Saturday, July 28, 2007

God has a Plan, Part 1b

Start on message #1. They are in reverse order. Click Here.

We are continuing with a look at the Qur’an, Towrah, Zabur, and Injeel into what is God’s plan for us and for this world. Lets look at the Genesis account of the Fall in Genesis 3:1 - 24

The Fall

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

8And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." 11He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

14 The LORD God said to the serpent,

"Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head, (emphasize)
and you shall bruise his heel."


16 To the woman he said,

"I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you."

17 And to Adam he said,
"Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
'You shall not eat of it,'
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return."

20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—" 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

What do you think this means? Please comment by clicking the comment link below. Or, email me at jpound777@yahoo.com if you want to comment that way or have a question.

Additional Readings:

Towrah Deuteronomy 7:9—Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his cocvenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

Zabur Psalm 5:12—For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Injeel Luke 1:50—“He (God’s) mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.”

Qur’an Battlements 7:96—Hand the people of the cities (around Mecca) believed and been godfearing, We (God) would have opened upon them blessings from heaven and earth.

All the above passages state in essence that God cares about the people He has created. Through the prophets and apostles, He has revealed His concern for us and His desire to give us inner peace, security, joy, purpose, strength, and guidance. All these come from a close relationship with God (a communion with Him and His wonderful attributes).

A lifeless electric light bulb is immediately changed as soon as you put it in contact (communion) with electrical power. It becomes full of life and brightness. It becomes beautiful, attractive, and beneficial to others, showing them the way to a life of usefulness and help too others. This is a picture of our lives before we know God and after we know Him and enter into full communion with Him. Here are some references to this kind of intimate communion with God from both the Bible and Qur’an.

Towrah Isaiah 60:20—“The LORD will be your everlasting light.”

Zabur Psalm 16:11—You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 27:1—The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

Injeel I Peter 2:9—You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.


Qur’an Light 24:35—God is the Light of the heavens and the earth; the likeness of His Light is as a niche wherein is a lamp (the lamp in a glass, the glass as it were a glittering star) kindled from a Blessed Tree, an olive that is neither of the East nor of the West whose oil wellnigh would shine, even if no fire touched it; Light upon Light; (God guides to His Light whom He will).

This is a beautiful description of God’s light might have been inspired by the chandeliers that Muhammad saw in a large church during one of his trading trips to the fertile Crescent countries. These lovely chandeliers were hung in the ceiling of the churches. They held lamps of glass full of pure olive oil from a blessed olive tree that belonged neigher to the East nor to the West but to the whole world. On that oil floated lighted wicks that filled the church and the believers in it with their light. Similarly, God wants to attract whoever seeks Him to His light.

What do you think this means? Please comment by clicking the comment link below. Or, email me at jpound777 (at) yahoo.com if you want to comment that way or have a question.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Interesting to know.