going to do: The Dwelling Place of God!
Here we are, the dwelling place of God and He appeared to Adam and Eve pretty much like a human being. We find later on when God was talking to Moses and Moses was pleading with God to see His glory, God said, 'No man can see My face and live.' That is no one can see God in His glory and live!
IF God reduces Himself down to a appearing as a human being, THEN you can talk with God and He can talk with you; that's what we have with Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:1: "Now, the serpent was more cunning than any creature of the field, which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Is it true…'"
Why did Satan pick on the woman? We don't know! She was there, and we will see Adam could have stopped the whole thing, but didn't!
"…'Is it true that God has said… [now he challenges God] …"You shall not eat of any tree of the garden"?'" (v 1)—making a false statement!
If you know right from wrong, good from evil when you hear something false, what do you do? You correct it, which Eve did!
Verse 2: "And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may freely eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has indeed said, "You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die"'" (vs 2-3).
The phrase there, "…neither shall you touch it..." was probably additional instruction from God! Some have said that Eve added that to it. We have no substantiation that that was true. God told them!
Evil always has a comeback, so if you're not prepared and grounded you can easily get trapped, which is what happened to Eve.
Verse 4: "And the serpent said to the woman, 'In dying, you shall not surely die! For God knows…'"
Satan is accusing God and saying that God is hiding something from you that you need to know. This tells us that when anyone brings up any accusation against the Word of God, be careful because you can get yourself in trouble.
"…For God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened… [everyone wants new knowledge; everyone wants the secret thing known] …and you shall be like God…" (vs 4-5).
God appeared to them more like a human being. So, it wasn't that you will be like God in glory, power and things like this. You will be like God:
"…deciding good and evil" (v 5). In other words, instead of following the commands of God and the rules of God, you make your own rules! You decide what is good and evil!
Look what has happened to the world since that time, because of that very same thing that is here, and nothing has changed!
Eve was curious; v 6: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate…. [nothing happened to her] …She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." There he was right there with her!
It shows that whenever the head of the family sees something wrong that should not be, he should not go along with it. That carries all the way down in time, all the way down through everything of history that we know.
Verse 7: "And the eyes of both of them were opened… [to see evil and closed to see good] …and they knew that they were naked…"
Everything involved of what caused this to be this way, we don't know! The only way we can have some understanding of it is, look at this generation that we have today that believes that anything with sex goes! Well, that's not true! It's not true today, and it wasn't true back then. So, we don't know what happened, but we do know that Satan always, always perverts sex! What he's done today is probably what he did back then.
"…and they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves" (v 7).
Whenever you do something wrong, you always try and cover your bases; here it was to cover their nakedness.
- Did that do away with what they did? No!
- Did that change the circumstances of what they were in? No!
But the eating of the fruit changed the circumstances, and God knew!
Verse 8: "And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…."
That means that God was coming from where His abode was in the Garden down to them. He knew what they had done. Obviously, He knew!
"…Then Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden" (v 8).
We know that nothing can be hidden from God; nothing! Every secret is going to be known, shouted from the housetop, exposed to show the ignominy of their sin. So, God knew!
Verse 9: "And the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, 'Where are you?'" Because they were hiding!
You cannot hide from God! You can never, never hide from God! Everything you do is recorded on the spirit of man that you have, so God knows anyway!
Verse 10: "And he [Adam] said, 'I heard You walking in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked, and so I hid myself.'"
Verse 11: And He [God] said, 'Who told you that you were naked?…. [you might add in there, and afraid] …Have you eaten of the tree, which I commanded you that you should not eat?'" God wanted to find out if Adam would tell the Truth!
- What happens when you get caught and you don't want to admit that you did it?
- Or that you we're responsible?
- What does human nature always do? What does Satan always cause people to do? To blame someone else!
But the truth is, each one of us from Adam and Eve down through all human beings, we're responsible for our own choices and decisions!
Adam didn't say that he ate of it because 'I was weak.' He didn't say that! Since he didn't answer the question, God asked him: "…Have you eaten of the tree, which I commanded you that you should not eat?"
Verse 12: "And the man said, 'The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.'"
The question to Adam is: Why didn't you refuse? He could have! But he didn't!
Verse 13: "And the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?'…. [she wasn't willing to admit what she did] …And the woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'"
That was true, she was deceived. So, here comes the judgment of God! Every sin requires a judgment, and there is a penalty. In this case this was so profoundly important that it affected all of mankind down through all history to this very day and beyond.
Think about that! That's why it's important that we understand how the Church got taken down internally? Men did things they knew weren't right! God had to bring a penalty and punishment upon them! Just like Adam and Eve were trust out of the Garden of Eden, God took away—many times down through history—the Church because of sin that came from Satan the devil! That's why this is important!
God brings His judgment beginning with the serpent! His judgment—as we will find out toward the end of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day—and final punishment of Satan will be known! This is the beginning of it right here!
Verse 14: "And the LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go upon your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed…'" (vs 14-15).
There has been aversion of serpents and snakes by human beings. For those who are Satan-lovers, the love and embrace snakes. Quite a thing!
"…between your seed and her Seed…" is a prophecy of Jesus Christ. This projects all the way forward 4,000 years. That's why these early chapters of the Bible are important. Who was it that actually killed Christ? Was it not Satan? Yes, indeed, it was! When he did he thought he has won! But Christ was raised from the dead, because God's plan is going forward and going to work out for the best for everyone!
"…He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel" (v 15). That's a sign of the crucifixion!
Verse 16: "To the woman He said, 'I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception…'"
This is why mothers need to be especially alert, strong, loving, and teaching their children from infancy on up, what is right! If you don't, you're going to have enough sorrow and pain when the child is born, and you're going to have enough sorrow and difficulties in them growing up. But if you don't correct them and teach them, you're going to have sorrow and misery just like this generation that we have today.
"…in sorrow shall you bring forth children. Your desire shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you" (v 16). The husband is the head of the wife! That's the way God made it.
Verse 17: "And to Adam He said, 'Because you have hearkened to the voice of your wife… [instead of to Me, to obey My voice] …and have eaten of the tree—of which I commanded you, saying, "You shall not eat of it!"—the ground is cursed for your sake. In sorrow…. ]women are going to have sorrow and men are a going to have sorrow] …shall you eat of it all the days of your life.'"
Now we will see how long they lived in just a minute.
Verse 18: "It shall also bring forth thorns and thistles to you, and thus you shall eat the herbs of the field; in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (vs 18-19).
It doesn't tell us how long Eve lived, but it tells us how long Adam lived.
Genesis 5:1: "This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them, and He called their name Adam… [Mr. and Mrs. Adam] …in the day when they were created" (vs 1-2).
It doesn't tell about their sins here because they're in Gen. 3.
Verse 3: "And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years and begat a son in his own likeness, after his own image, and he called his name Seth."
The death of Abel was when they were 135-years-old. That's a long time. Think about everything that may have gone on in that 135 years. We're not told it, but the main thrust of everything we find in Gen. 4. But let's first finish off Gen. 3!
Genesis 3:20: "And Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all the living." All the children!
How many children they had, well the best we know of it is what Josephus wrote in his history of the people of Israel; that they had 56 children.
At that time, since all the genes were variant, what God undoubtedly did then was cause whatever race or color of the children to be born, He would cause the male and female to be born. Then they would marry. That's how He established all the races of people and why Adam and Eve probably had 56 children. We can only surmise that. We can't actually prove it. But I had to be something like that.
Verse 21: "And for Adam and his wife the LORD God made coats of skins and clothed them."
That may have been made from goats, and it may have been a sin offering for what they had done.
They were mostly cutoff from God from that time forward. Before that, they lived in the Garden of Eden and had access to God every day. After that, here's what God did:
Verse 22: "And the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to decide good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the Tree of Life, and eat, and live forever—'"
Even to this day we don't completely understand this verse. But we know that when we get to New Jerusalem, that there's going to be the Tree of Life. How does that work as a spirit being? God hasn't told us!
We have enough to take care of our lives right now, than to know what that's going to be. So, we will know what it will be at the time.
Verse 23: "Therefore, the LORD God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he had been taken. And He drove out the man, and He placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword, which turned every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life" (vs 23-24).
I'll just give you a little hint of everything. The whole layout of the Tabernacle and Temple of God is based upon the Garden of Eden and the East Gate. That's a separate topic in itself.
Gen. 4 tells us that they knew of the Laws of God. God probably met Adam and Eve outside of the gate of the Garden of Eden to teach them various things of what they needed to know. They also had a sacrificial system, which probably began with the two goats that were undoubtedly used to make their coverings after they had sinned.
Genesis 4:1: "Then Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, 'I have gotten a man from the LORD.'" Because of the prophecy that was given after they had sinned!
Eve thought that here was the one that God promised. But it wasn't!
Verse 2: "And she bore again, his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground."
There's nothing wrong with being a tiller of the ground. There were certain laws about animals and animal sacrifice, and tithing and firstlings that we see given to the children of Israel. So, God probably gave the same laws back here. We're not told, because we don't need to take up the whole Bible for that information. We can rightly deduce it from what God gave to the children of Israel.
What were the laws concerning what was grown in the ground? The laws given to Israel were that you would bring the first of the firstfruits, the very first ripe you would bring and offer it to God, giving it to the priest! Then of what the crop would produce, ten percent would also go to God. That's what we find with the children of Israel.
So, when Cain did not do what was right, he had to break a Law of God concerning what he should have brought, but he decided to bring whatever he wanted!
Remember a principle from this: whenever we decide that we do what we think is right, in place of what God says is right, we're going to get ourselves in trouble.
Verse 3: "It came to pass that Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat of it…. [it shows the law of the firstlings and offerings] …And the LORD had regard unto Abel and his offering" (vs 3-4). Why? Because he did according to the command of God!
Verse 5: "But He did not have regard unto Cain and his offering. And Cain was extremely angry and his countenance fell."
Notice that God was right there wherever the offering was, and Cain became jealous of Abel, because God accepted his offering, but refused Cain's offering.
Because you sin, because God says it's not right, and you get angry, does that make it right? What are you supposed to do when you sin? Repent! Things would have been entirely different if Cain would have repented and corrected and brought the right offering of the ground.
Verse 6: "And the LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you so angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well… [correctly] …shall you not be accepted?…. [of course] …But if you do not do well, sin lies at the door…." (vs 6-7). That's an interesting statement! Let's examine that a minute. What is sin?
1-John 3:4: "Everyone who practices sin is also practicing lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness." Or transgression of the Law!
There was a Law here, because there couldn't be sin without a Law. Where there is no Law, there is no sin! So, the Law was in effect! This also shows that those who claim there was no Law from Adam and Eve until the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai, are completely wrong! God cannot bring a punishment if there is not a Law!
Genesis 4:7 "…But if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it!'"—showing that every human being, when they sin, must overcome it! That starts with repentance! We have to rule over
- our own mind
- our own emotions
- our own feelings
Cain did not do it!
Verse 8: "And Cain talked with his brother Abel. And it came to pass that when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him."
Isn't that the way that those dedicated to evil always do? They come after those who are righteous, to get rid of them! That's what we're seeing today!
This 'woke' movement is a 'religion'! They want to enforce it on everyone else. Who is the power behind it? Satan the devil!
Verse 9: "And the LORD said unto Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?' And he said, 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?'" Of course you are!
Verse 10: "And He said, 'What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to Me from the ground.'"
Why did it do that? Because God knew where the blood was shed, and the life is in the blood, and the life was fleeting out, in a sense crying out to God! Cain did not repent.
Here's something else that happens, and we can see it in the world today: there are some countries that are just absolutely cursed because of:
- their civilization
- their religion
- their laws
- the way that they live
The ground is cursed!
Verse 11: "And now you are cursed from the earth, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you, and you shall be a wanderer and a fugitive upon the earth" (vs 11-12). A nomad, going from place to place! Staying for however long the few resources would last.
Verse 13: "And Cain said to the LORD, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear.'"
Oh yes, those who perpetrate terrible crimes don't like the punishment coming upon them. Well, let's see:
Verse 14: "Behold, You have driven me out from the face of the earth today…" Cain could no longer come to the east end of the Garden of Eden to meet with God; he was driven out!
"…and I shall be hidden from Your face. And I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth, and it shall be that anyone who finds me shall kill me" (v 14), Oh, poor little baby!
Verse 15: "And the LORD said to him, 'Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.' And the LORD set a mark upon Cain so that anyone who found him should not kill him;"
What was the mark? We don't know! We can guess! (speculation): Was it a cross? Everyone would see it! They would know that this is Cain; he killed his brother Abel.
Verse 16: "And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and lived in the land of Nod, to the east of Eden." Clear away!
Verse 17: "And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch." So, he built a city instead of wandering!
All of this has to do with the dwelling place of God! God wants to be with His people. But people don't want to be with God Who gives them His Laws.
I want you to think on that and see what it is that today is a curse and bane on the people of America in a 'religious' sense of the same pattern that we have here. That they make their own rules and regulations and claim that they're from God!. They're not!
Scriptural References:
- Ephesians 3:14
- 2 Peter 1:1-4
- Titus 1:1-2
- 2 Timothy 1:6-9
- Genesis 1:1
- Job 35:1
- Job 38:1-7
- Revelation 12:1-4
- Genesis 1:1-3, 20-22, 24-28, 31
- Genesis 2:1-3, 7-9, 15-25
- Genesis 3:1-19
- Genesis 5:1-3
- Genesis 3:20-24
- Genesis 4:1-7
- 1 John 3:4
- Genesis 4:7-17
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Job 35-37; 39
- Genesis 1:5; 14-16; 23
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 7/29/22
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