Feast of Tabernacles 2003 – DAY 6

Fred Coulter - October 16, 2003

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And greetings, brethren. This is day number six of the Feast of Tabernacles. And as our theme has been, “The Beginning and the Ending” the first and the last, so we’ll continue right with that and we will look at the beginning, literally, and at the ending, literally and see how all of this fits into the Feast of Tabernacles.

Let’s first of all begin by going to Isaiah 45, and we will see here not only does Christ refer to it, but He definitely makes it a purpose in every way, showing that He is God, showing that He is Savior, showing the very purpose that He has that He’s going to complete. And I think you will find it very interesting that if you go back and go through all of the feast days and the holy days that we’ve had you’ll find out that the one book that we really go through in quite detail of all the books of the Bible is the book of Revelation. And so it follows that in order to understand the book of Revelation you must keep the Sabbath and the holy days. Otherwise you have a lack of understanding because the holy days explains how God is doing what He’s doing and how He’s laid out the Bible.

Let’s begin here in Isaiah 45:18. “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” Now silly men today in rejecting God say, “What we need to do is sit down and have a change of God talk, so we can figure out whether the universe and human life has any purpose at all.” Well the very God they reject and the very Word of God that they throw away is that which explains what God is doing, Who He is, and why He’s done it.

Verse 19, “I have not spoken in secret,…” God has always had the spoken word and the written word, and it’s never been secret. It’s always been there. “I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye Me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations:…” And so that is a reference to the future exodus of the children of Israel, as well as the church who has escaped from the nations of the world, as it were. The nations of the world, “…they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together:…” In other words bring all the gods, bring all the religions, bring altogether and God is going to do that. He’s going to let men do that in the ecumenical movement, isn’t He? And all religions coming together. Yes. And then what’s going to happen at the end of it? Christ is going to return and He’s going to show that they are just stalks of wood and the imaginations of men.

So He says, “…who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me. Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself…” So when God swears by Himself that is an absolute thing that is going to take place. “I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and [it] shall not return,…” That is as He says in another place, “it shall not return to Me empty.” “…That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear” (vs. 19-23). Sooner or later that is going to happen and every one of the God rejecting, Jesus defying people in the world are going to have to bow their knees and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. They rebel now. They reject Him. They won’t accept Him. But God has sworn by Himself that that will occur. So you see, what we are dealing with brethren, is something that is the greatest reality of all. Not some mythical imagination of a story of gods of wood and stone, and fairy tales and mythology and things like this of near human gods cavorting around heaven, committing adultery, fornication, murder, and all that sort of thing as the Greeks and the ancient religions have it, see.

No, God says, “Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to Him shall men come; and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed. In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory” (vs. 24-25). And of course that refers to the church as well because the church is called the true Israel of God.

Now let’s come down here to chapter 46, just a few verses down. Let’s begin here in verse 9. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; Iam God, and there is none like Me,…” None have been able to do what God is doing. Now remember that we saw on one of the days here just recently, that the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had, not one of the astrologers or soothsayers or the religious people in Nebuchadnezzar’s court could tell him what the dream was, or tell him what it meant. And people do not have an understanding of the beginning, and they certainly don’t have any understanding of the ending. But God has declared it. Now notice, “…there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure:…” (Isa. 46:9-10). God’s plan is going to be done. He’s going to accomplish it. He is going to do it. And brethren, in His Word, and through His Spirit, and through His goodness and through keeping the Sabbath and the holy days, and learning from the Word of God, He gives us understanding so that we know and understand what things are taking place. And we can love God and believe God and trust God and have conviction and faith and absolute surety and hope that God loves us, that His plan is true, that we are a part of it, that we have the Spirit of God. Now you see, this is a tremendous and a fantastic thing that we are able to do.

Ok, let’s come over here to Isaiah 48:12. “Hearken unto Me, O Jacob and Israel, My called; I am He; I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth [so He was there in the beginning], and My right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: He will do His pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be on the Chaldeans” (Isa. 48:12-14). Of course that happened during the days of Jeremiah. So it’s quite a thing. Absolutely quite a thing.

Now let’s go back to Revelation 22. So we’ll begin at the ending. So let’s go to the end, Revelation 22, and then we’ll go back to the beginning. So we’re going to do a lot of traveling from Genesis and then to Revelation. And I think you’re going to be absolutely surprised the amount of things that are the same. Now let’s come here to Revelation 22, and let’s read this verse, 13, because this ties in with what we just read in the book of Isaiah. And also four times at least in the book of Revelation Christ says this same thing.

Verse 13, “I am Alpha and Omega,…” Now with the Greek alphabet that’s the first letter and the last letter. “…The beginning and the end, the first and the last.” So, let’s look at some of these things. Let’s see what God has done through Christ.

Let’s come to Ephesians 1 and let’s see where God talks about His plan, what He’s going to do. And it’s going to be done in Christ. Ephesians 1 and let’s pick it up here in verse 19. Now here is Who Christ is. Seated at the right hand of God, “…far above all principality [any angel – righteous or demonic], and power [because He’s created the powers and upholds the power of the universe], and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things [that is, the Father] under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all [things] in all” (Eph. 1:21-23). And of course, God is fulfilling and doing His work, and doing the things that He wants to do right now.

Let’s come here to Colossians 1, just a few pages over where it also talks about the beginning. Colossians 1, and we’ll see exactly what that means. Let’s pick it up here beginning in verse 9. Colossians 1:9, “For this cause [Paul’s writing to the Colossians] we also [he says], since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;…” And brethren, that is the key. If you love God, if you believe God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and being, then God will fill you with wisdom and all spiritual understanding. See, because what we are covering, these things as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2, these are spiritually understood. It needs the Spirit of God to reveal it to us.

Now he says continuing in verse 10, “…that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;…” That’s why we are to grow in grace and knowledge continually, continually. It is a tremendous spiritual undertaking to grow in knowledge and grace, and truth, and the spiritual understanding of God’s Word. And it takes God’s Spirit to do it, and a humble heart, and a yielded attitude, you see. “…Increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us [qualified, as it should read] meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in [the] light:…” (vs. 10-12). So God the Father Himself is the one Who is qualifying you. There isn’t any such thing: “Brethren, you’ve to qualify to get into the kingdom of God.” No, the Father makes you qualified through His Spirit, through His wisdom, through His Word, through His understanding. He qualifies you.

Now notice what He’s done. “…Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us [unto - we’re not yet in the kingdom of God because it hasn’t come to the earth, so it should read unto instead of into] into the kingdom of His dear Son:…” (vs. 13). We are under the jurisdiction of the kingdom of God, are we not? Yes, indeed. And that’s where we look for our citizenship, isn’t it? That’s where our citizenship really is. It’s like Jesus said, “They are not of this world even as I am not of this world.” And so we are in a different category than other people in the world. Even though we live in the world we’re not of the world and we’re not a part of the world, you see. And that’s because of what Christ has done.

“…In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:…” (vs. 14-15). Now this has always stumped a lot of people. “What do you mean the firstborn of every creature? Was Jesus Christ born? Was He created?” And of course right now even within the Churches of God there is a vast movement to try and reduce Jesus to just being a mere human being. They throw out all the scriptures that Jesus was God before He became human. And it’s absolutely essential that He was God before He became human. So we’ll explain to you what this means – every creature, here in just a minute. Explain down here in another verse, verse 18.

“…For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him:…” So you see, this ties right in with what Isaiah said - what God said through Isaiah that He is was and is, see, right here. “…and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” (vs. 16-17). By the very word of His power He upholds the universe.

“For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness…” No, verse 18. Sorry, I skipped down to verse 19. Let’s back up, verse 18.

“And He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead;…” So this explains the “firstborn of every creature.” That means the firstborn of everyone who is born again from the dead by the power of the resurrection. So He’s firstborn of all that God is creating that’s going to be in the resurrection. “…That in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (vs. 18-20). Now things on earth we can understand, they need to be reconciled. But what things need to be reconciled in heaven? All of the result of Satan’s rebellion. That needs to be reconciled, or made right. So Christ is going to do it. He’s the one Who’s going to accomplish it.

Now we know in Revelation 3:14, it talks about where Jesus said that He is the beginner of the creation of God. So here we have the one Who was in the beginning and the one Who’s going to be there at the end. You have the beginning and the ending. The first and the last. Alpha and Omega.

Now let’s look at one more scripture before we start going to Revelation and Genesis. Let’s come to Acts 3, and let’s see what it is that we are looking forward to. Let’s see what it is that the first and the last is all about. And here Peter, when he calls them to repentance and conversion, verse 19 of Acts 3, he brings out a very important part of God’s plan.

Verse 19, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the [beginning of the world] world began” (Acts 3:19-21). So that has to include Abel. From the time of Abel clear on down to the very end this is the message that is going to be preached. So let’s go to the beginning and we’ll look at the end and see how the restitution of these things will take place in the beginning and the ending.

Now what you might want to do is put a marker in Genesis, the first part of Genesis, we’re going to start out in Genesis 1. And then put a marker in Revelation 21 so we can easily go back and forth, because we’re going to cover an awful lot of things here showing the beginning and the ending.

Now let’s read it here, Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Now let’s see what He says at the end. Let’s come to Revelation 21, and let’s pick it up here in verse 5. “And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And He said unto me, It is done.” There we have the beginning where God began in the beginning in Genesis 1:1, He says it’s done. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (Rev. 21:5-6).

Ok, let’s go back to Genesis 1 again. Let’s see what God has done. We’re going to learn a very important principle that we’ll see that is very profound. Genesis 1. Now I don’t think there’s going to be one single scripture that we’re going to cover that we haven’t already covered sometime in the past, but hopefully we’re putting it together in a little different way to give you a broader overview of the beginning and the ending. And for us to have the full assurance and understanding and realization that what God has begun to do He will finish it. Ok, let’s come to Genesis 1:26, so we can start listing here:

Number one - physical man first. Ok, that’s important for us to understand. There is a physical body, as Paul says, and a spiritual body. However, that which was spiritual was not first, but that which is physical. And the physical tells what God is going to do. And so we need to understand the greatness of what God has done in creating man, and how we are made, and why we are made, and what God has given us to do on this earth at this time.

Genesis 1:26, “And God said, Let Us…” Now that’s Christ and God the Father. “…Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness:…” Now you can read in the Passover book the nature of man, the nature of God, and so forth, but you see right here He is telling us the very reason why He has made man. He’s made him after His image and after His likeness. And then we will see when we come to the spiritual man it’s talking about being after God’s kind. That’s why God is a family. That’s why God created male and female for the purpose of having a family. Now notice what He did. He gave us vast, vast authority over the earth, didn’t He? “…And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” And He blessed them, and said, “…Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,…” (Gen. 1:26-28).

Ok, now let’s come to 1 John. This one is not in Revelation but we’ll come to 1 John 3. So let’s turn there. We’ll get back to Revelation here in just a bit. And this shows us then what we are going to be like when the end comes. 1 John 3:1, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the [children] sons of God:…” Now that’s a tremendous thing, brethren. We are the children of God, and I want us to really grasp and understand what a great and marvelous thing that it is that God is doing with it, and that we are going to help Jesus Christ bring millions and billions of sons into the kingdom of God during the millennium, the great White Throne Judgment, and to actually help Christ finish the plan of God. Now as I mentioned before, that’s the greatest calling that could ever be. There could be nothing greater that we can think of to participate in that, you see.

When he says we are called the children of God, “…therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the [children] sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear [that is, be manifested], we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:1-2). Now there’s the first man – Adam and Eve. We’ll go back and look at that just a little bit more. And then here’s the completion of God’s plan, being in the kingdom of God, being just like God.

Now let’s come to Philippians 3:20. This confirms what I’ve just said and tells us what we will look like. See, that’s why God in the beginning made us in the image of God and after His likeness, so that we can become as He is, even though we start out as just a pinprick of life and are born and grow, and so forth.

Now let’s pick it up here, Philippians 3:20, “For our [citizenship] conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change [and that means to transform] our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body [and as John said, “we will see Him as He is”], according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself” (Phil. 3:10-21).

Ok, now let’s come back to Genesis and let’s look a little bit more concerning Adam and Eve, and we’ll see some other things here. This one here is going to be back to Genesis 1, we already covered it, but verse 28. So let’s read that again. God gave us the earth. He set us over the work of His hands for a great and a tremendous thing and purpose. We are to learn by using the earth, by living in the earth, by building, by making, by ruling, by making all the decisions on what to do and how to live. And all of these things are preparing us to be spirit beings in the kingdom of God. That’s why He gave dominion over the whole earth and everything that moves. So rather than read that verse again let’s come to Psalm 8, for David even mused on this. When David was thinking about God and looking up into the heavens, and looking into the stars, and wondering about the purpose and the plan of God, and how great God is, and what a fantastic creation that God created with man and the earth and what He did in giving all of this to man. He gave man great authority, great latitude, great choice.

Now let’s pick it up here in Psalm 8:3. “When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,…” Now this is a very interesting word in the Greek – “angel,” because it comes from the Hebrew word elohiym, which means God. You’ve made him a little lower than God. Now the Hebrew word for angels is malak. Yes, we are lower than the angels in the sense that the angels are a higher spiritual order than man. But here it says, “You made him a little lower than God,” “…and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet:…” All things. Remember when they rebelled at the Tower of Babel. God came down and says, “Now nothing that they imagine to do will be restrained from them.” So likewise, look what man has done today. Then he says, “All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beast of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!” (Psa. 3:3-9). You see, because God is doing a great and a fantastic work.

Now then Hebrews 2 tells us (now we won’t turn there just for the sake of time), it tells us that in the world to come that He has not subjected that world to the angels, but He has subjected it to us. Christ first and then us. So that’s quite a thing. So not only did God give the earth to all of mankind, but for His spiritual family. Now they are going to rule the earth in a much different way than mankind has. They are going to rule the earth as the sons and daughters of God. So that’s quite a thing.

Now let’s come back here and look at Adam and Eve. So number two you could say, God gave dominion of the earth. And spiritually then, God has given dominion of the government of the earth, given into the hands of the saints.

Ok now number three. Let’s go back and look at the Garden of Eden. Well we can’t look literally at the Garden of Eden but we can look at the account of it there in Genesis 2 and 3. If you could really go back to the Garden of Eden, well, that would be interesting but that’s not possible now. It was destroyed with the flood of Noah.

Now, God made a covenant with man. He made a covenant with Adam and Eve. We need to understand that. Whenever God does something He enters into covenant. And here was the covenant that He entered into with Adam and Eve. Genesis 2:15, “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Now that is it was his responsibility. That’s where he was to start. His progeny then were to spread over all the earth, and they would have dominion over all the earth. “And the LORD God commanded the man,…” So this then is the beginning of the covenant with Adam and Eve. Just like God told Abraham, He said, “Now I want you to get up and leave your father’s house, and I want you to go into a land that I will show you…” And so Abraham obeyed and went. So when God commands – here He’s commanding Adam, He just created him – and so here is the covenant. Now this is just the start of it. See, just like we went through and saw the start of the covenant with the children of Israel was, “If you will indeed obey My voice…” And that’s all God requires all the way through. Whatever He says – do! That’s important to understand.

So He says, this is His voice, these are His words, “…Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:15-17). And that means “in dying you will die.” And then He created Eve, married them. And of course Adam and Eve, actually a type of Christ and the church. And so that’s the covenant that God made with them there, you see. Adam and Eve see and a type of Christ and the church.

Now, what happened when they broke the covenant? They were exiled from the Garden of Eden, weren’t they? They were given the judgment. Sin and death was put into their members, and sin and death passed to all human beings. So all human beings from that time until now have been living under differing degrees of curses depending upon their obedience or disobedience to God.

Now let’s come to Revelation 22, and let’s see what it says here referring right back to the very beginning in the book of Genesis, right back to the very beginning where the curse is. Because God said, “cursed to the serpent, cursed be the man, cursed be the woman,” and so let’s come to Revelation 22:3 and let’s see what the ultimate is going to be with the final restitution of all things. Because you see, when they started, when Adam and Eve started in the flesh it was what? Even though they were physical, it was what? There was no curse. It was all blessing. Revelation 22:3, one short sentence. “And there shall be no more curse:…” So what started in the beginning is eliminated at the end. Very important.

Ok, number four. Let’s look at Adam and Eve as a type of Christ. Number three would be the curse for sinning, because of breaking the covenant. Then the new covenant that we have in Revelation 22, because we’re spirit beings there’s no more curse. Now let’s look at Adam and Eve being a type of Christ and the church. Let’s come here to Revelation 12. Let’s see the purpose that is brought out. Revelation 12, and this is talking about how God in His mind was planning for the spiritual, as it were, the church, the woman.

Now let’s pick it up here in Revelation 12:1, “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:…” Now this is going to be symbolically the bride of Christ in her glorified form. It was already planned before the beginning. So here this talks about it, then it goes in and talks about how that through her, and that is a prophecy going back to Eve that she would be the mother of all living, and that of her seed would be the one Who would overcome Satan. So that’s what it’s talking about here. And she travailing with pain, and then Christ is born. You have to do it in symbolic language like this to get the message across.

Ok, let’s come to Ephesians 5. Let’s see some more concerning the church and Christ as a type of Adam and Eve. In the beginning was Adam and Eve. In the end it’s going to be Christ and the church. It’s going to be Christ and the Bride. Now let’s pick it up here in verse 25 because it talks about the duties of husbands in relationship to Christ. And husbands are a type of Christ in that sense, and the wives are a type of the church in the same sense.

Let’s pick it up here in verse 25. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleans it with the washing of [the] water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: for we are members of His body, of His flesh [signifying the crucifixion], and of His bones” (Eph. 5:25-30). And that means just as Eve was created from one of the ribs of Adam, so likewise the church is created from the innermost being of Christ, because He died for the church, He gave His life through the crucifixion and then was subsequently resurrected.

Then he says, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall [cleave] be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” Now verse 32, “This is a great mystery:…” And only those who have the Spirit of God and the Word of God can truly understand it. “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (vs. 31-32). So there we have the type.

Let’s look at just a couple of more verses here. Let’s come to 2 Corinthians 11 and let’s see what Paul wrote to the Corinthians when they were beginning to waver and get into false doctrines and follow false apostles. So he says here 2 Corinthians 11:2, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” And then of course we have already covered there when we went through the things concerning Pentecost in Revelation 19, that the Lamb and the Bride, the marriage of the Lamb has taken place. So that goes right back, just as God created Adam, created Eve, brought them together and He married them, so likewise Christ and the Bride are going to marry. And just as the one Who became Jesus Christ married Adam and Eve, I think it’s very logical and should follow through that God the Father is going to marry the church and Christ. And of course that only makes sense because you have type and anti-type.

Ok, now number five. Let’s look at the two trees just a little bit. We already looked at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but there was the tree of life in the midst of the garden, wasn’t there? Let’s go back and look at that. God said you could eat of that. He put two trees there – the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life was symbolic of the way of God and the way to eternal life.

Ok, Genesis 2:9, we’ll see where He put the trees. “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Now it didn’t tell us where the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But it’s interesting in the middle of the Garden of Eden, and of course that’s kind of like when you look at the temple, the holy of holies, or maybe just before what would be the holy of holies.

Now when they sinned they were cut off from the tree of life. Now let’s see what God said. He said here concerning the… Let’s come to chapter 3 and verse 22. He cut man off from the tree of life and from the way of salvation. Genesis 3:22. He’s later going to restore it when Christ came, but since man sinned they were going to have to live their lives separate from God. Verse 22, “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us [not as God, but to decide what is good and evil], to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:…” So then He put Adam and Eve out of the garden, and He placed two Cherubims there to guard the way of the tree of life.

Part 2

Now let’s go to Revelation 2 and let’s see something here very interesting. Revelation 2:7, notice what He says to the church at Ephesus. Verse 7, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” So when you had the tree of life in the midst of the Garden of Eden, now when we come to the final plan of God where ever paradise is going to be, there will be the tree of life there. Now we’ll see this. It’s going to be right close to God’s throne.

Let’s come back to Revelation 22 and let’s see that. It’s going to be right there just as it was in the midst of the garden, so it’s going to be in the midst of the paradise of God. And it’s going to be, how shall we say, fed by the waters that come right out from underneath God’s throne. Revelation 22:1, “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:1-2). Now that has to be for the maintaining of the spiritual health of the nations that were saved. Because see, the tree of life then is that which shows the way to live as a spirit being. And so this is what it’s talking about here. So in the beginning there was a tree of life, salvation was offered to man, man rejected it. Had to wait until the time Christ came and the way of salvation was opened up. Now when new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, here is the throne of God and the tree of life. Very profound. Very interesting. So there it is with the trees.

Number six, we’ll just mention this, number six. We know that in Genesis 2 and 3, that God dwelt in the Garden of Eden and God was living with Adam and Eve until they sinned. Now when they sinned they were exiled and removed from the Garden of Eden. Apparently until the time of the flood of Noah God still lived there in the Garden of Eden. And those who would come to God would come to the entrance of the Garden of Eden where the two cherubim were. And we’ll talk about the two cherubim in just a little bit. Now then, let’s come back to Revelation 19. Since we’re here in Revelation 22 hold your place, we’ll be there in…

No, Revelation 21:1, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:…” You see, that ties right back in with what we talked about at the beginning. God created the heaven and the earth and now here’s a new heaven and a new earth, you see. “…For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” And then new Jerusalem coming down from heaven. Now verse 3, “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Rev. 21:1,3). So just like Peter said, the restitution of all things. We have in the beginning the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were there – a type of Christ and the church living with God. And then in the end we have God and the church and all of them together living, and God dwelling with them.

Now let’s look at Revelation 22:4. “And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.” Now that’s living with God. And we’re going to live with God forever. So what God began in Genesis in the beginning, He is finishing in Revelation, which is the ending. And of course, whenever you come to an ending there’s always a new beginning. And so the new beginning here at the ending, God is yet going to have to reveal even more of that to us. And we’ll be able to understand that when we’re spirit beings and we’re living with God.

Ok, number seven – very important. Back in Genesis 3 what did we have? We had the serpent, didn’t we? Satan the devil. And he came along… Now let’s go back to Genesis 3 and let’s just rehearse that a little bit because Satan is really very clever in how he does things. And you know there are a lot of people who think, “Well, I know all about Satan.” And yet they’re the ones who get deceived. I remember a man said, “Well, I have been in the church so long that Satan has no more interest in me.” And kabam – Satan got him.

Now let’s go back to Genesis 3:1 and let’s understand something. When we get to the end Satan’s going to be gone. Here at the beginning he was there. Verse 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?” A little bit of twisting, a little bit of turning. Of course we know that Satan is the father of lies, isn’t he? So here he comes lying. Very slick and clever lie. And so Eve had to answer that because obviously he was wrong. “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:…” (Gen. 3:1-4). That’s the way Satan always does. And we’ll see a little bit more about Satan on the seventh day because he still has an activity yet to do. In the beginning there was Satan. In the ending we’re going to see he’s not going to be around.

Now let’s go back to Revelation 20 and let’s see that. And then we will have absolute assurety that he won’t be there. First of all as the millennium begins, we know just before it begins, Satan is going to be cast into the abyss. And we find that in Revelation 20, and let’s pick it up here in verse 1. “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit [or, the abyss] and a great chain in his hand.” So Satan is bound. Now he’s loosed after the millennium. We’ll explain that tomorrow. But then we find here in verse 10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [were cast] are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” So Satan won’t be around. So that is a tremendous thing. No more Satan.

Now look over here, Revelation 21:27, and this verifies it. “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie:…” Satan is the liar, the father of it. “…But they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Now Revelation 22, it reiterates it again. Verse 15, “For without [and this Greek word means “excluded”] are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosever loveth and maketh a lie.” So Satan the devil is not going to be there. He’s going to be gone. So that’s going to be a tremendous thing. So when we go to the beginning, we go to the ending and we see how these things work.

Now number eight. Let’s go back and look at something here. This sort of backs up a little bit, but this talks about the cherubim. Let’s come to Genesis 3 and we will see this is the beginning format for, as we have understood in the past, for the temple. Back here in Genesis 3. Now we already read part of this but let’s read it again here. Verse 22, “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of Us,…” Now that means, of course he didn’t become like God, but he became like God in this way: instead of believing what God said that God is right, His ways are right, His commandments are true, and to follow God’s way – Adam and Eve decided they would go their own way. That’s the only way that they were like God. And of course that’s what Satan appealed to. He says, “Well you’ll be like God. You can decide on yourself. You don’t need God to tell you. You’ll become God’s.” And so they were expelled from the Garden of Eden.

Now He says, “…now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and [with flaming swords] a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Gen. 3:22-24). In other words now this was God’s sole possession. Man can have the rest of the world outside of the Garden of Eden. Now when men would come to God they would come to where the cherubim were, and God would come out of the Garden of Eden and meet them. And I’m sure that it would be at specified times such as the Sabbath or holy days, and that’s where the altar was – the altar for burnt offerings. So it’s very similar to what we have in the design of the tabernacle and later the temple, which we have seen in years past about the design of it. And this is where it comes from, you see.

Now let’s look at the sacrificial system that they had in Genesis 4, because they would come to God, they would bring their offerings. I’m sure they would bring their tithes. They would do the things that God has said. And so we have the account of Cain and Abel. “And in the process of time [it says there in verse 3], it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 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:…” (Gen 4:3-4). Now why? Because Abel’s offering was according to the commandment that God gave them. That’s why. Firstlings. Now firstlings we find in the book of the law, and so here we have a very strong indication that the same laws that God gave to Israel God was using here at the beginning with Abel and with Cain. But Cain decided that he was going to do it his way. And there’s an everlasting lesson here. If you don’t do it God’s way, you’re going to be removed from God yet again.

Now then, let’s come back and let’s see here. Let’s come back to Revelation 21. Now instead of, we can say that the east of the entrance where the Cherubim were was the gate to the Garden of Eden. And no one could go into the Garden of Eden except God because the cherubim were there to keep the way. But now when we come back here to Revelation 21:11, now let’s see something else here that’s really important when we come to new Jerusalem. It’s going to be completely different, see because new Jerusalem is the finality of what began in the Garden of Eden.

So Revelation 21, and let’s pick it up here in verse 11. It’s talking about the city descending from God out of heaven. “…Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels,…” So just like there were cherubim at the gate going into the Garden of Eden, so here we have an angel at each one of the gates going into the new Jerusalem. And of course then it had the “…names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:…” (Rev. 21:11-14). Then later it talks about the foundation, which then is the apostles.

Now let’s come over here to verse 25. And here’s the difference. “And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it” (vs. 25-26). So they enter into the city, through one of the twelve gates. That’s very interesting because it shows Israel, the twelve tribes of Israel, and the twelve apostles. So there’s a direct parallel with what God did, and it’s all incorporated. Now what does this tell us in principle then? This is Old Testament and New Testament combined, is it not? Where does it mention about the twelve tribes of Israel? In the Old Testament of course. And the New Testament is built upon Jesus Christ Who’s the chief cornerstone, and then we have the apostles and the prophets, and the prophets were the inspired speakers. They weren’t those who just foretold the future, they were telling forth the Word and Truth of God. So it’s really quite an amazing thing how all of these parallels are. And it begins in Genesis and it ends in Revelation.

Now we already covered concerning the altar and the temple. Now let’s come to Revelation 21:22. Let’s see something very interesting. After it’s all said and done God is true to His Word, isn’t He? Because He says, “Where’s the temple that you will build for Me. My hands have made all of these.” And now God is dwelling in new Jerusalem, which is far better than the Garden of Eden. And all those who are saved dwelling on earth are going to live outside the city of new Jerusalem, but all of those in the first resurrection and all of those that come into the first resurrection that were from Abel all the way down until the beginning of the New Covenant with Christ, we’re all going to live in new Jerusalem. The nations that are saved are going to live on the rest of the earth, and they’re going to bring their glory and honor to new Jerusalem.

Now let’s read here, Revelation 21:22. “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it:…” It doesn’t say there won’t be a sun or a moon. It just says there’s no need that it shines there. “…For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” (Rev. 21:22-23). So that’s quite a thing. We start out God is living with His people, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In the end God is living with His people who are now converted, who are spirit beings, changed at the resurrection, sharing in the glory of Jesus Christ, and living in new Jerusalem. So this is really quite a thing that the Bible is showing us here.

And so we’ve covered all the aspects of it. I know this is a little shorter than a regular sermon, but that’s ok. Sometimes having a little short will work out a little better. So we’ll go ahead and close here for today, and you come back tomorrow, which will then be the beginning of the end of the millennium.