tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27535234891114377072024-03-26T23:37:31.063-07:00Meaning of GenesisControversy surrounds the Book of Genesis. What do these verses mean? Is Genesis scientifically accurate? Written thousands of years ago and orally passed down earlier, the original texts explained the creation of the physical world and our relationship with God with beautiful prose, symbolism, and allegory. Here the meanings within this ancient text are examined, together with a new translation.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-46950992261103723952022-04-21T16:00:00.006-07:002022-06-02T18:10:45.354-07:00The Meaning of Genesis Table of Contents<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2018/12/introduction-to-meaning-of-genesis.html" target="_blank">Introduction to the Meaning of Genesis</a></b></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;">Commentary: The Meaning of Genesis</h3><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/in-beginning-god-created-heavens-and.html" target="_blank">Genesis 1:1 - <i>In the beginning</i></a></b><i><b> God created ...</b></i><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/now-earth-was-formless-and-empty.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 1:2 - <i>Now the earth was formless</i></b></a><i><b> and empty ...</b></i><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/and-god-said-let-there-be-light-and.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 1:3-4 - <i>"Let there be light"</i></b></a><b><i> and there was light ...</i></b><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/god-called-light-day-and-darkness-he.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 1:5 - <i>God called the light day</i></b></a><b><i> and the darkness ...</i></b><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/and-god-said-let-there-be-expanse.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 1:6-8 - <i>"Let there be an expanse</i></b></a><b><i> between the waters ...</i></b><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/and-god-said-let-water-under-sky-be.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 1:9-10 -<i> "Let the water under</i></b></a><b><i> the sky ...</i></b><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/then-god-said-let-land-produce.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 1:11-13 - <i>"Let the land produce</i></b></a><b><i> vegetation ...</i></b><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/and-god-said-let-there-be-lights-in.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 1:14-19 - <i>"Let there be lights</i></b></a><b><i> in the expanse ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/and-god-said-let-water-teem-with-living.html" target="_blank">Genesis 1:20-23 - <i>"Let the water teem with</i></a><i> living creatures ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/and-god-said-let-land-produce-living.html" target="_blank">Genesis 1:24-25 - <i>"Let the land produce living</i></a><i> creatures ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/then-god-said-let-us-make-man-in-our.html" target="_blank">Genesis 1:26-27 - <i>"Let Us make man</i></a><i> in Our image ...</i></b><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/god-blessed-them-and-said-to-them-be.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 1:28 - <i>"Be fruitful and multiply ...</i></b></a><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/then-god-said-i-give-you-every-seed.html" target="_blank">Genesis 1:29 - <i>"I give you every</i></a><i> seed-bearing plant ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/and-to-all-beasts-of-earth-and-all.html" target="_blank">Genesis 1:30 - <i>And to all the beasts</i></a><i> of the earth ...</i></b><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/god-saw-all-that-he-had-made-and-it-was.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 1:31 - <i>God saw all that He made ...</i></b></a><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/thus-heavens-and-earth-were-completed.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:1-3 - <i>Thus the heavens and</i></a><i> the earth were completed ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/this-is-account-of-heavens-and-earth.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:4-6 - <i>This is the account</i></a><i> of the heavens ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/lord-god-formed-man-from-dust-of-ground.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:7 - <i>The LORD God formed</i></a><i> the man ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/now-lord-god-had-planted-garden-in-east.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:8 - <i>Now the LORD God had</i></a><i> planted a garden ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/and-lord-god-made-all-kinds-of-trees.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:9 - <i>And the LORD God made</i></a><i> all kinds of trees ...</i></b><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/river-watering-garden-flowed-from-eden.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 2:10-14 - <i>A river watering the garden flowed ...</i></b></a><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/lord-god-took-man-and-put-him-in-garden.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 2:15 - <i>The LORD God took the man ...</i></b></a><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/and-lord-god-commanded-man-you-are-free.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:16-17 - <i>And the LORD God commanded</i></a><i>, "You are free ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/lord-god-said-it-is-not-good-for-man-to.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:18 - <i>"It is not good for the man to be alone ...</i></a></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/now-lord-god-had-formed-out-of-ground.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:19 - <i>Now the LORD God had</i></a><i> formed out of the ground ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/but-for-adam-no-suitable-helper-was.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:20-22 - <i>So the man gave names</i></a><i> to all the beasts ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/man-said-this-is-now-bone-of-my-bones.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:23-25 - <i>The man said, "This is</i></a><i> now bone of my bones ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/now-serpent-was-more-crafty-than-any-of.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:1-5 - <i>Now the serpent was</i></a><i> more crafty than ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/11/when-woman-saw-that-fruit-of-tree-was.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:6 - <i>When the woman saw</i></a><i> that the fruit of the tree was good ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/11/then-eyes-of-both-of-them-were-opened.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:7 - <i>Then the eyes of both</i></a><i> of them were opened ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/11/then-man-and-his-wife-heard-sound-of.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:8 - <i>Then the man and</i></a><i> his wife heard the sound of the LORD ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/11/but-lord-god-called-to-man-where-are.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:9-11 - <i>But the LORD God called</i></a><i> to the man, "Where are you?" ...</i></b><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/12/man-said-woman-you-put-here-with-me-she.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 3:12 -<i> The man said, "The woman</i></b></a><b><i> you put here with me ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/12/then-lord-god-said-to-woman-what-is.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:13 - <i>Then the LORD God said</i></a><i> to the woman, "What is this ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/12/then-lord-god-said-to-woman-what-is.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:14 - <i>So the LORD God said</i></a><i> to the serpent, "Because you have ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/01/and-i-will-put-enmity-between-you-and.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:15 - <i>And I will put enmity</i></a><i> between you and the woman ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/01/to-woman-he-said-i-will-greatly.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:16 - <i>"I will greatly increase your pains ...</i></a></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/01/to-adam-he-said-because-you-listened-to.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:17-19 - <i>To Adam He said,</i></a><i> "Because you listened to your wife ...</i></b><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/01/adam-named-his-wife-eve-because-she.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 3:20 - <i>Adam named his wife</i></b></a><b><i> Eve, because she would become ...</i></b><br />
<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/01/lord-god-made-garments-of-skin-for-adam.html" target="_blank"><b>Genesis 3:21 - <i>The LORD God made</i></b></a><b><i> garments of skin for Adam ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/02/and-lord-god-said-man-has-now-become.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:22 - <i>And the LORD God said,</i></a><i> "The man has now become like ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/02/so-lord-god-banished-him-from-garden-of.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:23 - <i>So the LORD God banished</i></a><i> him from the Garden ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/02/after-he-drove-man-out-he-placed-on.html" target="_blank">Genesis 3:24 - <i>After He drove the man</i></a><i> out, He placed on the east side ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/03/adam-lay-with-his-wife-eve-and-she.html" target="_blank">Genesis 4:1 - <i>Adam lay with his wife</i></a><i> Eve, and she became pregnant ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/03/later-she-gave-birth-to-his-brother.html" target="_blank">Genesis 4:2-7 -<i> Later she gave birth</i></a><i> to his brother Abel ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/03/now-cain-said-to-his-brother-abel-lets.html" target="_blank">Genesis 4:8-12 - <i>Now Cain said</i></a><i> to his brother Abel ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/03/cain-said-to-lord-my-punishment-is-more.html" target="_blank">Genesis 4:13-15 - <i>Cain said to the LORD,</i></a><i> "My punishment ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/03/cain-lay-with-his-wife-and-she-became.html" target="_blank">Genesis 4:16-26 - <i>Cain lay with</i></a><i> his wife, and she became pregnant ...</i></b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/01/my-spirit-will-not-contend-with-man.html">Genesis 6:1-4 - <i>The Nephilim were on the earth</i></a> in those days ...</b></div> <b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/01/i-will-wipe-mankind-whom-i-have-created.html">Genesis 6:5-7 - <i>"I will wipe mankind</i></a>, whom I have created ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/01/i-am-going-to-put-end-to-all-people.html">Genesis 6:13-21 - <i>"I am going to</i></a> put an end to all people ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/01/go-into-ark-you-and-your-whole-family.html">Genesis 7:1-4 - <i>"Go into the ark,</i></a> you and your whole family ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/01/come-out-of-ark-you-and-your-wife-and.html">Genesis 8:16-17 - <i>"Come out of the ark,</i></a> you and your wife and sons ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/02/Genesis-8-21-22-never-again-will-i-curse.html">Genesis 8:21-22 - <i>"Never again will I curse</i></a> the ground because of man ... "</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/02/genesis-9-1-7-be-fruitful-and-increase.html">Genesis 9:1-7 - <i>"Be fruitful and increase in number</i></a> and fill the earth ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/02/genesis-9-9-18-Gods-covenant.html">Genesis 9:9-18 - <i>"I now establish my covenant</i></a> with you and with your ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/02/genesis-11-1-7-tower-of-babel.html">Genesis 11:1-7 - <i>"If as one people</i></a> speaking the same language ...."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/03/Genesis-12-1-3-leave-your-country.html">Genesis 12:1-3 - <i>"Leave your country,</i></a> your people and your father's ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/03/Abraham-this-land.html">Genesis 12:6-7 - <i>"To your offspring </i></a> I will give this land. ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/01/all-the-land-that-you-see.html">Genesis 13:14-17 - <i>"All the land that you see</i></a> I will give ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/09/Melchizedek-priest-of-God-Most-High.html">Genesis 14:18-20: <i>"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,</i></a> Creator ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/04/genesis-15-1-do-not-be-afraid-abram-i-am.html">Genesis 15:1 - <i>"Do not be afraid, Abraham,</i></a> I am your shield ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/04/genesis-15-4-5-so-shall-your-offspring-be.html">Genesis 15:4-5 - <i>"This man will not</i></a> be your heir ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/04/i-am-lord-who-brought-you.html">Genesis 15:7 - <i>"I am the LORD who</i></a> brought you out of Ur ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/04/genesis-158-9-bring-me-heifer-goat-and.html">Genesis 15:8-9 - <i>"Bring me a heifer</i></a>, a goat and a ram, each three ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/04/enslaved-descendants-Abraham.html">Genesis 15:13-16 - <i>"Know for certain</i></a> your descendants will be ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/05/genesis-1518-21-to-your-descendants.html">Genesis 15:18-21 - <i>"To your descendants</i></a> I give this land ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/05/i-am-god-almighty-walk-before-me.html">Genesis 17:1-6 - <i>"I am God Almighty;</i></a> walk before Me ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/05/i-will-establish-my-covenant.html">Genesis 17:7-8 - <i>"I will establish my covenant</i></a> as an everlasting ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/05/you-must-keep-my-covenant.html">Genesis 17:9 - <i>"As for you, you must keep My covenant</i></a> ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/05/genesis-1710-14-any-uncircumcised-male.html">Genesis 17:10-14 - <i>"Any uncircumcised male,</i></a> who has not been ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/06/genesis-1715-16-as-for-sarai-your-wife.html">Genesis 17:15-16 - <i>"As for Sarai you wife,</i></a> you are no longer ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/06/genesis-1719-21-sarah-will-bear.html">Genesis 17:19-21 - <i>"Yes, but your wife Sarah</i></a> will bear you a son, ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/06/genesis-18-shall-i-hide-from-Abraham.html">Genesis 18:1-19 - <i>The LORD appeared to Abraham</i></a> near the great trees ...</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2018/01/genesis-18-20-21-outcry-against-sodom.html">Genesis 18:20-21 - <i>"The outcry against Sodom</i></a> and Gomorrah ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/07/sodom-for-the-sake-of-ten.html">Genesis 18:23-33 - <i>"For the sake of ten</i></a> I will not destroy it ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/07/genesis-20-1-7-was-Abrahams-wife-his-sister.html">Genesis 20:1-7 - <i>"Now return the man's wife,</i></a> for he is a prophet ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/07/Hagar-servant-or-wife.html">Genesis 21:12-13 - <i>"Do not be so distressed</i></a> about the boy ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/08/Abraham-begins-to-sacrifice-Isaac.html">Genesis 22:1-2 - <i>"Sacrifice him there</i></a> as a burnt offering ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/08/genesis-22-15-Isaac-on-the-altar.html">Genesis 22:15-18 - <i>"I swear by myself,</i></a> declares the LORD ... "</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/08/genesis-26-2-5-do-not-go-down-to-egypt.html">Genesis 26:2-5 - <i>"Do not go down to Egypt;</i></a> live in the land ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/08/genesis-26-24-i-am-god-of-your-father.html">Genesis 26:24 - <i>"I am the God of your father </i></a> Abraham ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/09/genesis-28-11-18-Jacob-dream-stairway-to-heaven.html">Genesis 28:11-18 - <i>"I am with you</i></a> and will watch over you ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/09/did-Jacob-wrestle-with-God.html">Genesis 32:-25-30 - <i>So Jacob was left alone,</i></a> and a man wrestled" ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/09/go-up-to-bethel-and-settle-there.html">Genesis 35:1 - <i> "Go up to Bethel and settle there</i></a> and build an altar ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/09/your-name-will-be-Israel.html">Genesis 35:10-12 - <i> "Your name is Jacob</i></a> but you will no longer be ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/09/i-will-go-down-to-egypt-with-you.html">Genesis 46:3-4 - <i>"I will go down to Egypt</i></a> with you ..."</b><br />
<b><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2019/09/I-will-make-you-community-of-peoples.html">Genesis 48:3-4 - <i>"I will make you a community</i></a> of peoples ..."</b><br />
<br />
<div><br /></div><div><h3><br /></h3><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-15692270684176718042022-04-20T18:34:00.004-07:002022-06-02T18:14:34.761-07:00Introduction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The Book of Genesis has been the subject of debate, mystery, and curiosity throughout Western and Middle Eastern civilization for thousands of years. The texts of Genesis have been the focus of many scholars, scientists, and philosophers as they have tried to grapple and understand its meaning in practical terms.<br />
<br />
The initial chapters of Genesis have provided the foundation for fierce debate between religious leaders and scientists for centuries, as arguments regarding evolution and creationism have played out in courtrooms, classrooms and legislative houses throughout Western society. Many of these debates eventually became centered around the interpretations of Genesis. Were the verses to be taken literally? Did God really create the universe in 6 days, and did this really occur only 5,000 years ago?<br />
<br />
The issue of whether many of the texts of Genesis should be taken literally has led to a large size debate not only between scientists and creationists in modern times. Another debate between two factions of creationists has broken out. This debate is between those who say the texts should be taken completely literally and those who say many of the texts are allegorical and a broader interpretation should be accepted.<br />
<br />
These debates have resulted in public confusion regarding the meaning of Genesis from a practical and useful standpoint. They have served to remove the common reader from the practical teachings available in this Scripture.<br />
<br />
The <i><b>Meaning of Genesis</b></i> serves to provide clarity for the reader, enabling a practical basis to learn the deeper teachings available within these texts.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">These deeper teachings have largely been lost among popular translations and interpretations of Genesis. This is partly due to the persistent lack of clarity from organized institutions over the centuries regarding the origin and contents of these texts. The texts have thus incrementally been distanced from their original teachings.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
There are a number of general misunderstandings about the Book of Genesis found in most Bible translations. Despite the formatting to give it a historical appearance, scholars have confirmed that Genesis is actually not a single book. Rather, the Book of Genesis consists of a collection of different oral teachings recorded at different times by different scribes. <br />
<br />
Much of the text was recorded from multiple oral teachings from multiple lineages that passed down those teachings from one generation to the next for many centuries.<br />
<br />
During this passage of the oral information over the centuries, according to the time, circumstance and society, naturally much of the information eventually recorded as the book of Genesis assumed an allegorical quality. This allegorical quality conferred moral and devotional lessons upon the audience as it was passed on from generation to generation.<br />
<br />
At the same time, these oral teachings also developed some of the societal issues prevalent during those times. Of prime importance was the feudal tribal nature of nomadic Judean tribes, who suffered from forced displacement along with voluntary movement. These tribes valued the ability to control certain territorial lands, as this was vital to their survival. As a result, some of the oral teachings also included messages authorizing their tribal authority over certain lands, by their ancestors and religious leaders.<br />
<br />
Illustrating this, much of the Torah scrolls were recorded during and following a period when Judeans and Judean scribes in particular, were forced into exile in Babylon between 586 and 538 BCE. These events along with other struggles for control over lands with Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, led to texts that emphasize God giving certain lands of the Middle East to the Israelites.<br />
<br />
As this accumulative process of recording continued, scribes authorized by tribal lords conveyed the texts to establish political authority and dominance for their particular tribe and leaders.<br />
<br />
Over the next few centuries, those scrolls were copied, combined, translated and interpreted into numerous versions. Eventually, they were combined into one book, which became one of the five books of the Torah. Eventually, other books were combined into a single “Hebrew Bible” now called the Tanakh.<br />
<br />
It must be remembered that many of those scribes performed their work under the supervision and employment of the leaders of that particular era. Some of these leaders – such as Solomon and David – were wise and devoted servants of God. Others were not so wise and sought to utilize the texts to their political advantage. This eventually became the powerful institution that Jesus criticized during his lifetime. And the same institution that condemned Jesus' teachings and had him arrested and tried.<br />
<br />
Following the persecution of Jesus and the century-long Jewish-Roman Wars, the Roman government dominated Judea with an iron fist. For political purposes, during the Fourth Century CE, the Roman government contracted to have selected books from the Judean scriptures combined with selected Christian texts into what would become the first Bible. The Book of Genesis was arranged into the first book, inferring the Bible was a historical text, with its allegorical nature assumed to be literal.<br />
<br />
The tendency of rulers to dictate the predisposition of Scripture continued into the third and fourth centuries with the Roman Empire. Particularly during Constantine’s rule and Roman emperors who followed him.<br />
<br />
Roman Emperor Constantine saw that Christianity was growing rapidly in Europe and the Middle East. He thus smartly saw that he had better gain control of the religion before it endangered Rome’s control over its current Empire.<br />
<br />
So in 325 AD Constantine appointed a number of religious leaders with strong followings throughout the then-Christian world, and organized a committee called the Council of Nicea. The purpose was to orchestrate a single doctrine to manage the Christian world under the Roman Empire.<br />
<br />
Constantine knew that organizing such a diverse group of Christian sects was going to be difficult. In order to do this right, he had to create the appearance of legitimacy. He had to create an organizational structure that would allow the Romans to orchestrate their control over the region. This gave birth to the Roman Catholic Church, which came to dominate the Christian world and the doctrines of Christianity for over a thousand years.<br />
<br />
The control exerted over the Christian world by the Roman government was by no means accomplished through the teachings of Jesus – as one might imagine. Rather, the Roman Catholic Church instituted and maintained their authority by force. Anyone who was found teaching any other doctrine other than the Nicene Creed was quickly eliminated – by murder or imprisonment. Over the centuries the Roman Catholic Church came to not only dominate religious thought in Europe and the Middle East: It was able to control the decision-making of many governments that formed following the fall of the official Roman Empire.<br />
<br />
As for the texts of the Bible, after the First Council of Nicea (the Council was assembled every few years for centuries) in 325 AD, Constantine ordered and organized the assembly of the “Canon” – a selection of the hundreds of books accepted as Scripture among the various churches and assemblies throughout the then-Christian world. The Canon was to compile the theoretically-most credible books of Scripture and combine them into one text – which eventually became known as the Holy Bible (derived from the Greek <i>ta biblia</i>, meaning ‘little papyrus books’).<br />
<br />
The resulting Latin Bible was a concerted effort of Constantine to organize Judaism and Christianity. This meant that the process of selection was driven not by a goal to select those Scriptures most important for passing on God’s message: The objective was to produce a single book substantiating the premise that Judean Christianity was the only valid religion.<br />
<br />
This was an issue of control and authority. If the Romans were in charge of the only valid religion, they could by virtue of controlling the Church institution, control the people.<br />
<br />
This goal was neither a new one for any emperor or government, nor was it foreign to many of the new bishops that were brought together to form the Council of Nicea. This is, in fact, part of the heritage of the Judean texts passed down and now identified as the Old Testament. As experienced historically among most feudal regions, rulers often gained power through their alliances with religious teachers – and many were attributed as prominent religious leaders themselves. In reality, however, most of the devoted teachers were focused not upon political authority, but upon the authority of the Supreme Being. This is why some prophets such as Jeremiah were rejected by the sectarian institutions of their day.<br />
<br />
But it is this very tendency of historical alliance between political leaders and religious teachers that has produced misinterpretations and mistranslations of scriptural texts over the centuries.<br />
<br />
Some of these alliances may have been grounded in devotion, but many were mixed with political ambition. For example, those early bishops appointed by Constantine to the council of Nicea may have had mixed agendas, but they came together as a unit under an umbrella of purpose to provide organizational and political control over Christianity. This resulted in the Nicene Creed, which came to dominate Christian belief during that time (by force) and eventually came to become the accepted doctrine of practically every Christian sect that has sprung up since.<br />
<br />
In other words, for over 1,500 years, any person or sect that wanted to be accepted as a Christian had to at least accept the key terms of the Nicene Creed in order to be credible. This is how successful the Roman Empire was in snuffing out alternate doctrines.<br />
<br />
And needless to say, the process of the Nicene Council also cemented these early bishops’ power and authority over their jurisdiction of the Roman Empire. They were now authorized by the Roman power to exert their dominance within their particular region. Their religious authority also became political authority.<br />
<br />
Following the creation of the Nicene Creed doctrine, this political authority was used to support and maintain the new order of Christianity. This was accomplished by eliminating competing doctrines, and those scriptural texts that supported alternative doctrines.<br />
<br />
Under the order of Constantine, the newly formed Church selected certain manuscripts that were circulating, and translated them into Latin, thereby assembling the first Canon – the first Bible. This new Bible – commissioned by Constantine upon the newly bishoped Eusebius – was transcribed and translated by professional scribes hired to maintain the Nicene Creed. This is evidenced by Constantine’s letter to Eusebius. Here is an excerpt:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>“I have thought it expedient to instruct your Prudence to order fifty copies of the sacred Scriptures, the provision and use of which you know to be most needful for the instruction of the Church, to be written on prepared parchment in a legible manner, and in a convenient, portable form, by professional transcribers thoroughly practiced in their art. The catholicus of the diocese has also received instructions by letter from our Clemency to be careful to furnish all things necessary for the preparation of such copies; and it will be for you to take special care that they be completed with as little delay as possible. You have authority also, in virtue of this letter, to use two of the public carriages for their conveyance, by which arrangement the copies when fairly written will most easily be forwarded for my personal inspection; and one of the deacons of your church may be intrusted with this service, who, on his arrival here, shall experience my liberality.” (NPNF2-01, Esebius, Church History, Life of Constantine, Orationin Praise of Constantine)</i></blockquote>Key elements of this letter include “professional transcribers,” “my personal inspection,” and the orchestration of Constantine’s involvement in the assembly of the Bible. In other words, the texts were assembled by professional transcribers paid for their efforts.<br />
<br />
Such a professional endeavor, ordered by a political emperor, is diametrically opposed to services of devotion.<br />
<br />
Also, we find this “professional” Bible was subject to Constantine’s inspection and ultimate approval. Here is a politician – an emperor known also to have persecuted and slaughtered millions to establish his power – approving Scripture?<br />
<br />
Eusebius had previously assembled a list of manuscripts that were popular and most acceptable to the early Church leadership at that time, and he used most of this list to assemble the Bible canon. In other words, the books were chosen based upon their acceptability by the organized institution of what would later be called the Roman Catholic Church.<br />
<br />
We also find evidence that Eusebius sought to promote his own personal interpretations upon the books of the Bible – and Eusebius had many distinctive opinions, some of which were part of the mainstream Church thinking and some of which were not. The 5th-Century Christian historian, Socrates Scholasticus, documented that Eusebius’ writings had “rhetorical finish” and were written for the “praises of the Emperor” and not the “accurate statement of facts.”<br />
<br />
In other words, the first assembly and transcribing of the official Bible was less than a devotional activity exercised with the seriousness of unbiased scholarship we would expect from such a work. It involved significant political ambition by both Eusebius and Constantine. We can add to this that there was continual wrangling and political intrigue amongst the various bishops that attended the Nicea synods, which determined – through a political process – the doctrine of the early Church that became known as the Nicene Creed, now accepted as fundamental to most Christian institutions.<br />
<br />
To summarize, Eusebius’ work to assemble the first Bible was assigned by the Roman Emperor Constantine, and Constantine’s efforts were driven by a desire to organize and control the religion of Christianity. By Constantine’s order, Eusebius hired professional translators and transcribers, who oversaw the translation (and thus interpretation) of the Scriptures from Greek, Arabic and Hebrew languages, into Latin. This Latin translation provided the foundation for the future interpretation of the Bible, which eventually was translated into English.<br />
<br />
After the early Bible’s manuscripts were selected, translated into Latin and assembled into the Bible, the Roman Empire and its surrogate Church systematically burned and destroyed any library that included books outside of those selected for the Bible or otherwise were “approved” by Church fathers. Some were quarantined within the Church’s library in Rome; others were burnt, never to be found.<br />
<br />
The Church also systematically squelched any alternative interpretations of Genesis and the creation, such as those that were taught amongst the Gnostics for centuries. The Gnostics were practically driven out of existence. Their villages were burnt, their teachers were murdered, and their libraries of manuscripts were destroyed. This activity – of forcibly removing ‘heretics’ for their alternative interpretations of Scripture – continued for over a thousand years among the Church and its proxies.<br />
<br />
Add to this “purification” that for centuries, the Latin Bible was the only Bible allowed to be read, and only the priests and Church officials had access to the Latin Bible. The rest of the people among the regions controlled by the Roman Catholic Church and its surrogates did not have access to Scripture. They could only hear its Latin from the priests, who also controlled its interpretation. This was the status quo for many centuries until parts of the Bible was (illegally according to the Church) translated into English and other languages. The first complete English Bible – translated from the Latin Bible – came into being during the 14th Century – more than a thousand years after Eusebius’ Latin Bible.<br />
<br />
And even then, John Wycliffe, the English Bible’s translator, was declared a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church. By the command of the Church and its Pope Martin V, his Biblical texts were ordered to be burnt, and his then-dead body exhumed, burnt, and his ashes thrown into a river.<br />
<br />
This ‘scorched earth’ policy of virtually eliminating any and all interpretations of Genesis and other parts of the Scriptures outside of those approved by the Church and Roman Empire created a single dominant interpretation of the Biblical Scriptures – a type of brainwashing – throughout all the new sects of the Christian church.<br />
<br />
Prior even to the Church’s power grab on Biblical interpretation, we find sectarian Rabbinical transcription, translation, and interpretation of the five books of the Torah – which Genesis, “Bereshit” was the first – driven by an eerily similar pact between government and religious institutions. Like the Roman government’s domination over Christianity, Judean emperors in the centuries leading to Jesus’ birth commandeered the theretofore orally communicated תורה שבכתב (Torah Shebe’al Peh – “Torah that is spoken”), and oversaw its transcription into a written work, to be called Torah Shebichtav (תורה שבעל פה (Torah Shebichtav – “Torah that is written”).<br />
<br />
In other words, the Torah – a word meaning “to teach” – was originally passed down orally from one generation to the next by devoted teachers (Prophets), including Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Joshua, Eli, Samuel, David, Solomon, Job, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and others in between. Each teacher would pass on the oral teachings of the Torah to their students, and those students who were empowered passed it on to their students. This oral tradition also meant that the sometimes allegorical lessons of the Torah also accompanied the interpretation of the priest – who pledged their devotion to the Supreme Being.<br />
<br />
We can see this tradition clearly as we examine the relationship between Joshua and Moses, and Samuel and Eli within the texts of the Bible.<br />
<br />
This esteemed tradition also became subject to territorialism as the Torah was transcribed from Torah Shebe’al Peh to Torah Shebichtav and interpreted over the centuries. While it is said that the Torah was first written by Moses, this is not completely supported by the empirical record. Rather, what Moses appears to have written down were the Ten Commandments, onto stone tablets that were apparently placed beside the Ark of the Covenant.<br />
<br />
Other critical lessons now contained in the Scriptures were orally given by Moses, which were eventually passed on by one of Moses’ empowered students, Joshua. This has become more widely accepted as the texts themselves illustrate that the authors of Genesis followed Moses (such as Genesis 12:6 – “and the Canaanite was then in the land” – an event following Moses’ time).<br />
<br />
The consensus of scholars has been that the Torah was combined from at least four main sources and before being redacted into a single version. The sources have been described as Yahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and the Priestly writer.<br />
<br />
This Documentary hypothesis states the Yahwist source comes from Southern Judah, the Elohist source from Northern Israel, the Deuteronomist from Jerusalem and the Priestly source from Babylon. This Documentary hypothesis holds that the texts had individual lineages, each accompanied by manuscripts pieced together into the Torah.<br />
<br />
Others believe there were many other sources. Recent scholars contend that Genesis alone is the compilation of no less than nineteen different manuscripts – many disconnected with each other.<br />
<br />
This understanding gradually came about as the Torah texts themselves were analyzed, and three commanding theories of its composition rose to the forefront by scholars:<br />
<br />
- <i>The Documentary:</i> The Torah was a compilation of separate and complete written manuscripts.<br />
<br />
- <i>The Supplementary</i>: An original work that was later supplemented with various additions and deletions.<br />
<br />
- <i>The Fragmentary:</i> The Torah is a compilation of fragments of different books.<br />
<br />
These theories have been offered as the only rational explanations for the various duplications, schisms and irregularities present among the texts of the Torah in terms of timeline, context, history, and language. Some more recent scholars have contended that the evidence presents that the Torah is a combination of all three – it contains some complete manuscripts; was supplemented with additions and deletions; and also contains various fragments of other manuscripts.<br />
<br />
The essence here is that practically every Biblical scholar accepts that the books of the Torah – including Genesis – is a compilation of a variety of manuscripts and fragments that were transcribed and eventually presented as a single document, together with additions and deletions as the document was further transcribed over the centuries.<br />
<br />
The question then becomes: Who organized and oversaw such a process of compilation?<br />
<br />
The 7th Century appears to be the period many scholars believe the Torah began its sectarian journey into what is now Judaism. We find that this century was strife with warfare between feuding empires of Rome, Assyria, Judah, Egypt, and surrounding regions. Struggles for land and territory were rampant, and a quest to commandeer Scripture was not only a political necessity – it was an issue of survival.<br />
<br />
Many point to the reign of Josiah, the King of Judah between 641 and 609 BCE. Josiah is understood to be born in Jerusalem and considered to be part of the House of David. He was King Amon’s son. Amon’s father, Manasseh is known for turning away from the worship of the Supreme Being, creating the temple of idols.<br />
<br />
Josiah was devoted to Yahweh, however. He ordered the temple of Solomon to be rebuilt using taxes. During the construction, it is said that the builders discovered a buried scroll describing Moses’ “book of the law,” accepted by most scholars to have been put together by institutional priests intent on centralizing power under King Josiah. Thus we find a critical piece of the transcriptions having political ambition: Claiming the right of heritage for certain lands to the house of Abraham, Moses, David, and then Josiah.<br />
<br />
This provided a necessary foundation for the political backdrop of those times. Josiah’s rule was gripped with struggles over territory and population by the likes of the Egyptians, Babylonians and the Syrians – who were ultimately responsible for Josiah’s death.<br />
<br />
In the centuries that followed, these territorial struggles continued, and the formation of the Torah gained additional substance with the writings of Ezra in the Fifth Century BCE. After the rebuilding of Jerusalem under the Persian ruler Artaxerxes, Ezra led a formation of a separated assembly of Israelites committed to following Moses’ law.<br />
<br />
The successive assemblies following Ezra took a drastic sectarian turn over the next centuries, as priestly struggles merged with struggles for territorial rights, and the assemblies became increasingly political.<br />
<br />
The Torah was thus altered over the next five centuries, as the Israelite high priests formed rigid sectarian order over their assemblies. The rule of law became tantamount and the five books of the Torah were interpreted as a set of laws combined with a genealogy of the Israelite people.<br />
<br />
The necessity of a succession of rulers through this period produced political alliances between certain priests and the various kings of Judah. This drove the recognition of the Israelite assembly as a separate race of people and allowed the high priests to become ex-facto governors.<br />
<br />
This politically driven succession of high priests became increasingly perverted over the centuries, as evidenced by the teachings of Jesus. We find that by the time of Jesus, the institutional temples and its priesthood had all but forgotten the elements of devotion that had been taught by Moses, Abraham, and David, and passed down orally over the centuries from teacher to student.<br />
<br />
This was characterized by Jesus, who condemned the nature and hierarchy of the institutional priesthood.<br />
<br />
These devotional principles had become overtaken by the politics of necessity, focused upon the “promised land” and the “chosen people” of Judah and Israel. Jesus’ teachings identified the two primary orders among the institutional temples – the Sadducees and the Pharisees – as focused upon retaining their politically oriented positions of “teachers of the law” rather than the passing down of the original teachings of devotional Judaism.<br />
<br />
Jesus vehemently criticized these two groups as misleading the people and abandoning the original precepts of the teachings of the Torah – which he emphasized were grounded upon the “first and foremost commandment” to love God.<br />
<br />
This devotional teaching, we find from biblical texts, had been passed through a devotional lineage that included John the Baptist and Zachariah, John’s teacher and traced back through the centuries. Many historians have shown that the Essenes – a priestly order that rejected the political ambitions of the mainstream priestly order – were a vehicle for this lineage of pure teachers. This pure heritage of teachings passed down through the centuries ran parallel to the political intrigue that accompanied the official texts of the Torah.<br />
<br />
In other words, the oral tradition of the Torah continued through the centuries from devoted teacher to humble student despite the incongruence of the official scriptural canons of politically driven sectarian institutions.<br />
<br />
We find from these histories a repeating lesson: That the pure teachings of the Supreme Being handed down from teacher to student can at any point in time become perverted as they become recorded; and those recordings can become further tainted under the control of those who wish to utilize them for purposes of power and political position. History has taught us that as particular empires seeking political power begin to handle devotional recordings, the recordings are subject to alteration, producing documents tainted with greed and politics.<br />
<br />
What about the alternative and source documents? Unfortunately, the same machinery that tainted those Scriptures also worked to eliminate their sources – effectively erasing evidence of perversion. As a result, we find that out of the thousands of scriptural manuscripts passed down for centuries by early Israelite and Christian teachers, only the politically-selected books of the Bible and a limited collection of mostly tattered manuscripts found buried in the desert or within the recesses of the Church’s secret library remain.<br />
<br />
However, those books found in the desert – now called the Dead Sea Scrolls – provide clear evidence that the Church indeed systematically eliminated many manuscripts as well as alternative interpretations. We also find clear evidence that some of the texts that made it into the Latin Bible were in fact manipulated with respect to their translation and inclusion. Yes, inclusion: This means that some text was removed and some text was added.<br />
<br />
This is ironic since the last verse of the Book of Revelation warns not to remove or add to the text. Of course, the placing of the Book of Revelation was smartly arranged as the last book of the Bible by Eusebius and his cohorts, even though it was not the last manuscript written. In other words, the position of the Book of Revelation as last gives the reader the impression that nothing can thenceforth be added or taken away from the entire Bible – even though the writer was speaking solely of that particular manuscript.<br />
<br />
The bottom line is that the Books of the Canon – the arrangement of the Books of the Bible, and the interpretation of the many passages driven by the Nicene Creed, were orchestrated as part of an overall objective to put forth the impression that Christianity (and thus early Judaism) was the original and only valid religious institution.<br />
<br />
Yes, unfortunately, the Bible and the Torah are politically perverted documents. This doesn’t mean they do not still contain the Truth, however.<br />
<br />
Over the centuries, a few other combinations of Old Testament Biblical texts have surfaced in addition to the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the Greek Septuagint and the Arabic Peshitta. The Septuagint arose through the translation of the Rabbinical texts originally put together by Origen (who was later rejected as heretical by the Church), but its current form has been altered through the centuries. The Peshitta, which also contained some manuscripts alternative to the Bible, to some degree escaped destruction by the Romans – although it is not clear to what degree or at what stage.<br />
<br />
What we see from the evidence is scriptural mistranslations and misinterpretations orchestrated by politically oriented sectarian institutions before and after Jesus’ appearance, and then later by the Roman emperor-sponsored Roman Catholic Church to be continued by later sectarian surrogates with repeated efforts to utilize Scripture to create false authority. This combination of efforts has produced a gross misunderstanding of the meaning of many of the texts of today’s Bible, including Genesis.<br />
<br />
This struggle for false authority continues today, as the various religious institutions and sects vie for followers and political position among today’s cultures. Most have established a few unique interpretations of the Old and/or New Testaments on various matters over recent centuries, yet most of the Christian sects still abide generally by the politically sponsored Nicene Creed doctrine originally put forth and forcefully supported by the early Roman Catholic Church.<br />
<br />
It should be stated that these politically-oriented activities that have formed Genesis’ current interpretation and translations in no way remove the real power and authority of the teachings of Genesis; nor those of Lord Jesus Christ and the rest of the Saints of the Bible. Rather, these efforts to use Scripture to create false authority has simply shrouded their real meaning from the casual reader subjected to the brainwashing of these sectarian institutions.<br />
<br />
But the fact that the texts survived all those political efforts in some state, and have maintained spiritual validity, is a testament of the Supreme Being’s ability to ultimately control Scripture and even shroud its true meaning from some.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, an undercurrent of confidential knowledge has continued to be quietly passed from serious teacher to serious student for thousands of years, insulated from these political quests for power by governments and religious institutions – through their surrogate professional sectarian clergies. We say “confidential” not because this information is secret. It is confidential because it is understood only by persons who are serious about learning the real lessons of spiritual life. Only the serious student guided by a teacher in succession empowered by the Supreme Being will be able to grasp and understand the true meaning of any real Scripture. In other words, true Scripture is understood only by those intent on sincerely learning about God and our real purpose for existence.<br />
<br />
This is not a new concept. We can see the importance of the spiritual mentor and guide in the lives of all the great teachers spoken of within the Old and New Testaments. While some of the entire lineages have been lost in translation and by the exclusion of some of the texts, the Biblical texts illustrate the teacher-student relationship between Melchizedek and Abraham; Abraham and Lot; Moses and Joshua; Eli and Samuel; Samuel and Saul; Saul and David; David and Solomon and many others. It is also illustrated by Jesus’ relationship with his teacher John the Baptist, as well as Jesus’ relationship with his own disciples, whom Jesus instructed to also go out and teach what he taught them to others.<br />
<br />
The first four books of Genesis can be properly understood within the confines of the teachings of these ancient teachers. It was this lineage of teachers that Jesus belonged to, as a devoted student of John the Baptist, who was a devoted student of Zachariah, a devoted student of a teacher within the lineage that included David, Samuel, Solomon, Eli, Moses, Abraham, and Melchizedek.<br />
<br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The information provided in the commentaries afterward embraces the lineage of teachers that provided the facility to pass down this deep knowledge of our creation and resulting fall into the physical world. I give thanks to and honor this lineage with the Meaning of Genesis as passed down through generations of teachers and students for thousands of years.<br />
<br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-35568563805888621172018-03-29T11:54:00.002-07:002022-06-02T18:15:31.796-07:00Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This verse describes the essential Source of the physical dimension. The Supreme Being is the Ultimate Source.<br />
<br />
As for the word<i> "heavens," </i>this is derived from the Hebrew word שָׁמַיִם (shamayim). According to Gesenius' Hebrew Lexicon, this word refers to the sky or visible heavens, including the stars and galaxies. In other words, Genesis is a discussion of the creation and purpose of the physical dimension - which includes numerous galaxies, universes and planets.<br />
<br />
This verse also solves the riddle of what scientists refer to as the <i><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/god-called-light-day-and-darkness-he.html">singularity problem</a>.</i><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the big bang theory and the singularity problem?</h3>The <i>singularity problem,</i> quite simply, is the notion that scientists cannot figure out what existed prior to the theoretical initial blast of creation now termed the <i>big bang.</i><br />
<br />
The <i>big bang theory</i> has been supposedly validated by one primary observation: That the collection of various galaxies and their components appear to be expanding outward into space. This is called the "inflationary principle," which arose from the "Hubble Constant," named after the famed astronomer.<br />
<br />
The hypothesis is that if the galaxies and their components are all expanding, they must have originally arose from a single point or event.<br />
<br />
Even the physicists and cosmologists who have assumably accepted the big bang and inflationary theories still argue about them. A February 2017 article in the Scientific American journal <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cosmic-inflation-theory-faces-challenges/" target="_blank">highlighted this argument.</a> Written by three physicists, one who had been one of the original architects of the inflation theory, the article argues that these theories are still debatable. Data streamed back from a satellite named Planck seems to contradict at least some elements of the inflation theory:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>"If anything, the Planck data disfavored the simplex inflation models and exacerbated long-standing foundational problems with the theory, providing new reasons to consider competing ideas about the origin and evolution of the universe."</i></blockquote>In other words, despite their prestigious titles and theories, these physicists that portend they have figured out how the universe was created simply do not know. They are guessing.<br />
<br />
Yet for the virtue of science, let's elaborate on the big bang theory: Assuming such a single big bang did occur, what made it occur?<br />
<br />
In any explosion - or any event for that matter - the laws of the physical universe tell us that there must exist the elements to produce that event. In other words, every event - and every thing in the physical universe - has a source. This we have learned from scientific observation and many decades of research.<br />
<br />
Science, as promulgated by scientists now and in the past, must abide by certain laws of logic. This means that no matter how abstract, a scientific theory must abide by fundamental and observable realities.<br />
<br />
Therefore, for the supposed big bang theory to be a scientific theory, it must abide by the universal rule of the physical world: That every event must have an elementary source.<br />
<br />
For this reason, scientists have been meticulously listing the atomic elements that must have existed prior to the big bang in order for the explosion to have taken place.<br />
<br />
But then they arrive at a dilemma - the singularity problem: Where did these elements come from? And where did the atomic energy come from that caused such a great explosion?<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What about the theory of everything?</h3>This continues to baffle scientists, providing the grist for so many imaginative theories about what existed prior to the big bang. Theories have ranged from string theories to various wave and energy theories, to the famous <i>"theory of everything."</i><br />
<br />
However, at the end of all of these theories, scientists find the same dilemma: What caused these? What elements, power or energy produced them?<br />
<br />
Furthermore, as we look at the eventual assembly of the various beautifully organized structures of the physical universe, be they galaxies, solar systems, planets, oceans, mountains, plants, fish, animals and humans - and their continued evolution driven by a magnificent spiral-shape molecule that looks strikingly like a galaxy,<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/and-god-said-let-land-produce-living.html"> called DNA</a> - we must arrive at the conclusion that whatever was before such a creation event must also have had the potential to produce all of this arranged complexity.<br />
<br />
In addition, we must also scientifically accept that all of the personalities among the organisms we see around us - every human and every animal and any other living organism - must also have arisen from something. What was the source of all of these personalities? What is the source of life? What is the source of love? What is the source of individuality? What is the source of desire? What is the source of the fear of death?<br />
<br />
Certainly, if we were all simply physical machines, there would be no fear of death. We would all look forward to merging back into matter, as opposed to struggling for survival.<br />
<br />
All of these elements, which all came into being, add to the singularity problem. Where did the capability for matter to produce all of this come from? The big bang theorists simply have no logical explanation.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the Original Cause?</h3>This first verse in Genesis provides the answer. God - the Original Being from a dimension of another substance - the spiritual dimension - brought the energy and the elements together to produce the physical universe.<br />
<br />
This is the only valid scientific conclusion that can be made. Why? Because first of all, the only valid source of the 'singularity' must be from another dimension. Since "something" cannot come from "nothing," and a beginning indicates a period of "nothing," the only valid source of the "something" must be a transmutation from another dimension.<br />
<br />
Secondly, in order for the physical universe to have the capabilities it has: such as spiraling galaxies, gravity, DNA, atoms, molecules and so on, there must be an organizing source. Something must have provided an organizing principle.<br />
<br />
An organizing principle requires what? Purpose: A purpose for the organization. Something that is organized infers there is a purpose for the organization. This requires an <i>organizer with purpose.</i><br />
<br />
Thirdly, life must originate from a living substance. Matter cannot become life. We can see this clearly. A living organism desires survival. A dead piece of matter does not. This means there is a difference between the two. So how did life come into being? Since living organisms struggle against the laws of the physical universe - notably that every organism dies - then the life element within living organisms must not be physical. If they were, then there would be no struggle with death. Every organism would happily accept death as a merging back to matter if life came from matter.<br />
<br />
The struggle against death, and the very nature of the evolution of species indicates quite the opposite. Organisms struggle to stay alive - and evolve in order to stay alive - because the element of life is not a physical element.<br />
<br />
The Source of life also has another important difference: Regarding the element of time. The physical dimension and all the physical elements are affected by time, but not the Source of life. The Source of life, the Supreme Being, is not governed by time. There is no beginning nor an end to the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being created time, so He is not subjected to it. Since the Supreme Being created the element of time, He is in control of it.<br />
<br />
This answers the question that some raise: Who created God? Because having a beginning requires a function of the element of time, and because God created time, there is no beginning to God.<br />
<br />
And the spiritual dimension - the dimension of the Supreme Being - is also not subject to the element of time. This is an eternal dimension, and those children of God who reside there are also eternal.<br />
<br />
The element of time was created by the Supreme Being specifically to monitor and maintain the physical dimension.<br />
<br />
The reality is that the Eternal Supreme Being produced the physical dimension - along with time and its innumerable universes - and impregnated it with life.<br />
<br />
This is the only scientific conclusion that maintains the laws of nature.<br />
<br />
And He isn’t only the Creator of this particular universe. He is the Creator of countless universes. This is evidenced by the word שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) being plural.<br />
<br />
<h3>What is the plurality of creation?</h3>Speaking of plural, the original Hebrew utilizes the word, אֱלֹהִים ('elohiym), which is translated to "God" in Genesis 1:1 and some of the verses following. Yet, strictly speaking, this word 'elohiym - or Elohim - is in the plural sense. <br />
<br />
Some have opined that this means the ancient Hebrew was referencing multiple "gods." This would not be correct. Rather, the word is described as "plural intensive" which has a singular meaning referencing the God of gods, or the Great God, or the God of all. It also can reference the fact that the Supreme Being can have multiple sides and forms He may present Himself to us. <br />
<br />
Consider, for example, that a man can be a father to his children, a loving spouse to his wife, and a tough boss to those he supervises at work. If even a simple man can have several sides depending upon the relationship, consider such an ability in the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being has such abilities to the superior degree. In other words, He can have one type of relationship with one person and another type of relationship with another person.<br />
<br />
Such is the basis for personal relationships. Consider that along with the heavens and the earth, the Supreme Being also created living beings, and inherent in each of these living beings is the ability to have personal relationships. Every living being on this planet enjoys personal relationships, with family members, friends and so on.<br />
<br />
If the Supreme Being can create living beings with inherent personal relationships, then we know that the Supreme Being can also have inherent within Himself, the ability to enjoy personal relationships as well.<br />
<br />
The Creator must have within Himself what is created. Therefore, we can understand that the Supreme Being is not only a person (because He created persons), but the Supreme Being can also enjoy individual personal relationships with those persons He created.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation for this verse in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.<br />
<br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-49463514892052001402018-03-28T09:51:00.003-07:002022-06-02T18:16:38.434-07:00Genesis 1:2 - Now the earth was formless and empty ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:2)</i></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is this only about the earth?</h3>The use of <i>"earth"</i> here is allegorical. It symbolizes the universe following creation. The Hebrew word being translated to <i>earth </i>is אֶרֶץ (erets). This can mean 'earth' or 'land' or 'territory.' It can also indicate an area or space. In the context of God's creation of the universe, we must widen our vision beyond just this one planet.<br />
<br />
This understanding that the text refers to the physical universe is also appropriate since the text also says it was formless. Since it was formless, the object discussed must be the universe in general, rather than the earth, since the earth by default has form.<br />
<br />
This verse explains that once the physical universe was created, it was vacant (<i>"empty"</i> or <i>"void"</i> from בהו (bohuw)) and without form (<i>"formless"</i> from תהו (tohuw)). From <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/in-beginning-god-created-heavens-and.html" target="_blank">Genesis 1:1</a> we know that God had already created the foundation of the universe, so from this verse we can know that the Supreme Being had produced and brought together the atomic elements that would make up the universe, but they had yet to come into their molecular structures and eventual forms.<br />
<br />
These include the elements, as well as the galaxies, solar systems and planets. They are all essentially made of molecules. In order for molecules to have structure, atoms must come together in particular formations, and the molecules must also come together into molecular formations such as lattices. This requires, according to physics, electromagnetic forces termed the strong forces and weak forces. The planets, solar systems, and galaxies are also structured with similar forces. These include gravity and angular acceleration.<br />
<br />
Since the universe had composition but no form, we know that God had yet to provide these forces that supply structure and form to atomic matter.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Was the universe fluid?</h3>We also know from this verse that prior to the structure and form, the universe was fluid. There are two mentions of fluidity here, first <i>"the surface of the deep,</i>" and second, <i>"the waters."</i> So we know from these that prior to the formation of solid structures, the universe was fluid.<br />
<br />
This only makes sense, because when atoms are further apart from each other, they have less structure, but they may retain fluidity if they are within the same container. Once outside forces are applied, this fluidity can <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/then-god-said-let-land-produce.html">change into structure</a>. This infers that God had already supplied some forces - of fluidity among the atoms - but not the forces that provide solid structure.<br />
<br />
It says that the <i>"the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."</i> What does this mean? It is quite clear that God was present, not in His Original Form, but in an expanded form. How do we know that? If God was present in His Original Form, then it would say "God was hovering over the waters." But it didn't. It clearly says, רוּחַ (ruwach), which means 'spirit' or 'breath.' Therefore, one could also accurately translate the phrase to the <i>"breath of God."</i> <br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the breath of God?</h3>And what is the "breath" of someone? A person's breath emanates from the person. A person's breath is considered an outlying product of their person: an expansion of the person.<br />
<br />
Notice that the word God here is translated from אֱלֹהִים (Elohiym). This is the Supreme Being's Holy Name. God's Names are also an emanation of God.<br />
<br />
Because the physical world is being managed by an emanation of God, we can know from this that God's Original Form must reside elsewhere - and not hovering over the waters of creation. Where is this place that God resides in His Personal Form? This can only be the spiritual world.<br />
<br />
So rather than envisioning some sort of a ghost hovering over the water, we are talking about a practical matter, of God being present during creation through an expansion of Himself through His facilities.<br />
<br />
This might be comparable to a chief executive of a multi-national corporation who decides to build a plant in a foreign country. Once he authorizes the building of the facility, he does not need to personally go out to the country and start stacking bricks. He can have others doing that. But through his directives and his oversight, the chief executive's orders are followed through, using various sub-contracting companies and builders. It is still his plant, and we can say he built it, because he authorized it, directed it and oversaw its building. But he didn't have to do everything himself.<br />
<br />
In the same way, the Supreme Being does not have to be present in His Personal Form to build the physical universe. He authorizes it, and all of the resources originate from Him. But He can still be attending to His personal matters while the universe is put together. This is because He is God, the Source of not only existence but every living thing. Therefore, God must also be alive. He must also be a Person since nothing comes from nothing.<br />
<br />
We can see this in effect today, as the physical universe appears to operate as though it is on automatic. It has a machine-like quality, with gears, power, and motion. The original machine of the physical universe was designed and programmed by God. Then God's facilities were put in place and it began to run like a big machine.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation for this verse in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-87383610593636468372018-03-27T09:26:00.003-07:002022-06-02T18:18:03.862-07:00Genesis 1:3-4 - And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw ... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:3-4)<br />
</i></blockquote><br />
We can see here that the Supreme Being is making an intention, followed by an execution: <i>"Let there be light" </i>is directly followed by <i>and there was light.</i><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Who is God speaking to here?</h3>The use of the word <i>"said"</i> prior to His statement is allegorical. The word <i>"said"</i> is being translated from the Hebrew word אמר ('amar), which means, according to the lexicon, "to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend."<br />
<br />
Since there is no audience mentioned other than the reader, we can know that this word אמר ('amar) is speaking more of intention and command rather than making an announcement. In other words, God is not making a big speech to anyone here.<br />
<br />
Rather, God is communicating intention. This is followed by the manifestation of His intentions. This verse is communicating God's intention to design and create the physical universe.<br />
<br />
This is the Supreme Being, from the spiritual dimension - a dimension where time does not exist. <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/god-called-light-day-and-darkness-he.html">The Supreme Being created time</a> in order to set in motion the physical universe. Notice that God simply had to command light. This indicates that light - which is energy - originates from God. But physical light - energy of the material plane - is infused with time.<br />
<br />
The source of this energy emanates from God. This is confirmed by numerous scriptural passages. Therefore, when God created the physical universe, He endowed it with His light.<br />
<br />
<i>'God saw that the light was good'</i> indicates His approval. He is willing the creation of the physical universe - then He is approving it. This means He designed the creation.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Why is the light separated from darkness?</h3>What does it mean by God <i>separating</i> the darkness from the light? This can only mean that He put in place the aspect of periodicity, which means the element of time. Separating light from the darkness requires that one segment or period has light while another segment or period has darkness. This means to alternate light with darkness, in effect putting in place the effect of time and rotation.<br />
<br />
If we look around us, everything is rotating. We see spiraling galaxies, rotating solar systems and planets that revolve. We also find revolution among atoms and molecules, as electrons revolve around nuclei. These are all aspects of periodicity, and we measure time by these rotations. We also see that our very lives are modeled around periodicity and time. We have day and night, winter and summer, hot and cold and so on. The universe is in balance, based on periodicity - and time.<br />
<br />
This periodicity is also expressed by the yin and yang philosophy. The concept is that the universe is completely balanced between the yin and the yang. This balance, of course, requires periodicity and the aspect of time.<br />
<br />
Because God emanates light, He could endow the physical universe with light. And because He is complete, He contains both the yin and the yang. This is because God is the Cause of existence.<br />
<br />
The laws of the physical universe indicate that everything has a cause and a source. As we investigate the universe we find that every event has a cause. This is the basis of science: To determine the cause of things. And the only reason there are scientists is that the study of finding a cause for so many things has become worthwhile.<br />
<br />
Consider, on the other hand, a chaotic universe where things simply happened without cause. Would such a universe prompt us to employ scientists to find the causes of events? Certainly not. We would consistently find that they were wrong about each of their studies, and conclude that it is a waste of time to employ them to study anything. A chaotic world without cause and effect would simply be a waste of time to study.<br />
<br />
A chaotic world where things simply happen without cause would also lead to an existence without any consistency.<br />
<br />
Yet today, many supposed scientists are proposing that humans and life itself had no original cause. They propose life and the universe were accidental.<br />
<br />
If these are accidental, there is no purpose for existence. We are simply the result of a freak accident of nature. Yet this proposal contradicts the very nature of scientific discovery: Finding the cause.<br />
<br />
What these supposed scientists are simply admitting is that they do not know what caused the creation of the universe.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is cause and effect?</h3>If we look around us, we see organization. We see cause and effect. Again, this is why we value science. Because science can observe an event for awhile, and at some point see there was a previous event that is connected in a causal manner. Connecting causal events in this way allows us to understand the causes of things. This allows us to learn.<br />
<br />
In other words, true science helps us understand consistency among causes and effects. <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/this-is-account-of-heavens-and-earth.html">Science allows us to see</a> that a particular event is consistently caused by something else. Furthermore, if an event is somehow altered, science can help find that other effect that interceded and altered the event. These understandings have provided us with a fundamental axiom of the scientific method: <i>Every effect has an antecedent cause.</i><br />
<br />
Therefore, using science's own fundamental axiom, we have proved that the physical world cannot be accidental. Since every effect is preceded by a cause, this means there is causation. Since there is causation on a consistent basis, the universe is cannot be accidental. It cannot be random.<br />
<br />
Actually, the only arena that modern scientists propose pure chaos theory is when they speculate about creation. They propose the world was an accident simply because they do not want to accept a possible cause. They refuse to accept that - even though every <i>other </i>event we observe in the physical universe consistently has a cause - the creation somehow is an exception. This is simply an illogical assumption. It is also unscientific.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Can the senses perceive the Source?</h3>The problem with modern cosmology (the "science" of creation) today is that this community - like any other community dictated by peer-pressure - has a problem with accepting information from a higher source. Cosmologists want to believe that since they haven't observed a Living Cause of the universe with the senses then He must not exist. This dependency upon the senses is called empiricism. This is the third axiom of the scientific method: It states that every conclusion must be based upon observation.<br />
<br />
As we look back even over the past few hundred years of science we can see this axiom is deeply flawed. For example, only a few hundred years ago, scientists could not observe microorganisms. They had no idea - until Anton van Leeuwenhoek looked through a microscope and saw what he called <i>"animalcules."</i> These were, of course, microorganisms. Prior to this, there were a few theories of microorganisms, but most of these were heavily criticized by scientists <i>because they hadn't seen them with their own eyes.</i><br />
<br />
This type of error has continued in cosmology today. As we are able to peer at smaller elements of nature - or the universe at greater distances - we continue to make the same mistakes due to the innate faults of our senses and their extensions: <i>Our senses simply do not have the ability to observe everything.</i> We continue to guess about the things we cannot observe right now, and then once we develop the ability to observe them, we discover our error.<br />
<br />
Therefore, since our senses and their extensions are flawed, then a scientific axiom that says something cannot be true unless it is observed by our senses or their extensions - is also flawed.<br />
<br />
This reality is in fact already admitted among quantum physics and cosmology - which have utilized extensional thinking - speculation - to arrive at principles related to the nature of the universe and its creation. Through these theories, they are already admitting the flawed nature of the third axiom that something must be observed with the senses in order to be true.<br />
<br />
Another example of this flawed axiom is the calculation of what is now referred to as "dark matter." Current physics calculations suggest that up to 96 percent of the universe is made of dark matter. The punchline: Scientists don't know what this "dark matter" is made of because it is unobservable.<br />
<br />
So if cosmologists don't know what 96 percent of the universe is made of because they cannot perceive it, how could they suggest a speculative hypothesis that there was no Living Creator?<br />
<br />
We must accept that our senses and their extensions - be they microscopes, telescopes or space probes - are limited. The senses and their extensions cannot see the entire picture. Thus it is unscientific to completely rely on them. At some point, we must accept a higher Source of information.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What do higher sources tell us?</h3>We can arrive at such a case logically: Since everything we observe has an antecedent cause, then it is logical that the universe - filled with unseen "dark" matter, observable matter, light, energy, and life - must also have a Cause.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, it would be logical to assume that such a Cause must have the potential for what is existing. In other words, that Cause must contain light and energy: And because life exists, that Cause must contain life.<br />
<br />
What does this indicate? A Living Cause. If something contains life, it means that it is alive. This logically can only mean that the Cause of the physical universe must be alive. We are describing, of course, the Supreme Being: God.<br />
<br />
Since a Supreme Being must, on a scientific basis, exist, it is, therefore, necessary to accept Him as a higher source of information - beyond the jurisdiction of the physical senses.<br />
<br />
Yes, it is true that most cosmologists have not observed God directly. However, cosmologists also have not observed dark matter: Even though most physicists accept that the universe is made up of mostly dark matter - to the tune of 96 percent.<br />
<br />
If they don't know what 96 percent of the universe is made of, why should we accept their ever-changing speculations that the universe was created by strings or the so-called theory of everything? Just because they can put a bunch of mathematical variables on either side of an equal sign? Which of their mathematical variables contains life?</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation for these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-60832085351431215492018-03-26T10:43:00.002-07:002022-06-02T18:18:33.506-07:00Genesis 1:5 - God called the light "day," and the darkness He called "night." ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>God called the light "day," and the darkness He called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day. (Genesis 1:5)<br />
</i></blockquote></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where did time come from?</h3>The intent of this verse is not that the Supreme Being was going around naming things. Rather, this verse is communicating that via the differentiation between darkness from light, the Supreme Being created time.<br />
<br />
The <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/and-god-said-let-there-be-lights-in.html">separation of light and darkness</a> creates periodicity. Periodicity produces rotation, and it is the rotation of periodicity that produces the element of time. Without periodicity, there is no pacing. No alternation. Once God set into motion the element of time by separating light from darkness, He could now establish the pacing of time.<br />
<br />
This might be compared to building a clock. When a clock-maker builds a clock, he produces gears that are a particular size. He fits these gears together in such a way that they counterbalance each other. This counterbalanced gearing produces tension, and the tension, together with the size of the gears, makes the gears turn at a certain period. This period is the pacing of the clock.<br />
<br />
Now once the clock is built, the clockmaker can then wind up the clock and set the clock. This is being described in this verse.<br />
<br />
God put time into motion early in the creation because He set up the physical universe to be governed by time. There is a beginning and an end to everything in the physical universe. Everything has time attached to it. This is because the physical universe - and all of the elements here - are changing with time. Every event and structure is transitory, and therefore, temporary.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the purpose of time?</h3>Time is set up to allow for learning. Time allows lessons to be learned. Because of the transitory, changing nature of the physical world - driven by time - we are allowed to learn one lesson after another. We might compare this to setting up a school with the first grade followed by the second grade, followed by the third grade and so on. The setting up of the grades is established so that the child can graduate from learning one set of lessons to being ready to learn the next. Time is set up so that following the learning of one lesson comes the next lesson to learn. This allows us to <i>evolve.</i><br />
<br />
In other words, God created the physical universe as<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/11/when-woman-saw-that-fruit-of-tree-was.html" target="_blank"> a school or rehabilitation center</a>.<br />
<br />
Time is part of the physical universe, but it is not an element of the spiritual world. This is illustrated here, as God created time. God is not subject to time, as He created time.<br />
<br />
Our minds have a problem with the concept that there is a place where there is no time. That is because our minds are physical. Our minds are recording devices, and they only record what they have been exposed to by the senses. Thus our minds only have the experience of an environment governed by time.<br />
<br />
Those scientists that analyze the singularity problem, and others who are also probing the source of everything, often ask this question:<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Who or what created God?</h3>This question assumes the element of time. It assumes that God had a beginning. The question is born from a mind that has only experienced an environment governed by time. A mind that has only experienced that things have a beginning and an end.<br />
<br />
There is no time in the spiritual world. God does not have a beginning. God is eternal, and His spiritual world is eternal. Neither God nor His spiritual world is governed by time.<br />
<br />
This is evidenced by these verses that God set time in motion. He first separated light from darkness (Gen. 1:4) and thus created periodicity. Then He established the first day by putting that periodicity into motion.<br />
<br />
The spiritual realm, in contrast, is a place of perpetual light. The spiritual world is eternally illuminated by God's light. There is also no time in the spiritual world. God is not governed by time. He created time to establish a basis for our rehabilitation.<br />
<br />
Let's use an example. Let's say that a substance abuse rehabilitation center has a twelve-step program for its patients. Every patient must undertake actions to achieve each step, and after finishing the twelfth step they get to leave the rehabilitation center.<br />
<br />
Where did the twelve steps come from? They were developed by the doctors who set up the rehabilitation center. The twelve steps do not exist outside the rehabilitation center: They are specifically designed to progress the rehabilitation center patients toward their being able to re-enter normal society.<br />
<br />
This is a similar situation with time. God established time in order to set up the progression for our evolution process - our process of rehabilitation.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation for this verse in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-5669684188390441502018-03-25T16:18:00.004-07:002022-06-02T18:18:47.458-07:00Genesis 1:6-8 - And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters ... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning - the second day. (Genesis 1:6-8)<br />
</i></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is this speaking of another element?</h3>The Supreme Being has <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/now-earth-was-formless-and-empty.html" target="_blank">created water</a>. Now He is creating another physical element. This could be translated into "sky" or "space." This indicates another element, rendering space, and the potential of the element related to the gasses, i.e., molecules that move around more freely within the expanse.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Scientific observation confirms that there are a number of elements (also called "states" in science). These include solids, liquids, gases, heat (thermal radiation) and light (electromagnetic radiation). These are the basic physical elements that can be seen with the physical eyes, all governed by time. There are also a couple of more subtle elements, but these basic five make up the gross structures of matter we see around us.<br />
<br />
The primary difference between the liquid state and the gas state is the fact that in the liquid state, the attraction between molecules is greater and their distance apart is less. In the gas state, molecules move around more freely, with less density and further distance apart. Sometimes, such as in H3O and other molecule combinations, they can be a liquid at one temperature, and a gas at another temperature. The difference that creates the separation is a combination of heat and electromagnetic forces.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The reality is that these texts are discussing the creation of the physical world, which include elements that are in their liquid state and elements that are in their gas state. For example, mars may have or have had liquid methane on it. That would essentially be the "water" of mars.<br />
<br />
Most interpretations and translations of Genesis have concluded that this scripture is discussing only the planet earth, and the waters and sky of this planet. This is a very limited view and interpretation, that obviously does not take into context the rest of the universe.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This is not a major problem, however, because many complex things are laid out in simple language in ways people can understand. Consider for example, how an adult might explain their job to their child. They would likely break their job down into the simplest terms - terms that the child could relate to. They would not get into all the details about their job. They would just give the child a simplistic overview.<br />
<br />
This has also occurred in Genesis. There are two combined effects: One, that Genesis gives an overview of creation in terms that the human mind of a certain era - not educated in the complexities of modern science - could relate to. <br />
<br />
Second, as the text has been passed down - first orally through many generations and then inscribe text - and subsequently translated into progressive languages over thousands of years, it has become further simplified. Because the ability to understand some of the complexities of science was not there in ancient times, some of the language has been simplified to fit with the limit of those understandings. This effort gives much of the language of Genesis its allegory nature.<br />
<br />
In the example given above, if a father who was a doctor told the child that for his job he walks around and makes people feel better, is he telling a lie? No. He certainly may make people feel better, but his job as a doctor in a hospital is much more complex. In fact, he may not even "walk around" the hospital either. He might just walk from his treatment room to the reception area several times a day. So his description is not only a simplification of his job but also contains some allegory.<br />
<br />
Genesis explains that God formed the element (or state) of air or gas (<i>"sky"</i>) from the element of liquid (<i>"water"</i>). It explains that the first element or state created was liquid, and liquid was <i>"separated"</i> to form the element of gas, which provided the expanse allowing for the various atmospheres of the planets - as most of the planets contain their own unique atmosphere filled with a type of gas. Sometimes the gas is primarily oxygen as on the planet earth, and sometimes the gas is made primarily of carbon dioxide as on the planet Mars. Other planets have other atmospheres. The element (or state) of gas is also interspersed throughout nature.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What separated the water?</h3>Also consider the phrase, <i>"God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it."</i> What does it mean by the water being above and below the sky? We can know from this that He separated gas from liquid. But what about the liquid that remained above?<br />
<br />
This can only mean that there is a layer of fluid in the universe that lies above and beyond the various gases and liquids of the universe. This ties to the notion that the waters of creation also surround the physical universe in a fashion, and in those waters remains the <i>"the Spirit of God"</i>, <i>"hovering over the waters."</i> (Gen. 1:2)<br />
<br />
Have we ever seen these waters? Well, how big are our telescopes? Are they big enough to even reach the upper realms of the universe?<br />
<br />
Actually, our telescopes - even the most fantastic mountain-top arrays and space-telescopes - are still very tiny. In fact, we have only recently realized, through these multi-billion dollar telescopes, that there are not hundreds, but billions of other galaxies in the universe, and our galaxy - the milky way - which contains thousands upon thousands of solar systems each containing a sun with planets circling around them, is but one galaxy. So we are finding that the physical universe is simply gigantic and beyond anything that humankind has ever even imagined.<br />
<br />
It is as if we are ants at the bottom of California's Death Valley trying to figure out what is at the top of Mount Everest. Just as the ants have little or no facility to see to the top of Mount Everest, we have no way to see to the reaches of the physical universe.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, our minds cannot even comprehend the size and scope of the physical universe. It is so large, that our senses - even with our gigantic telescopes - just cannot gain a "scope" of it.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Can science determine the source of creation?</h3>For most scientists and astrophysicists, having a large telescope or microscope means that we are advanced enough and observant enough to make big speculative theories about the structure, size, and nature of the universe. This is simply ignorance combined with pride. Even with these expensive and supposedly advanced tools, the complexities of the universe still evade us. The universe keeps getting smaller and larger as we gain more instrumentation.<br />
<br />
Rather than being so ignorantly proud, we should take the position of humility. We should realize that the complete physical universe is simply out of our range of perception. We should realize that perhaps we can learn something from a higher power.<br />
<br />
There are two types of learning processes: One is called the ascending process. In this process, we utilize our powers of observation to learn things, and then we make hypotheses about what we cannot observe. As we can see from the hypotheses over the past 500 years of science, this process is plagued with errors. Leading <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/this-is-account-of-heavens-and-earth.html" target="_blank">scientists of the past</a> have been so many theories about so many things that have been proven wrong. They have been proven wrong as technology has allowed for better microscopes, telescopes and other types of "scopes."<br />
<br />
The progressive inventions of instruments have illustrated not that the scientific method requiring observation is dependable, but rather that it is grossly unreliable. It is wrought with error, because our senses (and their instruments) are by nature, limited. This is why scientists have to keep coming up with new theories: Their older theories were proven wrong.<br />
<br />
The other process of learning is the descending process. In this process, we learn from information descending from a higher intelligence. In this process, we do not rely upon our senses for the complete scope of things. Rather, we utilize our intelligence to try to understand the information that is handed down to us. This comes through scripture and through God's representatives.<br />
<br />
This does not mean that we cannot apply science. Surely science has its place, and we can use our science to advance our means of communicating and understanding each other. But if we are truly scientific, we will clearly understand the limitations of the senses and their extensions (our telescopes and microscopes), and focus our research on truly understanding who we are, where we come from, what our purpose in life is, and who God is.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Does creation have a design?</h3>We can see organization and design when we see the scientific equations of physicists, including Newton's laws and Einstein's theories. These equations - representing two seemingly disconnected calculations bridged by an equal sign - provide proof that there is symmetry and orchestration within the physical world. And scientists still accept most of these equations because they have been applied over and over to different events occurring at different times. The fact that the events occurring within the universe fit formulas and equations illustrates design. And design indicates intelligence.<br />
<br />
Logically, such design could not be the result of accidental randomness. This is why both Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, with their great knowledge of science, accepted the existence of a Supreme Being who ultimately designed the physical universe. They saw His design within their equations and formulas.<br />
<br />
<i>"What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of "humility." This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism."</i> (Albert Einstein)<br />
<br />
<i>"I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts. The rest are details."</i> (The Expanded Quotable Einstein, Princeton University Press, 2000 p.202)<br />
<br />
<i>"And from true lordship it follows that the true God is living, intelligent, and powerful; from the other perfections, that He is supreme, or supremely perfect. He is eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient; that is, He endures from eternity to eternity, and He is present from infinity to infinity; He rules all things, and He knows all things that happen or can happen."</i> (Sir Isaac Newton, <i>The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy</i> (1687), 3rd edition (1726), trans. I. B. Cohen and Anne Whitman (1999), General Scholium, 941.)<br />
<br />
These two scientists, from whom much of modern science has been built upon, saw the Supreme Being within nature and its natural laws. They saw design that could not be accidental. They saw a designer within the programming inherent within the physical world.<br />
<br />
Those scientists who reject God have no scientific basis for it. They are simply wanting to find a reason to reject God. Their scientific journals dismiss the concept of a Creator not because it is not scientific, but because they each chose to reject God on a personal basis.<br />
<br />
It is certainly scientific to accept an ultimate designer for the physical world. To accept a hypothesis that all this design magically appeared from nothing and with no ultimate cause is completely unscientific. It is unscientific to suppose that energy, light and the symmetry inherent in water and the other elements all arose from nothing.<br />
<br />
Science is based on observation and hypothesis. Most of today's science is thus speculative. No, we cannot readily see God with these physical senses, unless He appears before them. But a lack of observation has never prevented modern scientists from speculating and hypothesizing about so many other things that have never been seen - nor could ever be seen. Much of quantum physics is not observable, for example.<br />
<br />
In quantum physics, scientists make hypotheses and formulations based not upon seeing quarks or antimatter, but upon trying to provide an explanation for something they cannot otherwise explain. They see outward physical events and create explanations based on the notion that there is no ultimate intelligence behind them. It is not as if they see any quarks or antimatter.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the God particle?</h3>The irony of quantum physics is that these same scientists who reject God's existence have contrived a speculative element they call the "God Particle." This particle, also called Higgs boson, is supposedly the molecule persistent everywhere that provides the key to understanding the universe.<br />
<br />
So these scientists will accept an unseen theoretical "God particle" but reject the existence of God? This is lunacy.<br />
<br />
The very fact that we see so much organization and design within the physical universe illustrate intelligence. To refuse this notion yet accept intelligence among sub-atomic elements is unscientific.<br />
<br />
It is not as if cosmologists are seeing all those things they have hypothesized - such as the "strings" of the "string theory" and the "things" of the "theory of everything." These are all imaginative speculative hypotheses that attempt to explain how the universe arose from nothing.<br />
<br />
Scripture provides another type of science: The science of reliance upon a higher authority. This is the science of humility. This is also the science of understanding God’s existence through personal relationships.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Does love reveal God?</h3>Thousands of years of scientific observation tells us that each of us needs love. Each of us needs relationships. Each of us needs to depend upon someone. Each of us needs the fulfillment of loving and caring for someone. Even these modern scientists who deny God's existence go home to their families and/or pets and seek loving relationships. This is the Truth of our existence. Within these physical bodies are personalities who seek to love and be loved.<br />
<br />
And since none of us are ultimately satisfied by the love we exchange with our families, pets, audiences and others - evidenced by suicides and depression among even those who are famous or have large families - we each need a loving relationship with someone else - a Supreme Being.<br />
<br />
And since we are all searching for that "soulmate," that ultimate person who we can depend upon, someone who will always be there for us, and someone who will love us no matter what - things no human could satisfy - we each are looking for a spiritual relationship with the ultimate person - the Supreme Being.<br />
<br />
These are all ultimate truths that cannot be denied scientifically. They have been established by thousands of years of human experience. We know them to be true because we see them within our selves and among others. These are scientific truths that we do not need a Harvard professor to tell us about. These are truths we can see plainly within our lives.<br />
<br />
Each of us is looking for that ultimate loving relationship because each of us was created by the Supreme Being for the purpose of exchanging a loving relationship with Him. We were created as one of God's servitors. This is why we feel better when we help others than when we hurt others. We are ultimately caregivers. This is our natural position, but because love also requires freedom, we were granted the freedom to love God or not.<br />
<br />
The purpose of the physical universe is to house those of us who chose not to love God. This is that place where some of us could virtually be away from Him. This is the reason we cannot see God with the eyes of these temporary physical bodies. And this is the reason scientists create speculative theories that allow us to ignore the Supreme Being.<br />
<br />
The greatest scientist is one who spends his or her life focused upon these core questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Who is God? These are the truly scientific questions in life. The other issues are simply, as Einstein put it, <i>"details."</i></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i><br /></i></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation for these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-10225522363654131292018-03-24T13:35:00.003-07:002022-06-02T18:19:12.083-07:00Genesis 1:9-10 - "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place ..."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9-10)</i></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is this about the elements?</h3>Here we see that the Supreme Being created yet another element or state, that of solids. "Land" here is allegorically used so that those without a scientific understanding could relate to it.<br />
<br />
If these scriptures, written thousands of years ago, were to utilize language that scientists use today, no one would have understood them. This doesn't mean that there is no accuracy here, however.<br />
<br />
Remember the analogy discussed in the previous commentary, of how a parent might explain their job to their child. The parent would put the language in such a way that the child could relate to. The parent might also use some allegory, using a simplistic representation to illustrate how they do their job. If they got into the technical areas of their job, the child could not understand them. The parent would not lie to the child about their job. They would simply describe it in words the child could relate to.<br />
<br />
In the same way, Genesis simplifies the creation within a language that people who had no telescopes, no microscopes, and little understanding of the universe could understand.<br />
<br />
The accuracy in Genesis is that God produced each of the core states of matter and the atomic elements that make up those states. He first created the fluid state and those atomic elements that makeup fluids. Then He created the gas state, expanding upon (or "separating") the fluid state. Now He is creating the state of solids and those elements - also referred to in other ancient texts as the element of "earth."<br />
<br />
Do we really need to know all the technical information about how the Supreme Being created each state of matter and each element? Do we need to know which chemical reactions He stimulated first, and how each was set up? And what good would it do us if we knew this information? Would it allow us to know God better? Would it make us happier?<br />
<br />
In addition to using language that a common person thousands of years ago could understand, Genesis also utilizes the word <i>"day"</i> to account for time. Sectarian interpretations of Genesis have tried to put forth a literal doctrine, proposing that all of the matters of creation, from the beginning to the end took seven earth days consisting of 24 hours. Does this make sense?<br />
<br />
Any scientist will tell us that the word "day" is relative to the observer. To a person on the planet Venus, a day would last about 243 earth days. Depending upon the planet's position to the sun, and its rotation on axis, the length of the day is different for every planet. Now let's consider what a "day" might be in other solar systems, where planets are on significantly different orbits, with different types of suns. Then let's consider what a "day" might be to a person who wasn't a citizen of a particular planet or even solar system, but someone who's realm was greater and larger than that even of a galaxy.<br />
<br />
Or further, let's consider the Supreme Being, Who is not subject to time. <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/god-called-light-day-and-darkness-he.html" target="_blank">Time does not control God</a>. Therefore, the "day" discussed here is not only relative, but it is also entirely meaningless in terms of gauging using our earth clocks.<br />
<br />
In other words, a "day" here would translate to millions of earth-years.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is the universe proportional?</h3>The above point takes the air out of many modern scientists' argument that creation according to Genesis could not have happened. When we remove the interpretation that the technical details are to be taken literally, and we take into account that the language was simplified to communicate to people of a more simple era in human history, we can begin to realize that yes, God could certainly have created the physical universe as described in Genesis.<br />
<br />
We must remember that we too are children in the scope of the Intelligence that produced the mechanics of the physical universe. And if Genesis got even a little closer to the technical details, creation would still be over our heads - due to the limitations of our minds.<br />
<br />
This ability to arrange the elements is the essence of proof of the existence of an intelligent Supreme Being. Arrangement means there is an ultimate cause, and there are intelligence and purpose behind the arrangement.<br />
<br />
We can see the Supreme Being's arrangement from the largest to the smallest things. We see arrangement within the galaxies and solar systems; and see similar arrangement within the atoms and molecules. And we see that everything in between is also intricately and beautifully arranged.<br />
<br />
Consider the various arrays we see around us: Of swarms of fish symmetrically flitting through water. Of flocks of birds flying in symmetrical formation through the air. Of patterned stacks of cells making up skin or any other body part. Of root systems and tree branching that expand with a Fibonacci arrangement.<br />
<br />
Centuries ago, scientists found that nature was filled with the Fibonacci rectangle and triangles - also called the 'golden rectangle' and 'golden triangle.' As they measured the height versus width of trees, people, animals and so on, they continually saw this proportion, eventually named the golden ratio (1.6180339....) duplicated throughout nature. They saw it among hands, feet, arms, faces, branches, fruit and practically everywhere else within nature.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is creation accidental?</h3>This type of arrangement among nature is not accidental. It is not as if an accidental explosion could produce perfect symmetry among nature, along with evolution and learning systems randomly. It is virtually impossible - as most of the brilliant minds have come to understand - that this level of arrangement could be accidental.<br />
<br />
While these facts are certainly scientific, this opposes the assumption of many modern scientists that the universe is the result of a random, accidental explosion.<br />
<br />
Let's use an example. Let's say an alien who knows nothing about humans walks into a house and sees in the living room a sofa, chairs, coffee table, lamps and TV; all arranged in such a way that all the chairs face the TV, and the lamps are behind the chairs. They also see that the coffee table is between the sofa and the TV.<br />
<br />
What would the alien suppose about this living room? Yes, they would conclude that the persons living in that house had a special inclination to look at the television for some reason. And they'd be right.<br />
<br />
But what would be their most basic assumption? That there were living beings who arranged the house in a particular way. They would assume that the house was maintained by living beings.<br />
<br />
Why? Because they saw arrangement within the house. They saw that the chairs and sofa and television were placed in a particular way. In other words, they not only saw organization: They saw a purpose to that organization.<br />
<br />
This is precisely the scenario of the physical universe. We see tremendous organization within this universe. And yes, that organization would certainly indicate an organizing force.<br />
<br />
But we also see arrangement with purpose. We see that the organization of the physical world indicates purpose.<br />
<br />
Scientifically, every cause must include the potential for its effect. Since there are arrangement and organization within nature, there must be an Organizer. There must be an Arranger. This is the Supreme Being.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation for these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.<br />
<br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-38754596080313213162018-03-23T12:43:00.003-07:002022-06-02T18:20:04.422-07:00Genesis 1:11-13 - Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation ... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the third day. (Genesis 1:11-13)</i></blockquote>We can see here that God created vegetative life before He created the fish, birds and other more evolved creatures. Does this mean that the evolutionary process was supported by God?<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What were the first life forms?</h3>Modern scientists theorize that the first forms of life were single-celled amoebas, such as plankton from water. While that makes logical sense, there are two issues to consider. The first is that if a teacher would have told a person thousands of years ago that the single-celled creatures were first, no one would understand what they were referring to. The information would have not made any sense. The second is that the beginning of plant life - zooplankton - is a single-celled creature.<br />
<br />
We must remember that ancient scriptures such as this were passed down through the generations for many centuries in the oral tradition. This means that a teacher would communicate this information to their students. At some point, the information was put into written form, 3,000 to 5,000 years ago.<br />
<br />
As the information was being passed down from teacher to student, allegory and symbolism were used in order to communicate the central message: That God created the physical universe and all the living organisms within it.<br />
<br />
We also can understand from the text that simple organisms in the form of vegetation - zooplankton, spores and so on - were created before the more complex species such as fish, birds, mammals, and humans. This indicates that God certainly supported the mechanics of evolution.<br />
<br />
We can also see this from the phrase, <i>"...according to their various kinds"</i>: This indicates that God programmed into the physical universe the element of diversity.<br />
<br />
As our scientists have determined, every living organism is equipped with a genetic structure that can produce changes in the organism over time to increase that organism's ability to survive.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">But where did DNA come from?</h3>Did DNA accidentally appear through an accidental arrangement of molecules?<br />
<br />
The renowned geneticist and co-discoverer of DNA, Dr. Francis Crick, agreed that this is highly unlikely. He said:<br />
<br />
<i>"An accidental formation of DNA from a batch of chemicals might be compared to dropping 1000 typewriters and 1000 illiterate monkeys out of an airplane and expecting the books of the Library of Congress to be typed up and ready for printing when they all hit the ground."</i><br />
<br />
Furthermore, another peer-reviewed geneticist calculated the change of even one accidental genetic mutation of DNA. His calculations established that the odds of only one accidental favorable mutation occurring was on the order of 10 to the power of 3,000. That means:<br />
<br />
One chance in<br />
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.<br />
<br />
That is just one accidental mutation. Now to get from a microbe to a human will take billions of successive mutations. And each of these billion would have the same chance of occurring. That means we'd have to multiply 10 to the power of 3,000 times a billion to get the chance of microbes developing accidentally into humans.<br />
<br />
In other words, by scientific calculation, we have determined that it is next to impossible that chemicals accidentally developed DNA, and life accidentally mutated from one species to the next, from microbes to humans.<br />
<br />
DNA and the evolution of species - which is being inferred in Genesis by this narration that plants and zooplankton preceded more complex species, was the result of the intelligent programming of God.<br />
<br />
Isn't that what DNA is: a programming code? We use a similar system of on-off states - called the binary code - for computer programming. This is an almost identical format that DNA uses, with four amino acids assembled in different order. This order indicates particular intelligent assembly: programming, in other words. This simply means that God uses a quaternary (4) programming code format instead of a binary (2) code format as we use in computers.<br />
<br />
Just as a programmer originally set up the binary system of on-off states for the computer's programming, God set up the quaternary programming for the DNA sequence, which allowed for more complex programming instructions.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What about evolution?</h3>The evolutionary process, of course, took millions of years to occur, and this is confirmed by carbon dating systems. But what is a million years to God? Is it a week? A year? Perhaps a day? In other words, as discussed previously, time is relative to the person and condition. In the case of God, God is beyond time and space. He is not governed by time. So the use of the "day" here is simply allegorical and indicates a much longer period in human-relative time.<br />
<br />
We must distinguish this God-programmed evolution from the theories of modern-day Darwinists who have speculated that life originally arose accidentally from chemicals, and continued to evolve accidentally from the microbes to humans. Besides the issue of chance (assuming all these mathematically-impossible accidents did happen), does their theory have scientific validity?<br />
<br />
First, we must ask what is the driving force behind genetic mutation according to these scientists? It is the innate desire for survival (also called <i>survival of the fittest</i>). So the question becomes, how did a bunch of dead chemicals develop an innate desire for survival? Where did that come from? Certainly, chemicals have no such principle.<br />
<br />
There is absolutely no logic to this notion because dead chemicals combined together must first be able to <i>distinguish</i> between life and death before they could have a desire for survival. They must be afraid to die, in other words. This fear of death is the only motivation for the species to want to develop better organs or appendages in order to fight off death.<br />
<br />
But how could a batch of chemicals discern between life and death, and the desire to survive? For a batch of chemicals, remaining dead would be the more logical inertia, since dead chemicals do not have to fight to survive. Therefore, there is no scientific validity that chemicals could develop the desire to survive - the fundamental requirement for genetic mutation.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Where did life come from?</h3>So where did this spark of life, which has an innate desire to survive come from? There is only one logical conclusion: It must have come from a living source. Something already alive must have impregnated matter with this living spark, which maintains an innate desire to survive. This living Source, of course, is God.<br />
<br />
Every living organism contains a tiny spark of life. These are transcendental living individuals who have been <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/and-to-all-beasts-of-earth-and-all.html" target="_blank">impregnated into each organism</a>. And the reason every organism struggles to stay alive is that this transcendental living individual originates from a place where there is no death: This is the spiritual dimension.<br />
<br />
This is also why we all go through life in denial that we are going to die. Most of us live life as though we will never die. Yet scientifically we can establish that every physical organism dies. So why do we emotionally deny this fact? Because we are eternal by nature. By nature, we are transcendental to the physical universe.<br />
<br />
Why is the spiritual individual here in this temporary physical world then? Why are we here?<br />
<br />
Each of us has been impregnated into the physical universe because the physical universe is a place of learning. It is a rehabilitation center for those spiritual individuals who could not maintain the consciousness of the spiritual dimension.<br />
<br />
And what is that consciousness? It is the <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/then-god-said-let-us-make-man-in-our.html" target="_blank">consciousness of love</a>. Those of us living in the physical universe are here because we became self-centered. We became envious. We no longer wanted to be citizens of the spiritual world: We didn't want to serve God: We became envious of God.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation for these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-73432587826215853932018-03-22T13:31:00.003-07:002022-06-02T18:20:14.927-07:00Genesis 1:14-19 - And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate ... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19)<br />
</i></blockquote><h3>What is electromagnetism?</h3>Here we find the Supreme Being has produced an intertwining of light, time and the electromagnetic elements that allow planets to rotate around the sun; and solar systems that rotate around each galaxy center.<br />
<br />
Remember again that this is a simplified version of creation that allows the human mind and sensual experience to relate with the concept that everything around us has been created by a Supreme Being.<br />
<br />
For those who consider themselves scientists who might scoff at such a simplistic version of creation, we ask what would be the result if the explanation of creation discussed black holes and galaxies and the so many other elements of nature that humankind had never heard of? Would this create any more understanding of the central lesson - that everything was created by a Supreme Being?<br />
<br />
Even today, though physicists now theorize that the center of each galaxy is a black hole, no one has ever seen a black hole and there is no absolute proof they exist. How do they know the center of the galaxy is a black hole, then? The answer is that the black hole is the only thing they have been able to imagine that will fit the holes in their observations and equations.<br />
<br />
But what if the scripture discussed scientific elements never seen before? What if Genesis discussed the many, many elements that scientists have<i> yet to </i>discover? These elements, would, of course, be too small for the eye and modern microscopes to see, and/or too far away for our telescopes or radioscopes to pick up. Would scientists then assume those elements existed, and suddenly trust that God must have created the universe since they have never heard of those elements?<br />
<br />
No. How do we know this? Because the scriptures <i>already </i>describe elements beyond our senses, and this doesn't seem to make much difference: the scriptures describe the existence of a Supreme Being Who has the ability to create the entire physical universe, and a transcendental universe of another dimension, outside the physical dimension. And this doesn't seem to make much difference to many modern scientists. They still want to deny the existence of God.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Why can't our instruments find God?</h3>This is despite the fact that modern scientists keep looking deeper and deeper, smaller and smaller, and further and further away for the precise element that <i>is</i> God. Scientists are looking for that element that provides the key to the structure and creation of the universe. They keep looking for that particle that holds matter together on the most fundamental level. They are, in fact, looking for God.<br />
<br />
It is so obvious that modern physicists are looking for God that in 1993, Leon Lederman, Ph.D. coined the hypothetical particle determined in particle accelerator studies the <i>"God Particle."</i> This particle, also called the Higgs Boson particle, has never been seen or otherwise observed directly. It is only something that would fit their calculations. It has remained, according to these scientists, "elusive."<br />
<br />
Okay, so let's get this straight. First, modern science has rejected the concept that a Supreme Being exists, even though the existence of a Supreme Being is the only element that can perfectly provide a clear and logical Source for all the material elements, as well as the source for all the living elements (personality, the desire to survive, intelligence, etc.).<br />
<br />
Instead and in lieu of this most obvious choice, theoretical physicists insist on an <i>imaginary and elusive particle</i> they call the <i>"God particle"</i> that supposedly fits their equations. So this <i>elusive </i>particle must be the key element that is the source of everything?<br />
<br />
Does this make any sense? Is it also the source of life? How can it be the source of life if it is not in itself alive?<br />
<br />
Furthermore, this elusive <i>"God particle" </i>is being portrayed by science as having no intelligence and no purpose for existence. It is like all their other theories including quarks, strings, and theories of everything: Objects of their imaginations. They are lifeless creations of their minds. They are no more real than a bedtime story made up to put a child to sleep.<br />
<br />
And these theoretical physicists like to accuse scripture of being without proof? What kind of proof do they have that their theories of accidental, random creation are true?<br />
<br />
Even though the existence of a Supreme Being would fulfill all their mathematical equations and calculations (evidenced by naming the Higgs Boson particle the <i>"God Particle"</i>), these theoretical scientists prefer their imaginary theories. Why? Because these theories give these individual scientists the means to continue to ignore God's existence.<br />
<br />
If they can ignore God's existence, they don't have to worship anyone other than themselves. They don't have to glorify anyone other than themselves and their colleagues. They can seek their own glory and their own fame as they achieve the acclaim and admiration of others for coming up with the most profound 'theory of everything.'<br />
<br />
Why? Because this is our disease. This is why we are here in this physical universe in the first place: Because we wanted to get away from God. We want to ignore God. Why? Because we would rather be God than serve God.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">If God exists, why can't we see Him?</h3>The first part of the answer is that God is not like a mountain or a rock. He is not an inanimate object: God is alive. He is a Person. God is the Supreme Person. He is a living being, with intelligence, emotions, feelings, individuality, and purpose, Who comes from a dimension transcendental to this physical dimension.<br />
<br />
The second part of the answer is that just because God isn't seen with the physical eyes doesn't mean He doesn't exist. It is like two children playing in a park down the street from their houses, and one asking the other: "If your parents exist, why can't I see them?"<br />
<br />
Obviously, we cannot see God because our senses, on their own, do not have the ability to see God. They are equipped to see only a small range of physical structures, made of molecules that light reflects off and through with particular colors. Scientists also accept this, as they propose that quarks exist even though we cannot see a quark.<br />
<br />
So our real question should be: Why are our eyes not equipped to see God?<br />
<br />
Put in a better way: Why is God not allowing us to see Him?<br />
<br />
Our physical bodies were designed to be in ignorance about God's existence. This is part of God's design. There is a purpose for this.<br />
<br />
Each of us is temporarily occupying a gross physical body designed for certain tasks: navigating a physical world replete with a host of lessons and learning experiences. We can each look at our lives and realize that we are each going through a unique set of learning experiences through the years. And through each of the learning experiences, we are met up with a set of choices about what direction we want to go from here.<br />
<br />
During this learning environment, God is unseen. This is because, first of all, each of us rejected God at one point or another in our existence. Thus, we have landed in these temporary physical bodies that cannot see Him. So we got our wish. Like an angry teenager who runs away from home, we are each now seemingly independent of God. We can now pretend that each of us is the center of the universe - even though it is obvious we are not.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is there another world?</h3>There is a dimension that is transcendental to this one. It is the world of love and loving service. In that world, everyone loves and serves the Supreme Being and the Supreme Being's associates. But a few of us decided we were too good for that. We decided we wanted to be served. We wanted to be the center. We wanted to be the subject of worship and admiration. In other words, we got greedy. We got selfish. And it is this self-centeredness that plays out amongst our earthly society – as we can see all around us in the greed, violence, and struggles for power taking place throughout this world.<br />
<br />
Now we are here, seemingly independent of God. We can each now choose whether we want to accept that someone greater than me exists. Can there be a God? Someone greater than me? We must choose. And go through our various lessons. This is also why we are here: To rehabilitate. If we choose <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/and-to-all-beasts-of-earth-and-all.html" target="_blank">to learn and </a><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/and-to-all-beasts-of-earth-and-all.html" target="_blank">evolve</a>, and come to accept that God exists, then we can evolve and grow closer to Him, and maybe return to the spiritual world.<br />
<br />
And this is precisely why God is invisible to our eyes at the moment. If His existence was obvious, we would not have the choice to accept Him or not.<br />
<br />
Let's compare this to a situation we see in typical relationships. While this analogy isn't complete, it will serve the purpose. Let's say a wife begins realizing that her husband no longer treasures their relationship. He is taking their relationship for granted and begins flirting with other women and carrying on as though he doesn't care for her. So she says enough is enough and tells him they need to separate for a while to see if he really wants to be married to her.<br />
<br />
So they separate. How do they separate? Do they just move into adjacent rooms? No. One of them moves out of the house so that they do not see each other for a while. For a period of time, they have no contact. Why?<br />
<br />
The period of no contact allows the man the ability to independently choose whether he wants to be with his wife. Not having her around gives him the freedom to choose. If every time he turned around she was there, this would hardly give the man the ability to make a clear choice.<br />
<br />
This is sort of what the Supreme Being has done. Each of us is intimately connected to God. Once we rejected Him, He sent us off to be on our own, gave us a virtual world and temporary physical bodies to dwell within temporarily; in order to give us the choice of whether we wanted to be with Him or not. That is the purpose of the physical world.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation for these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-68300750971632459372018-03-21T10:27:00.002-07:002022-06-02T18:20:27.482-07:00Genesis 1:20-23 - "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth ..." <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning - the fifth day. (Genesis 1:20-23)</i></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is this the evolution of the species?</h3>We see here that God instigated the programming for the evolution of species. His instruction was <i>"Be fruitful."</i><br />
<br />
<i>"Let the water teem with living creatures,"</i> indicates that God impregnated the waters with living organisms. This comes after the land was <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/then-god-said-let-land-produce.html" target="_blank">impregnated with seeds to grow trees</a>.<br />
<br />
These waterborne living organisms include the single-celled amoebae that scientists postulate were the first creatures.<br />
<br />
<i>'So God created the great creatures of the sea...'</i> The Hebrew phrase הַגְּדֹלִים וְאֵת כָּל־ (where אלהים (Elohiym) refers to the Supreme Being or the God of gods), translated here to <i>'So God ...'</i> implies that there was a continuation of the process. This, combined with His instruction to <i>"be fruitful"</i> illustrates that the Supreme Being programmed an evolving process of an expansion of organisms.<br />
<br />
This is no different than the process of evolution. Evolution is that process where organism populations expand and become fruitful.<br />
<br />
It is useless to deny the <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/thus-heavens-and-earth-were-completed.html" target="_blank">process of evolution</a>. Why? Because we can observe creatures evolving all around us. Evolution was programmed into our DNA. In other words, living organisms were created to evolve.<br />
<br />
We can compare this process to a complex computer program. A computer programmer will create a program that takes in data, and with that data, produce changes in the display and functions of the program. Let's say the program was a game: The program has codes that allow the input of information from the operator, and those inputs result in different outputs by the program.<br />
<br />
Let's take the program called "Sims," for example. This program allows a user to create entire cities. How can it do that? The original programmer of the game Sims wrote instructional code that allows the operator to input preferences into the program. Once the preferences are entered, the program spits out a graphic display that reflects the inputs of the operator to the extent of the computer's capabilities.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is DNA a form of programming?</h3>In much the same way, the Supreme Being programmed evolution into DNA. Some of His instructional codings are mentioned here: "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky;" and <i>"be fruitful."</i> These are body instructional programming code.<br />
<br />
There are two input methods for God's DNA programming. The DNA program allows the living being occupying the organism to feed in its preferences during the lifespan of the organism. These are the desires of the living being within. In the tiniest creatures, the capabilities of the organism (mind and body) is very basic, so it will only allow for basic inputs related to survival and the desire for more complexity - allowing a greater chance for survival and better sense consumption.<br />
<br />
The more complex organisms allow for more complex inputs and outputs. The living being within higher animal forms and human forms can input the most complex instructions. This might be compared to a very complex program together with an advanced computer system.<br />
<br />
While His statement was originally translated by those who were not aware of DNA, we can know that God was referencing DNA with His statement. The word <i>"seed"</i> here is translated from the Hebrew word זרע (zera`), which can mean 'seed, sowing, offspring' or 'semen virile' according to the lexicon. At the heart of these are DNA.<br />
<br />
A single seed contains millions of DNA sequences that precisely determine the shape, size, type of leaf and type of fruit of a tree that grows from it. And this tree will produce thousands of seeds that each have the same DNA codes to create duplicates.<br />
<br />
Seeds are the basis for life within the physical world because they bring together and pass on DNA. DNA is a complex type of protein that essentially passes on to the next generation the body type of a living organism's ancestors, together with an adaptive learning system. This adaptive learning system allows generations to change and evolve in intelligence.<br />
<br />
DNA is a programming language. The machine language that underlies all computer languages is the binary code: A series of 1s and 0s, arranged in sequences of bits and longer bytes. These sequences create instructions that essentially drive the hardware of the computer. Software programming instructs over top of this machine language.<br />
<br />
Instead of a binary system, God created a more complex quaternary (4) programming code within DNA. His DNA programming language utilizes a sugar/phosphate backbone, with each sugar/phosphate on the chain attached to one of four amino bases: Adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) or thymine (T). The possible combinations of these four create the famous "base pair" combinations.<br />
<br />
The computer binary system contains bits composed of either a 1 or a 0. A byte (like a word) is a sequence of eight bits (such as 10011010). God's DNA programming code contains base pairings of either A, C, G or T (equivalent to bits), from which any three forms a codon - such as AGC, ATC, TAG, and so on. This codon can be compared to a byte. It is shorter than an eight number byte, but because there are four possible bits - as opposed to the two of computer language (1 or 0) - the precision of the language is far more advanced.<br />
<br />
In other words, the four-bit, three-combination byte language of DNA creates an extensive array of possible bytes, but these are further assembled into larger DNA sequences. A typical chromosome, for example, can contain over 220 million codons!<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is this world coded?</h3>We know that the modern era binary system was invented around the turn of the 18th Century by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716). Its predecessor was developed in the Third Century B.C.E. by Pingala from India. This binary system was later developed utilized as machine code in the first computers. <br />
<br />
Soon thereafter, others developed software languages such as Fortran, Cobol, C+, BASIC and others that wrote over top of machine language. In other words, computer programming languages were developed by people - conscious living beings with purpose and intention.<br />
<br />
And just as computer programming languages come from conscious persons, the DNA programming language was also developed by a conscious living being: The Supreme Being.<br />
<br />
As we expand this application to "semen virile" we find this same programming language process within the semen of all animals and humans, with the ability of a combination of sperm and egg producing duplicate embryos.<br />
<br />
Almost duplicates, that is. The Supreme Being also programmed an ingenious facility into the language of DNA and the processes of protein creation. He created a feedback-mutation system that allows organisms to adapt to environmental influences. This produces a learning process, whereby organisms gradually improve through this learning process by utilizing slight modifications to their DNA.<br />
<br />
<h3>What is the coding of evolution?</h3>DNA is a form of coding or programming. And the programming of DNA creates the process of evolution. This programming ultimately allows the spirit-person an opportunity to embody those species that match the consciousness of the spirit.<br />
<br />
While Darwin and modern evolutionists like to assume that this process of evolution is taking place accidentally, there is no logical or scientific basis for this assumption. As we've taken a peak 'under the hood' into the DNA system, we see an elaborate programming language, capable of determining our body structure and future disease variation. The chance that this complex language is accidental is remote, as explained by Dr. Francis Crick, one of the discoverers of DNA:<br />
<br />
Our internal input system is combined with external environmental inputs: The surrounding environment. The senses bring in these environmental inputs, and they are combined with the desires of the living being within to produce changes in the DNA programming. These two combined form what is called epigenetics - which results in changes to the DNA, and gradual changes to the body of coming generations.<br />
<br />
Just as the computer program is designed for inputs from the computer operator, the living organism is programmed for inputs from the living being operating the organism. Likewise, the external environment of the organism would be comparable to the hardware (monitor, keyboards, camera and so on) and the computer's machine language. This allows for information to be input into the program by the operator, and the images that appear on the monitor screen of the computer.<br />
<br />
Both the computer program and the DNA program of living organisms require two types of living beings. The first is the programmer: That is God, as explained in this verse of Genesis. <i>'So God created...'</i> indicates that God assembled the programming instructions that allowed for organisms to grow and evolve, according to the inputs of the living beings that occupy the bodies of these organisms.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the core element of life?</h3>This is the only logical scientific conclusion that fits both observation and logic - not to mention scripture. Darwinist evolutionists today have proposed that life was accidentally created from a combination of proteins, and evolved from there. But they offer no scientific evidence that chemicals can transition from being dead and purposeless to becoming alive and complete with the desire to survive. <br />
<br />
Why would dead chemicals suddenly desire to survive? It would be easier to remain dead chemicals, where there would be no challenge to survival.<br />
<br />
The scientific conclusion is that every living organism is operated by a non-physical living being who is separate from the biochemistry of the organism. How do we know this? There are a number of clear indications of this. The first and most obvious is that upon the death of a living organism, the entire physical body is still evident, yet there is no life in that organism. Every biochemical is still there right after death. Every cell is still there. Every organ is there. Every enzyme is there. All the blood and body fluids are still there. <br />
<br />
Until decomposition takes place, the organism is precisely as it was when the organism was alive. This is supported by a variety of experiments over the centuries. Nothing physical is missing from a dead body.<br />
<br />
Yet after death, the organism is lifeless. After death, there is no function. There is no will. There is no desire. There is no quest to survive. What is missing is the individual life force that drove the life of the body. Whether the creature is advanced or simple, we see the same thing: Upon death, the subtle life force is gone.<br />
<br />
Because we cannot see, measure or find any matter missing, this indicates clearly that the life force of the body is not physical. It is of another dimension: One that the physical eyes and their extensions (our various instruments) cannot penetrate. This has been confirmed with hundreds of thousands of cases of clinical death - where a person dies during hospital care, and separates from their body, and even views the body from above. <br />
<br />
How could someone whose body was clinically dead (and eyes closed) see their own body from the ceiling? The only explanation is that we are talking about a spiritual being.<br />
<br />
The living being is a spiritual individual that originates from the spiritual dimension. Each individual living being has a will, desires, objectives and purpose for living. This individual is non-material, yet when it is occupying a physical body, it seeks to utilize that physical body for its purposes.<br />
<br />
We can compare this with a car. Just consider: A person cannot walk out onto the highway. If we did, we'd get smashed by speeding cars and trucks. But if we got into a car, and began driving the car; with the car, we can merge onto the freeway and drive there. Thus, it is only via the facility of the car that we can gain entrance onto the highway.<br />
<br />
In the same way, the spiritual living individual utilizes the physical body to function within the physical world. As we 'drive' these bodies, their programming allows us to slowly and subtly manipulate the organism for longer survival and better sense enjoyment.<br />
<br />
Why? What is the purpose? Beyond sheer sense enjoyment, the purpose of these physical organisms and their ability to slowly evolve is that they evolve as the spiritual living individual within begins to evolve. To evolve means to learn. Learning produces evolution, and evolution reflects learning.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">How does the soul evolve?</h3>There are thus two types of evolution taking place simultaneously.<br />
<br />
The first type of evolution is the external evolution of the organism vessels. In each era of evolution, as the living beings slowly advanced in their learning, the DNA of each organism, through many generations, evolved. How did they evolve? Their evolution reflected the specific consciousness of those living beings occupying those bodies. <br />
<br />
For example, as an amoeba desired to reach out and grab its meals, its DNA reflected that desire and appendages slowly developed through many generations. And as those living beings successively occupied those evolving organisms, their desires - in combination with their learning as God programmed in - allowed for successive bodies to advance on the evolutionary scale. <br />
<br />
And over the millions of years of this process, advanced organisms evolved as those living beings advanced to the next levels in their learning process<br />
<br />
This could be compared with school. Let's say that a child goes into kindergarten. The kindergarten classroom is set up to reflect that level of consciousness. The classroom will have lots of toys and games, and coloring books and crayons. This allows the child to learn real basic things. If they succeed in learning at that level, they go on to the first grade. Here the classroom also has toys and coloring books, but it also offers a more complex regimen of learning. The learning is more focused.<br />
<br />
Then the classrooms of the second, third and fourth grade and so on continue to reflect the focused learning of the child. With each successive grade, the lessons change, the teachers change, and the classrooms look different, reflecting the stage of learning the child is on. This is exactly what each successive organism offers to each living being within.<br />
<br />
Now should the child not learn the lessons of a particular grade, they are kept back until they learn those lessons. This also takes place in the physical world. If the person does not learn the lessons of a particular level, they will stay at that level until they learn those lessons.<br />
<br />
This illustrates the mechanism for which the second type of evolution - the evolution of the inner spiritual individual - is achieved. In the most simple stages (the lower creatures) the individual is learning about how to deal with others. At the most basic levels, we are learning about caring for our offspring and our "brother" organisms. In colony-type organisms, each individual learns to cooperate with others and not be greedy. As these initial lessons are learned, we advance from one creature to the next.<br />
<br />
As one organism dies, the living being then is born within the body of another organism. If the living being has learned the lessons of the previous organism, we will graduate up to the body of an organism that allows for a greater level of learning. For example, over many lifetimes, a living being might graduate from being a bee in a bee colony (where we learn cooperation and caring for a queen and hive) to being born in the body of a fox, where we can have our own family, and learn more complex lessons of love, kindness, and survival.<br />
<br />
<h3>What is the purpose of the soul's evolution?</h3>This evolution process allows each living being a unique path to gradually learn how to love. Should we progress with each body, the living being may graduate up to the level of the human body. Here, the person learns even greater lessons of love - and more importantly, the ability to access the principles related to re-establishing our lost relationship of loving service with the Supreme Being. <br />
<br />
Should we achieve this human form and use it to re-establish our relationship with God, we can 'graduate' out of the 'school' of the physical world and return home to the spiritual dimension.<br />
<br />
And what is the physical world supposed to teach us? The physical world is a rehabilitation center for those who became self-centered, and envious of God. The spiritual world is a place of love and loving relationships between God's children (us) and God and His Associates. But in order to have true love, we must have freedom. Therefore, we have the choice to love God or not. For those of us who chose not to love God, God created the physical universe as a place of learning, for us to rehabilitate.<br />
<br />
Why should we rehabilitate? Because our loving service relationship with God is our natural position. We were created as God's loving servants. This is our identity. Thus we will only be fulfilled in that position.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, the evolutionary process programmed by the Supreme Being is set up to bring us back home to God out of our own free will. God wants us back. He loves us, and He wants us to be happy.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation for these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-19509694031625051842018-03-20T12:20:00.002-07:002022-06-02T18:20:41.711-07:00Genesis 1:24-25 - "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds ..." <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:24-25)<br />
</i></blockquote></div>Here we see the continuing process of evolution under the Supreme Being's guidance. This is derived from His initial programming instruction mentioned in Genesis 1:21: <i>"<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/and-god-said-let-water-teem-with-living.html" target="_blank">Be fruitful.</a>"</i><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is this instruction a form of programming?</h3><i>"Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds" </i>indicates instructional programming. Is the land producing living creatures by itself? The word <i>"Let the land" </i>is derived from the Hebrew words אֶרֶץ ('erets) and יָצָא (yatsa'). אֶרֶץ means not just land, but also the solid structures of matter. יָצָא means to 'bring forth' or to continue to be brought out of. So we have the solid structural elements and land intermingling to offer the next level of evolutionary programming for living organisms.<br />
<br />
What does <i>"according to its kind"</i> mean? The word "kind" here is translated from the Hebrew word מין (miyn), which means a type, a kind of a species. The verse is discussing the differentiation of living organisms into species.<br />
<br />
In evolutionary terms, hieroglyphs have indicated that fish species preceded the mammals. This is precisely what is being indicated in Genesis, as the aquatic species came first, prior to the mammals. As to the birds of the air coming after the fish, this is consistent with the existence of flying fish who increasingly took to the air.<br />
<br />
This evolution process is based upon DNA allowing successive change. Even a cursory understanding of computer programming tells us that DNA is a program. Today's computer programming uses the binary code: A series of 1s and 0s, arranged in sequences of bits and bytes. These sequences create instructional codes also referred to as computer machine language.<br />
<br />
Instead of a binary system, God's DNA programming code uses a quaternary (4) programming code. His system utilizes a sugar/phosphate backbone, with each sugar/phosphate on the chain attached to one of four amino bases: Either adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) or thymine (T). This creates what is called a "base pair" combination.<br />
<br />
A modern computer binary system contains bits composed of either a 1 or a 0, and a byte with a sequence of eight bits (such as 10011010). A "word" in this system contains a series of bytes. God's DNA programming code contains base pairings of either A, C, G or T (equivalent to bits), with a normal "byte" size of three - called a codon. For example, a codon could be AGC, ATC, TAG, and so on.<br />
<br />
This four-bit, three-byte DNA system creates an extensive array of possible bytes, and these are assembled into gigantic "word" sequences. For example, a typical chromosome will contain over 220 million codons!<br />
<br />
Just as a complex computer program is programmed by a conscious person with a purpose and objective for the program, the programming evident within DNA also illustrates the purpose and objectives of a conscious person with purpose and objective. Since DNA is an extremely complex and highly organized programming platform with extreme functionality that puts any modern computer program to shame, we know that this coding also had to originate from a place of purpose and objective.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What does <i>"according to its kind"</i> mean?</h3>The root Hebrew word here is מִין (miyn). This means a type, kind or species. In other words, we are talking about the Supreme Being creating the programming code that organizes living organisms into defined species.<br />
<br />
Let's think about this. Consider the proposal of Darwinists who speculate that dead chemicals somehow came together accidentally to form life. Such a notion has never been proven to occur, even in laboratories where the process is forced (no accident). The chance of complexly sequenced amino acids coming together to form millions of logical base pairs, even according to DNA researchers like Sir Francis Crick, is nearly impossible. Furthermore, once the base pair language of DNA came together, it somehow would have to randomly create organized and unique species, rather than just a mish-mash of evolved species with no organization.<br />
<br />
The fact that the species are segregated, organized and distinct requires a governing factor. It means that the process of evolution could not have occurred randomly or by accident. Besides the fact that the complex programming of DNA required a programmer with a purpose, the organization of the different species also requires a governing factor, again with a purpose.<br />
<br />
Purpose can only come from an entity with intention. Intention requires a living being. Therefore, the incredible programming language of DNA, together with the organizational evolution of species, must have come from a living being - the Supreme Being.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Why did God see that it was good?</h3>Finally, this verse says, <i>"And God saw that it was good."</i> This indicates oversight. It indicates that not only did God initiate the programming of evolution, but He has been watching over it. He has kept an eye on things to make sure that His intentions are being carried out.<br />
<br />
This also indicates that the Supreme Being doesn't have to do everything Himself. He can design things, and <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/but-for-adam-no-suitable-helper-was.html" target="_blank">others can carry out the process</a> under His design. If He did everything Himself, He wouldn't need to see <i>"that it was good."</i> Seeing <i>"that it was good"</i> combined with His instructions of <i>"Let the land..."</i> and <i>"Be fruitful"</i> mean that God has designed the programming and has overseen the process that resulted in an organized evolution of species.<div><br /></div><div>Consider another translation for these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-49677447647046705322018-03-19T11:54:00.002-07:002022-06-02T18:20:53.180-07:00Genesis 1:26-27 - Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness ..."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)<br />
</i></blockquote>Here we can see that God is not alone in His creative process. Note that <i>"Let us" and "our image..."</i> refers to the creative process with a plural sense. What does this mean?<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Why is this in the plural - "Us" and "Our"</h3>This is evidenced by the Hebrew text, which uses אלהים ('elohiym) to describe God in the plural sense. Does this mean the text is referring to multiple gods? Were the Hebrews worshipers of the multiple 'gods' as were the Greeks?<br />
<br />
No. The word אלהים (‘elohiym) or Elohim, refers distinctly to the Supreme Being. There can only be one Supreme Being. The plural simply indicates that the Supreme Being has the capability to expand Himself and that He is the God of gods - the Supreme Being.<br />
<br />
The Hebrew עשה (`asah), which means to ‘make’ or ‘fashion’, translates to ‘let Us make’ with the plural use of God. This indicates that God and His associates are involved in this process. Both God's expansions and separated expansions will participate in creation projects. Therefore, the appropriate use is plural.<br />
<br />
The Supreme Being has three forms of expansion. The first is His Personal Expansions. The Supreme Being can expand Himself personally in countless ways - which can include various forms and appearances. Each of these Expansions is still Himself, as He has His complete substance and power within each Expansion.<br />
<br />
The Supreme Being can also produce direct expansions that are from Him, but with differentiated personality. These separated expansions enjoy personal relationships with the Supreme Being. These direct expansions also enjoy many of the powers of the Supreme Being.<br />
<br />
This was confirmed by Jesus in one of the Gospels found in the desert of Egypt:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>The perfect Savior replied, “Please understand that He was eternally manifest prior to the universe – the Unborn Creator, complete within Himself. When He, Effulgent and Spiritual, chose to expand His appearance, immediately the Effulgent Source manifested as the immortal spiritual being. This immortal spiritual being, subject to the deficiency of illusion, may attain salvation and wake from forgetfulness through the messenger – who will be with you until the end of the hardship of thieves. His consort is the Great Sophia initially had the purpose of relationship with the unborn Creator. This is manifested by the spiritual being - initially manifested with divine authority from the Creator – who is called ‘Supreme Being.’(<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/966163" target="_blank">The Wisdom of Jesus</a>, Texts 31-32)</i></blockquote>The Supreme Being also produces separate indirect expansions with free will. Each of us - our spiritual selves, not our physical bodies - fall into this category. These expansions each have the ability to enjoy a personal loving relationship with the Supreme Being, but we also are given the freedom to reject that relationship. We also do not have the powers the Supreme Being and His personal expansions have.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">How does God expand Himself?</h3>It also should be noted that we - His separated indirect expansions - are <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/man-said-this-is-now-bone-of-my-bones.html" target="_blank">expansions of His direct separated expansions</a>. In other words, we are expansions of those whom God enjoys eternal personal relationships with. We are expansions of His separated expansions.<br />
<br />
Each of God's direct separate expansions enjoys a unique type of relationship with the Supreme Being. For each, their loving relationship has a particular flavor, and their type of relationship is different. And thus we - the spiritual person within the physical body - each also have a unique relationship with the Supreme Being, according to our line of expansion.<br />
<br />
We might compare this to how each of us has a slightly different relationship with different people. If we have a male body on, we have a mother-son relationship with our mother and a father-son relationship with our father. Then we might have a best-friend relationship with someone. Then we might have a conjugal relationship with a woman. Then we might have a relationship with our pet, and then another with our work-mates and yet another with those we play basketball with. Each of these relationships is unique, and though some relationships may fall into a similar grouping (like multiple work-mates or basketball players), each relationship with each person is slightly different.<br />
<br />
In our pure state, we are spiritual beings with spiritual form, personality, and character. However, those of us who have chosen not to embrace our relationship with God have been put into a physical body in the physical world to give us a chance to exercise our freedom away from God.<br />
<br />
The reason nature and society are set up so that we can have these various relationships is that the physical world is a reflection (albeit perverted) of the spiritual world.<br />
<br />
In other words, the Supreme Being also enjoys this kind of variety of relationships with innumerable living beings - His direct and indirect expansions - within the various 'houses' or planets of the spiritual realm.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is a perverted reflection?</h3>This world is <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/and-lord-god-made-all-kinds-of-trees.html" target="_blank">a perverted reflection of the spiritual realm</a> because while the physical world maintains a myriad of relationships just as the spiritual realm does, the relationships of the physical world are all based on self-centeredness, while the relationships of the spiritual realm are all based upon love.<br />
<br />
In the physical realm, we are all focused on what we get out of a relationship. If we are cared for, we will care back. But if we are not cared for, then we will not maintain such a relationship. In the spiritual realm, love is unconditional. Care is unconditional.<br />
<br />
It is like comparing two different dinner tables. At one, as the food is passed around, everyone seeks only to make sure they get enough on their plate, sometimes at the cost of others not getting any.<br />
<br />
At the other dinner table, as they pass around the food, everyone is making sure that everyone else got their food before taking theirs.<br />
<br />
In the same way, the citizens of the spiritual world are only interested in pleasing their beloved, the Supreme Being - within their particular relationship with Him - along with assisting (and caring for) the other citizens - who are also engaged in their own relationship with Him. It is one big happy family, with the Supreme Being at the center.<br />
<br />
In contrast, in the physical world we are primarily interested in our own well-being, or the well-being of our extensions - our family, our country, our race. Either we are out-and-out self-centered in our activities (most of the time) or we are looking out for our family, nation or particular religious sect. This is can be at the cost of others being harmed.<br />
<br />
The bottom line is that the reason the physical bodies of humans were created <i>"in our image"</i> in a plural sense is because, as mentioned above, this creation involved the Supreme Being and His expansions, and what was created is a perverted reflection of the spiritual realm and the relationships of the spiritual realm.<br />
<br />
But there are two points of clarity to be made here. What is being discussed here is the organism, "man," not each of us. Beneath these bodies, we are each spiritual beings, created by God as expansions of His expansions. The human organism is a temporary physical body. It is made of atoms and molecules combined to make flesh and bones, which eventually decompose to earth after we leave them.<br />
<br />
We are temporarily occupying these physical bodies, just as a person sits down in a car and drives a car around.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">How are we made in God's 'image and likeness'</h3>Yet the Supreme Being states that these physical bodies were created in <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/then-god-said-let-us-make-man-in-our.html" target="_blank">His <i>image and likeness</i></a>.</div> Thus we can know that the personal image and likeness of the Supreme Being resembles that of a man - standing with two arms and two legs. This gives us a window into the spiritual realm and the Supreme Being.<br />
<br />
This might be compared to seeing a person's shadow as they approach from around a corner. We might not yet see their body, but we can tell from their shadow that they might be, say, overweight or short or something. While the shadow is not the person, the shadow creates an <i>"image"</i> or <i>"likeness"</i> that reflects the person approaching from around the corner.<br />
<br />
This verse also tells us that the Supreme Being's creative process is not performed alone. Just as a person will often work collectively with others, or will hire others to do a job, the Supreme Being also delegates certain creative processes to others - which can include both His direct and indirect expansions.<br />
<br />
We must remember that this physical world - and the physical forms we occupy - are all temporary. These<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/01/lord-god-made-garments-of-skin-for-adam.html" target="_blank"> bodies are temporary vehicles</a>. They are also changing around us. For example, our baby body was not the same body we have on now. That body was tiny, and our current body is much larger. And every atom and molecule has changed. So we have changed bodies even during this lifetime.<br />
<br />
Our physical body is constantly changing. It is like looking at a waterfall: The water is always changing. Scientists have determined that every atom and molecule is recycled within five years, meaning we have a different body every five years.<br />
<br />
We are driving this physical body just as a person drives a car.<br />
<br />
So why do we occupy these physical bodies? We, the spiritual living beings who decided we wanted to be away from God did so because we became envious. <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/now-serpent-was-more-crafty-than-any-of.html" target="_blank">We desired to enjoy like God</a>. Instead of loving and serving God, we wanted to be like God. So God set up a virtual universe that not only allows us to feel independent of Him but allows us to attempt to enjoy like He does.<br />
<br />
This is confirmed by the root Hebrew word רדה (radah) in this verse, which means to dominate or rule over (“and let them rule over”). The human body was designated to be able to rule over the other creatures of the planet, including, as stated here, the fish, birds, mammals and so on. In other words, the human form was designed to emulate God's dominance.<br />
<br />
God's design, however, does not give complete dominance. Nor does it give complete independence. Surely God could have given us a facility where each of us could have a more perfect ability to control others around us. But this would defeat the main purpose of the physical world.<br />
<br />
The fact is, we are not God. We are not in control. We are not independent of God. In fact, we need God. We need our Best Friend and Companion in order to be complete. This is why we are all constantly looking for that perfect friend or lover. We'll never be happy away from God, trying to pretend to be like God. And God knows this.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the purpose of this creation?</h3>The physical world, while it may give some illusion of some independence and some dominance, is primarily a place of education. Here we are slowly and gradually educated. Here we are taught that we all need love. Here we are taught that when we hurt others, we are hurting our closest family members. Here we are taught that we need a protector — and we can't do it alone.<br />
<br />
So why did the Supreme Being and His associates create the physical world? Remember that His indirect separated expansions - expansions of His expansions - were created with the freedom of choice: We can choose to <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/and-lord-god-commanded-man-you-are-free.html" target="_blank">love the Supreme Being or not</a>.<br />
<br />
Quite simply, the physical world and these temporary physical bodies were created to house those of us who chose NOT to love and care for the Supreme Being. Each of us individually rebelled against the Supreme Being, and this caused each of us to fall to the physical world, away from the spiritual realm.<br />
<br />
And this is why the physical world is full of lessons, and physical suffering.<br />
<br />
In fact, many will ask: <i>If God is good, why is there so much suffering in the world?</i><br />
<br />
Or they will ask: <i>If God exists, why is there so much suffering?</i><br />
<br />
Or they might ask: <i>If God loves me, why is there so much suffering?</i><br />
<br />
Or another version: <i>If there is a God, why did my ______ (insert wife, parents, friend, pet) have to die and leave me?</i><br />
<br />
In other words, we question God's existence or love for us because of the suffering of the physical world.<br />
<br />
But we have to remember two things:<br />
<br />
1) that these physical bodies are not us. They are like cars, that might get fender-benders or might break down. Our eternal spiritual selves are not touched by the suffering of the physical body (other than the lessons we might learn).<br />
<br />
2) that the Supreme Being <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/02/so-lord-god-banished-him-from-garden-of.html" target="_blank">set this world up as a rehabilitation center</a> in hopes that we might someday decide to return to Him and His world. He ultimately wants us to be happy, and we'll never be happy away from Him and His world. So He created this world as a learning center.<br />
<br />
After all, we know scientifically speaking that life cannot originate from DNA. The living being is spiritual in essence. Thus the living beings were, in fact, impregnated into the physical dimension, and have individually been evolving through the different species of physical bodies.<br />
<br />
We might compare the consequential sufferings of the physical world to how a child might be properly disciplined by caring parents. Parents do not want to, nor like disciplining their child. But they do it out of love. They do it because they ultimately want the best for the child.<br />
<br />
If the Supreme Being had set up the physical world to be this perfect place where there is no pain or suffering, we'd never want to go home to the spiritual realm.<br />
<br />
But He also set it up so that we only come home if we decide we really want to. We must make a commitment to go home. We can stay as long as we want, cycling through body after body. If we want to stay away from Him, He allows that. But at the same time, He also encourages us to decide (on our own) to come home. It is rather perfect, actually.<br />
<br />
Just consider, for example, a person whose consciousness was so dark that he only thought of himself, and considered others as objects of his enjoyment. So he hurts others, abuses others, even kills others without concern. What is needed to rehabilitate such an individual?<br />
<br />
First, they need to recognize that there are others outside of himself and that he isn't the only person who exists. He also needs to realize what it feels like to be hurt because he has no concern for the hurt of others. He also needs a little dose of humility to realize that he's not so great after all. This person is a candidate for being attacked in a moment of weakness at some point - if not in this lifetime, perhaps in a future lifetime.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What are we here to learn?</h3>In the same way, our education process requires us to have a strong foundation for understanding the nature of love, compassion, care and nurturing. Why? Because this is part of our rehabilitation process for returning to the spiritual dimension. As we graduate up the 'grades' and evolve spiritually once within the human form, we begin to learn 'post-graduate' lessons, such as how to care for and nurture others who are less fortunate, or from lower species. In the higher human species, we begin to learn the finer lessons of love, such as how to serve others, and how to remain humble even when others admire us or need us.<br />
<br />
The spiritual world is replete with these aspects to the absolute degree. God's world is full of love and relationships. It is a blissful world where everyone loves each other and cherishes God and His associates. It is the place where we yearn for (and people like John Lennon sang about), but could never have in the physical world - because the physical world is full of 'works in progress.'<br />
<br />
Here everyone is looking desperately for fulfillment. Fulfillment, however, is only available when we return to our eternal relationship with God as one of His loving servitors.<br />
<br />
And the emptiness we all feel here in the physical world can be immediately resolved by our deciding to return to Him. He wants us back in His loving arms because He knows that only this will make us happy. Only loving Him and caring for Him, and returning to our unique relationship with Him will give us the happiness and fulfillment we seek.<div><br /></div><div>Consider another translation for these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-55574838998423014002018-03-18T11:08:00.002-07:002022-06-02T18:21:02.195-07:00Genesis 1:28 - "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. ..."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:28)</i></blockquote><br />
<h3>Why did He instruct them to be fruitful?</h3>This describes God's release of some <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/02/so-lord-god-banished-him-from-garden-of.html" target="_blank">spiritual living beings into the physical world</a>. The spiritual individual is from another plane of existence - the spiritual world. In the spiritual world, God dwells, surrounded by innumerable living beings who relate with him in a variety of ways. These spiritual individuals are God's loving servants, each exchanging a relationship with Him in one mood or another.<br />
<br />
Why? In other to have real love, the spiritual individual is given the freedom to love God or not. For those who have chosen not to love God, God designed a place that gives those spiritual individuals who have rejected their relationships with Him a place where we can seemingly be away from Him. This is the physical world.<br />
<br />
We might compare this verse to a situation where a person is taking a fish out of the ocean and putting it in an aquarium. A person might set up an aquarium with some plant life, various facades of rocks and coral structures to swim through, and maybe some crabs or other creatures. Then an oxygenation system so that the fish will get enough oxygen. The whole aquarium is set up in such a way that the fish will be able to survive outside of its natural home - the ocean.<br />
<br />
Now once the aquarium is set up, the person brings the fish to the aquarium and puts the fish in the aquarium. As he does this, he might, if he talked to fish, say something like what God said to humanity in the verse above. He might say: "This is your aquarium and you can multiply and rule over it. You can manage the crabs and the other species, and take care of things as you want to."<br />
<br />
In other words, the aquarium owner is giving the fish some autonomy in terms of its new digs. It is giving the fish the freedom to have its own little kingdom.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Do we have the freedom not to obey?</h3>This is a similar situation for us. God has given each of us the ability to dominate over others, and pretty much rule over the place. Why?<br />
<br />
One of the aspects of our rejecting God in the spiritual plane, as we'll see as the analogy of Adam is unfolded, is that <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/now-serpent-was-more-crafty-than-any-of.html" target="_blank">we desired to enjoy as God enjoys</a>. We wanted to be the center of attention and have others serve us. We saw God enjoying in this way, and we became envious, in other words.<br />
<br />
So as part of the physical world that God set up for us, He allows us to operate these temporary physical bodies designed with the ability to outsmart and dominate others. In this way, we can pretend we're in God's position of being the enjoyer and being served by others.<br />
<br />
Consider how this has played out. Each of us so many opportunities to rule over others, whether it be animals, inferiors at work, children or those we lead in some group. These little 'king-ships' each come with consequences, however.<br />
<br />
For example, practically every person has the opportunity to have children, or at least some sort of pet or even both. The children and the pet are subservient to the commands of the parent and/or pet owner, and the parent and/or pet-owner enjoys being the master of another living being. However, at the same time, the parent and/or pet owner has to take care of the child or pet. The parent and/or pet owner has to feed and clean the child or pet, and take the child and/or pet out to the park and so on. In this way, the child and/or pet and the parent and/or pet owner develop a relationship, which may become, to some degree, a loving relationship.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Who is serving who in these relationships?</h3>Now, these relationships are no accident. It is no accident that we have these freedoms here to create these types of relationships, and then we undergo a series of lessons regarding caring, making sacrifices and ruling over another. These are all intended to teach us the meaning of loving relationships.<br />
<br />
In fact, even though the physical world was designed to give us certain freedoms, it was also designed specifically<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/02/so-lord-god-banished-him-from-garden-of.html" target="_blank"> as a rehabilitation center</a>. The physical world teaches us about relationships. It teaches us, gradually, how to love again.<br />
<br />
The intention is to prepare us for our return home to the spiritual dimension. We cannot dwell or stay in the spiritual dimension when we are envious of God and self-centered. We just do not have the right consciousness for the spiritual dimension in that state. So God set up a place that teaches us about loving service and relationships, in an attempt to bring our consciousness back to a state where we can resume our loving relationship with Him.<br />
<br />
Every step of our physical lives within these temporary bodies, we are constantly given choices. With each choice is a consequence. Should we decide to help another, or care for another, there will be a good consequence. Should we decide to take advantage of another, or abuse or hurt another, there will be a negative consequence - one that shows us directly how it feels to be treated in that way. This is all due to the incredible programming of this physical world by the Supreme Person, God.<br />
<br />
The question is which way we will go? Will we use our God-given freedoms in the physical world to hurt others and try to dominate others, or will we care for others and try to help others? This is our choice. One choice brings us closer to returning home and the other takes us further away.<br />
<br />
For those who have, as they have evolved, chosen to care for others and try to help others, they are directly given a chance to return home by having contact with one of God's loving servants - who God periodically sends to the physical world in an effort to bring those who are ready back home.<br />
<br />
The books of the Bible, in fact, provide a history of some of these loving servants, including Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Joshua, Job, Jonah, John the Baptist, Jesus, Jesus' disciples and others - all of whom God sent specifically to bring those who were ready to 'graduate' from the physical world back to our in the spiritual world.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the path home?</h3>These representatives of God have all taught that the path back home is to re-establish our loving relationship with God. This is why Moses instructed:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." </i>(Deut. 6:5)</blockquote>And why Jesus taught, quoting Moses:
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."</i>(Matthew 22:37-38)</blockquote>
And why Moses also instructed:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>"...obey the commands I am giving you today--to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul..."</i> (Deut. 11:13)</blockquote><p>Consider another translation for this verse in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>. </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-78315856147068711722018-03-17T11:52:00.003-07:002022-06-02T18:21:17.775-07:00Genesis 1:29 - "I give you every seed-bearing plant ... They will be yours for food." <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food." (Genesis 1:29)<br />
</i></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Does this define the intended human diet?</h3>This verse clearly identifies the food that God designed for humans. It is clear that humans were intended by their Creator to eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and roots, and not animals.<br />
<br />
One might argue that the previous verse also gave humanity permission to eat any kind of fish or animal: "<i><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/god-blessed-them-and-said-to-them-be.html" target="_blank">Rule over the fish of the sea</a> and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."</i> (Genesis 1:28) </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">However, this does not say that the fish, birds and animals will be our food as this verse clearly says. It says that humans may <i>"rule over"</i> them. The correct interpretation of this statement is not that we would kill these creatures, but that we would care for them.<br />
<br />
To <i>"rule over"</i> does not mean that we maliciously rule over them, and take advantage of them. A king or a government, for example, may rule over the people. But their purpose is not to hurt the people but to care for and help protect the people.<br />
<br />
This applies to fish, birds, and animals. God asked that we care for these creatures. That we help protect them. Not kill them for our food unless it was necessary for survival.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This is confirmed by our digestive system. Like most plant-eating creatures, we have long intestines that ferment our food. We harbor gut bacteria that digest plant-based foods with precision. This is similar to horses, goats, and so on. Carnivorous animals have short, fat digestive systems that process raw meats quickly and efficiently. Also, our teeth are primarily grinding teeth, suited for chewing nuts, seeds, roots, fruits, and vegetables. Carnivorous animals have sharp, razor-like teeth designed to tear flesh.<br />
<br />
We find later in Genesis that God did permit the offering and eating of animals later on. But this was not necessarily His preference. Because there was little fruit, grain and vegetable foods available in the dry Middle East, they needed to kill animals for food. He thus permitted them to eat limited kinds of animals. But these were to be eaten only after they completely drained the animal's blood and offered it to Him.<br />
<br />
God's preference as communicated with the above verse is that we eat fruits, vegetables, grains, roots, and baked foods, after first offering them to Him. For example, we find God's statement from Isaiah:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>"The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats." (Isaiah 1:11)</i></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is bloodshed required for survival?</h3>Plant-based foods provide all the vitamins, minerals, proteins and fats that our bodies need: They also prevent disease. Research has found that plant-based foods contain hundreds and even thousands of phytonutrients that prevent cancer and many other diseases. The reason plant-based foods do this is quite simple: God intended humans to eat plant-based foods, as indicated by this verse in Genesis.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
Since these foods can be eaten without shedding the blood of innocent animals, the vegetarian diet was the preferred diet for many of the Prophets. This includes Daniel, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Jesus, as well as Jesus' followers - with the exception of fish.<br />
<br />
It is clear from Biblical statements that following the exodus, when Moses and his followers were traveling through the desert with little to eat, that animals were permitted to consume if the blood was thoroughly drained. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">But it is clear that before and after the exodus, the prescribed food for humans remained plant-based.<br />
<br />
Yet as always, God still <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/and-lord-god-made-all-kinds-of-trees.html" target="_blank">gave us the choice to follow</a> His wishes or not.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><p>Consider another translation for this verse in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>. </p></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-2397932037865230472018-03-16T10:21:00.002-07:002022-06-02T18:21:29.918-07:00Genesis 1:30 - "... everything that has the breath of life in it ..." <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>"And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food." And it was so. (Genesis 1:30)<br />
</blockquote></i>This verse illustrates two important conditions for life for living creatures of this planet:<br />
1) that within every living creature dwells <i>"the breath of life."</i><br />
2) that plant-based foods provide the best form of nutrition for most species of animals and birds.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the <i>"breath of life?"</i></h3>Here the phrase <i>"breath of life"</i> has been translated from the Hebrew word נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh). The Hebrew lexicon defines this word to mean: "soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion; a) that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man." This is describing the living substance within each creature - including animals, birds, and so on.<br />
<br />
<i>"Breath of life"</i> means that there is a qualitatively equal living personality within each organism. We can see this quite simply by looking at a pet or any other animal. What do we see when we look into the eyes of a living creature? We see them looking back at us. We see life. We see a living individual, with a will of its own. We see within each creature a distinct personality. This personality, the organism's <i>"breath of life,"</i> is the spiritual individual.<br />
<br />
The spiritual individual living within each physical body lies within another plane of existence. This is why when a person dies, every physical element - every atom, molecule, nerve, cell, organ, and tissue system - remains in the dead body. Something else has left the body at death, but we cannot see it. We only know that it existed in the physical body because when it was there, the body had movement, metabolism and sought to achieve particular needs. For animals and humans, this need revolves around survival, but an even more basic need of the living being within is love.<br />
<br />
We might compare this to a car and its driver. The car just sits there until a driver steps in, sits down and drives the car away. The car only moves when it is driven by someone. The physical body is no different. Within each physical body is a driver - a distinct spiritual individual.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Why is love important?</h3>Love is the motive of the soul. The predominating motive of the spiritual individual is love. Each of us needs love. Every one of us searches for true love in the form of mates, friends, and groups, throughout our lives. Animals also seek love but through their own cultures. They seek love in families, mating and pets.<br />
<br />
As for pets, their search for love includes humans. We can see this clearly in a pet. Even when the pet is full of food, the pet will still hanker to be petted and played with. They need love just as we do.<br />
<br />
This is further evidence that the living individual within the physical body is the same, regardless of the type of body we might be wearing. This is why we can grant equality to all people of a population, regardless of whether their bodies have dark skin, brown skin or light skin. Each of us is equal within. This equality is also the same with animals. Within each animal is the <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/now-lord-god-had-formed-out-of-ground.html" target="_blank">same type of living individual</a> as within the bodies of humans.<br />
<br />
The difference is that the spiritual individual within the human body is more evolved spiritually than the spiritual individual within the animal body. The spiritual individual within the human body has risen to a point of higher consciousness. The spiritual individual (<i>"breath of life"</i>) within the human body has an opportunity to regain our original spiritual consciousness, and remember our relationship with God.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Can we raise our consciousness?</h3>Those in lower forms of life have not evolved to that point. This does not mean that they won't, however. The physical world is meant to gradually raise our consciousness by running us through various lessons.<br />
<br />
Just as each level in school prepares us for the next level or grade, each lesson within the physical world is designed to take us to the next level should we learn the lesson presented.<br />
<br />
In fact, most of the lessons of the physical world are related to learning about relationships. Learning to treat others fairly and learning to care for others. Those who learn these lessons more quickly rise faster in their spiritual evolution.<br />
<br />
As does the previous verse, this verse confirms God’s design that <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/then-god-said-i-give-you-every-seed.html" target="_blank">plant-based foods provides</a> the ultimate nutrition for humans. This is why plant-based foods are anti-carcinogenic and supply an array of complete nutrition – even protein.<br />
<br />
Why then do so many creatures, including humans, eat meat? Because God also created free will, and if one desires to eat meat, one can kill an animal (or hire someone else to) and eat meat. This doesn't mean meat is what God prefers we eat. Certainly, if there is no plant-based food available, we would need to eat meat to keep the body alive. But it is clear from this statement that God prefers we not eat meat.<br />
<br />
While the ultimate diet God arranged was from plant-based foods, He will still accept the worship of those who eat meat. This is why He allowed meat-offerings in His temple, along with grain, fruit and other offerings.<br />
<br />
Meat offerings had strict guidelines, however. The meat had to be drained of blood and could be only from certain types of animals, and had to be prepared specially. Allowing them to make offerings with what they ate allowed them to re-develop their relationship with Him. (This is the purpose of offering our food to the Supreme Being prior to eating it: To help us re-develop our relationship with God).<br />
<br />
The ultimate goal is for us to come to a point where we want to return to our loving relationship with God in the spiritual plane. This physical world is like a rehabilitation center. It is set up to teach us, so that one day we can resume our original identity as one of God's loving servants.<br /><br />
<p>Consider another translation for this verse in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>. </p></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-43905701403130388642018-03-15T13:35:00.002-07:002022-06-02T18:21:36.979-07:00Genesis 1:31 - God saw all that He had made, and it was very good... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)</i></blockquote>According to this translation, the physical world was created in six days. It also implies that God didn't realize what He had made until He took a look at it. As if God doesn't know what He is doing when He does it.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is that six human days?</h3>The Hebrew word יום (yowm) being translated to <i>“days”</i> within Genesis can mean “day” or “time” or “year.” It can also mean a “general time period” according to the lexicon.<br />
<br />
A day to a human is basically one rotation of the sun around the planet. What is a day to God? As Albert Einstein described in his famous Theory of Relativity, time is relative to the observer of that time, and the observer's position is relative to whichever moving object the observer is positioned on.<br />
<br />
However, God is <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/and-god-said-let-there-be-light-and.html" target="_blank">above and beyond time</a> and physical space, and He controls these elements. God's universe is the spiritual dimension, where time does not exist. Time is a specification of the physical world, because the physical world is a temporary manifestation: The physical world has a beginning and an end, while God does not have a beginning or an end.<br />
<br />
God is ageless. This is why depictions of God as an old man with a long flowing beard - as da Vinci pictured Him - are incorrect. God is the most beautiful, ever-youthful being. He never gets old, and He never dies.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is God limited by time?</h3>God is never subject to or limited by time or space.<br />
<br />
Scientific evidence has shown that the creative process of the physical universe took millions if not billions of human years.<br />
<br />
This indicates that a<i> "day" </i>with respect to God's creative efforts is a relative expression. A <i>"day"</i> in this respect could be 100 million years. It could be 250 million years or a billion years long.<br />
<br />
It doesn't really matter. The meaning of Genesis is that the creative process of assembling the physical universe was a gradual, stepped process governed by God. God didn't just say "poof" and the whole thing was done. As Genesis clearly states, He created the elements first, which included the elements of earth, water, gas, heat, space and time. Then He created light. Then He created living organisms, from the simplest first. Living organisms were programmed in such a way that as they "multiplied," they evolved. This was built into their genetic code, just as a software program is coded into a computer.<br />
<br />
We know from archaeological research that this process of evolution did not take place in six human days. It took place over millions of years. The other elements of the physical universe are a lot older. We know this too. Are we to disregard science?<br />
<br />
The only conclusion is that the <i>"day"</i> being discussed here is allegorical. Consider who the audience is. Consider just how little humans know about the physical universe even now. Now consider how little humans knew about the universe thousands of years ago, as the knowledge of Genesis was handed down from teacher to student over many generations. This was handed down first through oral tradition before it was finally put into written form.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is Genesis allegorical or literal?</h3>The information in Genesis is allegorical and it has always been understood as allegorical by those humbly passing it down. What does allegorical mean? Allegorical means that the information given in the text contains symbolic elements that provide a broader understanding.<br />
<br />
Let's say, for example, that a mother has to answer her child who is asking why daddy has to leave every morning. Will she tell the child that Daddy is a stock analyst who studies the stock market and the financials of different companies and writes reports for the investment bank he works for? The child will be lost at the word "stock."<br />
<br />
The mother will most definitely simplify the situation, and tell the child that daddy is going to a big building so he can bring home some money for their family to buy food. Or something like that. The mother will use a big dose of allegory as she tries to describe where daddy is going in a way the child will understand.<br />
<br />
Genesis is the same way. Its language was aimed at an audience that was very simple and lived basic lives that revolved around survival and the basic necessities. These folks had little understanding of solar systems, galaxies, black holes, red stars and so on. They had no idea what a bacteria was. They did not know what a cell was.<br />
<br />
So the intended audience of Genesis could be categorized as less technically educated than modern humans, but they were wiser in many other ways. Their ability to understand the allegorical nature of Genesis was obviously stronger, however.<br />
<br />
In other words, they didn't argue about whether God really created the physical universe in six human days or not. Do we see Moses debating with his students about this? No.<br />
<br />
The central meaning of Genesis is that the physical universe was not an accidental event. It was a programmed event. It was planned. It was designed. The complexity of DNA alone should tell us that. Scientists have been calculating the chances that the complexity of DNA alone could have taken place by chance. The number is gigantic. It is about one chance out of 3 with about three thousand zeros behind the three. The chance is so small that it is practically no chance at all.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is the universe chaotic?</h3>Furthermore, we can see around us that this universe is not chaotic. A chaotic, random universe would not display connected events. One event would not cause another event. Yet we see in this universe that every event is connected to another event. This scientific observation is often termed "cause and effect." For every effect, there is a cause. This means that the universe is not chaotic or random. It means that nothing in the universe takes place randomly, because every event that has taken place is connected to its cause.<br />
<br />
If all events are connected to causes, this not only means there is no chaos and no randomness. It also means that there is a design to the physical universe. It means that there was an original cause, and that original cause began the process with a design and purpose. That <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/in-beginning-god-created-heavens-and.html" target="_blank">Original Cause is God</a>.<br />
<br />
And since the physical universe is complete with living beings - individual personalities - we know that the Original Cause also must contain an original personality. In other words, God is a Person. He is not a vague force. He is not a particle. He is a Person with a will and objectives.<br />
<br />
The physical universe displays functionality and design. This functionality serves to teach us. Throughout our lives, we are presented with consequences to our decisions and actions. Every act has a consequence. Why? To teach us.<br />
<br />
Such a universe designed to teach through consequences could only come from a Person with the intention to teach.<br />
<br />
And what is the subject that the world's consequences serve to teach us? It teaches us about how we treat others: It teaches us about love. Why? Because God created the physical world as a place of rehabilitation. A place where we could re-develop something we lost:<br />
<br />
Our relationship of love and loving service with Him.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation for this verse in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Chapter One of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-43828299716308435732018-03-14T11:48:00.001-07:002022-06-02T18:24:02.523-07:00Genesis 2:1-3 - Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done. (Genesis 02:1-3)</i></blockquote><br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What are 'the heavens'?</h3>Here the word <i>'heavens'</i> is being translated from the Hebrew word שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), which means 'visible heavens, the abode of the stars, universe, atmosphere, visible sky.' This reference is not the spiritual dimension.<br />
<br />
The<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/river-watering-garden-flowed-from-eden.html" target="_blank"> spiritual dimension has no beginning</a>. It is eternal, as is God. Both the spiritual dimension and God are above the element of time and the jurisdiction of time. Time was created by God as explained in Gen. 1:5. God created periodicity, which is the pacing of time.<br />
<br />
This also means that God was neither born nor created. Many have asked: Assuming God created the universe, who created God? No one created God because God has always existed and will always exist.<br />
<br />
This may seem inconceivable to the human mind, but that is because our mind's notion of time has been derived from observation of the physical world. Our minds have no ability to enter the spiritual dimension because they are physical, and they collect physical observations.<br />
<br />
Time is, in fact, an alien element to those who dwell with God within the spiritual dimension.<br />
<br />
However, the souls who have rejected their relationship with God become trapped within temporary physical bodies, and this shackles the person to the element of physical time.<br />
<br />
The purpose of time within the physical dimension is not unlike the pacing of grades for children. A child will advance from one school grade to the next as they pass the tests needed to graduate to the next grade. In the same way, God established time as a system for us to be rehabilitated gradually, to a point to where we can choose to return home to our relationship with God.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the purpose of time?</h3>Within each lifetime we have time-paced sections that include childhood, adolescence, young adult, adult and elderly years. Each period teaches specific types of lessons. Then each of us lives multiple lifetimes, each within different bodies where again we learn distinct lessons - enabling us to evolve.<br />
<br />
As we graduate up the levels of these lessons, we come to a point where we can consciously decide whether we want to return to God or not. This occurs within the human form of life. Should we choose to return to our home with God - the spiritual dimension - then God will personally take us through the advanced course, and help us to become purified enough to return to Him.<br />
<br />
In order to create this system of learning, God created the constant advancing of time, measured by periodic movement and the motion of atomic particles.<br />
<br />
God's process of creation also <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/god-called-light-day-and-darkness-he.html" target="_blank">utilized time, to pace</a> with our evolution. God programmed DNA to reflect the individual's consciousness so that our particular physical body at a particular time would reflect our personal evolution - our level of rehabilitation.<br />
<br />
If we compare this to the grading system in school, each progressive grade has different activities. Kids in the seventh grade, for example, can now pick course electives, because they have advanced through the first six grades where they had no choice in the subjects. So these seventh graders utilize a school that is set up differently - with more choice.<br />
<br />
In the same way, as we advance through the lessons of the physical world we do so in successive lifetimes and different bodies. In the human form, we have a higher consciousness and more choices. Now we can choose how we make our living - or survive. We can also choose whether we want to be nice to people or be mean to people. These choices are permitted because we rose through the lessons that the lower forms of life taught us: Such as the value of survival, the fact that others exist with different experiences, and others experience things separately from us.<br />
<br />
This process of growth - our rehabilitation - is symbolically represented in the six days of creation. God created the elements first, and put into motion with the element of time. Then He designed and stimulated the process of evolution by creating the bacteria and aquatic plant life with specialized DNA, which evolved into the more complex creatures by design. With each passing <i>"day"</i> the creatures became more complex.<br />
<br />
Why? Because those living beings within those bodies were going through their rehabilitation process, and with each progressive body they learned more progressive lessons. As we rose in our evolutionary process, we eventually have the chance to gain the human form of life. This occurs on the sixth day, because it is the height of the evolutionary process - the point where we are given greater consciousness, and the choice of whether we want to return to God.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the meaning of the seventh day?</h3>Those who decide they want to return to God enter the symbolic seventh day, where they begin learning how to devote themselves to God. This is the holy period. It is also a day of <i>"rest"</i> because during this stage of our lives we can stop focusing our consciousness upon survival issues - which relate to the desires to eat, have sex, and defend ourselves. In this advanced stage, we can refocus our consciousness towards serving God.<br />
<br />
This is why, for example, Jesus did not stop his work serving God on the seventh day.<br />
<br />
Should we arrive at this point in our existence, we can re-establish our loving relationship with God, and after the end of this lifetime, return to God in His spiritual dimension.<br />
<br />
Those who do not use this human form of life to advance spiritually are sent back to the lower forms of life. This is because they have not learned those lessons they were supposed to learn.<br />
<br />
For example, if an individual in a human form has not learned to treat others with kindness and fairness, and they hurt others, they will suffer the same consequences of their treatment of others, either within another human form (if they made any advancement) or within the form of an animal. Depending upon their consciousness, they may fall within the species to the point where their rehabilitation process can be renewed. This is what is described in the scriptures as "hell." Lower forms of life live within a hellish world of constant fear and violence.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Are these literal days?</h3>The six days of creation and the seventh day being a day of rest are both allegorical. As we've discussed, we know scientifically that God did not produce the universe and all the creatures in six 24-hour days. But we do know that the process of creation took place in a gradual, stepped process. This gradual pacing illustrates God's process as He designed and programmed an epic physical universe replete with the pacing of time to allow for an evolutionary rehabilitation process. <i>"In all their vast array,"</i> the physical universe is massive and complex. We cannot even begin to fathom it with our minds, let alone fathom the spiritual dimension.<br />
<br />
What we can fathom, and why this creative process is boiled down to six days - with the seventh day being a day that is to be spent focused upon our relationship with God - is that we really don't need to know all the minute details about this atomic element or that atomic element, or this DNA gene or that DNA gene. We only have a limited amount of time within this human form, and we need to use it wisely to re-develop our relationship with God. This was realized late in the lives of two of the greatest modern scientists, Leonardo da Vinci, and Albert Einstein.<br />
<br />
In his elderly years, Albert Einstein said:<br />
<blockquote><i>“I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts. The rest are details.”</i></blockquote>And Leonardo da Vinci:<br />
<blockquote><i>"It is true that impatience, the mother of stupidity, praises brevity, as if such persons had not lived long enough to serve them to acquire a complete knowledge of one single subject, such as the human body; and then they want to comprehend the mind of God in which the universe is included, weighing it minutely and mincing it into infinite parts, as if they had to dissect it!"</i></blockquote>In other words, knowing God is the only true knowledge worth anything. And to know God is not like knowing an inanimate object. God is a Person. Therefore, just as we cannot really know another person unless we have a relationship with them and they allow us to know them, we also cannot know God without having a relationship with Him and Him allowing us to come to know Him.<br />
<br />
In other words, knowing God is the only true knowledge worth anything. But knowing God is not like knowing an inanimate object. God is a Person. Therefore, we cannot really know another person unless they allow us to know them. And in God’s case, we are introduced by someone who already enjoys a relationship with Him. This is why Moses, Jesus and all of God’s representatives introduced their students to God and taught this most important instruction:<br />
<blockquote><i> “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, His decrees, His laws and His commands always.” (Deuteronomy 11:1)</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today – to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 11:13)</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow – to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to hold fast to Him – “ (Deuteronomy 11:22)</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“…because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today – to love the LORD your God and to walk always in His ways – “ (Deuteronomy 19:19)</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws” (Deuteronomy 30:16)</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“…and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the LORD is your life....” (Deuteronomy 30:20)</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul.” (Joshua 22:5)</i><i><br />
</i><i></i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“So be very careful to love the LORD your God.” (Joshua 23:11)</i><i><br />
</i><i></i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“Love the LORD, all His saints!” (Psalms 31:23)</i><i><br />
</i><i></i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for He guards the lives of His faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalms 97:10)</i><i><br />
</i><i></i></blockquote><blockquote><i>“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38)</i></blockquote></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation of these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-2.html" target="_blank">Chapter Two of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-22856206696832227782018-03-13T14:03:00.002-07:002022-06-02T18:24:06.304-07:00Genesis 2:4-6 - This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens--and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground-- (Genesis 2:4-6)</i></blockquote>This part of Genesis takes us to another entire discussion. Genesis 1:1 through 2:3 took us all the way through the process of the creation of the physical world and its evolution of species, speaking in allegorical terms. It discussed God's creation of the elements of space, time, fluids, gasses, light, heat, electromagnetic radiation and the element of earth or solids. Then it surveyed God's creation of the most simplest forms of life first, who multiplied and evolved into more complex creatures, and finally humans.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Why is Genesis 2 so different from Genesis 1?</h3>Hebrew scholars have calculated that this discussion comes from a different writer than <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/in-beginning-god-created-heavens-and.html" target="_blank">Genesis 1:1</a> to <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/thus-heavens-and-earth-were-completed.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:3</a>. The accepted description of the first writer (1:1-2:3) is called "E" - which stands for <i>Elohim</i> - and the fact that all of these verses refer to God as Elohim אֱלֹהִים ('elohiym).<br />
<br />
But in the verses of Genesis 2:4 through at least until Genesis 4, God is referred to as Elohim and Yahweh יְהֹוָה (Yĕhovah). This is being translated as "LORD God" instead of just "God." And in Genesis 4, the referral is just to Yahweh, converting to just LORD. And throughout the Old Testament, we find many stories differently described and often mismatched, linked with one or another of these names. The verses that mention Yahweh are thus referred to as written by "J" (for Jehovah, a transliteration).<br />
<br />
Is this really the case? Are we talking different writers of the Bible?<br />
<br />
The reality is that these teachings were initially passed on among ancient teachers through the oral tradition, from teacher to student who then became a teacher and passed it on. At some point, some of these oral teachings were put into writing. And because there were different lineages in place - there are slightly different orations, which teach the same ultimate Truths, but with some trivial differences. This is especially true when allegory or symbolism was used - which ancient teachers used a lot.<br />
<br />
And those scribes who put these oral teachings into writing did so at different times and places. But then the different recorded orations were combined by sectarian scribes trying to create a single institution - for political purposes.<br />
<br />
And thus within the Old Testament, we have a mixture of oral teachings, pieced together with political purpose by sectarian institutions over the centuries.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Should Genesis 2 be taken literally?</h3>These verses, from Genesis 2:4 through Genesis 3:24, tell a specific instructional parable, completely distinguished from Genesis 1:1-2:3.<br />
<br />
The key Hebrew word to understand here is תּוֹלְדוֹת, which can mean 'descendants, results, proceedings, generations, genealogies,' and more specifically, 'the account of men and their descendants,' according to the lexicon.<br />
<br />
This is followed by a translation to <i>"the heavens</i> [שָׁמַיִם] <i>and the earth</i> [אֶרֶץ]<i>."</i> How does this tie into the previous - relating to humanity?<br />
<br />
The word שָׁמַיִם can mean the physical 'heavens' which include the stars, but it can also refer to the spiritual world. The Hebrew word אֶרֶץ can mean earth specifically, or land or territory or even people of the land.<br />
<br />
Understanding that Genesis already discussed God's creation of the physical world and all the species including humanity, the correct interpretation of this phrase would be that it is a preamble for a discussion that describes the account of how we descended from the spiritual world to become enmeshed within the physical world. This might better be translated:<br />
<br />
<i>This is the account of how we fell from the spiritual sky into the physical world.</i><br />
<br />
The next sentence begins to describe an event that takes place prior to there being any plants, rain and no man to work the ground. Yet we know from Genesis 1:20-30 that God had created all the fish, the plants, the animals on the earth and also <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/then-god-said-let-us-make-man-in-our.html" target="_blank">created man and woman</a> (Gen. 1:27). He also told them to <i>"<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/god-blessed-them-and-said-to-them-be.html" target="_blank">be fruitful and increase in number</a>; fill the earth and subdue it."</i> (Gen. 1:28) So we know that this does not fit within a chronological description of the creation of the physical universe.<br />
<br />
We also know that Genesis already described how God had created all the living plants, and from Genesis 1:29 we know that God gave man the plants to eat: <i>"<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/08/then-god-said-i-give-you-every-seed.html" target="_blank">I give you every seed-bearing plant</a> on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food."</i><br />
<br />
Yet in this new verse, it speaks to a time prior to rainfall, plants, and man: <i>"there was no man to work the ground."</i><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What does <i>"no man to work the ground" </i>mean?</h3>The Hebrew word being translated to "work" is עָבַד. This word can mean to 'labor or work,' but it can also mean 'service.' For example, if the word is written with God's name behind it, the phrase will mean 'service to God.' Together with the Hebrew word אֲדָמָה it means another type of service. Yes, אֲדָמָה can mean 'ground,' but it can also mean earth, land, country, or territory. In other words, it can also refer to the physical world as opposed to the spiritual realm.<br />
<br />
So what are we talking about here? The translation and interpretation of the text into English is obviously lacking in application and context. Rather, the correct interpretation is that this statement serves to point out the period before we became servants of the physical world - often described as 'mammon' as well as "the devil."<br />
<br />
As Jesus and so many of the prophets taught, we basically have two choices. We can serve God with love and devotion or we can work to serve ourselves - trying to enjoy and make ourselves happy. We always have this choice. But the consciousness of serving ourselves is transformed into the service of the passing elements of the physical world and its illusory nature, as we seek our own happiness away from God. This has also been described as "serving mammon."<br />
<br />
Now should the reader insist on the translations to "work the ground," "earth" and so on, then we could just as well conclude that these references are wholly symbolic, and symbolize the same interpretation of describing a time <i>before the fall.</i> The Hebrew text is broad enough to allow for this symbolic translation, as Genesis is rich in allegory and symbolism. The purpose is to portray complex spiritual issues in an understandable way.<br />
<br />
Let's use an example. Let's say that a young child asks his parents how a house is built. The parents will not get into a technical discussion of how permits are given and architects draw plans using CAD. They will not be discussing the technical aspects of installing insulation or wiring. Rather, they'll use allegory and likely some symbolism to explain the process to a young child.<br />
<br />
They might tell the child that first, a big man goes into the forest and chops down some really big trees. Then he cuts some of the trees into pieces. Another man rolls out a big carpet made of stones on the ground and the big man stands tree trunks on each side and then fits all the tree pieces together to build the house.<br />
<br />
This is a very simplified explanation of building a house, using symbolism and allegory. The big man in the woods symbolizes timber companies that take their equipment into the forest and cut trees down, and the carpet made of stones symbolizes the concrete foundation of the house. And so on. If the parent went into a big discussion about timber companies and concrete pads, the child would likely fall asleep - not having learned a thing.<br />
<br />
Now assuming the parents were talking about a house made primarily of wood, the allegorical story would be quite informative. The young child would learn that houses are made primarily from trees and rock - concrete.<br />
<br />
In the same way, the description of how we rejected God and fell into the physical world and took on these temporary physical bodies is quite technical and complex. Also, note this knowledge was orally passed down over generations of teachers to their students prior to being written. This means the verses were accompanied by an oral purport of their meaning.<br />
<br />
The bottom line is that this Genesis description simplifies an event (our fall from the spiritual world) down to the basics - as will be described in the next verses.<br />
<br />
Any other interpretation of this is wrought with ignorance. To assume a literal translation of these verses is to not only be grossly inaccurate regarding the events that have occurred within nature: It also misses the large and important lessons they purvey. <br />
<br />
<h3>What about archeological evidence?</h3>Over the past century, humans have found significant archaeological evidence. These include skulls and other evidence of human civilizations that existed hundreds of thousands of years ago on this planet. <br />
<br />
Archeological evidence has also found that early hominids existed on the earth millions of years ago. Since then, we find evidence that the human race has been evolving in physical, intellectual and mental capacity. Human brains have become larger. Tools have become more sophisticated. And human society has become more organized. <br />
<br />
In other words, scientific evidence contradicts the version of humanity's arrival on the earth indicated by a literal interpretation of the second chapter of Genesis. The evidence certainly denies the notion of human arrival a mere 5,000 years ago, let alone the arrival of two humans initially.<br />
<br />
The clear evidence indicates an evolutionary process took place for millions of years on the earth. It indicates an earth that is several million years old as well.<br />
<br />
To abide by a strictly literal translation of Genesis is to ignorantly deny this physical evidence, and miss the real message of Genesis.<br />
<br />
We must, therefore, be wise. We cannot ignore the scientific evidence that refutes a literal translation of Genesis. What we can do - which is the purpose of our having this scientific evidence - is reach for the deeper meaning within the text. And it is there.<br />
<br />
Many scientists have assumed that because the physical evidence refutes the literal translation, Genesis must be false. This is also an assumption made in ignorance because it leaves behind the significant evidence showing that there is another dimension - the origin of the living spirit-person - that we cannot see with these physical eyes. This is why we cannot find any physical element missing in a physical body at the time of death. We do not see the spirit-person leaving the body because these eyes are physical, not spiritual.<br />
<br />
The bottom line is that both courses - a literal interpretation of Genesis or rejecting it altogether due to the lack of archaeological evidence - is short-sighted. We must see the deeper wisdom hidden within these texts.<br />
<br />
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation of these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-2.html" target="_blank">Chapter Two of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-18831177408073531862018-03-12T11:16:00.003-07:002022-06-02T18:24:24.826-07:00Genesis 2:7 - The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into ... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)</i></blockquote></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the 'breath of life'?</h3>While this verse indicates the difference between the physical body and the living being within (the <i>“breath of life”</i>) the verse is not discussing the creation of the species of man/humanity. <br />
<br />
The use of these terms serves two purposes: To illustrate the difference between the physical body and the spirit-person within; and utilize this fact allegorically to describe the appearance of the living being – the spirit-person – within the spiritual realm.<br />
<br />
Remember that the first chapter of Genesis already discussed the creation of the physical universe and all the species, including man, within the six “day” period.<br />
<br />
This description is not a redundancy. It is another discussion: It is the discussion of how each of us, the living beings or living souls, are parts and parcels of God. Each of us spirit-persons is God’s children.<br />
<br />
The Hebrew verse here is:<br />
וַיִּיצֶר֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־ הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־ הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים וַֽיְהִ֥י הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃.<br />
<br />
While this verse has been construed to say that God created man from the dust of the earth and breathed life into the man, this translation is incorrect.<br />
<br />
The key to the verse’s meaning is in the first Hebrew words and the last Hebrew words:<br />
<br />
The first words are הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃. These indicate that the Supreme Being formed or fashioned something.<br />
<br />
The last words in the verse are חַיָּֽה׃ לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ. These indicate <i>“living soul”</i> (King James translation) or <i>“living being”</i> (this New International Version translation). These are also consistent with the lexicon.<br />
<br />
We must remember that this discussion is steeped in allegory and symbolism. Consider, for example, a verse later in this discussion (<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/but-for-adam-no-suitable-helper-was.html" target="_blank">Genesis 2:21-22</a>), where God made woman from the ribs of the man. Is this not a clear sign of allegory and symbolism?<br />
<br />
Going back to this verse (Genesis 2:7), נָפַח (naphach) אַף (aph) is being translated to<i> “breathed into his nostrils”</i> and נְשָׁמָה (nĕshamah) חַי (chay) is being translated to <i>“breath of life.”</i> Is this really what this means?<br />
<br />
While there is little argument for the translation of “breathed into him,” the <i>“breath of life,”</i> נְשָׁמָה (nĕshamah) can be translated to <i>‘breath,’</i> but also to <i>‘spirit’</i> or even <i>‘God’s spirit.’</i> We are talking about, in other words, the <i>living spirit coming from God’s spirit.</i><br />
<br />
So God breathed the living spirit into Adam’s nose?<br />
<br />
Again, this is steeped in allegory, as well as symbolism. <br />
<br />
<i>‘Breath of life’</i> here illustrates that our essence is spirit: a reflection of God’s spirit. In other words, we are each a part and parcel of God. We are not God, but God created us from Himself, as separated living individuals. We thus are made of God’s essence.<br />
<br />
<i>‘Breathed into his nostrils’</i> is simply a symbolic way to communicate how we were created by God with God’s spirit. <br />
<br />
Just consider what happens when a person is given CPR after drowning. Should we breathe into their lungs, the air from our lungs becomes utilized by their body in order to give them oxygen? Our breath is thus infused into their body. This is an allegorical way of describing the fact that each of us is infused with God’s spirit. We are ‘cut from the same cloth’ so to speak.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is God creating humans or souls here?</h3>The beginning and the ending of this verse clearly indicate that it is describing <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/then-god-said-let-us-make-man-in-our.html" target="_blank">God’s creation of the living being</a> or soul - the spirit-person.<br />
<br />
Now is this living being the same as the physical body? The translation of this verse seems to indicate this. However, we know this is not true.<br />
<br />
How do we know this is not true?<br />
<br />
The living being (or soul) is of a spiritual substance, while the physical body is a temporary physical substance. The physical body is a temporary vehicle for the living being, or soul. This can be proven scientifically. Consider just a few reasons we can clearly establish this:<br />
<br />
1) When the physical body dies, the life leaves, yet all the physical elements (all the body parts, organs, cells, molecules, blood, lymph and so on) are all still there in the dead body. Nothing physical is missing.<br />
<br />
2) Clinical death research has established that the living being can leave the body, rise up above it, and observe the events surrounding their former body even though the body lies there unconscious.<br />
<br />
3) Clinical death research has also established that the living being can leave the room where the body lies and observe events occurring outside the hospital, such as what a relative might be doing, even at a distant location.<br />
<br />
4) Many have experienced leaving their body (called out-of-body experiences) and observing remote things without a clinical death (when someone legally dies in the hospital).<br />
<br />
5) When there is no living being present in the body after death, the body begins to decompose.<br />
<br />
6) We tend to deny the aging of our bodies. No one feels we are old, even though we might have an old body on.<br />
<br />
7) Most cells are replaced within a few years, and all of the molecules making up the body are recycled within five years. This means that we are functionally wearing a different body every five years. It might be compared to a waterfall, where the water in the waterfall is always changing.<br />
<br />
These points and many others confirm that we are separate from our physical bodies. We might lose an arm, a leg or even have a heart replaced, but we are the same person inside.<br />
<br />
Noting these facts, we can now understand this verse a little differently. Yes, this verse is describing how God created living beings. But did He create them out of the <i>“dust of the ground,”</i> as many have translated and interpreted?<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Is Adam literally the first man on earth?</h3>The Hebrew word אֲדָמָה (adamah) which is being translated to<i> “ground”</i> is related to the word אָדָם (adam). אָדָם (adam) can be translated to ‘man, human being, mankind’ as well as Adam, symbolically the first man. And אֲדָמָה (adamah) can refer to the earth or ground, or it can refer to a particular <i>‘land, territory or country.’ </i><br />
<br />
In other words, אָדָם (adam) can refer to the individual, and אֲדָמָה (adamah) can refer to the world where that individual comes from.<br />
<br />
Let’s break down the symbolism of the verse in its entirety:<br />
<br />
‘Adam’ here symbolizes the independent living beings created by God to exchange love with Him. Each of us is a living being, and each of us was created by God to exchange a particular type of relationship with Him. However, God also gave each of us the freedom to love Him or not. More on this later.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What does 'dust and ground' refer to?</h3><i>‘Dust’ and ‘ground’</i> אֲדָמָה (adamah) thus symbolize the spiritual essence and spiritual territory that we each are made of and come from. We are each spiritual beings, and we are made of spiritual ‘dust’ from the spiritual dimension.<br />
<br />
We must understand that these are spiritual concepts being communicated to those who have forgotten our spiritual identity, and only have material concepts to compare to. Thus, allegory and symbolism are required.<br />
<br />
Let’s consider an example. Let’s say that we fly on a plane to a tropical island where the natives have never seen an airplane – and they didn’t see our airplane land. They come to us and ask us: How did we arrive on their island? Because they have never seen an airplane we cannot explain it to them. So instead, we say that we flew on a giant bird and arrived on the other side of the island. We might say this because we know they have seen many birds so they can relate to the concept of a big bird.<br />
<br />
Note that some might say that it is misleading for the visitors to say they flew on a giant bird because there are certainly many differences between a bird and an airplane. However, under the circumstances, this was the only way to communicate with any clarity that the visitors flew in because this was all the natives could relate to.<br />
<br />
In the same way, this description of how God created us living beings must compare the process to something the audience could relate to. It may seem inaccurate to those who have scientific minds today. But this would relate perfectly to those who heard this symbolic story of Adam and Eve through the oral tradition thousands of years ago.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Can this verse be translated differently?</h3>As we will see in the coming verses, this allegorical story of Adam and Eve also serves to try to describe a place of another dimension – the spiritual world – for those whose physical minds could not conceive of such a place. It is specifically for this reason that this verse and story has been questionably translated and as a result, misinterpreted.<br />
<br />
Those who do not realize their true identity as spiritual and their origin as coming from the spiritual dimension has no right to be attempting to translate or interpret this text. They are simply wandering in the dark, trying to guess what these ancient spiritual teachers were describing.<br />
<br />
The bottom line is that this verse describes that each of us was created by God in the spiritual realm from Himself. He ‘breathed’ His life into us to make us independent living beings that indeed reflect Himself. We each carry God’s essence, yet not God’s completeness. We are humbly made of God, but we are not God. We are God’s independent associates, created by Him to exchange a relationship of loving service with Him – should we choose to, because real love also requires freedom.<br />
<br /><br />
<div>Consider another translation of these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-2.html" target="_blank">Chapter Two of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-18432959636888452172018-03-10T11:34:00.003-08:002022-06-02T18:24:36.297-07:00Genesis 2:8 - Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east in Eden ... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed. (Genesis 2:8)<br />
</i></blockquote>This verse has been incorrectly translated by those who misunderstand the subject being discussed. And as a result, many have been searching the planet for this place referred to as<i> “Eden.”</i><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the 'Garden in the east' that God 'planted'?</h3>The word <i>“planted”</i> here is taken from the Hebrew נָטַע (nata), which can mean ‘to plant,’ but also to ‘fasten, fix, establish.’<br />
<br />
<i>“A garden”</i> is translated from the Hebrew גַּן (gan) which can mean ‘garden,’ ‘enclosure,’ or ‘enclosed garden.’<br />
<br />
<i>“In the east”</i> is being derived from מִן (min) and קֶדֶם (qedem). מִן means ‘from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than’ according to the lexicon. And קֶדֶם can be translated to ‘east,’ but also to ‘antiquity, front, that which is before,’ or ‘aforetime.’<br />
<br />
So while those who are fixed upon the assumption that this discussion relates to a physical man and woman (“Adam and Eve”) and a place on this planet, there is an entirely different and more appropriate translation to be derived from this Hebrew phrase:<br />
<br />
<i>“Established”</i> is a more appropriate translation of נָטַע. While <i>“garden”</i> is acceptable for גַּן, <i>“enclosure”</i> should not be ignored.<br />
<br />
מִן and קֶדֶם are more accurately describing, instead of a direction like the<i> “east,”</i> to a time before antiquity: A period before we existed within these physical bodies.<br />
<br />
What is being allegorically described is God establishing a place for us – spiritual beings – in the spiritual world after He had created each of us. The <i>“garden”</i> is an enclosed space or section within the spiritual realm. This is the place where our spiritual selves dwelled prior to our fall to the physical world. This fact is confirmed by the words מִן and קֶדֶם, which refer to a time and place prior to our physical existence.<br />
<br />
In other words, Eden is a section of the spiritual world.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Who is Adam?</h3>While the Hebrew word אָדָם (adam) is being translated to<i> “man,”</i> this reference, as clarified in the previous verse, describes <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/07/then-god-said-let-us-make-man-in-our.html" target="_blank">the living being</a> – the spirit-person. This entity has also been called the soul - although many mislabel the soul as some sort of organ - as in, "my soul."<br />
<br />
But really, each of us is the soul.<br />
<br />
Beneath each temporary physical body dwells a unique and individual living being. This is the personality within the physical body, who lives before and after the death of the body.<br />
<br />
This is confirmed scientifically. Our physical body is always recycling molecules and atoms. When we look at a picture of our physical body when it was a baby, we are looking at a different body than the one we have on now. Science has established that all the molecules and atoms are different, and most of the cells in the baby body have died and been replaced by new cells. We are thus effectively changing bodies constantly. Like a waterfall that flows with different water every minute.<br />
<br />
So when we look at that baby body, and then in the mirror at our physical body now, neither one is our real identity. We are the driver of the physical body. Just as a person sits down in a car and drives a car away, we are seated within this body and are now driving the body.<br />
<br />
The question now becomes, why are we in these temporary bodies, and where did we come from?<br />
<br />
These questions are answered, allegorically, in this discussion of “Adam and Eve.” First, in this verse, it describes a beautiful section in the spiritual realm where, after He formed us from Himself, He placed us. This doesn't necessarily mean we all were put in the same section either, as the spiritual realm has many domains:<i> “In my Father’s house are many rooms.” </i>(John 14:2)<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is this verse saying?</h3>This verse and the rest of this discussion in Genesis is not a complete description of the spiritual world. Just as Jesus had in his statement about <i>“many rooms,”</i> this verse uses allegory and symbolism.<br />
<br />
This description is meant for a particular audience. This is an introduction to the concept that there is another world – the spiritual realm – beyond this one, where God dwells and where we dwelled prior to our existence within these physical bodies.<br />
<br />
We might compare the use of allegory and symbolism here to how an adult might describe a complex task – like their occupation – to a young child. They would drastically simplify things so the child would get the main thrust, but many details are left out and/or massively simplified.<br />
<br />
In the same way, the main thrust of the spiritual environment is described here: We were each formed by God and placed in a particular section within the spiritual world. Thus it is clear that we owe our existence to God. He is in every respect our Creator, but also our Best Friend and Soul Mate.<br />
<br />
Just consider if you were God, and you could create anything. What would you create? You would likely create someone to share your life with, right? A playmate and companion, right? Now if you wanted to have a real relationship with that person you wouldn’t create a robot that would mindlessly do anything you wanted. You would create a <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/11/but-lord-god-called-to-man-where-are.html" target="_blank">person with some freedom</a>. You would give that person the freedom to like you or not, right? You would have to if you wanted to exchange a real relationship with them.<br />
<br />
In other words, we were made to be with God, but we are also given the freedom to choose between having a relationship with Him or not. This is because God created us to exchange a loving relationship with Him. And love requires freedom. We cannot be forced to love someone. We have to be given complete freedom in order to truly love someone.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What about love?</h3>Love is the basis for our existence. Why should this be surprising? Each of us is constantly searching for real love. From the moment we are born into these bodies, we seek someone to love who will truly love us. We seek love by trying to gain people’s attention. We seek love by trying to find a mate. We seek love as we strive for power and authority. In all these efforts, our focus is love. Even the most powerful, wealthy and famous people are seeking love, despite all the attention people give them, and all their power and wealth.<br />
<br />
This means that not only is love what we need the most: We cannot find true love within the physical world.<br />
<br />
This is because our true love is God. God is that perfect person we are seeking. God is that perfect soul mate we are looking for. God is that best friend who will never abandon us. God is that person who will always protect us. In other words, it is God we seek as we search for true love.<br />
<br />
Love is part of our essence because we were made for love. We were formed by God to exchange a loving relationship with Him. We might compare this to how we might make anything with a purpose. Say we manufacture a refrigerator. The refrigerator is made specifically to keep our food cold. That is its purpose. It is designed for that purpose. So it does this pretty well. The fridge won’t drive us around like our cars will, but it will keep our food good and cold.<br />
<br />
In the same way, love is so important to us because God made us for the purpose of love. This is why relationships are so important to us. Everyone needs relationships because we were made for loving relationships.<br />
<br />
We were created by God to share a loving relationship with Him and His associates within the spiritual realm, and this is what is being described in this discussion in Genesis.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation of this verse in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-2.html" target="_blank">Chapter Two of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-4302229588780292852018-03-09T12:05:00.002-08:002022-06-02T18:24:45.831-07:00Genesis 2:9 - And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9)</i></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where can we find some of these trees?</h3>This verse is rich in symbolism and allegory. As for those who attempt to derive a literal translation from these words, what is a <i>“tree of life”?</i> And what is a <i>“tree of the knowledge of good and evil”?</i> Have we ever seen such trees? If we are to believe that there was a physical ‘garden’ planted somewhere on earth with these two trees in it, why aren’t there any of these trees left? How come the only types of trees we see on this planet are trees with leaves, bark, and fruits?<br />
<br />
We have never seen such trees because these are not physical trees. They are symbolic: Just as this entire description of the <i>“garden”</i> is symbolic and allegorical.<br />
<br />
This does not mean that the place and the event being described did not exist or happen. It simply means that the event and place are being described in such a way the listener or reader could relate to.<br />
<br />
Symbolism and allegory are used to describe complex and technical events all the time. Just consider how a parent might answer this question from their young child: “Mommy, how are kids made?” Mom will likely use a significant amount of symbolism and allegory to describe the process of procreation between a man and a woman. She might say something like: “A man gives a woman a package of seeds and she plants them in a garden and after nine months, a baby sprouts up.”<br />
<br />
Now, this description of procreation between a man and woman is not literally or technically accurate, but it is functionally accurate. The package of seeds, the garden, and the sprouting are all symbols that represent something that really happens. But they cannot be taken literally. She doesn’t want the child out digging up the garden looking for a younger brother or something.<br />
<br />
In the same way, Genesis uses symbolism to describe the event of the fall of the spirit-person from the spiritual world.<br />
<br />
We know that this is certainly not a description of the creation of the physical world because that was already described, including the creation of plants and trees, in the first chapter of Genesis. And God had already given humankind the fruits from the trees and the plants to eat in Genesis 1:29. This would conflict with that version if it were to be considered as part of the creative process.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What do the trees symbolize?</h3>Remember from the previous verse that the <i>“garden” </i>symbolizes the spiritual world. As such, the <i>“trees” </i>symbolize the activities of the spiritual world. Within the spiritual world, there are so many activities taking place. These activities relate to the loving exchanges that take place between God and His associates, whom He created. God has innumerable associates, and each of us shares a distinct and unique personal relationship with God. As such, God is involved in so many different events with multiple individuals, all simultaneously. This is the nature of God: He is able to expand Himself without limit, and share a unique relationship with each of us.<br />
<br />
So these trees that are <i>“pleasing to the eye and good for food”</i> represent the various activities that take place in the spiritual world, that come from the variety of loving relationships between God and His children. These activities are <i>“pleasing”</i> because they are fulfilling to His children and to God. They are <i>“good for food”</i> because they provide the sustenance of those within the <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/now-lord-god-had-planted-garden-in-east.html" target="_blank">spiritual world</a>: Love and loving service.<br />
<br />
Love pervades the spiritual world. Everyone there is infected with a rampant love for God. Their focus is to please God and make God – their Beloved – happy. All of this love is centered around each spirit-person’s intimate relationship with God and their loving service to God. The entire atmosphere of the spiritual world is love, and everyone feeds off of this love. This love can thus be adequately symbolized by the word <i>“food.”</i><br />
<br />
<i>“In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”</i> What does this mean?<br />
<br />
The <i>“tree of life”</i> symbolizes love for God. This is what gives life to each of the living beings within the spiritual world, because each of us was created to love, and loving God is the lifespring of the living being.<br />
<br />
Just consider, every living being here in the physical world is constantly looking for love. We look for love in our parents, our friends, our workmates, our fans, our teachers and whatever other opportunities we find. The search for love in the physical world translates typically to gaining the attention or admiration of others. We seek the attention and the admiration of others constantly because we need love.<br />
<br />
We also spend a significant amount of our life looking for our soul mate. We attempt to find that single person who fulfills our need for exchanging an intimate relationship of love. The problem is, we can never seem to find that perfect person here in this world. No matter how hard we try, we always end up compromising with someone. It is for this reason that so many marriages are unhappy, and so many people break up and/or divorce. It is because these relationships are not fulfilling. We are in fact looking for our lost relationship with God in others.<br />
<br />
Now when a person cannot find any love among their family, friends, spouse or others, we become depressed. We become empty and forlorn. In other words, we are empty without love.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is the tree of life?</h3>Notice that the <i>“tree of life” </i>(love for God) is planted in the <i>“middle”</i> of the <i>“garden.”</i> Why is it in the middle? Because it is the most important “tree.” It is the most important aspect of the spiritual world. It is the most important activity of the spiritual world. It is the essence of life, and this is why it is called the <i>“tree of life.”</i><br />
<br />
But next to the <i>“tree of life”</i> is another <i>“tree.”</i> This is the <i>“tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”</i> What does this symbolize and why is it next to the <i>“tree of life”?</i><br />
<br />
“Good” here is taken from the Hebrew word טוֹב (towb), which does not mean <i>“good”</i> in the sense of righteousness, as placing it next to the word <i>“evil”</i> suggests. Rather, טוֹב means something that is ‘pleasant, agreeable, rich, happy, prosperous’ and ‘valuable in estimation’ according to the Hebrew lexicon.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, <i>“evil”</i> is being translated from the Hebrew word רַע (ra’), which can mean ‘evil’ or ‘wicked,’ but the more practical translation, according to the lexicon, is ‘bad, disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant, giving pain, displeasing, sad, unhappy’ and so on.<br />
<br />
In other words, the<i> “knowledge of good and evil” </i>is a poor translation of the Hebrew, put forth by those without a clear understanding of the event and situation Genesis is describing. The more precise translation would be something akin to the “knowledge of pleasure and displeasure,” or better, the <i>“knowledge of pleasure and pain.”</i><br />
<br />
What we are talking about is self-centeredness. If someone has the knowledge of pleasure and <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2012/01/to-woman-he-said-i-will-greatly.html" target="_blank">pain</a>, or the knowledge of pleasure and displeasure, they have become focused upon themselves. Just consider a person who is not focused upon themselves. They are not aware of their own pleasure or pain because they are focused elsewhere. They won’t be able to understand what is truly pleasing or enjoyable. And they do not understand or <i>“know”</i> the opposite of pleasure, pain.<br />
<br />
Consider, for example, a person who is working for the pleasure of someone else, and focused only upon that other person’s pleasure. And say, during the execution of their work, they are met with some potentially pleasurable experiences. Do they feel that pleasure? Not so much, because their focus is on the other person’s pleasure.<br />
<br />
Now, what if the same person working for the pleasure of someone else is met with some painful experiences during their effort? Do those experiences feel painful? Again, not so much, because they are working for someone else’s pleasure. Their focus has been drawn away from themselves.<br />
<br />
Rather, if that person’s efforts indeed please the person they are working for, then their pleasure will become connected to the pleasure of the person they are serving. They will be pleased if they please the person they are working for.<br />
<br />
So why is self-centeredness being represented by one of the ‘trees’ in the ‘middle of the garden’? It is because God is ultimately the Enjoyer in the spiritual world. He enjoys the love and the loving service of His children. Because He understands <i>(“knows”)</i> pleasure and pain, He is the ultimate Enjoyer.<br />
<br />
The citizens of the spiritual dimension enjoy God’s enjoyment. When God is pleased, they experience pleasure. So their pleasure is connected with His pleasure.<br />
<br />
This might be compared to a finger. By design, the finger can only be healthy if the stomach receives food. If the stomach has no food, the finger withers. But if the finger helps bring food to the stomach, the finger becomes healthy. In the same way, by design, our real pleasure is connected to pleasing God.<br />
<br />
But we know from this verse that God offers us the choice to also know pleasure and pain. We have the choice to try to become enjoyers. Though it is not our natural position, we still have the choice to seek to enjoy independently of God.<br />
<br />
This sort of “knowing” enjoyment is about wanting what God has. By wanting to experience enjoyment independently, we are effectively wanting to take God’s position. This is called envy, and it is at the root of why we are away from God. This was symbolically confirmed by the serpent later on in Genesis:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”</i> (Genesis 3:5)</blockquote>Again, the words <i>“good and evil”</i> are weak translations of the Hebrew words described above. They are better translated to something like <i>“pleasure and pain,”</i>.<br />
<br />
These are practical realities of this world, and those issues we are constantly being tested and challenged with as we dwell within this physical world.<br />
<br />
These are ultimately relating to our desire for independent enjoyment – which relates directly to self-centeredness. It also relates directly to envy of God, which is indicated with the symbolic serpent’s phrase: <i>“and you will be like God.”</i><br />
<br />
The bottom line is that we were created as God’s lovers and loving servants, and God is our Beloved. Envy of God's position becomes expressed in this world as taking on physical bodies that experience pain and pleasure.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What is God's position?</h3>This makes God effectively the Enjoyer. He enjoys our loving service, and we (in our natural position) enjoy pleasing Him and exchanging a relationship with Him.<br />
<br />
However, we can also desire to be the enjoyer, and be the beloved. We can strive to enjoy for ourselves and try to attract others to love and worship us. This is our choice: To love God or be envious of God. Being envious of God is equivalent to striving for His position as the enjoyer.<br />
<br />
But having the <i>“tree”</i> in the garden and eating of its <i>“fruit”</i> are two different things altogether.<br />
<br />
For example, let’s say we work at a company that has a person in the human resources department assigned to receive complaints from employees. It is one thing to have the assigned employee at the company for complaints, and another for an employee to actually go in and complain about their boss.<br />
<br />
They are two different manifestations. The assigned complaint person is a product of the company offering that choice to its employees. While an employee who takes that opportunity and complains about their boss rather than trying to resolve that complaint directly with their boss is often times a disgruntled employee who would probably be happier if they left the company, the existence of that complaint department represents the employee’s freedom of choice to complain and even leave the company if they wish.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Are we God's subjects?</h3>By nature we are inferior, and God is superior. God is the Knower and we subjugate our knowing and enjoying to God’s knowledge and enjoyment. God is the Enjoyer, and we were created to help God enjoy. This is our natural position, and ultimately, this is what fulfills us.<br />
<br />
However, if we become envious of God, we want to be the enjoyer independently. We want to experience pleasure for ourselves. This is by nature God’s position, but because we were created by God, we have a piece of God, and we thus have the potential (and freedom) to become jealous or envious of God’s superiority: Because God wants us to love Him out of choice; He gave each of us this freedom to become envious.<br />
<br />
We see this element throughout this physical world. We see that most of us are struggling to enjoy, often at the expense of others. Yet none of us are satisfied with this enjoyment. No matter how much wealth, power and fans we may have, we are not satisfied.<br />
<br />
That is why so many wealthy movie stars succumb to drugs, alcohol, and suicide. They are not satisfied with their wealth and fame. This is because our natural position is not being the enjoyer. This is not fulfilling. We derive more satisfaction from serving. And we derive the ultimate pleasure by loving and pleasing God because this is our natural position within the spiritual realm.<br />
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation of this verse in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-2.html" target="_blank">Chapter Two of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-36405733290259371742018-03-08T08:53:00.002-08:002022-06-02T18:24:54.529-07:00Genesis 2:10-14 - A river watering the garden flowed from Eden ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><i>A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. (Genesis 2:10-14)</i></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Are these the same rivers we find on earth?</h3>Sectarian Bible interpreters have assumed that because these verses name some rivers that are known as existing on earth. To them, this means Eden is a physical place on the planet earth.<br />
<br />
But the key to this description is the beginning: <i>“A river watering the garden flowed from Eden.”</i> In other words, the river within Eden was the source of these rivers: <i>“from there it was separated into four headwaters.”</i><br />
<br />
A headwater is the beginning of a particular river. This is considered the source of the river. Since the river flowing from Eden is the source of the headwaters of these four great rivers, we are not talking about a physical location on the planet, because there is not a single physical location on the planet where these mighty rivers (most of which still flow mightily) can be found originating from.<br />
<br />
Since there is no physical location where these four rivers diverge from existing on this planet, we can know that this discussion is not describing Eden as a physical location on the planet. Rather, this is a discussion of the transcendental realm. The water <i>(“river”)</i> of the transcendental realm is the source of these mighty rivers from a deeper context.<br />
<br />
The context is the spiritual meaning given to these four mighty rivers and their representation of the transcendental world. Why would the source of these rivers be represented as the transcendental world?<br />
<br />
While water is a physical element, the nature of water represents part of the nature of the transcendental world.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">What does the water symbolize?</h3>Water is a humble element. Water softly seeps between rocks and soils and moves downward. Water is soft to the touch and can be penetrated easily. <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/06/and-god-said-let-water-under-sky-be.html" target="_blank">Water supplies life</a> to all living organisms, and is pervasive within the body. Water is also strong and durable, and its motion can gradually wear away even the hardest of elements, such as rock.<br />
<br />
By nature, the spirit-persons within the transcendental world are like water, in that they are soft and humble. They are giving and permissive. They also seek the lowest point because they are humble.<br />
<br />
Water is also purifying. It is cleansing both inside the body and outside. It carries away dirt, debris and microorganisms. As such, water has been utilized in religious ceremony for many centuries, for its purifying nature.<br />
<br />
The spiritual world is pure. It is a place where there is no greed, no suffering, no envy and no hatred. It is full of love and kindness. In this way, the spiritual dimension is also purifying to those of us living within this hate-filled, envy-filled, hellish physical world. Water thus symbolizes the purifying nature of the spiritual world.<br />
<br />
This purifying giver of life (water) and the rivers that form from water has long represented the transcendental world for these reasons and more. The mighty rivers of water that have flowed through the Middle East and Asia have thus been considered sacred, and many peoples and cultures have considered their waters sacred because the nature of these waters has their ultimate source from the Supreme Giver of Life, God.<br />
<br />
We can also see water’s practical side, as we find that water was the central element during the creation of the physical universe (<i>the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters</i>. (Genesis 1:2)). Where did these waters come from? They came from God, and God’s transcendental world.<br />
<br />
Thus, this description of Eden’s river as the source of the headwaters of these mighty rivers is allegorical, symbolic and practical at the same time. We can also see that there is a pragmatic message behind this description. The meaning is that from this place <i>“Eden”</i> – the spiritual world – comes purity, humility, love, and life itself.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Where is Eden?</h3><a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/now-lord-god-had-planted-garden-in-east.html" target="_blank">Eden is the spiritual realm</a>. This is where each of us is from. We are not these temporary physical bodies – which get diseased, get old, and eventually, die and decompose. Each of us is a living spirit-person. We are eternal. We do not die when the body dies. We lived before this body was born, and we will live after it is dead.<br />
<br />
This is a scientific reality. The body is constantly being recycled with new atoms, molecules, and cells. The body is not a permanent structure no more than is a waterfall whose waters are constantly changing. When we look at a picture of our body when it was a baby, we are looking at a different body than the one we have one now. All the atoms are different and all the molecules are different, and the cells are new. So what is the permanent person that I describe as “me”?<br />
<br />
This is the spiritual living being. And where does that spiritual living being come from then? Each of us comes from Eden – the spiritual world – a place that is transcendental to the physical world. This is the reason for this description of Eden as the source for these mighty rivers. What is trying to be conveyed here is that we and everything around us have originated from the headwaters of the spiritual realm – the Supreme Being.<br />
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation of these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-2.html" target="_blank">Chapter Two of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-25061902840368033622018-03-07T17:35:00.003-08:002022-06-02T18:25:02.054-07:00Genesis 2:15 - The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden to work it and take care of it.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Many Biblical interpreters and translators have breezed right over this verse without understanding what is being described. The incorrect assumption is that what is being described is a place on earth, and this has blurred and veiled the real meaning of Genesis as a whole, including this verse.<br />
<br />
<h3>Where is this 'Garden'?</h3>Let’s clarify the location being described here. The word <i>“garden”</i> is being translated from the Hebrew word גַּן (gan), which also refers to an enclosed garden or section.<br />
<br />
The ancient use of the word <i>‘gan’ </i>would typically include being enclosed within a barrier that prevented robbers or animals from coming and stealing food from the garden. Many archaeological digs have confirmed the use of enclosed gardens during ancient times. The application here is that the garden was protected. It was a safe place, in other words: An enclosed section.<br />
<br />
The word <i>“Eden”</i> is translated from the Hebrew עֵדֶן (`eden), which is described in the lexicon as being ‘the first habitat of man; site unknown.’ The root of this word means ‘luxury, dainty, delight, finery’ and ‘pleasure’ according to the lexicon.<br />
<br />
So how does this root meaning of Eden connect with the application of a protected or enclosed garden or section where <i>“man”</i> was placed? Many have concluded that what is being described is a “pleasant country in Asia” where this garden supposedly was and the first humans were supposedly placed.<br />
<br />
This is not only pure speculation: It is simply incorrect.<br />
<br />
The key to the true location being described here is the Hebrew word עָבַד (`abad), which is being translated into the English phrase “to work it.” Others have translated this word to “cultivate” as they imagine Adam being sent to the garden of Eden to become – what else – a gardener!<br />
<br />
However, the correct translation within this context for the Hebrew word עָבַד (`abad) is, as taken from the Hebrew lexicon, to serve, and more specifically, to <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/and-lord-god-made-all-kinds-of-trees.html">lovingly serve God</a>.<br />
<br />
For example, this word was used by Joshua when he made this statement (the bolded phrase is derived from the Hebrew word עָבַד (`abad)):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>“But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: <b>to love</b> the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul.”</i> (Joshua 22:5)</blockquote>This correct translation of עָבַד (`abad) provides us with a true context of this place being described as the Garden of Eden. Eden is derived from the root word ‘pleasure’ and ‘delight’ because what is being described is the spiritual world. <br />
<br />
This is the place where each of us comes from. This is the place where we lovingly serve our Best Friend and Companion, the Supreme Being. And we derive complete fulfillment and true pleasure from this loving service to God.<br />
<br />
<h3>Was Adam a gardener?</h3>This <i>‘section’</i> or <i>‘garden’</i> is a part or location within God’s spiritual world. As Jesus described in John 14:2, <i>“In my Father’s house are many rooms.”</i> So what is being described here in Genesis is one of those rooms – or sections – of the spiritual world.<br />
<br />
Finally, we find at the end of this verse, the Hebrew word שָׁמַר (shamar) which is being translated to the English phrase <i>“take care of it.”</i> The assumption with this translation is that God plunked down Adam into a garden to take care of it. So God created Adam to be His gardener?<br />
<br />
Let’s consider this carefully. Why would God, the Supreme Being, Who has so much power that He created the entire universe – containing billions and billions of galaxies including our own – need Adam to take care of a little garden somewhere in Asia? Are we saying that God cannot take care of His own gardens when He can maintain an entire universe?<br />
<br />
This is a preposterous allusion: That God somehow needed Adam to take care of His garden.<br />
<br />
The reality is that the Hebrew word שָׁמַר (shamar) means, according to the lexicon, to ‘observe, take heed, beware, protect, celebrate, keep’ and ‘treasure up (in memory)’. Thus, the sum and substance of this word is, 'to care for.'<br />
<br />
<i>This verse is not referring to caring for a garden – it is referring to loving and caring for God.</i><br />
<br />
Yes, it is allegory, used throughout the Scriptures to reserve meaning for those who are serious about God.<br />
<br />
It is one thing to lovingly serve God, but it is yet another to care for the Supreme Being. Caring for someone introduces another principle: A loving relationship.<br />
<br />
When a person cares for another, they do not simply like the person: They look out for the person they love. They care for them. If someone threatens the one we love, we intercede. We protect them. This is part and parcel of love. It means there is a relationship.<br />
<br />
While the Supreme Person does not need protection, He allows His loving servants to serve Him and care for Him in the spiritual world. It is an exchange of a <a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/man-said-this-is-now-bone-of-my-bones.html">loving relationship</a>.<br />
<br />
<h3>Where is God located?</h3>In the spiritual world, God is present personally. It is not as though God is some sort of vague force or booming voice. God has spiritual form and personality (and He is not an old man with a long gray beard as imagined by many). The Supreme Being has feelings, emotions, likes, and dislikes. While God is a person He is still the Supreme Person. He is the best at everything and the creator of all. Yet He still relates personally with each and every one of us.<br />
<br />
God created each of us to exchange a unique relationship with Him. He is thus our Soul Mate. He is the Person we each look for throughout our lives as we look for mates, friends and family members. We are always looking for that perfect friend, mate or family member, but never finding it here in the physical world. This is because our perfect Beloved is God, and our personal relationship with Him lies within the spiritual dimension.<br />
<br />
This means that the spiritual world is filled with activity and variety. It is a place of complete happiness and pleasure. It is that place that John Lennon was imagining. The reason why John and the rest of us all look for this place is because it exists. This is where each of us is from. This is our original home: <i>Eden.</i><br />
<br />
Here in this physical world, our physical bodies are not ourselves. They are temporary vehicles we drive around for a while, and then they die and decompose. Within these bodies resides our true selves: Our spiritual selves. Our spiritual selves were born in Eden.<br />
<br />
The phrase <i>“the man”</i> in this verse is being translated from the Hebrew אָדָם (‘adam). While the word can be translated to the allegorical first man, <i>“Adam,”</i> this Hebrew word אָדָם can also be translated to mean, according to the lexicon, ‘human being’ and ‘mankind.’ What is being described allegorically is the spirit-person: the living being.<br />
<br />
It is important to understand the context of the event being described. The first chapter of Genesis already described the creation of the physical world, where the water, earth, sky and so on were created, and the plants, the fish, the beasts, and humankind were all created and populated the earth <i>(“be fruitful and multiply”).</i> Are we saying that this description was not enough? That now Genesis has to describe the creation of man within the physical world a second time, but this time changing it to occur within a garden in Asia, and the first man as a gardener? No. Genesis does not have to re-state God’s creation of the physical world. And there is absolutely no foundation for the <i>‘garden of Eden’</i> being in Asia.<br />
<br />
What is being described here, in allegorical terms, is the creation and placement of each of us as spirit-persons within a location in the spiritual world. The ‘garden’ or <i>‘section’</i> of Eden is a protected section of God’s spiritual world: It is our original home.<br />
<br />
This is confirmed by later verses in Genesis that describe God walking through Eden. Jesus described God <i>as “Our Father in heaven”</i> because the spiritual realm is characterized by God’s personal presence.<br />
<br />
Each of us was created by God and placed into a designated section of God’s spiritual dimension where we could each exercise our unique loving relationship with the Supreme Being. Caring for God within our natural relationship with God is what gives us true happiness. This is why this location is being described as Eden, meaning <i>a place of ‘pleasure’ and ‘delight.’</i><br />
<br />
We can see that we are each by nature loving servants when we experience pleasure from engaging in the loving service of our spouse and family members as we care for them. We can see that this caring drives people to do so many things on behalf of their families. This is our real nature: We are caring, loving servants. The problem occurs, however, when the bodies of our family members die or otherwise leave us. We become heartbroken. This is because we were created to care for God and His children within the spiritual world – Eden. This is why Moses and Jesus both taught that love for God was the most important commandment:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”</i> (Deuteronomy 6:5, Mark 12:30)</blockquote>Consider another translation of this Genesis verse in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-2.html" target="_blank">Chapter Two of the New Book of Genesis</a>.
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753523489111437707.post-16999009456358168052018-03-06T18:54:00.002-08:002022-06-02T18:25:10.560-07:00Genesis 2:16-17 - And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree ..."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)</i></blockquote>This is an allegorical description of something that happened to each of us. <i>"Man"</i> here is being translated from the Hebrew word אָדָם ('adam), which can mean a particular 'man,' or 'mankind,' according to the lexicon. Furthermore, it can indicate a 'being' or 'beings' in general. In this case, as we've shown with earlier verses, this event is describing something that happened to each of us, as spiritual beings, in a section (or "garden") of Eden - the spiritual world.<br />
<br />
<h3>Why shouldn't they eat from that tree?</h3>As we described earlier, the 'trees' of the 'garden' represent the relationships and activities of the spiritual kingdom:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.</i> (<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/09/now-lord-god-had-planted-garden-in-east.html">Genesis 2:8</a>)</blockquote>These are not physical trees. They are symbolic. Have we ever seen a <i>tree of life</i> or a <i>tree of knowledge</i> growing anywhere?<br />
<br />
Within the spiritual world there are so many activities. These all revolve around the various relationships that exist between the Supreme Being and each spiritual living being. In other words, each of us has a unique relationship with the Supreme Being, and there are different types of relationships. Each type of relationship comes with particular activities, as we render loving service to the Supreme Person - and exchange our particular flavor of relationship with Him.<br />
<br />
These relationships with God are symbolically <i>'trees'</i> - because they give <i>'fruit'</i> that is <i>"good for food" -</i> because these loving relationships are effectively our spiritual 'food.'<br />
<br />
The verse then describes two important <i>'trees.'</i> Why are they in the <i>"middle of the garden?"</i> This is not the geographical <i>"middle"</i> being discussed. This indicates the center: these are the most important<i> 'trees:'</i> These are the central<i> 'trees.'</i><br />
<br />
The<i> 'tree of life'</i> is love for God. It is central to the various relationships that exist within the spiritual realm because all of these relationships are based on feelings of love for God.<br />
<br />
And the <i>'tree of knowledge of good and evil'</i> represents the ability to reject the Supreme Being and try to become God-like – essentially becoming envious of God. This is why God says eating the <i>‘fruit’</i> of this <i>‘tree’</i> would cause them to <i>“surely die.”</i> This is because rejecting our loving relationship with God causes us spiritual death: The death of our loving relationship with Him.<br />
<br />
<h3>Does Love requires freedom?</h3>Yes. The ability to choose is critical in the spiritual realm because in order for real love to exist there must be freedom of choice. God created this <i>tree</i> of choice because without the choice to not love God, we could not truly love Him. It would be slavery if God created us without the choice to love Him. We would effectively be robots.<br />
<br />
We have to remember that God <u>put</u> the <i>'tree'</i> of <i>'knowledge of good and evil'</i> there. Why would God put a <i>'tree'</i> with attractive <i>'fruit'</i> in the middle of the <i>'garden'</i> and then ask Adam not to eat its <i>'fruit'</i>? God didn't have to put this <i>'tree'</i> there, let alone in the <i>'middle'</i> of the <i>'garden.'</i> If He really wanted to make sure Adam didn't eat of its fruit, He would not have put it there in the first place. This only confirms that putting the <i>'tree'</i> there and then asking <i>'Adam'</i> not to <i>'eat'</i> the <i>'fruit'</i> of the<i> 'tree'</i> symbolically means that God has given us the freedom to love and serve Him, or not.<br />
<br />
God created each of us in order to freely exchange a loving relationship with Him. This is why we are all so crazy about love. Just listen to any song or watch any movie. They are all mostly about seeking love or exchanging love. Everyone needs love because we were created to love. Love is in our nature.<br />
<br />
But we are never happy with the so-called love we find here in the physical world. It never seems to be enough. Why? Because God created us to love Him. And until we are loving the Supreme Person, God, we are never satisfied.<br />
<br />
<h3>What is 'the knowledge of good and evil'?</h3>So what does the <i>"knowledge of good and evil"</i> have to do with the freedom to love God or not? <i>"Good"</i> here is taken from the Hebrew word טוֹב (towb) which does not mean "good" in the sense of righteousness, as it insinuates when placed next to the word <i>"evil."</i> טוֹב means something that is 'pleasant, agreeable, rich, happy, prosperous' and 'valuable in estimation' according to the lexicon.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, <i>"evil"</i> is being translated from the Hebrew word רַע (ra'), which can mean 'evil' or 'wicked,' but these are fairly low in the grammatical hierarchy of the word. The more practical translation, according to the lexicon is 'bad, disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant, giving pain, displeasing, sad, unhappy' and so on.<br />
<br />
In other words, the<i> "knowledge of good and evil" </i>is a poor translation of the Hebrew, put forth by those with a poor understanding of the event Genesis is describing. The more precise translation would be something akin to the <i>"knowledge of pleasure and displeasure,"</i> or the <i>"knowledge of pleasure and pain."</i><br />
<br />
<h3>What about enjoyment?</h3>What we are talking about is enjoyment. If someone has the knowledge of pleasure and pain, or the knowledge of pleasure and displeasure, then they become aware of enjoyment. They become able to enjoy. Just consider if a person does not know what is painful or displeasing. They won't be able to understand what is pleasing or enjoyable. They cannot enjoy unless they understand ("know") the opposite of enjoyment.<br />
<br />
So why is knowing enjoyment a big deal in the <i>'garden'</i>? It is because God is ultimately the Enjoyer in the spiritual world. He enjoys the love and the loving service of His children. Because He understands ("knows") pleasure and pain, He is the ultimate Enjoyer. In the spiritual dimension, we enjoy God's enjoyment. When God is pleased, we experience pleasure. So our pleasure is connected to His pleasure. This exists within the loving relationships of the spiritual realm.<br />
<br />
But we know from Genesis that God also offered us the choice to also know pleasure and pain. We have the choice to try to become independent enjoyers. Though it is not our natural position, we still have the choice to seek enjoyment independently of God.<br />
<br />
This sort of <i>"knowing"</i> enjoyment is all about wanting what God has. By wanting to experience enjoyment independently, we are effectively wanting to be in the position of God. This is confirmed by the serpent later in Genesis:<br />
<blockquote><i>"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."</i> (<a href="//www.meaningofgenesis.com/2011/10/now-serpent-was-more-crafty-than-any-of.html">Genesis 3:5</a>)</blockquote>Again, the <i>"good and evil"</i> here is taken from the Hebrew words described above, which are better translated to <i>"pleasure and pain,"</i> ultimately meaning enjoyment.<br />
<br />
And the operator in the serpent's statement is: <i>"you will be like God."</i><br />
<br />
The bottom line is that we were created as God's lover and loving servant, and God is our Beloved. This makes God effectively the Enjoyer. He enjoys our loving service, and we (in our natural position) enjoy pleasing Him and exchanging a relationship with Him.<br />
<br />
However, we can also desire to be the enjoyer, and be the beloved. We can strive to enjoy for ourselves and try to attract others to love and worship us. This is our choice: To love God or be envious of God. Being envious of God is the same as striving to take His position as the enjoyer.<br />
<br />
Essentially this is none other than self-centeredness. And self-centeredness is the <i>"fruit"</i> of the <i>"tree"</i> that God instructed us - symbolically, Adam - not to eat.<br />
<br />
<h3>What about envy and self-centeredness?</h3>By <i>"eating of"</i> this <i>"fruit"</i> of self-centeredness we become envious of God, and effectively lose our loving relationship with Him.<br />
<br />
By becoming self-centered, and envious of God, we "die" in the spiritual sense. As we read on in Genesis we find this confirmed: Adam does not die in the physical sense from eating the fruit. Does this mean that God was lying to Adam? No. The type of death God is describing is the worst type of death: It is losing our natural position within the spiritual realm. This is confirmed:<br />
<br />
<i>So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden.</i> (Genesis 3:23)<br />
<br />
The event being described in Genesis is our falling from the spiritual world. Because the spiritual realm is populated with love and loving relationships, envy and self-centeredness have no place there.<br />
<br />
Each of us comes from the spiritual realm, but we do not have to stay there if we don't want to. Each of us has the choice to love God or decide to love ourselves first and foremost.<br />
<br />
Those of us who have chosen not to love God by default become self-centered and envious of God. We have eaten the <i>fruit</i> God asked us not to eat, and thus now find ourselves banished to this hellish physical world, away from Our Best Friend God and our natural loving relationship with Him.<br />
<br />
This is why this physical world is so full of sadness, wars, violence, greed, and envy as everyone struggles to enjoy at the expense of others: We have fallen from the spiritual realm and have forgotten our loving relationship with God and our natural position as His loving servant.<br />
<br />
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Consider another translation of these verses in <a href="https://newbiblebooks.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-new-book-of-genesis-chapter-2.html" target="_blank">Chapter Two of the New Book of Genesis</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07078229100116402956noreply@blogger.com