Chapter IV – In the Garden of Yahweh: Trees and Stars

Chapter IV – In the Garden of Yahweh: Trees and Stars
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    Take your Bibles and turn to Ezekiel 31 and we're going to begin reading with verse 3; “Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him” (Ezekiel 31:3-9).

    In the book of Isaiah we also read “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15). As many of you might be aware, both of these particular verses are prophetical teachings about Satan, the enemy of Christians around the world. This chapter will specifically focus on the themes of trees and stars when dealing with the Bible's teachings about angels and demons. More specifically, it will shed a little more detail on the creation account when read in chronological order. Sadly, the topic of trees is an area of the Bible that most modern-day preachers tend to neglect and without this particular knowledge their followers can never understand "the original sin."

    Examples of how trees are used in a figurative sense to describe people or bloodlines are scattered throughout scripture like this verse found in Jeremiah 11:19 where is states “Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.” In Matthew 3:10 we also read “Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Most of Christendom has even heard Christ's teachings on this same topic when dealing with mankind in Matthew 7:17 where He proclaimed “Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” It's very obvious that trees are symbolic of people, both good and bad. Let's now expand on this term "fruit." In Genesis 3:1-3, Satan called “serpent” (Revelation 12:9) or the enchanter says to Eve “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Eve replies “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Interesting of note here is the word fruit which stems from the Hebrew word perîy (pronounced per-ee') and according to Strong's Concordance it means “to bear fruit, grow or increase” Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions explains the word much more specifically with the straight-forward definition of “fruit, offspring, children, progeny (of the womb).”

    This author's intention isn't to expand upon what happened in the Garden of Eden by explaining the word touch means “to lie with” or eat and ate means “to partake.” The fact of the matter is the account is simple and hopefully what I've stated so far sheds light on why “The eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked” and why Seth (whom the future Messiah would eventually spring from and name means "substitute") is listed in Adam's genealogy and not Cain (Genesis 5:3). A word to the wise should be sufficient. My intention is more to prove that Satan and several other 'trees' were in the Garden of Yahweh and they were all people. Keep in mind that Satan's number “is the number of a man” (Revelation 13:18) or as a fallen angel is the perfect man. Stars are entirely different matters altogether and usually represent angelic beings. In Genesis 1:16 we read “God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.” Yahweh also set these up as “signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14) and we find in Psalms 19:1 that “the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

    Turn to the book of Job, Chapter 38 and read verses 5 through 7. Yahweh himself asks Job “Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” Catch the part about "morning stars" being the sons of God for now. Turn over to Revelation, chapter 22. In verse 16 Jesus states “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” Indeed many of you are familiar with this passage that not only proves our Savior was a direct descendent of David on earth but the morning star. Now for the clincher - turn back to Isaiah 14 and read again verse 12: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” This verse is the only place in the Bible where the name Lucifer is mentioned and one might be surprised to discover that the very word itself means “the morning star” (Strong's # 1966)."

    More specifically, "the early star" as opposed who Jesus who is to come after Satan's reign during the end of time as we can prove in 2nd Thessalonians, Chapter 2. Read starting with verse 3 it says “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” This concept is also taught by Jesus himself in the parable of the tares and the wheat. The pre-tribulation rapture "theory" is a fallacy. Here are a few things to think about: “They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera (Judges 5:20).” Israel was promised to increase “like the stars of the heavens” (1 Chronicles 27:23) and the goat “waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them” (Daniel 8:10).

    What we've covered in this chapter so far has only scratched the surface when dealing with this concept, but hopefully it has also helped to shed a bit more light on Matthew 24:29 that reads “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” Jesus even further drives this point home when he says “as the days of Noe (Noah) were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37) while addressing the concept of fallen angels during the end times. What we're going to do right now is read a bit of the creation account in chronological order to see what happened and caused Satan's fall. Keep in mind that the Word of Yahweh teaches us “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people” (Isaiah 28:10-11). This aspect is beautifully apparent in the teachings of Jesus Christ who had the ability to speak to His chosen elect and His serpent enemy on numerous levels by saying the same exact sentence to a multitude.

    We'll begin right at the beginning of the Bible. In Genesis 1:1 it reads “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Notice the period? From here there's an extremely large gap of time known as "the war in Heaven" where angelic beings (or "stars") were active. During this time Satan rebels against Yahweh and is cast to earth. Now consider that “There was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” In the next verse we read “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Here we have to consult the Strong's Concordance for the meaning of the word "was" translated from the Hebrew word hâyâh (# H1961). This word (pronounced haw-yaw') literally means “become or come to pass” proving that the world then “became without form, and void” and further explains what darkness was upon the face of the deep. Knowledge of this word also should tell you who the Light is created next and why later man was instructed to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” To replenish is to reestablish or rebuild something that had obviously previously existed, in this case - the earth.

    Hopefully you can understand now why the serpent was in the Garden of Yahweh to tempt Eve and attack the future seed-line of Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 11:3 we read “I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Odd thing about this verse is the word beguiled is taken from the Greek exapataō which plainly means “wholly (sexually) seduced.” Ponder another piece of scripture as well - “It came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose” (Genesis 6:1-2). It's from these unholy angel and human relations that later spread "giants" (or nâphal) and lead to Yahweh's choosing Noah because he was “perfect in his generations” (Genesis 6:9). The word "generations" used here literally means “descent, family or pedigree” (Strong's # H8435)." Since Adam, Eve and Satan introded sin into the world, we should expand on how exactly the accuser came into existence, who created him and what he looks like according to Biblical description. You might just be surprised at the outcome.

    Without a doubt Satan was created by Yahweh because the scripture teaches us He “maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire” (Psalm 104:4). Not only that, Ezekiel 28:13-15 says this about Satan - “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Fatefully, a lot of false prophets teach that Lucifer is a red-suited goat with a beard carrying a pitchfork while ignoring the plain teachings of scripture that state he was a perfect and beautiful anointed cherub for Yahweh. Plainly put, Lucifer as a "star" of Yahweh was top angel until he rebelled and after his harsh rebuke was renamed śâṭân (pronounced saw-tawn') which literally means “opponent or adversary” (Strong's # H7854)."

    We've covered Ezekiel 31 which says no “tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty” and Ezekiel 28 that teaches Satan was “the anointed cherub that covereth [Yahweh's Law].” The Ark of the Covenant had representations of two “cherubs that covereth” and Lucifer is obviously one of them. To the best of my knowledge the opposite cherub isn't stated in scripture but educated thought tends to learn towards Michael the archangel. Satan's first trick was to twist Yahweh's commandments when he said “Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). What Yahweh had really said was “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Satan's twisting of scripture becomes even more apparent when dealing with the temptation of Christ. Satan tells Jesus “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” to which he's answered “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” What did Jesus do? Corrected twisted scripture.

    Even so, Satan still continues by saying “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Matthew 4:6). The devil specifically twisted a passage found in Psalm 91:11-12 which really reads “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Notice how he left out the clause “to keep thee in all thy ways?” This must be why Jesus answered him by saying “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Who was being tempted again? Luke 10:18 reads as thus; “He [Jesus] said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” This is a vital teaching by Jesus Christ that gives us a glimpse as to why He, God manifest in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16), would come for the salvation of man. The Messiah taught also; “This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31).

    When explaining the Holy Spirit, Jesus mentioned that part of this power is to be “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged” (John 16:11). We're also told; “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). As we can clearly see from these verses - Satan holds the power of death in contrast to eternal life. John teaches; “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous” (I John 3:8-12).

    So far, without "spiritualizing" away anything quoted, we can see that the Bible teaches:

    #1) Jesus literally saw Satan "fall from heaven" because He literally said so.
    #2) For this purpose Jesus came to destroy the works of Satan.
    #3) Satan is considered “the prince of this world” and was "cast out" for Judgment.
    #4) The children of Yahweh have a natural tendency towards righteousness.
    #5) The children of Satan posses no compassion nor ability to love.
    #6) Cain was literally "of" that wicked one meaning Satanel.
    #7) Because Cain was from an evil seed he murdered his moral brother Abel.

    There are so many false prophets and misled Christians that continually try to explain away these plainly inscribed Words found in the Bible so the focus of the remaining chapter will be to examine numerous passages that prove there are both children from opposite seedlines. It should be rather obvious why “there are certain men crept in unawares” (Jude 1:4) who seek to destroy the simple teachings found in the Word of God through confusion and lame justifications. Let’s examine the parable of the tares and wheat taught to us by Jesus Christ in the 13th chapter of Matthew. As we do, pay close attention to the Words spoken by our Savior. Let's start reading on verse 24; “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” (Matthew 13:24-30).

    The subject of this parable is seedlines, or progeny. As we just read for ourselves, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a man who sows good seed in his field (or the Garden of paradise) but the enemy had plans of sabotage and sows his own seed among the wheat. Tares appear identical to wheat growing alongside true Christians until harvest time at which the tares are gathered first and then burned in bundles. The thing to notice here is that the enemy sowed wicked seed. So nobody can say we're 'spiritualizing' away the Word of God, let's look at how Jesus Himself explains this parable starting on verse 36; “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:36-43).

    We just read that there are “children of the wicked one” and that “the enemy that sowed them is the devil” so no matter how you slice it - Jesus is once again teaching on the children of the wicked. We should also notice that the wicked tares are rapturously taken first and burned by fire (or in the lake thereof). So now when we read that “Cain was of that wicked on“” in I John 3:12 we know that his father was certainly not Adam and why he wasn't listed in Adam's genealogy (Genesis 5:3). Let's start reading in the 3rd chapter of Genesis; “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die” (Genesis 3:1-3). Satan, cast to earth (Revelation 12:9) tempts Eve by casting doubt on the Word of YHVH. God tells both Adam and Eve not to touch one precise tree found in the garden. We've already covered the aspect that people are equated to (family) "trees" and Jesus teaches about false prophets by saying; “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:16-20).

    Continuing on; “The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:4-7). This is the age-old flesh desire to be gods. Even today there are snakes in the pulpits teaching the false doctrine that we're all "little case gods" as opposed to the sons of God (I John 3:1) so let's be on guard. We should take notice that when Adam and Eve's “eyes were opened” they didn't notice that they had eaten an apple - they both noticed they were naked and promptly covered themselves with makeshift aprons sewed from fig leaves. What exactly were they hiding?

    Let's read more; “They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God amongst the trees of the garden. And Yahweh God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat” (Genesis 3:8-11)? The word transliterated as "touch" in Genesis 3:3 is taken from the Hebrew nâga‛ which means “to lie with” (Strong's # H5060)" and based on what we've read so far it should be rather obvious what transpired. Nonetheless, we find even more keys in the specific curses pronounced on all three guilty parties. Keep in mind that in II Corinthians 11:3, Paul uses the word exapataō in explaining Eve's "beguilement" which straightforwardly means “wholly seduced” (Strong's # G1818)."

    Now, read this; “The man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And Yahweh God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And Yahweh God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:12-15). The natural enmity (or hatred) is what we should focus on - if we understand that Jesus came to destroy the works of Satan then Cain and his offspring are also a part of that. Even today there exists an instinctual hatred between the sons of YHVH and the sons of Satan who are “fugitives and a vagabonds in the earth” (Genesis 4:14). The seedline of our Savior springs forth out of Seth (Adam's listed son) and it's His blameless sacrifice that gives us power over the serpentile enemy.

    Listen closely; “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:16-20). First, Eve is considered the mother of all living, not part nor some. Are there wicked people in the world? Indeed, her very curse was one of pregnancy when Yahweh says to her “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.” Second, notice that the Creator keeps his promise and gives Adam eventual death when He says “thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Satan's trickery brought forth death into the world to which Jesus would eventually overcome.

    Turn to the New Testament for a moment and read a few verses from I Thessalonians; “For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us” (I Thessalonians 2:14-18). Those passages should really be no surprise “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (II Corinthians 11:13-15). This means that there are "tares" or false prophets and brethren mixed right in with the wheat who profess to be Christian and sometimes even teach small amounts of truth but are in reality Satan's literal children.

    In this chapter we've simply read from the Bible and discovered that practically each time Jesus or Paul encountered persecution it was at the hands of the jews or what some loosely consider Judeans. But wait! It gets much more interesting when we consider these Words spoken by Jesus to the church of Ephesus; “I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Revelation 2:9-10). Again, we can read these Words spoken to the church in Philadelphia; “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee” (Revelation 3:8-9). Pray that no snake ever attempts to snatch our "crown of life."

[ End of Chapter Four ]

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