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Refuting false teachings and not properly dividing the Word of God
Fred R. Coulter—January 4, 2020
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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!
People want to know what was God doing before He made heaven and earth and created man? Part of it we can answer, but other parts we can't.
I got an e-mail from a man in Australia, and he castigated us because we believe that the angels were created before man, and were on the earth before they rebelled. He says that everything was done in six days.
If you just take Gen. 1 you could make a case that that could be so. However, how are we to understand the Scriptures? Isa. 28, 'line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little'! Then 'rightly dividing—rightly putting together—the Scriptures. Dividing means that you take part of the Scriptures here and part of them there and you put them together so that you have a full story, as much as you can get.
That's what we're going to do today. It's going to take us a little time to get through this, but this will be very interesting, indeed!
Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God…" It's interesting that if you look at the word 'the' it's in italic. In the Hebrew it's "in beginning…" Why? The answer is in 2-Tim. 1!
How long has God existed? He doesn't tell, except that He lives forever! God has a plan and we cover that plan through the Sabbath and the Holy Days.
2-Timothy 1:9: "Who has saved us and called us with a Holy calling—not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace…"
We take all the attributes of God:
- God is love
- God is truth
- God is righteous
- God is good
- God will avenge those who rebel against Him
- there's grace and Truth
- He offers repentance and understanding
So, all of that is included here!
"…which was given us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time" (v 9).
What does this tell us? This verifies John 1:1: " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him" (vs 1-3).
This verifies it! This tells us that Christ was with God before the ages of time. That's why it starts in:
Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God…" We don't want to go any further than that at this point! There is God and there is Christ. What's the next thing that it says:
"…created the heavens…" (v 1). How long did it take Him to create the heavens? We don't know! But think about how vast it is and so awesome! They know by measuring the speed of light that some of these galaxies are so far out there that for the light to reach us, it takes billions of light years.
One of the last things I heard on the news concerning some of the things that they're learning, is that the universe is so vast that there are so many galaxies out there, there is no way to even estimate the number that there is. So He created the heavens.
What's the next thing that He created? And this is where they go wrong! How do we know? Then we'll talk about angels. We will see that's the next thing that God created, before He created the earth.
Ezekiel 28:11: "And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Son of man, lift up a lamentation over the king of Tyre…'" (vs 11-12).
Verse 2: "Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre. 'Thus says the Lord GOD,'…" Who is the king of Tyre? You have a prince of Tyre, and it says of him:
"…Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas'; yet, you are a man and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of a god" (v 2).
- How did he do that?
- Under whose inspiration did that come?
- It came from Satan!
It didn't come from God!
Where is there another account when someone goes somewhere and says that he's 'God'? 2-Thess. 2, a man!
Let's read abut the king of Tyre, v 12: "Son of man, lift up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You seal up the measure of perfection…"'" We will see that this not actually a man! But it's Satan—who is behind the prince of Tyre—to make him think that he's a god.
"…full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You have been in Eden the garden of God…" (vs 12-13).
Let's stop and ask: When we read in Gen. 2 & 3, who was in the garden?
- God
- Adam
- Eve
When we come to Gen. 3, something slithered in! The serpent representing:
- Satan the devil
What happened to the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned? They were cast out! They couldn't get back in because cherubim were guarding the entrance!
The only one this (Ezek. 28:13) can refer to in the garden—it doesn't refer to God, Eve or Adam—is the serpent who is Satan.
At that point, was he against God? Yes, indeed! The reason is that after God created the heavens He created the angels, and then we will see that He created the Earth.
"…every precious stone was your covering… [listed are all the stones] …The workmanship of your settings and of your sockets was prepared in you in the day that you were created" (v 13). All angels were created!
Sidebar: Angels also have free moral agency. They're not robots. If they were robots you could program them to never sin. But to come to a sinless point, you must choose to love and obey God, whether you're a human being or an angel. That's just the way it is.
Verse 14: "You were the anointed cherub that covers, and I set you so; you were upon the Holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire… [the spirit street] …You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you" (vs 14-15). How did that come about? We'll find in a little bit!
The point that I want to cover in Job 38 is that angels were created before the Earth was created. That becomes very important. Job got all lifted up; he was really something! He was righteous, but he took all the righteousness to himself.
If you do everything that God says for you to do, and if that is as perfect as you can be, whose works are those? Those are the works of God that He gave you to walk in! Can you take any credit for really being righteous and ignore God? It's like today, people say that we all evolved. God says, 'I created you!'
Job 38:1: "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said"—because Job demanded that God talk to him! Be careful what you ask for, you may get it! It may not be what you think it is.
Verse 2: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" Partial knowledge without full knowledge! The partial knowledge that we have is only part of the full knowledge.
We all have the knowledge that we are alive and here today. We all understand that before we came to services, that we had to get up, clean up and get dressed and get here. But everything to do that God gave to you, which is your whole body, mind and everything; trillions of cells that are alive and living and moving. The inside of the body is really kind of… That's a tremendous thing!
Verse 3: "Now gird up your loins like a man; for I will demand of you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?…." (vs 3-4)—talking about creating the Earth! Like everything else, it has to have a foundation.
"…Declare it if you have understanding! Who has determined its measurements if you know? Or who has stretched the line upon it? On what are the foundations fastened to? Or who laid its cornerstone" (vs 4-6).
It says in Job 26:7: "…He hung the earth on nothing."
How does it do it? We know that God uses magnetic power that comes from the sun and from Jupiter. In the winter time, in the northern climes they can see the Northern Lights. What they're watching is the magnetic waves coming from the sun to the earth that keeps the earth in its place, yet, turning on its axis and going in its orbit. The magnetic forces! Likewise, the opposite with the South Pole.
It's interesting, I was watching a little bit about Antarctica and planes were flying over the bottom of the earth if you look at it. They were testing magnetic anomalies. There were some that got very strong. What was that? That was the magnetism coming from the sun to the South Pole. You have the northern pole and the southern pole and that keeps everything moving and progressing.
Sidebar: Aliens had a city buried under Antarctica.
Job 38:7: "When the morning stars sang together…"—angels! When it talks about the seven angels to the seven churches (Rev. 1), it says that the 'seven stars are the seven angels.' So, these are angels.
What do we have so far?
Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God… [He was there first] …created the heavens…"—that was next. Then He created the angels, and the created the Earth.
There are various meanings of heavens. The universe is called the heavens. Around the earth it is called heaven. In between that you have all the rest of the universe.
Job 38:7: "…and all the sons of God… [another definition of angels (Job 1)] …shouted for joy?" Why did they shout for joy? Because God was making this for them!
They know in geology when they examine the geological layers that there were two floods. What was the iniquity that took place that caused the angels to rebel? The one, the anointed cherub that covers, had so much glory, and he's called 'the shining star.' It's interesting that 'all the sons of God and the stars sang together.'
Isaiah 14:11: "Your pride is brought down to the grave, and the noise of your harps. The maggot is spread under you, and the worms cover you."
This is a type of the coming beast who is also going to die. This is the power behind it:
Verse 12: "How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning!… [we have the same words as we have in Job 38] …How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart… [here is his iniquity]: 'I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars [angels] of God; I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north" (vs 12-13).
That's what we talked about where he was walking on the stones of fire.
Verse 14: "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds…" Where are the clouds? On the earth! So, if he's going to ascend, he's leaving the earth to go after God!
"'…I will be like the Most High.' Yet, you shall be brought down to the grave, to the sides of the pit" (vs 14-15).
It blends into to the king of Assyria, yet, it's Satan who is the power behind it.
Now we will see this rebellion and what happened. Then we'll find out what happened to the earth, because it's really quite a thing when you come to understand it.
Heb. 1 will perhaps give us an understanding as to why they rebelled. There are different places that connect this back to God and close to the beginning, and here's one of them:
Hebrews 1:1: "God Who spoke to the fathers at different times in the past and in many ways by the prophets, has spoken to us in these last days by His Son, Whom He has appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the ages" (vs 1-2)—ages of time!
Verse 3: "Who, being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His own power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high"—life, death and resurrection of Christ!
Verse 4: "Having been made so much greater than any of the angels…"
- Isn't that where part of the jealousy began?
- The knowledge of what was going to happen to Christ?
We know from Revelation 13:8: that "…the Lamb [was] slain from the foundation of the world."
Hebrews 1:4: "…inasmuch as He has inherited a name exceedingly superior to them. For to which of the angels did He ever say, 'You are My Son; this day I have begotten You'? …And again, 'I will be a Father to Him, and He will be a Son to Me'?" (vs 4-5).
That is a summary of how Christ became impregnated in the womb of the virgin Mary, was born, had His ministry, lived and died as a perfect sacrifice for mankind!
Verse 6: "And again, when He brought the Firstborn into the world, He said, 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.'"
Didn't that happen on the night that He was born? It's very interesting that the most important birth in the world was the birth of Christ. Yet, it was almost unknown! Why? Because Joseph and Mary were not living in Bethlehem, yet, they had to get there in order for Jesus to be born in the City of David! So, there was a tax where they all had to go to their home birth town and register. It was so full of people that they had to go to a stable, and Jesus was born and laid in a manger.
All of the trumpet guards of King Herod came around and blew their trumpets and said, 'The King has arrived.' No! No one knew!
- Who knew of a baby born in a stable?
- Who did God announce it to?
He surely didn't tell Herod! But two shepherd boys out in a field. They heard the angels singing and worshipping God and the newborn Jesus. Only they! So, they went into Bethlehem and found Him and then told everybody about it. That was quite a thing!
Verse 7: "Now, on the one hand, of the angels He says, 'Who makes His angels spirits… [they're made out of spirit and live forever] …and His ministers a flame of fire.'"
Verse 14: "Are they not all ministering spirits, being sent forth to minister to those who are about to inherit salvation?"
God's plan was revealed to the morning star—who is called Lucifer in other places—and to the angels, and they found that now they're going to have to serve human beings, made of the dust of the ground. Is that the cause of their rebellion? Well, we read of the rebellion in Rev. 12. The one who became Satan the devil said:
Hey, I've got all this glory, I have all this perfection, I'm almost as good as God. Let's all get together and have a battle and take away the Throne of God, we will have it for ourselves. We don't want to lose the power that we have.
The way they looked at it! But in fact they wouldn't be losing power; they would be serving. Actually, Rev. 12 describes one of the oldest things that has happened in the Bible, aside from creation.
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 a plan of God! Typical of the one who would become Mary, but picturing the plan of God.
Verse 2: "And being with child, she cried in travail, and was in pain to deliver. 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 [angels] of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to deliver, so that he might devour her child when she gave birth" (vs 2-4). He was born and God protected Him and so forth! What happens when there is war?
- there's always chaos and confusion
- there is always death and agony
- there is always destruction
Jer. 4—we have a description in Hebrew that is important that helps us to understand one of the verses in the first part of the book of Genesis. This is why we always have to let the Bible interpret the Bible.
What always happens when there's sin? What always comes about? Death! In human terms, when people are sinning, what always occurs? A war!
Jeremiah 4:20: "Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the banner of war and hear the sound of the ram's horn? 'For My people are foolish; they have not known Me; they are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.' I looked on the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void…" (vs 20-23).
What was that a result of? War! Did God create it without form and void? No! It was a beautiful country that they were in!
Let's take it to another place. Let's take it to the end of WWII: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What happened when they dropped the atomic bombs on them?
- total destruction
- chaos and confusion
- everything all upset
We're going to see that when there was that war in heaven, and the angels were on the earth at that time, then something happened to the earth. And the key is Jer. 4.
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This is the reason why you cannot learn everything from one place in the Bible. So, we'll have a little review and then go forward:
Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning… [but we began way before the beginning, before the ages of time] …God… [and Christ] …created the heavens…"
What did He create after that, that is not listed right here and is absolutely essential to understand what happened? God created the angels! We don't know how long it was after He created the angels that He created the Earth.
"…and the earth" (v 1)—then there was a rebellion! (Jude—'the angels that did not keep their first estate.') That was the beginning of the rebellion! Then there was war in heaven and a third of the angels were cast down.
Now the rest of the story. All of that comes before Genesis 1:2: "And the earth was without form and void…"—Hebrew 'tohu' and 'bohu' (Jer. 4)—which is the result of war: chaos and confusion!
If you look at the star next to the word was—in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version—we have a marginal reference that says became. God did not create the earth in chaos and confusion.
We're going to cover just a little Hebrew here to prove a point. Keep this in mind: In Gen. 1:2 the word for was is 'ha ya ta' {transcriber's note: Hebrew spellings may or may not be correct} That is in the feminine gender, which is very interesting. In almost all languages, the earth is in the feminine gender. In English it's not. But in Greek it is. What do many of the ancients call the earth? Geha, feminine!
Exodus 9:24—here is the same Hebrew word in the feminine gender: "And there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation." This is the same word!
In this the vowel pointing makes no difference. The vowel pointing only gives you the pronunciation. It changes nothing. But remember that before it was without form and void, what had to happen? It became… "…since it became a nation"—same Hebrew word, feminine gender.
Genesis 1:3: "And God said, 'Let there be light.' And there was light." This is masculine gender. But it also could be that …there became light."
Genesis 2:7—same word: "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."
So, it's entirely proper to say of Gen. 1:2: "And the earth became without form and void." How did that happen? Because of the war!
"…and darkness was upon the face of the deep… [so, there was a flood] …and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
- In the Flood of Noah, why did God cover the earth with a flood? Because of sin!
- What happened here in Gen. 1?
- Who had the earth first? The angels!
Then when Lucifer/Satan found out there were going to be human beings, and they were to serve the human beings, the morning star—Lucifer—led the angels in a rebellion to try and take away the Throne of God so they wouldn't have to do it.
Where were they cast? Rev. 12 says they were cast to the earth! So, they were fighting. That's how the earth became 'tohu' and 'bohu' or without form and void.
They must have had fantastic weapons to cover the whole earth with water. How long was it covered with water? We're not told!
When we look at the creation—and we'll cover parts of it here—it was not the initial creation of the Earth. It starts out in Gen. 1:2 that "…the earth was without form and void…"
Since it became that way because of war, then before that it had form! We don't know exactly all that is there, but much of the things that indicate about that world and the flood that it's talking about (v 2) is that there were dinosaurs and a different form of life on the earth with the angels.
When God begins to do something, like in v 3: "And God said, 'Let there be light.'…."—because the earth was covered with darkness! Who is the author of darkness? Satan the devil!
For those who believe that everything—the heavens and the earth and everything was created in seven days—when did God create the angels in relationship to his? Doesn't tell us here! It tells us other places.
If it's only seven days here, what was God doing for all eternity until the last 6,000 years? We know from the true science that God has put in the universe, the speed of light is a 186,000 miles per second and the light coming to the earth from the stars they know just by doing the measurements…
You take the earth at one end of the orbit and 180 degrees at the other end of the orbit and you do an azimuth to a star or galaxy, and you figure out the angles, and then you can figure out how far away it is. That had to be created first!
- When did the angels rebel?
- Do you find it here in Gen. 1? No!
Genesis 1:3: "And God said, 'Let there be light.' And there was light."
Remember that He commanded and they were created (Psa. 148).
Verse 4: "And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided between the light and the darkness. And God called the light day, and He called the darkness night. And the evening and the morning were day one" (vs 3-4).
How was time reckoned in the Bible? It begins in the evening, then the day portion, and then sunset begins the next day!
Verse 6: "And God said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.'" This could also be an expanse!
- What do we have in the clouds? Water!
- Where did it come from? It came from the earth!
God put it up there in the clouds. How much water is in the clouds over the whole earth all the time? We don't know, but there's water there!
Verse 7: "And God made the firmament, and divided the waters, which were under the firmament from the waters, which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament heaven…." (vs 7-8). That's the heaven around the earth! When we're talking about the universe, it's heavens—plural (book of Matthew—the kingdom of heavens; that's what it is in the Greek).
"…And the evening and the morning were day two" (v 8). Any rebellion here? No!
Verse 9: "And God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and He called the gathering together of the waters seas; and God saw that it was good. And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth vegetation—the herb yielding seed and the fruit tree producing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself—upon the earth.' And it was so" (vs 9-11).
In order for that to take place, God had to have had this all planned out in advance. Then He commanded and it was so!
Think about the variety of everything that God has made. It's absolutely amazing. They know in quantum physics that every cell is a miniature miniscule universe. Yet, in just our bodies, we have trillions of cells and they function and work all the time.
We don't have to think: I just ate and now tell the stomach to digest it. NO! God made it automatic! You have eyes to see, and you don't have tell the eyes to look. It happens automatically! Think about all the different kinds of eyes: of insects, fish, animals, fowl and of human beings. They all work automatically. When they don't, it's called blindness! There's another invisible blindness, that most people have. What is that? Spiritual blindness!
Let's see if we can find any rebellion here; v 12: "And the earth brought forth vegetation—the herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree producing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were day three" (vs 12-13).
What if He first created all the mammals? They would have nothing to eat! So, God did this step-by-step to produce, so when the animals were created, they would have something to eat.
Verse 14: "And God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide between the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for appointed seasons, and for days and years." This is when God established what is called the Calculated Hebrew Calendar! It is accurate. Any calendar that men have always has difficulties.
That's why the chart that we have on Noah and the Flood is so important. It verifies that here in v 14 God set the time at that point, and it goes forward from there.
Verse 15: "And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. And God had made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night; and God had made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth" (vs 15-17). And also to establish their timing at that time!
- Why was this done at this time?
- Before any of the fish and animals were created?
Because different creatures go by magnetism, go by the sun, so it had to be set in the right place!
Verse 18: "And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were day four" (vs 18-19). Any rebellion? No!
Verse 20: "And God said, 'Let the waters abound with swarms of living creatures, and let fowl fly over the earth on the face of the firmament of heaven.':
Talk about birds! Watch some of these specials on birds, it's amazing!
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.' And the evening and the morning were day five" (vs 21-23).
Now, on day 6 a lot happens! 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. And God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness…" (vs 24-26). Here comes the crowning glory of the physical creation—man and woman!
Stop and think! Every living thing that God has created reproduces itself through procreation, through seeds! Procreation is actually seed!
"'…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.' And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female. And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth…'" (vs 26-28).
Why replenish? He didn't say to fill the earth. So, if this was the only creation, He would have to say, 'fill the earth.' Replenish is the same word used after the Flood of Noah—bless them and replenish the earth! Why? Because everything died!
So, in the first flood, everything that was here, everything died! It was taken from the angels and given to men and women! Then God tells them what he's given to eat and so forth.
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 is the meaning of v 2 in the Hebrew, because it's not on the seventh day that God finished His work, otherwise He would have been working on the Sabbath. It was:
"…by the beginning of the seventh day God finished His work, which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work, which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because on it He rested from all His work, which God had created and made" (vs 2-3).
God had, by that time, made Adam and Eve, and the first thing they had was a Sabbath Day with God. This tells us the most important thing for all human beings: All human beings need God! They can get along without God, as we will see, but their lives will not be as God wanted them to be!
Verse 7 is not a second creation. Some people say so, but it is an in-depth review of Gen. 1 in making man and woman.
Verse 7: "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."
Sidebar on soul: 'psuche' in the Greek is translated more times as life rather than soul. But 'nephesh' here in Genesis in the Hebrew is physical life.
They were put in the garden and they were to dress it and keep it. They could eat of every tree of the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which is symbolic of man going their own way.
So, God not wanting robots created in Adam and Eve—when He made them—a language so He could talk with them and they could talk with Him.
- In what form did God appear to Adam and Eve?
- Could He come in His glory? No!
No one can look upon the face of God in His glory and live! So, He would have killed Adam and Eve right after He created them. Didn't happen! He appeared much like a man!
- He instructed them
- He gave them commandments
- they conversed back and forth
Remember, after Adam was formed God had Adam name all of the animals. God brought them all by and whatever Adam called them it was so because man was going to rule over them. That shows that Adam had sense, judgment and was able to understand what God wanted him to do.
Then God took a rib from Adam and formed a woman, and Adam knew what that was all about because he said, 'This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, therefore, she shall be called Woman,' because she was take out of man. That's a lot of intelligent conversation going on. Any rebellion at this point? of man? of angels? NO!
Those who say that everything was done 6,000 years ago mis the whole point! You cannot find the rebellion of the angels in Gen. 1 and 2. But what do you find in Gen. 3?
Remember who was in the Garden of Eden? God, Adam and Eve! To keep the garden also meant to guard it. Adam could have avoid all of this by getting rid of the serpent. But he didn't! The serpent comes in. Is the serpent righteous and a servant of God? or Is he the adversary and enemy of God? He's the adversary, the enemy of God!
Adam and Eve up until this time could have eaten from the Tree of Life, but they didn't. The serpent comes in and what are the first words out of his mouth? A LIE! That shows you a difference between when—before Satan rebelled—he was a cherubim and perfect and he walked up and down on the stones of fire, which is where God's Throne is, also called the Holy Mountain!
- What do we have in Gen. 3? He's reduced to a serpent! The first words out of his mouth are a lie!
- What were the first words out of his mouth to the angels? I will become like the Most High!
That's when the rebellion took place! Here he comes and God had the serpent come in to test how Adam and Eve would use their free moral agency. All human beings have free moral agency and they must choose. It doesn't matter what part of history that they live in.
Deut. 30:15 is a little bit different than what God told Adam and Eve. He said that you could eat freely of every tree of the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They had to choose; likewise with every human being! We have to choose.
When we're born into the world we have a brain that is completely empty. The only thing we know is how to nurse, because we sucked our thumbs in the womb. Might be able to recognize the mother's voice and heartbeat. They don't know anything else. They can't talk. They have no teeth. They're completely dependent on their mother. This is why childrearing becomes so important. You have to teach your children this, too.
Deuteronomy 30:15—here's what's set before all of mankind: "Behold, I have set before you this day…"
Whatever day it is that you come of age—whatever day it was with Adam and Eve—but this day is for the Israelites here after they wandered in Sinai for 40 years, because of sin—He wants them to know that God is going to bless them, but you better be careful.
"…life and good…" (v 15). What is it that people want? They want life and good! Look at all the misery and agony, and destruction that people bring upon themselves, because they go against God. They don't wan it, they cry, weep and wail. Some dedicate themselves to evil.
"…and death and evil, in that I command you this day to love the LORD your God…" (vs 15-16). That's the first thing! If Adam and Eve had really loved God they would have obeyed! They didn't!
The children of Israel didn't! That's why we're told in the Old and New Testaments that the first or primary commandments is 'Hear, O Israel—put your name in there—you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and the second one is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.'
All of those were broken by Adam and Eve and their children. The first murder was brother to brother.
"…to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments so that you may live and multiply. And the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it" (v 16)—or wherever you are!
Now, because there's free moral agency—just like God told Adam and Eve—'in the day that you eat thereof in dying you shall surely die'! If you live to be 900-years-old, they were probably thinking that may not be true. But they did die!
Verse 17: "But if your heart turn away so that you will not hear…"
The first thing you learn as you're growing up, and mommy and daddy say, 'if you do this, and if you don't do this, there's going to be trouble.' Fundamental!
I did two recently on Church at Home {churchathome.org} on The Delusion of Drugs! You see a family try and talk their son or nephew into giving up drugs and going to rehab. They couldn't get him to stop! He said no. They pleaded and cried. That's all there on that segment. He got up and walked out. Amazing! So, free choice is there whether for good or for evil.
"…but shall be drawn away and worship other gods… [anything that you set between you and the true God] …and serve them, I denounce to you this day that you shall surely perish…" (vs 17-18). Sounds like Gen. 3 in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die'!
"…you shall not prolong your days on the land where you pass over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you…" (vs 18-19).
Can anyone miss the witness of God? Heaven and earth! Standing on the earth we can look at the sky. It doesn't matter how far down deep in the earth you want to go to examine it, or how far out into the universe you want to go to see all the galaxies that you can see, that's heaven and earth. That is a living testimony to the Truth of God!
"…that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live, that you may love the LORD your God…" (vs 19-20)—right back where it started! It starts with loving God and ends with loving God!
"…and may obey His voice, and may cleave to Him; for He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land, which the LORD swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give it to them" (v 20).
Now then, what has God offered us today? The Kingdom of God forever!
We've covered a lot of things today, but there is no such thing as a seven day creation in which everything in heaven and earth was made. They do not account for the time of the rebellion of Lucifer and the angels to try and take over the Throne of God!
Scriptural References:
- Genesis 1:1
- 2 Timothy 1:9
- John 1:1-3
- Genesis 1:1
- Ezekiel 28:11-12, 2, 12-15
- Job 38:1-6
- Job 26:7
- Job 38:7
- Genesis 1:1
- Job 38:7
- Isaiah 14:11-15
- Hebrews 1:1-4
- Revelation 13:8
- Hebrews 1:4-7, 14
- Revelation 12:1-4
- Jeremiah 4:20-23
- Genesis 1:1-2
- Exodus 9:24
- Genesis 1:3
- Genesis 2:7
- Genesis 1:2-4, 6-28
- Genesis 2:1-3, 7
- Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Isaiah 28
- 2 Thessalonians 2
- Genesis 3
- Revelation 1
- Job 1
- Jude
- Psalm 148
Also referenced:
Church at Home: The Delusion of Drugs! {churchathome.org}
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 1-7-20
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