Post by The Ambassador on Aug 31, 2019 12:54:41 GMT
CHAPTER THREE, PART TWO
IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN
When they heard God drawing near as He walked through the garden, Adam and Eve tried to hide. God called out, saying, “Adam, where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). He already knew where Adam and Eve were hiding—God knows everything (Jeremiah 23:23-24). Nothing can be kept from His knowledge.
Rather than approaching the man about the sins he had just committed, God gave Adam a chance to show some character and admit his mistakes.
Reluctantly, Adam came out from behind the trees. Trembling with fear, he looked down to the ground and said, “I’m here. When I heard your voice, I was afraid and ran to hide myself.”
“Why were you afraid?” God asked.
In a small voice, Adam said, “Because I was naked.”
“And who told you that you were naked?” God said. “Have you eaten fruit of the tree I expressly told you not to eat?”
Adam pointed to Eve and said, “The woman You made for me—she ate the forbidden fruit, and then I ate.” In saying this, Adam blamed God and his wife for his own wrongs.
God turned to the woman. “Eve, what is this that you have done?”
Eve followed Adam’s example and shifted the blame to someone else: “The serpent deceived me! He made me eat it!”
God was very disappointed with Adam and Eve. They had disobeyed Him—sinned. Instead of relying on their Creator to reveal His spiritual laws and the right way to live, Adam and Eve ate of the tree of self-knowledge. They decided for themselves what was good and evil.
Since they had rejected their Creator, God had no choice but to reject them.
From animal skins, He made clothing for the man and woman to wear. Then He drove Adam and Eve out of Eden. To make sure that neither they nor their children got back in, God set up two angels—cherubim—to guard the entrance. He also placed a flaming sword that blocked the path of anyone who dared to enter the garden. Adam and Eve were no longer allowed to live in the garden paradise. Nor were the generations of their future children.
God was not being cruel. He knew that man, after eating the forbidden fruit, could not be allowed to enter the Garden of Eden and eat of the Tree of Life. Otherwise, man would have been doomed to live forever in misery, suffering and unhappiness, just like the fallen angels. Although He sent him out of Eden at that time, God would give man an opportunity to eat of the Tree of Life much later.
But first, people must learn the hard way that they cannot decide for themselves right from wrong. God gave mankind 6,000 years to live as it chooses. That is why there has been so much war, violence, hatred, death, pain and sadness. When the 6,000 years are over (which will be very soon), God will offer everyone His Holy Spirit and teach them His ways. If they obey Him and build His righteous character, God will then offer them eternal life—the chance to live forever in happiness and peace as members of His Family.
What If...?
What if Adam and Eve had rejected Satan? What if they had not eaten the forbidden fruit, but instead had eaten from the Tree of Life? Our world would be far different from what it is today. There would be no crowded cities filled with crime, violence and disease. Humans would never wage war. No one would ever take another person’s life. People would not steal, taking what did not belong to them. Everyone would respect their parents and elders. Children would always be safe.
All families would have their own land to develop and live on. All foods would be healthy. No one would ever get sick or catch a disease. People would always tell the truth. All marriages and families would be happy. Everyone would keep God’s Sabbath, resting on the seventh day of the week. No one would misuse God’s name. No one would desire things that they cannot possess. And there would only be one religion, because everyone would know and obey the one true God.
Mankind would have developed God’s holy, righteous character. In turn, God would have offered people membership in His Family, and they would be changed into spirit, as God-beings. This is what God had wanted for us. Although Adam and Eve chose to eat the wrong fruit, God still plans to help mankind reach the ultimate goal: to be born into His kingdom.
Next Sabbath: CHAPTER FOUR: BROTHER VERSUS BROTHER
Bible Reading
The Book of Tobit or Tobias
Absence of Tobias mourned by his Parents
Tobit Chapter Six
Next Sabbath: Chapter 7
The Book of Tobit or Tobias
Absence of Tobias mourned by his Parents
Tobit Chapter Six
1 Then she stopped weeping.
2 When the boy left home, accompanied by the angel, the dog followed Tobiah out of the house and went with them. The travelers walked till nightfall, and made camp beside the Tigris River.*
*Tigris River: this river is actually west of Nineveh, so they would not have come to it on their way to Media. See note on 1:15 and the Introduction.
3 Now when the boy went down to wash his feet in the river, a large fish suddenly leaped out of the water and tried to swallow his foot. He shouted in alarm.
4 But the angel said to him, “Take hold of the fish and don’t let it get away!” The boy seized the fish and hauled it up on the shore.
5 The angel then told him: “Cut the fish open and take out its gall, heart, and liver, and keep them with you; but throw away the entrails. Its gall, heart, and liver make useful medicines.”*
*Its gall…medicine: belief in the healing power of these organs was common among the physicians of antiquity.
6 After the lad had cut the fish open, he put aside the gall, heart, and liver. Then he broiled and ate part of the fish; the rest he salted and kept for the journey.
7 Afterward they traveled on together till they were near Media. The boy asked the angel this question: “Brother Azariah, what medicinal value is there in the fish’s heart, liver, and gall?”
8 He answered: “As regards the fish’s heart and liver, if you burn them so that the smoke surrounds a man or a woman who is afflicted by a demon or evil spirit, the affliction will leave him completely, and no demons will ever return to him again.
9 And as for the gall, if you rub it on the eyes of a man who has cataracts, blowing into his eyes right on the cataracts, his sight will be restored.”
10 When they had entered Media and were getting close to Ecbatana,
10 When they had entered Media and were getting close to Ecbatana,
11 Raphael said to the boy, “Brother Tobiah!” He answered, “Yes, what is it?” Raphael continued: “Tonight we must stay with Raguel, who is a relative of yours. He has a daughter named Sarah,
12 but no other child. Since you are Sarah’s closest relative, you before all other men have the right to marry her. Also, her father’s estate is rightfully yours to inherit. Now the girl is sensible, courageous, and very beautiful; and her father loves her dearly.”
13 He continued: “Since you have the right to marry her, listen to me, brother. Tonight I will ask the girl’s father to let us have her as your bride. When we return from Rages, we will hold the wedding feast for her. I know that Raguel cannot keep her from you or let her become engaged to another man; that would be a capital crime according to the decree in the Book of Moses,* and he knows that it is your right, before all other men, to marry his daughter. So heed my words, brother; tonight we must speak for the girl, so that we may have her engaged to you. And when we return from Rages, we will take her and bring her back with us to your house.”
*Raguel…Book of Moses: Numbers 36:6–8 prescribed marriage within the ancestral tribe for daughters who had no brothers who might inherit the ancestral property, but no death penalty is mentioned
14 Tobiah objected, however: “Brother Azariah, I have heard that this woman has already been married seven times, and that her husbands died in their bridal chambers. On the very night they approached her, they dropped dead. And I have heard it said that it was a demon who killed them.
15 So now I too am afraid of this demon. Because he loves her, he does not harm her; but he does slay any man who wishes to come close to her. I am my father’s only child. If I should die, I would bring my father and mother down to their grave in sorrow over me. And they have no other son to bury them!”
16 Raphael said to him: “Do you not remember your father’s orders? He commanded you to marry a woman from your own family. So now listen to me, brother; do not give another thought to this demon, but marry Sarah. I know that tonight you shall have her for your wife!
17 When you go into the bridal chamber, take the fish’s liver and heart, and place them on the embers for the incense.
18 As soon as the demon smells the odor they give off, he will flee and never again show himself near her. Then when you are about to have intercourse with her, both of you first rise up to pray.* Beg the Lord of heaven to show you mercy and grant you deliverance. But do not be afraid, for she was set apart for you before the world existed. You will save her, and she will go with you. And I suppose that you will have children by her, who will take the place of brothers for you. So do not worry.” When Tobiah heard Raphael say that she was his kinswoman, of his own family’s lineage, he fell deeply in love with her, and his heart became set on her.
*Rise up to pray: prayer, combined with ritual action, drives out the demon.
Next Sabbath: Chapter 7
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