The Tree of Life

Did you ever realize that Adonai's prohibition against eating the fruit in the garden, was not just a prohibition from one tree, but from two? First there was Gen 2:16 ADONAI, God, gave the person this order: "You may freely eat from every tree in the garden 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You are not to eat from it, because on the day that you eat from it, it will become certain that you will die." and then there was the other, from Gen 3:22 ADONAI, God, said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, to prevent his putting out his hand and taking also from the tree of life, eating, and living forever -" 23 therefore ADONAI, God, sent him out of the garden of 'Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So he drove the man out, and he placed at the east of the garden of 'Eden the k'ruvim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

So what is the knowledge of good and evil? Righteousness and sin. So, now Adam knows what righteousness is and he knows what sin is. So Adam knows Torah. So why keep him from the Tree of Life? Well the Tree of Life is Yeshua, it's Salvation. If Adam and Havah have Torah and Salvation.. hmmm.. isn't that what I have? I have Salvation and Torah. Hmm, makes me wonder a little what that's about. Maybe it was so that history would play out as it did.

So, If Adam has Torah, then he knows about the sacrificial offerings, he must have taught it to his sons. Now you see, I still don't have a full grasp of what the sacrifices are all about, but something about Kayin's grain offering was not pleasing to Adonai, for Adonai rejected his offering.

Gen 4:3 In the course of time Kayin brought an offering to ADONAI from the produce of the soil; 4 and Hevel too brought from the firstborn of his sheep, including their fat. ADONAI accepted Hevel and his offering 5 but did not accept Kayin and his offering. Kayin was very angry, and his face fell.

So I looked up about what the grain offering was and what was the offering that Hevel brought. Hevel brought a lamb and the fat of the lamb. This could have been offered as the burnt offering - the sin offering - or the atonement offering. I'm still not quiet clear on all of this, but it seems that all the lamb is burnt up in the sin offering, after the sinner, places his hand on the head of the animal, sort of tainting or transferring his sin to the animal, and then the person who sinned slits the throat of the animal, spilling it's blood. It's then burnt up completely. OK, so from this we can see the parallels between what Yeshua did for us, he took on our sins upon himself, his blood was shed, he was our Sin Offering.

So what about the grain offering? Well, I'm not sure why a person would offer a grain offering, but I do know that part was to be burnt up, a fragrant offering to the Lord, but another portion was to be eaten by the Cohanim - the priests. But what spoke out to me, was that the grain offering was not to be offered with any leaven in it. Leaven represents sin, as we've just seen from the Passover festival. So this grain offering wasn't to have any leaven associated with it... no sin associated with it. But let's go back to Kayin. Why was Kayin's grain offering rejected? Let's look at Gen 4:6 ADONAI said to Kayin, "Why are you angry? Why so downcast? 7 If you are doing what is good, shouldn't you hold your head high? And if you don't do what is good, sin is crouching at the door - it wants you, but you can rule over it." Sin was already present in Kayin and his offering when he took it to Adonai.

Now if Kayin knew to take offerings to Adonai in the first place, it was because his father Adam had taught him Torah - that righteousness - the good - that he got from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. So Kayin knew that leaven was not to be part of his grain offering, but Adonai could see that Kayin already had sin in him, and the sin was not removed, like during the Passover feast, we remove the leaven from our homes, and while we're doing this physical thing, we're supposed to be reflecting on our own lives and removing the sin from our spiritual lives. Clearly Kayin didn't do this before offering his grain offering. He didn't do a self check. He didn't repent of what was sin in his life, and then that sin takes over and it rules over him.

It's a good thing that Adonai barred Adam from eating from that Tree of Life. Had Adam had access, he'd surely have brought his son Kayin to it to eat from as well, and Kayin would have had Salvation, and been able to continue living in his Sin - and that's not what Adonai has planned for us. His plan is that once we are saved, that we turn from our sins and live in righteousness.

Joh 8:11 She said, "No one, sir." Yeshua said, "Neither do I condemn you. Now go, and don't sin any more."" - What is sin? 1John 3:4 Everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah - indeed, sin is violation of Torah. . Adonai can not be in the presence of Sin, and so he had to send Kayin out as a fugitive. I think Kayin was the first guy to go to Hell.

It's a good think Hevel offered his atonement offering before he was killed. It wasn't his salvation, but his offering was righteousness, and he did it in obedience. His Salvation was in his Belief in Adonai/Yeshua. I guess Hevel will be in Heaven.

Adam and Eve's Nakedness

Genesis 2:21 Then God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the person; and while he was sleeping, he took one of his ribs and closed up the place from which he took it with flesh. 22 The rib which ADONAI, God, had taken from the person, he made a woman-person; and he brought her to the man-person. 23 The man-person said, "At last! This is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh. She is to be called Woman [Hebrew: ishah], because she was taken out of Man [Hebrew: ish]." 24 This is why a man is to leave his father and mother and stick with his wife, and they are to be one flesh. 25 They were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.

Nakedness. It's a symbol of innocence, a symbol of vulnerability.

Now look what happens when they meet the serpent.
Gen 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it had a pleasing appearance and that the tree was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her; and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked.

Now I look at Janney and Asher, and they have absolutely no problems being naked. They don't know they're naked and they don't care. They are innocent of their state. While Scripture says they are sinners, they don't know they are. They are vulnerable to the temptations of sin.

But at a certain point their eyes will be opened, they will have a spiritual awakening, they will become aware of their nakedness. At that point, they'll have a choice. They'll be able to choose to be ashamed as Adam and Eve did and they'll spend the rest of their lives trying to cover themselves - trying to hid their sins - trying to save themselves.... OR.. they'll turn to Yeshua, Adonai in the Flesh, and they'll ask to be saved from their sins. They'll seek to be covered by the Blood of the Lamb.

Adam and Eve walked with Adonai, and they had to take that moment in the garden to hide when they had realized they were naked. But eventually they came and confessed their sin. There was consequence, but there was also covering, Adonai made the first sacrifice and covered them with the skins of an lamb.

We are still vulnerable to sin in our lives - even those who are saved, but through the forgiveness of the Lord and the covering of our sin and the indwelling of the Spirit, we have the power now to withstand the temptations. We have the tools. We meditate on the Word of the Lord. We walk in the opposite direction. We turn our faces to the Lord and Obey His Word. He will lead us away from the temptation and keep us walking on His Path.

I love how you can see the gospel story told over and over in the details of the story of creation.

Writing out the Torah day 3

Hey, cool things you notice while writing out the Torah in your own hand. Here's some little things

Gen 1:30 And to every wild animal, bird in the air and creature crawling on the earth, in which there is a living soul,

Animals have souls! Didn't know that.

Gen 2:3 God blessed the seventh day and separated it as holy; because on that day God rested from all his work which he had created, so that it itself could produce.

Did you know that God rested so that what he had made could produce? Makes you reflect on our Sabbath Rest. We are to rest so that what we are working on actually produces. I mean, how many people in this world today feel like they're working 24/7 and things aren't getting better, they aren't producing. There's no feeling of satisfaction and success, it's like an ever deepening pit that they can't get out of. Compare that with he who takes a rest for Sabbath. It doesn't seem to make sense that if a man takes a beautiful sunshiny day to rest, that he could actually bring in his whole harvest before the weather turns too ugly to bring it all in. But this is exactly the testimony my elder when we first started walking in Torah. Alfred put the harvesting equipment away as soon as the sun was setting on Friday, he was sitting at the table in time for Shabbat to begin, and even though the weather was not cooperating with farmers, Alfred brought in his whole harvest. He runs a HUGE farm, so this wasn't just luck, or the size of the harvest, it was Adonai's blessing on him for obeying Adonai's word about the Sabbath

Was reading www.wildbranch.org yesterday, a teaching on the definition of the word faith. I was like many, believing that faith was synonymous with belief. Sure I believe in God, so I have faith in God. But that's not the same thing as Believing God. When we have faith, it's not hope. Having faith is an action.
Jas 2:14 - What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but has no actions to prove it? Is such "faith" able to save him?

Heb 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (KJV)
CJB writes it as 11:1
Trusting is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see.

So faith is trusting, and doing, and obeying. Very interesting. It sure changes the concept of just believing.. which is too ephemeral and not verbish enough.

Writing out my Torah

De 17:18 - "When he has come to occupy the throne of his kingdom, he is to write a copy of this Torah for himself in a scroll, from the one the cohanim and L'vi'im use.

This commandment is written to the Children of Israel, for the future, for when Adonai knows they will want a king.

But, as all things, this scripture is to mean something to us too. The message behind it is that the King, if he's to be a good king, will have to know the Torah, and so the action - the discipline - of writing out the Torah will help it be infused into his heart and mind and actions.

So, because I've been struggling recently, I want to re-focus myself on Adonai, and the only way to do that is to be present with HIM more than I have been. We're taught to read our Bibles daily, but how many of us actually do that? I don't, I wish I did. BUT, Yesterday I told my boys, that we're each going to write out our own copy of the Torah. Trent is writing his in Hebrew, I'm writing mine in English. I've written 27 verses, nearly 4 hand written pages. Myles and Rourke are on verse 15.

It takes a strong hand to write out all these words. Writing it out will help the boys with spelling, grammar, and Knowing Adonai. It will help them with reading too. It will help them with all of life's academic lessons. It will be a blessing.

Here's something I saw today.
1:16
God made the two great lights - the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night - and the stars
1:17
God put them in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth,
1:18
to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good

When else have we seen the thought dividing darkness from the light?
2Sa 22:29 - "For you, ADONAI, are my lamp; ADONAI lights up my darkness.
Job 18:18 - He will be pushed from light into darkness and driven out of the world.
Ps 18:28 - "For you, ADONAI, light my lamp; ADONAI, my God, lights up my darkness.
Isa 9:2 - The people living in darkness have seen a great light; upon those living in the land that lies in the shadow of death, light has dawned.
Lu 11:35 - So take care that the light in you is not darkness!
Joh 8:12 - Yeshua spoke to them again: "I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light which gives life."

The light is synonymous with righteousness or the gospel/salvation. Darkness is synonymous with evil or the state of being lost.

So, as my hand is writing "and the stars, God put them in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth" my mind went to a book i read recently called Adam and his Kin. A scenario in the book is that the gospel story is told throughthe images in the stars. Now, when i was doing my writing, our conversation about oral tradition was already in play. The scripture doesn't come right out and say that the gospel story..the story of creation, of the serpant and the seed in battle...is in the stars, but oral tradition and non-canonical books are what led the author to include this element in the story.

So here I am writing out thise verse, and what i saw was exactly this message, that when Eloheim created the world, that he put the stars in the heavens to give light - righteousness - the gospel - to the earth. There is a verse that says that even the rocks will cry out and the trees proclaim that Yeshua is Lord. Well I never really understood that verse because I've never seen a rock cry or a tree proclaim... UNTIL .. until Rabbi Ralph Messer did a teaching on the Olive Branch from Romans 11 and the root and the stalk and the wild branch and the cultivated branch.... and how if the wild branch doesn't take, the whole tree dies.. I mean, this isn't just the story of a tree, this is the story of the Bride of Christ! That Tree is proclaiming that Yeshua is Lord just in the way the tree grows - or dies!

So, Those stars.. you know how the pagan world always imitates God's ways. The pagan world has astrology.. and that's something we Christians have always been warned against dabbling in. Astronomy is a cool science, but not one I'm particularly interested in, especially with the recent talk about "life on Mars" etc. But, If you can tell the story of the Gospel through the stars, well that's something I'd like to learn one day. What an evangelical tool!

So, anyone else feel called to write out their own copy of the Torah?