RTBT . JAN . 2004

regarding Genesis chapters 2 and 3 ...
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Two specific trees are noteworthy in the garden of Eden:
1) the tree of life
2) the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

God put Adam in the garden to tend and keep it.

God told Adam that there was only one thing he must not touch.
He must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil;
for in the day he eats of it, he would surely die.

God then created Eve as a helpmate for Adam.

Satan then came and challenged Eve
regarding everything that God had told Adam
about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

So the woman eyed the fruit of this tree,
and reasoned it for food, and that it was appealing,
and that it was desirable to eat to attain wisdom,
so she disobeyed God and took of it and ate.
She then gave some to her husband and he ate also.

Adam and Eve's eyes were opened to their nakedness
and they heard God coming toward them, speaking in the garden.
Immediately Adam blamed his sin on the woman which God provided.

God reprimanded them
in the following order:

1) Satan
2) Eve
3) Adam.

Do you also find it curious the order of God's rebuke?

Then comes the most interesting part:

Also for Adam and his wife
the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

Then the LORD God said,
"Behold, the man has become
like one of Us, to know good and evil.
And now, lest he put out his hand
and take also of the tree of life,
and eat, and live forever"--

therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden
to till the ground from which he was taken.

So He drove out the man;
and He placed cherubim
at the east of the garden of Eden,
and a flaming sword which turned every way,
to guard the way to the tree of life.


- Genesis 3:21-24


God drove Adam out of the garden of Eden
so that he would not also eat of the tree of life
and subsequently eat of it and live forever.

Adam was forbidden to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Adam wan NOT forbidden to eat of the tree of life.
Rather than obey God and avoid the one,
Adam missed the opportunity to try the other
and live forever.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Gen 2:18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

Gen 3;12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Sorry it was the woman that started all the chaos. I have trouble too trusting others and listening to deceiving messages that sound "good for me". I pray every day for God to keep me in his protection and to keep me from such evil. I dont trust much anymore but am trying to learn how to do it again; especially when others show me and demonstrate to me that they are trustworthy.

Originally posted by God in Genesis 2:22
Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, "WHOOOHOOOO, ALL RIGHT!!!!" (paraphrased by Kevin)

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I was talking to a minister the other day, and he said the angels were created somewhere in the first 6 days, but the Bible is not specific where. He seemed to indicate there is Scripture that they did not exist before day 1. Does anyone know what this possibly might be? If that is true, there must have been quite a bit going on in heaven those first 6 days too.

It's interesting to note that the Tree of Life was not originally forbidden from Adam and Eve. I wonder why they did not eat from it? With a name like that, I think I would have gone there first. And if they had (and become eternal), would God have then prevented them from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Obviously these 2 trees cannot be taken together. Hmmmm.

Originally posted by God in Genesis 3:22
And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Click to expand...

I wonder if the garden is still around somewhere? And if that angel is still standing guard to this day?

You're right, Miss Judy:
trust is a long hard road.

If someone proves themselves trustworthy
then I can lend more confidence in them,
but ultimately God is the only one who will not fail us.

I agree, Kevin. With a name like the tree of life,
I probably would have gone there first too.
I wonder how things would have turned out
for all of us if they ate from that tree first. :confused

As for the garden of Eden, I would think you could
plot on a map the Tigris and Euphrates
and narrow it down to a certain geograhy.
Funny though, I always imagined the garden of Eden
as some mystical place, abstract to me, like Heaven.

As for the creation of angels, I don't know much,
but John MacArthur Jr.,...

* edit - John MacArthur Jr. once said:
"I think the best understanding of Scripture
would probably put the creation of angels...(before time began)."

He didn't go on to provide scripture to support his understanding,
but it would be and interesting study,
although I don't know how useful the findings would be. *

If the garden were mystical like I imagine,
then I could see a cherub and a flaming sword
there to guard it like scripture says,
but I think someone would have found it
in Mesopotamia by now... (?).

This is interesting.

Genesis 6
6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD .

9 Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

Judy says:
It is not the environment but the heart that determines our walk with the Lord.

Psalm 19:14 says:
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Genesis Chapter 5

Adam and his descendants lived to be 800, 900 years old!
Can you imagine? How was that possible?


Genesis Chapter 6

God reduces man to 120 years.
God is sorry He ever created man.


Genesis Chapter 7

God destroys humanity, save one,
by wiping the earth with a flood.

Genesis 8:8-11
Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!

From my devotional bible:

We can be compared with this dove. We feel lonely and forsaken. We flutter around in a world that increasingly offers less to hold on to in every way. We see little hope for humanity. Spiritually and emotionally we find no rest.

Yet there is Someone who cares about us, who watches closely for each individual; GOD! Through him we find rest in spite of the catastrophes that harass the world. He offers us a place to stand, and hope, even in an apparently lost world. He offers a new beginning to those of us who return to him.

Judy says:
Personally, I can't run to Him fast enough! :thumb

now imagine being Isaac? If i was Isaac, i think i'd have soiled myself. :eek

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Genesis 22

Abraham Tested

1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.