Genesis Chapter 3 Discussion Page 6

Brian,

This decree by Cyrus was probably in 539BC.

"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem." Ezr 1:1-4

The foundation of the temple was laid in 536BC.

"Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD." Ezr 3:8

I don't know what date you're looking for, but these dates mark these events in Ezra.

what date was ezra given to return to israel

Dear Vince, that is a commonly repeated phrase, but it's not what the Bible actually says. Paul said he would "rather" be present with the Lord. He didn't say that for 100% of all people in 100% of all cases that if you are absent from your body that you instantly 100% of the time will be present with the Lord. Link

The Bible says the dead will rise and meet Jesus, then judged. So those who misinterpret that verse then have to explain all the other verses that contradict that. So, no one goes to hell then? Because 100% of everyone is with the Lord? Even Hitler will be in heaven with you?

The Bible says several times that people will be asleep, awaiting Jesus' return. Link

God bless...

Amen amen amen.

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That's for the chosen ones.

Wisdom of Solomon 2:1-10 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them.

2 In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery,

3 And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace.

4 For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality.

5 And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself.

6 As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering.

7 And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble.

8 They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever.

9 They that put their trust in Him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he hath care for his elect.

10 But the ungodly shall be punished according to their own imaginations, which have neglected the righteous, and forsaken the Lord.

Hello Adam,

Finding the fix for this issue as I've noticed the links are not live sometimes. If you put a period, comma, or parenthesis mark before the number it will be a live link. Also sometimes if noting several verses, even on different lines, just make sure to put an end mark, period etc, to separate from the other verse/numbers.

God Bless.

Amen. A three fold cord!

Amen,

Also, submission to one another, that is to every believer.



I'd like to share a short technical point. The word submission in Greek means to be in an orderly relationship.



What that means is there is not a relationship between two people, but between three, you, me, and the Lord.

I have to line up with the Lord for a right relationship with you!



I heard of a man that commanded his wife to go out and commit prostitution so that they could bring in extra money. And the wife was devastated because some of her friends were saying that she had to obey her husband in all things according to the bible.



In the book of Acts, the disciples said to the ruling Sanhedrin when they said we will not allow you to preach any more in this man's name, and they said whether it's right to obey you rather than God, or God rather than you, you decide. We're going to obey God!



To be in an orderly relationship means that I can submit and function with my wife, but if she puts me in a position to sin against my Lord and violate His word, if I were to obey that, I would be out of order.



It's a little confusing but it has to do with lining up with people in the Lord.

So when it says submitting yourselves to one another, it means line up with one another in the Lord. I think that applies to all believers, husbands and wives included.

Husbands, one way to love your wives more is to be submissive to the Lord at His gentle promptings. We can be lambs, which helps our wives to be kind too. Happy is the home where the Love of God is first. The world teaches toughness and practicalness, the end effect is shallowness in our love for one another.

"Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Eph 5:21-22

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;" Eph 5:25

You can't separate these verses!

SKIP,

Correct you are, God was right there because He's everywhere all the time. So back to my commentary. Now we have the entire world being created and a garden with God, 2 people, lots of fruit trees, lots of animals and a particularly, subtle animal, the serpent. The tree in question is the "tree of THE knowledge of good and evil." No mention or knowledge of the tree of life yet. It was mentioned after they sinned (why after?).

The garden represents a classroom. The teacher is being represented by the serpent. The students are mankind and the entire creation. In a study program, we generally have questions, answers and demonstrations. The first question of all time is, "DID GOD SAY." This was posed by the serpent to both Adam and Eve and then followed with an answer by Eve. This question should have been answered by Adam, that's why God said to Adam, "BECAUSE THOU HAST HEARKENED UNTO THE VOICE OF THY WIFE," (Gen.3:17). The information about the tree was given to Adam and not Eve.

Eve's answer had an addition to what God said. She said we should not touch the tree, not true. Their job is to take care of the garden, including that tree. It's a lot more I could say on this point, but I want to keep it short and get to the point. Notice vs. 6, and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food; what's going on here? What's happening here is the serpent is demonstrating to them that there is no deadly substance in the fruit to cause death. We all learn much more and much faster when we can see a demonstration of the subject at hand than by being lectured on the subject. This is why the serpent is called more subtle. It's being possessed by the evil spirit that God created for this very purpose.

I noticed in your post that you mentioned free will. Yes we all have free will in everything except salvation. God decides and already choose all who will share eternal life with Him. Just think, if God don't know that information, then He is not all knowing. If also,

Ephesians 5:21

Dear Jesse ,

This is very helpful thank you very much.

It was a question asked by many so I think this text is just what I need to help clarify to my friends.

Makes sense! Thank you Adam. I am glad you are feeling better.

Hey Carleton, I suspect it just doesn't work for the books with a number in front.

Deborah,

I believe that when we die, our soul departs the physical body. The physical body remains in the ground and awaits the resurrection for a glorified body, but we go to be with the Lord. Paul even said that to be absent from the body (Physical death) is to be present with the Lord. So wherever the Lord is, that's where we will be until we come back with Him to receive our new glorified bodies.

Hi Adam, the live links to scriptures are always helpful. I am still trying to figure out how to do it every time the correct way.

Thanks again, Carleton

Hello,

1 Corinthians 15:51 - The dead will be sleeping awaiting Jesus's return, then will meet Him and await judgment.

1 Thessalonians 5:10

There's other verses echoing this if keep reading. Those who say people go immediately to heaven without Jesus coming or without judgment is inconsistent with scripture and I believe is just based on false assumptions about 2 other scriptures. People also feel better saying that at funerals, etc, so I think that's another reason for this commonly being said, despite scriptures not supporting it. This topic has been discussed before here if someone wants to search that. God bless.

The fall of mankind originated from Adam and Eve disobeying God.

As such, God set the precedence for man to be mortal, and die.

Isaiah 55:11 supports God's character and statutes, but I don't need that to understand what happened between God, Adam & Eve, or the serpent. I take God by his Word.

This holds true for everything God utters.

God often says "I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it..." Ezekiel 24:14

What of satan's dwellings as listed above?

When we die, where do our souls go to? Do they go straight to Heaven or Hell or they are floating around waiting for the coming of the Lord?

Hello Skip, My next comment for the subject at hand. In the garden, Adam was at rest. Even though the possibility of eating of the forbidden fruit in the knowledge of good and evil existed and that the garden had present the crafty serpent that seemed to only have the power of suggestion and no other power, free choice reigned. Rest was there, peace and goodness was there and it was good.

Thanks again, Carleton

Vince,

"where was God when this was taking place?"

That's like asking, "Where is the number five?" God does not have a location unless He lowers Himself to take on human form in His creation of space, time and matter, which He did when walking with Adam in the cool of the day. Most likely this was the pre-incarnate Christ.

"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."Joh 1:18

"So after the seventh day was expired, this is now the 8th day"

You've make a significant assumption that the seventh day was a 24 hour day, just as the first six.

1) No evening and morning.

2) "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." Heb 4:9-11

Just as God ceased His work of creation on day 7, when we enter His rest, it too is unceasing. We are in the seventh day until Christ returns.

3) Although God has ceased His work of creation, He has been WORKING until the return of Christ.

"But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."Joh 5:17

"I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."Joh 9:4

BTW, I agree with you (and have an active post on this) that His plan, before the foundation of the world, was for Lucifer to confront Adam and that Adam would rebel and that God Himself would become a man in order to redeem mankind but not the fallen angels.

God Bless you Vince. The Lord is faithful to answer our needs together.

Matthew 23:37b

..., how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

DARREN,

The comment I'm about to make here is going to be a shock as it was a shock for me too when it was revealed to me after years of careful studying and praying.

Here goes.

In Genesis ch.1, we have GOD. Ch.2 gives us ADAM and EVE which happens to be the only 2 people God ever created (that's another topic). In ch.3, we now have a 4th character, the serpent. Keep in mind that God is putting all His 3 created characters together in a location of His creation, THE GARDEN OF EDEN..

In this garden God said to Adam, "THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL," and "YOU SHALL SURELY DIE." Now look In the book of ISAIAH 55:11, God said, "NO WORD SHALL LEAVE MY MOUTH AND RETURN VOID." The words EVIL and DIE left HIS mouth, and we can see today that those words has been with us from then till now and will be to the end.

The point I'm making is, God created the world good and He puts in it His parameters for learning and understanding. Are you understanding me so far? I don't like to do long posts so I'll stop here for now, plus I have to be at work. So answer if you understand so for and later we will continue. God bless you

Again Carleton, I agree.

To CARLETON,

Amazing, Carleton, I could not have stated any better. God bless you

Continued comment: Though the first Adam lost the comfort of the rest of the seventh day, God did not. However when Jesus left Heaven to come as God in Man, the second Adam he left behind that rest (estate) until His resurrection after Calvary.

Also only a comment. The seventh day, a day of rest for God's man, remained until Adam was judged and removed from the garden. Jesus fulfilled the seventh day as a new Adam and again restored rest in this day.