LIFE ON HIS PLANTATION

Jesus had just related the ‘parable of the unforgiving debtor’ wherein the first man’s trespasses were forgiven by his lord, but that same man did not forgive the debts owed by the second man. (You can review that yourself in Matthew chapter 18.)

Firstly, consider the word ‘trespass’ (paraptoma) in scripture. It is merely a ‘lapse’ in something — something that should have happened, but did not, or should have, but did not. In modern times, trespassing is entering onto the property that belongs to someone else; it is a lapse in who has the right to be on the property.

‘Lapsing’ is an inattentiveness to the rule of law, either by forgetfulness or judging wrongly. It may be that it is okay to do so just this one time or even more frequently if the trespasser sees no harm is done. As such, ‘sin’ is trespassing against the Law of God by either forgetting the rule of Law or thinking the lapse will be easily pardoned, perhaps not even noticed by the property Owner.

Consider the heaven and earth (Gen 1:1) as the ‘Estate’ of God and that it is His land and since it is that they are His rules that should be followed.

Adam and Eve ‘trespassed’ on the only place on the Estate of God where they were not allowed. The Tree of Knowledge was the ‘room’ of God. In ancient law, ‘room’ was the space somewhere on the property that was for the owner only.

Like in old movies, God’s rule was that Adam and Eve not go into the “room’ occupied by some sinister occupant. As it turned out, it was a creature — the so-called ‘Serpent’ that would mess with the mind of inquiring people. He had powers that the LORD alone could control.

Enter Adam and Eve into the room of God. There, they were confronted by another being that was not so terrible after all. They could not see inside, either his mind or spirit, for it looked quite tame, even intelligent, and fair outwardly. It is supposed that the two saw, not a ‘Beast,’ but the bright angel, Lucifer.

God, it may have seemed, was wrong, and they, perhaps, believed that God was only selfishly keeping the ‘good stuff’ for Himself, and they wanted some of it.

There was good stuff in that forbidden room, but unknown to them, the good stuff was tainted. The LORD GOD had planned a test; would they obey Him or trust the demon within that dark room? They chose to trespass where they should not go. Their trespass was on God’s property and against God’s rules.

The rule was not against Adam and Eve but for their safety. So long as they remained away from the Beast by staying in their own room — anyplace besides that one room — their lives were not in jeopardy.

As Adam and Eve trespassed more, God had to be more precise with His rules, so soon there were ten written on stone and 613 either written on bibli (paper or other medium) or others said by God.

Just like the one rule, keep out of that one room, God added ten more forbidden ‘rooms’ because Adam’s kind had learned from the first room ways to break into many rooms, without learning their lessons.

With only ten rooms, God gave them many more directives, not as punishments, but for safety, in the same manner anyone would tell their children to not touch a hot stove.

Trespassing, as it turns out, was not to keep anybody away from what belonged to God per se, but to keep them from harmful actions, just like modern-day trespassing is to keep you from being harmed if entering the estate of someone else.

Nowadays, property owners, knowing that some will trespass, purchase liability insurance in case somebody gets hurt on their property. God provided an insurance policy as well, but not to protect Himself, but foolish people who do as they please on His Estate and in its economy.

The Garden of Eden was both an Estate and an Economy. The property belonged to God because He created it and was the ‘Husbandman’ thereon. He grew the Estate for His satisfaction, and not for the satisfaction of Adam and Eve. They were merely ‘squatters’ on God’s Estate that camped there because of His grace. While, they were on God’s Estate, they were expected to tend to it, “The Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Gen 2:15). Adam became the ‘tenant’ who would work the land and the woman his helper (Gen 2:18). They were created as the dominant kind to tend the lesser kinds (Gen 1:26). Their work was easy because all things were “very good” (Gen 1:31).

That was the ‘Economy’ created by the LORD GOD for His Estate. Everything was free so long as the two occupants kept things straight and did not party, so to speak… but then they threw a party for themselves. God was displeased because His ‘Room’ was nearby — the Tree of Life — and God was not invited to the party even though He had all rights to the room where the party was thrown.

Somehow Lucifer trespassed on God’s Estate, or perhaps, God allowed ‘it’ to be there to see just who would come to the party. (Perhaps he would be the scary ghost.)

First to show up was the woman. She had no name before, but soon made a name for herself — Eve (Gen 3:20). Rather than God as the Father of all the living (on His Estate) the woman had become a ‘god’ (Gen 4:1) and created her own manner of ‘man’ (is; pronounced eesh) who was another manner of existence (Cain) — a homo sapien, or a so-called ‘wise man’ — that was as foolish as his mother.

Since that time, Eve’s specific kind have been ‘symbiotic’ as her name means — two different types of existences, cooperating for their own survival. In this case, the spirit of the Serpent got into the woman (she was beguiled), and she became a different kind herself!

As such, just as Eve trespassed on God’s Estate where she should not go by lapsing the rules of God as insignificant and unwarranted, all her progeny have that same propensity to relapse from innocence to trespasser.

To be honest, even Christians also relapse in their trespassing, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:10) and we are to pray, “When you stand praying, forgive, if you have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25).

Trespassing is genetic and even Christians still relapse often. By grace, God put onto Adam and Eve ‘coats of skin’ (Gen 3:21) and for us the ‘whole armor of God’ (Ephes 6:11) to keep us away from the harmful trespassing. (The chief squatter, Lucifer, guards what he thinks is his by fiery darts.)

Noah was handed down, as the Book of Jasher relates, the ‘Garment of Adam’ (Gen 6:8), but when he took it off, it was stolen by Ham; then Noah trespassed the first thing in the new world; ignoring the LORD GOD — the Husbandman (John 15:1), Noah not only trespassed but still relapsed against God… He became the ‘Husbandman’ himself (Gen 9:2)… he became the God.

Because we all are of the progeny of Noah, we all have become the ‘husbandmen.’ Our nature is to wantonly trespass against God even knowing that it is for our own safety that we not. We are a generation of fools who do whatever enters our minds as if there are no Laws.

God even redeemed us from the penalties, out of grace, but ungrateful us still trespass with impunity; we lapse and relapse even after God regens us!

In the end of the parable, as it turns out, “his lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him. So, likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses” (Mat 18:34:35).

Their trespasses that are to be forgiven are against you. Forgiveness is not a legality; that you must do so, but from your hearts, or innermost being. Trespasses should be forgiven others because of your goodwill toward them, not because of expectations from God or others.

Yes, God does expect you to never trespass, but he also expects you to forgive the trespasses of others because if you expect graciousness for yourselves, then you should automatically, without force, be gracious to others who have the same nature that you have.

Say, for instance, that you see no need to forgive, just as the first man of the parable. Then, you are lax, having relapsed. On the other hand, in the parable, God was not lax in His pardon but very motivated to forgive.

If you have no grace to forgive, then God will do likewise to you as you have done to others. If you still condemn, then you will be condemned. The rule of God is, “condemn not, and you shall not be condemned: forgive, and you shall be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). The first man in the parable was forgiven but he still condemned another. He deserved torments for that.

Condemnation was not so much to negatively reinforce good spiritual behaviors, but to positively reinforce them.

Torment negatively reinforces right actions, whereas forgiveness positively reinforces right actions. It is better to reward for righteousness than to punish for unrighteousness. Doing it God’s way is to encourage forgiveness to avoid punishment. So, the object is to pay for trespasses using the least punitive way possible. If you forgive without coercion, forgiveness for you proceeds. If you forgive out of coercion, then forgiveness for yourself is forfeited.

Doing it the right way is the desire of God for He would much rather reward than to punish. Everything that exists is on God’s Estate. Some things were are allowed to be used, and others not.

Fruits are the goods of God. However, Satan used what belonged to God for deception. It supported His habit of lying. The fact that he allowed Eve to assume that it was his property and his fruit to give, made the Serpent the trespasser, but if more than one trespasses, it becomes ordinary.

Satan — the Serpent — made trespassing the normative in that part of the Garden, so God sent them out of the Garden where they could make crops for themselves, so that they could see why trespassing was such a serious crime:

Cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground… (Gen 3:17:19)

God had made it easy for Adam to tend His ‘Plantation.’ The two Adamah had trespassed where they should not go. Poison fruit was on that one tree and God only desired them to eat good fruit from any of the others (Gen 2:16). The rule was not for control but for safety! They were lax in their respect for God’s authority and should have asked why so?

Basically, that tree and its fruit belonged to God, and they had no right to be there. God put up a “NO TRESPASSING” sign by spoken Word. Why would God do that? “For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16), meaning the people in it. He would not have them eat poisonous fruit from that forbidden tree, but He would give them fruit from the Tree of Life, or as we know it; the Tree whose seed would grow into the ‘last Adam’ — Jesus, the Son of God. So, to finish off John 3:16, “…that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

So, you remember the other neglected Tree in the middle of the Garden? Just as Adam was made a living soul was planted in the Garden of God (Gen 2:7-8) “eastward” — before time began, He had planted the Spirit of Himself  in the Garden before time began.

Just as the first Adam was a plant in the Garden, so was Jesus — the ‘Last Adam.’

Adam and his woman could have eaten the Body and Blood of Jesus before He became flesh. They preferred, however, the body and blood of Lucifer, who God also planted in the Garden before time, not for consumption, but in case they trespassed while thinking they had the right to be there.

I love morel mushrooms but own no property on which they will grow wild or not. Others have property, and in the past, I have trespassed to poach produce that belongs to others. I have done the same for fish. I did the same thing that Adam did.

The woman was more provocative; she even ate poison fruit because she was so enthralled with what she did not have elsewhere.

The trespass was not only for the taste of delicious produce but the thrill of taking what was not hers. She surely desired that fruit just because it was forbidden.

I also love antiques. Oftentimes I pass old houses that are boarded shut. Most often, there is a sign, “NO TRESPASSING.” Without that sign, I think, there is nothing of value worth looking at in that old house. However, the sign says so much; there may be something valuable, perhaps some nice old fountain pens!

As it turns out, the sign is usually there for liability purposes, so that inquiring people will not be harmed in the old house while trespassing. That was surely why God insisted that Adam and Eve were never to trespass to the space under that tree! They did, and so they died, just as God said they would. God did not say how soon they would die, just that they would.

As it turned out, the poison was slow acting; it took almost 1000 years for them to die! God was true to His Word! If they had only understood that the warning was for their benefit and not a hindrance, they would still be alive, and as they were immortal, so would all the rest of their progeny.

Something else should have been learned; they would really have to toil outside Paradise to eat and even to plant their own seed by birthing. They should have learned respect for God who would have lost tremendous Virtue to make all those things.

The same goes for our own trespasses to this day. Jesus lost all the Virtue that He had to save all of mankind. He was fast asleep, even dead, from the loss of Virtue. He worked by the blood-sweat of His face to save mankind, “Being in an agony He (Jesus) prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44).

Just as Adam suffered the consequences of his and Eve’s sin, Jesus suffered the same consequences for all our sins. As the ‘Last Adam,’ Jesus suffered the same curse, In the sweat of His own face shall they have to eat the Bread of Life.

Perhaps by now you have a better understanding that sin is against God because it is His Estate, and since it is His, then He has the right to determine what is done thereon! We cannot do what is right in our own eyes, as if there is no King or Lord, but what the LORD of the Manor wills that we do.

Foremost is that we subjects should honor the King and praise the Lord of the Plantation, whether it be real estate here or in another realm.