Vanity

     "Vanity" is an emptiness. Psychologists call it "apathy" - not being concerned with whatever. Today, the "whatever" which modifies vanity is discussed. It is one of the most important concepts in the Bible. Life is meaningless to vain people. Vain is an attitude without purpose. 
     Rick Warren authored the book, The Purpose Drive Life. The human species, as all others, was created for a purpose. God was creative, making man in the image he would someday assume Himself. Thus, God created  the heaven, the earth, Adam-kind, and other living things for a purpose. Mankind was for God's purpose, and all other things were for mankind's purpose.
     Evolution denies a purpose for anything. Without a creation everything would be without purpose. The very idea of creation provides purpose for living things. What would a tree be, standing alone, if there was no purpose for it. If it merely evolved from some elementary substance by chance, then even trees serve no purpose. 
     Contentment is the satisfaction in knowing that we have a purpose in the cosmos. What good would the sun be if it's rays had no eyes to see its brilliance? What good would a moon be if there was no one to enjoy the seasons and tides? Those who have a religion of any sort have a purpose in life; it may be for wrong purposes, but everything in existence serves a purpose. For instance, the purpose of the angel Lucifer was to test the fidelity of people to God. Infidels have no purpose, and hence, accept no God or Devil. In order to have a purpose in life, people must have fidelity toward some thing. Mostly, infidels do have fidelity but it is to themselves (Gen 3:5).
     God's purpose is everything. He is "Existence" (Exod 3:14). Because He existed alone, He desired companionship. Mankind was created for communion with God. He saw that all that He created was "very good" (Gen 1:31). The creation was for God's satisfaction. All things before them were made for the first man and woman; they were to satisfy men. On the other hand, mankind, created lastly, was made for the satisfaction of God.
     Adam was assigned the task of caring for the Creator and creation, and God promised to take care of man. That mutual understanding and consideration is called "love." Love is not one-sided nor intermittent: "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. (1 Cor 13:6-8; ESV). Love is also mutual. For there to be love, love must be reciprocated. God loves us, and Christians want the love of God. We expect His love and He expects ours; He even commands that we love him with our entirety (Greatest Commandment). His grace for us demonstrates His love. Our acceptance of God's grace - his gift of faith and the hope of salvation - demonstrates our love for Him.
      Our purpose in the cosmos is to be a creature worthy of God's love. He created for us to love Him, and mankind failed by taking His will vainly - without purpose. Because God so loves us, he provided a second chance which theologians call regeneration, but since we "must be born again," and we were created, rebirth is being re-created or have a re-genesis. 
     The enlightenment of rebirth is God's purpose for mankind. The purpose God put on flesh was to provide a perfect sacrifice for our purpose. Our purpose and Jesus's are intertwined. Our hope is in Jesus if we are born again. Jesus's purpose changed after he was sacrificed for us. His "Ghost" returned to comfort his new creatures.
     Vanity condenses to esteeming ourselves beyond anything. It is the perception that vain people are the gods. Vain people care mostly for themselves. The religion of vain people is self-esteem. We have been led to believe that, that is a good thing, but it is not. Humility is the opposite of vanity; that is having a perception of oneself that matches reality. We are not gods, but God Is! Meek people have humility; prideful people are vain.
     Kings are served delicacies by lesser people. Kings are usually the most vain of people. Most people, in that they will never be kings, appropriate godhood on themselves. Others would challenge their royalty but their godhood is done in stealth. Satan is a pretender to God's throne, and as his offspring, sinners seek a place in the Devil's court. They can never truly be gods, but they can be as gods. Pretense to godhood is vanity. Solomon even thought kingship is vanity, let alone godhood!     
KEY VERSES:

Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring... They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? ...Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee... shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.(Isa 44:2-3,9-10, 18, 22)

     God pouring his spirit on Jacob's seed points to the birth of Jesus. The blessings God will pour out points to the people called Nazarenes and Christians. Those promises are followed by "they that make a graven image are all of them vanity." The problem is not in the image for God easily topples them; the real problem lies in the work of our hands, and what enters and leaves the mind!
     We all have admired some work or artistic expression of our minds and hands. Taken to the extreme, that is making ourselves some type of royalty - princes and princesses perhaps. When God is taken in vain, people serve their own master which is themselves. They come to think either there is no destiny or that they can control their own destiny. That is vanity; we are not gods, and as such, are not in control. Hope is that someone is. Some have an unknown God but Paul proclaimed his Name (Acts 17:23). Philosophy has no god; each man is their own god. Paul set them straight. They were vain people sitting before an altar to a god whose identity was unknown to them. Paul proclaimed Jesus who is the only God who can resurrect (Acts 17:32).
     God's purpose for us is for us to love him. Our purpose is to live forever. Resurrection fulfills our purpose for ourselves. All else is vanity for what would life be without the hope of salvation? Vanity as Solomon pointed out. The Way to obtain resurrection is redemption. Isaiah in the key verses was writing of Jesus's purpose - to redeem Jacob. We are Jacobs "seed." Isaiah was talking about Christians! Isaiah wrote that the Redeemer would glorify himself in Israel. That has double significance; he was the seed of the man Israel, and when Jesus was transfigured, he became eternal as God glorified him on the mountain. Isaiah knew not only that Jesus would redeem mankind, and glorify mankind by God becoming as humans, in contrast to man becoming as God!
     "Vanity" is failure to acknowledge Jesus's purpose - to redeem and resurrect fallen man. God assumed Names upon showing his face. He is called Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, and God With Us. The most important is the Name - Jesus. Hold that thought for a moment.
     When the Redeemer comes, Isaiah said that every tree within the forest would sing praises to him. I recently wrote that I see men as trees walking and refer to the trees of the forest as men walking. (https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2019/01/trees-walking.html; be sure to read the continuation as well) ). Isaiah spoke of men in the same manner! Isaiah saw men as trees and Christians as forests. Adam was assigned to dress and keep the Garden (Gen 2:15) and I take that to mean take care of the trees! (THE Tree of Life in the center of the Garden and the souls of mankind (man's pre-existence) who resided in the Garden of God.) Now let us return to the subject of vanity.
     I submit that the First Commandment means anything or anyone else assuming the "face of God." In the Hebrew, "face" is as applicable as "besides" (Strong's Dictionary). God isn't concerned with idols; he's concerned with those who assume godhood for themselves as Simon the Sorcerer did. He called himself God (from secular history) and the Savior. He even levitated in mockery of Jesus's ascension. Simon Magus put on God's "face" and violated the First Commandment.
     With his arrogance, Simon also deemed Jesus's redemption as vanity - without purpose. Jesus, again, is God's Name and that Name is the Way to eternal life (Acts 4:12). Simon could save no one. He himself died; he was not Jesus who was the "face" of God.
     Now examine the Third Commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" (Exod 20:7). God is without name but is called Jesus. That command has little to do with saying God's Name, but taking His Name in vain.
     The purpose of God showing His face and assuming a Name was to redeem and resurrect sinners. I believe that the Third Commandment is taking Jesus purpose with vanity, or uncaring (apathetically). On the other hand, it is safe to assume that we must not call the Lord, "Lord," unless he is the Lord Jesus (Mat 7:21) because those who take Jesus's purpose without significance will not be resurrected.
     All is not vanity. Having a right relation with Jesus is not vanity. His Way is truth and life - eternal life. Is that not our purpose?

Take A Knee to the Right Tree

     We must be careful to worship respectfully. Not only must the focus be on Jesus, but anything that distracts from him is irreverent. Care must be taken to worship the Creator rather the creation, "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever" (Rom 1:25). 

     Some have exhorted that lie; they claim worshiping Jesus is worshiping "the creature." We know from John chapter 1 that Jesus was not created, but always was! John said that the one that comes after him was before him. Jesus was not created in Mary's womb but his birth was an unveiling; God showed His face to mankind. Jesus pre-existed his own birth. To infer that he is a "creature" is irreverent. Islam has done just that! 

     "The creation" is material substances and the creature is mankind who works them by human hands. For instance, gold is part of the creation, and fabricated idols are works of the creature. Jesus worked miracles. They were not by the works of his physical hands, but the spiritual "finger of God" (Exod 31:18) with which God wrote the Ten Commandments in stone. The stone is part of the creation and must not be worshiped, but a place of worship. If mankind had cut the Ten Commandments, that would be worship of the creature.

     It is imperative that objects made by hand must never be venerated. Our own hands pollute what is God's work. The stones were turned by God's hand, and to add anything to them which takes the focus off God, and puts it on men is irreverent. God was very clear about that:

God said to Moses, "And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted (profaned, irreverent) it. (Exod 20:25; parentheses mine)

     Throughout scripture, altars were always of stone or dirt with one exception; the Ark of the Covenant - an altar to God - was an intricate work of men's hands with elaborate materials. Thereon, there was a place for the King! The Ark is symbolic of His throne in Heaven, and may be the "footstool" which is written (Isa 66:1; Acts 7:49). It seems that God defied Solomon, who had profaned him, by building for himself a royal throne and footstool from the spoils from the Queen of Sheba. Solomon's "altar" was to himself, made at his own direction, and came from his own wisdom.
     The importance of not using tools to make altars was re-stated in the Book of Deuteronomy chapter 7, "There shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God of whole stones." That was so as not to profane the altar of God. We find later that Joshua followed the directions precisely that was laid out by Moses (Josh 8:31-35). It is extremely important to do things God's way, and not get in his way!
      Christians may think that this is merely the commands of an Old Testament Creator God to suit His fancy. It must be remembered from the Book of John chapter one, that the Word of God who gave Moses and Joshua directions is Jesus Christ. Altars made by the works of men's hands are not right in the eyes of Jesus. Why not? Paul referred to the rocks of Calvary as the altar: "We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle" (Heb 13:10), and the Jews who failed to accept Jesus were not to "eat" (bring their offerings) there.
     Standing prominently in those rocks - the very "place of the skull" of Adam - was the "tree" on which Jesus was crucified. On that cross was a sign placed there to profane Jesus; on it was written, "King of the Jews." Solomon thought he was! He made an altar to himself. When I look toward the cross, I don't see that sign; I see "The Tree of Life."  What stood between the altar on Calvary and Jesus? The works of men's hands. The cross was made by the hands of men, not even to honor Jesus, but a "tree" built on which to despise God.
      The Tree of Life was a natural and spiritual tree which is symbolic of Jesus as can be seen in the Book of Revelation. The "tree" on Calvary was where Jesus was dishonored. Perhaps the hewn cross represents the knowledge of man and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That seems plausible because Jesus was the Tree of Life. It seems that mankind hung him on their tree. (The Serpent should have rightfully been there.)
      Jews always needed something to stand before. They were not satisfied looking from their tabernacles at the "Cloud" who Moses worshiped. They always needed an image. Moses held up a brazen serpent on a pole. Rather than Jesus, it was the Serpent crucified. When I look upon the crosses which Christians venerate, like the Hebrews who were healed from poison, I don't see Jesus on it; in my mind's eye I see Satan and him crucified vicariously on his Tree of Knowledge.
    Jesus's purpose was to kill the Serpent. He did that on Calvary. Satan still goes to and fro, but he has already been spiritually slain by God, and merely awaiting the formality of death. It seems that we must not venerate the cross - empty or with Jesus thereon, because that profanes God's purpose for coming. God has a temple and it is in every true Christian, and the altar is wherever men bow. The cross has become mere jewelry - the works of men's hands. True altars are not the works hands, but the finger of God. God's "finger" of flesh heals, not the cross.
     In summary, the Fifth Commandment is a reminder of that. Taking the Lord's Name in vain, is taking Jesus's sacrifice profanely. It's his death and resurrection which provides faith. The cross had little to do with our regeneration. It was just a tool as were the centurions and Pilate. Perhaps we venerate the wrong "tree."

Love

     We have friends whom I admire. She expresses a type of love which seems to be a divinely inspired for her husband. It's clear that she adores him. I think of the sinner woman who adored Jesus, demonstrating that love by washing Jesus's feet with her tears and her hair (Luke 7:36:38). She showed an appreciative and reverent love for Jesus. It was clear that she loved Jesus as herself, demonstrated by using herself as a utility for Jesus's comfort. We think of Jesus comforting us; well, we are to comfort Jesus. That sinful woman was doing just that, and my friend's wife demonstrates adoration for her husband in the same manner. Everyone desires adoration; some to the extent that they adore themselves!
     "Adore" means to worship  or to honor very highly (Etymology Online; "adore"). It is clear that my friend honors here husband highly. I know that she has a loving attitude to the degree that she would serve her husband in a kingly manner. Does he deserve that type of love? I believe he does, because he is dedicated to her. He's not a perfect husband and neither is she a perfect wife, but they have the ability to ignore trivial things and the irritants of close confinement. I don't believe that depth of love is possible without divine intervention.
      Most theologians speak of the types of love: erotic, brotherly, familial, and divine types of love - the latter how God loves us, and that we should love him. This commentary is on divine love, what theologians express as agape-type, "the love of God for man, and the love of man for God" (ibid). My friend seems to have that reverent-type of love for her husband. Holy Matrimony is a union between man and wife, and is symbolic of the "groom's" marriage to the Church. Jesus likened himself to the bridegroom (Mat 9:15), and Christians are of course the "bride." Isaiah described agape-type love quite well:

For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. (Isa 62:5)

     We are to love God as a groom would adore his new bride. Or in my example, how my friends wife has joy in adoring her husband. Her attitude is one of gratitude! The disciples were to adore Jesus as if he was about to die because soon he would be taken away (Luke 5:35). I know that my friend has adoration for her husband and treats him as if each hour with him is a last moment as did the apostles were to adore Jesus.
     People think of marriage as an erotic-type love (Greek eros). That is in the beginning. Paul referred to that as a burning-type (1 Cor 7:19) It is a natural-type love from what psychologists call "libido." That is an instinctual drive for pleasuring oneself which I presume was to encourage multiplication as was ordained by God. Soon friendship becomes a key component of love (Greek philio). With time, eros-type love becomes more subdued in favor of familial type (Greek storge). All the while agape-type love ensures that the marriage is never torn asunder. That is the type of love for this commentary.
     Agape-type is mutual love between the Creator and the created. How much does God love us? Of course as much as a groom would love his bride, but I believe even more intensely than that: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). God loves his creatures to the extent that he sacrificed His only Son. God sacrificed his own flesh. Abraham felt that type of love for God when he was willing to do the same thing with his own flesh - his only remaining son (Gen 22). God and Abraham traded love. Given that agape love is mutual, Christians are to love God as Abraham did with one exception; we are called to sacrifice ourselves, not by actually dying on a cross, but in servitude to God - "a living sacrifice" (Rom 12:10). The apostle Paul called that "your reasonable service" because Jesus had commanded it: "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).
     We think of love as an emotion. It is much more than that; it is attitudinal, responsible, emotional, and obligatory. I take issue with David Jeremiah's belief that agape-love is God loving us expecting nothing in return. That fails to fit the definition of "agape" which is a mutual love of the same magnitude. God not only expects love but commands it and makes it imperative:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Mat 22:36)

    Luke added to that to love God with all our "strength". We are to love God intensely with our all. That's how my friend's wife demonstrates love for her husband and the woman demonstrated love for Jesus.
    That immensity of love cannot be garnered by oneself. We may act as if we are gods but inside we all know that we're not. That type of love is holy, hence, "holy matrimony". Catholic doctrine considers marriage as a sacrament (saving) it is so holy. Protestants are more correct; it is an ordinance (command or order). It is symbolic of agape love which is also an ordinance. God doesn't command emotion but He does application. Agape love is demonstration of the emotions in the heart by doing God's will. His will is to love Him and others; the metrics for that are the Ten Commandments which were written on stone by the finger of God for perpetuity.
     The work of love of God are the first four commandments, and for loving others, the last six. There is one "Greatest Commandment." Loving others is a corollary to loving God. It's how Christians demonstrate their love for God. We are to treat others as if they are God because God knows that's how we feel about ourselves. Love of self is the reference for loving others, and the intensity is with our entirety just as we own ourselves.
     Love can be faked through humanism. We have the ability to do things which are caring. The rich young ruler was noted for that. He listed the ways he had loved others (Mark 10:17-27). However, he failed to mention what he had done for God. He revealed that he was a great humanist, and indeed he was caring. That is noble but he didn't seem to be that caring for God.
     Regeneration - born again - is a change in attitude. The old person is buried and a new person emerges. That new creature is to be more than dutiful, but loving. The old person was rebellious; the new person is servile and meek. Sinners don't kill their old selves; God does. God changes sinners and oftentimes gives His new creation new names. Saul, for instance, became Paul because his attitude changed - from "questioning" to "humbled" (ibid). 
    Love is then an attitude. God instills a desire to be loving. Charity is the outcome of a new attitude. Charity is essentially serving others just as the woman served Jesus with her best - her tears and hair. She was so loving of God (Jesus) that she was emotional. Tears are a human response to emotion. She was adoring Jesus. My friend adores her husband by stroking and glancing lovingly toward him. She would probably use her hair, and she has shed many tears for him.
     Before that intensity of love is possible, there must be a change in attitude. The old person's attitude is self-love. They esteem themselves highly and foremost. That attitude must be reversed, a sort of spiritual transference. Without the emotion, love is nothing more than work, and extremely hard work, unless there is divine assistance. Just as there is divine intervention in holy matrimony, there is in Divine Patrimony.
     God is "Father" for a reason. Storge-type (familial) love is due God as well as reverent and servile love. We are to love others as brothers (philio), but storge-type love is reserved for our father and our Father in Heaven. The Fifth Commandment is there for a reason; it's indicative of the obligation we have to love God, and is demonstrated by loving our own parents. I believe our love of the Father, or agape, includes familial-type love.
     I have an attitude of love because I want to love God out of gratitude for creating, re-creating, and the hope of salvation. I want to love God because of His love for me, His mercy, and grace. The metrics are hard work, and I often fail because of the inclination to sin because of my human nature battling my spiritual desires. Our attitude is one of cognitive dissonance - the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Mat 26:41). Reflection on God and repentance will decrease that inner turmoil. God molds are attitudes, but we must be willing to me molded (Isa 64:8). The work of love is putting ourselves on the turntable to be molded, or bearing our own cross for Jesus.
     Scripture provides examples of love: "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom 13:10), "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal 5:22-23), and also:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Cor 4:3-7)

     Hatred is the lack of love. Love can be operationalized from apathy to perfect love; that which only God has. The negative scale of love is hatred. It is from apathy to murderous. John 3:16 expresses that God wants that "none should perish." Murderous hatred is more than hating the body but the soul - wanting that any or all should perish. That is eternally perishing in contrast to agape love which is eternally living.
     Love is correlated to forgiveness; those who are forgiven the most love God the most ( Luke 7:36-50), albeit sinners cannot sin just to be forgiven the most to increase God's love for them!
     Love is time-dependent: With regeneration, many are elated and cry with relief. That appreciation is often self-centered. Just as babes are loving because they are nourished, babes in Christ love because they have been provided for spiritually.
     Mature loving is appreciating God, not only because He saves you, but because he suffered and died when it is us that should have. Love is glorifying and honoring Jesus for his suffering and death. True love grows from about you to about God over time.
    Paul said it well, making a comparison to which I alluded: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church" (Ephes 5:25). Conversely, husbands, love Christ, even as you love your wives. Ideally, husbands and wives in holy matrimony do love each other intensely as my friends do. Their emotional behavior exemplifies how we are to love Christ. Husbands and wives can love each other that intensely if they love Christ that much. There is a correlation between holy matrimonial love and the love of Christ.
     I am not emotional. I don't exhibit much joy nor despair. I seldom cry. At one time, I could not cry in gratitude to Jesus. That bothered me because I don't want to fake loving God by merely doing things according to His command. One day, I realized love as I cried in appreciation. With reflection of God's goodness, nourishing, protection, love, suffering, and companionship; I was able to cry for Jesus as he wept for me! Good marriages have similar love. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to cry out of love for each other, after considering what our mates have done for us,

Spirit and Ghost

     People are dynamic; their nature changes with time. In my own life I went from wall-flower to snapdragon, once being timid, I am now forceful. That was a change in attitude as my "faculty" changed. My superiors told me to just pass out job assignments and my skilled employees would do their jobs. There was a great quality problem in the manufacturing area, and I soon found out that those highly trained and skilled employees were in the dark; they were learned, but somehow had blind spots to causes, only seeing effects.
     Soon, I decided I should become the engineer that I was, and joined them inside 5000-tons presses to analyze the problems. Soon, I found out that I had a knack to see what others could not see. Throughout my entire career, higher management usually called on me after everyone else had given up, and most often I saw what they could not see, I was transformed from mental weakling, not using my God-given powers, to empowered. My attitude thereafter became one of confidence.
     With my change in attitude, my purpose in life changed. I went from follower to leader. When others shunned opportunities, I relished them. I went from a weak blind person to a super-problem solver. Because I changed my mental stature, it created change in my spiritual drive. I wanted to see what the prophets saw, and know the mysteries of God that the apostles John and Paul knew so well.
     Matthew and Mark knew the Son of Man quite well. John and Paul knew the Son of God more so! The former two saw the obvious, and the latter what others could not see. The Book of John is a revelation of the mystery of God; it identifies God's transition from Jahu (Yahu) to Yeshua - from "God" to "God Saves" or more plainly, from Jehovah God to Jesus.
     God is immutable (Mal 3:6; Heb 3:9). The first passage is the unchangeable Lord God, and the latter about the unchangeable Lord Jesus. The Lord of Judaism is the Lord of Christianity. What is the difference in beliefs between Jews and Christians? Christians see God, and most Jews do not. We look at the same Lord and see Him differently. The main difference between Judaism and Christianity is in Jesus's Name - "God saves." They look forward to God saving them, and Christians look backward at Jesus dying to save us all.
     There are "Thirteen Articles of the Jewish Faith," and Christians and Jews differ on only two of thirteen points. One is principle 7 - the primacy of the prophecy of Moses as teacher. Christians must look to Jesus for the primacy: "...if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he (Abraham) said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." Abraham in Paradise disputed the efficacy of Moses the prophet. Abraham, the father of the Jews, disputed Principle 17 of Judaism. Thus, the Word of Jesus is superior to the words of Moses, and Judaism fails on that point.
     The second point of contention between Judaism and Christianity is principle 12: "The belief in the arrival of the Messiah and the messianic era." Judaism still believes in the appearance of God on earth, and Christians believe that He has already appeared; that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Jews have a blind spot to the appearance of God, just as my employees had scatomas to things hard to understand. Jesus identified their spiritual blindness quite well when he said, "Forgive them Father, they know not what they do," as they condemned the Messiah on whom they had long awaited (Luke 23:34). They didn't understand the mystery of God.
      The leap from Judaism to Christianity was a transformation in God's appearance and men's insights. God's purpose remained unchanged, but was transformed from and Existing God to a Living God. God changed from the invisible God without a face, to a visible God with a face, and a name to match. God is called "Jesus," and also "the Messiah," and "God With Us." He is still the immutable God, but how he appears to mankind changed. Part of the mystery of God is that he Is One Person who is called Jesus, but has three substances. For our understanding (or maybe confusion) theologians call those substances "persons" and "personalities."
     Jesus's birth changed only how God appeared to mankind. He had appeared before to the Hebrews as a Voice walking in the Garden, the Word speaking, a man wrestling with Jacob, the angel of God, a cloud by day and a fire by night, a man in the fiery furnace, a burning bush, and as a Priest Melchizedek. Throughout "his story", however God appeared to mankind, He was still God! Nothing changed with Jesus. He was the "face" of God appearing to mankind. Because He changed in appearance did not Change His Existence. Jesus was still Jehovah, but finally even Moses saw God's face and lived, ironically at the transfiguration of Jesus.
     Transfiguration means that God transformed Himself again. When the Holy Spirit came down on Mary, God put on His face as He became human flesh, and was the Son of Man. His appearance changed but He was still God. His state changed from only spiritual Existence to spiritual and physical Existence. At the transfiguration, Jesus's state changed again, from corruptible or perishable flesh, to imperishable to enable resurrection. His state changed from human flesh to the very flesh of God. He became the Son of God.
     The next change in state was from flesh and spirit to flesh and Ghost. John, with his special divine insight, understood that change in states, and it seems, only the King James Version translators did as well. Examine the following passages from that version:

(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:39).

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46)

    In John 7:39 "spirit" and "ghost" are both from the Greek "pneuma" but the translators there were putting it in context.  Jesus's hidden "substance" would be transformed from "Spirit" to "Ghost" when he was glorified. The question, is, When? Luke 23:46 answered that; when he died. Apparently, God's "Spirit" was transformed into Jesus's "Ghost" when Jesus died. The Holy Spirit did not change in state, but status - from the Spirit of the Son of God to the Ghost of the Son of Man.
    Let me be clear: there is not a Holy Spirit and a Holy Ghost. The difference in terminology is not one of substance but experience. Just as the immutable God changed from Father to Son by experiencing birth, the Holy Spirit was transformed to Holy Ghost by experiencing death. The translators of the King James Version (KJV), I believe, got it right!
     We do notice that Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit are used interchangeably in the KJV, but at crucial times there is a difference. "Saved" and "hope of salvation" are used interchangeably, because when speaking of "saved," the "hope of salvation" is so assured that it seems the prize is in hand. Likewise, it makes sense  that inspired apostles knew beforehand that pneuma worked quite well for experiencing death. John the Beloved was beloved for a reason; he fully understand the nature and supra-nature of Jesus. He knew the substance of Jesus before God was incarnated, and he knew his substance after God experienced death.
     In the KJV, David had God's Holy Spirit upon him (1 Sam 16:13). Elsewhere, such as Abraham's death, people gave up the Ghost (Gen 25:8). God's "Spirit," even then, became "Ghost" when the patriarchs, having the Spirit, gave up the Ghost. "Spirit" is a supernatural essence whereas "ghost" is a "disembodied soul" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). 
     Living people have the "Spirit" residing in them, but dead Christians have given up the "ghost." Death transforms the spirit. The soul relinquishes the spirit, and it is freed from the body. Thus, the person's "cup" is emptied and the contents - the ghost - is able to join God. You see, "ghost" and "spirit" are the same essence but while the former is external to the body, the latter resides within. Jesus had the Holy Spirit (God) imbued within his human soul (man), but after his crucifixion death freed his soul to descend on others as his Ghost.
     The Old Testament often uses "Holy Spirit" because God had yet to have His Person die. In the KJV, "Holy Ghost" is most often used in context, because the writers already knew that God's Spirit had already experienced death.
     The last transformation of God's Existence was the "glorification" of His Person. That occurred at his death. Between the time Jesus died and he ascended no one could touch him because he had not yet been in the presence of his Father. (No, Thomas did not touch Jesus; he was only challenged to do so.)
     After Jesus ascended, his Person conjoined the Father, and it is assumed, God's Holy Spirit who is omnipresent. Because the Holy Spirit had experienced death on the cross as the Spirit of God's Person, then right after Jesus ascended into Paradise, the Holy Ghost descended. Because Jesus's Spirit experienced the cross, He is the Spirit or "Ghost of Jesus" within the temple (souls) of true Christians.
    When the Ghost of Jesus descended, there was another change in God. Rather than living in temples, God finally found a home again in lively stones. Just as he was mobile long ago in tabernacles, God's Spirit is mobilized in the temples of Christians! He never wanted stagnation because he didn't want stationary temples. "Church" is wherever Christians gather in God's Name - Jesus. To build a complete Church, there must be many temples!

Gathering at the Same Tent

     Much of scripture is ambiguous. When used casually, statements with less obvious meanings are called "double entendres". Although much of scripture is understood differently by different people, it's merely a matter on which the reader focuses. Many people who read scripture only receive the obvious, or primary message. Although primary, the message may not be the most important. For instance, why would Americans even care that Babylonia destroyed Judah, Jerusalem, and the temple? Why would God inspire the prophets to prophecy the salvation of Israel unless it meant something for their posterity.
     The ambiguity in scripture is that it must be studied comprehensively to be understood as prophets spoke of things distant as well as things near.
     One of the most important prophecies from Holy Scripture was not made by a prophet but the Word spoke it himself: "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant" (Gen 9:27). The sons of Noah - Japheth and Ham - became to be known as Gentiles or "gentile" people, all sharing the same genesis. Even Shemites, Noah's Semitic son, are gentile as well, but since they are God's chosen people, he withdrew them from the gentile clan. Thus, the world is divided into two clans: Jew and Gentile. Although divided, the world is one, or Adamic in nature.
     When God divided the world into clans, he had the remainder of the world in mind as well. Those "tents" in which Japheth would dwell with Shem became known as "tabernacles" and were places the Jews worshiped God before there were buildings. The reader should understand that the underlying meaning of that passage is that Gentiles would come to worship the same God as do the Jews.
      Throughout history, other clans were divided from the Shemites. Abraham was brought from a pagan land to the Levant. "Hebrews" came from that separation of clans through Eber. Later, the line Abraham was divided into Isaac's and Ishmael's people. Isaac's line became God's chosen people, whereas God had another plan for Ishmael. Islam claims Ishmael as their lineage; not Abraham and Isaac, but Ibrahim and Nabi (Ishmael). However, most middle-eastern Muslims are semitic, but propagate anti-Semitism against their cousins the Jews. Ismael's dismissal into the wilderness is resented until this day. (It is Ishmael who seed became "the praised one" or Mohammad.)
     The next division was when God split the tribe of Isaac into two: Jacob and Esau. Jacob's name was changed to "Israel" and Esau became Edom (red). Esau's line was of darkish red hue and hairy. Arabs are mostly descended from Esau. Arabs were divided from the Hebrews,  leaving the Israelites.
     The next most profound split was when the Kingdom of David was divided into Israel and Judah. Israelites were dispersed throughout the world. There remained only Judah. "Jews" were the citizens of Judah who were of the line of Jacob. They too were dispersed into distant lands, but some made it back. Isaiah spoke of there return in the Book of Isaiah chapter 43.
    A further division of Jews were the Ashkenazim, from Gomer the grandson of Japheth, as they had been mixed into the Germanic race who are from the line of Japheth. The Jews scattered into the Iberian Peninsula and are Sepharaddim - a mixture of Jew, Cushite, and Jephethite.
     In 1948 when the new nation of Israel was formed, Jews came "home" to the Promised Land just as God's prophets wrote. Isaiah wrote of their return from Babylonia, but it is less obvious that he was speaking of other "returns" as well, such as the formation of modern Israel. I look deeper than double entendre, and find triple entendre; I look for Japthethites returning as well! Most Christians have historically been Jephethites according to God's prophecy to Noah. We indeed "dwell in the tents of Shem."
     Through the years, however, Jews have dwelt in the "tents" of Japheth in that they were dispersed. Their dispersion is called by theologians, the "diaspora." They dwelt in Egypt, Nineveh, Babylon, Greece, Rome, Germany, Iberia, and now all over the world. They have been aggregating in Israel since 1948. They are no longer living in "tents" of Japheth, but spiritually, with the advent of Christianity, Christians have been worshiping in the spiritual tents of Shem. What that means is that Christians are mostly Jephethites and believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.
      The "tents" have a foundation. The Christian "tent" has as a cornerstone, Jesus - the Messiah. The prophets were the foundation, followed by the apostles, and Japhethites as the "lively stones." Of course, the "tent" is not really a tabernacle, temple, church building, or synagogue. It is the body of Christians who worship Jesus in spirit and truth. Faithful Jews have always done that because the Truth is the Word who spoke to the patriarchs and prophets. Judaism and Christianity is, thus, the same "tent." Whose was the Maker of the Tent? The Word is the Cornerstone whether he is called Yahweh, Messiah, Jesus, or Christ.  Isaiah knew that.

5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; 6 I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; 7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. 9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: … let them hear, and say, It is truth. 10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour. 12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. 13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? 18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth... 21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. 25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. 26 Put me in remembrance (Isa 43).

     Verse 5-11 refer to somewhat disguised people. They include all the people to the world who would come to worship in the tent of Shem. You should ask, Who is in this tent? The Messiah is in there, but he is the Christ. The tent of Shem is the same "tent" of Christians. The day will come when Shem, Japheth, and even Ham will again become brothers! With missionary work and Messianic Christianity, Shems and Japheths from all over the world are entering the Messiah's tent.
     The owner of Shem's tent was the Word who said, "...the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no savior." The Lord is the promised savior who the world knows is Jesus. Some refuse to accept that, but eventually most Jews will share the same "tent" with Gentiles (Rev 21:12). That tent is not an old "thing" (Isaiah's word) but "a new thing". We found earlier in the Book of Isaiah that the "new thing" is a "new song." It's the song of Shemites sung to the tune of Japheth. It's when Japhethites dwell in the tents of Shemites; it was Yahweh all the time in whom the world as feuded. 
     The angel said about Jesus, "On earth Peace, and goodwill toward men." That day will come when Christians dwell in the tents of Jews, and vice versa. Up to that time, Jesus said that he didn't come to bring peace but a sword. The sword will be bent into plowshares when Japheth worships in Shem's tent. Ironically, or by plan, a tentmaker would bring Jephethites into Shem's tent as Paul made various trips to the north, south, east, and west to bring people to the cross of Jerusalem. Paul was instrumental in fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy! God planned that; Paul was a Shemite zealot against Jesus, and when the scales of his eyes was lifted, he brought millions if not billions of Japhethites into Shem's tent. And so it goes; prophets of the One True God are right on!

Genesis and Re-genesis

     Genesis is from the Greek genesis which means, "origin, creation, generation," and comes from gignesthai, "to be born" and is related to gene "to give birth." (Etymology Online; "Genesis"). A re-genesis, then, is rebirth or born again which theologians call "regeneration" rather than a re-genesis. 
     Most people consider regeneration to be reborn second time (e.g., Nicodemus thinking it was a return to the mothers womb in John 3:4). That seems silly to modern people who seem more educated, but we foolishly think of regeneration as returning to the state at our birth. Babies are innocent it seems, but soon parents discover that their "innocent" babies are budding gods and goddesses whose sole purpose in life is appeasement. 
     David was a king and had his own realm. As many did in those days, the kings were as gods. David the king desired appeasement and committed adultery, although he was "after God's own heart" (1 Sam 3:14). He was after God's heart or to do God's will, but he wasn't quite there yet. When he convicted himself of sin to Nathan the profit, he felt guilt, and repented. David was born again, and experienced a re-genesis. Psalm 51 is his sinner's prayer and is a great confession and format for sinners to pray for regeneration. David didn't turn back to the way he was after his birth, but the way the Designer of Creation intended him to be. By David's own mouth, he said, "I was shapen in iniquity" (Psalm 51:5).
     The iniquity which existed as he was shapen during gestation was twofold: (1) He was born with the original inclination to sin thanks to Adam, and (2) the nature of human-beings is to indulge in pleasure at the expense of procreation, just as the beasts do. Conception is a blessed event, placing the flesh within pre-existing souls. Mankind has a tendency to consider it no more than an orgy of the flesh for self-satisfaction.
     The point is that regeneration is indeed a re-genesis. Those who are born again are re-created (not recreation) just as Adam was in the beginning. Adam was created innocent just as Jesus was. Scripture compares the two half-brothers: "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit" (1 Cor 15:45). In other words, Adam's soul pre-existed his creation, then life was breathed into him (Gen 2:7). Before Adam became alive, he was mere dust put into the container of his ever-existing soul (his cup, so to speak). It was the Spirit of God that made Adam a living soul in contrast to the animals which were mere beasts without souls. On the other hand, the last Adam - Jesus - was God's Spirit who was made physically alive. In other words, the process of their genesis was reversed.
     The hardest endeavor of anyone is to be like Jesus - an alive Spirit. God's Holy Spirit conceived Jesus. That process was when God's Existence transfigured into a living being. On the other hand, Adam merely had an empty cup into which God poured into His Holy Spirit. Essentially, Adam desired too much "sugar" in his cup, and was overcome by temptation. Jesus's "cup" remained pure and "sugarless" so to speak. Adam's purpose was to live for God; God's Purpose was to live for mankind, in that he was predestined to serve mankind by sacrificing Himself. He required flesh to sacrifice, so God became incarnate, not by coitus but by breathing life unto Mary: "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). Adam and Jesus came into life by God's breath.
     The angel called Jesus "that holy thing," indicating that the unborn person was more than man! He was not God's Son, but God made flesh, but was called "the Son of God," just as he was called Jesus, Emanuel, and the Christ. God always existed. Thus, at Jesus's birth God's Existence was given a "face." That is crucial because the First Commandment is better said, "Thou shalt have no other gods in my face." Each and every person, with the exception of Jesus, are "as gods" (Gen 35). We are gods putting on as if we are Jesus. The First Commandment was forbidding others their idea that they have the power to control their own fate. It is disrespect for God's "face" who is called Jesus.
    Hence, Jesus was neither created nor re-created. He was born pure as God breathed life unto him. Later on the Holy Spirit came upon him, and it seems at the transfiguration his identity as fully God was revealed as Moses finally saw God's face!
    On the other hand, Adam was created, and after he sinned, God re-created him by covering his sin with the sacrfice of blood and the skin of an animal, presumably a lamb as Jesus was the "Lamb of God."
    Chapters one and two of the Book of Genesis is about the creation of the heaven, the earth, the things of the earth, Adam, and Eve. Chapter three is about the fall of Adam and Eve, and a re-creation. Their sins were washed clean by the blood of a lamb. The Lamb of God provided the sacrifice because Jesus was there in Spirit, which would later be "quickened" or made alive. Adam and Eve experienced a re-genesis and were the first two who were regenerated. They tried to transform themselves by covering their shame with fig leaves, but that was ineffectual. God saw that they thought they were gods, and showed them. He removed their fig leaves, exposing their shame, and then covered their bodies, not just their loins, but with coats made from skins (Gen 3:21).
     Therefore, the grace God bestowed upon Adam and Eve was the first re-genesis. Their sins were covered by the water and the blood. Water is the identifier of the Holy Spirit (John 4:10, Rev 7:17), and the blood came from the sacrifice of the innocent animal. Re-generation is both physical (life in the blood) and spiritual (God's Holy Spirit).
     In a short time, mankind became degenerate, or corrupted. Sin degenerated mankind, and made regeneration necessary. Regeneration isn't forced upon anyone. Some prefer the degenerate condition. Scripture refers to degeneration without regeneration as reprobation (Rom 1:28) which Paul called "a condition of the mind" therein. Reprobation occurs when anyone sets their mind against the authority of God, either thinking they can save themselves, that they only face annihilation, or are apathetic to the idea of regeneration.
     The world became degenerate and required renewal. Thus the flood of Noah's time was a re-genesis. Life was cleansed from the earth, save one righteous man and his family - eight living souls who were saved by water. Water represents life because it cleanses and nourishes. Water alone could not save; animals became obedient to God unlike the foolish men who scoffed. Immediately upon the re-genesis, Noah sacrificed an animal to God for His grace. Therein is a symbol of the requirement for both water and the blood which Jesus seemed necessary for salvation (1 John 5:15. The events around Noah represent the water and the blood that flowed from Jesus as he was crucified for our sins (John 19:34). That was pre-incarnate Jesus (John 1-2, 14) who regenerated the world by water and blood.
     The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was another type of re-genesis, that time, not the whole world but as a demonstration of God's judgment to the world. Those cites are now gone and are believed to have been were the dead sea now exists. Lot's family were a re-genesis after fire cleansed sin from their lives, and that was because God had the grace to allow just a few to escape those cities. Lot's wife, who looked back at the pleasures of sin, was the same type as those who refused to board the ark. She thought wrongly that God would not take her life.
     The Jews were in bondage to the Pharaoh of Egypt who are symbols of Satan and sin, respectively. The Jewish people who followed God and Moses were saved by water just as Noah. They crossed the Red Sea but the Egyptians were destroyed by water. According to His promise, the entire world would never be destroyed by water again (as God promised Noah), and water did not destroy the Jews but saved them. The Jewish people experienced a re-genesis and became a new people. On the other hand, like Adam who was also, they were expelled into the wilderness until all were gone. Regeneration doesn't mean prosperity in a physical sense, but more importantly, spiritual prosperity with the gift of eternal life.
     Time and again, Israel was provided a re-genesis and was again when they became a nation in 1948. After Nebuchadnezzar destroyed their city and temple, and endeavored to destroy their God, the Persians Cyrus and Darius came along and had mercy on them. That was at the direction of God. Israel had a re-genesis as the walls and God's Temple were re-built (Ezra, Nehemiah).
     Jesus, in John chapter three, told Nicodemus all about re-genesis when he said, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3:7). To explain himself, he referred to the time of Moses when those who were bitten by poisonous snakes were restored to life by merely lifting up Jesus by seeing the dead Serpent dead on his tree. The Jews were again given a second opportunity and experienced another re-genesis.
     Re-genesis has always been a personal thing. God deals with individuals, examines the hearts of men, and either judges them fit for regeneration or damnation. They never deserve reprieve, but God examines the willingness of their hearts to obey His commands whether they are successful or not. That is God's grace.
     Jesus spilled water and blood that mankind could corporately experience a re-genesis. The crucifixion was when the world was provided the opportunity for another chance which was again by blood and water. When Jesus died, the world changed again. His blood and water transformed the world for those who don't look back at the pleasures of the old world before Jesus. One thief on the cross experienced re-genesis that day when he was transported with Jesus back to the Garden Paradise in Heaven. Thereafter, people who experience re-genesis by diminishing themselves and elevating Jesus, will have a personal re-genesis or regeneration until the time of the resurrection. At that time is when all those dead and alive in Christ will experience re-genesis with the rapture as they put on incorruptible, glorified flesh.
     In the end the Book of Revelation reveals that the earth will be cleansed by fire at that time, God keeping his promise to Noah. After the cleansing, the world will be re-created clean and pure for Jesus's abode. The entire world will experience a re-genesis, and New Jerusalem will come down to its foundation on the site of old Jerusalem (Rev 21:2). The harlot Babylon, which I consider to be sinful Jerusalem, will experience a re-genesis as well - Paradise returning to the Garden where it all began! The old Garden, again populated with the souls of men, will be the City of God.



   

Trees Walking (Continued)

     Yesterday I wrote about the real, natural, material, and physical Garden of Eden. From Holy Scripture and Jewish sacred literature, it seems that Jerusalem was where the real Garden of Eden existed. Jerusalem is its "foundation," and the "peace" in its etymology is Jesus; "On earth Peace and goodwill toward men" (Luke 2:14) refers to Jesus and his ministry.
     This commentary is about the spiritual Garden of Eden - the symbolism and doctrine of the trees. Now is to time to think not in darkness but in Light.
     The observant reader should ask, "What happened to the Garden Paradise?" Scripture never mentions the Garden destroyed. Cherubim guarded it, that did not happen! (Gen 3:29).  The Garden of Eden is referred to as "the Garden of God" (Gen 13:10). Is there still a paradise where God's Garden still exists?
     I submit that since it is now populated, that Garden has become a City. The City of God is in the Paradise of Heaven: "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev 21:2). New Jerusalem - the City of God - will descend from Heaven (Rev 21:10) to where? From whence it came - Jerusalem "the foundation of peace." There will never be peace on earth (Mat 10:34) until Heaven comes down to it is foundation. Christians will populate the Garden of Eden (meaning "delight") again, when it becomes the City of God. At this moment, the souls of the dead inhabit God's City but at the rapture, real people will again inhabit Paradise, inclusive of Adam and Eve!
     Where did the Garden go? Possibly, it ascended into Heaven, leaving only the foundation, or firmament on which it stood. That makes sense! Jesus ascended to his Kingdom in Heaven. It is not illogical that his earthly Kingdom and Heavenly Kingdom are the same! God went to prepare for us a place; His desire is that where He is we be also (John 14:3). That includes Adam in the Garden and Christians in Heaven, both the same place of God! God created Heaven in he beginning (Gen 1:1). He said later that He would prepare the place he created - a new creation, a New City.
     The Garden of Eden is the spiritual Heaven. (That's my hunch.) The Garden was the abode of two souls made flesh. Heaven is the place of two fleshes made spirits. (Refer to part one of this commentary about the meaning of 1 Cor 15:45). The former refers to God's Spirit made flesh as with Jesus. The latter refers to Adam whose flesh was made spirit.  Earlier we examined the natural Garden, now let's examine the characteristics of the spiritual Garden of Eden.
     The focal point of the Garden are two trees: (1) The Tree of Life, and (2) The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen 2:9) with the former standing also in the midst of the Garden. I always thought that the Tree of Knowledge did as well, but it seems that also refers back to Adam and Eve standing in the midst of the Garden. Also points back to what was said previously. The Tree of Knowledge was subsequent to "also." I believe that perhaps it stood somewhat with the other trees since gardens have more than two trees.
     What is seen in my mind's eye is one Tree standing at a central point, with other trees surrounding that one Tree. Among those trees was one tree which had quite an influence over the other trees. What I "see" are trees walking. One Tree, in particular was walking in the Garden in the cool of the day (Gen 3:8). That was merely a "voice" walking. The Voice is the word which we find from the Book of John chapter one is Jesus the Christ. Hence, whenever God manifests Himself, he is called Jesus and called the Messiah (Mat 1:16; 1:25). There in the midst of the Garden with Adam and Eve was the Messiah (Hebrew), called "the Christ" in English from the Greek.
     The Supreme Tree in the center of the Garden would be spiritual Jesus. That is made quite clear with this passage:

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Rev 22:1-2)

     The keys to the identity of the  Tree of Life are two: (1) Jesus is the Lamb of God, and (2) the leaves were for the healing of the nations. The first is how reference is made to Jesus throughout scripture, and the latter Jesus's purpose. The Tree of Life is obviously Jesus. In my book, The Skull of Adam, I elaborate on the Tree, its Root, the source of its life, and its fruit.
     The entire nature of the Tree of Life is that what can be seen was symbolic of Jesus, the root as symbolic of the Father, the Living Water beneath the roots fed to the Tree by the Root, and the twelve manner of fruits of the Holy Spirit.  I see the Tree of Life as God walking, and the visible tree with its leaves, as Jesus walking. It's fruits are the twelve mentioned above and named in the Latin Vulgate version of Galatians 5:23. Hence, I see the God as a Tree walking, and Adam and Eve as trees walking.
     The atmosphere in the Garden was love. The Tree of Life represents, I believe, the love of God which is The Great Commandment. It's corollary is to love others as ourselves. God endowed mankind with a degree of self love, and we are to love others with that intensity. The other trees in the Garden represent those people in "love thy neigbour" (Mat 22:39). Adam was assigned to "dress and keep" the Garden (Gen 2:15). That, it seems, is to love the Tree of Life mostly, and to demonstrate that love, to love the other trees as well. How were they to show love? With the twelve fruits of the Tree of Life!
     You might say, "But there were no other people in the Garden!" That is true, but their pre-existing souls were there just waiting to be people as Adam and Eve multiplied. Their assignment was to plant those "trees" (Gen 1:22). In the spiritual Garden, their job wasn't  to populate people but more so to love the the trees (the souls) in the Garden by tending to them and the Tree of Life. Love is desiring that souls not perish (John 3:16). I see all the pre-existing people in the Garden as trees walking!

     Read at what Ezekiel wrote about Jesus long before he was made flesh:

The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him. (Ezek 31:8-9).

     Ezekiel saw the Tree of Life as Jesus. He saw the other trees of the Garden as lesser trees than Jesus! I saw what Ezekiel saw before I even knew Ezekiel saw men as trees! God opened my eyes to truth. He revealed to me that those in the Garden were as trees walking! 
     What about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - the Serpent's tree? I saw that as the Serpent on his pole (John 3:14) that Jesus showed Nicodemus. When God's Flesh died on his tree (Acts 5:30), I see Jesus - the Tree of Life - hanged upon his tree. Well, God didn't die; that's when Satan died vicariously on his tree, only to really die in the end! Abimelech was a type of tree and a type of Serpent:

Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. (Jud 9:14-15).

    "The bramble" are the followers of Abimelech, but are spiritually other "trees." The bramble deceived the other "trees" to anoint a king to rule over them. That "king" is Satan, represented by Abimelech.  The "shadow" of the tree is Satan operating in the darkness of deception. The cedars of Lebanon represent the righteous people. The author of the Book of Judges saw people and Satan as trees walking! Examine this next simile:

How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. (Num 24:5-7)

     The line of Jacob - Israel - are written of as "trees." What's more his "seed" are his descendants but are referred to as seeds for trees. I submit, and there are many more examples, that trees are symbolic of people. 
     One day after my theorizing, I read a verse which reinforced my hunch. Remember that to truly see the Lord, Jesus blinded Paul. Only with his vision gone, the shadow from the Serpent's tree disappeared into the darkness, and Paul only saw the Tree of Life (Acts 9); he saw the Light only in darkness. That was not the first occasion of the blind seeing. Perhaps it happened often but I came upon an unexpected occurrence:

And he (Jesus) cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. (Mark 8:22-24)

    We don't know if the man was born blind or not, but his amazement at actually seeing men seemed to point that out.  Jesus didn't immediately heal the blind man. He did it in two stages. I believe the first stage was failure to see men clearly, but like Paul, he saw Jesus as the Tree of Life... and walking! He saw Jesus and the others as trees walking. Stage two was Jesus making the blind man see clearly. It indeed WAS men walking. He saw Jesus as a tree before he saw Jesus as a man!
    The blind man, in stage one, was like me. He saw the trees and the movement of them, but in stage two he clearly saw that it wasn't really trees walking but men! I submit that the blind man's two stage healing validate my hunch that the Garden of Eden was a Garden of Trees Walking (symbolically) just as I suspected. He saw men as trees walking, and I saw trees as men walking. 

Trees Walking

     The Garden and Eden were real. Even today, the foundation stone is believed to be covered by the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Because of the foundation stone's importance, and because Jerusalem means "foundation of peace," that location is believed to be the Garden. (One of my next books will be on the location of Eden and the Garden). On that rock, Adam's dust was likely gathered to form his body. Adam's (Hebrew Ādhām) name means "man" (Etymology Online). He represents mankind, or his fellow man. Adam was surely created without a navel since he was formed from the dust. That rock is known as "the navel of the world." That description has two implications: (1) Adam's navel, and (2) the torque axis around which continental drift turned. Many maps of what scripture calls "the firmament" show one land mass called Pangea - "all earth" from the Greek (ibid).
     Adam was created whereas everyone else was born. Technically, Eve was born of Adam. The Creation and the reality of the Garden of Eden is imperative to the Christian belief: "The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse" (Rom 1:20).
     The Creation, what can be seen, is evidence of God. That is crucial. By definition, gods create, and if truly gods, it would take only one. Any lesser being would not be God. Since evolutionary theory is relegated to chance, "Chance" becomes the "unknown god" of the world (Acts 17:23). Science is therefore a religion because it takes greater faith to trust in that theory.
     The Creation (capitalized because it was a Divine act) is important for there to be a New Creation: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor 5:17). A person truly born again (John 3:7) is a new creation; that transformation is what theologians call "regeneration." The meaning of that is "re-origination" or a "re-genesis." The Book of Genesis is important because without the Creation, there wouldn't be a New Creation - Adamkind (Ādhām) was given a second chance by grace. Because Jesus was born pure, he was the Second Adam: "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit" (1 Cor 15:45). To be clear, that means, Adam had life put into his pre-existing soul, and Jesus's pre-existing Spirit was made alive. 
     Because God, "according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love" (Ephes 1:4), all people, as was Adam, pre-existed as souls. With Adam, God's Spirit was in him as he was made in the image of God: He used both "in His image" and "in our image" (Gen 1:26-27). "Ours" of course means Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; hence Adam was made in the image of Jesus whose appearance God foreknew before he was incarnated (John 17:24). On the other hand, after the original sin of Ādhām, everyone else, except for Eve ,was born with an empty soul whose contents would be filled with something. 
     When the newborn baby is crowned, it's soul begins to die as the influences of the world begins to fill it. David called that "shapen in iniquity" (Psalm 51:5). The New Creation cleanses the soul from the influences of the world, and imbues God's Holy Spirit within the clean soul. As sin soon re-enters the New Creature, God continues to re-cleanse as the soul regains worldly influence.
     Satan is Prince of the Air (the world): "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Ephes 2:2). The "power of the air" is the spirit of Satan and his demons. In a basic sense, regeneration exorcises demonic influences and makes the soul inhabitable by God's Spirit.
    The Creation is then imperative in a physical sense to be re-created spiritually. Therefore, the Garden of Eden must have been natural (real), but it seems to be extremely supra-natural as well. God had a plan for mankind to give us an "expected end" (Jer 29:11) . The Plan was contained in the Garden of Eden. The focal point of the Plan was in the midst of the Garden, and was the Tree of Life (Gen 2:9). That "tree" was later identified to be God manifested (Rev 22:2), who is called Jesus (Mat 1:25). (Note: Jesus was there in the beginning (John 1-2,14) so anytime God showed himself He was revealing Jesus.)

(Continued tomorrow)

Apathy

    I try to think of a title each day which will pique the interest of readers; to encourage those who glance to actually stop and read. I think of titles such as "Innocent Man Killed By Mistake" or perhaps, "Family Raise a Surrogate Child To Be Murdered By A Mob." Another one of which I considered was "I Saw What You Did Last Summer." That's not how I do things, therefore, I write about "Apathy." That is not caring about that infant in a religious sect, an innocent person murdered, nor even what someone spied you doing last summer, and the many seasons before!
     Apathy is a non-caring attitude about something which is exciting to caring people: "from Greek apatheia, from apathēs ‘without feeling’, from a- ‘without’ + pathos ‘suffering’." With poetic justice those without caring will someday be eternally suffering. Christians, ironically, consider those people who are uncaring as pathetic; we hold them in contempt because their "suffering" is merely lacking.
     The "world," in the Bible, is the influences of sinful people; it is everything institutionalized and in chaos outside the Church. "Church" is capitalized because it means the spiritual true church without walls or boundaries. It is the corporate spiritual relationship of those who are truly born again; those who are of one accord in the worship of the triune God. Thus, "world" is all those influences outside the "Church."
     Whereas the Church has no walls, the world does. They can't see the bars but the discerning can! The people of the world are in servitude to the law of sin, and as such are in bondage. The Church is the invisible institution of free men and women: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). There is a relationship between truth and freedom; no one should want to live for a fantasy. It is not the Church which lives a fantasy but those who deny the supra-natural which exists but they are apathetic to it. They are in chains to the beliefs of the world (Mark 5:4), and just because people cannot see the chains, makes bondage to the world no less real.
     I don't want to be in chains so my chains were broken. Truth broke my chains. I am no longer enslaved to the world but truth has set me free! Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?" to which Jesus replied, "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice" (John 18:37).  He was the infant who was born to die in your place. Truth, according to Jesus, is whatever he says. The most grandiose thing God said was, "ego eimi" (I AM), which Is God - the Great I AM. Jesus said that forty-eight times to make a point; it is one those who care should take seriously!
     The second most grand thing Jesus said, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3:7). Remember that "innocent man killed" title that I was considering? Believing that and caring about one man dying instead of you and me, is becoming born again. In order to be born again, people can never be apathetic. They must want to live forever and seek the one Way to make that happen: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). Those who care about themselves, care about eternal life. Paraphrasing Jesus, they must trust that only God can defeat death by sacrificing His only Son. Jesus painted a picture of that; Moses lifting up a pole with a lifeless serpent on it, representing the Serpent's crucifixion. Jesus's death on his pole - the cross - was vicariously killing Satan, ironically on his "tree."
     God designed mankind to care about themselves. No one is truly apathetic to dying; they merely fail to look at death's door. That is apathy; the death angel does await whether you see or acknowledge him or not! Wisdom is taking measures to meet death, who guides you to the path to eternity. Then even the apathetic will lunge for the true path to eternal life, but will be restrained; the angel will point the broad way to eternal destruction (Mat 7:13). As a Christian, I cared about that!
     There are three possible outcomes to death: (1) annihilation as you cease to exist, (2) eternal death, meaning perishing in torment forever, or (3) eternal life with joy for eternity. The apathetic seems to think that the first is his way, but it is only eternal death or life, and you all must care enough to choose wisely!
     No one is truly apathetic, they merely deceive themselves, or deny the truth so long that their hearts become hardened. That is incontrovertible apathy, called reprobation in scripture; that is no longer having feeling enough to even care about eternal existence one way or the other. Reprobates are damned because they haven't cared enough for themselves to even consider loving God or others as the way to eternal life.
     Each sin people sin is an act of apathy. They fail to care that Jesus died for sin to be remised. His death dumped sin into Hell. Sin was dumped on the Serpent as Jesus died, and Truth released the dead in Christ from their graves: "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many" Mat 27:52-53). That event signified resurrection! My book, The Skull of Adam, follows some of those saints - Adam and John the Baptist - as they confront others within Jerusalem.
     Caring people want to be freed from their graves. Even apathetic people care... they just put caring out of their minds. Those who are apathetic live in a cloud of fiction in real life just as the Serpent deceived them: "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen 3:4). Apathetic people think they never will! However, Adam thought God meant right now - physical death, but death is forever dying in Hell.
     Adam was apathetic to truth. If he had perceived truth, death would have been defied right then. He didn't and death became real. Later, Adam died a physical death. Eating of the forbidden tree finally took its toll! The "sting of death" is its crescendo. At the moment Adam sinned, he began to die as his cells began to die one by one. He cared! The Word (Jesus) covered Adam's sins; he still physically died, but will never spiritually die because of God's grace. He knew right them that he would have to create a new perfect Son, and crucify Him to crucify the Serpent in his tree! Adam, after sinning, was remorseful; he cared!
     Holy Scripture is all about caring for Jesus; that he died in our place. "Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain," I believe, is to not take his called Name - Jesus - without purpose. Disobeying the Third Commandment is a command, then, against apathy, caring not that Jesus died in your place.
   

New Song

     Many in this area have been to the event in Leitchfield, Kentucky - New Song. It seemed to me that was referring to music because the camp there has several days of gospel music. Inquisitive minds must know! What does "New Song" represent? The mystery was revealed hundreds of years before the apostle Paul was ever born, notwithstanding Jesus! Examine what Isaiah saw:

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles... he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law... I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles... Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. (Isa 42:1, 3-4, 6, 10; KJV)

      What does the reader glean from these passages? (I recommend reading the entire chapter because it is about hope, the Messiah, and judgment.) Note that the scripture is from God, and He is the Voice of the writer:

• God is speaking of "His Servant." That has a specific person in mind: "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”(Mark 10:45; ESV). The Son of Man is the Person of God who is called Jesus. The Son of Man came to serve God. That may be confusing because Jesus Is God! Well, God put on flesh for a purpose: to physically interact with mankind. God's flesh served His purpose: "And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth" (Exod 9:16;ESV). This was written about Moses, but according to God's plan, it applies to Jesus as well. There is continuity in the theme of scripture and this is just one example. The exact words of Jesus were, "For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice" (John 18:37). His Servant was raised up to reveal the truth to mankind. Note that the purpose of Moses served the same purpose of Jesus because of the Abrahamic Covenant. (The reader should study there God's deal with Abraham. Hint: it was all about Jesus and spiritual prosperity!)
• His servant was God's "elect." Where have we read that before? "But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you" (1 Pet 1:19-20; ESV). Yes, Jesus was God's "elect." 
• God said, "I have put my Spirit upon Him." That is important; we normally think of people being filled with God's Holy Spirit. Look at the continuity to this passage: "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost" (John 1:33, KJV). God put His Spirit on Jesus.
• "He," His servant, "will bring forth judgment on the Gentiles." Judgement is two-fold with God: guilty but redeemed or guilty but perishing. But weren't the Jews the chosen people? They were given grace first, but grace was sufficient for everyone. We find out in the New Testament that the "religious" Jews rejected Jesus while those who knew the truth became his disciples and even apostles. Before the propitiation of God's own blood, faithful Jews knew of that and understood the Messiah's purpose. It seems that they saw Jesus on the right hand of God through the transparent sea of glass (Rev 4:6, 15:2). Abraham had been judged faithful and Paradise was Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:23). The Holy Ghost first filled the Jews in Jerusalem, but not only them, but people from all over... the "isles" of which Isaiah wrote: "How hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? "Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God" (Acts 2:8-11). The word "continent" did not exist until 1555. (Entomology Online). I believe the isles of which Isaiah spoke were continents; Africa, Asia, and Europe were identified. Now we know the isles include the Americas and Australia, and perhaps Antarctica will soon learn the truth. In fact, the world's seventy times seven chances are when all the world has heard the truth about Jesus (Mat 24:14). The significance of the "isles" of which Isaiah wrote are imperative because after that comes the apocalypse and the Great White Throne judgment. That was foretold by Isaiah with "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law."
• "I the Lord have called thee in righteousness..." Christians know that God calls sinners to come to Christ (John 6:44). Isaiah knew that as well! 
• "I the Lord... will hold thine hand, and will keep thee." That is the outcome of regeneration spoken to Nicodemus by Jesus (John 3). Christians think we are saved, but faith to be born again and sanctified is God holding our hands and keeping Christians safe. Those who are certain of that God can be trusted for the truth have the assurance of salvation, speaking of the prize as if it is already obtained!
• "I the Lord... give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." I have always contended that God is unchanging, and that because of that, there has always been only one covenant, and that was and is a covenant of grace through the blood of Jesus, and for everyone... the "whosoever" in John 3:16. Paul spoke of that mystery: "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Ephes 3:9) and "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col 1:27). It is important to note that Yahweh was all about whosover - Jew and Gentile. They were the chosen people, and the Gentiles God's peculiar people (1 Pet 2:9).
• The Gentiles were to, "Sing unto the Lord a new song..." The "new song" wasn't really new, but recomposed for clarity: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Mat 5:17-18). The "new song" was the same song sung with a different melody and in harmony with Jesus. Whereas the deaf to truth Jews kept the Law because they must, the "new song" was living the Law because new persons are willing to show love for God (John 14:21) which reads: "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." It should be clear that Isaiah knew the gospel before the truth was shared with the world!
• "Praise (God) from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof...". Isaiah foresaw the gospel going unto the entire world - all seven of the continents (isles). Isaiah knew The Great Commission before it was commanded! Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mat 18:19-20). 

     The "choir" was to go on a tour; they were to sing the new song all over the world. Shortly, the song ceased to be sung by the Jews, and the Gentiles became the choir. Isaiah knew the new song, the theme of the song, the tour route, and the choir long before the Song Leader was born, before the continents were all known, and before the new song lyrics were ever written!