you should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. -2 TIMOTHY 3: 1-2
This passages mirrors exactly what is happening in our time/real-time, not just in our homes, but around the world. I am beginning with a record of the last days only to examine the beginning of them. “Hath God Said?” my subtitle in relationship to the first sin ever committed. Almost anyone I ask can quote it. My question then is do they really know it?
Some of the greatest teachers of the Living word have argued with me over this. There are a few misconceptions about the fruit, and about (The woman). As a matter of fact, no lie here, I used to think If I ever got the opportunity to meet Eve, I’d smack her. I know… bad, right?
Let’s go back to the beginning.
Back to a time when man walked in complete harmony with God.
Back to that moment where the woman was questioned by the serpent
“DON’T GET UPSET HERE”
Back to the foundational structure that has led many to believe, the first sin committed in the bible was the moment the woman ate the apple and gave it to her husband, Adam.
So, here is the question I ask you? What was the first sin ever committed in the bible? Before we can truly answer that question we have to look at, and examine the relationship God had with his creation, Adam the man and the woman. Many believe that when the woman answered the serpent, her answer was deceptive, more over, that she did not rightly speak the truth.
Here’s the thing, God created Adam according to Genesis Ch. 2:7 it states that Adam had become a living soul. Watch this! After God created Adam, he set him in the garden of Eden. God created Adam in one place, then set him in another. In other words it was not Adams place of origin. I may have been born in West Virgina, but my parents set me in Detroit.
The Garden of Eden was filled with beauty, arrayed with every kind of flower, plants and herbs, in breath-taking colors. Filled with massive trees and waters, rivers that were separated into four parts. There was gold and the gold was good, and onyx. The Fruit that I have no doubt danced on their taste buds. Everything, in absolute harmony had to be nothing but extraordinary and mind-boggling. The bible tells us that the Garden of Eden was filled with trees that were pleasant to the sight. Imagine that… Trees that were pleasant to the sight, and good for food. But, all that came with one warning for in the midst of the Garden of Eden was:
- The tree of life
- …and the tree of knowledge of good and evil
- note Adam did not name the trees, God did.
- Eve was known as the woman until sin entered into the equation
There was a time when Adam was not, but is, because God created him, not as a baby who knew nothing and had to learn. He was a man, who was given life and logic, logic with reason. The moment his eyes met God’s, he knew who he was, Who created him, and why? Adam was given the ability to carry on a full and mature conversation with the Alfa and the Omega, The Beginning and the End. “WOW!” THEN…
God set Adam in the Garden. God gave Adam paradise!
18 Then the Lord said, it is not good that man should be alone; I will make a help meet for him. (note, the moment I read that and many times after I thought that God created the woman next, having no clue his first thought was to create animals to keep Adam company) 19 Out of the ground The Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them.
Okay, wait… God wanted to see what Adam would call them and whatsoever, Adam called them, that would be their name from then on, forever more? Yes, a relationship is building between God and Adam. Adam goes on to name everything. Verse 20 tells us Adam himself did not have a help meet. So God creates the woman, here we go. God did not create the woman where He created Adam. We know that God put Adam into a deep sleep and took his rib, then God presents her to Adam, (were we gifts?) Adam names her woman, then claims her as his wife. The woman had to be extraordinarily beautiful. Look at some of the most beautiful women in the world? Would the first woman God created be anything less?
Adam was given the right to call everything God made by name. God could have named them, but he gave Adam Kingdom Authority… it was like giving someone land, but not just the land, the mineral rights to the land. The Garden must have been an enigmatic lovely mirage filled with wonderous beauty. How could one describe such a place? The very right to look upon the face Of God, to behold to joy the in his voice. Know this their relationship was experiential. It was real and it was pure. Their was no deception between God and man at the time. There was no sin. None. There relationship with God was lovely, honest and good.
They heard what the Lord said, they could repeat it, word for word. This is proved to be true when the serpent comes along to beguile the woman, raising the question “Hath God said?”
- Adam and the woman have walked with God
- Heard his voice
- Were living in paradise
God is not unrighteous. God is God eternal. God is the creator of all living things. God had perfect fellowship with both the man and the woman. God talked to them. Who can say how long they were in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man took place? They were there in that moment, surrounded by the beauty of all that God made. Not for himself but for them to enjoy with one exception… God warned them not to eat of the tree of knowledge.
Watch this.. we have read through Genesis chapter 2 and 3 to get to this point. At least I would like to believe you have had your bible open with me? Genesis chapter 3 1-3
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made, and he said unto the woman, Yea, “Hath God said?” yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 and the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, (wait for it, watch what the woman said) Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
I hope you caught that? Before I point out what that is let me remind you that:
- The woman had a relationship with God
- The woman could articulate exactly what God told her
- The woman knew no sin
- The woman was in perfect harmony with both man and God
Right? If all that is true, then she could not have answered the serpent wrongly. Everything she said was true and undefiled. That being said, I will point this out…
Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Do not touch it) lest ye die. She could not eat the fruit, if she did not first touch it. It is in that moment that the first sin was committed. Yes, the serpent beguiled her. However, she knew in her heart exactly what God Hath Said. So then, in that moment she touched it, her eyes were opening. Sin was entering into her heart. The Garden was Sacred.
I look at life in a different perspective since God opened my eyes to that. Many of the things that we are doing, things that are killing us… Can not kill us if we do not touch it.
- Cigarettes can not kill me if I do not touch them
- Heroin, crack and alcohol can not kill us if we do not touch them
- Some of the most dangerous and deadly weapons can not kill us, like a gun for example if we do not touch them
- God told his children do not touch…
How many times have you told your children do not touch…
Do not touch the stove.
Do not touch the electrical outlets
Do not touch the down wire
Do not touch drugs
Do not touch Cigarettes
And so forth? For some of you I believe your break through will come by making the conscious decision not to touch that one thing that has beguiled you. KJV
Dear Heavenly Father,
I enter into your gates with praise and thanksgiving. I pray that you give us a deeper relationship with you. I pray that you share your heart with us, as you shared it with Adam and the woman. Thank you Lord for your mercy which endures forever… with the last days upon us shield us from the terror by day, and the arrow by night, let us take heed to your end time warnings, just as you warned Adam and Eve in the beginning.
In Jesus Name, We pray.
One-Voice Perspective with Kirsten Voorhees
This is powerful, Bless God.
When Paula asked me to write with her, she mentioned the scripture that says “He that has ears let him hear. As I spent some time looking at this phrase (which occurs 8 times in the book of Revelation) I found this:
Revelations 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. KJV
Almost 30 years ago a professor of mine said something that stuck in my mind, “Always begin with the end in mind.” When I start a new year, a new venture, a new project, or a new day I begin with the end in mind. Things don’t always go the way I expect them to go… but if I have an expected outcome I don’t get lost in the middle.
This I know for sure, God begins with the end in mind. He already knew the end in the beginning. The Alpha and the Omega surely knew the end of the story when He wrote the beginning. He knew that all of humanity would struggle with that beguiling father of lies. The serpent thought he had thrown the knock out punch to God’s paradise and plan. But God’s plan was set in motion.
With God, the end of the matter (story) is even better than the beginning. The tree of life that was stripped away in Genesis shows up again in Revelation chapter 2. It is again paired with hearing God, “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches…” implying we can have a relationship with him. We can discern the voice of the Spirit and know what He is saying. If we have ears we can hear… and what is He saying? Pay attention. He is saying that whoever overcomes will be given the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of paradise. How amazing is that? The tree that was there in the beginning is there in the end and it is for those that overcome.
Overcome… overcome what? Overcome the very thing that created the separation from God way back in the beginning. Sin. Sin is a game changer and a name changer. Eden and the tree of life became off limits and the woman was renamed Eve. One rule (don’t touch) would become 10 commandments. Overcoming sin seemed more and more complicated as time passed.
Revelation 12:10-11 pretty much sums it up. The “accuser of the brethern” is finally cast down. The one that beguiled the woman in Genesis. Still weaves his web of deception and lies. Verse 11 says that they overcame him (the accuser of the brethren) by the blood of the lamb (Jesus) and the word of their testimony…”
God begins with the end in mind. Nothing is ever too far gone, too complicated, too dark, or too difficult. Are you feeling “beguiled”? I love how Paula broke it down to this basic truth, “Many of the things that we are doing, things that are killing us… Cannot kill us if we do not touch it.” Pay attention to what you are touching. I love how Revelations clearly lays it out that overcoming is directly tied to Christ’s work on the cross. God asks a lot, but He gives it all. Our testimony is this, “I can’t, but HE can and HE did so now I can.”
So, there are my thoughts. We look forward to hearing yours.
This is an interactive blog site, if you have questions, comments or topics please feel free to comment. Kirsten Voorhees, I look forward to examining the word with you.
