GOD,
MAN AND THE UNIVERSE
The
Unification of Science and Religion
Foreword
We are all Brothers and Sisters both biologically and spiritually. Since this is so I am dedicating this work to my Brothers and Sisters. This manuscript is the result of a lifetime of trying to logically fit together the seemingly opposite versions of the creation put forth, by religious belief, and science fact. My hope is that these insights may help those who believe in God our Father, but who also accept the truths of science, to come to a unity of thought with regard to the two.
Before you begin this manuscript I must provide my background so that you may have insight in to my perspectives. This personal background is important in understanding why "God, Man and the Universe" was written. I am a Christian as will be self evident to those who read this book. One of the great challenges of my life is that I have Aspergers Syndrome (high functioning autism) and was always considered by my peers and teachers to be rather stupid because I think and talk slowly. Because of this school was always a challenge for me although things did improve slowly in my high school and college years. I studied Chemistry and Math and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and a year of postgraduate study in Biochemistry. My writing skills were always below par and as a result in my junior year in college I suffered the indignity of having to take Dumb Bell English. This was before the time when a handicap such as Aspergers Syndrome was considered as anything other than being slow or crazy. My motivation to understand the Universe has always pushed me to understand all that modern science has revealed. On the other hand I have always known our Father "God" on a basis that most cannot understand. I don’t say this with any presumption of superiority but rather as a fact, which has led to my all-consuming passion to somehow unify what, I know to be true with science, which also should be true. I have always been disturbed by those around me who proclaim the Earth to be 7,000 years old and totally ignore the ancient rocks around us on which are recorded the passage of billions of years. While attending school I discovered a strange dual view to be the rule among those in the scientific ranks that believed in God. Some made stabs at rationalizing the seeming infinite gap between the two points of view and I read their words with great enthusiasm. Unfortunately while explanations abounded I felt that they all fell short of the truth or seemed contrived.
Over the years since then I have continued to read science journals, and even thought that I could close the gap between religion and science. I desired to record my thoughts in this regard, and tried many times but found that my writing skills were so poor that I could not even complete one page before complete disgust of my inability overcame enthusiasm.
A few years ago a vast change came to my life. As
one learns to expect in life, I was completely blind sided by the events that
brought change. I was sent by my doctor to a heart specialist to check out some
mild chest pain that I had experienced during the week. However, during a
"routine angiogram" my blood clotted despite of the most advanced anticoagulants.
Emergency heart bypass surgery was performed during which our Father had me
escorted home. Almost all the things that I relearned in that place can’t be
related simply because of the inadequacy of human intelligence and language,
but a small part can be told. That knowledge came back to me as I stood in the
presence of our Brother (The Savior) and was bathed in light and love so
intense that I felt overpowered. While in this condition I was told by him of
those things that I had yet to do. I told my Brother that I would gladly do all
that I was asked, but told him that my physical body some how prevented me from
writing. He already knew this and informed me that this was the reason for my
being called home. He then placed his hands upon my head and blessed me that I
would be able to fulfill the work and further blessed me that I would feel no
pain from the surgery. IT WAS SO!
Some to whom I have told about my experience grow very silent as though this is some apostasy (which might claim their souls?) but I cannot deny what happened to me when I left this universe for that short period of time. What is written in this manuscript is somewhat revolutionary and this is somewhat disturbing to me as a person who prefers anonymity.
I have completed part of the work, that which you are about to read. I would like to challenge you to read the entire manuscript with an open mind. I realize that some of the concepts are rather revolutionary but nothing contradicts the teachings of Jesus Christ. The most important concept is one of perspective and being able to view the world through the eyes and minds of those who have gone before.
Some have asked me why a Buddhist upon returning from a near death experience would believe he or she had met Buddha as the being of light, and the answer again is one of perspective. If we imagine ourselves as a person who has no other life experience but Buddhism how else can they describe the being in the light upon returning? We all are limited by the knowledge we have gained in this life and are hard pressed to explain in any other terms.
To gain understanding of our natural world and our spiritual roots it is necessary that we consider some basic science. There is no requirement that the reader have a background in science to understand. Those sections, which deal with relativity, may be difficult to some but this characteristic of space-time must be considered to understand time itself. I do not presume that my understanding is final truth, or even a good beginning toward understanding time and space. I have, however, written to the best of my ability and understanding. It is difficult to quantify the story of creation as given in the Bible. I have tried to extract what science there may be therein. I present to each of you my perceptions with love and the hope that mankind in general may be helped by the information contained. I cannot separate my experience from these perceptions, as I am sure none of you could. I cannot deny that the need to write this was spurred by my experience as I lay on an operating table and left this place for a time. As a result of that, I personally can say that the only real fact, or truth, is that we are all the children of God. Such knowledge is by nature personal and cannot be given as proof to others. Therefore my hope is to convince a few of my Brothers and Sisters to seek their Father and follow the path established by our Brother Jesus Christ.
I am well aware that many that are devoted to science are uncomfortable with religion. May I call your attention to the fact that, there have been many great seekers of truth that have believed in our Father, while practicing the pursuit of scientific truth (i.e. Albert Einstein for one). May I ask you then to consider what is written and then ask your Father for his assurance that you are his child? If you will seek with real desire to know the truth you will receive it. However, do not seek him if you have no intent to follow his advice, for then knowledge will bring you sorrow.
Your Brother:
Brent Anderson
CHAPTER ONE
THE CREATION
In the place called
Eternity there was God our Father and with him his Family. Not unlike mortal
fathers, our Father’s sole purpose, with regards to his children, was/is to
provide sustenance, education and life experiences so that they can become
responsible adults. As would be expected in such a large family the children
are spread over a continuum of growth and abilities. At any one time a small
percentage of his children reach a point in their progression at which they
must undergo what might be compared to a quantum leap in learning, a thoroughly
new and unique experience for them. They have to leave home and journey to a
place where for the first time in their lives they will be totally cut off from
the presence and intelligence of their Father and Family. He would never force
any of his children to undergo any test, so each of them is free to choose
whether to participate. We are told that some of our spiritual siblings preferred
a plan in which all were guaranteed success while giving up freedom of choice
in this life. This particular plan was brought forward by one of our more
forceful brothers. The familial disagreement led to a number of our brothers
and sisters refusing to come to this testing place and therefore putting a stop
to their progression or in other words they were damned. Their motivation for
embracing this position was simply that they knew that the test was extremely
difficult and they feared they would not be successful. All of us feared the
test but recognized the need to move forward and fulfill our Father’s wishes.
Our Father’s view was promoted and championed by another of our brothers who
would become the Savior. The difficulty of the test was living without constant
communication with our Parents. We who are now mortal are learning just how
difficult with each passing year of our short mortal existence’s. This whole
process is eternal and the number of children is vast beyond our limited
conception. With regard to those who elected not to come they have opportunity
to change their minds and resume progression or in other words become no longer
damned.
To summarize, this
Earth represents the next step for those of God’s children who have reached the
ultimate attainable progress without the trial of mortality. That life here is
a step in our education is clear from the teachings of our Father. The
opportunity of life upon the Earth or its analogs is absolutely necessary if we
are to continue our growth and maturation. The difficulty arises from the fact
that we for the first time in our immortal existence find ourselves cut off
from the constant and all encompassing presence and knowledge of the Father
which was a beacon for all our actions prior to this life. During our spiritual
existence it was not nearly as difficult to make correct choices. Granted that
some did disagree but a great majority did not.
The plan was to establish a place of isolation where the children of the Father would be free to make decisions for themselves. This universe is that place. Its creation was not difficult for our Father since it is an often-repeated process.
God is eternal and he has told us that we are as well. Therefore we must develop some understanding of our Fathers time to grasp the relationship of Eternity and our time. Time as we know it, requiring beginnings and ends does not pertain to the Kingdom of our Father. In fact time, as we know it, is completely relative to the speed with which any body of mass (in our universe) is traveling in comparison to any other body. For example when we consider an extreme case of a hypothetical observer on a photon of light we discover that for him that distance and time do not exist (this solution occurs in Einstein’s equation at light speed). The reality of our Observer is incomprehensible from our frame of reference, causing us to stretch our imaginations. Even so the fact remains that as relative speed of an object composed of mass increases, time and distance decrease until at near speed of light time and distance approach zero and mass approaches infinity.
This universe has
three spatial dimensions with a fourth dimension which we call time. The author
can testify that the Father and those living with him observe us on a constant
basis while we cannot with any of our senses detect them. From this the only
possible conclusion is that the realm of the Father is composed of other
dimensions in addition to ours, which we cannot detect. The creation of this
universe in terms of our time occurred billions of years ago but what that time
period translates to for our Father is beyond our ability to understand. More
importantly we are hard pressed to understand time in our universe that can
vary from no time (at light speed) to very fast time (for very slow moving
objects of mass). Our comfort with the three spatial dimensions and time comes
from the fact that this is all we remember. Reality, for those of our Family
not confined to this world, is that the seeming solid artifacts of our existence
are completely relative and ethereal.
Our observation is that the universe began with an explosion. The result
was an expansion of the space-time previously trapped in the primordial black
hole along with dissociated mass and very high-energy photons. The state of
mass shortly after this incident is hard to envision. Theory suggests that the
early stage of expansion was at light speed, and so time and space in those
circumstances were, for us, incomprehensible. If we could look into the infant
universe we would see only very bright light. As the universe expanded, a
gradual cooling allowed the condensation of mass. With still more cooling mass
began coalescing into proto galaxies and the ambient temperature of the
Universe fell below that required for visible light. For the first time since
the universe began, human eyes could detect areas of space that were not
luminous. In Genesis we read (“ And God said, let there be light: and there was
light. And God saw the light that it was good: and God divided the light from
the darkness.”) The similarity of this account with what science suggests is
evident. At that time life as we know it could not have existed because of the
high ambient temperature of the universe. This was the time in which stars were
being formed and they in turn were building heavier elements as they rushed
through sometimes-short life spans to explode as novas and supernovas. The
debris of these stellar cataclysms were swept up in the formation of later
generation stars and the planetary systems that circle most stars.
The galaxy and solar
system in which we live are part of an immense universe. It would be folly to
assume that this universe was created solely for this planet, since there are
probably innumerable such worlds. However we should not ignore the remote
possibility that this universe was created for just our world and no other.
The post big bang
events that resulted in our universe are rapidly being deciphered by science,
and our understanding will increase with time. The Solar System itself is
yielding its secrets and its formation is somewhat better understood. The Sun
and its planetary system were formed from the cinders of other stars. We know
this to be true since the heavy elements that make up the Earth are only
produced in the cores of stars. In the beginning the only matter in the
universe was hydrogen and from it, through the process of fusion, higher atomic
weight elements were produced. The solar system as it began to form must have
looked like a huge whirlpool of dust and gas. As gravitational contraction
continued the center of the whirlpool became the sun. Within this vast cloud
there were eddies which became the planets and moons.
The heavier elements
were more prevalent towards the center of the proto solar system and so the
earth and other inner planets are mostly rocky in character. If we consider the
inner planets it is obvious that only Earth is capable of comfortably
supporting life at this time. Yet that was not always the case for the Earth.
Billions of years ago the Earth’s surface was pocked with impact craters and
ran with constant lava flows while the atmosphere was, for us, poisonous. As
time passed the Earth cooled and water began to condense from the atmosphere.
The first rains were immediately vaporized as they fell on molten rock. The
surface of the Earth was unrecognizable because the plasticity of the then very
thin crust would have not allowed for large variations in height. Because of
this the first oceans, when they finally formed, would have covered most of the
planet surface with only volcanoes
showing above the surface of the sea. As the crust of the Earth thickened,
tectonics became the prime shaper of the Earth. Its effects were to create the
first dry land and mountain ranges.
Compare this with the
account in Genesis. (While doing this please keeps in mind that when the Father
imparts knowledge to a man, that that message will be reported within the
framework and language of that individual’s perception of the world.) “And God
said, let there be a firmament”(Atmosphere)” in the midst of the waters,’
(gaseous and liquid water) ‘and let it divide the waters from the waters. And
God made the firmament, and divided the waters, which were under the firmament
from the waters, which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God created
the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And
God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place,
and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God created the dry land Earth;
and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it
was good.” The two days of the creation that are reported took hundreds of
millions of years from the beginning of the Earth. We the children of God on
Earth may have difficulty in understanding the vastness of millions or billions
of years but to God time is just another dimension to be used in the creation
process. It also helps to keep in mind that to God this universe is
insubstantial and of a temporary nature.
The Earth continued to
cool and in the warm seas mortal life began. The first life would not look like
life to us for it was based on complex chemical reactions. It could be
characterized as organic molecules with the ability to use chemicals found in
the ocean to reproduce. (Life is fundamentally defined by reproduction.) If you
were to place modern bacteria in the oceans of the time they would probably not
survive. As time progressed these molecules evolved forming more complex and
viable molecules. Some used sunlight as a source of energy in the building of
progeny and some used the molecules of others for energy. Over great periods of
time this evolution led to organisms that became more like modern algae and
bacteria. Each step in this progression was building a base upon which further
advancements would be made and the food chain evolved with ever more
competitive organisms. God’s chosen tool for creation was/is evolution.
The sea was the
birthplace of life on Earth. It was from the sea that the first land life came
and that life derived its energy from the sun using gases and the broken bits
of rock in tidal flats for raw material. Plants have always provided food for
animals that followed in their wake. Each would continue to evolve to more
complex and efficient forms with the passage of time. Life in the sea became
profuse and complex while competition was driving evolution ever more swiftly.
The profusion of life forms provided ever more possible sites for mutation and
evolution to occur. Life upon land lagged behind the sea because it is a
harsher environment. However those organisms that were able to adapt found a
vast ecological niche with virtually no competition. With time life forms in
the sea were forced by competition to the less crowded environment of the land
and so the quickening pace of evolution swept from the sea to the land. The
Earth of the time was still quite warm by our standards with abundant rainfall
and high humidity. All of these factors helped provide abundant primitive life with
favorable living conditions. Even the catastrophes of meteor falls and
volcanism added to conditions favoring evolutionary change. The acceleration of
evolution is recorded in the rock strata of the Earth and that change in rate
can be attributed to burgeoning numbers of life forms and the expanding food
chain. It is evident to the student of paleontology that the time from the
beginning of the Earth to the first complex life forms is measured in billions
of years while the time after the advent of those organisms is measured in
millions of years. (The 80-year human life span makes understanding such time
periods difficult.) Time is strictly an artifact of our universe and the days
of creation will appear to grow shorter with each passing epoch. The next passage
in genesis tells us in a poetic way that for animal life to exist there must
first be plant life to extract energy from the Sun. “And God said, Let the
earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding
fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth: and it was so.”
Several thousand of
years ago a prophet (Moses) received these revelations from God and did his
best to translate them for contemporaries. The question for each of us is a
creation that takes billions of years the same as a creation that takes seven
days when we don’t comprehend what either time period means. There are those
who will say that any concept of creation that does not encompass a magical and
literal seven earth day beginning for this Earth is wrong. Are they, in their
ignorance, challenging the methods of God by saying that their concept of time
is more correct? It should not be assumed that the creation was anything but
strictly controlled and was not just allowed to progress by chance alone. Every
step led to the next as soils evolved, which then played host to new plants
that could use those soils to advantage. The food chain pyramid of both animals
and plants grew layer upon layer in a slow but accelerating crescendo.
The age of dinosaurs
represents a focus that excites us because of the shear size of these amazing
creatures. This era also was home for many less imposing forms of fife. The
rock records of the time show us an accelerating evolution of plants and
animals as life forms struggled to fill ever changing ecological niches only to
be displaced by ever more competitive life forms. Warm seas in which life
abounded surrounded the continents and to this point survival was a function of
competition for available food or space. Toward the last of the age of
dinosaurs, other factors became important. The Earth was continuing to cool
with atmospheric carbon dioxide levels declining with the slowing of volcanism.
With the advent of mammals the age of reptiles slowly retreated. During these
times mammals became ever more competitive and they claimed increasingly more
ecological space. The dinosaurs were evolving as well but their heritage
resulted in the much smaller but very showy birds. Plant life evolved just as
quickly as animal life during these times. The age of mammals blossomed in
cooler climates brought by continued cooling while the continents began to
resemble those of today. The rock record testifies of many large and small
mammals that existed only to be replaced by improved successors. Among these
were animals that resembled modern apes and monkeys.
Before continuing
further with the chronicle of the creation there is need to consider some
background information that should help to bring understanding to a subject
that at very least is highly inflammatory. The creation up to the time of the
introduction of Adam and Eve into the world was/is typified by survival of the
fittest. After the introduction of Adam and Eve to mortality, God expected that
they, and eventually all men and women, would live by a new law that demanded
man would become responsible for and concerned for others. The difficulty of
such behavior is apparent considering the millions of years of competition
induced genetic programming that tells each of us to survive at any expense. We
all understand selfishness from our own experiences. This innate behavior would
have us dominate others and be allied only with the socially dominant.
Competition to establish superiority over other members of a tribe is obvious
with most social animals including the primates. With supremacy goes the right
to reproduce and eat the best food. That these desires are still a part of the
instinct of modern man is inarguable.
These traits are a
part of mankind’s genes. These same genetic imperatives were evident as well in
the children of Adam an Eve. The parents of the sowing are first spoken of as
being created in and living in the Garden. The Garden was unique in several
respects. The first was that life there did not require survival of the
fittest. All life within the Garden was perfect in every sense for it was
patterned after the life forms found in our Fathers universe. This perfection
was not only cosmetic but also genetic. Adam and Eve were truly Son and
Daughter of God in a physical as well as a spiritual sense. We should assume
that these two had perfected genetics, which were based upon the genes of this
world and more importantly, knowledge of Gods laws. This subject will be
expanded further in a later chapter.
In Genesis, the prophet
Moses records his interpretation of what was revealed to him by God which
misplaces several events that occurred earlier in the creation. The problem may
not have been in the original but could have crept in with subsequent
translations or recopying. However, as currently written the Sun and Moon and
stars are created after the plant life of the Earth. It cannot be said that
anything is impossible for God, but in the orderly creation, which we see
recorded in stone it is apparent, that God constructs in an orderly manner.
Therefore, it is extremely probable that the creation of the stars, Sun, and
solar system occurred much earlier in the creation. In no way does this mean
that seven periods of time or eras were not used by God only that somehow that the
current text has been scrambled, or was not fully understood by the prophet or
those who scribed the original record. The rock strata of Earth shows that
plants and animals were developing at the same time and the sea was the medium
where the first plants and animals existed. This knowledge does not detract
from the account in Genesis but rather is a testimony of the difficulty of
rendering immortal truths using the flawed tool of mortal language. Consider
Moses a man whose whole experience is ancient Egypt and nomadic animal
husbandry, who was challenged to find words to describe the creation as
accurately as he did when we are just beginning to understand the creation
today. Consider now the words of Moses. “And God made the beast of the earth
after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon
the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” Moses recorded what he
was shown by God in his words and concepts, but he also gave us a record that
conveys the importance of a whole and complete ecological system to support
life.
As we consider
evolution we are mindful that it was the tool God chose for creation. Many
hundreds of thousands of years ago a branch of the primate family began to walk
full time on their hind legs, thus freeing the front legs for manipulation of
objects. These early primates left their skeletal remains in layers of
sedimentary rock just as their ancestors did. The evolution of this family of
primates is of intense interest to modern paleontologists because they believe
them to be the progenitors of modern man. The animals and indeed the primates
of this era would still appear very strange to us.
The climate of the Earth was gradually
cooling and this factor led to decreasing or changed food supplies as the Earth
moved toward another ice age. Because adversity fuels evolution, this event saw
increasing numbers of organisms that could take advantage of the cooler
climate. This adaptability is plainly seen in modern insects that develop
tolerance for poison sprays or bacteria that develop immunity to antibiotics.
This does not mean that the mutations that were more successful under new
conditions would have been successful if conditions had not changed. It means
only that life evolves to take advantage of current conditions.
The primates that
walked on two feet continued to evolve and became expert in the use of
rudimentary tools and their brain size increased in response to the challenges
of the changing environment. The creation of the Earth was/is not a random
happening, it was an orchestrated building of layer upon layer of life. In
time, the equivalent of modern man appeared with the ability to construct
sophisticated tools, to paint, and to mourn the dead. However their creation
did not complete the work. Another step was to occur and it was essential. The
Earth at this time was a place of kill or be killed, a place that made no
allowance for weakness. The ice ages had repeated themselves several times and
all the animals of Earth were competitive and strong but the strongest were the
tribes of early man, they could and did eradicate some of the largest and
fiercest land mammals.
The next era is the
most important of all creation for the Earth was ready for planting that most
important of all crops. In Genesis we read: So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. The
creation was not finished with this statement however because he had yet to
build a Garden in Eden and place in the garden his son Adam and his daughter
Eve. It is important to understand that two creations are referred to in
Genesis the first is the creation of the Earth and the second the creation of
the Garden of Eden. To this point we have been concerning ourselves with the first.
The plan called for a
garden in Eden with a man and a woman who would be named Adam and Eve. The
garden was not of the Earth but rather was isolated from the rest of the world
by God. How this was done will be discussed in a later chapter. Nevertheless it
was done because the laws of the garden were not survival of the fittest.
Everything in the garden was perfection genetically and physically including
the two children of God. There was no death in the garden; all life within was
immortal. The animal life ate only the fruit of plant life so that even plants
did not give up their lives to sustain animals. Outside of the garden life
continued as before with survival of the cleverest and strongest. This state of
affairs may have continued for some time and we have no information from which
to estimate the length of time they stayed in the garden. We are aware of the
story of Adam and Eve, the fall and how that occurred. It is a story that has
both Adam and Eve in the untenable position of obeying a rule and by so doing
preventing the eventual harvest, or disobeying and launching the great work of
creation.
There was never any
question that the two would metaphorically eat of the fruit of the Tree of
knowledge of good and evil. The fruit was the conscious decision of Adam and
Eve to become mortal. Once the decision was made and implemented the two were
of necessity ejected from the idyllic and innocent state of the garden. It is
certain that they were schooled by the Father in survival in this world prior
to their departure. One of the most profound changes for them was going from a
state in which they were in constant communication with God to one in which
communication was very infrequent. Students of the New Testament are aware of
the immense suffering of Christ when he was cut off from that constant
communication the same happened to Adam and Eve. They certainly suffered for
the loss of that privilege as well as coming into a world of pain and
suffering. The era of creation culminated with this event.
CHAPTER TWO
THE PATRIARCHS
Upon leaving the garden Adam and Eve found
themselves in the position of supporting life in a hostile world. Obviously,
the change to an environment in which survival was not guaranteed was very
difficult. Plants and animals that had competed and won their right to exist
including the hominids inhabited the mortal Earth. The law that was used to
create them sculpted the life forms of this world.
Evolution is controlled by many factors but there
is one without which it could not occur, and that was and is death. Death is
imperative for without it the whole process ceases. What progress could there
be if the young did not replace the old, and the possible beneficial mutations
they carried? On this world of limited resources the adults must make way for
their children. Without this all the ecological niches would have been filled
by the first life forms that appeared on the Earth and never relinquished, and
if that were the case no room could be found for any but the immortals that
came first.
Adam was immortal upon entering this world. His
body was constantly replacing cells and parts as they wore out. That does not
mean that he could not be killed by physical trauma, but only that physically
his body was designed for eternity. The eventual death of Adam after 930 years
can be attributed to mutation of his DNA. These changes were caused by
background radiation and defensive chemicals produced by the plants and animals
that formed their new diet. Life after the garden had only one sure outcome and
that was eventual death of the body.
Adam and
Eve began having children at a later age than the norm for endemic man. The
record only makes mention of the male children which does make extrapolation
more difficult. We know that there were female children but we are not given
names or birth dates for them. Nor are we given names for male children other
than the first-born or the birthright male in most instances. It appears from
the record that the first-born male was never born prior to the sixtieth year
of the patriarchal father. As we observe in the case of Enoch and his son
Methuselah, and sometimes not till the father is over 100 years.
We are told that Adam and Eve had many children
but unfortunately we are not told how many. Estimating the number is possible
by making assumptions and using the age of the few children who are mentioned.
We know that Abel (birth date approximately 90 years after garden) was the
first born male in the family of Adam and that there was another son called
Cain (birth date not given). Cain killed Abel and the third son Seth (birth
date 130 years AG) received the birthright.
Assuming that Adam and Eve began having children at 90 years (as later
children and grand children did) and that they had an equal number of male and
female children then in the period from 90 to 130 years approximately six
children were born or about one every 6.7 years. The record states that Noah
was nearly 500 years old when his first son was born. Since his son Ham was
born so late in his life we could conservatively assume that they remained
fertile up to 600 years. That would lead us to the assumption of a 510 year
period of fertility with approximately 76 children being born to a couple in a
life time. Further we will assume that most children survived because of the
superior bodies they inherited from their parents. Since Adam was still alive
to celebrate the birth of Lamech, his five fold great grandson, in the line of
first-born sons. We can comfortably assume that the population at that time was
approximately 250,000. This population figure could be adjusted because of
voluntary exiles or defections, which probably increased with time, and some
would have been murdered or killed in wars, leading to a lower figure of around
150,000. At the time of the flood it is possible that the number of the
children of Adam was close to a million. As time passed genetic mutations were
occurring in the bodies of the patriarchs and these were passed on to succeeding
generations. Considering the perfection present at the beginning, all of these
mutations would lead either to no effect in most cases, and deleterious effects
in a significant few with regard to life span and health. However, another
factor was probably even more important in this regard, but first we must
consider some background information before proceeding.
To this point in the narrative we have not
considered the men and women found on the earth prior to Adam's departure from
the garden, but they also are important in the history of the patriarchs. These
indigenous people would have been attracted to the borders of the lands
inhabited by Adam’s extended family. This attraction would have grown with time
as the prosperity of the group increased. The average life span of these men
and women was approximately 30 years, as estimated by archeologists. Their
appearance was not dissimilar to the children of Adam nor evidently did their
genetics prevent interbreeding (this will be discussed later). From (6 Genesis
1-2) it is evident that the children of Adam were instructed not to interbreed
with these men. The source of this instruction is not stated, but surely it was
based upon the vast difference in the manner of life between the two groups
(the men of the Earth lived the law of kill or be killed). However, this formed
the foundation of the prejudice observed in later times among the children of
Israel against those who were outsiders, or gentiles. Certainly there was a
great need during the early years to prevent the decline of the Adams children
to a condition of spiritual ignorance and savagery. However, from our Fathers point of view if any of these
indigenous people (who are also His children) wished to observe his new law
they would be welcomed in the Father's church and the community of Adam’s
children. Certainly some were converted
and after which intermarriage began. The patriarchal line, however,
scrupulously observed the non-intermarriage rule until the time of Noah. In the
case of Cain intermarriage was the rule rather than the exception and it is
likely that few of his children were interested in Gods desires.
Given the situation where else would one who was
exiled go but to the camps of the men of the Earth, where, because of the
mystique these advanced men were surely welcomed. The result of crossbreeding
was children with shortened life spans, compared to the patriarchs, but
lengthened as compared to those in the tribe. Certainly some of the half-breed
children would seek to join the children of Adam as converts.
It would have been very surprising if Cain was the only rebel and so we should presume that many became disaffected for myriad reasons leaving the fellowship of Adam's and Eve's family and Gods Church. Intermarriage of the two groups was inevitable and certainly was not unplanned for by God, for he knew it would happen. It should be clear that if the plan formulated by God did not make provision for the ability to interbreed, then the genetic makeup of the men of the earth would not have been compatible with the sons and daughters of Adam. Surely the patriarchal line avoided the intermixing longer than probably all other lines. The first noticeable effect is with Noah's son Shem and his son Arphaxad who lived 600 and 440 years respectively. By the time of Abraham life spans were down to 180 years and falling. To help visualize all these trends refer to Figures 1,2,3, which follow.


It should not amaze us that the children of Adam began
straying quickly for almost all families have black sheep. Certainly, their
family did, it began with the second born son Cain. The reason for this
disaffection certainly was not for lack of good example from Adam and Eve or
the lack of Gods discourse with Cain. In fact he talked to God directly after
he murdered Abel, at which time he thought to lie to God, he was then told his
punishment. He broke the law of his God in a moment of passion and afterward
must have known that he would be discovered and punished. We might assume that
he felt the reward was worth the risk of his punishment. But what did he
believe his reward to be? Some have argued that he felt that he would become
more powerful than Satan is by this act. It seems unlikely however that this
could have been his immediate goal since the prospect of that reward, if such
it is, was certainly rather far removed for a man who had no idea when he would
die or possibly if he would die. Rage and jealousy were probably his only
motivation and he in all probability murdered his brother in a fit of passion.
His exile came swiftly and he would not have been able to take any of Abel’s
possessions into exile. He of course was probably convinced that he was
unjustly punished. In his mind he rationalized that his brothers perceived
superior attitude justified his actions. We may safely presume he taught his
children that he was innocent and unfairly judged. This is a familiar story,
the same story is told every day in the courts and jails of the modern world.
Those who commit crimes rarely admit they were at fault. The excuses are
legion, but usually revolve around the concept that they were compelled to do
what they did by their victims. They despise those who they consider to be
goody-goody. This rationale of course is evident even in the non-criminal
interplay between men. The one thing we can be sure of and that is that Cain
was not repentant of his action and he would have lied to God if he could have
done so. He indeed founded and institutionalized the art of lying amongst
Adam’s children. We should also remember that Cain probably lived over 900
years and had opportunity to spread his version of events as is the way of all
who choose that course. He probably fathered many more children, than his
brothers or sisters, through the vastly more fertile women he discovered in his
exile (compare the birthrate of the women of the family of Adam with that of
modern women).
Seth, the son of Adam, received the birthright
and he observed the law of his father and of God. He had a son whose name was
Enos who probably followed the law and teachings of his father and grandfather.
The number of children in the family must have been fairly substantial during
his later years. The progression of events within the group surely was one in
which the children moved to new spots along the fertile river valley in which
Adam had settled to establish settlements for themselves and their children.
Obviously the river valley or valleys would offer the easiest and most
convenient place to live, and there was plenty of room for expansion for this
primarily agrarian people. The distance between communities would provide a
buffer between groups but not be so great as to prevent a common defense.
Travel to other settlements would have been primarily local in nature but on
the whole they would have tended to stay in close geographical proximity except
for the exiles.
The record becomes brief after Seth with just
cryptic references to the years and who was next in the line. Cainan was the son
of Enos and his son was Mahalaleel. The line continued with Jared then Enoch.
With Enoch something extraordinary occurred in that we are told that he
"walked with God and he was not; for God took him". The Father does
not take or translate a man or woman unless that individual has reached a state
of perfection that will no longer allow them to remain on the Earth. When Enoch
was taken, it should be noted that only Adam and Seth had died and all the
other patriarchs were alive (see figure 3).
We observe that though Enoch was translated that others of the
patriarchal line remained including his son Methuselah and grandson Lamech.
Lamech's son was Noah of who there is much recorded.
Noah is well known to us but there is much more
to be understood about his times that pertain to religious history. In chapter
six of Genesis verses one and two we read "And it came to pass, when men
(indigenous man) began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters
(Indigenous woman) were born unto them, That the sons of God (Adam's progeny)
saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them to wives of
all which they chose." In other words the sons of god (the male members of
the family of Adam and Eve) took wives from the camps of men (who were probably
a mixture of the original men and women of the Earth and the dissidents from
the sons and daughters of Adam). The result is that we see (figure one) that
the life spans of the children of Noah became much shorter which leads to a
question. Why didn't Noah have children until he was 500 years old (see figure
#3)? This was extremely unusual even for the relatively late reproducing
patriarchal line. From the reference in Genesis it would seem likely this
occurred because of a lack of, purebred women for him to marry. From this we
might presume that when he finally married, with Gods knowledge and consent, he
took as wife, or wives, who were of mixed genetic ancestry, but were
nevertheless spiritually qualified. We read in the third verse of Genesis six
"And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that
he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." In
other words the mixture of the two groups would result in shorter life spans
for the patriarchs. But, more importantly this change seems in some way to make
communication with the Father and his Kingdom more difficult. Why the latter
occurred we can only conjecture but it would seem likely that some basic
difference in the ability to hear and understand God was a part of the genetic
makeup of the bodies of the sons of Adam.
We know that Noah labored to redirect those who
had strayed from the path outlined by the Father. He did not enjoy great
success in this for he had only his family with him on the Ark. All of those
who would have been classed as the sons and daughters of Adam had fallen away.
This in spite of the fact they enjoyed a greater ability to talk to and
understand the Father.
God told Noah that he would destroy those who had
fallen and the lands, on which they lived and instructed him to make an ark for
him, his family and the animals he prized. The need for their destruction most
certainly came from open rebellion against God. They would have delayed the
implementation of his plan if He did not take action. For their part they had sure knowledge of God
and his laws yet sought after power and dominion over the Earth. In the end
however, cleansing the Earth needed only the elimination of the rebels, not all
life.
Noah was instructed to build an ark 450 feet long
(137 meter) 75 feet wide (22.9 meters) and 45 feet high (13.7 meters). There were three levels with an approximate
square footage of 27,000 square feet (3,137 square meters) per level. Into this
space Noah was instructed to load food for he and his family and the animals
that were to accompany them. The food had to be sufficient to support the lives
of all for approximately one year. We are told in Genesis that all life upon
the face of the Earth was destroyed in the flood and certainly to those who were
on the ark it must have seemed so. From their point of view the flood was truly
awesome as it swept down the valleys that had been inhabited by the children of
Adam since the departure from the garden. Those on the ark, from whom the story
came, must have believed that all life was swept from the Earth. However, if we
look at the information given and the evidence recorded in the Earth's record
we must conclude that the flood covered only the area inhabited by the progeny
of Adam.
First consider the capacity of the ark and the
amount of food plus animal and human life it could carry. Consider as well the
plant life that would be necessary for establishing life after the flood.
Certainly if the whole world were covered with water for ten months almost all
plant life would die except for a few odd seeds that could survive being
completely waterlogged. The scriptural record tells us that Noah, his wife or
wives, three male children (and probably their sisters), and their wives or
husbands were on the Ark. If we assume that each person would consume two
pounds of food a day and that there were probably at least 10 people then the
food for required would run about 8000 pounds (3628 kg). This figure is fairly
inconsequential though, when compared to the amount of food eaten by the
herbivores of which mostly there were seven (the clean beasts) of each species
aboard. Food for seven horses for a year would require 168,000 pounds of hay
(76,190 kg), seven cows would require 252,000 pounds (114,285 kg), and seven Elephants
would require 2,520,000 pounds (1,142,857 kg). If we then consider all the
herbivores of the Earth, as large as the ark was there would not have been
sufficient room for that much food let alone the animals. That leads us to conclude that the ark was
meant only for the animals and seeds that were used commonly by the people of
Adam. The only conclusion is that the flood was a local event that was great
enough to destroy the wicked and their land but not great enough to cover the
whole Earth. Then we don't need to rationalize the existence of the unique
species of Australia, America, and Africa etc. Or invent insupportable theories
to explain their re-establishment in their ecological niches. Further we don't
need to explain where all the water came from and went.
Noah and the Ark therefore were washed out to sea
by a very large flood. The ten-month voyage most certainly covered a great
distance from the lands of Adam. We know that the voyage carried them to what
we know as the Middle East. The starting point of the Journey can be
extrapolated, since we know the time spent adrift at sea, to somewhere in the
Americas. Further refinement of this extrapolation could be made. By
considering the large area of the flood, we would suspect a large fairly flat
area relatively close to rivers in a Temperate Zone where ice dams formed by
receding glaciers might be located up stream. Such an area could have been
located in the central United States.
When Noah and his family released a dove and the
dove returned with an olive branch, they felt that they might leave the ark and
begin their new life. It should be noted that an olive tree that had been under
water for ten months would not have survived to produce a new shoot. The record
of the patriarchs, of course, was kept by Noah through this time and reflects
his understanding of the events of the flood. If you refer to figure one, you
will see that Noah was still alive when Abraham was born and died only 30 years
before Isaac was born. Shem, the son of Noah, was still alive when Israel
marked his 50th year. The isolation of the families or groups of people must
have been great in this new land for youngest of the patriarchs to record so
little of the events of the older men in that line. Essentially the only information
recorded is the birth and death dates for most in the line (this probably came
from a memorized oral history). Little bits of information sneak into the
account occasionally that have the ring of stories that were passed from father
to son, but these are unfortunately few.
The tower of Babel represents one of these, and
from it we can extract some information. The first concerns the language of the
descendants of Noah, which had been passed down from his fathers, and all of
Noah’s children used it. This was not
true for the many indigenous tribes they encountered that were attracted to the
civilization of the children of Noah. The confounding of speech was probably of
natural origin. The result was that isolation of groups of Noah’s children became
more pronounced as communication became difficult. Another point of interest is
that the group that founded Babel came from the East. This leads us to believe
that the original landing place of Noah's Ark may have been somewhat different
than the traditional view.
The result of the breakdown of communication is
many sided. The children of Noah were not able to complete the Tower of Babel
its true. The inability to communicate must also have caused a good deal of
mistrust for those who were no longer close. The method of the confounding of
languages was very simple and natural. Certainly the building of a large tower
would have attracted men (tribes of men) from great distances and each of the
new tribes would certainly have brought with them their language. Since the
time of construction was relatively long, the children of Noah would have
tended to marry into and have been assimilated into the various tribes that had
come to witness and perhaps help build the tower.
It
is natural for those speaking the same language to separate themselves from
other groups. The net effect was the dispersion of the children of Noah across
the face of the Earth. As with all occurrences, there are negatives and
positives and it is obvious that the spreading of Noah's seed throughout the
world was important to the plan of God. If you consult figure one, you will
also see the trend of shortening life span continue in the line of the
patriarchs, which leaves us to believe that the intermixing of the genetics of
the children of the Earth was progressing very rapidly. This trend would be
much more pronounced in the non-patriarchal lines where the selection of mates
was not necessarily meticulously scrutinized. The dispersion from Babel would
have accelerated the intermixing of the two groups of men. However, the record
follows only the patriarchs, and we hear little of the others except when they
are referred to as gentiles. The intermixing is complete in modern man where we
see a great many individuals with features that were typical of Cro-Magnon man.
It also explains the statement of Christ when he said that God could provide
children for Abraham from the rocks of the Earth. Referring to the fact that
all life was created from the elements or dust of the Earth. The dispersion of
Noah's children can be likened to the leavening of bread, for it led to
mankind, as we know it today.
The record becomes sketchy after Noah and his
sons and remains so until Abraham. We are told cryptically that in the days of
Peleg the lands were divided. How they were divided remains a question. Did the
children divide the lands creating borders or did sea level rise enough to cut
some land bridge between two areas? It's hard to say with the information in
Genesis.
The record becomes voluminous with Abraham and marks the beginning of many of the Middle Eastern tribes. The most important of these was Israel. Little is said of priesthood until Abraham, but certainly all the patriarchs were holders of the priesthood that God gave to Adam. This priesthood can be characterized as the right of proxy in the administration of Gods kingdom on Earth, as well as the right of prophecy both personal, and that meant for all the children of the Father on the Earth.
CHAPTER THREE
ABRAHAM,
ISAAC, and ISRAEL
Abraham, his son and Grandson were all a part of
the patriarchal line, which is traced back to Adam. However the record changes
radically with them and we must presume that this reflects the change from oral
history to written history. Another
factor in this change was the fervor with which the prophets and children of
Israel devoted to this new form of history. This caused a wealth of information
representing the views of those who could write. We of necessity, have to
winnow the recorded thoughts of the many divergent views to arrive at the
truths that dovetail with the laws of God and the Universe.
When Abraham was seventy-five years old he was
led to the land that was later to be called Israel, and there he made sacrifice
to God. The reason for sacrifice was the dedication of the new land for the use
of his family. At their arrival in the land Abraham and Sarah were without
children. His tribe consisted of his father Terah, probably his mother who is
not named and many servants. Additionally, Lot, the son of Abraham's brother,
was part of the tribe. It is interesting that there were many others with them
who were "servants" owned by Abraham and Lot. The servants were
considered to be a part of the family rather than just slaves. Their number was
fairly substantial, for Abraham was able to field a small army when necessary.
Terah, Abraham's father, is never mentioned again, even though he must be a
part of the entourage. If he had left,
it would surely have been mentioned, and yet he shares the fate of those before
him in that he disappears from the record. He died when Isaac was over thirty
years old and was outlived by his sixth great grandfather Shem (figure 3). If
Abraham were alive today many would view him as a despot, but of course in his
day such a lifestyle was advantages for him and also for those who served by
providing security to all.
Abraham and those with him were all nomadic
shepherds and did not build permanent dwelling places. The narrative informs us
that, after his first visit to the land of promise, he found a famine in the
land and so moved south to find better pasture for his animals. This eventually
brought him to the land of Egypt which for him was a wicked if prosperous
country. Before entering Egypt he took his wife aside and told her, and
probably all those with him, to say that she was his sister. He feared that the
Egyptians would kill him if they knew that he was married to such a beautiful
woman (This clearly shows us his opinion of the Egyptians). Sarah at the time
was at least 65 years old, and yet was attractive enough to cause such concern.
This should not surprise us, for in both she and Abraham ran the blood of the
patriarchs, genetically speaking. The relative youthfulness of Sarah and
Abraham was undoubtedly proportionate to their total life span.
To help keep our perspective, it should be noted
that at this time in the life of Abraham Noah had just died and Shem, Arphaxed,
Salah, Eber, Reu, Serug and Terah, all members of the patriarchal line still
lived. It is evident that the intermixing of the genetics of the children of
the Earth was occurring ever more rapidly with each new generation in the line.
Those who had died tended to be the youngest, like Nahor, Abraham's grandfather
and Peleg, Nahor's great grandfather.
The morality of the day is exemplified by the
account of Sarah being taken into the Pharaoh's house, with Pharaoh bargaining
with Abraham for her purchase. We are told that for this, God plagued Pharaoh
and when he discovered that she was Abraham's wife he accused Abraham of lying.
He also asked him to explain why he had done this to him. He, being still
aggrieved (perhaps feigned), ordered Abraham, Sarah and the rest of their group
to leave Egypt, with an escort to make sure they did. The record thus gives us
a somewhat fuzzy view of this Pharaoh. Was he wicked, or was he a man of
principle who would not take another mans wife or life? It is difficult to cast
him as a wicked man in light of his reaction, but alternately he may be a man
of devious intent who feared a furtherance of the plagues. Then again, perhaps
Abraham prejudged the people of Egypt and found that his prejudice was not
correct. Certainly it is the kind of mistake that comes from judicious
consideration of potential pitfalls in a foreign culture.
We know that Abraham then traveled to the north
and there found that his herds and Lot's herds could not coexist in the same
area, so they amicably separated so that there would be no friction between the
two groups. Sometime after the separation, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah lost
a battle with other kings of the area and Lot was taken captive with them.
Abraham, on hearing, sent a force of 318 men who rescued Lot and his family.
From this we can presume that the number of people in this nomadic camp was
fairly large. Surely if an army of 318 could be enlisted there were more than a
thousand (perhaps two or three thousand) men, women and children in his camp.
It also gives us reason to believe that the kingdoms that his army defeated
were not much, if any, more populated.
Most of those in the camp must have been servants
for Abraham did not have an heir, and this worried him greatly. He was wrong in
his concern because he should have known that God was not going to let the line
expire with him. Abraham and Sarah were vulnerable to self-doubts, and
evidently felt they must find an alternative to the lack of posterity. The
solution was that Abraham would take another woman as a wife (a gentile). This
was not an uncommon arrangement for the times but it is one that brought with
it many problems.
Sarah was chosen from the few available females
in the highly inbred line to be Abraham's wife and the mother of the continuing
line of patriarchs. When Sarah was about 75 years old she gave her handmaid to
Abraham as a second wife. Her name was Hagar and she was an Egyptian. Abraham
either purchased her for Sarah when in Egypt, or she may have been a gift to
Sarah from Pharaoh. Nevertheless, she was not the approved mother (by God) for
the line of patriarchs. The result of this marriage was the birth of Ishmael.
When Hagar became pregnant she rather naturally felt that she had done that
which Sarah could not. This led to a very predictable response from Sarah, who
now felt like even more of a failure. However, she had one advantage; she was
the first love of Abraham. It is evident from Abraham's response to Sarah's
complaint about Hagar's pride, that even though Hagar was his wife that she was
still considered to be Sarah's maid (servant) and she therefore was subject to
the will of Sarah. She was treated "hardly" by Sarah who felt that
Hagar was showing disrespect for her. This prompted Hagar to run away to avoid
further retribution.
Hagar, however, was certainly innocent of error in
the events up to the point that she became proud in doing what Sarah could not,
and because of this God blessed her that her son would be the father of a great
posterity. She was instructed by God to return to Sarah and to be submissive to
her, which she did. In her mind, and probably Abraham's and Sarah's, this child
would be the heir. This all occurred when Abraham was in his mid eighties.
When Abraham was 99 years God the Father told him
that he and Sarah would have a son. Abraham, being somewhat amused, asked,
"can a man who is 100 and women 90 have a child will you not rather
consider Ishmael and bless him"? Abraham's incredulity would, upon first
glance, appear to be well founded. However,
if you accept the fact that a man of 50 years and a woman of 40 years can have
a child in a life span of 70, years then proportionately Abraham and Sarah
might well expect to have a child at ages 128 and 102, respectively, in a life
span of 180 years. We can assume that since Abraham was doubtful, he was
judging his ability to father a child with Sarah by the yardstick of his
experience with shorter-lived servants in his traveling city. It would seem
that he did not fully understand his heritage. His difference sprang from the
heritage of his fathers, and the line of the patriarchs would be the last to
reach genetic equilibrium with the rest of mankind. We can also presume that
Abraham had lost touch with the others of his line who were still alive during
his life span. This is what we would expect considering his nomadic lifestyle.
Ultimately, the promised heir was born to Abraham and Sarah, and his name was
Isaac.
Sarah was in fact Abraham's sister; they shared
the same father, Terah, but they had different mothers. The practice of
marrying sisters was traditional, in that it started with the children of Adam
and Eve when the danger of genetic deformity due to inbreeding was zero, due to
the genetics of Adam and Eve. With time, however, the chance of genetic
deformity increased as the children of the covenant intermixed with the men of
the Earth. This may be the reason that Abraham and Sarah were relatively
infertile while Abraham's fertility with unrelated wives was extraordinary.
Abraham took another wife whose name was Keturah, after the death of Sarah, at
an age of at least 135 years and she bore him six sons. Abraham's father and probably others of the
patriarchal line practiced polygamy, the first mention of which comes with the
record of Abraham.
The joy brought by the birth of Isaac was short
lived in the household of Abraham, for with it the jealousy between Sarah and
Hagar boiled to the surface. Sarah saw, or believed she saw, Ishmael mocking
the birth of her son. The result was that Hagar and Ishmael were banished, but
not without Abraham blessing them. The blessing was not the same that would go
to Isaac, but one that guaranteed a great posterity to Ishmael. The banishment
represents the beginning of a feud that still continues between the children of
Israel and the Arab nations. The feud seems to us rather pointless because the
homogenous nature of mankind almost guarantees that there is no real genetic
difference between the two groups today.
We are enlightened as to the process of selection
of the covenant wife in the case of Rebekah, who was selected to be Isaac's
wife. Abraham's brother Nahor, and probably a sister Milcah, had a son by the
name of Bethuel, who in turn fathered Rebekah. Abraham chose her as the wife of
Isaac. The inbreeding of the patriarchs had not reached the point of total
disaster with Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. God allowed and encouraged this
practice because of the need for a direct link from Adam to Jesus Christ. To
practice such inbreeding today represents extreme folly, because such marriages
would bring many genetically deformed children. That this was not the case for
these men adds credence to the concept of the genetic perfection of Adam and
his children. However, equilibrium was surely in sight, for with each passing
generation the life spans of the patriarchal line continued to decline and
approach the life span of the men of the Earth.
The story of Jacob and Esau is well known, and
we will not discuss it at length, but it shows us that the birth right was a spiritual
reward and could be granted to the second born or as in the case of Adam's son
Seth to the third born. With Jacob (Israel) a rather significant milestone is
passed in that Shem, Salah and Eber all died during his life. Thus passed the
last men who lived for several hundreds of years. The lifestyle of Jacob and
his brother was that of nomadic herdsmen, just as it had been for his father
and grandfather. They were prophets of God, but they were also men who had to
deal with the daily necessity of living in a world that was greatly different
from the world of today. Their interpretation of the things they were shown by
God would be told in the words and understanding of their culture. We must
remember this as we try to understand their perceptions from our vantage point.
We have little in common with these men in almost every respect, and if one of
these men and his entourage were suddenly placed in our time he would be in
court telling a judge why he should not go to jail on charges of slavery.
Certainly women, in general, would be offended by the fact that his wives were
highly valued possessions who had to obey their husbands every command. If the
lifestyle or their actions offend us we should remember that they were
important in establishing the heritage and teachings of God. These men were not
perfect and made mistakes and learned from them. A prophet, in any case, speaks
for God only when directed by God and has no authority beyond that.
Additionally, those acts for which we might condemn them might in actuality
have been adjudged as the correct thing to do by a jury of their peers.
The children of Jacob, of whom there were 12 sons
(daughters?), were largely an undisciplined lot who embarrassed their father
with deviousness and caused him great agony when they sold the favored son
Joseph into slavery. They told their Father that he had been slain by a beast.
The birthright son Joseph was the first-born son of Rachel, the woman whom
Jacob would have married first if not for the duplicity of his father in law.
He was next in the long line patriarchs. This brought the wrath of the older
siblings on Joseph.
The connection with Egypt runs deep in the lives
of the patriarchs as a place where they find refuge from various hazards. From
the point of view of the children of Abraham, Egypt certainly was a gentile
country with a pagan religion. Yet again and again the covenant children,
including Joseph, Mary and the infant Messiah, fled to Egypt for refuge. The
logical reasons for this pattern is that Egypt was a large and relatively
stable civilization that provided a means of survival in hard times. However,
from a spiritual point of view perhaps what we observe is that the chosen
people chose disobedience rather often and when they were chastised they would flee
to Egypt. Leaving Egypt was not always easy as in the case of Moses and the
degree of difficulty seems to be proportionate with the relative innocence of
the people. So Egypt represented both prison and safe haven to the children of
the patriarchs.
The existence of slavery in this society should
be troubling to us. The reason for men and women living in this universe is
freedom of choice to do either good or evil, and so there can be no greater
wrong than to deprive men or women of the chance to exercise that freedom. If
we examine this concept carefully we see that murder is the ultimate act of
denial of this right and slavery is also a very serious breech. If we examine
in detail the economic systems of the modern world, we will conclude that all
enslave man in one way or another? Even in the nations that practice free
enterprise the majority are economically enslaved to the few who manage to
ascend to the top of the power structure? Those who achieve the lofty peaks of
power would say that their gain is deserved because they are more talented,
beautiful or intelligent than those lower than them in the social pecking
order. They forget that God gave the advantage that they enjoy for the benefit
of all mankind and not solely for themselves. The tyranny of the few over the
many can be witnessed in all aspects of human society from grade school through
adult culture. It is a natural genetic trait that is mirrored in all animal and
plant species of the Earth. Certainly mankind's genetic instructions include the
directive to gain power and by so doing achieve a greater chance to survive and
breed. We should always be mindful of the fact that all life on the Earth is a
product of evolution that grants survival to the fittest.
This state of affairs is right with respect to
evolution but wrong from the standpoint of our mission on the Earth. In terms
of the pasts lack of freedom however, current free society is a vast
improvement. The goal is, at some time, hopefully in the near future; that we
can live as God has directed us in a society in which all would share all
things in common. Ideally man should be able to live in a community in which no
one would seek advantage over any other.
So we must judge our ancestors with understanding
and remember that by this time in history the Adamic line was no longer what it
once was, and the spiritual advantage that was afforded them was certainly
waning. Hopefully, we can understand that they were men and women, and the
deification of these ancestors does nothing to help the cause of God. Rather it
detracts from it as antagonist’s point out the flaws of those who were
prophets.
It is difficult for us to discern how the social
fabric of Abraham’s time differs from that founded by Adam because of the lack
of any real description of the life of the first family. However, it is obvious
that those with perfect breeding could and did break the laws of God. We can
safely assume that Adam did not make slaves or own other human beings whether
indigenous or not. It also seems obvious that Eve was a partner not a
possession as shown by equality of the two in the Garden and subsequently after
the expulsion. There were certainly changes in family life with the passage of
2000 years, and many of those were in response to the constant battle for
survival but it is hard to understand how polygamy was anything but
counterproductive.
Some claim that the lot of mankind is a gradual decline into total savagery. That this is wrong is obvious to any student of history. While recorded history reveals many reversals of civilization they have always been countered later with higher standards of freedom. Layer upon layer of generations have built a better world in which more men are made free with the passing years. The accumulation of knowledge and understanding are leading us inexorably to the millennial reign of the Messiah.
Chapter Four
The Children of Israel
Israel conferred the birthright on Joseph, and
Joseph probably bestowed it on Ephraim. So at the beginning the patriarchal
birthright and priesthood leadership was in their hands. The sojourn of the children of Israel in
Egypt started pleasantly, but ended in animosity. In addition the patriarchal
thread is broken along with the continuity of the record. The only assumption
we can make is that for reasons not stated; leadership by patriarchal
birthright was lost in a miasma of Egyptian paganism. The children had fallen
into many pagan practices, which they amalgamated with their own religious
heritage. This is understandable in light of the multitheistic nature of
Egyptian society. The only thread that tied them together in this environment
was family and tribal bond. However, leadership was no longer invested in one
man, but rather consisted of a loose weave of tribal leaders who could not bring
coordinated effort. The inevitable Egyptian persecution is what solidified the
children of Israel as a people.
When Moses was sent to rescue them they were
ready to follow him and leave Egypt in spite of the unknown dangers of the trip.
The Egyptians created the motivation of the people, and Moses, who was slow of
speech, had no need of oratory to get them to follow him. This first taste of
slavery was just a harbinger of the future in which the children of Israel
would be beaten like a piece of metal in a blacksmith's shop. That they were
the chosen people in Gods eyes cannot be argued. That they in general acted
otherwise is obvious. The record shows us a people much given to leaving the
path marked by God, and this propensity eventually led to the institution of
the Mosaic Law. This law was a lesser, but very specific, written law that
circumscribed in Ten Commandments what was acceptable and not in daily life.
Even then it was evident that the law was ignored to a large degree as soon as
the influence of Moses, Joshua, other great spiritual leaders was absent. This
people, however, represented an island in a world in which the only law was
survival of the fittest. Despite their faults, God continued to alternately
nurture and discipline the children of Israel. As a result, they became a
resilient people who at times were very obedient to the law of their fathers.
With Joshua the last evidence of the decline in
the length of life is given, for we are told that he lived 110 years, and we
may safely presume that within the next few generations life spans would
approximate those of modern man. It is noted, however, that when God took Moses
he was 120 years old (the process of translation will be discussed in a later
chapter).
The exploits of most of the sons of Jacob
(Israel) were of a questionable nature even in their own time, but today they
would seem to us the acts of hardened criminals. We must presume that since
there was no retribution for their acts they might be considered the norm for
the times (might makes right). The world of 2000 BC was brutal. We should not presume that God in anyway
condoned much of what we read in the record, only that he was using the best
material he had to work with. From this sometimes unlikely material were raised
the prophets of God who taught values that have become a beacon to all men.
Moses was called by God to lead organize and in
general domesticate the children of Israel. He was unusual in that he conversed
with God face to face, which reminds us of Adam, Enoch and Noah. As to why this
is unusual is somewhat perplexing, for surely God is willing to impart
knowledge to his children at any time. Nevertheless Moses needed every bit of
help he could get for the challenge was certainly great. If we could have
talked to him after the breaking of the first tablets he brought from Sinai,
which contained the higher law that the savior would later re-institute, he
would surely have told us he felt like a failure. He of course was not a
failure; he persevered and brought the children of Israel to the gates of the
land of promise as a unified nation. The legacy of his great work was the
founding of the source from which the word of God would spread to all
mankind.
When the children of Israel entered the Promised
Land Joshua led them. Moses, who was about to be translated, passed leadership
to him. With the departure of Moses, we witness a change in emphasis from
teaching the law to a more militaristic stance. This transition causes concern
in some ways but it does reflect, perhaps, the simplest method of securing a
land where the nation of the children of Israel could grow in isolation from
the paganism of the rest of mankind. That which causes concern is the killing
of those who were in the way. It must be presumed that since they were led by
Joshua, who was after all the ordained leader and prophet of God, that the best
solution to the problem of preservation of this people as Gods chosen was to
remove the source of pagan contamination. This was not necessitated, as a
function of genetic purity, as some might believe, for the intermixing of the
two groups of men was nearly complete. Therefore the reason was simply the
elimination of paganism from the sight of a people who had shown a great
propensity to wander into such worship. With regard to the elimination of
resident pagans, we should remember that life in this testing place (the Earth)
is a gift of God and our Father may withdraw that gift. God certainly has the
right to direct the course of his creation, and he had to prevent this fragile
beginning from reverting.
After Joshua died, the children of Israel were
living in separate tribal areas, and in those parcels of land cities were
founded. The chosen people had finally returned to the land of their
inheritance. This was a great change for a people whose roots were nomadic, and
it was an important step. The gentile world had been living in cities and
enjoying the benefits of communal action for many generations. One of the
benefits of permanence is that it allows the development of communication
skills like writing and record keeping. We observe that the children of Israel
soon had a rich society of artisans of every walk.
The leadership of the people fell back to the
tribal level, in the post Joshua era, with various tribes acting alone to
prosecute the goals of their tribe. It is fair to say that the tribes did not
always agree, but if a common enemy came on the scene unity could be immediate
if slow. This method of government did leave the children of Israel at a
disadvantage, in that the leaders of the surrounding gentile nations were
building ever-larger empires with the commensurate increases in fighting men.
The concept of tribal life in which disputes are
handled by judges is superior in that it offers more freedom. This, then, is
the method that God would favor for his children for that reason. However this
method of governance does not generally allow for the quick fielding of an
army. This was not a disadvantage as long as God helped them in their battles,
for on those occasions relatively small numbers were required to defeat their
numerically superior enemies. On other occasions, when they were not so favored
by God, the superior forces of the gentiles easily defeated them. This course
of events is typical of the relationship of God to man, and it is simply stated
that when man is obedient God actively assists, and when he is not he has to
solve problems on his own. However in the case of the children of Israel, it is
noted that they were at a strategic disadvantage when it came to solving their
own problems. The result was a huge swing in the affairs of the children
depending on whether God helped them or not.
There is a great deal that is puzzling in the
written record of the Old Testament. The concern is that some individuals would
appear, in light of the Ten Commandments and modern morality, to be less than
perfect, and yet still claiming that God is with them. One cannot help but
think of the exploits of Samson and wonder. Perhaps the chroniclers of the
record at times were overcome by partisan fervor when writing of a mighty man
of the world and his deeds. Nevertheless, it is true that God does not aid
those who do evil. He may not hinder them, for that would infringe on the all-important
freedom of choice. Therefore, if it appears that God is helping those who do
evil it is not so. There is one other possibility as well and that is perhaps
the actions of those involved were misrepresented in the record. One truth
always remains and that is any act by man that in any way removes the freedom
of choice of another is wrong, and would not be condoned by God unless the
removal of that freedom is for the protection of society. There is ultimately
one judge of man, and to him we should all defer.
The chosen people of God were aware of the method
of government among the gentiles, and they coveted it just as they sometimes
coveted the pagan gods. During the reign of Samuel, God, who was in fact the
king of Israel to that time, reluctantly approved this step backward. Samuel,
who had been the judge, or administrator, for the Father was disturbed and felt
he had not adequately served. The children of Israel suffered from a common
human failing, for which he was not at fault. They simply wanted to be like
there neighbors, and have one of their number rule them as King. The people
were happy to have God select the king for them, and this is what happened as
Samuel was directed to anoint Saul the king of Israel. It proved very difficult
for the kings of Israel to remain in favor with God, and in a fairly short time
David replaced Saul.
The change in government removed the disadvantage
that Israel had suffered in that with central government of all the tribes
coordinated action became possible. The gentiles no longer had the advantage
they held in the past and with David, who pleased the Father most of his life,
Israel now had an even playing field. It, therefore, was not surprising that
under David that Israel became a significant power in the region. Those were
jubilant years for the children of Israel, for before that time they probably
were not worth notice to the king conquerors that were building huge empires
amongst the Gentiles. They had become like their envied neighbors.
From our point of view it is clear that even at
its height the kingdom of Israel was never a threat to the likes of Egypt and
other powerful kingdoms of the time. The reason we of today even remember them
is that they were chosen of God. The years of relative power were short lived
and the decline began after Solomon was king of Israel, but the people of
Israel were survivors and through the years of subjugation they built a society
that would weather thousands of years of discrimination and abuse.
The focus of the faith of Israel was the promised
savior who would deliver them from their enemies and reward them for their
obedience. The prophets of God preached to them and told them of these things.
They, in their way, continued to look for that golden age. The majority of the
people must not have followed the teachings of the prophets for they were
constantly being condemned for their wickedness. Yet, in the way of men, they
looked for their big brother to come and settle the score with those who
offended them. It is apparent that they did not understand that the plan of god
is spiritual in nature and not of the Earth. The temporary nature of life in
our dimension is easily forgotten. They, like modern men, had difficulty in
understanding that the reward for following the rules of our Father is not
temporary, like the things of this Earth. The reason for this myopia is
understandable when one remembers that in the creation of this universe the
prime requirement was that we be removed from the presence of our Father so
that we could prove to ourselves, and to God, that we could make decisions for
right. The unique experience of this existence is that other mortals may not
know what we are thinking unless we tell them. Because of this and the fact we
are not privileged to remember our past existence, men are inclined to think
that physical things of this life have importance. The mission of the promised
savior was entirely a spiritual one and therefore, was a vast disappointment to
the majority of Israel.
The concept of a spiritual existence is very
difficult for man to comprehend because of the inability to see or measure any
aspect of it. The only proof we have of its existence is the testimony of the
prophets and those who have had near death experience. This lack of concrete evidence
was part of the plan for this universe and countless other universes. Because
we live on this Earth with its four dimensions with no memory of our previous
existence, we think that this life is the real or substantial life while the
spirit world of our Father is insubstantial. In actuality the opposite is true.
To those who are residing in the multidimensional universe (more than four) of
the Father, this universe is no more than an ethereal projection. Is it any
wonder then that we are told to gather our treasures in heaven for here all
things are transitory, save the knowledge we accumulate?
Israel, after the reign of Solomon, was
periodically conquered, enslaved, freed and dissected by the more powerful gentile
kingdoms of the area. God probably did not cause the punishment they endured,
but rather it represents the constant battle of survival of the fittest. When
they were victorious certainly it was with the help of our father in most
cases, but not necessarily all. It would be wrong to suppose that the children
of Israel were not fit and able to survive without the help of God. The truth
is that the truly good times they enjoyed as a people were when they served
God, while the times when they only managed to survive were during spiritual
lows. God is somewhat misrepresented in the record in that he is sometimes
portrayed as a vengeful father much given to extreme punishment. Rather he is
the father of children who must be taught right from wrong; who with infinite
love, patience and justice lets his children make mistakes, hoping they will
learn from them. The times when he actively brought death to his gentile or
fallen children was when it was imperative to insure the survival of the
fragile seed that was to eventually grow and fill the Earth. Of course all men
are children of God, but he had to preserve the children of the patriarchs
because of his promise to them. The promise was that the savior of the world
would be born to the line of Abraham, Noah and Adam, and that the children of
the patriarchs would fill the Earth. This promise was kept.
In terms of racial purity, the children of Israel
were increasingly less pure with each conquering by other kingdoms. The reason
for this is obvious, for the children would intermarry with the children of the
conquerors and this was to be expected. Can we help but notice that in our
times the Jewish immigrants to modern Israel resemble the people of the
countries they immigrate from? But before the complete randomizing of the
genetics of the children of Israel occurred, the Son of God would be born of
the House of Abraham. That was the promise.
The prophecies concerning the savior increased in
number as the time of his birth approached. All of Israel looked forward to his
coming. The expectations of the people would prove to be their downfall. The
history of this people was not good with regards to their treatment of
prophets. Most prophets were vilified during their own time only to be
recognized after they died. The actions of the children of Israel should not be
viewed with great scorn, for certainly they were doing nothing that modern men
would not do. The reaction of most men today to the claim of a contemporary
receiving communication from God is one of antagonism and derision. Why men
will say they believe the teachings of God and in the same breath proclaim that
he no longer communicates with his children is mystifying. Why do they think
God communicated with the children of Israel? It certainly wasn’t because they
were in more need of guidance was it? We are no better or worse than they as we
all stumble through this short life. Is not the need as great for we of today
to receive guidance from our Father? Surely those who receive revelation today
would be very private about the knowledge they gain, for they would be
humiliated and scorned by the majority. Have men changed from the days of old?
Would modern man accept the Son of God or lock him in an insane asylum? The
Savior of the world was born the king of the Jews and all who call themselves
Christians should love and cherish the Jews for the gift they gave to the
world.
As we study the record of the children of Israel,
we see a society that has fragmented into sects. This is, it would seem, the
natural pattern for men as individuals of strong ego promote their particular
view as the only correct way of worshipping God. The role of the prophets was
one of trying to correct these wanderings and return the people to the path God
would have them follow. This always brought the anger of those whose egos were
bruised at being criticized. The liturgy of the children had evolved through
the days of persecution into a system of laws that closely prescribed every act
of life. This, of course, bonded them as a people, but left each of the sects
very inflexible. Thus, as the people of Israel approached that most important,
and central event, the coming of the Messiah, we find them fragmented and
unreceptive (not unlike modern men). We also find them in a condition that they
must surely have been accustomed to, under the domination of another conqueror,
this time the Romans. Additionally, they are no longer whole as a people
because most of the tribes had been led off into captivity. Those tribes are
called the lost tribes, for no one knew where they had gone. It is likely that
they fanned out through the population of the world in a dispersion that
predated that of Judah. They, of course, are not lost to God, for he knows his
children.
The Romans through a tyrant called Harrod, who
called himself the king of the Jews, ruled Israel. In Harrod we find no
aspiration to kindness or justice, only greed and lust for power. In the Romans
we find only boredom and contempt for the people they had subjugated. Harrod is
revealed as a murderous corrupt politician who could be compared not unfairly
to Hitler, Stalin or countless other modern tyrants. He did not have a corner
on the wickedness market in his time any more than those to whom we might
compare him in our time.
Some think that the Jews of that time were the
most wicked of all people in the world because they killed the Messiah. That is
not true, for they were in terms of belief in God, and in terms of living the
law of God among the best the world had to offer. The fact of the matter is
that there are any number of countries and religions of today who would react
in the same way to one that spoke plainly against the religious institutions of
the powerful. The leadership would arrange to arouse the people against him,
and then have him conveniently put away. Certainly, of the peoples of that
time, it is fair to say that most, if not all, would have killed the savior,
for his message was, and is, an affront to all who are "natural men".
It is important that a perspective be maintained
in terms of the relative importance of the children of Israel and the teachings
of God with respect to the vast majority of mankind. Obviously to the Romans,
Greeks, or the Egyptians these people and their religion were of little
importance. Needles to say that in terms of the great powers of the Earth, and
hence the majority of the people, they hardly caused a ripple. They were
indeed, like the yeast in bread, a very small part that will have a very large
effect on the whole.
Chapter 5
The Messiah
The prophets foretold the coming birth of the
Messiah to the house of David, Abraham, and Adam. The need for a Messiah was
not a result of the "fall of Adam and Eve", but rather a part of a
plan that was laid by the Father before this Universe began. The roll of Jesus
the Christ is, to some, somewhat hard to comprehend, and yet it was one of
profound simplicity. His genealogy shows that he was indeed a descendant of
David through both his mother and his adoptive father. He offended the
establishment in that he did not help them throw off the rule of Rome. The
Romans viewed him as a religious nut. He earned the wrath of his own people for
condemning the error that had been built into the religious institutions of the
children of Israel. He alone could blaze and mark the path back to our Father,
and it is now open to all mankind (both living and dead) to simply follow him.
Jesus Christ voluntarily sacrificed himself, but
the full measure of that selfless act cannot be understood without
understanding the enormity of what he gave for us. To comprehend, we must first
understand the need for a messiah. That need was created by the very creation
of this Earth, and the sacrifice of the Savior is mirrored in the sacrifice of
Adam and Eve. They gave up life in Paradise, in what was the final step of the
creation. The selfless act of Adam and Eve was that with full knowledge of the
consequences, they elected to become mortal.
The Garden was home to not only the first couple
but also to perfect animals and plants of many kinds. When Adam and Eve
departed the Garden the rest of its inhabitants had to be removed from the
Earth (because they simply could not have survived in this harsh environment).
However, the central reason for the removal was simply that its presence would
interfere with freedom of choice. The exodus of Adam and Eve resulted in the
eventual death of the perfect bodies they possessed, but more importantly, it
brought an instantaneous spiritual death, which only Adam, Eve, and Jesus
Christ could fully appreciate.
Prior to the expulsion, Adam and Eve enjoyed the
ability to communicate with God at any time they so desired. This communication
was of a nature that none of us living on the Earth could fully comprehend. It
is communication between minds, not the clumsy mechanism of spoken words that
we use on the Earth. Obviously this sort of communication does not allow
something that we mortal men practice often, and that is deciding for
ourselves, in total secrecy, what to do. Obviously, all of our pre-mortal
existence was spent in the same communication environment that Adam enjoyed in
the Garden. If you can imagine then a peaceful happy existence in which there
was no evil, and where a loving father was always just a thought away you might
only begin to understand why the severing of that relationship can only be
called spiritual death. The sorrow of the two so exiled must have been almost
beyond endurance for they remembered heaven lost. The only consolation for them
was that what they did was essential to the plan. Additionally, God continued
to talk to them on occasion, and so eased their pain. They experienced some of
the same suffering that Jesus bore when the bond of communication with the
Father was severed at the beginning of his ultimate sacrifice.
All of us are living in a place of spiritual
death where we can choose either right or wrong, and can conceal what we are
thinking from all but God. The reason for a savior is dictated by the need for
man to return from this limited universe. We may then deduce that when physical
death occurs for man, his spirit would be trapped in this universe if some
provision was not made for return to the realm of the Father. The ultimate
reason for this detention can be understood if we again use our imagination. Let
us visualize the shock of an average man, who in life has accumulated an
average amount of lying, stealing and fornicating, then being thrust into the
society of the Father and Family. Where all is known (no lies are possible) and
all past selfishness is revealed to all. Such an unrepentant man would find
himself extremely uncomfortable, even tormented, in this society, and would
consequently wish to hide, or flee hoping to find a place where he would fit
in. The need for a messiah then was to provide a method for man to mentally
perfect himself so that he could return to the father without shame.
The goal of perfection is seemingly impossible to those who would seek it, for always after achieving some intermediate goal there is a next challenge. However, since we were placed in this place of testing by a loving Father who most certainly wants us all to return to him,