One of the constant metaphorical themes in the movie Avatar is the saying “I can see you”. This is a statement often used in the Na’vi clans as a statement of recognition when greeting each other. Norm, Jake Sully’s Avatar driver co-worker, spent a great deal of time trying to get Jake to see that this statement is not only a greeting but it is a statement of spiritual awareness and emotional sensitivity, toward the person you are “seeing”. “I can see you” is one of those all purpose, multi-level greetings that go as deep as the relationship of the people will allow it to go.
This statement is also a Bible concept. God uses this phrase, this concept, in many different ways as well. God states that when people are in a state of rebellion they cannot “see”, or hear, or understand spiritual things. This statement is made when the disciples come to Jesus and ask Him why it is that He speaks in parables. They are questioning why He does not just come out and say certain things to people? Jesus answers in the following way:
“Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Matthew 13:13-15
Jesus, Himself, says that people, who are religious, conservative, state that they want to know the will of God, but they cannot and will not see spiritual things that disagree with their preconceived ideas. Therefore, God Himself has to use special teaching methods to communicate ideas to them in a way that hopefully their preconceptions will not interfere with the truths that need to be heard and then they will turn away from truth before faithfully and honestly evaluating the thought.
God also says that people, in a non-converted state cannot process spiritual thoughts. He says the following:
“Which things also we speak, not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I Corinthians 2:13-14
God teaches that when a person is spiritual, having had a conversion experience from a personal relationship with God, then they can hear spiritual truth and then respond logically and reasonably for they have a spiritual understanding of truth. But without this spiritual understanding then spiritual things sound just plain old
foolish. So, for example, Colonel Quaritch could hear the statement “I can see you” and he would evaluate it from the purest form of logic. Yes I can see you physically, or yes my satellites say you are there, but if it came to seeing a spiritual quality, Colonel Quaritch would “see” this as soft and unimportant and thus block off an avenue of awareness that could be helpful.
Probably God’s ultimate statement on the issue of “I can see you” is recorded in the Love Chapter of the Bible in I Corinthians 13. In this chapter God says the following:
“For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” I Corinthians 13:9-12
God says that when we are in a state of spiritual love – fully in harmony with the mind of God – then we will see things and hear things and will understand many of the things around us.
These concepts especially apply to the movie Avatar. I have talked to many people about the spiritual symbols in the movie. The people look at me blankly and say “I didn’t see any spiritual symbols in the movie.” I am totally impressed with that statement because they didn’t see anything, they saw a movie about blue people on another planet and they saw it as a movie of entertainment. They did not see the spiritual principles. They did not see the potential for truth or error, they just saw a movie.
On the bright side of the picture, when I shared with them some of the observations I had on the movie, a little light began to dawn on them. They said “Really, I didn’t see any of that by myself, but now that you mention it, there could be some ideas like that. I think I will look at it again and maybe I will see something.” This is one of the major principles of the Bible, one shares thoughts with another and then if they are willing they may go back and look again. Then they may be able to share with God “I can see you.” If that happens to even one person, it will be well worth all of the time of writing to allow someone else to see God, and His truth, in a movie like Avatar.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Avatar and the Providences of God
Providence is one of those concepts that people use to try to figure out the mysterious workings of God. We can not process the idea that God can organize events in such a manner to have the right person at the right place at the right time to accomplish a wonderful event. Avatar is a story of such a series of events. The hero of the movie – Jake Sulley – is at the center of a series of extraordinary/supernatural events and this series of events is the story of the movie Avatar.
The series of events goes something like this:
Jake is wounded in combat and loses his ability to walk on his own.
Jake does not have sufficient funds to get the required surgery so he is more open to a set of new events should they come.
Jake’s identical twin brother goes through extensive training to be an Avatar driver and the mining corporation invests significant funds to train and to prepare an Avatar for Jakes’ brother.
Jake’s brother is shot just a few days before leaving for the 6 years flight to Pandora.
The Mining Corporation offers Jake the opportunity to go to Pandora to save their investment because he has the DNA requisite to use the Avatar and save the corporation all kinds of money.
Jake is open to going to Pandora because he is totally dissatisfied with life on Earth. He is willing to do something new.
Jake is assigned to Dr. Augustine’s program and has the opportunity to experience being able to walk and perform in a different setting than he has ever done before.
Jake is attacked by the largest land carnivore on Pandora and survives.
Jake’s survival exposes him to the denizens of Pandora and he needs help.
Neytiri finds Jake and is about to kill him when Eywa expresses her wishes to save him by sending the seed to descend upon Neytiri’s arrow.
Neytiri delivers Jake from the wolves.
Jake sees Neytiri as a Savior and does not want her to leave him alone in the jungle lest he die by some other creature.
While discussing issues with Neytiri, Eywa again expresses her wishes to Neytiri by sending a number of seeds to communicate the idea that Jake has been called by her to accomplish a task of importance to Eywa.
Jake is taken to the village of the Omaticaya clan and after assessment, identification as someone who does not know it all, and identification as a warrior, Jake is allowed to train and the trainer is Neytiri the princess and potential love interest.
Jake is accepted by Colonel Quaritch, Dr. Alexander, and Mr. Selfridge to go through the training process, and a time limit of 90 days is established. This puts pressure on all parties to move expeditiously. No time for fearful decisions, action is imperative.
Jake gets so involved in the training, and in his new body, and his new relationships, that it is difficult for him to remember who he is. He can not remember what his old life was like especially in comparison with his “new” life. Change is occurring.
Jake is learning and he likes what he is learning and when he is able to “see” life like a Na’vi would, Neytiri passes judgment upon Jake and declares him ready to take the final steps in becoming a man, a member of the tribe of the Omaticaya, and one eligible to become a mate and husband, and lover, to be fulfilled as a person.
Jake accomplishes all of his tasks and is accepted as a full member of the tribe, and takes Neytiri as his wife.
Jake is now confronted with the rapaciousness of the Mining Corporation when they bulldoze the holy tree on the morning of his marriage. He acts and is recorded as a rebel against the Corporation and against humanity.
Jake is rejected by the Corporation and by the Omaticaya as a betrayer of both clans.
The Home Tree is destroyed and his relationships are challenged at all levels.
Jake is delivered by his friends and is able to get back to his Avatar.
Jake recognizes that he must do something extraordinary and he chooses to become Toruk Makto and flies into the camp of the Omaticaya on the back of the largest flying predator on Pandora.
Jake is accepted as the leader of the resistance and all of the clan leaders are willing to follow him into battle.
Jake recognizes that he needs special help and he is willing to ask Eywa for help.
Jake survives the battle and delivers the Na’vi from the Earthlings.
Finally Jake is willing to abandon his Earthling form to be forever identified as a Na’vi warrior.
Now that is a lot of events and circumstances and providential movings in the life of one man. It thus brings us to an interesting question. That question is whether Eywa is the goddess of Pandora only or the Goddess of the universe. If she is the Goddess of the universe then she would be able to foresee the needs of Pandora as well as the needs of Earth, and of every other planet in the universe. Whoever the God is that Eywa is modeled after is either the real God or not to be able to control all the variables in the story of Jake Sulley.
Now all who have seen the movie Avatar, are satisfied that Jake, Neytiri, and Eywa are fictitious characters and are not real. But as we have discussed earlier, James Cameron came up with all of these spiritual ideas and he came up with them strictly from his imagination, or he got them from somewhere else. It has been the primes of the blog – Avatar’s Garden of Pandora – that Mr. Cameron got all of his true ideas directly from the Bible, including the greatest Avatar of all – Jesus Christ. The reason that the movie Avatar so resonates with people is that it tells the story of Jesus Christ symbolically. All of the issues of the movie Avatar are symbolic and are told in a fictitious story. The Bible tells the same intergalactic story but tells the truth about the real story of the great struggle and tells about the real experiences of people working with God and tells the real story of God Himself. In the rest of this article I will tell the story of Jesus in the same abbreviated way that I told the story about Jake Sulley. For the fuller, more complete version I would recommend reading the Bible for yourself.
Chronologically the story of Jesus starts in the book of Colossians 1. Before there was a universe the Bible tells us that God existed alone. God consisted of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Remember that God is infinitely more complex than can be described in words but we will do the best we can to tell an infinite story in finite terms.
God decided to create the universe and created all of the planets, galaxies, and all of the principles and powers involved in this creation. Colossians 1:12-17
Among the things created was heaven and angels.
In the process of time, the greatest created angel – Lucifer, chose to rebel against the revealed will of God and brought chaos and dissension into heaven.
After working with Lucifer, and those who chose to follow Lucifer, to try to bring them to a point of repentance and reconciliation. When this did not work out there was war in heaven and Lucifer was cast out of heaven but not destroyed.
Earth was then created and mankind was created on Earth to live out their lives and reveal the perfect will of God.
Lucifer, now called Satan, – the Adversary – seduced Adam and Eve, and they chose to listen to Satan rather than to God. This started the sin problem on Earth.
To give Adam and Eve another chance, and to fulfill their plans on Earth, God chose to reveal what is called the Plan of Salvation, of how God Himself would come to Earth as a man and redeem mankind, destroy Satan, and reveal His glory to all of the universe, so that none would ever choose to follow Satan or his ideas ever again.
God informed Adam and Eve that God would come as a man, through the lineage of the church and through the people.
All Bible history is a record of the lineage of the church people, the chaos and confusion of their lives, and yet there is a constant thread of how God watches over His people, and providentially continues to guide His true believers through the difficulties of a life of sin on this planet.
All through this Bible history God gives little revelations of the fact that He is still here, He is guiding, and He is controlling events even in the context of freedom of choice to obey or rebel. These revelations are prophecies to show that God can see the future, long before it happens, and is able to guide and control without infringing on our freedom to surrender and obey, or to rebel.
God promises that he will come as a man, and that he will come through the line of Shem, one of the three sons of Noah. This lineage is more clearly identified in the time of Abraham and a promise is made that of the seed of Abraham all the nations of the Earth will be blessed. Genesis 15:1-6.
God again promises to come and more specifically He will come through the lineage of Judah. In fact Messiah will come by the time there is no longer a descendent of Judah sitting on the throne of Israel. Genesis 49:8-10
God preserves Israel through all kinds of difficulty but still His hand guides and keeps that His prophecies will unfold.
In Micah 5:2 God tells the city where Messiah will be born in.
In Isaiah 53 God tells what the mission of Messiah will look like.
In Psalms 22 God gives great details of how Messiah will die.
In Daniel 8-9 God tells the time of when Messiah will show up and various details of His life. Daniel says that Messiah will be born around 4 BC, anointed in 27 AD, and crucified in 31 AD.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the story of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth – the Messiah of the Bible.
Jesus, the Creator of Earth, comes to Earth as an Avatar in that He takes on the form of a man and to mankind is indistinguishable from any other man by appearance alone. But when one talked with Him and watched Him any honest open hearted person could tell that there was a significant difference between Jesus and any other man. Those who recognized this difference followed Him and became His disciples.
Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies of the Bible to show that He was the fulfillment of the utterances that He Himself had given all through Earth history.
Jesus then chose to gather all of the collected guilt of mankind, past, present, and future, and took it all upon Himself and was punished for all of mankind, and then crucified to fulfill all Scripture to reveal that sin brought death.
Jesus then resurrected Himself to show that He had power over death for Himself and all who believe in Him.
Bible prophecy states that from the resurrection of Jesus to His second coming there would be great warfare between His followers and the followers of Satan. God prophesied that there would be a people that He would reveal Himself through so that any who wanted to could follow Him by faith. God reveals all of these things in the Bible.
God tells all of the major issues that would confront His people and warned them that life would not be easy, but that through His power all could overcome anything Satan would throw at them.
Jesus tells us that when all is accomplished He will come a second time to gather His righteous ones, including those who have died all through history.
When Jesus gathers His people He will take them to heaven and then after 1000 years He will return to Earth and resurrect the wicked. He will judge the wicked, for they have refused His gift of sacrifice and death, and then destroy the wicked and recreate the Earth so that it returns to the state of the original creation.
God, and His people, will reign over the universe on Earth for ever.
All of the above concepts are to be offered to any and all who want to have a personal relationship with God. All of the wonderful things, seen in the movie Avatar, will be fulfilled in reality in God’s kingdom. He will grant us new bodies, He will grant us eternal life, and He will grant us the opportunity of traveling through out the universe seeing the things that He planned for us in the beginning when He first created the universe. All of these things are available for any who will accept the Bible truths by faith and experience. The choice is ours and can be started today. To start today simply start reading the story of the Bible with the belief that this story is written for us to train us and to give us opportunity to work together with God Himself.
The series of events goes something like this:
Jake is wounded in combat and loses his ability to walk on his own.
Jake does not have sufficient funds to get the required surgery so he is more open to a set of new events should they come.
Jake’s identical twin brother goes through extensive training to be an Avatar driver and the mining corporation invests significant funds to train and to prepare an Avatar for Jakes’ brother.
Jake’s brother is shot just a few days before leaving for the 6 years flight to Pandora.
The Mining Corporation offers Jake the opportunity to go to Pandora to save their investment because he has the DNA requisite to use the Avatar and save the corporation all kinds of money.
Jake is open to going to Pandora because he is totally dissatisfied with life on Earth. He is willing to do something new.
Jake is assigned to Dr. Augustine’s program and has the opportunity to experience being able to walk and perform in a different setting than he has ever done before.
Jake is attacked by the largest land carnivore on Pandora and survives.
Jake’s survival exposes him to the denizens of Pandora and he needs help.
Neytiri finds Jake and is about to kill him when Eywa expresses her wishes to save him by sending the seed to descend upon Neytiri’s arrow.
Neytiri delivers Jake from the wolves.
Jake sees Neytiri as a Savior and does not want her to leave him alone in the jungle lest he die by some other creature.
While discussing issues with Neytiri, Eywa again expresses her wishes to Neytiri by sending a number of seeds to communicate the idea that Jake has been called by her to accomplish a task of importance to Eywa.
Jake is taken to the village of the Omaticaya clan and after assessment, identification as someone who does not know it all, and identification as a warrior, Jake is allowed to train and the trainer is Neytiri the princess and potential love interest.
Jake is accepted by Colonel Quaritch, Dr. Alexander, and Mr. Selfridge to go through the training process, and a time limit of 90 days is established. This puts pressure on all parties to move expeditiously. No time for fearful decisions, action is imperative.
Jake gets so involved in the training, and in his new body, and his new relationships, that it is difficult for him to remember who he is. He can not remember what his old life was like especially in comparison with his “new” life. Change is occurring.
Jake is learning and he likes what he is learning and when he is able to “see” life like a Na’vi would, Neytiri passes judgment upon Jake and declares him ready to take the final steps in becoming a man, a member of the tribe of the Omaticaya, and one eligible to become a mate and husband, and lover, to be fulfilled as a person.
Jake accomplishes all of his tasks and is accepted as a full member of the tribe, and takes Neytiri as his wife.
Jake is now confronted with the rapaciousness of the Mining Corporation when they bulldoze the holy tree on the morning of his marriage. He acts and is recorded as a rebel against the Corporation and against humanity.
Jake is rejected by the Corporation and by the Omaticaya as a betrayer of both clans.
The Home Tree is destroyed and his relationships are challenged at all levels.
Jake is delivered by his friends and is able to get back to his Avatar.
Jake recognizes that he must do something extraordinary and he chooses to become Toruk Makto and flies into the camp of the Omaticaya on the back of the largest flying predator on Pandora.
Jake is accepted as the leader of the resistance and all of the clan leaders are willing to follow him into battle.
Jake recognizes that he needs special help and he is willing to ask Eywa for help.
Jake survives the battle and delivers the Na’vi from the Earthlings.
Finally Jake is willing to abandon his Earthling form to be forever identified as a Na’vi warrior.
Now that is a lot of events and circumstances and providential movings in the life of one man. It thus brings us to an interesting question. That question is whether Eywa is the goddess of Pandora only or the Goddess of the universe. If she is the Goddess of the universe then she would be able to foresee the needs of Pandora as well as the needs of Earth, and of every other planet in the universe. Whoever the God is that Eywa is modeled after is either the real God or not to be able to control all the variables in the story of Jake Sulley.
Now all who have seen the movie Avatar, are satisfied that Jake, Neytiri, and Eywa are fictitious characters and are not real. But as we have discussed earlier, James Cameron came up with all of these spiritual ideas and he came up with them strictly from his imagination, or he got them from somewhere else. It has been the primes of the blog – Avatar’s Garden of Pandora – that Mr. Cameron got all of his true ideas directly from the Bible, including the greatest Avatar of all – Jesus Christ. The reason that the movie Avatar so resonates with people is that it tells the story of Jesus Christ symbolically. All of the issues of the movie Avatar are symbolic and are told in a fictitious story. The Bible tells the same intergalactic story but tells the truth about the real story of the great struggle and tells about the real experiences of people working with God and tells the real story of God Himself. In the rest of this article I will tell the story of Jesus in the same abbreviated way that I told the story about Jake Sulley. For the fuller, more complete version I would recommend reading the Bible for yourself.
Chronologically the story of Jesus starts in the book of Colossians 1. Before there was a universe the Bible tells us that God existed alone. God consisted of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Remember that God is infinitely more complex than can be described in words but we will do the best we can to tell an infinite story in finite terms.
God decided to create the universe and created all of the planets, galaxies, and all of the principles and powers involved in this creation. Colossians 1:12-17
Among the things created was heaven and angels.
In the process of time, the greatest created angel – Lucifer, chose to rebel against the revealed will of God and brought chaos and dissension into heaven.
After working with Lucifer, and those who chose to follow Lucifer, to try to bring them to a point of repentance and reconciliation. When this did not work out there was war in heaven and Lucifer was cast out of heaven but not destroyed.
Earth was then created and mankind was created on Earth to live out their lives and reveal the perfect will of God.
Lucifer, now called Satan, – the Adversary – seduced Adam and Eve, and they chose to listen to Satan rather than to God. This started the sin problem on Earth.
To give Adam and Eve another chance, and to fulfill their plans on Earth, God chose to reveal what is called the Plan of Salvation, of how God Himself would come to Earth as a man and redeem mankind, destroy Satan, and reveal His glory to all of the universe, so that none would ever choose to follow Satan or his ideas ever again.
God informed Adam and Eve that God would come as a man, through the lineage of the church and through the people.
All Bible history is a record of the lineage of the church people, the chaos and confusion of their lives, and yet there is a constant thread of how God watches over His people, and providentially continues to guide His true believers through the difficulties of a life of sin on this planet.
All through this Bible history God gives little revelations of the fact that He is still here, He is guiding, and He is controlling events even in the context of freedom of choice to obey or rebel. These revelations are prophecies to show that God can see the future, long before it happens, and is able to guide and control without infringing on our freedom to surrender and obey, or to rebel.
God promises that he will come as a man, and that he will come through the line of Shem, one of the three sons of Noah. This lineage is more clearly identified in the time of Abraham and a promise is made that of the seed of Abraham all the nations of the Earth will be blessed. Genesis 15:1-6.
God again promises to come and more specifically He will come through the lineage of Judah. In fact Messiah will come by the time there is no longer a descendent of Judah sitting on the throne of Israel. Genesis 49:8-10
God preserves Israel through all kinds of difficulty but still His hand guides and keeps that His prophecies will unfold.
In Micah 5:2 God tells the city where Messiah will be born in.
In Isaiah 53 God tells what the mission of Messiah will look like.
In Psalms 22 God gives great details of how Messiah will die.
In Daniel 8-9 God tells the time of when Messiah will show up and various details of His life. Daniel says that Messiah will be born around 4 BC, anointed in 27 AD, and crucified in 31 AD.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the story of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth – the Messiah of the Bible.
Jesus, the Creator of Earth, comes to Earth as an Avatar in that He takes on the form of a man and to mankind is indistinguishable from any other man by appearance alone. But when one talked with Him and watched Him any honest open hearted person could tell that there was a significant difference between Jesus and any other man. Those who recognized this difference followed Him and became His disciples.
Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies of the Bible to show that He was the fulfillment of the utterances that He Himself had given all through Earth history.
Jesus then chose to gather all of the collected guilt of mankind, past, present, and future, and took it all upon Himself and was punished for all of mankind, and then crucified to fulfill all Scripture to reveal that sin brought death.
Jesus then resurrected Himself to show that He had power over death for Himself and all who believe in Him.
Bible prophecy states that from the resurrection of Jesus to His second coming there would be great warfare between His followers and the followers of Satan. God prophesied that there would be a people that He would reveal Himself through so that any who wanted to could follow Him by faith. God reveals all of these things in the Bible.
God tells all of the major issues that would confront His people and warned them that life would not be easy, but that through His power all could overcome anything Satan would throw at them.
Jesus tells us that when all is accomplished He will come a second time to gather His righteous ones, including those who have died all through history.
When Jesus gathers His people He will take them to heaven and then after 1000 years He will return to Earth and resurrect the wicked. He will judge the wicked, for they have refused His gift of sacrifice and death, and then destroy the wicked and recreate the Earth so that it returns to the state of the original creation.
God, and His people, will reign over the universe on Earth for ever.
All of the above concepts are to be offered to any and all who want to have a personal relationship with God. All of the wonderful things, seen in the movie Avatar, will be fulfilled in reality in God’s kingdom. He will grant us new bodies, He will grant us eternal life, and He will grant us the opportunity of traveling through out the universe seeing the things that He planned for us in the beginning when He first created the universe. All of these things are available for any who will accept the Bible truths by faith and experience. The choice is ours and can be started today. To start today simply start reading the story of the Bible with the belief that this story is written for us to train us and to give us opportunity to work together with God Himself.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Avatar – You Don’t Dream in Cryo
In the opening dialogue of the movie Avatar Jake Sulley, states that when you are in the deep sleep of Cryogenics you don’t dream. You are in a state of suspended animation and your brain processing is virtually at a stand still until you are brought back up out of this state of suspended animation. While you are in Cryo your body continues to function but you have no awareness of anything going on around you, not awareness of time, no dreaming, no hating, no loving, nothing, until awakened by an outside force.
As I was meditating upon the subject of Cryo sleep, I thought that this was a great metaphor for something that the Bible calls “sleep”. In the Bible there is regular sleep that all humans do for some period almost every day. This sleep is the normal rest taken, usually at evening, and from which we all awaken every day to go about our duties; and then there is a sleep from which we do not awaken without the help of an outside force – the sleep of death. I Corinthians 15:6,18,20,51,52
Death as a form of sleep is one of the more interesting concepts in the Bible. Jesus describes it in John 11. One of Jesus’ favorite people, Lazarus has contracted a fatal illness and the family calls to Jesus because He is the great healer. Jesus delays his coming to see Lazarus until Lazarus is dead. When the disciples ask about the delay of Jesus to respond He reports that Lazarus is “sleeping”. The disciples think this is pretty good for they think that he is sleeping in healing rest. Jesus clarifies this thought by saying that He is going to get Lazarus and wake him up from his sleep, because Lazarus had died. John 11:1-14 Jesus was the outside force that would awaken Lazarus and eventually will awaken all who are “sleeping” in the tomb today.
As Jake Sulley stated from his experience, there is no dreaming in Cryo, so there is no dreaming when one is dead. God says that when a man dies that very day all of his thinking stops. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalms 146:4 Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 9-10 states the following:
“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which thou takest under the sun. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”
Nothing goes on for the person who has died. He has as much awareness of things around him as Jake Sulley described about his ability to dream when in Cryo.
This concept of not thinking, feeling, loving, hating, communicating has some interesting ramifications on things we normally take for granted. One of those things that people accept quite freely are things like Vampires, Witches, Wizards, Ghosts, Zombies, etc. In each of the subjects listed there is a requirement to be dead and yet not dead or to communicate with the dead. The Bible clearly states that when a person dies they do not communicate with anyone living unless they have been resurrected from the dead – or brought back to living, thinking, breathing, sharing by the power of God. So a Vampire by definition can not be for a vampire is supposed to be a dead person who continues to live, thus violating the statement of God. Witches and Wizards get their information and power from communicating with the dead. Now according to the Bible this can not be for the Bible says that a dead person is totally unable to think, or communicate any thing. A Ghost is supposed to be the soul of a dead person who is still moving around due to some kind of unfinished business. And a Zombie is something that should be dead but is still moving around attacking people for some unknown reason. All of these things the Bible says can not happen.
So the obvious question is that people have this belief, and have a variety of experiences of coming in contact with ugly, gruesome, violent, evil persons who appear to have died yet people see and communicate with something. The clearest Bible story we have on the subject is the story of King Saul and the Witch of Endor. I Samuel 28:3-25. In this story King Saul has through his rebellion shut off every normal avenue of communication with God. Since King Saul has not wanted to submit to the counsel of the prophet Samuel, and did not want to pray, or have anything to do with God, he is now in an experience that he wants some comfort and support. Since God is not willing to talk to one who is not willing to listen and obey, Saul decides to consult with a witch. Now prior to this event Saul has attempted to kill every witch, or wizard in Israel to follow the counsel of God in Deuteronomy 18:9-14. Now that he feels desperate he is willing to go against his better judgment.
When Saul goes to the Witch he disguises himself for he does not want people to see him and his activities, and he does not want to frighten the Witch lest she not give him what he wants from her. When Saul presents his case to the Witch the first thing that happens is that she is informed that her customer is Saul. She did not have that information on her own but was provided this information through her supernatural contacts. Saul is properly impressed that she has a source of supernatural information. Saul assumes that it comes from the person he is seeking to contact – the Prophet Samuel. Saul is not able to see anyone but he asks the Witch and she reports that she sees an old man coming up, apparently from the grave, covered with a mantle. She apparently assumes that it is Samuel, and Saul assumes that it is Samuel. She hears the message of condemnation from the apparition which she sees and she passes this message of discouragement on to Saul. Saul faints with discouragement after hearing the message.
Now the great question is, was the thing which the Witch saw the real Samuel? My answer would be no, it was not. It was not Samuel for the following reasons. God says that the dead know not anything. So to attempt to communicate with Samuel would be as possible as talking to Jake Sulley while he was in Cryo. It can not be done. Secondly, God would not allow His dead prophet to respond to a person that God has already declared to be worthy of death. Thirdly God is not going to violate His principles to encourage people to violate His principles. To reward rebellious Saul, and the rebellious witch, would be to train, and reward, people to do exactly what He told them not to do. God does not function that way.
The Second question would be, if the thing that the Witch saw was not Samuel then who was it? The answer is that it would be Satan, or one of his fallen angels, for they are the only supernatural beings who would attempt to contradict God. Angels are supernatural beings and can do many things that are wondrous and supernatural on our plane of existence. One of those things is that they can be invisible around us, they can take on different forms, and they can communicate information that is not readily available to the rest of us. So the fallen angels would, and do, encourage people to come to them for wisdom that God will not give, because it is not good for us. Satan can tell his witches information that is private to all else but Satan was there when an event occurred and can communicate that information to others. He displayed this by revealing the fact that the Witches customer was King Saul. He also can pretend to be something, or someone else to convince people that they are talking to their loved ones.
The key concept is that one of the key factors of information received from demons, through what ever avenue they want to communicate, is that the information is never intended to bring the person into a surrendered obedient relationship with God. God’s intent, on the other hand, is to confront, if necessary, but to offer hope for a renewed relationship if the person is willing. His goal is never to discourage an honest hearted attempt to renew a relationship with God.
In conclusion, God has clearly stated that when a person is dead, that person is totally unable to communicate information to anyone else, until they are resurrected. So any thing that attempts to communicate information, from someone who is dead, is not from God but from Satan. Any avenue of information that presents the idea that the information came from the dead, is from Satan, not from God.
God wants us to come to Him to seek the answers to our questions. He will always help us to get the information we need, not always what we want. He wants to give us the truth in such a manner that it helps us to draw nearer to Him, the source of all information and wisdom. God will not help us to indulge in error, or something destructive. He will only help with the truth, especially that truth that helps us to come to Him. Let us therefore shut the door on that communication that is meant to destroy us and help us to open the door in our minds to that communication which helps us to find our way to God.
As I was meditating upon the subject of Cryo sleep, I thought that this was a great metaphor for something that the Bible calls “sleep”. In the Bible there is regular sleep that all humans do for some period almost every day. This sleep is the normal rest taken, usually at evening, and from which we all awaken every day to go about our duties; and then there is a sleep from which we do not awaken without the help of an outside force – the sleep of death. I Corinthians 15:6,18,20,51,52
Death as a form of sleep is one of the more interesting concepts in the Bible. Jesus describes it in John 11. One of Jesus’ favorite people, Lazarus has contracted a fatal illness and the family calls to Jesus because He is the great healer. Jesus delays his coming to see Lazarus until Lazarus is dead. When the disciples ask about the delay of Jesus to respond He reports that Lazarus is “sleeping”. The disciples think this is pretty good for they think that he is sleeping in healing rest. Jesus clarifies this thought by saying that He is going to get Lazarus and wake him up from his sleep, because Lazarus had died. John 11:1-14 Jesus was the outside force that would awaken Lazarus and eventually will awaken all who are “sleeping” in the tomb today.
As Jake Sulley stated from his experience, there is no dreaming in Cryo, so there is no dreaming when one is dead. God says that when a man dies that very day all of his thinking stops. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalms 146:4 Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 9-10 states the following:
“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which thou takest under the sun. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”
Nothing goes on for the person who has died. He has as much awareness of things around him as Jake Sulley described about his ability to dream when in Cryo.
This concept of not thinking, feeling, loving, hating, communicating has some interesting ramifications on things we normally take for granted. One of those things that people accept quite freely are things like Vampires, Witches, Wizards, Ghosts, Zombies, etc. In each of the subjects listed there is a requirement to be dead and yet not dead or to communicate with the dead. The Bible clearly states that when a person dies they do not communicate with anyone living unless they have been resurrected from the dead – or brought back to living, thinking, breathing, sharing by the power of God. So a Vampire by definition can not be for a vampire is supposed to be a dead person who continues to live, thus violating the statement of God. Witches and Wizards get their information and power from communicating with the dead. Now according to the Bible this can not be for the Bible says that a dead person is totally unable to think, or communicate any thing. A Ghost is supposed to be the soul of a dead person who is still moving around due to some kind of unfinished business. And a Zombie is something that should be dead but is still moving around attacking people for some unknown reason. All of these things the Bible says can not happen.
So the obvious question is that people have this belief, and have a variety of experiences of coming in contact with ugly, gruesome, violent, evil persons who appear to have died yet people see and communicate with something. The clearest Bible story we have on the subject is the story of King Saul and the Witch of Endor. I Samuel 28:3-25. In this story King Saul has through his rebellion shut off every normal avenue of communication with God. Since King Saul has not wanted to submit to the counsel of the prophet Samuel, and did not want to pray, or have anything to do with God, he is now in an experience that he wants some comfort and support. Since God is not willing to talk to one who is not willing to listen and obey, Saul decides to consult with a witch. Now prior to this event Saul has attempted to kill every witch, or wizard in Israel to follow the counsel of God in Deuteronomy 18:9-14. Now that he feels desperate he is willing to go against his better judgment.
When Saul goes to the Witch he disguises himself for he does not want people to see him and his activities, and he does not want to frighten the Witch lest she not give him what he wants from her. When Saul presents his case to the Witch the first thing that happens is that she is informed that her customer is Saul. She did not have that information on her own but was provided this information through her supernatural contacts. Saul is properly impressed that she has a source of supernatural information. Saul assumes that it comes from the person he is seeking to contact – the Prophet Samuel. Saul is not able to see anyone but he asks the Witch and she reports that she sees an old man coming up, apparently from the grave, covered with a mantle. She apparently assumes that it is Samuel, and Saul assumes that it is Samuel. She hears the message of condemnation from the apparition which she sees and she passes this message of discouragement on to Saul. Saul faints with discouragement after hearing the message.
Now the great question is, was the thing which the Witch saw the real Samuel? My answer would be no, it was not. It was not Samuel for the following reasons. God says that the dead know not anything. So to attempt to communicate with Samuel would be as possible as talking to Jake Sulley while he was in Cryo. It can not be done. Secondly, God would not allow His dead prophet to respond to a person that God has already declared to be worthy of death. Thirdly God is not going to violate His principles to encourage people to violate His principles. To reward rebellious Saul, and the rebellious witch, would be to train, and reward, people to do exactly what He told them not to do. God does not function that way.
The Second question would be, if the thing that the Witch saw was not Samuel then who was it? The answer is that it would be Satan, or one of his fallen angels, for they are the only supernatural beings who would attempt to contradict God. Angels are supernatural beings and can do many things that are wondrous and supernatural on our plane of existence. One of those things is that they can be invisible around us, they can take on different forms, and they can communicate information that is not readily available to the rest of us. So the fallen angels would, and do, encourage people to come to them for wisdom that God will not give, because it is not good for us. Satan can tell his witches information that is private to all else but Satan was there when an event occurred and can communicate that information to others. He displayed this by revealing the fact that the Witches customer was King Saul. He also can pretend to be something, or someone else to convince people that they are talking to their loved ones.
The key concept is that one of the key factors of information received from demons, through what ever avenue they want to communicate, is that the information is never intended to bring the person into a surrendered obedient relationship with God. God’s intent, on the other hand, is to confront, if necessary, but to offer hope for a renewed relationship if the person is willing. His goal is never to discourage an honest hearted attempt to renew a relationship with God.
In conclusion, God has clearly stated that when a person is dead, that person is totally unable to communicate information to anyone else, until they are resurrected. So any thing that attempts to communicate information, from someone who is dead, is not from God but from Satan. Any avenue of information that presents the idea that the information came from the dead, is from Satan, not from God.
God wants us to come to Him to seek the answers to our questions. He will always help us to get the information we need, not always what we want. He wants to give us the truth in such a manner that it helps us to draw nearer to Him, the source of all information and wisdom. God will not help us to indulge in error, or something destructive. He will only help with the truth, especially that truth that helps us to come to Him. Let us therefore shut the door on that communication that is meant to destroy us and help us to open the door in our minds to that communication which helps us to find our way to God.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Avatar and the Garden of Eden Restored
One of the wonderful things about the movie Avatar is that it seems to tap into a racial memory about the Garden of Eden. Numbers of people have become depressed over the fact that they cannot go to a planet like Pandora to see the beauties and wonders of nature as depicted in the movie. It is this writer’s perspective that God intends for man to have this very thing. God wants us to have the reality of what Pandora and the movie Avatar have intimated about what we need.
As I have studied the Bible over the years I have found a few signs of the Garden of Eden and what God plans to do with it, and what He wants to do to reunite it with His people. First of all God has sent His angels to watch over the gate way to the Garden of Eden and kept His angels on guard that no unconverted person enters into the Garden. This of course implies that a converted person would have access to the Garden at some time. For this to be true would imply that the Garden of Eden is out there somewhere waiting for God’s timing to allow us to come back into the Garden and to have access to the Tree of Life once again.
In Ezekiel 47:1-12 is a scene described that is similar to that of Genesis 2:1-15 where there is a river of pure water coming out of the Garden and watering the Earth. Around the headwaters is a tree whose fruit comes out monthly and the leaves of the tree have healing qualities. This scene is similar to that of Revelation 22:1-2 where the Tree of Life is very close to the River of the water of life that proceeds out of the throne of God. This Tree is very similar to that of the tree in Ezekiel 47. This Tree, and this River, and this Throne are in the New Jerusalem. It is almost as if this section of the Garden of Eden was preserved by God in the New Jerusalem for us to see when we are taken to heaven for 1000 years. God tells us that the New Jerusalem will descend from heaven to Earth and then God will recreate the heavens and the earth and restore it to its Edenic beauty for us to enjoy forever.
This scene is spoken of in the writings of Ellen G. White – a woman whom the Seventh Day Adventist Church considers to be a prophetess. She wrote of the Garden of Eden being removed from Earth and taken to heaven as a token of the wonders that God wanted us to have. She also talks about Adam seeing the Garden after taken to heaven. The story goes as follows:
“Before the ransomed throng is the Holy City. Jesus opens wide the pearly gates, and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. There they behold the Paradise of God, the home of Adam in his innocency. Then that voice, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, is heard, saying: "Your conflict is ended." "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
Now is fulfilled the Saviour's prayer for His disciples: "I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." "Faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24), Christ presents to the Father the purchase of His blood, declaring: "Here am I, and the children whom Thou hast given Me." "Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept." Oh, the wonders of redeeming love! the rapture of that hour when the infinite Father, looking upon the ransomed, shall behold His image, sin's discord banished, its blight removed, and the human once more in harmony with the divine!
With unutterable love, Jesus welcomes His faithful ones to the joy of their Lord. The Saviour's joy is in seeing, in the kingdom of glory, the souls that have been saved by His agony and humiliation. And the redeemed will be sharers in His joy, as they behold, among the blessed, those who have been won to Christ through their prayers, their labors, and their loving sacrifice. As they gather about the great white throne, gladness unspeakable will fill their hearts, when they behold those whom they have won for Christ, and see that one has gained others, and these still others, all brought into the haven of rest, there to lay their crowns at Jesus' feet and praise Him through the endless cycles of eternity.
As the ransomed ones are welcomed to the City of God, there rings out upon the air an exultant cry of adoration. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God is standing with outstretched arms to receive the father of our race--the being whom He created, who sinned against his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are borne upon the Saviour's form. As Adam discerns the prints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the bosom of his Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at His feet, crying: "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!" Tenderly the Saviour lifts him up and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long been exiled.
After his expulsion from Eden, Adam's life on earth was filled with sorrow. Every dying leaf, every victim of sacrifice, every blight upon the fair face of nature, every stain upon man's purity, was a fresh reminder of his sin. Terrible was the agony of remorse as he beheld iniquity abounding, and, in answer to his warnings, met the reproaches cast upon himself as the cause of sin. With patient humility he bore, for nearly a thousand years, the penalty of transgression. Faithfully did he repent of his sin and trust in the merits of the promised Saviour, and he died in the hope of a resurrection. The Son of God redeemed man's failure and fall; and now, through the work of the atonement, Adam is reinstated in his first dominion.
Transported with joy, he beholds the trees that were once his delight--the very trees whose fruit he himself had gathered in the days of his innocence and joy. He sees the vines that his own hands have trained, the very flowers that he once loved to care for. His mind grasps the reality of the scene; he comprehends that this is indeed Eden restored, more lovely now than when he was banished from it. The Saviour leads him to the tree of life and plucks the glorious fruit and bids him eat. He looks about him and beholds a multitude of his family redeemed, standing in the Paradise of God. Then he casts his glittering crown at the feet of Jesus and, falling upon His breast, embraces the Redeemer. He touches the golden harp, and the vaults of heaven echo the triumphant song: "Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and lives again!" The family of Adam take up the strain and cast their crowns at the Saviour's feet as they bow before Him in adoration.
This reunion is witnessed by the angels who wept at the fall of Adam and rejoiced when Jesus, after His resurrection, ascended to heaven, having opened the grave for all who should believe on His name. Now they behold the work of redemption accomplished, and they unite their voices in the song of praise.” The Great Controversy pages 647-648
http://www.whiteestate.org/books/gc/gc.asp
I personally want to be able to go to heaven, and to see the wonderful events spoken of in the above quotation. I want to see the Garden of Eden and I want to taste the fruit of that wonderful tree. This great opportunity awaits every single person who is willing to explore the truths of the Bible with an open and humble heart. I hope to see you there as well.
As I have studied the Bible over the years I have found a few signs of the Garden of Eden and what God plans to do with it, and what He wants to do to reunite it with His people. First of all God has sent His angels to watch over the gate way to the Garden of Eden and kept His angels on guard that no unconverted person enters into the Garden. This of course implies that a converted person would have access to the Garden at some time. For this to be true would imply that the Garden of Eden is out there somewhere waiting for God’s timing to allow us to come back into the Garden and to have access to the Tree of Life once again.
In Ezekiel 47:1-12 is a scene described that is similar to that of Genesis 2:1-15 where there is a river of pure water coming out of the Garden and watering the Earth. Around the headwaters is a tree whose fruit comes out monthly and the leaves of the tree have healing qualities. This scene is similar to that of Revelation 22:1-2 where the Tree of Life is very close to the River of the water of life that proceeds out of the throne of God. This Tree is very similar to that of the tree in Ezekiel 47. This Tree, and this River, and this Throne are in the New Jerusalem. It is almost as if this section of the Garden of Eden was preserved by God in the New Jerusalem for us to see when we are taken to heaven for 1000 years. God tells us that the New Jerusalem will descend from heaven to Earth and then God will recreate the heavens and the earth and restore it to its Edenic beauty for us to enjoy forever.
This scene is spoken of in the writings of Ellen G. White – a woman whom the Seventh Day Adventist Church considers to be a prophetess. She wrote of the Garden of Eden being removed from Earth and taken to heaven as a token of the wonders that God wanted us to have. She also talks about Adam seeing the Garden after taken to heaven. The story goes as follows:
“Before the ransomed throng is the Holy City. Jesus opens wide the pearly gates, and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. There they behold the Paradise of God, the home of Adam in his innocency. Then that voice, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, is heard, saying: "Your conflict is ended." "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
Now is fulfilled the Saviour's prayer for His disciples: "I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." "Faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24), Christ presents to the Father the purchase of His blood, declaring: "Here am I, and the children whom Thou hast given Me." "Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept." Oh, the wonders of redeeming love! the rapture of that hour when the infinite Father, looking upon the ransomed, shall behold His image, sin's discord banished, its blight removed, and the human once more in harmony with the divine!
With unutterable love, Jesus welcomes His faithful ones to the joy of their Lord. The Saviour's joy is in seeing, in the kingdom of glory, the souls that have been saved by His agony and humiliation. And the redeemed will be sharers in His joy, as they behold, among the blessed, those who have been won to Christ through their prayers, their labors, and their loving sacrifice. As they gather about the great white throne, gladness unspeakable will fill their hearts, when they behold those whom they have won for Christ, and see that one has gained others, and these still others, all brought into the haven of rest, there to lay their crowns at Jesus' feet and praise Him through the endless cycles of eternity.
As the ransomed ones are welcomed to the City of God, there rings out upon the air an exultant cry of adoration. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God is standing with outstretched arms to receive the father of our race--the being whom He created, who sinned against his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are borne upon the Saviour's form. As Adam discerns the prints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the bosom of his Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at His feet, crying: "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!" Tenderly the Saviour lifts him up and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long been exiled.
After his expulsion from Eden, Adam's life on earth was filled with sorrow. Every dying leaf, every victim of sacrifice, every blight upon the fair face of nature, every stain upon man's purity, was a fresh reminder of his sin. Terrible was the agony of remorse as he beheld iniquity abounding, and, in answer to his warnings, met the reproaches cast upon himself as the cause of sin. With patient humility he bore, for nearly a thousand years, the penalty of transgression. Faithfully did he repent of his sin and trust in the merits of the promised Saviour, and he died in the hope of a resurrection. The Son of God redeemed man's failure and fall; and now, through the work of the atonement, Adam is reinstated in his first dominion.
Transported with joy, he beholds the trees that were once his delight--the very trees whose fruit he himself had gathered in the days of his innocence and joy. He sees the vines that his own hands have trained, the very flowers that he once loved to care for. His mind grasps the reality of the scene; he comprehends that this is indeed Eden restored, more lovely now than when he was banished from it. The Saviour leads him to the tree of life and plucks the glorious fruit and bids him eat. He looks about him and beholds a multitude of his family redeemed, standing in the Paradise of God. Then he casts his glittering crown at the feet of Jesus and, falling upon His breast, embraces the Redeemer. He touches the golden harp, and the vaults of heaven echo the triumphant song: "Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and lives again!" The family of Adam take up the strain and cast their crowns at the Saviour's feet as they bow before Him in adoration.
This reunion is witnessed by the angels who wept at the fall of Adam and rejoiced when Jesus, after His resurrection, ascended to heaven, having opened the grave for all who should believe on His name. Now they behold the work of redemption accomplished, and they unite their voices in the song of praise.” The Great Controversy pages 647-648
http://www.whiteestate.org/books/gc/gc.asp
I personally want to be able to go to heaven, and to see the wonderful events spoken of in the above quotation. I want to see the Garden of Eden and I want to taste the fruit of that wonderful tree. This great opportunity awaits every single person who is willing to explore the truths of the Bible with an open and humble heart. I hope to see you there as well.
Avatar and the Removal of Adam from Eden
In the closing scenes of the movie Avatar is an interesting scene. The remaining people from the Hells Gate camp are being escorted out of the camp into a shuttle to return to Earth. In the judgment of the Na’vi, with Toruk Makto being the intercessor, have concluded that the majority of the people are not safe to retain on Pandora and must be sent away lest harm come to Pandora as a result of their presence and their potential interference with life. This judgment is a result of the Investigative Judgment and is a result of the evaluation that came as a result of Eywa winning the war between the Na’vi and the people from Earth.
This scene is reminiscent of the events that came about from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God had created a special place for His first two children and God called the place the Garden of Eden. Eden means pleasure or delight in Hebrew, so the English translation would be the Garden of Delight or the Garden of Pleasure. In every way Eden was the picture of perfect peace, safety, and the fulfillment of righteous pleasure. Nothing killed one another in Eden and everything communicated with each other, in a way similar to the communication qualities of the plants and animals as represented on Pandora.
In the center of the Garden were two trees – the great tree was called the Tree of Life and Adam and Eve were to eat freely of the fruit of this tree for it would perpetuate life. God wanted Adam and Eve to never die but to live and enjoy the pleasures that He had designed for them. Near the Tree of Life was a tree to test the trust of Adam and Eve. God created a tree called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had forbidden Adam and Eve to eat of this tree for it would expose them to evil, the evil of not trusting the good will and care of God. God allowed this tree to be in the garden to allow Adam and Eve to decide whether they would trust God or would they put their own wisdom above His.
In Genesis 3 the story is told that Satan, the great dragon and the great serpent of Revelation 12:9, came to this tree and started to talk to Eve, who had separated herself from her husband Adam. Eve apparently felt that she was strong enough to handle any kind of emergency by herself and did not feel the need to have her husband with her. When the serpent began to speak to her she was shocked but attracted to this new thing. She listened to the words of the serpent and when the serpent told her his reason why God did not want them to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of God and Evil, it made sense to her mind. The serpent told Eve that the reason that God did not want them to eat of this tree is because it would make them like gods and they would know good and evil and implied that they would not have to be dependent upon God any more but could judge things accurately on their own. When Eve heard this she thought that that made sense. The serpent also told her that when God told them that they would surely die if they ate of the tree, that that was not a true statement. The serpent told them just the opposite of what God had said. God said they would die if they ate of the tree and the serpent said that they would not die. Now Eve had to decide whether the Creator knew what was true or whether the serpent knew what was truth. She was not eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and had not even tasted of the fruit. After weighing the data, as she understood it, she concluded that the serpent was correct and God was in error. She apparently concluded this, because the serpent could speak, and she apparently concluded that he was able to speak as a result of eating the fruit, a very erroneous conclusion. She did not know that a fallen angel can take on many forms, and do many supernatural things, that she did not understand fully. See II Corinthians 11:13-15 A fallen angel is, after all, an angel who had chosen to rebel against God, just as he was trying to get Eve to do.
After evaluating all of the data available to her, she decided that she was wise enough to eat of the fruit and be as wise as the serpent. After all she did not see, hear, smell, or sense any evil from the tree or its fruit. So Eve decided to eat of the fruit. Again she did not detect any evil and she decided to share this fruit with her husband Adam. When Adam saw Eve with the fruit he decided that she was going to potentially die, and since he also could not sense any evil, he chose to join her without talking to God about this event. After eating he noticed that he was naked as was Eve. To care for this he made clothing out of fig leaves to cover their nakedness. They began to notice that something had changed, but they did not know exactly what it was but they began to have a sense of dread and fear, especially of meeting with God.
It appears that God came to visit with Adam and Eve in the morning and evening of each day. That evening God came to visit his children as He had always done. But this time Adam and Eve did not come to Him. He called them and asked where they were. They said that they had heard his voice but they had hidden themselves from His presence. Adam told God that he was aware that he was naked and that was the reason he hid himself. God then asked Adam if he had eaten of the tree that He had instructed him not to eat of. Instead of answering this question directly Adam told God that it was God’s woman that made him eat implying that he, Adam, was not to blame. God asked Eve about the fruit and she responded it that it was God’s serpent that beguiled her. Then God turned to the serpent. God knew who the serpent was, God knew that the serpent was being used by Satan to be the medium of communication and that it was Satan who had deceived Adam and Eve as he had done one third of the angels in heaven. Revelation 12:4 Satan had deceived the angels and now he had deceived God’s children on Earth.
God condemned the serpent and used it as a symbol of deception and evil. God also made the serpent to crawl upon its belly when once it was a flying serpent, in some ways similar to the flying dragons of Pandora. Isaiah 30:6. God also makes a prophetic statement to the serpent that his seed, his descendents, will fight against the descendents of the woman – the church. But there will be One seed that will strike a death blow to the serpent directly, yet the serpent will wound the Seed of the Woman.
God then tells of the suffering and the changes that will come as a result of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace. But inherent in all of these issues is the promise that the Son of God will come and die for the sins of Adam, Eve, and all of their children.
God then offers an exchange. He is willing to exchange the clothing made by Adam and Eve for clothing made by His hand. In order to get the skins necessary to clothe Adam and Eve God informs Adam that the sacrificial system will be instituted and that the animal sacrificed will be a symbol of the death of the Son of God in the future. In addition this death will provide the covering made by God to cover the nakedness of man. These sacrifices, and this clothing, are both symbols of the experience of salvation – provided for man by infinite God.
The last event to take place is that Adam and Eve must leave the Garden of Eden. God did not want sinful man partaking of the Tree of Life to perpetuate a life of rebellion and sin. So God sent them out into the world to be tillers of the ground. They would now have to work for their food rather than just pluck and eat. But again the promise of God was that the way to the Tree of Life was to be preserved. Satan will never be able to block our awareness of our need for this tree. The flaming sword of the Word of God was to ever keep Adam and Eve, and their descendents, aware of the Tree of Life and the original garden. It has been God’s plan to restore humanity to the life that He had originally made for them. This plan will be fulfilled. It is our opportunity to work with God to fulfill this goal. May we choose Him now.
This scene is reminiscent of the events that came about from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God had created a special place for His first two children and God called the place the Garden of Eden. Eden means pleasure or delight in Hebrew, so the English translation would be the Garden of Delight or the Garden of Pleasure. In every way Eden was the picture of perfect peace, safety, and the fulfillment of righteous pleasure. Nothing killed one another in Eden and everything communicated with each other, in a way similar to the communication qualities of the plants and animals as represented on Pandora.
In the center of the Garden were two trees – the great tree was called the Tree of Life and Adam and Eve were to eat freely of the fruit of this tree for it would perpetuate life. God wanted Adam and Eve to never die but to live and enjoy the pleasures that He had designed for them. Near the Tree of Life was a tree to test the trust of Adam and Eve. God created a tree called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had forbidden Adam and Eve to eat of this tree for it would expose them to evil, the evil of not trusting the good will and care of God. God allowed this tree to be in the garden to allow Adam and Eve to decide whether they would trust God or would they put their own wisdom above His.
In Genesis 3 the story is told that Satan, the great dragon and the great serpent of Revelation 12:9, came to this tree and started to talk to Eve, who had separated herself from her husband Adam. Eve apparently felt that she was strong enough to handle any kind of emergency by herself and did not feel the need to have her husband with her. When the serpent began to speak to her she was shocked but attracted to this new thing. She listened to the words of the serpent and when the serpent told her his reason why God did not want them to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of God and Evil, it made sense to her mind. The serpent told Eve that the reason that God did not want them to eat of this tree is because it would make them like gods and they would know good and evil and implied that they would not have to be dependent upon God any more but could judge things accurately on their own. When Eve heard this she thought that that made sense. The serpent also told her that when God told them that they would surely die if they ate of the tree, that that was not a true statement. The serpent told them just the opposite of what God had said. God said they would die if they ate of the tree and the serpent said that they would not die. Now Eve had to decide whether the Creator knew what was true or whether the serpent knew what was truth. She was not eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and had not even tasted of the fruit. After weighing the data, as she understood it, she concluded that the serpent was correct and God was in error. She apparently concluded this, because the serpent could speak, and she apparently concluded that he was able to speak as a result of eating the fruit, a very erroneous conclusion. She did not know that a fallen angel can take on many forms, and do many supernatural things, that she did not understand fully. See II Corinthians 11:13-15 A fallen angel is, after all, an angel who had chosen to rebel against God, just as he was trying to get Eve to do.
After evaluating all of the data available to her, she decided that she was wise enough to eat of the fruit and be as wise as the serpent. After all she did not see, hear, smell, or sense any evil from the tree or its fruit. So Eve decided to eat of the fruit. Again she did not detect any evil and she decided to share this fruit with her husband Adam. When Adam saw Eve with the fruit he decided that she was going to potentially die, and since he also could not sense any evil, he chose to join her without talking to God about this event. After eating he noticed that he was naked as was Eve. To care for this he made clothing out of fig leaves to cover their nakedness. They began to notice that something had changed, but they did not know exactly what it was but they began to have a sense of dread and fear, especially of meeting with God.
It appears that God came to visit with Adam and Eve in the morning and evening of each day. That evening God came to visit his children as He had always done. But this time Adam and Eve did not come to Him. He called them and asked where they were. They said that they had heard his voice but they had hidden themselves from His presence. Adam told God that he was aware that he was naked and that was the reason he hid himself. God then asked Adam if he had eaten of the tree that He had instructed him not to eat of. Instead of answering this question directly Adam told God that it was God’s woman that made him eat implying that he, Adam, was not to blame. God asked Eve about the fruit and she responded it that it was God’s serpent that beguiled her. Then God turned to the serpent. God knew who the serpent was, God knew that the serpent was being used by Satan to be the medium of communication and that it was Satan who had deceived Adam and Eve as he had done one third of the angels in heaven. Revelation 12:4 Satan had deceived the angels and now he had deceived God’s children on Earth.
God condemned the serpent and used it as a symbol of deception and evil. God also made the serpent to crawl upon its belly when once it was a flying serpent, in some ways similar to the flying dragons of Pandora. Isaiah 30:6. God also makes a prophetic statement to the serpent that his seed, his descendents, will fight against the descendents of the woman – the church. But there will be One seed that will strike a death blow to the serpent directly, yet the serpent will wound the Seed of the Woman.
God then tells of the suffering and the changes that will come as a result of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace. But inherent in all of these issues is the promise that the Son of God will come and die for the sins of Adam, Eve, and all of their children.
God then offers an exchange. He is willing to exchange the clothing made by Adam and Eve for clothing made by His hand. In order to get the skins necessary to clothe Adam and Eve God informs Adam that the sacrificial system will be instituted and that the animal sacrificed will be a symbol of the death of the Son of God in the future. In addition this death will provide the covering made by God to cover the nakedness of man. These sacrifices, and this clothing, are both symbols of the experience of salvation – provided for man by infinite God.
The last event to take place is that Adam and Eve must leave the Garden of Eden. God did not want sinful man partaking of the Tree of Life to perpetuate a life of rebellion and sin. So God sent them out into the world to be tillers of the ground. They would now have to work for their food rather than just pluck and eat. But again the promise of God was that the way to the Tree of Life was to be preserved. Satan will never be able to block our awareness of our need for this tree. The flaming sword of the Word of God was to ever keep Adam and Eve, and their descendents, aware of the Tree of Life and the original garden. It has been God’s plan to restore humanity to the life that He had originally made for them. This plan will be fulfilled. It is our opportunity to work with God to fulfill this goal. May we choose Him now.
Avatar and the Jar Head Clan
In the movie Avatar, Jake Sulley, the hero is asked by the Na’vi to identify himself. He stated that he was Jake Sulley of the Jar Head Clan. The Na’vi could relate to clan hood and they could also relate to the fact that Jake identified himself as a warrior rather than a scientist. The Na’vi stated that they had not met a sky people warrior and they decided to allow Jake to spend some time with them so that they could learn what this warrior was like and how it could help them.
All of the people, the scientists, and the military people were all shocked that Jake, in only one day, had been accepted into the Na’vi clan while many “brighter” people had not been allowed in. But in life, when God calls, and when He wants something done, then things get moving and doors open that might not have been opened at any other time. The movie allows certain things to happen and Jake took full advantage of the opportunities to become a tribe member.
In the Bible this same phenomenon happens. In the Bible one of the major threads of discussion is that of becoming a part of the children of God. To become a part of this national clan would identify one as a part of the family of God. Anyone could become a member of the children of Israel if they chose to be a follower of the ways of God. But there were a few restrictions. In Deuteronomy 23:3 and Ammonite, nor a Moabite, was allowed to come into the congregation of the Lord for ten generations – virtually meaning that no one from Moab or Ammon would come into the camp. Yet, the Bible states that one Moabite came into the camp in less than one generation and was incorporated into the lineage of the Messiah. That individual was a woman named Ruth.
In the book of Ruth the story is told that Ruth married a Hebrew husband and was married to him for several years before he died. After a few years Ruth’s mother in law Naomi was going to go home to Bethlehem of Judah and Ruth declared that she would not leave Naomi and would go back to Israel with her. Not only would she go back but she chose to adopt all of the ways of the Israelite nation, and would accept Israel’s God and that nothing would separate her from Naomi but death. This testimony of Ruth’s, recorded in Ruth 1:16-18 is the testimony of all who would follow God and God will treat each and every one of them, who testify like Ruth, as a true follower of God. Ruth became a full member of the Jewish nation – the followers of God.
This theme of becoming a true Jew – a follower of God, is followed all through the Bible and was one of the major points of contention by the time of John the Baptist. In Matthew 3:9 John attempts to correct the Jewish people from making the claim that blood lineage to Abraham makes one saved. John protests this idea and wants people to produce the same fruit as Ruth did – a commitment to the God of Israel and a willingness to follow God’s counsel given to the prophets of Israel. If they would do these things they would be accounted of the tribe/clan of Israel. If they did not do these things they would be resting on a false promise and God would, and will, reject them at His second coming.
Paul restates this issue in Romans 2:28-29. Paul claims that being a Jew by circumcision and by doing Jewish things does not make a person a true Jew. Paul claims that to be a true Jew is a matter of the heart relationship that bound Ruth to Naomi and to Naomi’s God. That circumcision is more a matter of the heart than it is a matter of the flesh/genetics. Those who accepted God by faith, and who walked in God’s ways, would be considered by God to be a part of His clan. Talk alone does not make it in the Christian world.
Paul again restates this issue in Romans 9:3-8 and Galatians 2:6-8, 29. Paul claims that just as Abraham received children by faith so one becomes a child of Abraham, by faith. When we accept the God of Abraham we are considered by God to be of His family. Our actions will also show that this change has occurred. We will start to act like the heroes of the Bible and especially that son of Abraham – Jesus of Nazareth. And if we accept the Messiah – Jesus of Nazareth – we will be accounted children of Abraham. We will become Jews – the true clan of God.
A final statement on this clan issue is stated in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9. Many claim to be Jews but since they have not accepted Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Christ – the son of Abraham, by faith and they do not act like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Christ, they are really of the synagogue/clan of Satan.
When Jake accepted the Na’vi ways he wanted to become a clan member. To do this he had to submit to the rites and ways of the Na’vi including riding one of the dragons of Pandora. Jake had decided that he would go to any lengths to become a clan member and felt fulfilled in doing so. When he had completed all of the requirements then he was accepted by the clan leadership and the rank and file leadership as well. So when we come into the Christian clan we must do all of the things that God asks of us as well. In addition God promises to do all of these things with us and to come into our hearts and minds and do them in us. This promise, when accepted by faith, allows us to become a part of His clan. This promise awaits each and every one of us in the here and now. All of the joys implied in the fantasy movie of Avatar are awaiting a greater fulfillment in the reality of the Christian walk. What choice will you make?
All of the people, the scientists, and the military people were all shocked that Jake, in only one day, had been accepted into the Na’vi clan while many “brighter” people had not been allowed in. But in life, when God calls, and when He wants something done, then things get moving and doors open that might not have been opened at any other time. The movie allows certain things to happen and Jake took full advantage of the opportunities to become a tribe member.
In the Bible this same phenomenon happens. In the Bible one of the major threads of discussion is that of becoming a part of the children of God. To become a part of this national clan would identify one as a part of the family of God. Anyone could become a member of the children of Israel if they chose to be a follower of the ways of God. But there were a few restrictions. In Deuteronomy 23:3 and Ammonite, nor a Moabite, was allowed to come into the congregation of the Lord for ten generations – virtually meaning that no one from Moab or Ammon would come into the camp. Yet, the Bible states that one Moabite came into the camp in less than one generation and was incorporated into the lineage of the Messiah. That individual was a woman named Ruth.
In the book of Ruth the story is told that Ruth married a Hebrew husband and was married to him for several years before he died. After a few years Ruth’s mother in law Naomi was going to go home to Bethlehem of Judah and Ruth declared that she would not leave Naomi and would go back to Israel with her. Not only would she go back but she chose to adopt all of the ways of the Israelite nation, and would accept Israel’s God and that nothing would separate her from Naomi but death. This testimony of Ruth’s, recorded in Ruth 1:16-18 is the testimony of all who would follow God and God will treat each and every one of them, who testify like Ruth, as a true follower of God. Ruth became a full member of the Jewish nation – the followers of God.
This theme of becoming a true Jew – a follower of God, is followed all through the Bible and was one of the major points of contention by the time of John the Baptist. In Matthew 3:9 John attempts to correct the Jewish people from making the claim that blood lineage to Abraham makes one saved. John protests this idea and wants people to produce the same fruit as Ruth did – a commitment to the God of Israel and a willingness to follow God’s counsel given to the prophets of Israel. If they would do these things they would be accounted of the tribe/clan of Israel. If they did not do these things they would be resting on a false promise and God would, and will, reject them at His second coming.
Paul restates this issue in Romans 2:28-29. Paul claims that being a Jew by circumcision and by doing Jewish things does not make a person a true Jew. Paul claims that to be a true Jew is a matter of the heart relationship that bound Ruth to Naomi and to Naomi’s God. That circumcision is more a matter of the heart than it is a matter of the flesh/genetics. Those who accepted God by faith, and who walked in God’s ways, would be considered by God to be a part of His clan. Talk alone does not make it in the Christian world.
Paul again restates this issue in Romans 9:3-8 and Galatians 2:6-8, 29. Paul claims that just as Abraham received children by faith so one becomes a child of Abraham, by faith. When we accept the God of Abraham we are considered by God to be of His family. Our actions will also show that this change has occurred. We will start to act like the heroes of the Bible and especially that son of Abraham – Jesus of Nazareth. And if we accept the Messiah – Jesus of Nazareth – we will be accounted children of Abraham. We will become Jews – the true clan of God.
A final statement on this clan issue is stated in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9. Many claim to be Jews but since they have not accepted Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Christ – the son of Abraham, by faith and they do not act like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Christ, they are really of the synagogue/clan of Satan.
When Jake accepted the Na’vi ways he wanted to become a clan member. To do this he had to submit to the rites and ways of the Na’vi including riding one of the dragons of Pandora. Jake had decided that he would go to any lengths to become a clan member and felt fulfilled in doing so. When he had completed all of the requirements then he was accepted by the clan leadership and the rank and file leadership as well. So when we come into the Christian clan we must do all of the things that God asks of us as well. In addition God promises to do all of these things with us and to come into our hearts and minds and do them in us. This promise, when accepted by faith, allows us to become a part of His clan. This promise awaits each and every one of us in the here and now. All of the joys implied in the fantasy movie of Avatar are awaiting a greater fulfillment in the reality of the Christian walk. What choice will you make?
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Avatar and the Investigative Judgment
This article is very similar to the article on Avatar and Probationary Time. This article covers much of the same material with one great difference. This article will focus on the issue of judgment rather than time. In the movie Colonel Quaritch gives Jake 90 days to infiltrate the Na’vi and then will come a final confrontation over the relocation of the Omticaya Tribe to another home tree so that the mining company can dig out the Unobtanium from under their current home. In the process of the 90 days each and every character is revealing more of their focus, desires, and intents. When the probationary time runs out each person will have made their decision as to whose side they will be on and then in the Armageddon that occurs afterward each party will act out their decisions in combat.
In the Bible the issue of judgment is a complicated affair. In virtually every major judgment scene in the Bible there is a predictable process that is revealed. A probationary period of time is given, sometimes in hundreds of years, and sometimes in thousands of years. But in any case when the probationary time is nearing the end God Himself comes down from Heaven to Earth to explore the situation and to make his final assessment and decisions regarding the thoughts, decisions, and actions of the parties involved in the judgment.
In the first judgment scene God assesses the decisions of the angels in heaven. When God created the angels He crated them perfectly with no desire to sin, or to rebel against God. Ezekiel 28:14-15. But somewhere in the process of time, Lucifer, the covering cherub concluded that he wanted to be like God and made a decision to sin against God. Isaiah 14:12-14 Lucifer, and his fellow angels decided that they could take over heaven but Michael, the Son of God – the Head of the Angels, contested with Lucifer and his angels and won the battle/judgment in heaven, and Lucifer and the angels that sinned with him were cast out to the Earth. II Peter 2:4; Revelation 12: 7-13
The next judgment scene is that with Adam and Eve. After Adam and Eve sinned against God, He came to see them. When they did not come to him in the evening He called out to them asking where they were at. Being the all knowing God, He knew where they were at but He questioned them so that they would know what happened to them. He asked them if they had eaten of the tree which He had forbade them to eat of. Their responses revealed that sin had already affected their thinking and they were already blaming each other and God Himself for their sins. As a result of His investigation God initiated a plan of salvation, and a judgment scene of escorting them from the Garden of Eden.
Another judgment scene is when God comes down to Earth to check out the Tower of Babel. Genesis 11:1-9. He had heard of the sins in the Tower of Babel but decided to give it His personal attention. He came and judged that indeed there was a problem at the Tower and as a part of His judgment He confounded the language in an attempt to slow down the evil that was taking place at the Tower. After he confused the language the people separated from each other into language groups and distributed themselves all over the Earth.
In Genesis 18-19 God again comes to Earth to check out the next major problem. This problem was that the cities of the plains were growing increasingly corrupt. God came to investigate it for Himself and He would pass judgment on it and decide whether the cities would continue to live on in their behaviors or to be destroyed. God shares His plans with His friend Abraham and Abraham intercedes for the people because he has family who live in the city – his nephew Lot, and his entire family. God allows Abraham to whittle Him down to the position that if there were 10 righteous people in the city of Sodom that God would not destroy it. It turned out that there were only 4 righteous people and one of those chose to stay with Sodom even when she had left it. God sent two angels into the city to check it out and when the men of the city sexually attacked the angels the final decision was made for the cities of the plains to be destroyed. God removed the righteous and destroyed the wicked.
In the next judgment scene God comes to Egypt to demand that His enslaved people – Israel – should be released. When Egypt refuses to allow Israel to leave God begins the judgment process by sending various plagues on Egypt until He ends up destroying all of Egypt’s armies in the Red Sea and delivers Israel. Exodus 12-15.
Another great judgment scene is when Israel rejects the counsel and correction of God through His prophets and He finally declares that they must go into Babylonian captivity for 70 years. II Chronicles 36:11-21
In the next judgment scene God pronounces that He will set a probationary period of time for Israel of 490 years – starting in 457 BC and going to 34 AD. This period of time would give Israel sufficient opportunities to return to a right relationship with God and if not they would be removed, or cut off, from a relationship with God. Daniel 9:24-27. This period of 70 weeks, or 490 years was cut off from a larger period of time called the 2300 day prophecy which states that there would be 2300 years from 457 BC to the start of the judgment scene in 1844 AD. Daniel 8:14; 7:9-14.
The first facet of this judgment scene is when God Himself, incarnated as Jesus of Nazareth, comes literally to Earth to explore the thinking and behaviors of His people on Earth. While Jesus is investigating His people, they are deciding that they do not want Jesus to reign over them and they reject God as their King and choose a criminal as their Saviour and King, as well as choosing Caesar to be their King. God eventually allowed Rome to come in and destroy the Jewish nation, and its city Jerusalem in 90 for they were judged to be wanting.
In the end of time, God will investigate Earth one more time. He will start the judgment in October of 1844 AD at the end of the 2300 day/years prophecy of Daniel 8:14. This time of judgment started at a later time than what Paul had expressed about “judgment to come” in Acts 24:25. In the end of the 2300 days the “time of judgment” would have come as spoken of in Revelation 14:7. When this time is thoroughly investigated and each person is evaluated as to whether they have accepted Christ as their Saviour, then the end will come and Jesus will come to Earth literally, and take all of his loved ones to heaven for 1000 years. At the end of the 1000 years of Revelation 20:5 then Jesus will return to Earth for the executive judgment and will resurrect the wicked, all those who did not come with Jesus at His second coming, and will burn them up in the lake of fire. Revelation 20:7-15.
When God is finished with this last judgment scene, then He will recreate the heavens and the Earth and restore Earth to its Edenic purity and man will live in a land more beautiful than that of Pandora where there will be no great beasts to endanger one’s life but only peace, safety, and eternal joy. Revelation 21:1-8; Isaiah 65:17-25. The beauties of Pandora will be far surpassed by the newly created Earth, after the final destruction of the wicked. This promise is available to all who will explore these things in the Bible and will allow the real Messiah – Jesus of Nazareth – to forgive them and to help them avail themselves of the promises of Jehovah – Jesus of Nazareth.
In the Bible the issue of judgment is a complicated affair. In virtually every major judgment scene in the Bible there is a predictable process that is revealed. A probationary period of time is given, sometimes in hundreds of years, and sometimes in thousands of years. But in any case when the probationary time is nearing the end God Himself comes down from Heaven to Earth to explore the situation and to make his final assessment and decisions regarding the thoughts, decisions, and actions of the parties involved in the judgment.
In the first judgment scene God assesses the decisions of the angels in heaven. When God created the angels He crated them perfectly with no desire to sin, or to rebel against God. Ezekiel 28:14-15. But somewhere in the process of time, Lucifer, the covering cherub concluded that he wanted to be like God and made a decision to sin against God. Isaiah 14:12-14 Lucifer, and his fellow angels decided that they could take over heaven but Michael, the Son of God – the Head of the Angels, contested with Lucifer and his angels and won the battle/judgment in heaven, and Lucifer and the angels that sinned with him were cast out to the Earth. II Peter 2:4; Revelation 12: 7-13
The next judgment scene is that with Adam and Eve. After Adam and Eve sinned against God, He came to see them. When they did not come to him in the evening He called out to them asking where they were at. Being the all knowing God, He knew where they were at but He questioned them so that they would know what happened to them. He asked them if they had eaten of the tree which He had forbade them to eat of. Their responses revealed that sin had already affected their thinking and they were already blaming each other and God Himself for their sins. As a result of His investigation God initiated a plan of salvation, and a judgment scene of escorting them from the Garden of Eden.
Another judgment scene is when God comes down to Earth to check out the Tower of Babel. Genesis 11:1-9. He had heard of the sins in the Tower of Babel but decided to give it His personal attention. He came and judged that indeed there was a problem at the Tower and as a part of His judgment He confounded the language in an attempt to slow down the evil that was taking place at the Tower. After he confused the language the people separated from each other into language groups and distributed themselves all over the Earth.
In Genesis 18-19 God again comes to Earth to check out the next major problem. This problem was that the cities of the plains were growing increasingly corrupt. God came to investigate it for Himself and He would pass judgment on it and decide whether the cities would continue to live on in their behaviors or to be destroyed. God shares His plans with His friend Abraham and Abraham intercedes for the people because he has family who live in the city – his nephew Lot, and his entire family. God allows Abraham to whittle Him down to the position that if there were 10 righteous people in the city of Sodom that God would not destroy it. It turned out that there were only 4 righteous people and one of those chose to stay with Sodom even when she had left it. God sent two angels into the city to check it out and when the men of the city sexually attacked the angels the final decision was made for the cities of the plains to be destroyed. God removed the righteous and destroyed the wicked.
In the next judgment scene God comes to Egypt to demand that His enslaved people – Israel – should be released. When Egypt refuses to allow Israel to leave God begins the judgment process by sending various plagues on Egypt until He ends up destroying all of Egypt’s armies in the Red Sea and delivers Israel. Exodus 12-15.
Another great judgment scene is when Israel rejects the counsel and correction of God through His prophets and He finally declares that they must go into Babylonian captivity for 70 years. II Chronicles 36:11-21
In the next judgment scene God pronounces that He will set a probationary period of time for Israel of 490 years – starting in 457 BC and going to 34 AD. This period of time would give Israel sufficient opportunities to return to a right relationship with God and if not they would be removed, or cut off, from a relationship with God. Daniel 9:24-27. This period of 70 weeks, or 490 years was cut off from a larger period of time called the 2300 day prophecy which states that there would be 2300 years from 457 BC to the start of the judgment scene in 1844 AD. Daniel 8:14; 7:9-14.
The first facet of this judgment scene is when God Himself, incarnated as Jesus of Nazareth, comes literally to Earth to explore the thinking and behaviors of His people on Earth. While Jesus is investigating His people, they are deciding that they do not want Jesus to reign over them and they reject God as their King and choose a criminal as their Saviour and King, as well as choosing Caesar to be their King. God eventually allowed Rome to come in and destroy the Jewish nation, and its city Jerusalem in 90 for they were judged to be wanting.
In the end of time, God will investigate Earth one more time. He will start the judgment in October of 1844 AD at the end of the 2300 day/years prophecy of Daniel 8:14. This time of judgment started at a later time than what Paul had expressed about “judgment to come” in Acts 24:25. In the end of the 2300 days the “time of judgment” would have come as spoken of in Revelation 14:7. When this time is thoroughly investigated and each person is evaluated as to whether they have accepted Christ as their Saviour, then the end will come and Jesus will come to Earth literally, and take all of his loved ones to heaven for 1000 years. At the end of the 1000 years of Revelation 20:5 then Jesus will return to Earth for the executive judgment and will resurrect the wicked, all those who did not come with Jesus at His second coming, and will burn them up in the lake of fire. Revelation 20:7-15.
When God is finished with this last judgment scene, then He will recreate the heavens and the Earth and restore Earth to its Edenic purity and man will live in a land more beautiful than that of Pandora where there will be no great beasts to endanger one’s life but only peace, safety, and eternal joy. Revelation 21:1-8; Isaiah 65:17-25. The beauties of Pandora will be far surpassed by the newly created Earth, after the final destruction of the wicked. This promise is available to all who will explore these things in the Bible and will allow the real Messiah – Jesus of Nazareth – to forgive them and to help them avail themselves of the promises of Jehovah – Jesus of Nazareth.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Avatar and Probationary Time
In the movie Avatar Jake Sulley is given a probationary period of 90 days to win the confidence of the Na’vi and to win the confidence of his superior officer Colonel Miles Quaritch. This probationary period of time will also be sufficient to allow each other person on the compound the opportunity to decide whether they want to view the Na’vi and Pandora as people and resources to exploit or opportunities to share. In either case people will come to a point where their thinking is clear, they will have had opportunity to make decisions, and then would come an opportunity to act upon that decision.
After the 90 day period is completed Jake wants a little more time to go through the final acts of becoming a part of the Na’vi tribe and becoming a man. He also wants to complete his opportunity to choose a mate in the tribe he has selected – Na’vi over human. Jake completed his probationary period of time and he chose which side he wanted to be on and was willing to commit his all to the tribe he had selected.
After the 90 day period Colonel Quaritch had received enough data from Jake to make his decision that he could strong arm a response from the Na’vi or use military force and make the Na’vi comply with his perceptions.
The leader of the Mining Corporation – Parker Selfridge – also completed his probationary time, and decided that whatever it took he would force the issue to accomplish his political, and his own personal, goals to move the Na’vi out of their home and mine the Unobtanium that he was looking for. He had enough information about the Na’vi and he decided that corporate approval was of much greater value than sensitivity for the Na’vi.
When the probationary period was completed the Na’vi had decided that Jake was a worthy member of the their tribe and had passed all of the tests necessary for Jake to be a solid man in the community and would therefore be eligible for all privileges of a man in the community, including that of choosing a wife.
Neytiri had also had sufficient time to evaluate the personality and qualities of the man she was training. After he had completed all of the tests of being a man, she concluded that Jake would be a good mate, and she chose Jake when the opportunity availed itself.
Each other member of the Na’vi, and of the Earthlings, had to choose what they wanted to do and whose side they would be on when the decision was made to force the Na’vi out of Home tree. Norm Spellman, Trudy Chacon, Dr. Max Patel, and Dr. Grace Augustine also chose and decided to be on the side of the Na’vi in case of hostilities.
The last group to decide would be the audience. The audience had to decide in their hearts and minds what they would do if they had been on Pandora and could choose to actually be involved in the final confrontation. The essence of a good film requires the audience to become involved in the decision making and to commit to a response. Avatar was a good film and each audience member chose their side. But in a fantasy world one can make a decision and still live to tell about it. Reality is often much harsher, and as in Trudy Chacon’s case, as well as Dr. Augustine, they paid with their lives, as did the Na’vi, and the Earthlings in Hell’s Gate.
The concept of probationary time is a common theme in the Bible. God sets a time and allows all parties to make their decisions and then acts accordingly. One of the primary differences between Avatar and the Bible is that the Bible deals with reality and finality. It also deals with the issue that God can read the heart and mind of each person, and of each angel, that is involved with any decision or any event. With this information in hand God works to save as many people as He can and still preserve their freedom to choose. God only wants true decisions made from a heart and mind convinced of the truth.
In the Bible there are several probationary experiences that are samples for all probationary experiences. In Genesis 1-3 God establishes probationary time in Eden as Adam and Eve can stay as long as they do not eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. On the day that they disobey God and eat of this Tree they will initiate a death sequence and as is revealed in reality, they are demanded to be removed from the Garden. So the time sequence is open ended but when it happened it was carried out and Adam and Eve received the consequences of their decision.
In Genesis 6:3 God gives mankind a probationary period of 120 years to repent and reform or He would send a flood and wipe out all people on Earth. This message was communicated to man by God’s prophet Noah. In addition God was to give an escape clause. If the people would not repent, God would allow anyone who wanted to get on the Ark and escape the flood. If they would not get on the Ark then they would die in the flood. As in the first probationary experience God demanded that each person make a decision based on faith in Him rather than the event itself. So seven days before the flood, God informed Noah that he, and all of his family, needed to get on board. Anyone wanting to get on the ark would be informed by this movement and could come with Noah, or stay behind but the decision would be based on faith. Only 8 people got on board and when God closed the door, 7 days before the flood, the decisions were irreversible. All of the rest of mankind died in the flood.
The next probationary period was the time given to Abraham that his descendents would be captive in Egypt for 400 years and then God would deliver them. Genesis 15:13-16. When this time came to fulfillment, God sent plagues on Egypt via His prophet Moses. In one of the final plagues Moses is instructed by God to alert the Egyptians and the Israelites to put blood on their doorposts as a sign to protect them from the destroying angel. If they put blood on their doorposts their firstborn child would live. If they did not their firstborn child would die. God also alerted Moses that after this plague Egypt would let Israel go. When the morning arrived God’s warning had come true. All who did not put blood on their doorposts had lost their first born children and Egypt pleaded with Israel to leave lest a worse thing happen to them. One of the side effects of this was that many Egyptians came out with Israel for they had had sufficient information to recognize God and to obey Him. A secondary issue was that three days later Egypt changed its mind and attacked Israel at the Red Sea and when they did that they lost their entire army in the middle of the Red Sea. Exodus 12-15.
The message of the experience of Egypt was spread all through the then known world. Although Israel was to go into Canaan within 2 years time they did not arrive for 40 years. None the less the nations in Canaan had time to ponder what they would do if and when Israel arrived at their doorstep led by the invisible God – Jehovah. When Israel arrived at the Jordan River and God opened the Jordan for Israel to walk over it on dry ground during the flood times of Jordan, the nearest city Jericho got to decide what to do with Israel and Israel’s God. Rahab, and her family, chose to follow God and were saved. Jericho, given a probationary period of the original 40 years, and an additional time of 7 days, decided to not follow God, and were destroyed.
Israel itself was given a probationary period of time to decide whether they would submit themselves to the God who brought them out of Egypt. God sent them into Babylon for 70 years, Jeremiah 25:1-14, and then brought them back out to alert them that God would discipline Israel as well as all other nations. While in Babylon, God raised up a prophet to alert Israel that God would give them 490 years, the 70 week prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27, and if they decided not to respond to Him He would bring them to an end as a nation devoted to God. This probationary period of time was decided in 31 AD when Israel chose to reject God Himself in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, and chose Caesar. John 19:14-15. This was culminated in 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus and all of the Jews were scattered throughout the world.
Another probationary period was granted to the church of God after the destruction of Jerusalem. The original prophecy, from which the 70 week period was cut off from, indicated that from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, in 457 BC, until the final judgment time was set, would be 2300 day years. This period would end in 1844 AD. At that time a prophet, Ellen G. White would be raised up to give instructions for the final probationary period of time. Those events happened just as prophecy indicated, and now the people of earth are in their final probationary experience. Just as God directed in the past, He has done so in this final period of time. Each of us has the opportunity to read God’s word, the Bible, and each of us has the opportunity of deciding whether there is a probationary time and if God will follow through with it as He has done in all of His probationary experiences with mankind here to for. God has not given us a specific time period but He has given us specific warning issues, all through the Bible, to alert us to when the time would be completed. See Matthew 24 and Revelation 13-14. When we see these issues occurring we are to know that His second coming is at hand just as it was in the time of Noah. Mathew 24:36-39. It is our opportunity to study these things and to know the reality of this situation.
God is alerting us to the principles of His Word through many avenues including the movie Avatar. We can see how the issues of probationary time played itself out in the movie. We can read the Word of God, if we choose to, and see how probationary time has played itself out in Bible history. Now, each of us must determine whether God had changed or if He will stay the same and act the same as He has in the past. The primary difference between the Bible and Avatar is that what the Bible teaches is reality and that it really will happen just as expressed in the Bible. I hope that we will make our decisions about whose side we will be on and that we will make that decision, and follow through with it before our probationary period of time closes. The choice is ours, make it today.
After the 90 day period is completed Jake wants a little more time to go through the final acts of becoming a part of the Na’vi tribe and becoming a man. He also wants to complete his opportunity to choose a mate in the tribe he has selected – Na’vi over human. Jake completed his probationary period of time and he chose which side he wanted to be on and was willing to commit his all to the tribe he had selected.
After the 90 day period Colonel Quaritch had received enough data from Jake to make his decision that he could strong arm a response from the Na’vi or use military force and make the Na’vi comply with his perceptions.
The leader of the Mining Corporation – Parker Selfridge – also completed his probationary time, and decided that whatever it took he would force the issue to accomplish his political, and his own personal, goals to move the Na’vi out of their home and mine the Unobtanium that he was looking for. He had enough information about the Na’vi and he decided that corporate approval was of much greater value than sensitivity for the Na’vi.
When the probationary period was completed the Na’vi had decided that Jake was a worthy member of the their tribe and had passed all of the tests necessary for Jake to be a solid man in the community and would therefore be eligible for all privileges of a man in the community, including that of choosing a wife.
Neytiri had also had sufficient time to evaluate the personality and qualities of the man she was training. After he had completed all of the tests of being a man, she concluded that Jake would be a good mate, and she chose Jake when the opportunity availed itself.
Each other member of the Na’vi, and of the Earthlings, had to choose what they wanted to do and whose side they would be on when the decision was made to force the Na’vi out of Home tree. Norm Spellman, Trudy Chacon, Dr. Max Patel, and Dr. Grace Augustine also chose and decided to be on the side of the Na’vi in case of hostilities.
The last group to decide would be the audience. The audience had to decide in their hearts and minds what they would do if they had been on Pandora and could choose to actually be involved in the final confrontation. The essence of a good film requires the audience to become involved in the decision making and to commit to a response. Avatar was a good film and each audience member chose their side. But in a fantasy world one can make a decision and still live to tell about it. Reality is often much harsher, and as in Trudy Chacon’s case, as well as Dr. Augustine, they paid with their lives, as did the Na’vi, and the Earthlings in Hell’s Gate.
The concept of probationary time is a common theme in the Bible. God sets a time and allows all parties to make their decisions and then acts accordingly. One of the primary differences between Avatar and the Bible is that the Bible deals with reality and finality. It also deals with the issue that God can read the heart and mind of each person, and of each angel, that is involved with any decision or any event. With this information in hand God works to save as many people as He can and still preserve their freedom to choose. God only wants true decisions made from a heart and mind convinced of the truth.
In the Bible there are several probationary experiences that are samples for all probationary experiences. In Genesis 1-3 God establishes probationary time in Eden as Adam and Eve can stay as long as they do not eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. On the day that they disobey God and eat of this Tree they will initiate a death sequence and as is revealed in reality, they are demanded to be removed from the Garden. So the time sequence is open ended but when it happened it was carried out and Adam and Eve received the consequences of their decision.
In Genesis 6:3 God gives mankind a probationary period of 120 years to repent and reform or He would send a flood and wipe out all people on Earth. This message was communicated to man by God’s prophet Noah. In addition God was to give an escape clause. If the people would not repent, God would allow anyone who wanted to get on the Ark and escape the flood. If they would not get on the Ark then they would die in the flood. As in the first probationary experience God demanded that each person make a decision based on faith in Him rather than the event itself. So seven days before the flood, God informed Noah that he, and all of his family, needed to get on board. Anyone wanting to get on the ark would be informed by this movement and could come with Noah, or stay behind but the decision would be based on faith. Only 8 people got on board and when God closed the door, 7 days before the flood, the decisions were irreversible. All of the rest of mankind died in the flood.
The next probationary period was the time given to Abraham that his descendents would be captive in Egypt for 400 years and then God would deliver them. Genesis 15:13-16. When this time came to fulfillment, God sent plagues on Egypt via His prophet Moses. In one of the final plagues Moses is instructed by God to alert the Egyptians and the Israelites to put blood on their doorposts as a sign to protect them from the destroying angel. If they put blood on their doorposts their firstborn child would live. If they did not their firstborn child would die. God also alerted Moses that after this plague Egypt would let Israel go. When the morning arrived God’s warning had come true. All who did not put blood on their doorposts had lost their first born children and Egypt pleaded with Israel to leave lest a worse thing happen to them. One of the side effects of this was that many Egyptians came out with Israel for they had had sufficient information to recognize God and to obey Him. A secondary issue was that three days later Egypt changed its mind and attacked Israel at the Red Sea and when they did that they lost their entire army in the middle of the Red Sea. Exodus 12-15.
The message of the experience of Egypt was spread all through the then known world. Although Israel was to go into Canaan within 2 years time they did not arrive for 40 years. None the less the nations in Canaan had time to ponder what they would do if and when Israel arrived at their doorstep led by the invisible God – Jehovah. When Israel arrived at the Jordan River and God opened the Jordan for Israel to walk over it on dry ground during the flood times of Jordan, the nearest city Jericho got to decide what to do with Israel and Israel’s God. Rahab, and her family, chose to follow God and were saved. Jericho, given a probationary period of the original 40 years, and an additional time of 7 days, decided to not follow God, and were destroyed.
Israel itself was given a probationary period of time to decide whether they would submit themselves to the God who brought them out of Egypt. God sent them into Babylon for 70 years, Jeremiah 25:1-14, and then brought them back out to alert them that God would discipline Israel as well as all other nations. While in Babylon, God raised up a prophet to alert Israel that God would give them 490 years, the 70 week prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27, and if they decided not to respond to Him He would bring them to an end as a nation devoted to God. This probationary period of time was decided in 31 AD when Israel chose to reject God Himself in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, and chose Caesar. John 19:14-15. This was culminated in 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus and all of the Jews were scattered throughout the world.
Another probationary period was granted to the church of God after the destruction of Jerusalem. The original prophecy, from which the 70 week period was cut off from, indicated that from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, in 457 BC, until the final judgment time was set, would be 2300 day years. This period would end in 1844 AD. At that time a prophet, Ellen G. White would be raised up to give instructions for the final probationary period of time. Those events happened just as prophecy indicated, and now the people of earth are in their final probationary experience. Just as God directed in the past, He has done so in this final period of time. Each of us has the opportunity to read God’s word, the Bible, and each of us has the opportunity of deciding whether there is a probationary time and if God will follow through with it as He has done in all of His probationary experiences with mankind here to for. God has not given us a specific time period but He has given us specific warning issues, all through the Bible, to alert us to when the time would be completed. See Matthew 24 and Revelation 13-14. When we see these issues occurring we are to know that His second coming is at hand just as it was in the time of Noah. Mathew 24:36-39. It is our opportunity to study these things and to know the reality of this situation.
God is alerting us to the principles of His Word through many avenues including the movie Avatar. We can see how the issues of probationary time played itself out in the movie. We can read the Word of God, if we choose to, and see how probationary time has played itself out in Bible history. Now, each of us must determine whether God had changed or if He will stay the same and act the same as He has in the past. The primary difference between the Bible and Avatar is that what the Bible teaches is reality and that it really will happen just as expressed in the Bible. I hope that we will make our decisions about whose side we will be on and that we will make that decision, and follow through with it before our probationary period of time closes. The choice is ours, make it today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)