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Introduktion-------The
way of Banishment ------ The
way of Return
THE WAY OF BANISHMENT
The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there
he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees
grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for
food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil.
A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated
into four headwaters. (Gen. 2, 7-10)
On wish of God earth created vegetation on the third day and earth created
animals and beasts on the sixth day. The earth participated in creation
of man and it gave man vegetation and animal basis. The Creator based
the unity of God and man in man's nature the unity of spiritual, vegetable
and animal worlds. As the man was created the next stage of creation began:
the creation of all living on the level of Divine Manifestation by the
Lord God. The sequence of Divine manifestations shows that the creation
begins with the last command and ends with the first as if the Maker stands
facing God and moves up the stairs towards God fulfilling His commands.
Breathing the breath of life into man the Lord God passed man a part of
Himself. This part was so huge and it can be seen by the fact that God
gave man the prophetic qualities: foreseeing the spirit of animals and
birds man gave them names. Thus the nature of man is tripartite: the animal
and vegetable fundament was given by earth and the spiritual basis was
given by the Lord God. The history of man is the history of fighting,
the fighting of spirit and animal principles. The soul is of God, like
a sparkle of a fire it may glow covered by human sins or it may fire up
into bright flame, which will illuminate the way not only for this man,
but for other people as well. The prophetic qualities were given to numerous
people, but in most of them this fire died out and it could never turn
into light for people, but those fires that fired brightly were immediately
closed by the other people it was burning the sinners badly.
Let's focus on the fact that two main trees are growing in the center
of the garden the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil. We know that vegetation needs water and light. God created light
in the first day, while water was supplied to trees from the river, which
was running only in Eden and as it left Eden it was separated into four
headwaters. We know that light is the truth. Spiritual and ethical laws,
given by God, allow us to use the truth for the benefit of people. These
laws define the spiritual way for man, which shapes the whole life of
a man. Life was supported by river in Eden, the river was watering the
garden and it was the spiritual source for the whole of earth. The separation
of this river into four headwaters as it left Eden shows that the spiritual
truth of Eden was separated into four spiritual streams beyond Eden. Each
of these streams will be incomplete and forceless and only on the way
of Return as the streams are united into one river they will be able to
give people a chance to obtain spiritual power to comprehend good and
to withstand the evil. Only after the unity on God will people can regain
the initial spiritual positions close to God and get access to the tree
of life.
Creating the man God gave him power to rule over fish, birds and other
beasts, but He didn't give him power to rule over humans, God didn't give
power to one people to rule others.
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on
the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in
it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and
all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground-everything
that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food."
And it was so.
(Gen. 1, 29-30)
So, God created vegetation and said it was good, God created sea animals
and birds, beasts of the earth and people. We may note the order of creations
in the Holy Scripture, the order is of utmost importance as it reflects
the importance of each step or the relations and other interconnections
between God and vegetation and animal world, interconnection of God and
man, God and people. We will note further numerous confirmations of this
order in the Holy Scripture.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. (Gen. 1,
31)
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to
work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You
are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you
will surely die."
(Gen. 1, 29-30)
Thus, the first man, the male was given free choice with only one commandment:
not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as labor in
Eden was not commanded to man, while labor was natural part of life and
the first man enjoyed labor. As we know that man was created from earth
it means that working on earth entailed the transformation of man: he
would rule the animal part of human nature by the spiritual. Taking care
of vegetation meant developing and improving truth comprehension guided
by soul and soul was given by the Lord God.
But we know that any ban is followed by the temptation to break it, and
the further creation of man was aimed at development of man. Different
relations could have been settled between God and man:
a) man could have voluntarily accepted the commands and would have followed
them. I.e. man would have been coming to God that means the spiritual
part was the dominant;
b) man could have been forced to follow the commandments by way of encouragement
(blessing) and punishment (cursing). In this case man could have follow
the commandments scared by punishment, he would have been careless about
the fulfillment of commandments or he could have opposed to given commandments
it means the animal nature was dominant in man.
The fall of man happened as for some time the animal nature got over the
spiritual. The serpent, the beast created from earth as well and given
to be ruled by man used this moment. That's the starting point of any
fight for power over world: what will be dominant over the world the
spiritual or animal origin.
The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will
make a helper suitable for him." (Gen. 2, 18)
The Lord God creates woman as a helper for man!
Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts
of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man
to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living
creature, that was its name.
So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all
the beasts of the field. But for man no suitable helper was found.
So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he
was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with
flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of
the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now
bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for
she was taken out of man."
(Gen. 2, 19-23)
How could the man know the essence of animal world to give names to
livestock and birds, how could he know the deep essence of nature? The
truth of God Spirit given to man showed in this event, God showed the
relation of man and vegetable world, which was nurtured by light of truth.
First the Lord God offered man to select helper among animals and as man
couldn't find any the Lord God created the helper for man. As the man
is talking about woman, about his bones and flesh, there is no notion
about the spiritual nature of women, which she gained from man.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals
the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say,
'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to
the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but
God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle
of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
(Gen. 3, 1-3)
Why did the serpent apply to the woman? The man had more stronger Spirit
of God, man was a spiritual person, he would not be allured by the serpent,
while animal origin dominated the woman and she was closer to the serpent
than the man.
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the
woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman
saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye,
and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also
gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
(Gen. 3, 4-5)
But as it turned out to obtain wisdom people should not violate the commandments
of God, but they have to follow them. Anyhow thousands of years passed
and people would never learn it. The violation of the commandment entailed
the first world disaster, the material and spiritual disaster which replaced
the comprehension of the world by man by the comprehension of himself
in the world. If people comprehended the whole world as a unity now the
fall of man created new feelings fear and shame the constant attributes
of sin. The conscience of the man dropped from the spiritual level down
to animal nature, he comprehended the animal origin, got shamed of his
nakedness and put fig leaves as covering. The unity of the world was destroyed.
Mankind (Adam and Eva) made deadly sin. On the way of Return man with
assistance of God should redeem this sin. Man should return to the initial
spiritual stance close to God, to unity of the world, as the unity of
man and God can only be obtained through purification of mankind and redemption
of sins made by the forefathers. The Lord God said to the woman:
"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with
pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you."
(Gen. 3, 16)
The woman was created "bone of bones" and "flesh of flesh"
of man and as a result of the sin the woman would be even more ruled over
by man.
To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and
ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will
eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles
for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your
brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from
it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
(Gen. 3, 17-19)
But why did the Lord God say: "Cursed is the ground because of
you
"?
The Lord God could not curse Adam as he was blessed by God, so the Lord
God cursed the ground, from the dust of which all the plants and animals
including the serpent were created and Adam was created from the dust
of ground. The dust of ground was the animal origin of man, while the
Spirit of God was the man's spiritual origin. When woman brought the fruit
pleasing to the eye and the animal origin dominated in man, it overruled
the spirit of man. That was the initial sin the domination of animal
origin over the spiritual. Since that time this sin gained root in man.
It's the fundament of man existence, of peoples and mankind. The ambition
to gain power by one man over another, by one people over another is the
main demonstration of this sin. This power may be demonstrated in various
forms military, economic, financial etc., but the essence is the same.
So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work
the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he
placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword
flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
(Gen. 3, 23-24)
Banishing Adam from Eden the Lord God didn't say that Adam would never
find way to Eden. It's said only that Adam was sent to work the ground,
from which he had been created. I.e. he was sent to improve: to suppress
the animal origin and to strengthen the spiritual nature of man.
Now hard labor and hardships awaited man on the ground, which was cursed
through him with the death waiting for him at the end of life. This was
the time people started to make sacrifices. Sacrifices were aimed to apply
to God, to plead and to thank God at the initial stage, but as the Israeli
people developed sacrifices were made for repentance, for redemption of
sins, to show the weakening of animal origin of man and to proclaim the
man's spiritual nature.
Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave
birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought
forth a man." Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel
kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
(Gen. 4, 1-2)
Eve gave birth to Cain and she marveled and believed that it was a gift
given by God. But Eve didn't have prophetic gift, she was making an error
in this case as well. God gave man freedom and He would not interfere
at least with the birth of the first son. Cain was handsome and strong,
he obeyed God and like Adam he went to work the ground. Cain as the firstborn
is the spiritual successor of Adam, he bears all the blessings given to
man by God. The fact that the Holy Scripture narrates about Abel and only
than about the firstborn Cain shows that Abel was spiritually richer than
Cain.
The curse of the ground was soon delivered to man: Cain saw that God looked
with favor on offering of Abel, who kept flocks, but God didn't look with
favor on offerings of Cain, who brought some of the fruits of the soil.
Cain was angry.
In spiritual terms flock keeping was of higher esteem in the ancient world
unlike work on the ground as shepherd cared about other beasts (cattle)
and shepherd had more time to think about the world, while the labor of
the farmer didn't leave him any time to think. Cain being the firstborn
was the first to bring his offering to God, but his offering was not approved
and then Abel selected the best of his flock and with pure heart gave
his offering and it was looked by God with favor.
The vegetable offering of Cain was higher positioned than the offering
of Abel, but the spiritual stance of the person is the most important
for making an offering to God. The procedure shows the assuredness of
man in spiritual and material unity of the world. Man offers material
things to improve his spiritual basis, but the result depends upon the
sincerity of the plead made to God.
Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD
said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you
do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what
is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you
must master it."
(Gen. 4, 5-7)
The Lord tries to stop him, but Cain is deaf to what he is said. The
Lord gave man a freedom of choice and in this case the Lord shows two
ways to Cain: the righteous way and the way of sin, the Lord gives him
a chance to understand where he will end as you surrender to sin you
become the slave of your sin. The Lord tries to wake the spirit in Cain,
to help him, He gives man a new commandment to make good and the Lord
warns him that if he chooses the good some day he will make a sin. Cain
could have seen looking at his parents, Adam and Eve, what happened if
people sin. The freedom is given to man to select the righteous way and
to "rule over the sin".
But even after sin man has the chance for repentance, but he must overcome
the power of sin, he must rule over it. Repentance is accessible only
when spirit overrules the animal being living in man. But alas the sin
ruled over Cain and the first murder took place. It's obvious Cain never
knew death. He attacked Abel and went away, as a result the first death
of man took place on earth.
Cain was cursed by the ground but since then the murder got stronghold
in the nature of people. The sin of Adam and Eve drove them away from
Eden, but their relation with the Lord would not cease, while the sin
of Cain made people banished from the Lord's presence. It was the second
spiritual disaster. It was a spiritual disaster as the sin of Cain drove
Adam and Eve from the Lord's presence as well. People were driver further
and further away from God and their fallibility increased. Cain was punished
severely: he was banished from his land and he became a restless wanderer
on the earth. The meaning of relation to God was very important for people
at that time, it's proved by the words of Cain:
"My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving
me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a
restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will
suffer vengeance seven times over."
(Gen. 4, 13-15)
The words of Cain show that communication with the Lord, "witnessing
his presence", was worth anything in life, he would loose his parents
as he was driven from his land! The memory about close position to God
lived in all the next generations. This memory exists today and it gives
people hope and strength to regain this close position to God.
But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain,
he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark
on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
(Gen. 4, 15)
Cain would have to "suffer vengeance seven times over" as he
left six generations before he died. It should be noted that Cain descendants
survived through the flood in the person of Noah wife. So, the family
of Noah included the descendants of two branches of mankind: of Cain and
of Seth.
Cain was banished and the curse left with him.
So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land
of Nod, east of Eden.
(Gen. 4, 16)
Cain settled to the east of Eden unlike Adam and Eve, who lived to the
west of Eden. The murder of Abel split mankind into two branches, which
should be united only after the redemption of Cain sin.
Soon Cain gave birth to a son and he begot flock keepers, builders, musicians
and craftsmen working with bronze and iron. Cain branch, the firstborn
of Adam, carried the blessing given to Adam, and it showed in creative
nature of his descendants.
But the curse lived in this people and Lamech, one of the descendants
of Cain, committed unconscious murder and said to his wives:
"Listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed
a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged
seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times."
(Gen. 4, 23-24)
Cain descendants were left of earth, but the curse always followed them
whatever civilizations they could have created. The tendency for murder
and human sacrifices exceeded the "measure of evil" and they
perished practically in a moment in terms of history.
Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and
named him Seth, saying, "God has granted me another child in place
of Abel, since Cain killed him." Seth also had a son, and he named
him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD.
(Gen. 4, 25-26)
Pay heed to the fact that people began to call on the name of the Lord
when there were more than twelve men on earth. That was the time the collective
human conscience came to existence.
Adam begat other sons and daughters after it.
When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters
were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were
beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
(Gen. 6, 1-2)
The fundament of the Creation was broken: it was the time spiritual and
material worlds started to get mixed. Sons of God came descended to earth
to teach people, but they violated the commandments of the Lord, they
got mixed with people and brought to them the knowledge the people were
not prepared for. People began to apply this knowledge for evil goals.
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become,
and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth,
and his heart was filled with pain. (Gen. 6, 5-6)
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. (Gen. 6, 8)
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and
he walked with God. (Gen. 6, 9)
So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for
the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to
destroy both them and the earth. (Gen. 6, 13)
But why did the Lord decide to destroy everything alive on earth and
people in the first line?
The decision to destroy was caused by deeds, words, thoughts and feelings:
"the earth was filled with violence", "every inclination
of the thoughts of their heart was only evil all the time" and as
a result "all the people on earth had corrupted their ways".
Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence.
God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth
had corrupted their ways. (Gen. 6, 11-12)
This is of utmost importance and we'll have a closer look at the fall
of people.
Adam and Eve (two persons being equivalent to all mankind in this case)
made the sin consciously, as the Lord warned them:
"But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
(Gen. 2, 17)
The sin and absence of repentance resulted in banishment from Eden and
curse of earth the first world spiritual disaster.
As Cain and Abel were born and Abel was killed three out of four persons
were touched by deadly sin (Adam and Eve didn't repent therefore the sin
was left with them), it created new curse and banishment from the presence
of the Lord. It was the second disaster. Man shed man's blood, thus at
a time of Return this barrier could be overcome only by conscious human
sacrifice to redeem the sin of Cain and to purify mankind (as a whole)
of sins.
As sons of God began to take the daughters of men for wives and brought
knowledge to people, which they started to use for evil and "the
earth was corrupted, as all the people on earth corrupted their ways",
the way to Creation of life on earth was diverted and the Lord said:
"I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face
of the earth-men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground,
and birds of the air-for I am grieved that I have made them."
(Gen. 6, 7)
So, people created new third world spiritual disaster by their sins.
But unlike the previous two disasters in this case mankind was almost
completely destroyed on wish of God.
The creation of mankind from Noah was regarded by God as creation of new
mankind upon new purified earth. It's proved by the following: the first
leaf the dove brought in its beak was olive it's chrism made of olive
oil is used to hallow new temples. God blessed mankind and made a new
Testament with new mankind. As fruit plants were created in the third
day, after the Flood God commanded people to eat fruits only on the fourth
year.
For the existence of mankind it's of essential importance to know the
critical number, the rate of people with deadly sin to the number of the
total mankind, when the disaster can take place. Meanwhile the rest of
the mankind is also regarded as sinners.
The first notion about such number can be found in Zechariah:
And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, said the Lord,
two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left
therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine
them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried
( Zech. 13, 8-9)
Taking into account the fact, that two thirds is the number 0,666, we
may admit that the number 666, noted in various apocalyptic revelations
(the so called number of the beast) is the wrong description of the number
2/3, defining the conditions for the next world disaster. It should be
noted that this condition is basing on the preposition claiming that Judaism
is the upper spiritual learning in the world. As mankind rises to a new
spiritual stage the number is changed. It shows that the next world disaster
(in case it takes place) as all the previous will be done by hands of
people and the Lord will come to judge people for their deeds.
The waters of the flood covered the earth
Every living thing that moved on the earth perished-birds, livestock,
wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.
Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.
(Gen. 7, 21-22)
It can be understood that the corruption of people was so that man among
all the living beings was put on to the last stage, even behind "the
creatures that swarm over the earth". It should be noted that the
wrath of God didn't cover vegetation on land and animal world in the seas.
As the waters of the flood covering earth started to recede the ark stopped
"at Ararat mountains".
The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on
the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.
After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent
out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried
up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded
from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find no place to set
its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so
it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove
and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and
again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in
the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then
Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more
days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.
(Gen. 8, 5-12)
As the ark stopped the water began to come down and earth was purified
from the sin. All the deeds of Noah are the spiritual manifestation of
the future of his descendants. The creation of the world is beginning
anew, where Noah is the representative of the Lord. At first Noah sends
out the raven, it is the symbol of Babel banishment the last stage of
mankind Banishment, when the whole spiritual stance of mankind was destroyed.
Mankind was separated into peoples speaking different languages and as
a result mankind dissipated over earth. Then Noah sends out the dove,
which is the symbol of Holy spirit. At first "the dove could find
no place to set its feet" and it returned into the ark. For the first
time the Lord gave the Holy Spirit to seventy elders of Israel and they
began prophesizing, but then they lost this gift. Their spiritual nature
could not enable them to retain it as they were not purified yet: the
purification process was continuing "there was water over all the
surface of the earth". The time passes by (seven days) and Noah again
sends the dove from the ark. This time the dove was away a whole day long
till the evening and it came back with an olive leaf. For the second time
the Lord gave Holy Spirit to apostles of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem and
it stayed on them "till the evening", i.e. till the time the
errors of Christians diverted them from the way of truth. "Noah that
water left the earth", i.e. Christianity produced numerous spiritually
clean people (olive leaf was in the beak). We may admit that "time
till the evening" was roughly equal to a century and a half. For
the third time Noah sent out the dove and it didn't return to him. It
means the Holy Spirit will come to people for the third time, to those
people who are close to the Holy Spirit and truth in their nature and
will be prepared to keep it. These three times the Holy Spirit comes to
people are interconnected with the first three stages of Return, and Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, the forefathers heralded the Return.
By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and
first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the
covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.
(Gen. 8, 13)
The Noah's ark is the prototype of Tabernacle: it features three divisions
(Holy, Sanctum Sanctorum, Ark), three entrances: door, window and upper
roof. The beasts were distributed in those divisions according to their
purity.
As the Lord said to Noah to leave the ark Noah came out with his sons,
then it was the turn of their wives and then all the animals, living creatures,
beasts and birds.
The righteousness of Noah and indisputable submission to God's wish saved
him and his family.
Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be
fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth."
(Gen. 9, 1)
God blessed people and blessed them to fill the earth, God made animals,
birds, creatures that moved along the ground and fish to be ruled by people;
God gave vegetables and animals for food to people and He gave them earth
to rule as He gave it to Adam and Eve.
The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the
earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along
the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your
hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I
gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. "But you must
not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood
I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every
animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life
of his fellow man. "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall
his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.
(Gen. 9, 2-6)
Earlier we mentioned the triple nature of man, it allows us to take into
account the triple nature of soul: animal, vegetable and spiritual. We
may remember the triple blood system of human beings: arterial, venous
and lymphatic. Triple nature could be traced in human conscious.
The Lord says: "For your lifeblood I will demand an accounting from
any animal
". These words show that animal may destroy only animal
soul of man, which the Lord will "reanimate" and return back
to Him. Unlike animals man destroys in man not only animal but human soul
as well, for which the Lord will demand accounting, i.e. the Lord will
resurrect and take back. Unlike the killing of man by an animal, when
all the three components of man's soul are returned to the Lord, the killing
of man by man only two components are returned to the Lord with the exception
of the animal soul. Death of man caused by another man plays the purification
part of a sacrifice except suicidal occasions. We recall that the first
man killer, Cain, was killed by man.
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: "I now establish
my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every
living creature that was with you-the birds, the livestock and all the
wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you-every living
creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will
all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be
a flood to destroy the earth."
(Gen. 9, 8-11)
After the flood God allowed people to use animals, birds and fish for
food, but God commands a strict restriction never to use animal blood
for food. As it was discussed above life of a human being is represented
by the contradiction of spiritual and animal origins of man, this contradiction
usually ends by the defeat of spiritual nature. God allowed man to apply
animal flesh for food, which was more pleasant compared to vegetable food.
As a result man reduced time required to produce food. Man had much time
for comprehension of himself, God and environment. But if using animal
flash for food man was raised over animals and it gave him more freedom,
the application of blood for food strengthened animal instincts in man
and put him closer to wild animals. Animals were created on wish of God
from earth dust and their blood as the vessel of soul should be returned
to earth.
New mankind was created from Noah sons Shem, Ham and Japheth. But sins
of people were coming along with them and when Shem laughed at his father,
Noah anticipated the future and cursed Canaan, his son Shem and with his
curse enhanced the deeds of God: "May Canaan be the slave of Shem!"
Noah couldn't curse Shem as Shem was blessed by God.
He also said, "Blessed be the LORD , the God of Shem! May
Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave."
(Gen. 9, 26-27)
Till yet man was passive and fulfilled the commands of the Lord, though
sometimes avoiding the commandments of the Lord. Now, for the first time
Noah looked into the future and comprehending it pronounced the prophetic
words of blessing addressing the Lord! His words show that for the first
time man began to take active position in creation of man. Noah on behalf
of mankind made the first move towards the unity with the Lord.
As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled
there. (Gen. 11, 2)
Eden was located in the East. People were banished away from Eden and
they mover further away from the East coming further and further away
from God. The return in East direction means spiritual motion to God,
it's the path of return.
Shem, Ham and Japheth became fathers to numerous sons, who produced various
peoples and there was single language on earth and single dialect. The
words "single language and single dialect" show that people
had the single spiritual position, they were not intended to get closer
to God spiritually, but they wanted to rise over earth and to get closer
to skies, the place of residence of God. It seems that this spiritual
unity was based on memory of antediluvian history, when "strong,
glorious people" inhabited the earth. And people said:
"Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that
reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not
be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
(Gen. 11, 4)
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the
men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the
same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do
will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language
so they will not understand each other."
(Gen. 11, 5-7)
What could have grieved the Lord? Not much time passed after the flood,
but what goals are set by people, who only started new life?
a) they want to build city and they don't want to scatter all over the
earth despite the wish of God: "Fill the earth";
b) they want to erect a tower to reach the skies and to find glory in
it challenging God.
The Holy Scripture proves that at that time all people had retained the
vision of God. Despite the flood people were not frightened by God, who
severely punished people for their sins, they still regarded God as merciful,
like children they try to come back to God despite his commands. Construction
of tower of Babel was the first conscious attempt of mankind to oppose
God.
The words "the Lord came down to see
" mean that for some time
the Lord strengthened the link with human consciousness, the Lord showed
up closer to men to find out more exactly all the plans of men as they
were building the tower. Each spiritual condition of mankind corresponds
to exact link the Lord had with human consciousness. And the Lord saw,
that any further delay would have only strengthened people in their intentions.
It's obvious that in case people could have implemented their plans they
would have aggravated their opposition to God will, and the Lord God stops
it at the very beginning: the Lord confused their language and scattered
people all over the earth. The confusion of the language is the elimination
of unified spiritual nature of people, as it was their fundament to oppose
God. People turned to be strange and scattered all over the earth. The
Babel history is the fourth spiritual disaster of mankind. Mankind covered
long historical way and the whole of this way was the way of spiritual
losses. At first any living being was in unity with God, but after the
Babel mankind lost the single language nothing to be said about spiritual
unity of men. After the Babel people were scattered around the earth,
they lost spiritual unity, which was supported by proximity to God and
soon they lost the concept of Single God, people started to practice various
heathen cults. The history of Christianity shows that the spiritual unity
of people was stronger than any language ties. But the confusion of language
had a positive impact: the unconscious unified opposition to God was replaced
by worshipping heathen cults, and it was a lesser evil.
We may note that the Lord created earth and all the living beings in six
days and the seventh day was the day of rest. The Lord blessed this day.
Later the septenary system was applied for chronology as the fundament
of religious life in Judea. The genealogy of people starting from Adam
is marked by seven generations periods, which play the important part
in the history of mankind. As the seventh day was blessed by the Lord
we may expect that each seventh generation will bring a person, who will
show this blessing more vividly and vice versa if the kin is covered
by the stigma of curse each seventh generation will have to show up this
curse. If we examine the Adam Seth line we can find out that Enoch was
ending the first seven, the holy man who was taken alive by God. Eber,
the forefather of Hebrew line was the next to be the seventh. But every
man born in any generation may find God's blessing, e.g. Noah. Noah was
the seventeenth generation after Adam, i.e. the third seven in the third
generation. The Lord created earth, seas and created seed-bearing plants
and fruit bearing trees on the third day. Noah was righteous man, he was
a fruit bearing tree giving life to new mankind.
The Adam Cain line which bore the curse Lamech closed the seventh generation.
His life also brought two deaths. If generations compare to days of creations
we may recall that light and the darkness were on the first day. I.e.
people are at liberty to choose one of the two paths: they may either
live in truth, to bring truth to other people, or they can live in darkness
and try to bring the mankind into darkness.
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