Lecture on Genesis(61)
Scripture
Genesis 2:15-17
[15] Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
[16] The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
[17] but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
This is the 61st Lecture on Genesis. In the last few lectures, I explained how Adam built the Pyramids. After Adam finished the construction of the Pyramids, in the joy of that touching moment, Adam gave praise and glory to God the Father. Some of the contents of his praise follows:
Father, Your gentle voice is in the sound of the wind chiming in my ears,
and I feel Your breath in the breeze.
Everything in the universe moves by the will of Father.
Your will is found in the wind flow and it's in Your touch that manages all things.
One by one You created everything in creation,
and one by one You put Your heart into it assuring that you'd be revealed in it all.
The Father's breath is felt in the breath of mountains and streams, plants and grass;
Your voice is heard even in the sound of wind and breeze
Though no eye witnessed it directly,
You created the universe and everything in it.
In everything created by You, the Almighty,
I feel Your warm touch and I sense Your greatness
Father, to make me Your pleasure and Your fruit,
You gave birth to me
This son was endowed with Your love and favor
to be lifted high among all things
Father, all praise and glory be to You through the lips of this son
From the beginning, You created all things and showed Your love,
and planted Your heart everywhere
You created this son to praise the greatness of his Father
Father, You gave me existence by Your power,
and You gave me the authority to rule all those things
And now, I along with many others built these beautiful structures
to praise the Father and the authority You gave to this son
These are built to harbor the greatness of God the Trinity
and all the heart of the Father that is revealed to the whole universe
Father, may You accept them
May these beautiful structures comfort Your heart,
and may they also praise the authority and dignity of this son who built them
You gave birth to this son and You gave him the ability to build them;
may they only become pleasure and comfort to Father
Father, they may appear so very small before You;
yet I pray they may glorify Your name all the more
The power You gave me is revealed here
and all things kneel down before this son You gave birth to
The name of this son is glorified
Father, thank You
Father, be glorified alone
Be glorified through this son
Father I desire only to please You and comfort You."
In this poem, his thanks, love, and joy for Father are well contained. You may say, "Before Adam went through Human Cultivation, he didn't experience relativity. How could he feel thanks, love, and joy towards God?" Adam resembled God so that he had no evil but only the heart of goodness; how could he not have thanks, love, and joy?
Of course, what he had was in a different level than thanks, love, and joy of those of us who undergo human cultivation. However, Adam could also give thanks to God, and he could also make a confession of love to God. Moreover, it was right after he finished the construction of the Pyramids; just how deeply could he have been touched? As Adam looked at the Pyramids he built, his heart was moved like never before.
Some people, after solving a difficult problem and looking at the result of their work, shed tears in great emotion. Likewise, after Adam finished the construction of the Pyramids, he thought of God the Father again. He also thought about the authority, power, and wisdom that God had given him. Then, he was even more greatly touched in his heart.
Furthermore, due to the betrayal of dinosaurs, Adam's thanks to God was greatly increased. That is, he realized that he couldn't have done anything if God had not been with him and not given him the power, and that all the authority and power he enjoyed was from God. For these reasons, after he constructed the Pyramids, he was deeply touched and he gave glory to God with his God-praising poem. In his poem is found the heart of Adam who wished to become pleasure and comfort to God in every way.
However, in many places of the poem, there are expressions reveal that his name was also glorified.
For example, take a look at this; "May these beautiful structures comfort Your heart, and may they also praise the authority and dignity of this son who built them." And this line; "The power You gave me is revealed here and all things kneel down before this son You gave birth to." "The name of this son is glorified." As you read these expressions, you can sense that he also wanted in his heart to show the authority and dignity that God gave to him.
That is; he wanted to show that he was given the authority by God that he could subdue and rule over the earth. Simply speaking, Adam had already possessed a heart that was leaning towards pride and arrogance.
God the Father, however, didn't scold Adam. He acknowledged that it was right for Adam to act like that as the one who subdued and ruled over the earth. From this fact, you can understand that Adam didn't fully understand the good heart of God the Father, nor did he put it in his heart.
At that time, though, Adam didn't realize that such expressions that flaunted himself came from his heart. He just thought that he built the Pyramids with the heart only to please and comfort God the Trinity. On the surface this is acceptable. Adam understood well that God wanted to be praised by him and receive glory through him. He understood well why God created him. That's why Adam offered a poem that gave glory to God the Father after he finished the construction of the Pyramids.
But you can sense in the poem that the depth of his thanks and that of his love are somewhat different. This is a limitation of the heart that doesn't undergo human cultivation. Through human cultivation, people experience relativity and then their thanks and love come from the depths of their hearts. They can completely humble themselves before God the Father the Creator, and they have the heart only to exalt God. The thanks and praise that God the Farther truly wants to receive should come from the depths of this kind of heart.
Therefore, you should realize how thankful you should be for undergoing human cultivation. Only through human cultivation, you can have the sincere heart in full assurance of faith. God is truly pleased when those who achieved the sincere heart praise and worship God. Don't you see that God the Father, who has endured for so long, will feel rewarded when His true children come forth?
In addition to the Pyramids, there are traces of an amazing and highly-developed civilization that far surpasses the limit of man's imagination can be found in many places. Now, who do you think left such traces of an advanced civilization? Was it also Adam? It will be explained in even greater detail, but for now, the spiritual passage way that connects the earth to the Garden of Eden remained even after Adam had been driven out to the earth because of his disobedience.
And thus, it was still possible for Adam's descendants to visit the earth even after Adam was driven out to the earth.
However, it was somewhat more restrictive than before. Before Adam committed sin, they had no restrictions on traveling between the 1st heaven and the 2nd heaven. It was because Adam subdued and ruled both the 1st heaven and the Garden of Eden.
After he committed sin, however, he lost all that authority and he was driven out to the earth. God set many leaders in the Garden of Eden to establish the order there. He also gave them strict rules. Traveling to the earth was also possible only within the scope that God set. God also established the "Code of Actions and Conduct" which the people of the Garden of Eden should follow as they came down to the earth. God made rules for them such as "You shall not take any action that may cause harm to the earth.' However, some of them broke the code.
I will explain in other Genesis lectures what happened after they broke the code. As the descendants that Adam gave birth to in the Garden of Eden traveled to the earth, they left many traces. Most remains of the ancient civilizations that people of today consider as wonders are the traces of the people from the Garden of Eden. In the beginning, the people from the Garden of Eden came down to the earth to see their ancestor, Adam.
As time passed by, however, the original purpose changed, and they visited this earth out of their curiosity. Just as Adam left the Pyramids, they also left their own traces on earth. Their visit to the earth was quite free and frequent until the Great Flood of Noah.
After the Flood of Noah, greater restrictions were applied to their visits. Yet still, as the people of the Garden of Eden came down to the earth by UFO, they often left their traces here and there. Such traces are still discovered in many places of the earth.
One example is 'Nazca Lines' of Peru. On the high plateau of Nazca Desert in southern Peru, about 200 geometric patterns and about 30 animal figures are drawn. Since they are so big, it is impossible to distinguish what they are unless seen from a very high elevation.
For example, a figure of a bird is 120 meters long; there are even geometric lines that stretch about 8 kilometers. A figure of a monkey is 122 meters long and 91 meters wide, and it is drawn with just one continuous line. The drawing of a spider was identified as the rare genus 'Ricinulei,' which is only found in the most remote and inaccessible parts of the Amazon Jungle. Even the spider's reproductive organ is drawn which is normally only visible with the aid of a microscope.
In addition, a huge drawing is found, which cannot be distinguished except when seen from a satellite. In a picture, which was taken by 'Landsat,' an Earth Resources Technology Satellite of NASA, 900 kilometers above Nazca Desert, the drawing was found. This drawing is so immense that it cannot be seen from an airplane, but it can be observed from the stratosphere or higher. It is about 50 kilometers long, and has a form of a big cross. In addition, one of the lines indicates the direction of south exactly.
This drawing is aligned on low hills, which criss-cross the Pampa between the Ingenio and Nazca rivers; it is eminently clear that it is artificial and not natural. Experts say that this kind of drawing is possible only when someone changes the quality of soil by using highly developed techniques such as a laser beam from a high altitude.
The Nazca Desert is too dry for man to access, and there has been no record of humans settling down in this area.
It is impossible to imagine primitive people having drawn such huge lines. Scholars are simply perplexed over explaining who drew them, in what age they were drawn and for what reason.
By the way, native Peruvians say the Nazca Lines were drawn not by man, but by a demigod - humans that were half man and half god. They say these demigods left other traces or drawings in many places in the Andes Mountains a few thousand years ago. These mystic demigods were the descendants that Adam gave birth to in the Garden of Eden.
Let me illustrate another example of the traces that the descendants of Adam left on earth. It is the mystery of the Crop Circle. A crop circle is a sizable circular or other geometric pattern created by the flattening of a crop (or grasses) in the middle of a field.
They began to be discovered in the late 1970's, and many are still found even recently. First off, they are usually made overnight in a very short period of time. Factors of weather, topography, and natural environment are irrelevant. A pattern of a 'dragonfly' was found in UK on June 3, 2009. The formation of some of these Crop Circles is currently unknown.
It is known, however, that some crop circles are made by humans. These man-made crop circles are, however, clearly different from other genuine crop circles. That is, the stems of crops near the man-made crop circles were completely bent, broken and soon withered. On the other hand, the crops near the genuine crop circles continued to grow (new stems) though their stems were bent. Like these, the people from the Garden of Eden still leave their traces in many parts of the earth. Other subjects that are related with the people from the Garden of Eden will be explained again in other fields of interest.
Now, let's think over Genesis 2:15 again. It says, "Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it." After God created the first man, Adam, on earth, He led him into the Garden of Eden, which is in the 2nd heaven.
God the Trinity taught Adam the knowledge of spirit. Adam who was then filled with the knowledge of truth ruled and kept the 1st heaven as well as the Garden of Eden. Adam became fruitful and multiplied in the Garden of Eden, and gave birth to countless descendants. In addition, he made use of God-given wisdom to establish a highly developed civilization.
To Adam, the Earth was like an exotic vacation spot. Especially, the Nile River somewhat resembled the river of life in the Garden of Eden, and thus it became Adam's favorite visiting location. There was a form of transportation used by Adam when lived in the Garden of Eden of the 2nd heaven the he used when he visited the earth of the 1st heaven. It was the air vehicle which we call a "UFO".
This UFO is an everyday transportation mode for the people in the Garden of Eden. And there are many different kinds. The length of time period when Adam lived in the Garden of Eden giving birth to his descendants and traveling to the earth was too long for us to imagine.
I introduced two big incidents that took place during such a long period of time. One was about dinosaurs, and the other was about the Pyramids.
Let's review the Dinosaur incident. Dinosaurs envied cherubim that helped Adam in a close proximity. Cherubim always accompanied Adam; when Adam visited the earth, dinosaurs couldn't follow him, but cherubim did. As he dinosaurs' envy of cherubim grew they ended up receiving the work of Satan.
They thought, "We can become like cherubim. The key is to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil." The dinosaurs actually came to think like this. Dinosaurs begged Adam to allow them to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but it was in vain. The only reply they could get was "Eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil is prohibited not only for dinosaurs but also for Adam himself." Adam reasoned with dinosaurs, but they were not persuaded. They desperately wanted to become like cherubim.
One day when Adam took all the cherubim in the Garden of Eden with him to find a place to build the Pyramids, and went to the earth, dinosaurs approached the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Some of cherubim were supposed to guard the center area of the Garden of Eden where the tree of knowledge of good and evil is located; but on that day, however, even those cherubim also went down to the earth. Before dinosaurs reached the tree, however, they were spotted by God and they were all driven out to the earth. The reason I review the dinosaur incident is to explain the tree of knowledge of good and evil which is located in the center area of the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 2:16-17 is the command of God given to Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It reads, "The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.""
Eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil is simply eating its fruit. God commanded Adam that he would die if he should eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil; simply put, He commanded Adam not to eat from it.
Now, don't you think it would be better not to have such a tree even from the beginning if its fruit could make people who eat it die? As young children grow they tend to put everything they touch into their mouths. It doesn't matter if it is food or not or if it is clean or dirty; they just take whatever they grab and put it in their mouths. You can find a warning on certain objects such as washing detergent or medicines which reads, 'Keep out of the reach of children." It is because such things may harm children if they touch or eat them.
Even if their parents warn them that they should never eat those things, they don't understand what it means. That's why parents keep dangerous objects out of children's reach, or they even get rid of them from their houses. Since they love their children, they get rid of anything that may cause harm to their children from the beginning. It is what you do at home, isn't it?
God created Adam in His utmost love, and raised him with the knowledge of spirit. Then why did God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which would cause Adam to die if he ate it, in the center of the Garden of Eden and command Adam not to eat from it? "The reason God placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden;" this is a question that mankind has asked for thousands of years. Did God place the tree of knowledge of good and evil without knowing Adam would eventually eat from it?
If it was so, it would mean that God doesn't know what will happen in the future. God is, however, omnipotent and omniscient; He knows exactly what will happen in the future. Then, even though He knows the future, why did He place the tree of knowledge of good and evil? About this reason, I will tell you in the next lecture.
In this lecture, I introduced the poem that Adam offered up to God after he finished the construction of the Pyramids. The level of thanks and love contained in the poem was different from that of those who underwent the human cultivation. You could see how limited his heart was before he underwent human cultivation. Man can give true thanks and unchanging love to God the Father only after he is cultivated.
Psalm 50:23 says, "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God." I urge you to give thanks in all situations as you are cultivated. Why don't you give praises and prayers of genuine thanks even when you come across with sad things or difficulties? As God the Father accepts such aroma of yours, He will provide you with more opportunities of greater thanks. May you offer Him even thicker aroma of thanks, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!