The serpent (our enemy) shows up to try to get in the way of God’s plan for mankind; so he starts up a conversation with Eve.
Eve was apparently totally unprepared for the encounter (see post for Gen 2:15). Her first mistake in dealing with her enemy started in verse 2. She accepted his invitation to have a conversation with him.
Demons never start a conversation without an end in mind. They always have an agenda. It does no good to talk with them. We do not owe them answers to any of their questions. They may be our accusers, but they are not our judges; so we don’t have to defend ourselves from their accusations. They are not our bosses (if we are in Christ) so we don’t have to answer to them. They are liars and the truth is not in them, so trying to convince them of truth won’t do any good. There is no reason to waste time or energy on a conversation with them. Dealing with them is a little like what happens when a person is arrested. “We have the right to remain silent, anything we say can and will be used against us.” Generally the wise course of action is to say nothing (accept maybe, "Go Away!" or "Talk to the hand!")
They are accusers and manipulators; when they are asking us to talk, its because they either have an angle or are searching for one. When we begin to talk they gain ammunition every time.
Eve’s response to the Devil’s "Did God really say. . ?" should have been something like, “Yep, that’s what He said.” Then she should have walked away.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Genesis 2:15
Genesis 2:15 (NIV) “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
This is Adam’s first job. To work the garden literally means to husband and steward it. In other words God wanted Adam to promote the general welfare of the Garden. A lot like we would work a garden today. Except here there were no weeds or thorns that would choke out the good fruit bearing plants. So this involved some labor, but not the kind of back breaking work we associate with farming today.
To “take care of it,” is a terrible translation. Some translations may translate this as “to keep it,” which is a little better. The word in Hebrew used here actually means “to guard it.” Now in a world where Adam and God are in total control and all physical things are under subjection to them, what could he possibly have to guard against?
The answer lies in Genesis 3. The course of human history since the time in the garden tells us that Adam didn’t follow through very well on the protection side of his job. When the serpent starts talking to Eve, we find that she is totally unprepared for the encounter. When Adam gets involved a little later in the chapter we find that his guard is down as well (he didn’t foresee the threat that the poison of sin could pose coming through his unguarded wife).
Adam could have asked and sought the Lord for more information regarding the threat that he was to guard against. Given the relationship that he and the Lord had it is unlikely that God would have left him to his own devices. Today, according to John 15:15 He no longer calls us servants, but friends. The difference being that He will tell His friends what He is up to. If we seek His counsel in these sorts of matters, He will not leave us totally blind to what we really need to be able to see. He will also give us the wisdom we need in abundance if we but ask (James 1:5).
Adam made his first critical mistake before Eve ever talked to the serpent. He kept only half of the Lord’s commandment. Our purpose from God, is always good. When we fail to walk in our purpose, we open to door to evil.
This is Adam’s first job. To work the garden literally means to husband and steward it. In other words God wanted Adam to promote the general welfare of the Garden. A lot like we would work a garden today. Except here there were no weeds or thorns that would choke out the good fruit bearing plants. So this involved some labor, but not the kind of back breaking work we associate with farming today.
To “take care of it,” is a terrible translation. Some translations may translate this as “to keep it,” which is a little better. The word in Hebrew used here actually means “to guard it.” Now in a world where Adam and God are in total control and all physical things are under subjection to them, what could he possibly have to guard against?
The answer lies in Genesis 3. The course of human history since the time in the garden tells us that Adam didn’t follow through very well on the protection side of his job. When the serpent starts talking to Eve, we find that she is totally unprepared for the encounter. When Adam gets involved a little later in the chapter we find that his guard is down as well (he didn’t foresee the threat that the poison of sin could pose coming through his unguarded wife).
Adam could have asked and sought the Lord for more information regarding the threat that he was to guard against. Given the relationship that he and the Lord had it is unlikely that God would have left him to his own devices. Today, according to John 15:15 He no longer calls us servants, but friends. The difference being that He will tell His friends what He is up to. If we seek His counsel in these sorts of matters, He will not leave us totally blind to what we really need to be able to see. He will also give us the wisdom we need in abundance if we but ask (James 1:5).
Adam made his first critical mistake before Eve ever talked to the serpent. He kept only half of the Lord’s commandment. Our purpose from God, is always good. When we fail to walk in our purpose, we open to door to evil.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
More of Genesis 1 and God in Charge
As for God being in charge:
All of God’s commands in the creation story begin with “Let.” This has to be one of the weakest ways of issuing a command. He doesn’t say something like, “As the Lord God, Supreme Commander of the Universe, I Command that light break forth and be separated from the darkness.” Instead He says “let there be light.” In other words, “Allow light to exist,” or maybe “I choose to allow light to exist.” Reading the creation story I get the impression that creation caused God zero effort. So what does that say about just how powerful God really is?
All of God’s commands in the creation story begin with “Let.” This has to be one of the weakest ways of issuing a command. He doesn’t say something like, “As the Lord God, Supreme Commander of the Universe, I Command that light break forth and be separated from the darkness.” Instead He says “let there be light.” In other words, “Allow light to exist,” or maybe “I choose to allow light to exist.” Reading the creation story I get the impression that creation caused God zero effort. So what does that say about just how powerful God really is?
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Commentary
I have been wanting to write a whole commentary of the Bible for a number of years. I don't know if I will ever pull off such a feat, but I am going to try to put out bits of commentary here. Hopefully it will encourage and enlighten you.
My first section comes from Genesis 1. I have a Bible with some commentary within it, and it just kind of got me started, so I quoted it here.
Lifted from Zondervan NIV study Bible 2008:
Commentary on Gen 1:1-2:3;
“In the ancient Near East, most of the peoples had myths relating to how the world came to be. Prevalent in those myths were accounts of how one of the gods triumphed over a fierce and powerful beast that represented disorder, then fashioned the ordered world that people knew, and finally was proclaimed by the other gods to be the divine “king” over the world he had created -- a position ever subjected to the challenge of the forces of disorder.”
In Genesis we find a very different approach. The God we serve didn’t have to overcome anything. It is apparent that He is in total control. Much of the rest of the Bible rests on the truth that God is God and before Him there is no other.
Humanity does not handle the idea of ‘a supreme god being in control’ very well. From the earliest religions onward humanity has sought after weaker gods. Even after the revelation of an all powerful gods, humanity’s tendency has always been to depart from this simple truth: We serve an all powerful God. For the Israelites it was always the idolatrous religions of their neighbors. Today we trust the created world more than the creator of it; hence the phrase, “I’ll believe only what I see.” An effective warrior must decide early on that our God, though invisible is, was, and always will be supreme.
My first section comes from Genesis 1. I have a Bible with some commentary within it, and it just kind of got me started, so I quoted it here.
Lifted from Zondervan NIV study Bible 2008:
Commentary on Gen 1:1-2:3;
“In the ancient Near East, most of the peoples had myths relating to how the world came to be. Prevalent in those myths were accounts of how one of the gods triumphed over a fierce and powerful beast that represented disorder, then fashioned the ordered world that people knew, and finally was proclaimed by the other gods to be the divine “king” over the world he had created -- a position ever subjected to the challenge of the forces of disorder.”
In Genesis we find a very different approach. The God we serve didn’t have to overcome anything. It is apparent that He is in total control. Much of the rest of the Bible rests on the truth that God is God and before Him there is no other.
Humanity does not handle the idea of ‘a supreme god being in control’ very well. From the earliest religions onward humanity has sought after weaker gods. Even after the revelation of an all powerful gods, humanity’s tendency has always been to depart from this simple truth: We serve an all powerful God. For the Israelites it was always the idolatrous religions of their neighbors. Today we trust the created world more than the creator of it; hence the phrase, “I’ll believe only what I see.” An effective warrior must decide early on that our God, though invisible is, was, and always will be supreme.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
What is Babylon?
This one comes from one of my youth (whose personal information including name I will not reveal here)
There are a considerable number of scriptures on and about the city and nation of Babylon (in their inhabitants the Babylonians -- some of them were called Chaldeans as well). So this is a very short answer.
Babylon was originally a capital city of a nation by the same name (think New York city, New York state). It was pagan owned and operated. The Babylonians were very powerful in their day. To read about them they crop up in the last few chapters of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. They here and there all over Jeremiah and Ezekiel. All the events in Daniel happen in Babylon.
They were pagans, they worshiped idols and they respected sorcerers (often promoting them to high places in the government). So witchcraft was standard practice for them. They had a large and violent army that subdued many other nations (including Israel). They became wealthy through a combination of violent conquest and trade. Their standard worship practices included various forms of sexual immorality. As a people they boardered on amorality (no moral conviction)
They were great architects often building many monuments like Egypt. They also came up the the idea that an hour should be divided into 60 minutes.
The church realizes that it is up against a world spirit that is trying to tear us from the Lord. If that spirit got its way we would have a society in America that is very much like Babylon. Sadly it seems to have made a lot of headway in the last number of years.
The humans that like the world spirit, assume that the total absence of moral standards would grant us paradise (think of the 60s generation and their idea of "free love").
At the end of the age the dominate world power will look and act very much like Babylon, so much so that God actually calls a major center of world wide commerce at that time "Mystery Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots" God will eventually judge the world (see last several chapters of Revelation).
So in Scripture Babylon is a symbol of the World system when it is allowed free reign.
Blessings,
David
There are a considerable number of scriptures on and about the city and nation of Babylon (in their inhabitants the Babylonians -- some of them were called Chaldeans as well). So this is a very short answer.
Babylon was originally a capital city of a nation by the same name (think New York city, New York state). It was pagan owned and operated. The Babylonians were very powerful in their day. To read about them they crop up in the last few chapters of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. They here and there all over Jeremiah and Ezekiel. All the events in Daniel happen in Babylon.
They were pagans, they worshiped idols and they respected sorcerers (often promoting them to high places in the government). So witchcraft was standard practice for them. They had a large and violent army that subdued many other nations (including Israel). They became wealthy through a combination of violent conquest and trade. Their standard worship practices included various forms of sexual immorality. As a people they boardered on amorality (no moral conviction)
They were great architects often building many monuments like Egypt. They also came up the the idea that an hour should be divided into 60 minutes.
The church realizes that it is up against a world spirit that is trying to tear us from the Lord. If that spirit got its way we would have a society in America that is very much like Babylon. Sadly it seems to have made a lot of headway in the last number of years.
The humans that like the world spirit, assume that the total absence of moral standards would grant us paradise (think of the 60s generation and their idea of "free love").
At the end of the age the dominate world power will look and act very much like Babylon, so much so that God actually calls a major center of world wide commerce at that time "Mystery Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots" God will eventually judge the world (see last several chapters of Revelation).
So in Scripture Babylon is a symbol of the World system when it is allowed free reign.
Blessings,
David
The Sequel Already?!?!
I had two people on Sunday who came up to me inquiring about a sequel. The first one hasn't been out six months yet. Quoth the church administrator, "Sheesh!"
On the happy side, I have been working with a few people teaching them how to do the sort of territorial warfare described in the book. I have been taking their questions and recording the answers to them in a typed out fashion. I am going to start posting each question here.
Blessings,
David
On the happy side, I have been working with a few people teaching them how to do the sort of territorial warfare described in the book. I have been taking their questions and recording the answers to them in a typed out fashion. I am going to start posting each question here.
Blessings,
David
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Amazon
Hello All,
I just got news that Amazon.com now actually has the book in stock, and they are able to ship them out. So now they can be ordered there as well. It may be cheaper (depending on where you live) to get it from them. I would try to figure out cost, but they change prices seemingly on a whim. For comparison, I am selling my copies at $10 + shipping, which is working out to about $13 total. How ever you obtain a copy, I hope you enjoy it and that it is helpful.
Blessings,
David Falls
I just got news that Amazon.com now actually has the book in stock, and they are able to ship them out. So now they can be ordered there as well. It may be cheaper (depending on where you live) to get it from them. I would try to figure out cost, but they change prices seemingly on a whim. For comparison, I am selling my copies at $10 + shipping, which is working out to about $13 total. How ever you obtain a copy, I hope you enjoy it and that it is helpful.
Blessings,
David Falls
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