THE GARDEN AS TREES WALKING - Part 2

  Now for some of the trees of the Bible: Abimilech, son of Gideon and Gideon’s concubine, pretended to the throne. Gideon was a great judge as was Deborah, who were apparently still living. Judges were the government ordained by God with God as the “Chief Justice” and the Law as the “Supreme Court.”

  With that type of government, the “Constitution” was the Penteteuch — the five books of the Law. As such, the Ten Words (Commandments) were the Bill of Rights. Each provision of the Ten Words provides a blessing (see the beatitudes), if obeyed, and a curse, if not. Breaking the Will of God would disinherit any of God’s heirs. As such, look at the Ten Words, not as “Commandments,” but the ten “conditions” of God’s Will for you to inherit His “Estate.”

  Any legal will has two things: (1) Signees, and (2) Witnesses, and the legal document is sealed with some sort of stamp. The Ten Words, authored by the Father as His Will, was written by His Second Son, Jesus.  Adam (Man) was the heir through his kind (species). Both parties signed the Will, Men by circumcision of the foreskin, and the Author (Jesus) with His Blood as well. The same blood that He would shed on the Cross. That was the fulfillment of both the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants.

  The death of Jesus for mankind finished the Law (John 19:30). The rightful heirs of God were redeemed. He sealed the deal, and it came to its final terms. Not only did God’s Flesh suffer death on the Cross, but God in all His substances.

  The day that God died, then the Contract of two parts: God and Adam (Man), was complete and the Edenic Covenant was fulfilled as well (Gen 3:15). Not to forget Noah, the darkness when Jesus died finished the Noahic Covenant. The two ends of the rainbow had united God with Man and the Cross did just that.

  All the Covenants were fulfilled when God died, and when He was resurrected, a new Covenant replaced them all! Now, all those who “sign on” to the Cross are legitimate heirs of God. All the time, the “Mystery of God” was who would be His heirs when he died. His death on the Cross finished all the Covenants and then by grace, all who would depend on His blood and water would be saved.

  With that said, all along, the Tree of Life was and still is, Jesus!

  If Adam and Eve had stood under the designated Tree, and ate of its fruit, then there would have been no need for the Forbidden Tree nor a Covenant. God’s Will is that “none should perish” (John 3:16) and all shall inherit the Kingdom of God. (Mat 25:24), but albeit, some will not (1 Cor 6:9).

  There would have been no Covenant at all because all Adams would have been spiritual sons of God. Adam repented of what he did, but His blood had two components: good and evil. Cain, as the firstborn, had Satan’s DNA in him, but Abel, God’s DNA. There was a pure “plant” and a mutation. Satan had Cain kill Abel, the natural and spiritual son of Adam, and the only heir to God died that day. As such, Seth was born, and he became a proxy for Abel. (Cain would have been heir by the world’s standard with primogeniture – the first generated. However, God always chose the second son as heir and if he is dead, then the third son and so, if that heir was righteous. For Joseph, it was the eleventh son before one was designated.)

  God put Seth and his seed on the “holy mountain,” Mt. Hermon, whereon they were safe from Satan. That day, God replanted His Man on the mountaintop for a second generation, but the seed of Jared looked down at the “Woodstock” on the plain. Then the heirs of God came down to the world and joined Cain’s line in sin.

  The Sons of God (Seth’s line) married with the Sons of Man (Cain’s line), and Adam-kind was again mutated. Hybrid “trees” that had been replanted from the plain to the mountain died that day. Satan’s “beetles” (Beetlejuice - dark angels or “stars” and perhaps Gregori [giants] changed the nature of Adam’s line even further until God would wash the world clean and regenerate the entire world.

  Those of God’s “trees” that did not float, sunk in the waters, and Hebrew sacred literature indicates that the Gregori/human strain was sucked down to the depths of the Earth. However, the seed that Satan planted survived the Deluge, and mankind again became evil. The “trees” had been transplanted on a new mountain, (on the one of the peaks of Mt. Arrarat),

  …But soon, those “trees” with the secession of the flood waters, saw the world and were transplanted on the same soil that both Adam and Cain had contaminated. And the cycle continues. God kept transplanting His trees all over Eden, but when they reached the Garden again, God intended for His “good” seed (Shem’s line) to grow and multiply as he had told Adam long before. With that said, Joshua (symbolic of Jesus) planted them in Paradise, but not before a baptism in the River of God, in perhaps the same place that Jesus would be baptized centuries later!

  Why else would Bartimaeus see, “men as trees walking?” Men are as trees. Not in the New Age sense, but according to the Farmer’s persistence to grow a great forest, that none should perish (John 3:16). The withering of the fig tree points to mankind gradually perishing, and like Adam and Eve, the first “trees” being unaware!

  But before Adam (man) returned to Paradise for eternity, Shem’s roots would be tried on the soil on another river – the Nile; another River of Life that may have once flowed through the Garden. God planted His “trees” in a new land, the other side of the River, and hence the name, “Hebrew.” Hebrews are not only a race of Adam, but a “genus of trees” modified over the centuries from the Adam “tree.”

  They took root in Egypt, but a new Pharaoh replaced the one when Joseph was transplanted, and then the soil of Egypt was despoiled with sin.

  The Hebrews, as God’s chosen “trees” and the new “hybrid” that He developed, withered in Egypt because the soil there was corrupt. God saved them from peril by the blood of lambs as usual that fertilized them for a short time. That saved the million or so Hebrew “trees” from perishing in Egypt.

  God then took them to back across the Red Sea and planted them on the plain of Sinai, but that was not good soil either. Sin immediately infected the Hebrews even in God’s Face from His “Tree” on that Holy Mountain.

  The Tree of Life appeared different this time. God never changes, but His appearance to mankind does. In the beginning, God appeared as perhaps the Olive Tree of Life, representing “Peace,” and on the mountain of Sinai, as a burning bramble bush with thorns and all. (That will be discussed later.) Why a burning Bramble Bush? Because of His wrath that would follow! He would transplant his Hebrews again, but never planting them in the wilderness. After forty years of exposure to the elements, all God’s original trees withered and died, a few at a time, until a new hardy strain were mature enough to plant.

  Then comes Joshua!  Joshua was a new generation and was the best “sapling” that was available. A return to Paradise was eminent. God would replenish the Garden of Eden again with new trees, some of which would be eternal! Joshua was an antitype of Jesus and the Tree of Life.

  Some of the seed of the original Tree of Life may be in the Garden of Gethsemane to this day. There are olive trees sill living that are at least 4000 years old and may be the original trees that were there in the beginning, or from the roots of those trees.

  Like the olive trees still there, so is the “Root of Jesse.” That refers to Jesus. Through David, the Tree of Life (Jesus) is the Vine or Branch that originated as the root of Jesse, to wit: “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious” (Isa 11:10). That came to pass when the Tree of Life was regenerated in Israel, back home in Paradise, as is written, “And again, Esaias saith, ‘There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust’” (Rom 15:12).

  Next, some good and bad trees will be discussed when the Abimelech “tree” is discussed.

(picture credit: Women in the Bible; "Burning Bush")

THE GARDEN AS TREES WALKING

  Many enjoy gardens. Memories of childhood are walks through the garden, smelling the flowers, and eating the fruits therein: tomatoes, squash, potatoes, corn and so forth. Some have orchards as part of their garden. My neighbors did, Joe and Mabel Davidson, but also beneath the fruit trees were tombstones. That “garden of dead souls” was the Old Mennonite Cemetery in Coatesville, Indiana. It extended from the Davidson garden, through the plains of Albert Buffo, to the Hampton “Hoot” Gibson property that Elston Herrin, my Dad, rented for $50 monthly. Hoot was gracious to our family as he could have received double that amount, but never raised the rent. Hoot was gracious to the Herrin family and provided us children with much work.

  Beneath the raised back porch of our house were graves. The “garden of dead souls” was where we lived. My brother, Dale, and I would crawl beneath that porch and bring out tombstones. As such, our creaking old house had parts that were unfinished which we called “ghost rooms.”

  The Herrins were “living souls” among the dead bodies, which of course, had turned to dust years over the years. I write, “living souls,” because Herrin-House housed Christians. Hoot’s old building was at the edge of the “garden of dead souls” and was as much our “cave” as Adam’s when he was cast out of the Garden of Eden. Christians are the true living, and sinners the living dead. In the end, both the living and the dead will be “harvested,” to wit:

¹⁵… We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thes 4:15-17)

  That Old Mennonite Cemetery contained four categories of people: us that lived there, those that live there but are spiritually dead, the dead in Christ, and the dead in Satan. People still live in Hoot’s old house. They are now part of the “garden.” Sometime, without warning, God will come to pick His “crop.” As God, the Husbandman, snatches up (raptures) the harvest, each “plant” will be separated to be prepared in God’s “greenhouse” or to wither in Satan’s “hell house,” When the time comes, those of the harvest will either be burnt or perfected in God’s gentle Light.

  It should be obvious; the Old Mennonite Cemetery is allegorical to the world and those who lived and died in that cemetery symbolize mankind in the world. The first buried in the world was Cain. It is unknown who was first buried in Coatesville, but it is my bet that due to its age, Coatesville’s “Adam” was buried where I lived, somewhere in that plat. Now to the real Garden!

KEY VERSES: ⁶ There went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. ⁷ And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. ⁸ And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Gen 2:6-9)

  In the previous scripture, God related that He had planted a vegetable garden of plants and herbs (verse 5). The reader may not have thought of it this way, but Adam was the next to be planted. The key verses are how the Husbandman (God) planted mankind. Adam was the first of God’s seed of human-kind. He called his “sapling” Adam. That was not a name, but a genus (kind) for the crop to come, Adam-kind which in English is mankind. That new species that God planted had one extra characteristic; the ablest would live forever. The ones that were there for God to nourish and keep from the elements would be eternal.

  Adam was the first “man-vine” to be planted. From him, he would multiply until the “trees” of the Garden was plentiful. He was told to “dress and keep” the offshoots of his vine, or to “serve and preserve” them in the same manner the Husbandman and served him and would preserve him.

  The “Adam Tree” was commanded to multiply. God had not planted Adam to be by himself, so to multiply the vines of the Garden, a female of the species would be required.

  Then God made a hybrid from Adam, and from the vine of Adam, a shoot sprung forth that God would call “‘ishshah” (the opposite of man, or according to Strong’s, “adulteress.” It turned out that “Eva” the female “Adam” of all “plants” would be the adulterous when she listened to the “Seraph’s” wooing, rather than God’s Words from Adam’s lips.

  Of all the other kinds that God had planted (Jesus was the Hand that did so; John 1), all would be immobile, and God would spread their seed with His Will. Man would be his only mobile plant, but rather than God spreading that plant’s seed where He Willed. But Adam-kind could walk wherever they willed and plant themselves elsewhere.

  Adam was to multiply beneath the Tree of Life, but rather than that, Eve awaited “fertilization” beneath the forbidden tree that most certainly was the “scarecrow” in the Garden, intended to keep the Fiery Flying Seraph out. But rather than Adam, the first to seed Eve, the Fiery flying Seraph did so. Eve mutated and failed to realize that she began to wither.

  Then came Adam, he mutated as well. Because Eve seemed vibrant because of the great fertilization that she had consumed, Adam was beguiled. The fruit of that tree were forbidden because its fruit would be the opiate of the people.

  Adam ate with her, and committed adultery, not with Eve but chose a new “father’ to be his husbandman. With his purpose intact, Satan made a new hybrid that God rejected. The “tree” that God planted had mutated; God cast it out into the elements to wither, much as Elston Herrin cast out plants that would not produce in his Garden.

  Henceforth, almost all the saplings from Adam are vibrant when planted until they are harvested, but some are burned in the womb because of the sin of Eve. Adulteresses against God pull up their own “plants’ and throw them in the fire, as the women in ancient times, threw their “saplings” into the furnace of the belly of Molech to perish.

  Perhaps by now you can see the allegory. I have wrongly called Paradise, a “Garden of Metaphors” but now, “Garden of Allegories” as that is much better… or perhaps the “Garden of Living Souls.” The “trees” of the Garden are the souls of men that God planted there to grow. Adam was to be a “farmer” like his Dad. Yes, another description of God is “Farmer” because His “crops” are many.

  It may be harsh that God called the woman “Eve” (adulterer) but all her seed are the same as her. Adam even became like Eve rather than Eve like Adam!  How so? The crop is now all hybrids, to wit: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). How did that happen? Blame the Farmer’s son: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Rom 5:12).

  Adam-kind are all adulterers because the Farmer’s son transgressed. He failed to “dress and keep the Garden” per his Father’s instructions. Not only did his nature change, but the “bark” of the tree itself. Rather than incorruptible bark, the Seraph who had no seed, mutated God’s. He implanted a virus in Adam that changed his DNA. Then when they were cast out of God’s Perfect Garden, they would have to grow their own crops and provide for their saplings thereafter, by the sweat of Adam’s own face (Gen 3:19).

  Adam would be allowed to grow his own garden as he pleased without God’s direction, or with it. By grace, God’s Hand (Jesus) covered the bark of Adam’s tree with the skin of a lamb which he provided for that purpose. (Note that the wooden Ark of God was covered with skin to protect it.) Finally, with the death of God’s planted kind, Adam understood the death of his kind.

  The Lamb was God’s crop from the kind that He had planted before Adam. That dead lamb who gave his skin without a struggle, represents the Lamb of God that would do the same, ironically as a “Tree” on a “tree” (Acts 5:30).

  When Jesus put on Adam a coat of skin (Gen 3:21), He covered that bark with white, clean wool, so that he would be protected inside. That safe covering would protect Adam’s soul from the big bad lion that would devour him (1Pet 5:8). Over time, the Seraph in the Serpent has taken on a new skin. He is a lion in our time, and in the end, the Seraph of old will be a Beast of a man. He will put on the skin, not of the Lamb of God, but of an Adamic man! Beware the scary crow and his bride the screech owl, Lilith.

  Reread the key verses. Like the plants before, God then planted living trees in His Garden Paradise. Were they really trees or some other kind? It was revealed to John that Paradise has within it, the “City of God.” The “Great City” spoken of in Revelation chapter 18 was at one time, the “Harlot Babylon.” That may be present-day Jerusalem who is a whore, and an adulterous now— the city of Adam and Eve — but one day will again be God’s Paradise — the City of God.

  Yesterday, I wondered, How could there be a Garden in Jerusalem in another realm with the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem? I thought what God had revealed to me earlier; that people are as trees walking.

  How did that come to me? The Word showed me… the blind Larry, something that I had not seen before: Blind Bartimaeus, as his sight began to come, said, “I see men; as trees walking” (Mark 8:24). Then a memory came to me: As an innocent child, I saw graves as trees in the orchard. As the tress lived, so had the people buried in the Garden. Then when I matured, I understood… graves of the dead are indeed “trees that would again walk when Jesus snatches them from the dust and makes them grow again. God will again breath life unto them at the Resurrection when the mutation in them will have the breath of God breathed unto them again! The Farmer will replant His “crop” again, and they will have new skin and a bright nature, full of Light!

  Farmer God will, as he promises, make some a Good crop of trees. Just as in the Garden where the trees surrounded God, in the end, the “living trees of God” will surround God on His throne with the Farmer’s Son to His right. They farmed well; it was well-planned. Trees walking will again have the Tree of Life in their midst (Rev 22:2), and the leaves of that Tree are for the many Trees of the World that will trust the Farmer’s methods of growing.

  Joe Davidson was like a second father to me. He had an adopted daughter, but he had several adopted sons: Dale, Larry, Carroll, and Charles Herrin. Even Judy was an adoptive daughter. Dale and I spent many hours in Joe’s orchard, eating from his trees. Joe knew we were eating his fruit but never cared. Why? I think he thought of us as sons. To him, we were two of his “trees” in his orchard, and when I matured, I think often of Joe Davidson. He, my own Dad, and God molded me!

  There were other “trees” beyond the orchard that grew me as well. I think of Bill and Bonnie Jamison, Tubby Wingler, Lewis Hadley, Wilbur Jones, Harmon Hathaway, Albert Buffo, Gene Winks, Grandpa McCloud, Cassie Cassity, and many others that help grow me.

  Next, I will write of other “Trees” in the Bible that both grew me and hindered me. Indeed, we are all as trees walking!

  Who did Bartimaeus see as his eyes opened?  He saw Jesus walking toward him, perhaps with His Limb extended, and the fruit of love in Hand. Bartimaeus surely saw Jesus, “As a tree walking.” Perhaps Bartimaeus saw that invisible Garden in Jerusalem as the Garden Paradise, and people as trees walking. Although blind, Bartimaeus knew what trees looked like! How did he know? He saw through the sea of glass unto heaven and there He saw God’s “Garden” as a Great City.

  He surely saw the harlot Jerusalem all restored again and in the Garden of God with trees walking and souls with new ”bark.” Eve had been redeemed, and her seed through Mary was perfectly clean. The Sower of the Seed had always been there but in another world. He revealed Himself to Bartimaeus and Paul, and if you look closely, you can see men as trees walking that we must dress and keep.

picture credit: mamabishop; "Walking Trees")

THE HEAVEN

 Without any other resources, one of the greatest mysteries of the Bible is the “man” who was “caught up” (raptured) to the third heaven. Where is that place in the heavens, who was raptured there, and what is in the Third Heaven? Those things are a great mystery. Only three others were known to have been raptured before this time: Elijah in a whirlwind, Enoch by an angel, and Jesus by His own Power. Now consider Paul’s words, inspired by God:

KEY VERSES: ² I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. ³ And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) ⁴ How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2 Cor 10:2-4)

  Paul wrote this second letter to the Corinthians in 55 AD, according to theologians. They did not guess, but based dating on historical events mentioned in the letters. There is no reason to question the date deduced by those with such knowledge. Those same theologians believe that Paul was speaking of himself. If the passages are taken literally, then it was not Paul. It would be another man.

  Paul gave a time. “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago.”  Does “above” point toward Christ, or does it point toward time? Or does it even point toward the Third Heaven?

  The Greek word translated “above” is pro. It could mean above, before, in front of, ago, or ever (Strong’s Dictionary). That helps little for whom or to what that pronoun applies. The New King James Version translates it “who.” That is not one of the definitions. If the pronoun points to Christ, it does apply, for Christ is a Man “above” in heaven.

  If it points to time, then it would mean exceeding fourteen years. In that case, consider time first. Fifty-five less 14 is 41 AD. But it was “above” that time. Hence, before 41 AD. Normally, Americans would say “about” 41 AD, but Paul thought it was definitely before that date. In that case, it could point to Jesus. Hence, time is a second pointer to Christ. Paul could have spoke of Jesus. Indeed, for now, take the “Third Heaven” as the location of Paradise. More on that shortly.

  If “above” refers to heaven, then that points toward the location of the Third Heaven. However, in English, the words “up” and “above” also refer to longitudinal coordinates, such as down to Egypt or up north. If there is an invisible realm with coordinates unknown, just how would its location be referenced? Perhaps “above” or “up” or maybe even “over.” The word “above” is therefore ambiguous and should be ignored. All that we know about Jesus is that he ascended in the clouds, and His Holy Ghost descended from the same place. When He raptures Christians, he again will come from the clouds. All that information provides is that Jesus was seen by people in the First Heaven. How he got to the Third Heaven is not explained. Jesus was translated several times. The first translation was when he was borne by God (John 5:37) to be born by Mary (Mat 1:16).

  “Born” means specifically, carried. Mary carried Jesus for nine months. “Carry” implies a burden or weightiness. Mary worked to deliver the baby, Jesus.

  “Borne” is more general. It means “transported.” Of course, carry is a means of transportation in the gravity of the world, but Jesus overcame the world (John 16:33). Perhaps Jesus was referring to the temptations of Satan, or perhaps He was referring to the world in general. We find out that He did overcome the world when He was raised from the dead! After that, He could translate himself wherever he willed without anyone carrying Him. The last time anyone carried Jesus was to the tomb. Jesus merely translated Himself out of the tomb and into a locked room where the eleven disciples were meeting.

  Likewise, the thief on the Cross was translated with Jesus that day. (Luke 23:43). It is implied that the “Ghost” of a dead “Man” carried the thief to Paradise without the interference of time since the Jewish “day” was about to end momentarily. Jesus not only overcame the world, but time as well. “Time” is applied only to the world to measure its decay. After Jesus was “glorified” there was no more decay nor a need for time for Him. He merely willed TO BE some place and He was there!

  “Translation” means, in this context, “to carry across” which can be seen from it root words. Jesus, since He is God, needed no one to carry Him except Mary. She did not carry God from Heaven to Earth though, but only in the world. God needed no assistance to carry Himself, so He merely willed Himself unto the womb, or vessel, that would incubate Him unto Flesh. Jesus is not Mary’s Flesh. He IS Hs own Flesh. He created an embryo in Mary’s empty uterus, which He provided for that occasion. Mary carried, nurtured, and labored for God, but God and His Image always were (John 1). As such, God translated Himself in Spirit and was the Seed planted in Mary’s “Garden.” She was the new Eve.

  Mary bore God for nine months, but God always WAS, IS, and WILL BE. He walked in the Garden in the beginning, with legs, and he will sit on Hs throne in the end, in bodily shape. God defied time, space, and matter to travel to planet Earth, but the trip was not distant or time dependent.

  Ezra was given information by an angel (Book of 4 Esdras). Ezra learned that “The Most High has not made one world but two” (4 Esdras 7:49-50). That says so much! It is written, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen 1:1). Of course, that applies to space and matter made in time, but it would also mean that God created the invisible world and the visible world because Ezra was told that there are two worlds.

  If those two worlds are examined, it should have been obvious. Study figure #1:

 

Figure 1: Celestial Sphere By Tfr000 (talk) 20:06, 29 March 2012 (UTC) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18893066

 

 The world called Earth rotates around an axis. On the other hand, the cosmos appears to be stationary. World “Earth” is matter and has size and time. The other world is the Cosmos. It does move, but at any moment due to the tremendous distances it appears stationary except for the Sun and Moon, the former which the Earth rotates about and the latter, which rotates about Earth. Thus, just as the Bible said, time was made for the world during the fourth creation process.

 The Globe of the Earth has diameter and is finite. The Celestial Globe is the second “world,” but its dimensions are infinite. It is so expansive and expanding that its dimensions are fluidic and without bounds. Scientists hypothesize that beyond the planetary bodies there is nothing! Enoch took a trip there and found out that God is even there!

  And I (Enoch) saw the ninth heaven, which is called in Hebrew Kuchavim, where are the heavenly homes of the twelve constellations of the circle of the firmament. (Secrets of Enoch 21:8) On the tenth heaven, (which is called) Aravoth, I saw the appearance of the Lord’s face, like iron made to glow in fire, and brought out, emitting sparks, and it burns. Thus (in a moment of eternity) I saw the Lord's face, but the Lord’s face is ineffable, marvellous and very awful, and very, very terrible. (Secrets of Enoch 22:1-2) 

  God is everywhere, even where there is no thing. He is Existence and is the “Great I AM THAT I AM,” which is abbreviated JHWH in the Hebrew, and is pronounced Yahweh.

  God is even there, but His throne is in the Third Heaven. That is where the “man” of which Paul spoke visited God. If indeed it was Paul himself, he visited God in the Third Heaven. That specific place is called Paradise, but in the beginning it was created a Garden. What happened to the Garden? After all, it has never been found. When a Garden it was perhaps in the visible world and after Adam and Eve left, it became invisible. Either it translated from one world to the other, or Adam and Eve were. Hence, Paradise may be the same place in two very different realms. Jesus merely willed Himself from one realm to another. 

  That is not to say that Heaven is on Earth, but that a specific place in earth (matter) is in heaven as well. From figure #1, note that the globe of Earth is in the Globe of the Cosmos. God is above the Cosmos, in the Cosmos (Third Heaven), and in Earth. The citizens of this planet call that “on earth.” God did just that; He translated Himself onto the surface of the Earth, not by Mary carrying Him there, but the “destination vessel.” He did not time travel, but went through the walls of her womb, just as he did with the tomb, and rested there until He was ready to emerge.

  The cosmos even pointed to His emergence into the world! The star that the magi followed guided them to God. For the first time ever, the magi saw the cosmos move! Some scientists say “not a star was in sight,” but in 6 BC, God aligned the planets of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars to be seen right above the Celestial Axis in Jerusalem — the “navel of the world,” as it is called, because it is the place of the Foundation Stone; and not only the “navel of this world,” but the “navel of the Cosmic Globe” as well!

  “Navel” would indicate birth, or the creation of the Cosmic Globe and the Globe of the Earth.

  Enoch saw the “twelve constellations of the heavens.” He saw the Cosmos in depth. Angels transported him there and defied time. Enoch was translated to the other world by angels.

  So, you think that is ridiculous? Well, do you think that black hole theory is fantastical? Scientists speculate that the tangential velocity of matter around a black hole in space is so great that it exceeds the speed of light and defies time. Science buys into that hypothesis but will not buy into translation of matter into another dimension! They have even discovered the invisible world to be  scientific, yet they deny its existence. Boson as “matter” with volume, mass, and charge. “Antimatter” has volume, mass, and an opposite charge. Boson’s can be seen and measured, but antimatter (fermions) only measured. God measured the heavens, to wit: “Who (God) hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance” (Isa 40:12). The “hand” of God is Jesus. He made it yo specific dimensions, apparently from the datum that we call the “Foundation Stone” from it’s hole and surface.

  God’s time is different than our time (2 Pet 3:8-9). He is outside the Cosmos and He does not revolve around the Sun. Neither does the Moon effect God. What was Peter saying about time? To the world, the cosmos is like a curtain, “It is He (God) that sitteth upon the circle of the Earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in” (Isa 40:22).

  Much is said therein: (1) The “circle of the earth” is more than the Globe of the World but the “circle of the Cosmos” as well. Both worlds are of the same circle. The inner circle moves, but the outer circle seems to never revolve. It is so predictable that navigators of all times used the same “curtain” as a map! The Earth’s revolution makes time, it rotates around the Sun; the Cosmos does not. From the reference point of the Earth, it “revolves” in 26,000 years or so. You can see from where the thousand years as one day comes. 

  For God, time is as well as stationary. His creation reveals that. “Eternity” is the “eighth day” according to Enoch. It is different than all the others because they each are one-thousand years. The Earth’s limit is seven days, or seven thousand years, and after that, eternity begins. In heaven, time is stationary!

  (2) Next, the inhabitants of the Earth are as grasshoppers. That has two meanings; one hidden. Man is not God; they only think of themselves “as God” *Gen 3:5). Compared to God, mankind are like grasshoppers. He is everywhere (omnipresent) and men are only present one place at one time. Just as our mind travels to the feet and back in an instant, God’s Mind travels beyond that “curtain” to the world and back without regard to Earth’s time! For God’s Mind, that infinite distance between Earth and the bounds of the Cosmos is nearly infinite, but to God it is merely a curtain!

  Scripture, perhaps, is referring to that “curtain” of the Cosmos as a “sea of glass,” to wit, “Before the throne (of God) there was a sea of glass like unto crystal” (Rev 4:6). At night look into the heavens. It does appear as a transparent sea of glass with lights within the sea. Of course, to those with the eyes of God, like Isaiah, they could see God beyond the cosmos! Those with “bright natures” had “bright eyes,” according to the writer of the Books of Adam and Eve. They see the Light of God beyond the pale of the stars, not with vision but insight.

  Compared to the Gregori of the fifth heaven, earthlings are indeed, as grasshoppers! They apparently, wrote Enoch and Moses, intermarried with the human species, and produced giant people, called Nephilim, who God caused to perish. The most assuredly were sucked into the center of the Earth when and where it was drained. Jews believe the world’s “drain” is the abys beneath the Foundation Stone in Jerusalem. That abys has never been explored.

  (3) “(It is God) that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.” The Celestial Dome is like a tent with a thin “canvas.”  From anywhere in the world, the Celestial Globe appears as a dome-shaped tent. Think of a geodesic dome covered with a thin material. That dome is right above the First Heaven… and that is the thermosphere and below. The Earth’s outer spheres are not thought of as a heaven, but it is. Jesus seemed to go to above the First Heaven to be translated. That makes sense, since the Second Heaven, according to the Secrets of Enoch, is where angels translate freely between the world and the second “world.” Why did Jesus ascend? To be translated where His Father resides!

  Since, for God, the cosmos is as a “curtain,” then, how much time to penetrate the curtain? Anyone who has accidentally punctured a balloon knows what time that takes. Well, that seems congruent with the time it takes for God to pass through the “cosmic curtain” from His realm to ours.

  God spread the cosmos as a curtain. Think of the speed of a spring-loaded transparent covering, much like a household blind. Just release, and by the power of the hidden spring, the curtain rolls up. God, with His Power, did that with the unfurling of the universe, but will roll it up again at the end of time when the cosmos is put away. Then, there will be no dome over Earth, and humans perhaps will be able to translate to and fro at will with no impedance in between! Well, God is that hidden “Spring” that we trust will open the heavens for us as He did for Enoch.

  Next, consider Paul’s possible translation to the Third Heaven. 

3 As he (Paul who persecuted Christians) journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” 5 And he said, “Who art thou, Lord?” And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutes…  6 And he trembling and astonished said, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” And the Lord said unto him, “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” 7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink… 17 Ananias (later, in Damascas) went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. (Acts 9)

  Paul had said that he knew a man who went to the Third Heaven. If it is him, would he not have said, “I went to the Third Heaven fourteen years ago?” Not necessarily because that would aggrandize himself, but Paul’s name means “humble.” Just think, like the first man on the moon, Paul would be exalted if they had known that he went to Heaven!

  Saul’s conversion is dated between 33 and 36 AD by theologians. Since the key verses were written in 55 AD, then that would be at least 19 years ago which satisfies the “above fourteen years ago.” Why did not Paul say, “nineteen years ago?” Because that would eliminate all doubt that it was him. He was wise, knowing full well that people are not stupid.

  Assuming Paul went to the Third Heaven, in the key verses, he said, “Whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell.” That was regarding his “trip” to the Third Heaven. In the sacred book of 1 Enoch, Enoch describes several times, “windows of heaven” from earth to heaven — from the physical world to the spiritual; albeit both are the “worlds” that were mentioned before. Enoch went from one world to the other and back through a “window” each time he translated.

  Enoch dreamed… or did he? Of course, Enoch was before the deluge, and Paul certainly was not referring to him. However, was Enoch dreaming, or was he really transported (borne by God) to see the heavens? It was real to Enoch, and certainly, he was unsure whether it was fact or dream. Paul was in the same situation.

  Mankind, unlike the beasts, have three substances: flesh, mind, and soul. The flesh, of course, is the substance of the entire body. The souls of men, because they are in the image of God, should be in the bodily shape of themselves, as it was so with Jesus (Luke 3:22). Of course, the brain is flesh, but the mind is the faculty of cognition.

  Lazarus and the rich man in Paradise indicate that their minds are part of their souls, even though their brains are part of the fleshes. A non-thinking soul would be lost and could not enjoy the fruits of the Spirit in Paradise. No wonder Paul said, if it was indeed him, “Whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell.” The same would apply to Enoch, but in his dream, Enoch went through open “windows” into another realm in bodily shape!

  Scripture, but especially sacred writings, point toward the same thing; that the Garden of Eden, Israel, and Paradise in Heaven occupy the same space. However, there are not three realms but two since the Garden and Paradise are the same place — one in the beginning and the other in the end. Paradise — the Garden, now the City of God — is entered through “windows,” according to Enoch. Angels accompanied Enoch.

  Who guarded the gate to the Garden of Eden? Angels (Gen 3:24). Who guards the throne of God in Paradise? Angels (Rev 4:6), with both described as cherubim.

  The “gate” described in the book of Genesis would be the “window” entrance into Paradise. Only by permission can entry be made, and angels accompany the righteous through (Heb 12:22-23).  

  Enoch surely entered windows to Heaven. “Israel” is the entire Kingdom of David, according to God’s gift to Abraham. The “Israel” of David’s time was likely the Garden Paradise. Israel, in the geography at the time, was in the “midst of the Garden” (Gen 2:9) where the Tree of Life stood. Jesus stood as the Tree of Life when he died on a “tree” in Jerusalem. 

  Jesus died and was entombed in the middle of the Garden of Eden, as many believe. The name Mediterranean means, “middle of the Earth.”

  Paul entered Heaven to the North on the way to Damascus. That was once part of David’s Kingdom. Like Enoch long before, Paul entered the “North Window,” one of the twelve “portals” or windows to heaven. [1] The twelve gates of Paradise, one for each tribe of Israel, would be those portals. Apparently, the North Window would be the land of Dan on the way to Damascus where the tribe of Dan finally settled.

  As a side note, Dan’s allotment of Israel by God was not where he remained. That place was in what was before (in history) named, “Eden.” Ironically, Dan was cast out of the midst of the Garden of Eden, possibly right to that north portal.

  (Some historians say that the Tribe of Dan was cast into the world, and that they were the first settlers of Ireland; see “Tea Tephi, Queen of Ireland, Daughter of Kings of Judah” on Rootsweb. Naming the Hebrew disciple, Milesus of the tribe of Dan, as king of Ireland).

  Paul, endeavoring to convince King Herod Agrippa, told him, “At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me” (Acts 26:13). Perhaps Saul was escorted by angels to Paradise through the North Portal as Enoch was. Enoch, when at the North Portal saw three gates: two were horrible but one was good. Enoch saw one of the twelve gates to Paradise! Apparently, Paul entered that Gate!

  Paul described what he saw — light from Heaven. (I capitalized Heaven because it was, if I am correct, Light from Paradise.). Paul saw Jesus Glorified. He saw the Father in the Son! Paul saw Paradise but those with him did not. It was real to Paul because his mind and soul went to another realm, but his body stayed in the earth (the world) and was blind. His companions had to lead him as if he is not in this world.

  Paul, (in the key verses), opened his eyes but did not see. His body was blind, but in his mind saw a “man.” That “man” of course, is Jesus! Paul was in earth in body, but in heaven is bodily form. His soul was with Jesus, and where was Jesus? On His throne in the Third Heaven.

  The portals to heaven are twelve. Jesus will someday, in glorified flesh, enter His own gate, the Golden Gate, which at the present is sealed? Why is it sealed? Perhaps it is sealed until Jesus comes, and perhaps, since it is sealed with bricks, the bricks will “fall down,” as Isaiah saw (Isa 9:1). When that happens, Jesus, in defiance of the world, will indeed rebuild it with His own “hewn stones.” Surely with “Lively Stones” since spiritual people will be the ones living in New Jerusalem!

  I contend that heaven is a short “distance.” At death, the body dies, but the soul steps through a portal into another realm. In the end, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. The entire world will be in another realm.

  Perhaps this physical world will not even exist any longer. That makes sense because even the sun, moon, and stars will cease to exist. The two realms will certainly become one when New Jerusalem replaces Old Jerusalem, and the new earth replaces the old Earth.

  Consider the daughter of Jairus who Jesus healed: 

⁵³ And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. ⁵⁴ And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, “Maid, arise.” ⁵⁵ And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat. (Luke 8:53-55)

  The soul of the dead girl departed and went some “place.” Perhaps it entered a “window” to Paradise, which of the twelve, I do not know. Perhaps in the spiritual realm, distance is traveled in God’s time; there, it takes no time to translate from one area to the next since God does the transporting.

  Paul was “born again” when God picked him. Paul did nothing to deserve selection. God had a purpose for him, but face it, not everyone is transported to heaven as I contend that Paul was.

  Why a new name for Saul? Because after He experienced Jesus, the Holy Ghost of Jesus baptized him (verse 17), and then he was baptized with the Baptism of John for his body to be in unity with his soul — thereafter, mind, body, and soul; one with God.

  Since the daughter was twelve, she would not be accountable for her soul. Jesus, by grace, borne her through one of the open windows, but God still had a purpose for her, so the angels would have borne her back to her body. I avoided using the word “carried” because that implies burdensome. The young girl, just as Paul, certainly saw Paradise when she was “asleep,” but Jesus brought her back as He did Paul.

  What was her purpose? For Jesus to show the world just who God IS. That young girl was useful to Him, and I bet that God used her until she died again… to live again!

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[1] Usually in this commentary, “heaven” with a small “h” refers, not to a place, but to the spiritual realm. If capitalized, it refers to Paradise in the heaven. “Heavens” in the plural, would indicate that there are ten heavens in the entire heaven, the Earth being the First of the heavens.

THE GARDEN OF TREES WALKING

  The problem of relying on commentaries is that they pass down the same ideas and compound many false notions. I took catechism class when I was a youth. There, I was told that the Holy Trinity is “God in three persons” but God is God in One Person. Like those around me, I referred to all three aspects of God as different people. My poor training caused me to ignore Jesus throughout the Old Testament, but  Jesus is the Way then as now!

  We learn from the Word of God. Sure, it requires explanation, but the wrong explanation should not be purveyed. However, translations are ambiguous. Students of the Bible must consider the knowledge, culture, and language of the day. The very word, “created,” comes from the Hebrew word, ‘bara which can be translated generate, select, dispatch, or even cut down (Strong’s Dictionary). Ironically, it even has in parentheses after “cut down” the word “wood.” That makes sense, does it not, because the Garden was a wooded Paradise and trees provided growth to Adam (Man). Now consider the trees of the Garden:

KEY VERSES: ⁵ And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. ⁶ But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. (Gen 2:5-6)

  Every plant would include the largest plant, the trees of the Garden. God, when He “generated” the trees (Gen 2-4), was indeed, sort of a “woodcutter.” He formed the trees of the Garden with His Hand. Of course, that “Hand” refers to Jesus, who John said was there and cutting wood! (John 13,14). That Jesus was a “carpenter” in the translation. Rather, the Greek word for carpenter is tekton (ibid). It is obvious that tekton and technician have the same root, and thus it can be translated as “craftsman.” The English translators surely understood that Jesus was the “woodcutter” in the generation and called Him a “carpenter” during his time on earth.

  The LORD (Jesus) “caused” the mist from the ground. That mist was the Water of Life that God would shortly mix with the dust of the ground to form Adam. That mist would be 80% of the substance of Adam, according to scientists. To put it bluntly, the remainder of Adam was inert material and nutrients from the rich earth. Adam, when he was formed, was made of two substances: water and fertilizer, so to speak. Then God breathed life unto him. God turned that mixture into genes, enzymes, and so forth; and did so in a miraculous fashion that no other could ever do. Jesus “fashioned” Adam from the clay, and a miracle occurred, the lifeless creature was made alive when God breathed His Spirit unto him.

  God fashioned the wood in a similar manner, but they were not as Adam. Neither them nor the beasts had life breathed in them. They were fashioned and grew, but they have not living soul. Trees are indeed like men and are much like images of men. All that is missing from trees are souls.

  Trees are as men who await souls. I like to call the Garden of Eden, a “Garden of Souls” because they seem to represent images of souls to come. Adam was assigned to dress and keep the Garden (Gen 2:15). However, who did that before Adam?

  From the key verses, God had not “caused” rain, but He had caused the generation of the plants. Hence, God is the Husbandman of which Jesus spoke (John 15:1). Jesus’s true Father was not a carpenter but a Farmer! He planned, fertilized, seeded, nourished, protected, grew, and harvested the “Crop.” The “Crop” of course is Jesus, and as the “Crop” Jesus is the “Vine.” What would “vines” do? Spread and multiply. What was Adam to do? Spread the Vine! It all so simple, yet most fail to understand. Many read, but few comprehend. The Garden of Eden has within it the gospel story.

  Again, from the key verses, “God caused.” Everything has a cause and an effect. The word “caused” is not in the Hebrew. It is implied from the previous verse’s “generation.” Generating is the cause, and rain would be the effect, but since it had not rained, by default, the mist was caused by God. Therefore, the “sweat” of God’s Face was the “mist” that caused the trees and Adams. In other words, the Creation was made of the sweat of God’s Face, not Adams, as in Genesis 3:19. God’s “Face,” throughout scripture is Jesus. That is the gospel. God had done the work before sin, but after the original sin, Adam was responsible for His own survival in the World. However, he had a choice in that he could still turn to “God’s Face” to affect all things!

  Pilate asked while facing Jesus, “What is truth?” Jesus died because he claimed that He IS God. Pilate looked God in the Face and failed to know the truth. On the other hand, Bartimaeus was blind, but still saw the Face of Jesus! He said, “I see men; as trees walking” (Mark 8:24). He looked only at Jesus and those around him. How did he know the appearance of trees? Because in his mind’s eyes, he saw trees! Perhaps, as I can in my mind’s eye, he saw a different world than the human eye can see!

  Both Pilate and Bartimaeus were standing in Paradise but they saw things in different realms. Pilate saw a Roman city and a Jewish man, but Bartimaeus saw through the “sea of glass” (Rev 4) and saw who was on the throne. He saw Jesus as the Tree of Life and saw things as John did when he wrote, “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.” John saw Jesus as the Tree of Life, and Bartimaeus may have as well.

  The Garden did not look the same in Roman times. The Husbandman had grown the Garden Paradise into a Great City. Pilate only saw a small city insignificant to Rome, but Bartimaeus saw a Great City — the City of God. Bartimaeus was greater in God’s Sight because Pilate saw an old falling down wall with meek Jews.

  Bartimaeus saw the Great Wall that God made; high with twelve gates! Can’t you see? There is an opaqueness between our eyes and the invisible realm. I am trying to open your eyes to truth, but only the Word can reveal the Truth! What is truth? Pilate saw God face-to-Face, and perhaps lived. There is evidence of that in history, but perhaps he saw God face-to-Face and died, just as God told Moses on Mount Sinai.

  “There was not a man to till the ground” (from the key verses). That statement says much. Only God had created. He generated all things! No man was there to do anything, yet eventually scientists created all things, and were not even there to see it! The Truth is right before their faces, yet they fail to see it. Pilate was staring God right in the Face and did not see God. Scientists stare Existence in the “Face” and fail to see God, to wit:

¹⁹ Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. ²⁰ For 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: ²¹ Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Rom 1:19-21)

  When we look at what God caused, then we should see God. Jesus is the evidence of God and so is existence. Because Jesus is the Face of God, when we look at the grandeur of the world, we should see the glorious Face of Jesus. We should see the Tree of Life as the Face of God just as Bartimaeus saw it, even before he could clearly see this “Second Adam!”

   Perhaps, made to the same image, Bartimaeus saw Adam in Jesus. He had seen the trees of the Garden, and perhaps he had seen Adam as well!

  Adam would look like Jesus, and Jesus Adam, because Adam was made in God’s Image. Jesus is the Image of God as well, but His attributes are of His Father, in Mind and Spirit. Adam, after sin, was unlike the Father but more like his earthly father, the Devil.

  Only the Living Water from the Mist of the ground would generate Adam. It was the source of his blood in which God put the source of life. Scripture calls that source, “seed,” but God put enzymes in the water and made blood. Then he caused DNA to fill the enzymes and after that, all mankind were made in the biological Image of Jesus, but intercourse with the Serpent mutated God’s “Seed” until now each has their own image!

  Now, rather than God sweating for mankind, mankind sweats for themselves. When God transported Himself from the unseen to the seen, He did something for us! He agonized! His blood and water, after He was pierced, and returned to the ground from whence it came. The Creator took water and made the blood for Adam to live. He did that again when He died. His Living Water returned to the dust wherein he made man, perhaps the same place, so that Adam-kind could be regenerated!

  The water made the blood of Adam; hence regeneration is by the blood, but the blood of animals was not efficacious. Living Water from the Unseen is  the main  ingredient for life, and that is Water from God.

  When you read “mist” in scripture, think on that. God would not be interested whether you understood His creation process or not unless it pertained to regeneration. Remember that the Holy Ghost of Jesus looks like the Image of Jesus (Luke 3:22). Our own Holy Spirit should also look like Jesus; not the outside, but on the inside, we should all look like Jesus if we have “consumed” His blood and water. Not in wafer or drink, but in our hearts!

  Did you ever get a deeper commentary before? Always ask yourself, “If Jesus was there in the beginning, what was He doing?” He was “cutting wood” for you, molding you, and serving you. What should you do not out of gratitude? Like Adam failed to do, to dress and keep the Garden. What are we to do? Serve and preserve the Garden of “men as trees; walking.”  

  The “Garden of Trees Walking” are us. We must decide whose “tree” we are, and then allow God to guide us to cut us as He pleases, not as we please.

   Likewise, it is imperative to never stand under the Serpent’s “Philosophy Tree” or he will be the one who shapes us. Right now, Satan is tending the “garden.” He is shaping us “trees.” We are to remain in the Image of God, but unlike you, there is a bad “woodcutter” in the world reforming you to his image. In the end, before Jesus comes to “cut the wood” again, the false Christ will cause defective trees to burn, and his will is that all should perish.

  I see Satan carving out God’s “trees” now more than ever. He is patient; with one whittle at a time. Satan is making a new “garden” of thorns and thistles.  Isaiah saw it long ago, “The sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars” (Isa 9:10b).

  As the bricks have fallen down this year, Satan is re-carving mighty “sycamores” into knotty “cedars.” Unless you are in the word, you may be on Satan’s “lathe” right now, being remade in his image. Pull that plug! You know where the Power IS!

(picture credit: Adobe Stock Photo)

HOW TIME CHANGED - Final

 The mystery of God? Just what is God’s Mystery?  Perhaps there was not a new and old Covenant, but that the New and Old Testaments are contiguous! That understanding of the same message was quite different from one age to the other. That is not to say that the time of the Abrahamic Covenant was the time of the Covenant of Grace but that both Covenants are identical in purpose.

  Just what is the Great Mystery? Paul revealed it, “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).

  Salvation was never by works; it was Jesus all along. John validated that when he wrote that Jesus was there in the beginning. What was Jesus doing? Serving and preserving two persons, by grace He covered Man’s and Woman’s soiled flesh with pure flesh from a lamb; flesh that He made! By grace, the Lamb of God was already there saving sinful mankind. Paul wrote many times about the Mystery — that there were not two Covenants but one misunderstood Covenant (Ephes 3:4).

  Christians ought to know the Abrahamic Covenant. It is in three parts, but it also has several characteristics. Foremost it is and everlasting Covenant, Therefore, it is the Covenant of Grace. The New Testament did not start with the four gospels but long before. The entire “Pentateuch” (Five Books of the Law) begin the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus performed the miracle in the first Words, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth” (Gen 1:1). John validated that mystery as well (John 1-3,14).

  The three parts of the Abrahamic Covenant is the Covenant of Pieces: (1) Blessings for the seed of Abraham, (2) Promised Land (Gen 12:1-3). “Land” therein was misunderstood. It was heavenly Paradise brought down to the land of “milk and honey,” and “blessings” was not prosperity in Israel, but in Paradise. And (3) Abraham to be the father of many nations. The deal was sealed by the cutting-off of sinful flesh by circumcision.

  Scripture implies that sins of the flesh are mankind’s greatest sins. Adam and Eve covered their genitals with aprons of fig leaves. Their genitals made them ashamed. Just as the first Man, Abraham cut off the flesh of his organ, not to cover his own sins, but that pleased God who promised to do the covering… which, by the way, God did for Adam long before.

  Where is the Savior in the Abrahamic Covenant? It is known from the beatitudes that Jesus blessed the righteous. The Abrahamic Covenant was a quid pro quo (something for something). The seed of Abraham would be righteous (quid} and for (pro) that, they would be blessed (quo). As a reminder, “blessings” are bliss in Paradise.

  A Savior would be born of Abraham’s seed who would provide a Way to return to Paradise, the “Promised Land” that the Hebrews misunderstood was their present destination.

  The Hebrews broke the deal. They to this day, still give up the blood of their foreskin, but not of their hearts. That was the Law from the Old Testament, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked” (Deut 10:16). God had never wanted Adam’s foreskin; He only desired His heart. God never wanted the foreskin of the Jews; he wanted their hearts. That was the Law all along, and someday 144,000 Jews will forget their foreskin and give to God their hearts! (Rev 7:4). It may cost them the circumcision of their heads, however, since the Antichrist “circumcises” with the sword (Rev 20:4)!

  The Abrahamic Covenant remains valid to this day and to the end of time, to wit: “Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations” (Gen 3:9). God’s Covenant with Abraham does not overlap with the Covenant of Grace but are the same! Likewise, the metrics (measurements) of the Abrahamic Covenant is the Mosaic Covenant with its “Ten Words” (Sayings of Jesus) that should be thought of, not as “Ten Commandments,” but Ten Ways to Love God and Others. The beatitudes are the blessings for the Ten Words (Commandments).

  You see? The Covenants, even the Adamic Covenant, are all the same. However, it is just as matter of understanding. The Forbidden Tree’s fruit blinded Man from truth. Most Hebrews never understood truth and were in bondage to the Law of Works. Jesus came to reveal the truth; to take the blinders off!

  Now for God’s Covenant with Adam: It was Jesus who provided the Promise in this passage: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15). Rewritten for clarity, Jesus will cause animosity between the offspring of the Serpent and the offspring of Woman. That war will end when the heel of Jesus, the Son of Eve through Mary, will step on the head of the offspring of the Serpent.

  That eventually happened on the Cross, perhaps 5500 years later, or 5-1/2 “days” in God’s time. With that said, the time that was divided in Rebecca’s womb began when Jesus promised Adam (mankind) reprieve. That Covenant was based on Adam-kind being righteous in that long war. Adam and his posterity would endeavor to trust God because of the coat of skin, and as such, God would keep them safe until the Serpent is put away. Jesus stepped on the Serpent on Calvary. He had been in Judas, but surely, he went back to his first love, Adam, who it is said, is buried beneath Calvary. [1]

  Is it coincidence that Jacob grabbed the heel of Esau? Was that not the first of many battles for the heel? Jesus Himself said of Judas, “That the scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me” (John 13:8). That would seem that the heel of Judas would crush the head of Jesus, but that is not the way it turned out. Jesus stepped on Judas.

  The War for the souls of men were won on Good Friday when Judas hung himself (by his own works), and Jesus Himself (by grace). The Centurions drove the nails and the multitude convicted Jesus, but it was God that served His Own Flesh for the sins of all Adams!

  The Covenant was written as a deal between God and Abraham. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but not Esau. The Covenant needed to be divided into pieces.

  God had previously made a Covenant with Abraham about Ishmael as well. His seed is indeed a great nation — the Arabs. Then God further divided the Covenant between Jacob and Esau, or between Israel and Edom. Israel’s was the Covenant of Grace that God presented to Abraham. Esau’s was the Law of Works. Ironically, both were of the blood of Adam, but Israelites became more like Edomites. The epitome of that is Islam whose prophet, Muhammad, took Jews and Christians and rejoined them in the “womb.” I am speaking of the paradise that is still called, “Israel,” but is more like Edom.

  Edomites, in the form of Palestinians, are still warring in that “womb” to this day. Jacob grabbed Esau’s heel. The promised land is and always was who would grab the land that became Israel. Eventually, Jacob got the land of Israel that God promised but only after along struggle. As Ezra was told, that battle in the womb divided time: “Esau is the end of this age, and Jacob is the beginning of the age that follows. For the beginning of man is his hand, and the end of a man is his heel, between the heel and the hand seek for nothing else.” Not only time was divided, but the promise of a divided land. It also divided religions into heaven and hell. It also divided Christ — into Jesus and the Antichrist.

  In apostolic times, Judas was the “Serpent” hanging from a tree. At the end of days, the Antichrist will be the Judas whose heel attempts to step on Jesus. In the beginning, the Serpent was the Antichrist messing with the skull of Adam. The gospel story is contiguous from beginning to end, from Genesis to Re-Genesis (Revelation).

  Just as Rebecca’s womb divided time, it has always been divided. The first division is the six days of work to make the heaven and the earth, ending in God resting on the seventh day.

  Adam divided time when the Serpents heel stepped on Jesus as he messed with Adam’s skull, specifically his mind. Why else would the Serpent loose its legs (Gen 3:14)?

  The time from generation to degeneration was seven “days,” or as I wrote in my book, On the Origin of Man and the Universe, seven processes with seven times for each process. Likewise, the time from degeneration (of Man with Adam) to Regeneration of Man (Adam) is seven processes, as well, ending on the seventh “day” when Jesus reigns for one-thousand years.

  On “day” six, Adam would be reprieved. Whether it was the crucifixion or the rapture, I do not know, but indeed on the sixth “day” at the end, Adam will be raised from the dust and be made whole again. That time is eminent!

 I have several ideas on how time was sub-divide from Adam’s Sin to the second coming of Christ. Of course, two of the benchmarks are the Rapture and the Millennial Reign. Perhaps the birth of Jacob is another benchmark wherein time was divided.

  God divided time by the Zodiac as well. The time of each constellation is slightly different but divided as if they are equal. However, Jesus was born exactly at the dawning of the Age of Pisces, but the time of the Antichrist at the dawning of the Age of Aquarius is not known because the exact widths of the signs are unknown. Why would the timing of the Rapture be unknown? Because the exact precession of the Earth during that time is inexact.

  Jacob was born, according to literalists, in 2137 BC. According to their calculations, Adam was born on 4246 BC. Because I take that “birthdate” to be in the world as the “son” of the Devil, that would not be when Adam was generated, but when he emerged from the womb into the world.

  Since time as made for Adam and mankind, then the promise would have been made to Adam 4246 BC. That is approximately, as is the Zodiac, 2000 years, and is correct as close as is known to scripture. Thus, Jacob and Esau warring in the womb certainly divided time. Approximately 2000 years later, Jesus divided time again (a new “day” one) when he was born just long enough for Judas to try to grab His heel in revenge.

  Jacob made the grab. Judas’s hand slipped off, ironically off the limb. Jacob lives on through his seed. Judas was likely to have left no biological seed, but he left many spiritual seeds. And the War continues until Jesus grabs Satan’s heel and throws him into Hell! 

THE END

NOT YET. THAT IS AFTER DAY SEVEN.

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[1] That is the premise of my book, The Skull of Adam, and even this day, the crevice beneath Calvary is celebrated as the tomb of Adam. According to the promise, Jesus’s heel would crush the head of the Serpent and the only way that could happen is if Satan, when Judas died a few minutes before, went unto Adam’s skull.

(picture credit: The Life Institute; "Twins in the Womb")

HOW TIME CHANGED - Part 2

  God changed the time, and no one noticed. Most of the Jews never even observed the miracle and never understood. But before we look at the time change, for the better by the way, examine primogeniture a bit more. It comes from the Latin phrase primo gentura which means, “first born.” Adam was the firstborn of His kind. “Adam” was not his name. He was man kind. If one checks Genesis in scripture for the word, “man.” The Hebrew corresponding to that word is ‘adam.” He was made in the image of God, and part of that image, God did not make a name for His man, and neither did the man make a name for himself as he did for the beasts.

  God has no name. He is without genealogy and has no genus. Hence God’s kind was One and that was Himself. The traits of the Kind of God are managerial, preservational, and creative.  Characteristics of His are Fatherly, Messianic, and Spiritual in the three “substances” — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. His “seed” is from the Holy Spirit, and the “hand” that planted it in the Garden is Jesus. As such, Adam is the son of God, and his nature came entirely from God.

  Lucifer’s “seed” that was already planted was in the Seraph of the Tree of Knowledge. Translators used “Serpent” to identify the body of Satan, and since it would soon crawl, he was called the “Serpent.” Just as Adam breathed life unto Eve from God, Lucifer breathed death unto the Serpent, and then, the Serpent breathed death unto Adam. Then Adam became the son of Satan with Satan’s genes. His kind changed from docile to feral as his genes mutated… from man to beast.

  “Eve” (Eva) means “life.” The seed of Adam and Eve are “Man Alive.” With original sin, Man-Alive mutated to “Man Dead.” As such, spiritually speaking, Adam was the “walking dead.” Cain (Hebrew Qayin) comes from the root noun meaning “formed” or “fashioned.” The new form of Man-Alive was something different than the Design by God. Adam was formed in Paradise, but Cain in the world in a womb surrounded by sin. The womb of Adam was the Garden. The womb of Cain was the world.

  Then came Abel. Honoring the Law of God, the second son would be heir to thereafer righteous Adam, for God had forgiven him his sin. Cain killed Abel because of primogeniture. He was first-born and thought he deserved the admiration of God more than Abel. He was created in iniquity and became jealous.

  Thereafter, the law of primogeniture — the law of man — was overlooked by God and the second son was favored. Since Abel was killed, righteous Seth became favored, and God put him and his posterity on the Holy Mountain, or Mount Herman, to keep him from the sin below.

  The heaven and the earth belong to Jesus. Since God is not dead, then there is no law that makes either heaven or earth anyone’s. Rather, God’s legacy is generously sharing His “Estate.”  As is written, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Hence, all God’s children are heirs of God and shall be residents of Paradise again, on the “Great Plantation,” that right now we can only imagine; one where the servants shall not be enslaved but shall only sing and praise God.

  Cain was more like his father, the Devil, than Father God. Some believe that he had the Devil in him as the Serpent, Judas, and the Antichrist will in the end. That is not scriptural. He had the Devil’s genes in him; call it the Serpent’s venom if you wish. Cain was not a “beast” but turned feral like the beastly Serpent. He killed instinctually because of his inborn nature was not right because of original sin.

  Lucifer believed that he was heir to God; that he deserved the heaven and the earth. By the law of primogeniture, they would be his someday, and that he is lawful heir even to this day. Remembering that “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High,” the Devilish Serpent still believes that heaven and earth does not belong to God. In his eyes, since God died on the Cross only he is master of the manor.

  Hence, life is all about primogeniture, and the battle is always fought in both realms. “Devil” means the “Accuser.” Just what has he done to be the Accuser? He accused Jesus of presumptuous sin; that by staking His claim as God, then the Heavenly Estate would never he His. The Accuser caused God to suffer death by propagating lies in the minds of either selfish or naïve men.

  Why would Lucifer not be rightful heir? After all, he was generated first (First in Genesis), and that was his right! But that is by the world’s standards, and Lucifer is presently ruler of the world. However, God remains in control, and He adopts children that belong to Satan since birth, at rebirth, when regeneration to perfection begins.

  Those “born again” are adopted by God, and he coats them with the Flesh of a Lamb — the Lamb of God, to keep them from the Accuser’s harm. Rather than a coat of skin, it is the invisible Flesh of God that we call the “Holy Ghost” of Jesus. The invisible Flesh of Jesus is not only on God’s children but in them as well. They are inundated with the very Spirit of Jesus!

  Right this instant there are two global wars in progress: (1) a global war for the world’s territory, and (2) global spiritual warfare for the heavenly realm. Both Christianity and Islam have the goal of being the “Big Tent” covering Shem, Ham, and Japheth… the entire world.

  Lucifer will stop at nothing and will fight to the death. The death of Judas knocked the wind out of Satan, but his influence is strong all over the world. His contention is that the heaven and the earth belong to him, and both he shall have. With that notion, Adams (mankind) are merely slaves on his global “plantation.” The vicarious death of God on the Cross, hung from His own “Tree,” meant to Lucifer that the world belongs to him, and for the world he shall fight! Mankind is merely collateral damage, and like the 20^th Century Japanese, Satan’s soldiers are merely kamikaze pilots sacrificing themselves for nothing that will never happen. (Much like a socialist Utopia that they want to change Paradise into!)

  Lucifer knows his peril. He knows the truth and uses both good and evil to gain the Estate. Perhaps he figures that God will see the light since he claims to be the “Lightbearer.” Whatever the reason, Lucifer is a fool as the heaven and earth will never be his. Perhaps he is satisfied with his six “day” reign until Jesus comes on the seventh for a millennium.

  God never promised Adam heaven and earth. Adam knew that he was not entitled. Satan put in his heart that it should be his. Although only the Garden was Adam’s estate, God gave him his wish. He was cast out of the Garden and the world belonged to Adam. The second son, although he was not rightful heir by the law of sin, owned the world. God leased the world to Adam until He restores Paradise for him.

  Leases are temporary. They either expire in a certain amount of time, or until the leased property is destroyed. Adam was king of the world for 930 years. He withered away much as the fig tree in the parable of Jesus. The first Adam withered and died, but the second “Adam,” Jesus, died but was restored. He is not “King of the Jews” as the sign said, but King of Heaven and the Earth. Because He remains secluded in His Estate does not mean that He does not rule!

  “Primogeniture” is literally, “first generated.” Lucifer accepts that law although he was not born but created. “Born” would mean that he was carried by some being. God dropped him like a hot potato immediately! “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground (Isa 14:12). With the “fetal” Lucifer perishing, the world would not belong to him. His pride, his desire to be king, perished his angelic soul and made Lucifer not more than a lowly being that crawled. God made him meek, but in Lucifer’s mind, he is still a seraph! Not to be satisfied with that, he disguises himself as a beautiful cherub without all the beastly faces that a seraph has.

  True, Lucifer was the first generated, and the first to perish. Lucifer was “as dead” when God promised that his “seed” would be crushed (Gen 3:15). Crushed, no less, than by the heel of Eve’s seed — Jesus! The heaven and earth belong to Jesus and the sign on the Cross pointed to that. Pilate knew that the Jewish man was rightful King, and Gentiles would live in His “Tent.” Noah knew what God was talking about when He regenerated the earth by water!

  Jesus was not really “born” of a virgin. He was “borne.” Mary carried him (born) but God transported (borne) the Soul of Jesus from another realm. Mary did not produce Jesus but served only as the “vessel” that would translate Jesus from heaven to earth, from the invisible to the visible realms. He had been there all the time, and birth for Him was again, God supplying the “second Adam” with a coat of skin. This time, the Flesh would be permanent, and the Holy Ghost has glorified Flesh that can overcome the firmament between heaven and earth. Jesus said it Himself, “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

  The world found out that God would never die. The walls if the tomb could not hold him. Jesus was borne again, when the Father delivered him from His “womb” of stone, and Jesus was regenerated. They call that, the “Resurrection.” Jesus was erected again in the Image of God. The world had toppled and destroyed the first “Statue” of God, but a new Image was quickly re-erected!

  Now, to what you have patiently waited: That God divided time. Examine the key verses again:

KEY VERSES: ²¹ Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² And the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it be so, why am I thus?” And she went to enquire of the Lord. ²³ And the Lord said unto her, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger...” ²⁵ The first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob… ³³ And Jacob said (To Esau), “Swear to me this day;” and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. (Gen 21:21-23, 25-26, 33)

  The unborn twin “children” struggled in the womb. (Not fetuses but children). God also knew them in the womb as he knew Jeremiah long after (Jer 1:5). Isaiah knew his adversaries; he said to them, “I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb” (Isa 48:8). He was warning Israelites that they were more like Esau than their “father” Jacob, renamed “Israel” by God. Of course, God knew his creatures as they incubated in the womb. As such, Jacob means “heel-grabber” because he was contesting Esau’s emergence from Rebecca’s womb.

  Their personalities (rather purposes) predestined their names. Jacob would grab Esau’s heel. Esau, means “worker” (Abarim Publications). Jacob, later renamed “Israel” by Jesus Himself when they wrestled, was grabbing the right to primogeniture even in the womb.

  God called him to provide the seed of Jesus in the Abrahamic Covenant, and Jacob was predestined to be Israel… both the person and the nation. However, it was not by his own destiny but God’s Plan. Israel overcame the “worker” Esau just as Jesus, King of Israel as the son of David, would overcome the works of man.

  Now for the surprise! I wondered many times about this story. It seemed that Jacob was always unfair to Esau, and perhaps Esau was so treacherous because of the snares of Rebecca. (The name “Rebecca” means “snare.”) What happened was God’s Will. He predestined Jacob to be Israel and he was chosen. As hard as Esau worked to escape the womb, Jacob was the chosen one to be the antecedent of Jesus.

  Esau’s treachery was “works” from the beginning. He struggled to survive much as a hairy beast would from a den or cave. Jacob, however, was powered by the Holy Spirit of God, and he merely overcame Esau (works) because of God’s Will for him to be the estate that would be called “Israel,” That “land of milk and honey,” was surely the place of God’s original “Paradise. The name “Israel” represents Jacob, the nation, and Jesus Himself as the “Son of David.” (I omitted “Seed” there, because as Jacob was the seed of God in barren Rebecca, Jesus is the Seed of God planted in the world but “transported” to Paradise in earth by Mary.

  The struggle inside the womb of Rebecca represents some thing in the world. For years, I wondered, but God provided. His Word that was rejected revealed it. I was astounded when I read it!

  Ezra asked the angel about time:

I answered and said, “What will be the dividing of the times?  Or when will be the end of the firs age and the beginning of the age that follows? “He said to me, ”From Abraham to Isaac, because from him were born Jacob and Esau, for Jacob’s hand held Esau’s heel from the beginning. For Esau is the end of this age, and Jacob is the beginning of the age that follows. For the beginning of man is his hand, and the end of a man is his heel, between the heel and the hand seek for nothing else, Ezra” (4 Esdras 6:7-10)

  That is the answer to my wonderment! In the womb, the question was one of primogeniture, first generated or second, as heir of God. The “worker,” Esau lost the battle for survival. The first was not the fittest, and the first fruit of Rebecca’s womb was sacrificed to keep the second fruit. “Firstfruits” are the best pickings of the crop which are the first harvest. The second stand is the poorer of the two.

  Esau worked hard to be the firstfruit of God but that was not God’s Will. Although Esau was the “firstfruit” and was produced first, that was not the Plan. Remembering that Cain worked as hard as Abel, Cain would not get the “Estate” of God on the Holy Mountain. As Abel’s proxy, Seth became the second son, and the law of primogeniture was overcome.

  It had to be. Rebecca set a snare. Isaac endeavored to use the law of primogeniture, but it was not what God wanted. God out-witted Lucifer and again provided the skin of a lamb, and Isaac became “Esau” to Isaac. With that cunningness on the part of God, Rebecca set the snare and Jacob received the blessing that by the world’s standards, was due Esau.

  It would not be by the works of Esau who struggled the path through the birth canal, but by the grace of God who transported (borne) Jacob, although Esau worked harder. He spread the pelvis of Rebecca and Jacob merely coasted through! That is Christianity in a nutshell.

  Judaism is works.  Rather than their “father” Israel, Israel became more like their natural born father, Esau. Big hairy “Red” (Esau was renamed Edom and means “red”) was the true father of the nation of Israel in heart, more so than the man Israel. Hence, the birth of Esau was intended to divide time. Esau, or works, was the end of one age, and Jacob (a blessing by God) the beginning of another age… one of grace.

  Jacob got Isaac’s blessing, not by his will, but the Will of God. ”Blessing” is “bliss.” The promise to Israel was bliss outside the womb and to Esau works. Bliss is Paradise. Heaven would belong to Israel. The nation of Israel would be their “tent” until they themselves, as Israel-kind, become themselves, Temples of God. That would not happen in that age but two ages later: (1) When Jesus was born was the beginning of the age that we call “Pisces,” and the last age will be the age of Esau, when Lucifer works o tear down what God has made with Great Tribulation.

  Do not be dismayed. Edomites (Muslims) will tear down what God has made with Great Tribulation, but then a new age will come with the return of Israel with Jesus as its King. The “New Age” belongs to Jesus but Edomites (Esau’s seed) will consume that “soup.” The Age of Aquarius is called the “New Age, “but is the old age of works that Jacob left behind as heir to Isaac and of God.

  The two ages changed with the birth of Jacob from one of works to one of grace. Not really “changed” but understood. The ages were always by grace. That is the “Mystery of God.” More on that later, but grace was from the beginning “age.” It is first rank!  Genesis 3:15 is a picture of what would be repeated at least twice. Stay tuned for more of the mystery tomorrow!

(picture credit: The Life Institute; "Twins in the Womb")