WE ARE DEALING WITH WHAT WE KNOW FROM THE WORD OF GOD CONCERNING HIS DEALINGS WITH THE PLANET EARTH; FROM THE PREHISTORIC ERA RIGHT ON INTO THE ETERNAL AGE. THEREFORE HAVING DEALT WITH THE PREHISTORIC ERA AND THE SIX (SO CALLED) CREATIVE DAYS OF GENESIS, CHAPTER 1, WE NOW COME TO THE PART WHERE GOD BEGAN HIS DEALINGS WITH OUR PROGENITORS ADAM AND EVE.

After God had placed Adam and his wife in physical bodies, they were left to fulfill the commission He had given them while they were still only spirit beings: "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." However no child of God ever goes very far without being tested; so that is what we want to deal with in this part of our study. Their test came in the form of two spiritual laws the Creator placed before them. That is why we refer to them as "THE TWO LAWS OF EDEN." We are using charts to illustrate the various points of scripture; and I might say also, We are not preaching these messages again just to be repetitionists; or because there is nothing else that can be preached. We are living at a time in a world, that if you have spiritual eyes to see, you can not help but be aware that time is running out for us Gentiles. The religious systems of the world are crumbling. The leadership of these denominational systems is influenced more by society and politics than they are by the scriptures. In fact, in this hour when there is such a great effort being made by most of the denominations, including the Catholic Church, to pave the way for a common grounds of getting together for fellowship, they are laying aside the Bible doctrines that have divided us for so long; all for the sake of this false unity. After 1900 years, we Gentiles who have been entrusted with the gospel, should ask ourselves one question, Why does the Bible divide people? What is there about it that does this? There are two ways we can look at it. There is a great multitude of people in the world today, that go to church, not because they have a spiritual appetite for the things of God; they have made religion merely a social function. It is like going to a lodge. They feel duty bound. Others go to church services feeling that they need to do so to stay out of hell; but they have no real love for truth; so their motive is wrong; even though God truly has done something for them. They will quickly confess, I believe the Bible; but when you try to fellowship with them in the scriptures, you soon find out that there are just certain things in the Bible they believe. The rest, they treat as unnecessary. They are likely to say, That is not for our day. Some feel that if they do not understand certain things, no one else can either. There is not one thing written in that book just to take up space. Everything written in it, is for man's learning, eventually. Everything prophetic was for a certain time; and not necessarily for prior generations to understand; but I assure you of one thing, Someone, somewhere in time will understand it. The living generation of God's true children, will always understand that which is for their day. Much of that which was a great mystery to prior generations is as clear to us in this hour as John 3:16 was to them. Certain developments in the world, begin to create a setting that just allows the Spirit of God to open up the revelation of the prophetic scriptures that pertain to that particular time. Those scriptures begin to fit right into the time which they are related to. As for the prehistoric age upon Earth, an awful lot of church-goers today just shrug their shoulders and say, What difference does it make, whether there was such an era upon Earth? The Bible tells us all we need to know to be saved; without going into all of that. Saints: That is only part of it. You will never be able to give an answer to many questions that arise today, about discoveries that cannot possibly fit into our six thousand year scope of recorded history; unless you know something about that prehistoric era. Neither can you give an acceptable answer to those who would question you about the way God has dealt with various peoples upon earth since the episode with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; if you do not know the truth about the two laws of Eden, or the two trees in the midst of the garden. That is why we are going to deal with this subject next; because we feel that this end time element of the bride of Jesus Christ should be able to give a sensible answer to those who ask an honest question.

After the Creator redeemed this planet back out of its chaotic state, it was ready for Him to use again; but there is absolutely no way for us to establish how much time actually passed, before Adam was given a body of flesh; and placed in the garden of Eden. In our last study we followed the recorded course of events down through chapter 1, of the book of Genesis; to the point where God had created man in HIS own image, blessed them, and commissioned them; and that brings us to chapter 2; where we want to pick up and continue our journey through the scriptures dealing with mankind upon this restored planet. When the Bible was first written, it was not written in chapters and numbered verses; it was a continuous thought. The printing press has caused man to make these divisions of chapters and verses which are very helpful to us in our studying of the scriptures. Therefore when we say, Let us go to Genesis, chapter 2, you can find it immediately. Then when we go there, we find that we are continuing on with how the first chapter closes out, God has created the animal kingdom, He has created man and woman, and He has given them a commission. However at this time we must realize, they are not yet in the earth. They are spirit beings, still in the presence of God, awaiting that time when they will be put in the earth. The same way with the animal kingdom. At this point we can say, About the only thing going on, in the earth, is that slow, gradual process of God bringing the planet back in relationship to the sun, and it is going to take many, many centuries of time for the earth to truly warm up; and all that glacier to melt into lakes, rivers, and seas, and establish a climate whereby plant life, as well as the eventual beginning of animal life can function as they were created to. That is why it says in the beginning of chapter 2, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." He had not re-created the planet. It is just that He had finished His objective; and in His mind it was all a finished process; even though everything had not reached the point where it would eventually be. After finishing all of these works, God then observed a Sabbath. However long that Sabbath was, I am sure of only this, It was not a day of 24 hours. What would He have a Sabbath for? To establish a pattern for the man that would eventually inhabit this reclaimed planet. There was not yet an animal, nor a human walking upon earth; yet He has spoken every spirit being to life; that would eventually appear on earth. In other words, they already existed as spirit beings; but were not yet manifested. While He had a Sabbath, I feel sure that He was meditating upon what He knew would be unfolding in the ages to come. He knew you and I would one day be living on this planet. He knew everything you or I would ever think or do. We have to realize, God is not some hand-me-down myth; He is the very source of all life, knowledge, power and intelligence that ever has been, or ever will be. He knows everything. That is why it is correct to say, He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He is without limitation. "And God blessed the seventh day, (that was His Sabbath) and sanctified it." Why would He sanctify it? Because the very fact that He had a Sabbath, set in motion a pattern; that as man would eventually be put on earth, so would he have a Sabbath. However man's Sabbath was not to be related in dispensations or generations. His Sabbath is related to a day of 24 hours. "Because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. (2:4) "These are the generations (The word generations here, describes, or speaks of the dispensations or periods of time.) of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." Not that He created them again, but regenerated, because they were already created. Let us take that word created; and notice how the apostle Paul used it in the New Testament. The apostle Paul says this, If any man be in Christ Jesus, (what is he?) He is a new creature. How did he become a new creature? Did he become a new creature because he has been re-created? No. It is because he has been regenerated. You can take this back to St. John 3:3 "Jesus answered and said unto him, (Nicodemus) Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." You have to see it to understand what the kingdom of God is; but this religious leader of the Pharisees hear Jesus' words strictly from a carnal standpoint. He said, I am an old man, how can I again enter into my mother's womb and be born. You see, that is the way people want to read everything; just strictly from a carnal, natural standpoint. The way Jesus responded to Nicodemus' remarks was, Marvel not at this. In other words, Just do not get hung up on a word. The second statement Jesus made went way beyond the first one; but He did not go into a lot of detail explaining the whole thing to him. That would be a work for the Holy Ghost to do later. Well it is the same way, concerning these so-called "Creative days," here in Genesis. Moses did not sort it all out so any natural minded person could completely understand all about it; but rather, by the inspiration of the eternal God he wrote what happened, without sorting it out for us. In this way, if we are going to understand the whole process, we have to depend upon the Holy Ghost to reveal it to us. Genesis 1:1, tells us this; "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Is this the truth? It most certainly is; but it does not tell us why the earth was without form and void, and engulfed in total darkness. That was left for the Holy Ghost to reveal to us later. Oh yes, the answer is in the same book; but you have to be led to it by the ONE that had it written in its present form. Let us notice, and pay particular attention to verse 5 which says, "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." We have to understand, that while God was having His Sabbath and resting from all His works, there was still something going on, as far as the renewing process of the earth? The Spirit of God was slowly pulling it back into a proper relationship to the sun, to get a perfect balance between them; and giving the planet a proper amount of time to warm up, and the soil to become climatized for the first things that were to appear, which was plant life; grass, trees, and all such. Things began to come up out of the ground. It says here, Before it grew, because the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth. In other words, until the flood, there had never been a rain upon this planet. It was not necessary that there be rain. That was not God's first means by how the earth was to receive moisture. "There was not a man to till the ground." Man was created; but where was he? He was still a spirit being; and still there in the presence of God. So was the animal kingdom. They were still only spirit beings, without physical bodies, just waiting for the next phase of the Creators plan to be activated. Verse 6 tells us what happened at the closing of God's Sabbath; when the climate and total earthly environment were finally brought back into balance. "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." Everyone knows, when they step outside the house in the morning, and the air temperature is just right, how the grass is dripping with water. What do you call it? Dew. Where did it come from? Do not tell me, It came out of the ground. It did not come out of the ground; it came out of the air. Why did it come out of the air? Because it is the temperature of the earth, and the temperature of the air working together that creates this. To better illustrate this process, take a bucket of cold water, bring it into a warm room and set it down. It will not set there but a very few minutes, until that bucket will begin to sweat. That is not the water inside the bucket coming through. What is it? It is the water in the air, around the outside of the bucket, hitting that cold temperature and condensing. What are we looking at then? The method God used for watering the earth, before He ever caused it to rain. God ordained that when there is a perfect climate in that sense, through the daylight hours when the sun is beaming its radiation down upon the earth, the earth will warm up; the immediate surface. Then as the sun goes down the air will cool. This cooler air coming in contact with the warmed earth causes condensation of the moisture in it. Therefore the next morning, when the sun comes up again, the grass is dripping wet. You can go out and get your feet wet. Why is it that way? We have seen already; by what we have covered already, that if there was going to be a perfect climate, there had to be enough water in a vaporized form, high in the atmosphere, way above the earth's surface, miles and miles up there, to form a vapor barrier. You do not see it. What we see, are the waters under the earth; which are in our lakes, streams, and seas, and so forth. The water up there does not come down. It is this water down here in these various places, that the sun is constantly pulling back out of these bodies, taking it up into the immediate atmosphere, so that it comes back down to the ground in a condensed form. Even though you do not see it happening; unless the atmosphere is just right on certain days, this is still a process God uses part of the time to water vegetation. That was the only way, from the beginning of our garden of Eden to the time of the great flood, that God constantly watered the entire earth. There were no such things as downpours of rain like we see today. Adam never saw a rain cloud in the sky. It was not necessary; because they had a perfect climate. As we have already said, The reason there was a perfect climate, was because the planet Earth and the sun were in perfect balance for the earth's benefit. The moon also, was in perfect balance to the earth. The Creator had restored everything that had been disrupted in that former judgment; back to its created state of perfection. That is why we said, There were 12 lunar months of 30 days each; a perfect 360 day cycle to each year. That gives one complete solar year of 360 days; in which there is a perfect climate. Had sin never entered into our garden of Eden, (which was the beginning of what God planned) there would not be an ice cap on the North and South poles today. Whatever that environment was, that we read about here, would have eventually become the picture all over the earth. That was the first picture God presented to mankind.

As we read verse 7, remember, God's Sabbath is over; He is going to work again. When God went to work the next time, He has been working ever since. What has He been working with? You and me. If God were like us so that He could have headaches, we would have to say, We have given Him many headaches. Did man's disobedience surprise Him? No. It is written in the Bible; that He knew all about it from before the foundation of the world. This apostle Paul wrote these words in his epistle to Ephesian saints. (Eph. 1:4) "According as He (the Father) hath chosen us in Him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." That would not have been necessary, if God had not known ahead of time that man would fail his test of obedience; and stand in need of a Saviour. Notice what it says in Rev. 13:8 about that, "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, (the beast) whose names are not written in the book of life of the LAMB slain from the foundation of the world. "He put man here on a freedom choice basis; knowing exactly how it would turn out; so what happened in the garden of Eden when Eve yielded to the temptation to disobey the Creator, and then pulled Adam into the same boat with her, was not a surprise to God. He already knew it. However He knew He must put man here on earth with the ability to make such a choice anyway; lest He have the whole earth repopulated with a bunch of puppets; that do His will because they have no choice in the matter. That was not what His heart longed for; He wanted a human family that would follow His plan for them simply because they love Him; and not because they are forced to, or are without the ability to do otherwise. That is why it had to be on the basis of a test; with the man having the ability to go contrary to his Creator's instructions if he so desired. With that, let us read verse 7, We can say this, As far as the earth itself is concerned, grass is beginning to grow, young trees were beginning to come forth; and everything was ready for the Creator to bring His man upon the scene. To do what? To rule. It says in verse 5, to till the ground; but we are going to explore that word till. "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." That means He put inside that vessel of clay the spirit being that He had already created. Why is it worded like that? It means that all those attributes, such as sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, knowledge and consciousness, all of which was in his intellect, was placed within that tabernacle of flesh and bones. All of that was in his spirit. That is what makes him an individual person. His personality, the things he likes, the things he is interested in are all regulated and controlled by the intellect. Let me illustrate that a better way. A child does not have to grow up in life to learn how to be a mechanic. The best mechanics in the world are those that are born with a desire to get their hands into the grease; and fix an old car. They like to play with nuts and bolts. They like to take Dad's old watch apart; and all sorts of things; just simply because they have that certain attribute in them. It is in their makeup to be like that. Why do some like to be chemists? They like to stand in a laboratory and experiment with different mixtures. They like to know what certain chemicals are capable of doing; in their individual characteristics. They like to pour a little bit of this, and a little bit of that together; and watch the smoke. That is creating, in a sense. Did you know, everything you see out here in this natural world about you came into being like that. I am talking about the things man has invented. Man did not have to read a book to learn how to build the first computer. The first computer ever invented, was a result of someone somewhere getting an idea to do such a thing. He thinks a little on this, and begins to put parts together thinking, This ought to work like this; and the first thing you know, he has a little contraption rigged up. Then he adds a little something more; and he eventually has a little machine to play with. Did he read that out of a book? No. It is because there was something in his makeup that caused him to feel that there ought to be a way to do what he thought to do. Was it in his flesh? No. The Creator put that ability in his spirit makeup. Why is it that some women like to experiment with foods? Look at all the cooking recipes we have today. If the world had all the recipes in one book, you could not find a building large enough to contain it. The point is, man in his soulish makeup, has those attributes incorporated in the spirit which is truly the person he or she is. The flesh we are able to see with our natural eyes, is not the real you; that is only a tangible form the real you dwells in. That is why when the spirit of man was put into a body of flesh, the Bible says he became a living soul; it just simply points to the fact that this created spirit being has become earthly activated. He became conscious of, and a part of his natural, earthly surroundings. When an infant is born, his conscience is very limited; but lying there in that little mind is everything that this particular human being can ever eventually grow up to be. Only the Lord knows what potentials lie in the mind of a small child; and what those potentials will develop into. That is what we have incorporated into this expression; "And man became a living soul." He had become conscious of his earthly surroundings and the purpose for which he was placed here. He has hands, feet, a complete physical body, enabling him to carry out all of what is incorporated in his intellect by his Creator. Adam, in that state, was a miniature Godlike creature. He was not "THE GOD," but he was an offspring of "THE GOD. "That is why it is written, "In the image of God created He him;" because he was made in the image and likeness of the very Creator Himself. Not the body. It is the spirit of that man; that we read about in the 1st chapter of Genesis. The body he was given, had a certain resemblance of the higher form of the animal kingdom he would eventually be the head of.

Verse 8 shows us what God began to do; after He had rested through His Sabbath. "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden." Where would that be? That is a direction; and it sounds very specific; but as we study this, it is necessary that we read between the lines of what is written; if we are really going to understand what the garden He planted really was. Do not picture God as some man walking along with a sack hanging over His shoulder; and a hoe in His hand planting seed. That is not it. He is a Spirit. How can He plant something? The word "PLANT," is man's earthly terminology for what God did. He established a garden there. He placed a garden eastward in Eden. What kind of garden did God establish eastward in Eden? Let us first read the description of this place called Eden. The garden itself was not Eden. The garden was one thing, and Eden was another. The garden was in Eden; not Eden in the garden. Here is the description we get from the Bible itself. We will read verse 10; before we read verses 8 and 9. "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads." As you and I look at the planet earth today and seek to identify this place called Eden, we are looking at the area of Eden many centuries after this description was given. Remember, There was a flood 1600 and some years after Eden's geographical area appeared like this description. Therefore the geographical spot of earth called Eden, no longer shows us necessarily, the same description applied to it here. Notice the description connected to the river that was parted, and became into four heads. "The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold." If you looked at a map, especially in the back of your Bible, you will see that today, this is a dry, desert river bed that runs across the country of Saudi Arabia. "Where there is gold." That is where King Solomon got his gold from. "And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. "Notice the word compasseth. That is a word that sounds like it encircles, or as we would say, Runs around it. Yet when we look at it in a geographical way, maybe on one of the little maps in your Bible, where it shows the land of Egypt, or North Africa, Ethiopia is a plateau mountainous country south of Egypt. The Nile River, the head waters of it, start. Therefore the word compasseth, means it is the river that drains the whole land of Ethiopia. Where does it drop to? It keeps dropping, dropping from that plateau mountain region until it enters the land we call Egypt. Then it flows northward to the Mediterranean Sea. This is two of the rivers that distinguish the boundaries of where Eden was, in its original beginning. "And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. "You look at your Bible maps and you will find these two rivers come from a general mountain region north of the countries of Iran and in through there. As that mountain region drains, it forks. One of the rivers becomes Euphrates, and the other is the Tigress. In our minds then, we can associate these rivers, where they are, and what they are related to. That gives you the natural, earthly, geographical area where God placed this garden for the sole purpose of again starting another cycle of life on this planet. This was for the reproduction of life; human life, plant life, and animal life, on the planet. The reason I am taking my time explaining this, is because there are a lot of religious critics in the world today who jump to conclusions, just like I used to do. We read in chapter 3, how God drove man from the garden of Eden, and it literally sounds like man was driven from a geographical locality; never to be allowed to return again. If that is the concept, or the fact of it, you will have to agree with me about this, Somewhere on the face of this earth today, There has to be an off-limits spot. A place where mankind is forbidden to trod. Go to your secular history; and you will find that all secular histories take our roots right back to the Middle East. There is where we all genetically sprang from. All secular histories refer to the Middle East, which I have just read about, as being the Fertile Crescent. All histories that deal with man's civilization, and the rise of all empires, date back to that original beginning place. The Bible is a book compiled and written by people that lived in the Middle East. Why am I saying that? We have to begin to see the garden altogether different than just a place where some trees grew. Keep in mind, Eden was geographically lying between those river border boundaries. That means it was between the Nile and the Tigress, the Havilah and the Mediterranean. In there, is the area where God ordained to put man. In there, is where He put something else also; which was different than just mere trees like we see out here today. When man was driven from the garden, he was not driven from a geographical place where those natural trees grew. He was driven from the spiritual paradise God had placed there with those plant life trees. Let me phrase it like this, Wherever God geographically purposed to initiate the beginning of the new cycle of life on this planet, He placed a little bit of heaven there; so the man whom He created in His own image and likeness, if he did everything right, could live to enjoy the eternal presence, and the eternal peace and happiness of God being there with him. That is what we have attempted to call attention to, on this little chart we are using. When we read verses 8 and 9, it says, "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. 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." Every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; certainly speaks of natural, plant life trees. These are the natural things that man can relate himself to today; because he is earthly minded. That is why the apostle Paul speaks in 1st Corinthians, that this man is earthly. (15:47-49) "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." He was showing the difference between God's created son and His begotten Son; and how redemption will make the earthy into the image of the heavenly. He speaks of Jesus who is heavenly; to show the contrast. In what way is man earthly, compared to Jesus who is the heavenly? Is it because Jesus did not have a nose that looked like ours? Is it because He did not have ears that looked like ours? Was it because His hair looked different than ours? No. That is not what you look at; trying to find out what is heavenly and what is earthly. The whole concept is this, Natural mankind can only think in an earthly way. He is only capable of relating himself to those things that are natural; things he can touch, see, smell, hear, and taste. When he tries to look beyond this material realm, he gets lost. Not so with Jesus; the begotten Son of God; He was just as familiar with the spirit world as He was the natural world; when He walked the earth revealing the name of the Father to lost mankind. You will remember how, when He began to choose the disciples one went and got Nathaniel; saying to him, Come see a man who we believe is the Christ. Nathaniel was like a lot of religious people today; just plain critical of everything anyone else says or believes. Where did He come from? Where did He go to school? What seminary did He come out of? (I am only calling your attention to a spirit that has always been present any time God has ever done anything that did not fit into the religious mold of the main-line religionists of whatever hour it was.) They said to Nathaniel, Out of Nazareth. Evidently Nazareth did not have a very good name in that hour of time; for Nathaniel said, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Well come and see. (You are always obligated before you criticize; to come and see for yourself.) He went with them; and here is what happened. While he was coming into the very presence of Jesus, before he got too close, Jesus looked at him and said, Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile. Nathaniel's mouth dropped open; and he replied, How did you know me? Jesus said, While you were under the fig tree I saw you. (That took more than mere human vision to see that.) He immediately yelled out, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus said, If you think that is something, stick around a little while. After this, you will see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. (I am just paraphrasing) Jesus was constantly aware of the presence of angelic beings in His life. What does that tell you? The spirit world was not a million miles away. How many can see that? Even when He went to the desert and prayed for 40 days and 40 nights, fasting, we find that they were right there to minister to Him. At the end of that time He hungered; and what does the scriptures tell us? That particular account tells us that when His temptation was finished, angels came and strengthened Him. God the Father, the great eternal Spirit, allowed His Son to be faced with the greatest trial in His life; but when it was over, Satan knew God had ONE SON he could not lead astray. Satan was allowed to come to Him in all his power, to see if He could be tempted to go against the will of His Father. He was tempted in three areas of what He Himself was ordained to become, in the course of His total ministry and purpose. When Jesus had used the scriptures to defeat His adversary, naturally He had gone through the greatest cycle of tests He would be faced with before the final attack when He would be nailed to that old cross where He died to pay the sin debt for all who would ever believe. That certainly should convince all who would ever be tested by this evil adversary later, that the devil cannot stand up against the word of God; if we will just use it properly. We cannot stand up against him with just our words alone; we have to use the sword of the Spirit; which is the word of God. The apostle Paul tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal; and in the Ephesian epistle he admonished them, saying, "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." You can read the 6th chapter; and find out what the armor of the true child of God is; and let me say this, You must be dressed in this armor before you can effectively use the sword of the Spirit.

We have got to get a knowledge of what the first four chapters in the Bible is all about; if we are going to get very far with our revelation of the other scriptures scattered throughout the Bible that people have wrestled with for centuries. If we can understand these chapters, it gives us, especially here in the end time, an understanding of why mankind in this hour of time has fallen to the lowest state of morality the civilized world this side of the great flood has ever known. I see no way Sodom and Gomorrah could have been worse than what this very generation upon the face of the earth has fallen to. The human race has decayed and degenerated to a place where great multitudes literally despise the idea of a Creator; and the idea that there is such a thing as a God of righteousness that will one day judge their unrighteous deeds. People of the world today, live an immoral life that they are no longer ashamed of. All of that just simply lets us know for sure, that the word of God is true; for there is nothing new in all of this ungodliness. Everything that is going on now in our present society, started a long time ago; back here in this part of the garden. Therefore what I am saying is this, The garden God planted, (Gen. 2:8) was not more trees, because the trees were already growing. They come up out of the ground, that is where all plant life was. God had already told man, while in his spirit makeup, Every tree, and every herb bearing seed of its kind, is for meat. Those things are for the physical appetite to be satisfied; and to replenish the nutrients of the physical body. We enjoy the aroma and taste of this natural food which comes from the plant life trees God caused to grow out of the ground; but there in the garden was two other trees that did not grow out of the ground. Let us read verse 9, "And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant (notice, out of the ground) to the sight, and good for food; (but when we come to these next two trees, it does not tell you they are growing out of the ground.) the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." All of those other trees were natural vegetation, plant life trees that were ordained to grow from their source of origin. Whether they were apple trees, the peach trees, fig trees, or whatever, they were all growing out of the ground. Those trees are in relationship geographically to the areas of where these river boundaries are established; but the garden that God planted, speaks of how He relates Himself to the man's surroundings; endowing him with a little bit of heaven here on earth. It was called paradise; because it was where the spirit world and the natural world were put together. Therefore when He puts a little bit of heaven over this, (the literal planet we live on) then we cannot help but see how angels can be seen in the background. The glory of God can be seen radiating through such a beautiful environment. The two trees in the MIDST of the garden, the one of knowledge, and the one of life were not plant life trees. They were figurative trees; because they are two basic laws the Creator placed before the man He created. Did you know the whole universe functions around two basic laws? It comes right on down through the entire Bible; right and wrong, good and bad, true and false, clean and unclean, up and down. That is how the whole universe functions. What is right? It is the way God wants things to be. What is wrong? It is the opposite of what God desires or requires; which is the way fallen mankind is constantly going. What is the opposite of truth? It is a lie; and Jesus said the devil is the father of lies. Notice in John 8:44, where those Jewish religious leaders were contending with Jesus, what He finally said to them. "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. We can define a lie like this; It is truth perverted. What is the opposite of good? Something bad. What is the opposite of clean? Something unclean, dirty. What is the opposite of up? It is down. These are the basic laws of how this whole thing functions. I am saying these things in this manner, endeavoring to help you see what the two trees in the MIDST of the garden were; before we go on into the rest of it. God placed this paradise, this spiritual realm, right here on earth; and He put the first man Adam there, with a commission and a command. Let us read the 15th verse. "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden." For what purpose? Notice that it says, the garden of Eden. You have to see the geographical place and the paradise all together. It is a little bit of heaven blended together with earth. Would it not be wonderful if we lived in a time when you could get up on a morning with the sun shining, and could look out across the horizon and see angelic beings going about their duties, and see the Spirit of God radiating itself through the atmosphere, and could feel His great presence all around you? That presence would bring a feeling of contentment and peace, and there would be no one crying; nor worrying about anything today. There will be no one suffering with pain today. There would be no one dying today. Everything could have been this wonderful; if the man would have just simply obeyed the voice of his Creator; instead of disobeying. Well saints, one of these days it is going to be just like that; when this wonderful plan of redemption is completed. One of these days, just as the Bible says, The lion shall eat straw like the bull ox. Well I believe that is in heaven; some may say. Heaven is a spirit world; and this is a literal scene upon earth. The reason I say these things, is not to belittle people who may think like that; but to be sure the truth is available to those who desire to know the truth. Religion has come down through the centuries of time, with different one's carrying their little satchels of traditional ideas for all of their kind to follow; and the true revelation of God's word is the only thing that can break that yoke. Every Sunday morning they go to church; and in their mind they have a little picture of how they look at God, salvation, and religion in general; but as far as revealed truth goes, many of them say, Bless God, I'm not changing for anyone. What I believe, was good enough for my saintly old Grandparents; so it is good enough for me. I am going to church this morning just like I always do; and I dare anyone to say I should be doing more. All through life, some people carry these hand-me-down, traditional ideas; never having any hunger for the reality God's word holds for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness; and they get steaming hot under the collar; when anyone even suggests that there is more to it than that. When they are actually confronted with the facts of the matter they say, Well that is not what the Bible says. Saints: It is all in what you are looking for, when you read the Bible. If the only thing you desire to see, is what your Grandpa saw; you will likely still be here looking at just that, when the true bride of Jesus Christ has already gone to the marriage supper. We are very prone to read certain things in the Bible, and just get a traditional picture; unless something has happened to get our thinking stirred up; and given us a desire to seek after God in a new way; simply because we are born into this world with a nature to be so carnal. That is why the Baptists, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, every since the Reformation was started, have fought against each other. The Baptists fought the Methodists because of the doctrine of sanctification; saying, Nobody can live it like that. That teaching is out of the pit. The Methodists on the other hand, turn right around and say, That doctrine of eternal security that you Baptists believe, (once saved always saved) is out of the pit. Then they say the same thing about the Presbyterians; because of the doctrine of predestination. Well I am thankful to know that all of these are true Bible doctrines; if you ever get them put together right; and they all belong to the true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you take one truth from the Bible, get it completely out of context, then try to interpret everything else to fit that, you always come up with a mess of traditional garbage that is everything else but the word of God. It was not like that in the apostolic beginning. Keep in mind, the New Testament was not written by Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, nor Catholics. It was written by Jewish apostles; who came to the Gentiles and brought the truth. When they delivered it to the Gentiles, it was still in its unadulterated form. Time, and human carnality has brought it to where it is today. That is why we say, If we are living in the end time, and You would have to be blind as a bat to say otherwise, we have to begin to do as the apostle Paul admonished the believers at Philippi; (2:5) "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." When we begin to take on His mind, and become subject to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and we begin to get an understanding of what started way back here in the garden of Eden, we can easily see what has caused the world 6000 years later, to be in this decayed, corrupt, low state of spirituality and morality. It all started with the disobedience of that first man and woman. No they were not filthy and corrupt; they just merely disobeyed their Creator's command to them; and forced Him to have to impute to them that sentence of death, and estrangement from His divine presence; which opened up the way for Satan to inject all the rest of what we see in the world today. Conditions like we have in the world about us, do not get like that instantly; they build to what they are little by little; as Christians let down on their former convictions; and begin to compromise with the world. It has always been the Spirit of God working through His dedicated children; that has restrained the forces of evil that have always been present in every age. As Christians let down, the devil's crowd moves in. The devil has something to offer you, to replace every virtue of godliness you have ever had; but he cannot force anything upon you; until you begin to compromise with the world. As Adam and Eve are pictured walking away from this, I want you to know one thing, they were not walking from the geographical area. They were being turned away from that divine presence of God; that had made the earth like a little part of heaven; and they were never able to enter into it again. The two angels with flaming swords, were placed between them and what they had been separated from; and I want you to know assuredly that they were not standing at a gate of a fenced area like natural minded man is so prone to picture it; like maybe with a wrought iron fence around a beautiful garden Eden. If that is what it was, then it would still be there. No saints, the angels were placed between God and the man; guarding the man's knowledge of how to enter into that divine presence; or spiritual environment. When Adam and Eve were driven from that, no man or woman, from that day until this, has ever been able to press themselves into the presence of God. Why were these drastic measures taken? Simply because Adam and Eve partook of fruit from the forbidden tree. No they did not eat fruit with their mouth; from a natural, plant life tree; it was their family tree, so to speak, that this picture reveals. I know the literal words in our King James translation of the Bible says, "She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat; but when you receive the true revelation of what their disobedience was, you realize that the word partook, would have been a better translation.

When God had planted a garden in this beautiful paradise place, then what? Let us notice what it says here; in Genesis 2:16-17. "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (That much is certainly clear enough; OF EVERY TREE OF THE GARDEN, so where did the trouble lie? Notice verse 17.) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." In plain language, that says this, Every tree of the garden is for you to partake of. They are for your food. Remember the exact words of Genesis 2:9, "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 (Not in the middle, but in the MIDST) of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Whatever you picture these trees growing out of the ground itself to be, whether apple trees, banana trees, or what, they were all plant life trees; and they were for God's human family to freely partake of, for food. All the other herbs, the tomatoes, whatever else it is that was growing in the earth, that was for food. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, (Where was this tree? IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN.) thou shalt not eat of it: (partake of it) for in the day that thou eatest thereof (or in the day that thou dost partake of this tree) thou shalt surely die." He called their attention to this particular tree; that is one sure thing; but that tree was not seen growing out of the ground; it was a spiritual law; and so was the tree of life. I would still say this, if I had a hundred doctors of divinity with their Hebrew and Greek, sitting looking me straight in the eye. If those trees were plant life, that one would still be here today. Yes saints, it would still be here today; and so would the other one. All of the plant life trees that grew out of the ground there in Eden, are scattered all over the face of the earth. However because of the various climates throughout the earth, time and temperature has adjusted nature to establish the present existing plant life in the regions where it is compatible to what they are; but they are still here; and for the same reason, for food. I want you to know that man, for 6000 years, has been living off this tree, (The tree of knowledge) in search of this one (The tree of life). If either one of them was growing out of the ground, you would be able to see them today. Man has been in search of the fountain of life. Man has been in search of the tree of life; because he wants to live forever; but it is nowhere around; for natural man to see with his natural eye. Isaiah chapter 11, tells us that Jesus is the righteous branch, and He is the tree of life. How did Jesus get to become the tree of life? We will see that as we continue on. In verse 18, notice that the man is in this beautiful paradise place; "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him;" but where was the female spirit? It was still incorporated within the male spirit of the man God made out of the dust of the earth. Let me say though, Adam, as we read about him, was not a man with a split personality. Neither was he physically half man and half woman. The Creator did not design him to be a misfit. He knew what He was doing when He fashioned that vessel of clay. It had two arms, two hands, a trunk, legs, and we would have to say, Physically it is designed like we would think of man in perfect healthy stature. He did not have a split personality; one day acting like a woman, the next day like a man. What does this tell us? We have to realize, the Creator had designed and planned this whole process of His new beginning to set in motion, right there in that beautiful paradise and portion of the earth, something that was going to foreshadow how redemption will unfold in the centuries to come. God knew man would sin. All you have to do is read the New Testament to know that. Therefore at this particular time, while the man and female spirit are still incorporated in the one vessel of clay, verse 19 says, "And 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: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." (He was forming the bodies, and putting that spirit life in them.) Here came the new animal kingdom; the elephant, the giraffe, the cow, male and female. Here come the dog; and all the rest; but you cannot call them by breed. There were no Hereford, Angus, Holstein, Red Durham, or any such thing among them. The cows were cows; and likewise with every other creature. However God had incorporated in the bodies of these cows, certain genetic laws; as well as all the other living creatures, that would serve His purpose throughout the ages. Man, being an offspring of His, (the Creator) the God that created all of these first beings and incorporated a reproductive law within the physical bodies, knew that man, sooner or later, because he is in His own image, would learn these genetic possibilities; and with this knowledge, would be able to bring forth the various breeds we have in the earth today. No man has not surprised the Creator; with his great discoveries of genetic possibilities; the Creator, that created the genes designed it to be like that. To the critics, and agnostics, as they are called, Is it not strange that the first book of the Bible is called Genesis? Why do I say that? Because the very word itself means, History of the genes. It is not the history of the apples. It is the history of the genes. Religion has been reading Genesis for hundreds of years; thinking the word Genesis, was just another word. Look it up for yourself; if you have any doubt; and see what it means. The word literally means, The history and origin of the genes and the generations that came forth through time. "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him." Those animals were help meets; but in what way were they help? God designed the animal kingdom to be just as they were. If we can look back through time, they were to be instrumental with man; as he went about to fulfill that part of his commission which required him to subdue the earth. Adam was given the responsibility of seeing that everything was kept in a proper balance. Plant life, and animal life was to be produced in a proper balance upon the face of this earth. Think of the horse, which scientists say evolved from a prehistoric creature that at one time had three toes. I do not deny the possibility that there were prehistoric creatures that had three toes and looked like a dog; but the horses I have, did not come from dogs. They do not bark like dogs either. When God cursed that prehistoric world, all those creatures died in that judgment. When He made this generation of horses, they have never barked since. They have always had one hoof. It is very strange they can find skeletons with three toes; but they never can show you where they lost the second one and wound up with one. It is all just a presumptuous idea; with no real foundation. Naturally if those educated men of world recognition ever hear me say this, they will say, That is just your own idea; you have no proof of it. Well, that is their own idea; and neither do they have any proof for what they want to make out of what they find. That is the only way we can look at it. As we get back to Gen. 2:20 "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him," we ask the question, What is the Lord going to do now, because the female spirit is incorporated with the masculine spirit? Let us think seriously about the process God used to form a body of flesh for Adam's wife to dwell in. Why did God do it that way? Here is the best way I can illustrate it; because the thing He did to bring forth the woman, separating her from the man, typed how God, in the centuries of time ahead, would work His work of redemption. His foreknowledge let Him know exactly how all of this would come about. He knew sin would come into the picture; and the man would fall from his original state. He knew man would have to be driven from the presence of his Creator because of it; and He knew He would have to be the ONE to redeem him from that fallen state. All of these things were in the mind of the Creator as one panoramic picture; covering everything that would ever transpire throughout all ages. Man would journey down through time lost and undone; and he would need to be redeemed; and God already knowing the process of how He would redeem him, foreshadowed, or typed that process when He took Adam's wife from his side. You should every one read the first chapter of Ephesians; and see what the apostle Paul said about this great mind of the Creator. Maybe we should just read verses 3-13, real quick; before going on. I know we use this scripture a lot; but I ask you this, Why not? It tells the story we need to be assured of; and in a very few words. Eph. 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He (The Creator, GOD, the father of all creation) hath chosen us in Him (JESUS) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having (notice) predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of HIS WILL, To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through His blood, (the blood of Jesus) the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of HIM who worketh all things after the counsel of HIS own will: That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise." It tells us we were elected, we were foreknown, chosen in Christ, in the mind of God, before the foundation of the world. That is just about as plain as it can be said. God knew the decision every one of us, as sinners, born in our particular season, would make. He knew the ones who would reject. He knew the ones who would accept. Therefore since He foreknew, then He could rightly choose those He saw accepting His provision, to be redeemed in and through His begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore this was His plan, His purpose. We were elected in Him. Our names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, from His side came blood and water, the very ingredients God would use to redeem from a creation of lost mankind, a people that would be called His Church, a people that would eventually be identified collectively as His Son's wife.

Just as GOD put the first Adam to sleep and took from his side a rib from which He fashioned a body for his wife to dwell in, (Gen.2:21, "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He (GOD, the Creator) took one of his ribs, (This was the first surgery ever performed; and I might say also, That was the first time a laser knife was ever used. Today scientists are using laser technology to cut out a cancer, to destroy gall stones; and all sorts of things. I know nothing at all about how it works. I do know one thing for sure though, it has to be a fact that God is the author of that laser. He has just allowed man to learn how to harness it.) and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.") so is He taking from the side of the second Adam, a wife for Him. It says, God put Adam to sleep and removed from him a rib. I have said many times, When God took from him a rib, He took a little meat with it. Woman is not all bone. There had to be a little of his flesh there too. Keep in mind, He did not give her rough features that would make her look like a man. Physically He designed her to be completely feministic. He designed her psychologically, to be dainty, to like flowers, to be sensitive to the smell of things of nature. God is not a she; as some people today try to make Him. He is always addressed in the scriptures as masculine. However we do need to realize, that even though He is not a PERSON, existing in a form or body, (He is a sovereign Spirit that fills all of His creation.) He does definitely have certain feminine qualities about Him. Through those feminine qualities, or attributes He can relate to the female offspring; and inspire them to function and serve His purpose upon the earth. The woman had her commission right along with the man you know; while they were both still only spirit beings without a human form. After God took the rib from Adam and made the woman, He brought her to the man. That brings us to the end of verse 22. God did not have to put Adam in a recovery room to recuperate from his surgery. When God finished the process He brought the woman to the man; and here is how Adam responded. (Verse 23) "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." You might say, How did Adam know what had happened? Do not forget; he was created in the image of his Creator. There was no soreness, nor any stitches. God did not have to sew him up. For a long time, people have said that man is missing one rib; because God took one rib out of the first man. Count your ribs, you have the same number on each side. Adam went through the rest of his life minus one rib; but all normal children born since then, male or female, have the same number ribs on each side. Verse 24, is where Adam prophesied about the future union between man and woman in time to come. After he declared that she would be called woman, here is what he prophesied. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." That was God's original plan, one man, one woman; to set the process of how life would be propagated on this earth. Verse 25, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." Why were they not ashamed? They had never done anything to be ashamed about; because they did not have the knowledge to know what wrong was. They were innocent. When anyone is innocent, they do not have the knowledge that they have done wrong; therefore they do not go about with a feeling of guilt or condemnation hanging over them. The mind of such a person is free of that. If Adam and Eve had continued on through time without disobeying the word of God given to them in their commission, there never would have been any reason for anyone to wear clothes to cover their nakedness. Partaking of that tree of knowledge is what made them conscious of the fact that they were naked; and they immediately tried to cover themselves by binding fig leaves together to wear like aprons. That did not surprise their Creator though; for He already knew they would do what they did; and that a way of redemption would have to be brought into the picture. That is why the Lord Jesus Christ is presented in the Bible, as the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the earth. It is as we have said; God's whole plan for the planet earth and its inhabitants was worked out in His infinite mind before He ever created anything. You can find that in Acts 15:18. Here is what the scripture says, "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." Saints: We are ready to go into chapter 3, of Genesis; as we look at the beginning of all the things our lives are associated with; but I want to reserve that for another time; (Our next issue) and use the remainder of this issue to make you aware of something that has come to my attention.

I want to read to you, an article that was published by Bold Truth Press Inc. Box 19280 Denver, Colorado.. The title of this article is, Evaluating the Prophets, William Branham & Sam Fife, The Manifest Sons Basic Theology And Its Influences on the Kingdom Teaching. I want to read some of the things this writer has put into print; and make a few remarks myself, realizing that some of you may have received this paper also. When I read this, I could not help but think, `I understand what you are looking at, but you are attacking things in complete ignorance; because there are some things you could say, that you refrain from mentioning.' The article starts out by attacking a certain teaching in the land today; a teaching which we do not go along with either; but at least we realize there is such a teaching in the Bible; and that there will be a time when that teaching will be a fulfilled, manifested reality. That of course, is when Jesus comes back to earth to rule and reign; and these sons of God are with Him. You read it in Romans 8:18-19. It will be helpful to you to read above and below these two verses; but we will read enough to establish the fact that there is such a mention in the Bible. Rom. 8:18 "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (19) For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God."