He failed, and this demonstrates GOD supreme authority and sovereignty!
He tried to prevent “the seed” from crushing him by goading Cain (I have no doubt he did!) into murdering his brother Abel. When that didn’t work, Satan used a tactic that many find quite bizarre!
ABOLIITON OF INNOCENCE
GENESIS 3:22-24
22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" - 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Adam and Eve were created in a state of innocence. They didn’t know, even on a conceptual level the notion of evil. All they knew was that if they were ever in violation of GOD’s Holy will, that they would die on the very day of that violation (And so they did! “The wages of sin is [indeed] death”).
GOD Himself testified that man has become like “one of Us” in that sense that GOD understands good and evil, and since man became corrupted with a sin nature, he experientially understood the different states of good and evil.
Though death is the wages of sin, in a way, death is a mercy because had Adam taken of the tree of life, he would have existed with a sin nature eternally. We can assume that physical death arrests the progression of evil in a human being, but that being of a depraved, wicked heart (JERE 17:9), even in an arrested state, the level of evil would still be overwhelming.
Adam and Eve were driven from the garden of Eden, and they would labor in the ground – the very stuff of which their bodies were crafted – and because of the curse of sin upon creation, that labor would be quite arduous (GEN 3:17-19).
It’s interesting that the LORD found it necessary to post cherubim (at least two, possibly more of these ‘super-angels’) to guard the way to the tree of life. I think less than half a one would be sufficient to keep this creature made of the dust of the earth from that tree.
That leads me to believe that those angelic warriors weren’t guarding the tree, keeping it from the grasp of man, but from the serpent who would crave the fruit thereof, and coax the man to partake, and leave him in a situation beyond remedy.
Of course, we recognize “the tree of life” as something present in the glories of heaven (REV 2:7; 22:2,14,19) but also in a colloquial sense the Cross of Christ:
GALATIANS 3:13That tree that became the Altar of the Almighty, brought death to the sacrificial Lamb of GOD, but it also brought life to wayward sinners who repent in turning to GOD and by faith receive salvation through Christ.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),
PARADISE LEGALLY LOST
The legal ramifications of the Fall of Man are astounding. When Adam fell, following his wife’s example, the “corporate head” – or “the First Adam” brought the entire human race into a sin condition and the resulting death (1 COR 15:21-22), but also: he lost his position as steward over the Earth and it was given to the one that he submitted to: the serpent, aka Satan, aka “the god of this world” (2 COR 4:4).
This is what Satan confessed when he tempted the LORD Jesus Christ during His forty day fast in the wilderness:
LUKE 4:5-6This is why a kinsman redeemer was required to reacquire that which Adam lost – someone capable of paying the insurmountable debt accumulated by the entire human race. Someone who could legally pay the fines accrued by the sins of the world, someone who would be willing to give up their life on behalf of others. Someone who could provide flawless righteousness for sinners, while accepting their sin-debt. This “someone” had to be related to Adam – that is to say, mankind: he had to be a sinless human being himself!
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
An angel couldn’t do it; nor a unique creature of holiness – but not a personification of Deity – could not do it.
This kinsman redeemer is of course, none other than the Word made flesh (JOHN 1:1-2,14), the LORD Jesus Christ, Who in fact bought back the title deed of the Earth and all that’s included: we, the human race, the planet itself and its various life forms:
REVELATION 5:1-9GOD’s PLAN Of The GOSPEL CONTINUES To UNFOLD
1 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?" 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. 4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. 5 But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals."
6 ¶ And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
These are all of the essentials of the Gospel mission. But as I mentioned in Part One, there is a LOT that has to happen in order to prepare the way of the LORD (ISA 40:3)!
Satan heard the word of the LORD: the seed of the woman (Eve) would crush his head, ending his rule over Earth that I’ve come to refer to as “Planet Rebyl”. Any offspring from the woman would lead to “the One” Who would destroy him.
As you are aware, the female of almost all species carries the egg alone, while the male provides the seed (sperm), yet the verse (GEN 3:15) says “the seed of the woman” – rather strange, and yet this rather cryptic phrase indicates the virgin birth, where the child to be born would not have a human (sinful) father and thus spared from having a sin nature.
Notice in the verse alluded to earlier (1 COR 15:21-22) it states that “…in Adam all die…”. It doesn’t say “…in Adam and Eve…” Apparently the curse of sin is carried by the seed of men (both men and women are sinners, obviously, but the curse specifies the man because he was the steward of Earth and the head of the woman, thus ultimately responsible. Any child fathered by a sinner obtains a sin nature).
This is why the virgin birth is essential; without it, then the child Mary carried would have a human father and like his father, would incur a sin nature and be disqualified as a sacrifice Lamb who must be “without spot or blemish” (NUM 19:2; 1 PET 1:19). You and I might think of spots and blemishes as meaning the same thing, and in one sense they do: both refer to defects, but of different kinds. Spots refer to congenital defects (ex.: being born blind); blemishes refer to defects incurred during the lifetime of the organism (ex.: a broken leg, or a contagion that left permanent damage).
NOTHING BUT THE INNOCENT BLOOD!
In MATTHEW 27:4a Judas Iscariot confesses:
…saying, "I have sinned by betraying the innocent blood." The average adult male has about 1.5 gallons of blood in his body. Christ’s body contained the only source of innocent blood in all the oceans of corrupt blood of humanity throughout the ages.
The LAMB of GOD had to be without spot (no inherent sin nature) and without blemish (He had to live a sinless life).
Yet Satan could avoid being crushed, if he simply killed off any offspring that the woman had. So, we venture into Chapter 4!
Adam and Eve had two named children, Abel and Cain, both sons. And it’s a foregone conclusion that they obviously had more children than these two, and that they all couldn’t possibly be male, because the species had to procreate (mention of Cain’s wife is found in GEN 4:17).
Both were called to worship their Creator. Abel brought “the firstborn of his flock” and offered it up to the LORD. Cain on the other hand, brought “of the fruit of the ground”. Abel’s sacrifice was accepted, Cain’s was not. Why?
I believe because Abel offered the appropriate offering: an animal sacrifice whose blood was shed. Cain offered a bloodless sacrifice. What we learn later in Scripture regarding the shedding of blood, I believe Adam and Eve understood themselves:
LEVITICUS 17:11Adam and Eve witnessed this up close when GOD clothed them in animal skins. They understood that their nakedness (representative of their sin) would be covered by the blood of another, and literally covered by their skin. And so it is!
'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul' (See also HEB 9:22).
MATTHEW 26:28Not only does this exchange between GOD and Cain and Abel reveal that redemption is by blood, but that worship is prescribed by GOD and must be done according to GOD’s will. The LORD specifically told Cain: "If you do well [that is, offer the appropriate blood sacrifice], will you not be accepted?...”
For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
And yet, rather than repenting of doing religion “my way”, Cain sought out Abel and he killed him.
I find a sobering parallel between Cain’s actions and the mentality found in today’s world. So many object to and are offended by the killing of animals for meat (something Cain refused to do) and choose rather to subsist on vegetation, but they have no objection to the murdering of human life (as in abortion, and euthanasia). Even Adam and Eve’s solution for covering their own nakedness was to sew fig leaves together.
THIS LYING, MURDEROUS THIEF
JOHN 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
Satan did a masterful job of conning Adam and Eve and in a very real sense, stole their immortal life as well as their GOD-given position. If it was Satan’s objective, to slay Adam and Eve’s children, it was ultimately an epic fail. Perhaps he thought that if he could goad Cain into slaying his brother, then GOD would enact just punishment on Cain and slay him Himself. But GOD didn’t do that – he spared Cain’s life, even though he was a murderer! He is often credited as the first murderer in the world, but in all actuality, there was someone else who has earned that title:
JOHN 8:44bAnd Adam and Eve had another son, Seth (whose name means “appointed”).
…He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
A note on the side: since Adam and Eve also must have had (unnamed) daughters, why would marriage between siblings be allowed here, but not later on in Old Testament history (DEUT 27:22; LEV 18:9)?
Up until the time of prohibition the gene pool was strong and healthy; but at the point in time when GOD forbid the practice, mutations would have set in by then and interbreeding within family circles would result in such deformities as were seen in the royal houses of Europe where siblings often married and sometimes bore deformed children (this is where the preponderance of circus attractions came from when such people as John Merrick (the Elephant Man) were put shamefully on display.
The GOSPEL In SECRET CODE
The first time I heard of this, I was astounded. Since I had a Greek Interlinear Bible, I was able to verify the use of certain Hebrew names and could research most of the root words from which they came.
Tucked away in GENESIS 5 we actually have the Gospel message hidden in this genealogy of ten names, beginning with Adam and proceeding through his progeny:
Adam means “man”.
Seth means “appointed”.
Enos means “mortal”.
Cainan (not to be confused with the land of Canaan) means “sorrow”.
Mahalalel (El referring to GOD; halle – praise or blessed) “the Blessed GOD”.
Jared means “shall come down”.
Enoch means “teaching”.
Methuselah means “his death shall bring”.
Lamech means “to lament, to despair”.
Noah means “rest”. Now, string all those words together and what does it say?
“Man appointed mortal sorrow. The blessed GOD shall come down, teaching His death shall bring the despairing rest”! In a nutshell, there you have the Gospel of Jesus Christ, penned under inspiration of the Holy Spirit by Moses the Lawgiver!
GLOBAL GROSSNESS Of The MOST CORRUPT SORT
Balaam taught the people of GOD to blaspheme (REV 2:14). And when that happened, GOD Himself in holy judgment came against His people, until Phinehas intervened and stopped the plague (NUM 25:11).
That same seduction was going on in a global scale in the days of Noah: It was in his day when Nimrod ruled Babel that “men [began] to call upon the name of the LORD.” But not in a good way – they were calling out against the name of the LORD, much like their leader, Nimrod.
Then in GENESIS 6 we have even more corruption spreading:
There is a lot of controversy about this idea of “giants” spawned by fallen angels, particularly among more modern scholarship that sees no way how spiritual beings could possibly procreate with human (females).
An oft cited passage comes from a dialogue between the LORD and some of the Sadducees about marriage in the resurrection:
MATTHEW 22:29-30Two points on this passage and how it in no way negates the idea that angels are capable of procreation:
29 Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels of God in heaven.
1) This passage refers to those angels who did not leave their first estate (JUDE 1:6) but remained loyal to GOD. These sort would never commit such an abomination as did their rebellious counterparts who did abandon the station in the world that GOD ordained for them.
2) These angels can’t procreate – with each other. That’s why (despite depictions in Renaissance art) we don’t see baby angels. But this verse does not disprove that angels could interact with human females (Note: there is nothing in Scripture about ‘female angels’ cohabitating with human men) and conceive a monstrous hybrid.
These are “the sons [never daughters] of GOD”: the bene ha’eloheim, a term only used of angels where it appears also in JOB (JOB 1:5-6; 2:1; 38:7).
Angels can take on physical form; we see them eating (GEN 18:1-8), taking people by the hand and escorting them to safety (GEN 19:10-22), being lusted after by men (who couldn’t “know” spirits as they could flesh and blood; GEN 19:4-5).
The question is, when angels do “put on flesh” as it were, how deep does this go? Down to the genetic level – angelic DNA? While I can’t grasp the fine details of all of this, nevertheless, the Scripture seems clear on the matter.
GIANT PROPORTIONS Of PERDITION
There were “giants” in the land, and being described as such, we have to admit that they were in some way distinct from ordinary people. Some suggest that they were giant in their authority, that is, powerful kings, rulers, warriors. Admittedly, these are described as “mighty men (gibborim)” or warriors, but we also see in these days of Noah “and also after that” (GEN 6:4) – we see this sort proliferating once again in the land of Canaan when the Hebrews in fear of their lives said, “We were like grasshoppers in their sight” (NUM 13:33).
Now, what does all of this have to do with “GOD’s Perfect Plan of the Gospel”?
You remember the prophecy of GENESIS 3:15, the promise of the Gospel that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent? That is, a [human] descendant of the woman would destroy Satan and his reign over the world? This would inaugurate the regaining of the world by the Last Adam (that which the First Adam lost!) and the reigning of the Messiah King over Israel, and all the world!
Satan understood that if he could somehow pollute the human race, make it something other than (purely) human, then he would thwart the plan of GOD, because the seed of the woman would then have to become tainted with the same defilement as the offspring of these fallen angels that committed this abomination (JUDE 1:6; 2 PET 2:4) along with these human women – that is something He could not do!
So, as you can see, GOD isn’t the only one with a plan! Yet because GOD is all-knowing, He was well aware of what Satan would do, and so He brought Noah into His plan:
OPERATION NOAH
GENESIS 6:9
This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
Taking this in context of GENESIS 6, physically speaking Noah was not defiled by this taint of angelic interference and the production of nephilim offspring. The same with his entire family; thus, with these eight people (Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives) the human race would be preserved by keeping them safe in the ark during the Flood – a judgment that came upon the human race for two reasons:
GENESIS 6:5
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
GENESIS 6:1-2
1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
Incidentally, the ark itself is a type of Christ;
Those that were hid inside were kept safe from judgment, in the same way that those who are “in Christ” are saved from the wrath to come (1 THESS 1:10).
GENESIS 6:14
Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch.
The word “cover” in the Hebrew is kaphar, meaning “to expiate, to atone or atonement, cleanse, forgive, disannul, reconcile”.
What I find fascinating is the day in which Noah and family stepped out into the new post-flood world was (according to those who’ve done the research) the same day on the calendar that Christ stepped out of the tomb, bringing new life to all who place their faith in Him! HE IS RISEN!!!
This is a good place to end this second article – we’ll continue studying this awesomely perfect plan of GOD soon in a third article!
This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
The word “perfect” in the Hebrew is tamiym, and it means undefiled, without blemish. We think of Noah’s state of being in a spiritual sense, as well we should for he was by the grace of GOD considered just because of his faith in the LORD (the same as Abraham; ROM 4:3). But this word is used in a Levitical sense of purity where sacrificial animals are concerned, which are to be “without spot or blemish”.
Taking this in context of GENESIS 6, physically speaking Noah was not defiled by this taint of angelic interference and the production of nephilim offspring. The same with his entire family; thus, with these eight people (Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives) the human race would be preserved by keeping them safe in the ark during the Flood – a judgment that came upon the human race for two reasons:
GENESIS 6:5
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
GENESIS 6:1-2
1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
Incidentally, the ark itself is a type of Christ;
Those that were hid inside were kept safe from judgment, in the same way that those who are “in Christ” are saved from the wrath to come (1 THESS 1:10).
GENESIS 6:14
Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch.
The word “cover” in the Hebrew is kaphar, meaning “to expiate, to atone or atonement, cleanse, forgive, disannul, reconcile”.
What I find fascinating is the day in which Noah and family stepped out into the new post-flood world was (according to those who’ve done the research) the same day on the calendar that Christ stepped out of the tomb, bringing new life to all who place their faith in Him! HE IS RISEN!!!
This is a good place to end this second article – we’ll continue studying this awesomely perfect plan of GOD soon in a third article!
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