My wife and IFiled under: Culture
Chapter 4
Just as in our lives, everything has a beginning and an end, yet after the ending of one beginning, there is a new beginning. We read of the flood and now the flood has ended and Noah and his family have found the first of the dry ground and they let the animals free to wander about on the earth. In chapter 8 of Genesis we read this: Gen 8:20-22 ESV Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (21) And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. (22) While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
So this beginning is still going on, for God promised that he would not destroy the earth again as he had just destroyed it. Note that God knows that evil will again raise it’s ugly head, but He will not destroy the earth as he had just done. Instead there will be a day of reckoning in the future which is predicted over and over again in the prophetic books and in the New Testament book of Revelation. Of course that is for another day and another book. As we saw in the beginning when Adam sinned by taking the fruit that Eve had handed him, sin comes upon us with no warning, DON’T DO THIS, the problem is we do it and move further away from God.
Now there is another beginning, that is why we call the New Testament, by the name New Testament. That new beginning will be seen after we talk a bit about what happens now that Noah and his sons have set up housekeeping on the dry land again.
Noah planted a field and became a farmer, he also planted a vineyard and after a couple of years he finally got to the place where he produced wine, and then he tasted his own wine and got drunk. That is not a big deal, however he passed out and was naked as he could be. Ham his son came into the tent, saw his fathers nakedness, and then spread the word that the old man was drunk and passed out and he was exposed, go take a look. His brothers did not look, they took a cover and put it on their shoulders and walked backward into the tent and covered their father.
Gen 9:20-23 ESV Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. (21) He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. (22) And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. (23) Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
In the next verses we see why this is important: Gen 9:24-27 ESV When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, (25) he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” (26) He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. (27) May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.”
Ham was the actual sinner, but he had already received God’s blessing, Canaan was his firstborn, so the curse went to the firstborn instead of the father. Canaan, is the name of the land where the people of Israel were brought by God, and it became the Holy Land of Israel as we know it from the scriptures. Many of the tribes of Canaan, no longer exist today, although some do and they are a part of the Palestinians of today.
Let us now take a look at the descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth and where they settled as they spread out over the earth. The sons of Japeth are first: Gen 10:2-5 ESV The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. (3) The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. (4) The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. (5) From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.
Next are the sons of Ham: Gen 10:6-20 ESV The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. (7) The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. (8) Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. (9) He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” (10) The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. (11) From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and (12) Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. (13) Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, (14) Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim. (15) Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, (16) and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, (17) the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, (18) the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. (19) And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. (20) These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
Finally are the sons of Shem: Gen 10:21-31 ESV To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. (22) The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. (23) The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. (24) Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. (25) To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. (26) Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, (27) Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, (28) Obal, Abimael, Sheba, (29) Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. (30) The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. (31) These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
A closer look at the tribes and where they end up is sometimes very difficult but some are quite clear: From Japheth we find Gomer settles in the area that is today Poland, Austria and other parts of eastern Europe in the caucasus regions. Magog settled in what today is the area of Russia and Siberia. Madai settled in the area of Persia. Javan settles in southern Greece. Tubal settled in what is today Northern Turkey. Meshech settled in what today would be Afghanistan, Pakistan, India. Tiras in what today would be Austria. From there their descendents spread out across those areas as their independent tribes grew in strength.
The sons of Ham: Cush settled in what today is North Eastern Africa, Ethiopia, Sudan. Egypt, also referred to as Mizraim settled in the area known today as Egypt. Put settled in what today is Libya. Canaan settled in what we know as Palestine or Biblical Canaan.
Finally we come to the sons of Shem: Elam settled in the area of Persia (Iran). Asshur settled in modern day Syria (Assyria). It is not known where Arparcshad settled. Lud settled in what today would be Algeria. Aram settled in Syria/Mesopatamia. This of course all happens after the buidling of the Tower of Babel in what is today Babylon in Iraq. Of course as you read the story in the Bible you will see that this happened a couple of generations after the sons of Noah had the children and grandchildren and died.
The Bible is primarily interested in the descendants of Shem as that is where Abraham comes from later on. This though is the beginning after the flood, these all spoke the same language, and were pretty much in the same area, the separation happens when the tower of Babel is built and God fixes it so no one understands each other, each of the groups have their own languages and so they disperse to different parts of the world, and as they grow in size they also take other territory and move further apart. It is believed that the Oriental peoples actually came from Japhet, and the African people from Ham, of course it is their descendants again, not they themselves.
The idea of course is that this is the second beginning. Even though they call upon the name of God, and they know about the Flood and the reasons for it, they continue in their own ways, getting further and further from the truth of God. Sin has a way of getting into the hearts and minds of people and convincing them that what they are doing is OK so they go deeper into the wrong path.
The sinfulness of some groups became so bad that God intervened in what was going on, as in the case of Babel, God made the people unable to communicate with one another and that ended the building of the tower into heaven so they could be like God. Many people in many places have had the same idea, although today in our own world many have decided that they are their own god and do not need some outside influence to get them through life.
As we read the scriptures we find that mankind at least many of them continue down the roads of sinful living. God will finally pick Abraham to be the father of 12 tribes who will become the people called Israel. In the centuries after the flood, mankind moves further and further from God, not all of course but a great many do so. They believe that they can better run their own lives than those who pray to this one called God, waiting for direction for their lives.
During this time in history, God gives many second chances, he does find some people to be so wicked that he destroys their entire tribe, later on God will use the people of Israel to take over the land that he has promised to Abraham. There will be much in the way of pain and suffering in the people who are descended from Abraham, but there will also be many blessings. As you read the books of what we call the Old Testament, you will see the pain and suffering of the Jewish People, and the reasons for most of it.
God cannot abide sin, and the people are sinful, but there are men and women who God declares to be men and women after his own heart. God says that Abraham is one of those and God makes a covenant with Abraham. Yet we read that Abraham was a sinner in many ways, but the key was his recognition that God would forgive him as he came to his senses and asked for forgiveness. The same can be said for King David, he was an adulterer, a murderer and many other sins were his, yet he was shown to be a man after God’s own heart. We are now in the time after Noah and his descendants have settled into their respective areas in the world. It is not possible for me to write of all the things that happened up until the time of Abraham, but I think it will be a good idea to give a short capitulation of the things that bring us to see how God deals with his people over the centuries.
Abraham was living in Mesopotamia, his name was Abram at this time, God speaks to him telling him to move from his home and his family to a place which God will show him. “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1 ESV). So of course Abram heeds God and immediately leaves everything and everybody to go to a place where God will lead him. Sorry, not hardly, first they moved to Haran: “Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. (Genesis 11:31 ESV)
God then speaks to Abram so that he will leave his Father and his family to go from there to the land he will show him. His father dies there in Haran, and Abram takes his family, Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew and they go to follow God.
Abram will finally settle in Canaan after some events, one of them being the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by God because of their absolute sinfulness. He does finally have a son and his name is changed by God from Abram to Abraham.
In Genesis 15 we see God make a covenant with Abram regarding what shall be for him and Sarai in the future and for their offspring, he promises that Sarai will have a son to be the heir to Abram. In Genesis 17 God changes the name of Abram to Abraham (Father of a multitude), because he will be the father of many nations. Sarai becomes Sarah and God says that she will be mother to many kings, through her son to be. This does happen, but the people who God calls Israel are as all mankind sinners, they keep making the same mistakes and God keeps punishing them until finally they are exiled from the land that God promised them. However, the story of Israel is one of wonder and joy, as well as heartache and pain. God has given them back the land, actually a very small piece of that which had been promised, and which they never did fully possess. Now we come to the end of this admittedly short part of the story.
There is of course a great deal of sin and suffering, you can read it all in the books of the Old Testament. There is also much of prophecy about all that is to be in the books of the prophets especially Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and of course Daniel.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23, simply because we are human beings, we are finite creatures, we are not and cannot be perfect. There was only one man who was perfect, the man Jesus the Christ. It is time to close this chapter and move on to the rest of the story.
Filed under: Culture
CHILDREN AND MURDER
Chapter 3
Eve has a child named Cain, then a second named Abel. As they grow to manhood, Cain becomes a farmer, and Abel a rancher, he raises sheep while Cain raises vegetables. There must have been some sort of sacrificial element in the family, and Abel brings the first born of his flock to sacrifice to the Lord. Cain brings some of his crops, In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. (Genesis 4:3-5 ESV)
“Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.”
(Genesis 4:8-11 ESV)
That is like the religion of today, many of our people bring what is left over after they have used their resources for their own pleasure. Some of course still bring of the first fruits of their labor. I am always amazed when people say, God doesn’t want me to sacrifice, that was the Old Testament, they had to tithe of their sustenance. We don’t have to and, of course that is true, we do not have to give the best to God, because we are free to make the choice of what, if anything, we will give to God. Yet, reading the story we see that God, Gen 4:4 “and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, “ So God accepts the offering of Abel but not of Cain. Now it is true that Tithing was an Old Testament requirement. However, this was not a tithe it was an offering to God in gratitude for that which God has provided. The idea of tithing comes much later in the story.
Cain, brought the leftovers, as so many of today’s religionists, God was not pleased with Cain, and there we see the sin of Cain against the rightness of Abel. Sin, not so much because of his offering, but because he wanted the best for himself, and so God gets second best. I have to admit, I too have been guilty of giving second best at times in my life. The sad part of this story is that Cain gets upset and instead of listening to God he goes and kills his brother.
After this, we find that Adam and Eve have another son named Seth, and it is through this line that we now follow the time to the Flood and another New Beginning. It will take 1,656 years from the time that Adam and Eve leave Eden to the time of the worldwide Flood of Noah. We move now to Chapter 6 of Genesis, in Chapter 5 we see the genealogy of the line of Seth down to Noah. In that 5th Chapter in verses 21-24 we find Enoch son of Jared, Enoch is the 7th in the line from Adam and he walked with God, in walking with God, he was taken out of the world before the sins of mankind reached the stage of God’s wrath.
In Genesis the 6th Chapter we find that God looks upon the actions of mankind and sees that there is great evil, that the inhabitants of the earth seek to do evil deeds instead of acting in accord with His will. Mankind has been calling upon the name of God since the time of Seth and his son Enosh, Enosh was born to Seth in his 105th year and the scriptures say that people began to call upon the name of the Lord at that time. So Enosh was the second generation after Adam. Let us pause for a moment here, it is important for us to note that although Adam was made in the image of God, his son was born in the image of his father Adam. The image of God had become marred by the sin in Adam after the exile from Eden.
Gen 5:3 ESV When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
There is a lot of talk about mankind being in the image of God, but the scripture says it is not so, we are born in the image of mankind, sinful mankind, not the image of God. For those who have been saved by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, the image of God is gradually being restored to our lives as we surrender more and more of ourselves to Him.
God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupted:
Gen 6:9-12 ESV These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. (10) And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (11) Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. (12) And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
We see that Noah was a righteous man, he walked with God. The people around Noah and his family however, were corrupt and they were causing others to act as they did, the whole of mankind except for Noah and his family had become corrupted, and God was about to act against this situation.
Noah builds the Ark as God instructed him to do, they pack in provisions for themselves and the animals that will go with them and we read in Chapter 7 of Genesis: Gen 7:11-15 ESV In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. (12) And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. (13) On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, (14) they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. (15) They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.
This is the end of this beginning and the end of this chapter.
Filed under: Culture
I have written a book and I want to share it with anyone who might be interested in reading it. I shall be printing the chapters one at a time so it will be like a mystery until it is finished. So today is the first Chapter.
Gen 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
I know that there is a second idea about this, namely that there was a great explosion that set in motion the universe, and that through a lucky combination of things, this planet became hospitable to life as we know it. Of course, this theory tells us that it took literally millions of years for everything to come to fruition, yet it seems to me that the story in Genesis gives us a much better idea of what really happened. Not because I am anti science, but because it seems strange to me that an explosion can happen when there is nothing to explode.
You see, in the beginning, there was nothing, no chemicals, no dirt, not one thing existed prior to the so-called Big Bang, so how could there be a big or even a little bang when there is nothing yet in existence. Science still cannot make something from nothing, they must have a model to work from, and the materials with which to actually make something happen.
Starting from the realization that nothing begets nothing, the only explanation is that “In the beginning, God”, you see that, of course God is outside time and space, He created that which gives you and I existence, He set in motion all that we see, and he also gave us laws, like the law of gravity, “what goes up, must come down”, 2+2=4, and the other more complex laws that allow the earth to support life.
Once God created all that we see around us, the stars in the heavens the trees, grass, and weeds. He also created the fish, birds, animals, and bugs, many of which I can do without. Then he looked at all this beauty, and decided he needed someone to take care of this whole thing, so he created man.
Gen 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” It is important that we see the distinction here as to creation and the making of men and women. It tells us that God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” So man was made by God’s own hand.
Wait a minute, you say that God is Spirit so he has no hands, that is true, but, God is the three in one, his name in the original language is plural not singular. So we have God speaking to God in this passage. The second part of the trinity is Jesus the Christ, and of course we have also the third person the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the human face of God and it is his hands that form man.
Gen 2:7 “And 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 now we see that God actually made man, took the time to actually form man from the dust of the earth, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.
It does say in Gen 1:27-28 NKJV “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (28) Then God blessed them, and God said to them,” “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Please note that it says “let them” have dominion in verse 26. God created men and woman to take care of the world that he had made specifically for them to inhabit. Again, we see in the second chapter of Genesis that woman came from man. Gen 2:21-23 NKJV And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. (22) Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. (23) And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
Woman is derived from the Hebrew ishshah ish=man and shah is womb, so woman, or female. All of this is to say that the woman was his help-mate, not inferior to Adam (man), but rather his equal partner in caring for the garden.
So now life on earth is complete, Adam and Eve (man and woman) will now work together as man and wife to till the garden and care for the plants and all that is in the garden. This even includes animals, all eating of the fruit of the garden, all vegetarians if you will.
By the way, remember that God told them “Then God blessed them, and God said to them,” “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” How could they be fruitful and multiply? They had kids, that is how we earthlings do these things, they had children while they were in the garden. Remember this part of the story.
We have no idea how much time passed while they were in the garden, working and having children. Since there was no pain in childbearing, they probably had a good amount of children, as we will find as we continue on this story of beginnings.
Of course, there is always a new beginning once life begins but that will be in the next chapter. Suffice it to say, that there is a time between this beginning, and the next beginning. Meaning of course that there is an ending, and this is a good place for that.
Chapter 2
In time Adam and Eve had many children, when they were grown those children left the garden to make lives of their own. Adam and Eve had their place in the world, in the garden. There they kept things working and did whatever they had to do to keep everything in order, they also communed with God, as we shall see shortly. Time had no meaning for them and so we do not know how long they were in the garden working and of course having children. Remember that in Genesis 1:28 it says: “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it;.'”
Be fruitful and multiply, they had kids and their kids had kids. Interesting because today we worry about first cousins marrying and having children, and rightly so, since much has transpired since the beginning when man was first created. We will see much more about that as we proceed through this chapter and the ones that follow. One other thing we have to be aware of and that is the instruction that God gave Adam about one certain tree in the garden, Gen 2:17 “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Apparently at this time the animals and man could speak to one another, at least one of the snakes could. Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
Eve replies to the snake: Gen 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; Gen 3:3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” The snake tells her that she will not die, God knows that if you eat of the fruit you will know of good and evil and will become like God. Let us look at what has transpired here. First Eve adds to the command of God that they not eat, nor touch the fruit. That was not what God told Adam, in Gen 2:17 God says you may not eat of it, for in the day you do so you will surely die. It is true that death enters the world through sin. Adam and Eve did not physically die on that day, but they did die spiritually. Physical death would come much later.
Eve now looks at the tree and sees that the fruit looks really appealing, Gen 3:6 (NKJV) “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” The beginning we spoke of in the first chapter, now has come to its ending. They have both eaten of the fruit that was forbidden them, and they have died, not yet physically, but spiritually. Sin has now entered into paradise, and God cannot abide sin.
At the end of chapter 2 in Genesis we see that Adam and Eve were both naked, but, they were not ashamed, nor concerned about that condition. Now that they have eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they are aware of their nakedness and are concerned about it and so make covering for their bodies. In the evening, they hear God in the garden, and they hide themselves for they are afraid. Gen 3:9 (ESV) But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” Now this is really cool, God knew where they were, but he wanted them to come out voluntarily from hiding, he also knew what they had done. God is after all, omniscient and omnipresent. The Spirit of God, what used to be called the Holy Ghost, was always around and knew what had transpired between the serpent and Adam and Eve.
Gen 3:10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Gen 3:11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” Gen 3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (ESV English Standard Version) Note that the man Adam blames his trespass (sin) on Eve, knowing that at any point in this conversation and action, he could have stopped it and did not do so. That is why it is Adam who sinned, in that he did not act as God had commanded him to do. In this case he should have said no, before Eve even picked the fruit. He too wanted to be like God.
Eve of course, blames the serpent, and God then curses the serpent, takes away his legs and all serpents now must act as all snakes do, sliding along the ground. Then God turns back to his children, Adam and Eve, and here is the rest of the new beginning. Eve will no longer rear children without pain in childbirth, and she will become enamored of her husband, and Adam now will be the one who must make decisions for the household, and till the ground in difficulty, and even painful conditions.
Gen 3:14 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. Gen 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Gen 3:16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Gen 3:17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; Gen 3:18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. Gen 3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Gen 3:20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Gen 3:21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever–” Gen 3:23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. Gen 3:24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (ESV)
Now they are outside, in the world in which we live, they must work hard to make a living for themselves. In this beginning it is the truth of life as we know it, there is work and relationships are sometimes very difficult, since now sin has entered the world. As we shall see sin is a terrible thing, yet, it is a part of life. The world is a harsh task master at times, because, it tends to make one work hard in order to make a living. This was especially true in this beginning, although as we shall see there is a thriving civilization in the world, which began when Adam and Eve were still in the garden. As their children left the garden to make lives for themselves, they also built villages, and worked together to build and farm. They even founded cities, all in the area of what we know today as Mesopotamia. Let us see how the story progresses, and what happens to the first man and woman in their new environment.
Gen 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
I know that there is a second idea about this, namely that there was a great explosion that set in motion the universe, and that through a lucky combination of things, this planet became hospitable to life as we know it. Of course, this theory tells us that it took literally millions of years for everything to come to fruition, yet it seems to me that the story in Genesis gives us a much better idea of what really happened. Not because I am anti science, but because it seems strange to me that an explosion can happen when there is nothing to explode.
You see, in the beginning, there was nothing, no chemicals, no dirt, not one thing existed prior to the so-called Big Bang, so how could there be a big or even a little bang when there is nothing yet in existence. Science still cannot make something from nothing, they must have a model to work from, and the materials with which to actually make something happen.
Starting from the realization that nothing begets nothing, the only explanation is that “In the beginning, God”, you see that, of course God is outside time and space, He created that which gives you and I existence, He set in motion all that we see, and he also gave us laws, like the law of gravity, “what goes up, must come down”, 2+2=4, and the other more complex laws that allow the earth to support life.
Once God created all that we see around us, the stars in the heavens the trees, grass, and weeds. He also created the fish, birds, animals, and bugs, many of which I can do without. Then he looked at all this beauty, and decided he needed someone to take care of this whole thing, so he created man.
Gen 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” It is important that we see the distinction here as to creation and the making of men and women. It tells us that God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” So man was made by God’s own hand.
Wait a minute, you say that God is Spirit so he has no hands, that is true, but, God is the three in one, his name in the original language is plural not singular. So we have God speaking to God in this passage. The second part of the trinity is Jesus the Christ, and of course we have also the third person the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the human face of God and it is his hands that form man.
Gen 2:7 “And 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 now we see that God actually made man, took the time to actually form man from the dust of the earth, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.
It does say in Gen 1:27-28 NKJV “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (28) Then God blessed them, and God said to them,” “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Please note that it says “let them” have dominion in verse 26. God created man and woman to take care of the world that he had made specifically for them to inhabit. Again, we see in the second chapter of Genesis that woman came from man. Gen 2:21-23 NKJV And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. (22) Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. (23) And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
Woman is derived from the Hebrew ishshah ish=man and shah is womb, so woman, or female. All of this is to say that the woman was his help-mate, not inferior to Adam (man), but rather his equal partner in caring for the garden.
So now life on earth is complete, Adam and Eve (man and woman) will now work together as man and wife to till the garden and care for the plants and all that is in the garden. This even includes animals, all eating of the fruit of the garden, all vegetarians if you will.
By the way, remember that God told them “Then God blessed them, and God said to them,” “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” How could they be fruitful and multiply? They had kids, that is how we earthlings do these things, they had children while they were in the garden. Remember this part of the story.
We have no idea how much time passed while they were in the garden, working and having children. Since there was no pain in childbearing, they probably had a good amount of children, as we will find as we continue on this story of beginnings.
Of course, there is always a new beginning once life begins but that will be in the next chapter. Suffice it to say, that there is a time between this beginning, and the next beginning. Meaning of course that there is an ending, and this is a good place for that.
Filed under: Culture
In the lead up to World War II, there were in Germany – Brown Shirts, they were thugs and did the dirty work for the Nazi party which was led by Adolf Hitler, in Italy it was the black shirts. These were the precursor to the death of millions in Germany and Italy. I thought of that the other night when I was watching a program on TV and found out that the FBI had raided the home of Donald Trump the previous president of the US, and they ransacked his home, taking box after box of, who knows what? You see they also illegally refused to give a copy of the so-called search warrant, and told the people, and lawyers who were there to get out and refused to allow anyone to see what they were doing. I think it is time to change the name of the FBI to Gestapo, because that is what they are becoming. Our attorney general seems more like Himler than an American attorney.
It scares me to think that our nation is now run by hoodlums, and they act like the horror of pre-World War II Germany. People in the last few years have been murdered, especially Police officers and white and black people. The BLM rejoices at the death of white and black people, especially when they can use it to further their assault on truth, of course the Demonrats love all of it because they think they will become powerful and be able to run this country into the ground and then make it over in their image.
That is what Hitler thought too, today we have a war against Ukraine, which our leaders are using as an excuse to hurt Russia, not that the Communists there do not deserve to be attacked, but our Generals are nothing more than thugs who could not fight their way out of a wet paper sack. They are cowards, and toadies for the Demoncrats running our country. Of course you can also say the same for the leadership of the FBI, or as I believe the Gestapo. Of course more of this is coming 87,000 new “IRS” agents will fan out across the nation like the SS of old Germany, the elite soldiers of Hitler, who raped and pillaged everywhere they went.
As an aside, George Soros, who is a Jewish man, in WW II became a German Nazi under Hitler and when he saw that Germany was going to go down in flames, stole as much as he could and moved it and himself to Switzerland, going back to being a Jew who had escaped the Nazi’s. He today is returning to the Nazi (socialist) ways so that he can destroy this nation just as the Nazi’s destroyed much of Europe.
We look at Russia and say they are communists, and so they are, however they were socialists as was Hitler and Mussolini in Italy. Our nation is becoming like 1930’s Italy and Germany, and will soon be like those nations were then. All the riches that belonged to the people was destroyed and those socialists took what they could and escaped to other countries and set up housekeeping with their riches. If we do not wake up in this country and turn it around we shall become just another socialist state.
But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people. (2 Timothy 3:1-5 CSB) This was written about 2000 years ago by Paul to Timothy who he had trained to be a Pastor.
I think that we are seeing much of what Paul spoke about in this 2nd letter to Timothy, and he was pointing to what was to come in the last days. Meaning that time when there will be much trial for those who are living on the earth in the time of tribulation. We see much of this today, people burning down whole areas of cities, beating up those who are defenseless, thinking of themselves as being the arbiter of what is right and wrong, they are their own god. Demanding that everyone cowtow to them or be destroyed, we call this the cancel culture. Look around at what is happening in our towns and cities, people breaking into stores and stealing everything they can, setting fire when they are done so the storekeeper loses everything. The scary part of this is they are beeing aided and abeted by the very people who should be prosecuting them for their crimes, instead letting them go without any bail.
Yes even the justice system is corrupt and without regard for the law, they make their own laws and ignore that which has been the law of the land. Our Federal government is a group of power hungry people, who lie and disdain even God in their lust for more and more power. We see this in the way people are treated, locked up in prison for 2 or 3 years without due process because they are of the wrong political party, accused of crimes they did not commit, and then left to languish in prison because they do not have the money needed to hire a lawyer.
The government which was supposed to be for the people and by the people, is now for themselves and against the people, even the President of this nation says that he wants it understood that our children are not our children, they are wards of the state, and they need to be taught to be fluid in their gender situation. They are to be vacinated against Covid at the age of 1 because the politicians say so, not because the science says it is needed. They are to be taught (indoctrinated) in the schools, instead of learning to read and write and cypher, (arithmetic). I find it amazing, that I go to a store and pay for an item and the clerk does not know how to make change when I pay.
So here we are in America, the greatest country in the world, and yet we have thugs beating up women, or old men because they can, we see gunfights in our streets because they will be out of jail before the police are back on the street. We also see that these thugs are idolized by our young people, who want to be like them. Our military is being indoctrinated as well, the Pentagon is a bunch of pantywaists, who wants only complaince from the men and women in uniform, and they are teaching white soldiers to apologize for being white. They are also working to rid the military of all those soldiers who are Christian, or conservative because they do not want anyone who might stand up to thier tactics.
I have not posted in a while simply because of health issues, not covid by the way, but other problems. I am now back and will try to make this at the least a once a week missive, maybe even twice a week, but that remains to be seen. I want to make sure that we understand something though, and that is that I firmly believe we are approaching the last days, as spoken about in the Bible. God has a plan,and it is now working it’s way through this world. A world that is moving faster and faster toward the end of the world. We can see that there are wars in may places especially Ukraine and Russia, it is only a matter of time before this war or the next war will become a world war. It is also coming upon this nation that we will see more and more persecution of Christians, as is happening in the north of us in Canada. There have been a number of shootings, and other types of attacks against Churches, and against Christians in many places in this world.
I will be writing about these as well. Until my next missive, be safe, and be blessed.
Now I have to wonder, it we are all related because we are all human beings, why is there so much hatred in our world. The truth is that we human beings, especially those of us in the so-called “United” States of America, have forgotten our truth, and are replacing it with a lie. Our nation was formed based upon Judeo Christian beliefs and structures. This is something that our Socialist members of society, hate and want to remove from our society and our history as they try to rewrite our history. Was slavery really the start of our nation? In some places, yes it was a part of the nation, because it was part of British society and was imported into our Southern states where the agrarian society had its roots. Was slavery a good thing, no it was not then and it is not today either, yet in many Muslim nations slavery is a part of life.
I would posit that as we move further away from God in our society, then we will find ourselves in a no morality society. Once we remove God from the equation, we also remove the moral laws which have formed our nation, and which have ended slavery, as well as the second class citizenry of Women. There are still those that believe that color, and sex are contributing factors for elimination. Yes I hear the argument, our President keeps pushing it, White Supremacy is the root of all evil in our nation. I hate to tell him but he is white, and is the highest elected official in this nation, you could say he is a White Supremacy President. I heard him tell a man of color that if he did not vote for Joe Biden, he wasn’t Black. I would say that was a racist statement made by a white supremacist.
Let us look at our society through the lens of scripture:
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.”
(Romans 12:9-16)
That was written 2000 years ago by the Apostle Paul to the church at Rome. There is also something else written closer to 5000 years ago by a man named Moses.
“And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:1-17) Both Quotations are from the English Standard Version of the Bible.
I have made the last part of the Commandments bold because these are what our laws, our morality is really based upon. The first of the commandments are also important, but we have already forgotten the Sabbath day, it is just another day for our nation, not holy or even special. I hear people all the time using the Lord’s name in vain ways. If you notice one thing about the sabbath day, it was also for the servants as well as those who were strangers in the land and even the livestock was to rest on that day.
Honor your father and your mother, I am aware that there are some households where this is a difficult thing but I see children cursing their parents, no honor even though the parents are working to make their home one of love and concern for all persons. This is what these kids have been taught in school, and in some cases by their friends this is not a good thing. Now comes the rest of the commandments, “You Shall Not Murder” That is a really hard thing in our society since we have killed over 63 million babies in the time since Roe V Wade was decided by the Supreme Court. No wonder we also see that respect for human life is becoming a lost respect. Murder rates are through the roof in many states, we see even police and fire being shot and killed.
Next You shall not commit adultery, in other words if you are married, you don’t go looking for pleasure in other places. I cannot imagine why if you are married you would want to commit adulterous acts, yet it seems to be the norm in many households these days. This next one should be a no brainier, yet You shall not steal is another one that is gone out the window. Theft is something that is rampant in our society, of course we have criminals who steal, however, now we have District Attorney’s who refuse to prosecute, and, judges who release murderers and rapists. We also have theft on a daily basis. You work for a company, and you decide that you need some paper clips at home, you take a box home with you, that is theft, not only paper clips, but reams of paper, and other items.
You shall not bear false witness against you neighbor, how many times have you repeated something you heard. Maybe against a neighbor, or a co-worker or someone who you didn’t even know. Every time you repeat a piece of gossip, you are bearing false witness against that person or group of persons. You shall not covet (lust) your neighbors house, wife, female worker, livestock, or anything that is your neighbor’s. False Witness, Covetousness, these are really things that are a part of society. We find rich people who will destroy someone so they can take their business from them. We see everyday, people who will say or do anything to get money even if it means lying about what your neighbor did. You see we will lie, steal and even kill to get our way. This is our Godless society, and I wonder if we are too far gone in our lust for power, money, fame, and, sex, for even a great awakening to change the movement away from God into total immorality, and, we become our own god and make our own rules.
That is what is happening in our society, I look at what is happening in Washington DC, there is a fence around the Capital Building, you as a citizen cannot even get in to see your representative, all because of the lie of White Supremacy. I still have not seen any proof of this, I am white and I am not rich, I am not anything other than a person who has no control over the color of my skin, yet because of being white I am to be hated by people of “color”. This is how we are abandoning God in our nation, we need to replace this nonsense about our history, with the truth about slavery about Jim Crow and about Japanese citizens in concentration camps in WW II. We also need to see the other side of these things, we used to be able to study and learn and grow into productive citizens, but no longer is this so at least in many states in our nation. Our children are being taught to hate themselves because of the color of their skin. This is one thing none of us can control, and yet it is becoming a hateful thing.
I believe with all my heart and soul, that God is grieved over our nation. A nation that has been blessed by our God for centuries and yet here we are throwing away our history and more importantly our God, because both are inconvenient to our lust for power, for money, for sexual immorality. I wonder how much longer our God is going to deal with us, and I mean not destroy our nation. History tells us that God punished Israel many times and finally exiled them for 2000 years before finally bringing them back to the land, the Promised Land, and, which they still do not have all that God promised to Abraham.
It is my prayer, that our nation will awaken to the truth, will once again follow our Lord God and rid ourselves of the sin that permeates our society today.
I hear the rhetoric, white privilege, white supremacy, cops hate blacks and on and on. This is to sow discord amongst us and destroy the truth of who and what we are. I have been thinking about this and wondering how we came to this impasse in our nation. I know one thing, slavery has a history as long as human history. In the beginning it was that the group who won the war enslaved the losers, over time the slaves became citizens and a part of the greater civilization.
However, things changed over the centuries and millennia, and slavery became a money making business. In the 1600’s it was a thriving business, slave ships would go to the African coast, purchase a cargo of slaves and bring them to Muslim nations, and, European nations. Finally as the colonies were settled, the south became an agrarian area vast plantations were owned and cotton was king, they needed cheap labor so they began to import slaves. This eventually led to the Civil (civil?) War and the deaths of thousands of young men fighting for and against slavery. It also was the beginning of the tearing down of the Constitution of the USA. Today there is NO United States, we are a sorry bunch of people who cannot any longer survive as a united country. We were founded on Judean and Christian principles, of course it took the war to finally bring us to the place where we could change how people were to be seen. Not by color but rather by their character, and it took another 75 years or so to see the beginning of real integration of our society.
Today, we have returned to racial hatred, division and destruction of the very society that had promised so much. I grew up in the days of real progress in the north, we lived in integrated neighborhoods, we kids did not care about color as much as how well you could run, catch, pitch, etc.
Let me speak in this missive in regard to the truth of who we are as a people. We are all first, human beings, second we were created in the image of God, third we are all imperfect because we are finite people. We live in a linear world, we will EACH of us one day die, our money, our position, our toys if you will, have nothing to do with where we end up in eternity. We cannot take any of it with us, know that we came into this world naked, and we will leave this world also naked, nothing can go with us into eternity.
In the beginning of this world God created man that is you and I, but, he did so by also creating woman, let me tell some of the story to those who do not know it, and to some who have perverted it.
“Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth.” So God created humankind in his own image; in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. God blessed them: God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and every living creature that crawls on the earth.”
(Gen 1:26-28 CJB)
The CJB is the Complete Jewish Bible, the quotations in this missive from the Bible as translated from the Hebrew. I have given here the first part of this creation of the human race, now here is the rest of the story from Genesis 2.
“Then Adonai, God, formed a person [Hebrew: adam] from the dust of the ground [Hebrew: adamah] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living being. Adonai, God, planted a garden toward the east, in `Eden, and there he put the person whom he had formed.” (Gen 2:7-8 CJB)
“So the person gave names to all the livestock, to the birds in the air and to every wild animal. But for Adam there was not found a companion suitable for helping him. Then God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the person; and while he was sleeping, he took one of his ribs and closed up the place from which he took it with flesh. The rib which Adonai, God, had taken from the person, he made a woman-person; and he brought her to the man-person. The man-person said, “At last! This is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh. She is to be called Woman [Hebrew: ishah], because she was taken out of Man [Hebrew: ish].” This is why a man is to leave his father and mother and stick with his wife, and they are to be one flesh. They were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.” (Gen 2:20-25 CJB)
So now you know, God himself created both man and woman, please note the phrase the man and his wife in verse 25. This is of course not the end of the story, it is but the beginning and there is the fall from grace that takes place some time later. There is temptation from a talking snake, and the woman is the one who is tempted first, but, as you will see from the story, her husband was right there taking part in the fall from grace. It is, by the way, his sin not hers although both sinned and fell short of God’s perfection.
The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You are neither to eat from it nor touch it, or you will die.’ ” The serpent said to the woman, “It is not true that you will surely die; because God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it had a pleasing appearance and that the tree was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her; and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves loincloths. They heard the voice of Adonai, God, walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, so the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Adonai, God, among the trees in the garden. Adonai, God, called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I ordered you not to eat?” The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Adonai, God, said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me, so I ate.” Adonai, God, said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all livestock and wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and eat dust as long as you live. I will put animosity between you and the woman, and between your descendant and her descendant; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pain in childbirth. You will bring forth children in pain. Your desire will be toward your husband, but he will rule over you.” To Adam he said, “Because you listened to what your wife said and ate from the tree about which I gave you the order, ‘You are not to eat from it,’ the ground is cursed on your account; you will work hard to eat from it as long as you live. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat field plants. You will eat bread by the sweat of your forehead till you return to the ground—for you were taken out of it: you are dust, and you will return to dust.” The man called his wife Havah [life], because she was the mother of all living. Adonai, God, made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Adonai, God, said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, to prevent his putting out his hand and taking also from the tree of life, eating, and living forever—”therefore Adonai, God, sent him out of the garden of `Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So he drove the man out, and he placed at the east of the garden of `Eden the k’ruvim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”
(Gen 3:2-24 CJB) Just a note on k’ruvim, in our English Bibles it is Cherubim, in either translation, you don’t want to mess with this heavenly guardian.
We know that all men and women have come from one central location in this world, science has found that the population of the world came from 3 female persons. We also know the story of Noah, Chapter 5 in Genesis, he had three sons, they each had a wife, 3 female persons, whose lineage goes back to the Mother of all Living. Adam’s wife Eve. Now that we know the story, let us realize that WE ARE FAMILY, all lives matter because all life matters, since we are all one family, Black, Brown, Red and Yellow as well as White. We are brothers and sisters, cousins or whatever else we see as designations of family, but the colors are just covers, not something that separates us, unless you believe the hateful rhetoric.
This missive has gotten a bit long, more will follow, feel free to comment.
As I look around at what is going on in our nation, I see the divisions among us as citizens of this nation. We are being torn apart by those who wish to destroy our Republic, making it instead into a socialist nation claiming that they will give us all we need. Yet, as I look at socialist nations, such as Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, and China, I see that there are only 2 kinds of people in those countries. They are the members of the ruling class, and everybody else. Why do so many in our nation believe that this is a good thing? It leads to enslavement of those who are not a part of the ruling class. I ask you to take a look at what those in Washington D. C. are doing. I also ask you to look at the career politicians of both parties, they start out as regular people, and end up as millionaires. They do not really care about you and I, they just want to keep their power and the perks.
Now I want to turn to the Church, I have watched over the years and seen the disintegration of the church. I see the United Methodists getting ready to split into two different denominations no longer united. The Episcopalians splitting up also, and the Presbyterians who have become extremely split into many different types of their original grouping. I could go on, but you know what is happening in your own denominations. In the scriptures there is one letter to the early church that warns us about what is happening. Jude wrote these words in the late first century.
“But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
(Jud 1:17-19 ESV)”
Just as politicians in both parties follow their own passions so too has the church in the world, become worldly. They follow the dictates of those who want to do their own thing, even though God has said it is sinful. Remember brethren that God will judge all of us, some will be Jesus’ people, we will see him as he is and will spend eternity in the heavenly realms with God. Those who have followed their own lusts, whether it be money, power, or sexual perversion, makes no difference. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome: “Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (ESV)
Choose who you will follow, if Jesus then eternal life in the heavenly realms with God, if your own passions, it is eternal death in the lake of fire with Satan and all who have sinned and refused the gift of God.
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