In the movie Avatar there are many scenes that communicate the idea of the plant life and animal life of Pandora being in a unified relationship. Each animal is equipped with an antenna, or a queue, that allows the animals to communicate with each other and that the whole would be the planet Pandora. This unified communication theme, and all of the ecological issues that go, with it are very similar to the Gaia hypothesis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_hypothesis In the Gaia hypothesis it is thought that the Earth is in many ways similar to Pandora, that all ecological systems are entwined and are reactive and supportive to each other. The whole Earth is viewed as a singular ecological system and that this whole system can be regarded as a singular entity – Gaia. When this thought is combined with a theology of ecology one is confronted with the spiritual worship of the Earth or Gaia – the earth mother. This process is expanded and enhanced through the Gaia mythology system as described in Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)
In the movie Avatar there were several scenes in which the science of the Gaia hypothesis was presented. Dr. Augustine attempted several times to communicate to Mr. Selfridge about the communication potential of the planet and even stated that the real treasure of Pandora was not Unobtanium but the communication abilities of the flora and fauna of the planet. Several scenes are presented in which Dr. Augustine is attempting to process the idea of the interconnectedness of the trees and how it matched, or even surpassed, the connectivity of the brain. Dr. Augustine wanted to get to the Tree of Souls and take samples of the tree to complete here analysis, but was killed before she could do this as a scientist. Other scenes were presented that when one of the Na’vi died they were buried in the earth with one of the seeds of the sacred tree planted with them. This was the normal course of life and death on the planet Pandora.
There were several other scenes that communicated the spiritual nature of Pandora. One of the scenes was when Jake seeks to take the wounded Dr. Augustine to Mo’at the Tsahik, or Shaman, of the tribe. She takes Dr. Augustine to the Tree of Souls and attempts to transfer her "soul” into her Avatar body. In the event itself the Tree of Souls sends forth fine root like tendrils to enter into the body of Dr. Augustine to facilitate the process. But the attempt failed due to the weakened condition of Dr. Augustine and the lack of time to complete the process.
Another scene shows Jake coming to the Tree of Souls, as the gateway of speaking to Eywa, the goddess of Pandora, to pray for help in the coming battle. Jake is aware that 2000 warriors is not enough to take on the weaponry of the mining encampment. So he ask Eywa for help. Neytiri replies that Eywa only helps to maintain the balance of life, and does not interfere with such things as warfare. None the less, Jake prays as the best that he can do. In the ensuing battle the Na’vi warriors are being destroyed systematically and have no functional chance to win the battle. But then Eywa sends all of the large animals of Pandora to attack the Earthlings. Through this direct involvement of Eywa the battle is won. Neytiri is excited that Eywa had responded directly to Jake’s prayer and that good had triumphed over evil
The third scene is after the decisive battle Jake asks Mo’at to again attempt a transfer of a human soul from a body to the Avatar body, but this time he asks it for himself. Jake’s human body is brought to the Tree of Life, as well as his Avatar body and this time the transfer works out properly. Jake is now integrally united to his Avatar body and will never go back to the human body. Jake is once and for all Na’vi.
All of these scenes are wonderfully symbolic of things that are spoken of in the Bible. The greatest of all is that of Jesus. Jesus came to earth, as Jake came to Pandora. Jesus came, however, as a decision on the part of God to become a human being, once and for all. In this process the Holy Spirit implants Jesus into the womb of Mary. Jesus grows up, in harmony with the laws of human growth and becomes Jesus of Nazareth – the Anointed One – The Christ – The Messiah. Jesus became a part of mankind forever. He is now in heaven working in our behalf to help us become prepared for the Earth made new.
The Bible does not view the planet Earth as a goddess. The Bible clearly declares that Jesus is the Creator of not only the Earth but of the universe. He is the Creator of everything in the universe living or not. Colossians 1:13-17 He is the One with all power and He is the One to Whom we are to pray and seek for help in times of peace as well as in times of crisis.
On the other hand, the Bible clearly indicates that the Earth, as well, as people, are fearfully and wonderfully made. Every system of life on the Earth was designed by the infinite mind of God to be interdependent and interlocking. See Genesis 1 and 2. He made the Earth to be a perfect habitation for His most wonderful creation – Man. Man was unique in that Man was designed to be able to enter into the spiritual things of God. All other things were made to support Man, on Earth and for Man to watch over and nurture on Earth. Earth was a perfect place to give honor and glory to God.
God warned Man not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil but to eat of all of the trees of the Earth but to especially eat of the Tree of Life. If they would do this then no death would ever come to the planet. Yet Man sinned and turned away from God and listened to Satan – the one proved to be the enemy of Man and of God. When Man sinned against God, He initiated the plan that He had already planned out and that is that Jesus, the Everlasting Son of God, would come to the Earth to become a Man. Through His efforts all who chose could come to Him and He would effect a change of nature so profound that Man would be able to again come into harmony with God and to be able to live in the presence of a Holy God, whose very brightness was deadly to sin of any kind. When God was finished there would be a transfer of His life and power into the follower of God which would accomplish the miracle of being able to life the Christian life. This process is called salvation, and when it is done all evil will be removed from the world, the planet itself will be cleansed and restored to it’s Edenic beauty and Man will be able to live on this planet forever.
So again the issues of the concept of Gaia are true in its limited manner. But the concepts involved in the worship of God are true in a comprehensive manner. God is not limited to one planer but is in charge, as the Creator, and Ruler of the entire universe. God can be talked to at any time though the miracle of prayer. God is always willing and interested in His children and any thing that effects them. Through His power God wants to change us from the effects of the disease of sin to that of living a life without sin, or it’s negative effects. When we become so aware of our limitations God will assist us in victory over sin, and will change us and bring us into harmony with Him and to be able to live in His presence for ever. All of this God offers us if we will but allow Him to communicate with us. All of this story is told in larger degree in His Bible. It is wonderful that Mr. Cameron has allowed God to lead him to present His truths in such a creative manner. Yet, God has more to offer than what has been presented in movies such as Avatar. God will come and communicate to you personally if you will but ask.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Avatar and the Gospel
The gospel is one of those words that people use and they are often not very familiar with the theology that goes behind it. In the movie Avatar the gospel is revealed through the experience of almost every significant figure in the movie. Both bad and good responses tell the story of the gospel, of opportunities slighted and opportunities taken advantage of. But for simplicity’s sake let us focus on Jake Sulley and Colonel Quaritch.
The movie starts with Jake leaving earth due to the death of his twin brother. Jake has decided to take the offer of the mining corporation who want Jake to fulfill the obligations of his brother whose DNA was used to make an Avatar for the mining corporation on Pandora. Duet to the DNA match Jake would save the corporation and would give Jake a new start. Jake could make good money and perhaps get the operation that would allow Jake to regain the use of his legs which he lost due to a spinal injury during his time as a Marine.
When Jake made the final decision he was willing to leave his old world and head out for the new. With the death of his brother he no longer had any emotional attachments to Earth and could leave Earth and not look back. Pandora offered distance and the opportunity for a new life.
When Jake arrives at Pandora he has spent several years in suspended animation while traveling to Pandora. Jake arrives at the mining station of Hell’s Gate and is able to ignore all of the comments that people make about his disability and is interested in learning about the new things in his sphere of influence. Jake meets Colonel Quaritch and they feel a mutual respect for each other due to their military activities on Earth.
Soon, after this experience with the Colonel, Jake is able to have his first experience “driving” an Avatar body. Jake is overwhelmed by being in the Avatar for he can feel his feet again, although those feet belong to the body of the Avatar, rather than his own real feet. Jake runs out of the awakening room, and experiences running for the first time in years. Being in his Avatar body is an awakening to a new way of life and Jake enjoys it thoroughly.
Soon after this Jake goes on a mission with the rest of the Avatar crew and we are shown Jake experiencing the newness of life in his Avatar body. He is able to do, to move, and to experience life at a level that he has almost forgotten about. While moving around in the field he encounters the larger life forms of Pandora and gets separated from the rest of his team. During this time he meets Neytiri who saves his life from Viper-wolves. Neytiri attempts to send Jake back to the Earthlings, but Jake asks for help from her. During the interchange the Tree of Souls communicates to Neytiri that Jake is different and something special. She decides to take Jake to meet the Shaman of the village, her mother. When Neytiri’s mother finishes her examination she allows Jake to stay and commands Neytiri to train Jake in the ways of the Na’vi. Jake is thrilled and passes this information on to the rest of the team when he returns to his real body during the time of rest for his Avatar body.
Upon returning and sharing the information about the Na’vi accepting him and training him, Quaritch offers Jake a new life if Jake will get him pure data on the living arrangements of the Na’vi. For this information Quaritch will “take care of my own” by having the corporation grant Jake the funds sufficient to get the surgery necessary to restore his legs. Jake is willing to enter into this new opportunity for a new life. The Colonel is willing to give Jake 3 months to learn how to be a Na’vi and get the information and then the Colonel will have sufficient information to be able to properly attack the Na’vi. This is what is referred to in the Bible as an Old Covenant gospel the good news of a new life by working out an arrangement usually at the expense of other people and usually by some human method of change.
For 90 days Neytiri trains Jake about the ways of life in her village and with her people. During this time Jake grows stronger as an Avatar, while his human body grows weaker. In the training process Jake has to wrestle with many new ideas of love, life, death, and the ways of a spiritual person. At the same time Jake is exposed to the ways of Colonel Quaritch and his views of life. Colonel Quaritch is a very simple and straightforward man. He is loyal to the corporation and he will do anything to accomplish his mission – not to save people but to fulfill the quota that he promised to assist with. The Colonel will do anything to fulfill his promise and nothing of the heart or of the spirit will change his direction.
As the time draws near for a final decision Jake is torn between the new feelings he has develop for Neytiri, and her family and way of life, and those feelings for his earthly connections including Colonel Quaritch, and the science team that he has been sharing his observations with. Jake has been making great progress with Neytiri and she feels that he has made enough progress to take the final step of bonding with an Ikran – the flying dragons of Pandora. If he survives this final step he will be a man, in the eyes of the Na’vi, and will be accepted into the village as a man.
Jake is allowed to go through the experience of bonding with his own selected Ikran and survives the harrowing process. As a result Jake is admitted into the fellowship of the Na’vi. As a result of this step he is allowed to accept a mate from the people and he chooses Neytiri and she chooses him. That very next morning Colonel Quaritch, and company, sends a bulldozer to start the mining process near the home tree and Jake decides to defend one of the sacred trees, as well as rescuing Neytiri. His loyalties are growing more and more distant from the mining company and the ways that they use to accomplish their goals.
In the process of defending the sacred tree Jake attacks the bulldozer and takes away their sight – they can not see the literal forest, and they can not see the spiritual forest that surrounds them. Jake goes back to the home tree and attempts to warn the people of the coming of the mining camp. The people are distressed for the damage that the miners have done to the planet, and now to a sacred tree. While trying to explain what happened Colonel Quaritch sees Jake as a traitor and brings him back from the Avatar body to face the judgment.
Colonel Quaritch accuses Jake of betraying the company for the sake of the native. Jake pleads with the company boss who gives him one hour to warn the Na’vi to leave the home tree area for that is where the company has come to mine the minerals under the home tree. Jake is rejected as a traitor by the Na’vi as he has been by the Earthlings and the Na’vi fight and end up losing their home in an attack by Colonel Quaritch in home tree itself. For a time he is persona non grata to both sides. Again Jake has to face his feelings and has to make decisions that will affect his destiny in life.
After being rejected by the Na’vi, and by the Earthlings, he is given an opportunity to flee to the mountains with the Avatar crew. He decides that he will help the Na’vi come what may. He is able to regain his Avatar body and is granted an awareness of a plan of how to become the Toruk Makto, or the Messiah, of the Na’vi. He is able to link with the giant dragon of Pandora and when he arrives at the meeting with the Na’vi he is granted the opportunity to share the plan of saving Pandora that he has thought of. He rallies the other tribes and they have enough warriors to try to take over Hell’s Gate.
Colonel Quaritch is also aware of the gathering of the warriors and initiates a plan to destroy the Tree of Souls and make a spiritual scar on the people so that they will never again attack the Hell’s Gate camp. The Colonel gathers his troops and sets out to attack the Na’vi. During this battle Eywa comes to the aid of Jake for Jake came to recognition that he would not be able to defeat the Colonel even with the help of the warriors. Jake is willing to surrender to the point of praying to Eywa, Pandora’s goddess of nature, to ask for help in defending the planet and the way of life of the Na’vi.
In this great last battle Eywa sends the large animals to assist Jake and the battle is slowly won. During the battle Jake and the Colonel have a final encounter. Both Jake and Colonel Quaritch are in artificial bodies – Jake in his Avatar, and the Colonel in his robotic external suit. In the battle Jake decides that he wants to be with the Na’vi forever. When he wins the battle with the Colonel Jake asks if he can be transferred into his Avatar body forever and Eywa grants this request. Jake becomes a Na’vi forever.
In the above brief description of the events of the movie Avatar, many different concepts were expressed. In the movie Jake finds his true love and is allowed, by the movie, to find true happiness, justice, and success. It has been this writer’s goal to reveal the gospel of the Bible in the various articles written about the symbolism incorporated in the movie Avatar.
From the Bible’s perspective the movie tells the story of the gospel in a twisted way. God would have each person see the gospel of the Bible so that the joys displayed in the movie can be acquired in the way that God has intended for it to be acquired. From the Bible’s point of view Jake Sulley both Messiah – the Toruk Makto, and he is an individual in the process of accepting the gospel of Christ. Colonel Quaritch represents both the role of Satan, and the role of a sinner trying to decide to either follow God or to follow the things of the world. The interactions of these two figures – Jake, and the Colonel summarizes the story of the gospel
Jake makes the decision to follow his heart and the Spirit of God. So each of us on Earth can follow the movings of the Holy Spirit and can respond to God when He reveals Himself to us on Earth. At the very same time there is a Satan and Satan wants to interfere with our relationship with God. As Jake discovered that there was a plan that was unfolding for him he was willing to let go of his old world and embrace truth as it came to him. So for us each of us we have to let go of the old and accept the new revelations granted to us by God. Jake had to accept help from one whom he could not see, so we have to accept help from a God that we can not see but that has provided abundant evidence of His presence and His power. When we are willing to see that the things of this world have little lasting value then we will make those final decisions that God requires in order to make a change in us.
In the Bible each person can have a personal acquaintance with God. God will unfold events in such a manner that each individual will recognize that God, and no one else, is talking to us. Based on our decisions, in light of the information granted, God will work for us to draw us closer and closer to Him. When the final decision is made God has promised to give us a new body one like the one originally given to Adam – tall, powerful, intelligent, and immortal. We can have that body if we are willing to accept all of the gifts of the one true God – Jesus of Nazareth. If we accept God’s gifts then we will have the opportunity of going to heaven, and then will return to this earth to participate in the judgment scenes of the symbolic Colonel Quaritch – Satan. When Satan and all of his people are judged, then God will recreate this Earth and make it again like it was in the time of Eden. Then all of mankind will live in an environment much more glorious than that of Pandora.
The story of the Bible is the offer of the gospel – the good news of total restoration to an open relationship with God. Each person will have the opportunity to receive this gift or to reject it. What will you do?
The movie starts with Jake leaving earth due to the death of his twin brother. Jake has decided to take the offer of the mining corporation who want Jake to fulfill the obligations of his brother whose DNA was used to make an Avatar for the mining corporation on Pandora. Duet to the DNA match Jake would save the corporation and would give Jake a new start. Jake could make good money and perhaps get the operation that would allow Jake to regain the use of his legs which he lost due to a spinal injury during his time as a Marine.
When Jake made the final decision he was willing to leave his old world and head out for the new. With the death of his brother he no longer had any emotional attachments to Earth and could leave Earth and not look back. Pandora offered distance and the opportunity for a new life.
When Jake arrives at Pandora he has spent several years in suspended animation while traveling to Pandora. Jake arrives at the mining station of Hell’s Gate and is able to ignore all of the comments that people make about his disability and is interested in learning about the new things in his sphere of influence. Jake meets Colonel Quaritch and they feel a mutual respect for each other due to their military activities on Earth.
Soon, after this experience with the Colonel, Jake is able to have his first experience “driving” an Avatar body. Jake is overwhelmed by being in the Avatar for he can feel his feet again, although those feet belong to the body of the Avatar, rather than his own real feet. Jake runs out of the awakening room, and experiences running for the first time in years. Being in his Avatar body is an awakening to a new way of life and Jake enjoys it thoroughly.
Soon after this Jake goes on a mission with the rest of the Avatar crew and we are shown Jake experiencing the newness of life in his Avatar body. He is able to do, to move, and to experience life at a level that he has almost forgotten about. While moving around in the field he encounters the larger life forms of Pandora and gets separated from the rest of his team. During this time he meets Neytiri who saves his life from Viper-wolves. Neytiri attempts to send Jake back to the Earthlings, but Jake asks for help from her. During the interchange the Tree of Souls communicates to Neytiri that Jake is different and something special. She decides to take Jake to meet the Shaman of the village, her mother. When Neytiri’s mother finishes her examination she allows Jake to stay and commands Neytiri to train Jake in the ways of the Na’vi. Jake is thrilled and passes this information on to the rest of the team when he returns to his real body during the time of rest for his Avatar body.
Upon returning and sharing the information about the Na’vi accepting him and training him, Quaritch offers Jake a new life if Jake will get him pure data on the living arrangements of the Na’vi. For this information Quaritch will “take care of my own” by having the corporation grant Jake the funds sufficient to get the surgery necessary to restore his legs. Jake is willing to enter into this new opportunity for a new life. The Colonel is willing to give Jake 3 months to learn how to be a Na’vi and get the information and then the Colonel will have sufficient information to be able to properly attack the Na’vi. This is what is referred to in the Bible as an Old Covenant gospel the good news of a new life by working out an arrangement usually at the expense of other people and usually by some human method of change.
For 90 days Neytiri trains Jake about the ways of life in her village and with her people. During this time Jake grows stronger as an Avatar, while his human body grows weaker. In the training process Jake has to wrestle with many new ideas of love, life, death, and the ways of a spiritual person. At the same time Jake is exposed to the ways of Colonel Quaritch and his views of life. Colonel Quaritch is a very simple and straightforward man. He is loyal to the corporation and he will do anything to accomplish his mission – not to save people but to fulfill the quota that he promised to assist with. The Colonel will do anything to fulfill his promise and nothing of the heart or of the spirit will change his direction.
As the time draws near for a final decision Jake is torn between the new feelings he has develop for Neytiri, and her family and way of life, and those feelings for his earthly connections including Colonel Quaritch, and the science team that he has been sharing his observations with. Jake has been making great progress with Neytiri and she feels that he has made enough progress to take the final step of bonding with an Ikran – the flying dragons of Pandora. If he survives this final step he will be a man, in the eyes of the Na’vi, and will be accepted into the village as a man.
Jake is allowed to go through the experience of bonding with his own selected Ikran and survives the harrowing process. As a result Jake is admitted into the fellowship of the Na’vi. As a result of this step he is allowed to accept a mate from the people and he chooses Neytiri and she chooses him. That very next morning Colonel Quaritch, and company, sends a bulldozer to start the mining process near the home tree and Jake decides to defend one of the sacred trees, as well as rescuing Neytiri. His loyalties are growing more and more distant from the mining company and the ways that they use to accomplish their goals.
In the process of defending the sacred tree Jake attacks the bulldozer and takes away their sight – they can not see the literal forest, and they can not see the spiritual forest that surrounds them. Jake goes back to the home tree and attempts to warn the people of the coming of the mining camp. The people are distressed for the damage that the miners have done to the planet, and now to a sacred tree. While trying to explain what happened Colonel Quaritch sees Jake as a traitor and brings him back from the Avatar body to face the judgment.
Colonel Quaritch accuses Jake of betraying the company for the sake of the native. Jake pleads with the company boss who gives him one hour to warn the Na’vi to leave the home tree area for that is where the company has come to mine the minerals under the home tree. Jake is rejected as a traitor by the Na’vi as he has been by the Earthlings and the Na’vi fight and end up losing their home in an attack by Colonel Quaritch in home tree itself. For a time he is persona non grata to both sides. Again Jake has to face his feelings and has to make decisions that will affect his destiny in life.
After being rejected by the Na’vi, and by the Earthlings, he is given an opportunity to flee to the mountains with the Avatar crew. He decides that he will help the Na’vi come what may. He is able to regain his Avatar body and is granted an awareness of a plan of how to become the Toruk Makto, or the Messiah, of the Na’vi. He is able to link with the giant dragon of Pandora and when he arrives at the meeting with the Na’vi he is granted the opportunity to share the plan of saving Pandora that he has thought of. He rallies the other tribes and they have enough warriors to try to take over Hell’s Gate.
Colonel Quaritch is also aware of the gathering of the warriors and initiates a plan to destroy the Tree of Souls and make a spiritual scar on the people so that they will never again attack the Hell’s Gate camp. The Colonel gathers his troops and sets out to attack the Na’vi. During this battle Eywa comes to the aid of Jake for Jake came to recognition that he would not be able to defeat the Colonel even with the help of the warriors. Jake is willing to surrender to the point of praying to Eywa, Pandora’s goddess of nature, to ask for help in defending the planet and the way of life of the Na’vi.
In this great last battle Eywa sends the large animals to assist Jake and the battle is slowly won. During the battle Jake and the Colonel have a final encounter. Both Jake and Colonel Quaritch are in artificial bodies – Jake in his Avatar, and the Colonel in his robotic external suit. In the battle Jake decides that he wants to be with the Na’vi forever. When he wins the battle with the Colonel Jake asks if he can be transferred into his Avatar body forever and Eywa grants this request. Jake becomes a Na’vi forever.
In the above brief description of the events of the movie Avatar, many different concepts were expressed. In the movie Jake finds his true love and is allowed, by the movie, to find true happiness, justice, and success. It has been this writer’s goal to reveal the gospel of the Bible in the various articles written about the symbolism incorporated in the movie Avatar.
From the Bible’s perspective the movie tells the story of the gospel in a twisted way. God would have each person see the gospel of the Bible so that the joys displayed in the movie can be acquired in the way that God has intended for it to be acquired. From the Bible’s point of view Jake Sulley both Messiah – the Toruk Makto, and he is an individual in the process of accepting the gospel of Christ. Colonel Quaritch represents both the role of Satan, and the role of a sinner trying to decide to either follow God or to follow the things of the world. The interactions of these two figures – Jake, and the Colonel summarizes the story of the gospel
Jake makes the decision to follow his heart and the Spirit of God. So each of us on Earth can follow the movings of the Holy Spirit and can respond to God when He reveals Himself to us on Earth. At the very same time there is a Satan and Satan wants to interfere with our relationship with God. As Jake discovered that there was a plan that was unfolding for him he was willing to let go of his old world and embrace truth as it came to him. So for us each of us we have to let go of the old and accept the new revelations granted to us by God. Jake had to accept help from one whom he could not see, so we have to accept help from a God that we can not see but that has provided abundant evidence of His presence and His power. When we are willing to see that the things of this world have little lasting value then we will make those final decisions that God requires in order to make a change in us.
In the Bible each person can have a personal acquaintance with God. God will unfold events in such a manner that each individual will recognize that God, and no one else, is talking to us. Based on our decisions, in light of the information granted, God will work for us to draw us closer and closer to Him. When the final decision is made God has promised to give us a new body one like the one originally given to Adam – tall, powerful, intelligent, and immortal. We can have that body if we are willing to accept all of the gifts of the one true God – Jesus of Nazareth. If we accept God’s gifts then we will have the opportunity of going to heaven, and then will return to this earth to participate in the judgment scenes of the symbolic Colonel Quaritch – Satan. When Satan and all of his people are judged, then God will recreate this Earth and make it again like it was in the time of Eden. Then all of mankind will live in an environment much more glorious than that of Pandora.
The story of the Bible is the offer of the gospel – the good news of total restoration to an open relationship with God. Each person will have the opportunity to receive this gift or to reject it. What will you do?
Avatar and Prayer
In one of the pivotal scenes of the movie Jake recognizes that unless something supernatural happens, he, and his warriors have no chance of winning a battle against a seasoned and well armed Earthly military force. So with this thought in mind Jake goes to the Tree of Souls and submits to Eywa and asks for her help. Jake is not sure what it is that he is doing, or if it will be successful, but he asks from the perspective of one who has nothing to lose and everything to win.
Neytiri was watching Jake in prayer and approved of the fact that he was praying at all but counseled Jake that Eywa only gets involved with supernatural support to maintain the balance of life. But she was happy that Jake was at least asking in the Na’vi manner.
Jake’s prayer was simple, heartfelt, and to the point. He needed help and he was willing to get help any way that he could even if it meant to pray.
In the process of the movie, Jake, and his warriors attack and get soundly defeated. As the casualties mount Jake is discouraged and is wondering if he did the right thing to rally the warriors to fight knowing that they were no match for the advanced weaponry of the company. When everyone’s hope was lowest and Neytiri was contemplating sacrificing her life with one last attempt to kill an enemy, the sound of much movement is heard and what is seen is all of the larger animals of Pandora have been sent by Eywa to fight against the company. With the land animals fighting the ground troops and the Ikran fighting the helicopters all of a sudden the odds of winning the war increase for the Pandorans and Neytiri cries out that Eywa had heard Jake’s request and had answered his prayer. Eywa gives Jake, and the Pandoran warriors, the victory.
James Cameron used the issue of prayer in a very successful manner in his movie – Avatar. He gave a wonderfully touching rendition of prayer through Jake and Neytiri. The Bible also tells us that prayer is an essential part of the relationship between man and God. God wants us to come to Him in faith trusting that He will answer prayers, and He will even prompt us to pray for things. In Romans 8:26 it says that the Holy Spirit, one of the three member of the Godhead, prays for us for we know not what we should pray for.
Prayer, in the Bible, is a communicating link between God and man. God is all knowing, and foreknowing as well. God knows what we will pray about, what will happen, and He even prompts us to ask for specific things so that He can help us, and still keep us focused on the small tasks of life.
In the Bible, God has prayers of all kind taking place. He encourages communication with Him at all levels and in all ways. The following are references for a variety of different prayers and communications:
Genesis 3:8-19 Jesus comes looking for Adam and Eve to find out what happened to them.
Genesis 4:6-15 God’s communications with Cain about Abel.
Genesis 5:24 God’s interactions with Enoch were of such a nature that the Bible records it as walking with God, and God took Him.
Genesis 15:1-21 Interactions between God and Abraham.
Genesis 17:1-22 More interactions between God and Abraham.
Genesis 18:1-33 God informing Abraham about his son to be, and discussions about Sodom and judgment.
Genesis 21:1-20 God’s discussions with Abraham about Hagar and Ishmael and then God’s discussions with Hagar.
Genesis 24:1-27 Prayers about getting a wife for Isaac.
Genesis 28:10-22 God’s communications with Jacob and Jacob with God.
Genesis 32:24-31 Jacob wrestles and prays with God.
Exodus 3:1-22 God’s communications with Moses just prior to leading Israel out of Egypt.
Exodus 15:1-21 Israel’s prayer to God in song.
Exodus 20:1-26 God speaks to Israel and they become afraid and want an intercessor to speak for them rather than directly to God.
Exodus 33:9-34:28 God and Moses communicate with each other.
Joshua 2:1-21 Prayer between Rahab the Canaanite and God’s messengers.
Joshua 5:13-15 Prayer between Jesus and Joshua.
I Samuel 1:9-18 Hannah’s prayer for a son and God answer her through Eli.
II Samuel 7:1-29 David’s prayer of thanks to God for allowing him to have success and to have a son who will build the temple for God.
Psalms 51 David’s prayer of repentance for taking his friend’s wife and then for killing the friend.
I Kings 3:5-28 God and Solomon discuss spiritual gifts and then Solomon applies the spiritual gift in judging Israel.
II Chronicles 5:11-7:3 Solomon’s prayer to God to bless the temple and all of the worship activities that would be there and the various ways God responded to the prayer.
II Chronicles 20:1-30 Jehoshaphat’s prayer and God’s answer.
Daniel 9:1-27 Daniel’s prayer of repentance for Israel and God’s answer to the prayer.
Luke 1:26-56 Mary and Elizabeth’s prayers of thanksgiving for the births of God’s forerunner and the Messiah.
Luke 1:67-80 Zacharias’s prayer of praise for the Messiah.
Matthew 5:1-7:28 Jesus, the Son of God, communicates His holy will to His people.
John 17:1-1-26 Jesus’ prayer to His Father in Heaven for His disciples.
The above list is a small sampling of a variety of prayers that shows how God speaks to His people and how they speak to Him. All through the Scriptures God shows how He handles difficult situations and how He chooses to take care of His people. II Chronicles 20:1-30 is one of those crisis situations similar to the experience that James Cameron attempts to reveal in the movie Avatar.
It is this writer’s hope that as you meditate upon the events of the movie Avatar that you to would seek to have a prayer experience with the real God of the universe. As the people above prayed in faith to Him which can not be seen but whom we can experience, God answered those sincere prayers and revealed enough of Himself that they wanted to have a deeper experience. This opportunity He offers to you today. Read the prayers, and then read the stories and by reading them your faith will be strengthened and you to will seek God to have your own personal experience with Him. This is the promise of the Bible. That which was intimated in the movie of Avatar, can be experienced in reality through direct communications with God.
Neytiri was watching Jake in prayer and approved of the fact that he was praying at all but counseled Jake that Eywa only gets involved with supernatural support to maintain the balance of life. But she was happy that Jake was at least asking in the Na’vi manner.
Jake’s prayer was simple, heartfelt, and to the point. He needed help and he was willing to get help any way that he could even if it meant to pray.
In the process of the movie, Jake, and his warriors attack and get soundly defeated. As the casualties mount Jake is discouraged and is wondering if he did the right thing to rally the warriors to fight knowing that they were no match for the advanced weaponry of the company. When everyone’s hope was lowest and Neytiri was contemplating sacrificing her life with one last attempt to kill an enemy, the sound of much movement is heard and what is seen is all of the larger animals of Pandora have been sent by Eywa to fight against the company. With the land animals fighting the ground troops and the Ikran fighting the helicopters all of a sudden the odds of winning the war increase for the Pandorans and Neytiri cries out that Eywa had heard Jake’s request and had answered his prayer. Eywa gives Jake, and the Pandoran warriors, the victory.
James Cameron used the issue of prayer in a very successful manner in his movie – Avatar. He gave a wonderfully touching rendition of prayer through Jake and Neytiri. The Bible also tells us that prayer is an essential part of the relationship between man and God. God wants us to come to Him in faith trusting that He will answer prayers, and He will even prompt us to pray for things. In Romans 8:26 it says that the Holy Spirit, one of the three member of the Godhead, prays for us for we know not what we should pray for.
Prayer, in the Bible, is a communicating link between God and man. God is all knowing, and foreknowing as well. God knows what we will pray about, what will happen, and He even prompts us to ask for specific things so that He can help us, and still keep us focused on the small tasks of life.
In the Bible, God has prayers of all kind taking place. He encourages communication with Him at all levels and in all ways. The following are references for a variety of different prayers and communications:
Genesis 3:8-19 Jesus comes looking for Adam and Eve to find out what happened to them.
Genesis 4:6-15 God’s communications with Cain about Abel.
Genesis 5:24 God’s interactions with Enoch were of such a nature that the Bible records it as walking with God, and God took Him.
Genesis 15:1-21 Interactions between God and Abraham.
Genesis 17:1-22 More interactions between God and Abraham.
Genesis 18:1-33 God informing Abraham about his son to be, and discussions about Sodom and judgment.
Genesis 21:1-20 God’s discussions with Abraham about Hagar and Ishmael and then God’s discussions with Hagar.
Genesis 24:1-27 Prayers about getting a wife for Isaac.
Genesis 28:10-22 God’s communications with Jacob and Jacob with God.
Genesis 32:24-31 Jacob wrestles and prays with God.
Exodus 3:1-22 God’s communications with Moses just prior to leading Israel out of Egypt.
Exodus 15:1-21 Israel’s prayer to God in song.
Exodus 20:1-26 God speaks to Israel and they become afraid and want an intercessor to speak for them rather than directly to God.
Exodus 33:9-34:28 God and Moses communicate with each other.
Joshua 2:1-21 Prayer between Rahab the Canaanite and God’s messengers.
Joshua 5:13-15 Prayer between Jesus and Joshua.
I Samuel 1:9-18 Hannah’s prayer for a son and God answer her through Eli.
II Samuel 7:1-29 David’s prayer of thanks to God for allowing him to have success and to have a son who will build the temple for God.
Psalms 51 David’s prayer of repentance for taking his friend’s wife and then for killing the friend.
I Kings 3:5-28 God and Solomon discuss spiritual gifts and then Solomon applies the spiritual gift in judging Israel.
II Chronicles 5:11-7:3 Solomon’s prayer to God to bless the temple and all of the worship activities that would be there and the various ways God responded to the prayer.
II Chronicles 20:1-30 Jehoshaphat’s prayer and God’s answer.
Daniel 9:1-27 Daniel’s prayer of repentance for Israel and God’s answer to the prayer.
Luke 1:26-56 Mary and Elizabeth’s prayers of thanksgiving for the births of God’s forerunner and the Messiah.
Luke 1:67-80 Zacharias’s prayer of praise for the Messiah.
Matthew 5:1-7:28 Jesus, the Son of God, communicates His holy will to His people.
John 17:1-1-26 Jesus’ prayer to His Father in Heaven for His disciples.
The above list is a small sampling of a variety of prayers that shows how God speaks to His people and how they speak to Him. All through the Scriptures God shows how He handles difficult situations and how He chooses to take care of His people. II Chronicles 20:1-30 is one of those crisis situations similar to the experience that James Cameron attempts to reveal in the movie Avatar.
It is this writer’s hope that as you meditate upon the events of the movie Avatar that you to would seek to have a prayer experience with the real God of the universe. As the people above prayed in faith to Him which can not be seen but whom we can experience, God answered those sincere prayers and revealed enough of Himself that they wanted to have a deeper experience. This opportunity He offers to you today. Read the prayers, and then read the stories and by reading them your faith will be strengthened and you to will seek God to have your own personal experience with Him. This is the promise of the Bible. That which was intimated in the movie of Avatar, can be experienced in reality through direct communications with God.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Avatar and the Resurrection
One of the interesting themes in the movie Avatar was how often Jake’s Avatar appeared to die in front of the Na’vi. If something happened to Jake’s communication chamber, interrupting his connection with his Avatar it would appear that Jake died and then he would come back to life when reconnected with his Avatar. To me this was very similar to the Bible concept of resurrection – the process in which God recreates the body and reconnects the individual – his thoughts, memories, and awareness, with his body. The resurrection is one of the major themes in the body and explains how a person can die and then come back to life to face the judgment scene – either for good or for bad.
The first resurrection story is in Genesis 22, where Abraham is to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham understands from God that he is to take his son to Mount Moriah and there he is to kill his son as an offering to God. Abraham goes through the whole process and is fully prepared to offer his son. When he starts to put a knife into the chest of his son, God stops Abraham and Isaac is rescued from death and Abraham receives his son back from the “dead”. Hebrews 11:17-19 states the following:
“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”
The second story of resurrection is told in the story of Joseph. Joseph becomes Pharaoh of Egypt’s right hand man and is responsible for rescuing all of Egypt from death by starvation during the 7 years of famine spoken of in Genesis 40-42. After saving all of Egypt Joseph predicts that God will deliver Israel and when that happens, even though it is many years after the death of Joseph, he asks that Israel will take is bones with them when they leave Egypt. Genesis 50:24-26 This is another figure of resurrection.
The first actual resurrection of a dead person is the story of Moses. God clearly describes the death and burial of Moses in Deuteronomy 34:1-7. He also comments into the process of Moses’ resurrection in Jude 9. We know that Moses was resurrected because he shows up in the story of Jesus, many years after his death, and is one of the two men that come to comfort Jesus in his time of distress in Matthew 17:1-4.
We know that the Bible states that when a person is dead he is unable to communicate love, anger, hatred, revenge, or any human thought or experience. The Bible says that “the dead know not any thing…” Ecclesiastes 9:4-10 Since the dead know not any thing, then in order to communicate with mankind the dead must experience a resurrection, a returning to the world of the living.
There are many more examples of the resurrection of the dead in the Bible. There are several in the Old Testament – II Kings 4:8-37; II Kings 13: 20-21 - and several in the New Testament writings – Luke 7:11-17; Luke 8:49-56; Matthew 27:50-53. Perhaps the greatest single resurrection is that of Lazarus in John 11. In this story John is dead for 4 days and has started to decompose, when Jesus comes to visit the family of Joseph and comfort them for the loss of their brother Lazarus. Jesus gives us the most detailed speech on the subject of the resurrection and then resurrects His friend Lazarus. This resurrection places a seal of God on Jesus
The next major resurrection is that of Jesus Himself. All four of the gospels discuss the various aspects of the resurrection and how God conducts His business. The Bible states that Jesus was able to lay down His own life and then to pick it back up. John 10:17-18
Finally God tell us that there will be two final resurrections – one for the righteous and one for the wicked. John 5:25-29 says the following:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. “
Each person will decide which resurrection he/she will be in. If they choose to accept Jesus as God, then they will be in the resurrection that comes about when Jesus returns for the second time. This resurrection is discussed in I Corinthians 15:51-58 and I Thessalonians 4:13-18. The resurrection of damnation occurs a thousand years later at the third coming of Christ. Revelation 20:1-15
James Cameron was kind enough to give us the symbolism of the resurrection in his movie Avatar. God was kind enough to give us the reality. I pray that as we evaluate these things we will choose the reality over the symbolism and the fantasy. The choice is ours; the gift of the reality is God’s. He longs for us to be resurrected to live with Him forever.
The first resurrection story is in Genesis 22, where Abraham is to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham understands from God that he is to take his son to Mount Moriah and there he is to kill his son as an offering to God. Abraham goes through the whole process and is fully prepared to offer his son. When he starts to put a knife into the chest of his son, God stops Abraham and Isaac is rescued from death and Abraham receives his son back from the “dead”. Hebrews 11:17-19 states the following:
“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”
The second story of resurrection is told in the story of Joseph. Joseph becomes Pharaoh of Egypt’s right hand man and is responsible for rescuing all of Egypt from death by starvation during the 7 years of famine spoken of in Genesis 40-42. After saving all of Egypt Joseph predicts that God will deliver Israel and when that happens, even though it is many years after the death of Joseph, he asks that Israel will take is bones with them when they leave Egypt. Genesis 50:24-26 This is another figure of resurrection.
The first actual resurrection of a dead person is the story of Moses. God clearly describes the death and burial of Moses in Deuteronomy 34:1-7. He also comments into the process of Moses’ resurrection in Jude 9. We know that Moses was resurrected because he shows up in the story of Jesus, many years after his death, and is one of the two men that come to comfort Jesus in his time of distress in Matthew 17:1-4.
We know that the Bible states that when a person is dead he is unable to communicate love, anger, hatred, revenge, or any human thought or experience. The Bible says that “the dead know not any thing…” Ecclesiastes 9:4-10 Since the dead know not any thing, then in order to communicate with mankind the dead must experience a resurrection, a returning to the world of the living.
There are many more examples of the resurrection of the dead in the Bible. There are several in the Old Testament – II Kings 4:8-37; II Kings 13: 20-21 - and several in the New Testament writings – Luke 7:11-17; Luke 8:49-56; Matthew 27:50-53. Perhaps the greatest single resurrection is that of Lazarus in John 11. In this story John is dead for 4 days and has started to decompose, when Jesus comes to visit the family of Joseph and comfort them for the loss of their brother Lazarus. Jesus gives us the most detailed speech on the subject of the resurrection and then resurrects His friend Lazarus. This resurrection places a seal of God on Jesus
The next major resurrection is that of Jesus Himself. All four of the gospels discuss the various aspects of the resurrection and how God conducts His business. The Bible states that Jesus was able to lay down His own life and then to pick it back up. John 10:17-18
Finally God tell us that there will be two final resurrections – one for the righteous and one for the wicked. John 5:25-29 says the following:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. “
Each person will decide which resurrection he/she will be in. If they choose to accept Jesus as God, then they will be in the resurrection that comes about when Jesus returns for the second time. This resurrection is discussed in I Corinthians 15:51-58 and I Thessalonians 4:13-18. The resurrection of damnation occurs a thousand years later at the third coming of Christ. Revelation 20:1-15
James Cameron was kind enough to give us the symbolism of the resurrection in his movie Avatar. God was kind enough to give us the reality. I pray that as we evaluate these things we will choose the reality over the symbolism and the fantasy. The choice is ours; the gift of the reality is God’s. He longs for us to be resurrected to live with Him forever.
Avatar and Hell
In the movie Avatar, the name of the mining camp is “Hell’s Gate”. This apparently is a statement that when you leave the fenced camp you were entering into someone’s perceptions of hell – meaning a gateway to death. The basic understanding was that the planet'’ atmosphere was death producing to humans, the animal life was dangerous to humans, the plant life had some deadly components, and then the people of Pandora – the Na’vi were also antagonistic to human beings and would try to shoot them with poison arrows. All of these death-producing things were present on the planet, and thus the warning that the mining camp was the gateway to hell.
In the Bible there is a similar story with some major differences. In the Bible story there was no death in the Garden of Eden. Nothing killed, and nothing harmed in God’s kingdom. Isaiah 11:9. God put only one warning sign up and that was that Adam and Eve were not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If Adam and Eve left that tree alone, there would never be death of any kind. On the other hand if Adam and or Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, then death would come.
As the story unfolds Eve eats of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She eats because she accepts the thoughts of a speaking serpent/dragon. See Genesis 3:1-7, 14; Revelation 12:9. When she eats of the fruit, she then becomes the medium of temptation to Adam. When he chooses to eat of the same fruit, he concludes that he is naked and would be ashamed to come into the presence of God with no clothing. God comes at His normal time to talk to Adam and Eve and finds that they are now afraid to talk to Him. God asks if they had eaten of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and they prove they had by their blaming one another. After discussing it, God offers them new clothing that is purchased by blood and death. Genesis 3:21 Thus, the first death that happens on earth is a symbol of the coming of the true Avatar – Jesus Christ.
After God clothes them with clothing that He made for them, He then informs Adam and Eve that they must leave the Garden of Eden and they must leave the Tree of Life. Thus death is inevitable for Adam and Eve for they no longer can eat of the tree that brings healing and life. In time Adam and Eve will die.
Shortly after leaving Eden, Adam and Eve come face to face with death again. In Genesis 4 death comes to their second born son at the hands of their first born son. Cain kills Abel over the struggle of whether to bring an offering of fruit and vegetables or to bring an offering that symbolizes the slain life of Jesus. Cain is upset that God did not accept his sacrifice while God did accept the sacrifice of Abel. This disagreement led to the death of Abel and the running away of Cain.
This process continued with increasing frequency until by the time of the flood people were thinking evil thoughts continually and when people think evil thoughts all of the time they get violent. One of the concepts from the Old Testament is that when Israel turned away from God they practiced human sacrifice in the sense of offering up their children to their heathen but non-existent gods. They offered their children as sacrifices by making them pass through the fire. II Kings 23:10; II Chronicles 33:6. After 120 years God sent a flood to wash away the sins of the world, but in the act of cleansing there was death to all of the animals, and people on the planet Earth except for those animals and people on the Ark that Noah built by God’s instructions.
After the flood, the same selfishness of people began to manifest itself again in the meanness of people toward one another. All of the things that people did before the Flood were repeated by their children after the Flood, which eventually led to God confounding the language of man. This would slow down the negative process but man still found ways to think of evil continually. Man seemed to love death while rejecting life. The selfishness of man seemed to know no bounds, yet God, through His people Israel, tried to offer man another way – that of life. Israel, as a nation, was raised up to show an alternate way of life through obedient connection with God. All who would, could, and eventually would live forever and return to a way of life that nothing was to die or to harm one another.
Yet Israel did not do a very good job of revealing the life of surrender to God. They most often left their post with God and went to worship other Gods. They often ended up practicing the same behaviors as those who hated God. This went on for hundreds of years until the time finally came where God Himself came to be among the people. God lasted a few short years on Earth until He was hung on a cross and died. After His death Jesus Christ became the First to be raised from the dead. By this I do not mean that Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead, but that by His resurrection authorization had been given for all of those resurrected from the dead in the Old Testament times and those in the New Testament times. God revealed that there was a solution to the death problem and that solution was God Himself.
This process of rebellion against God, as started by Adam and Eve, has continued all through time down to the year 2010. God has revealed that any rebellion against Him, and His law, creates death. With death comes the trip to the grave. But God’s goal is to remove death once and for all time. God plans to bring everyone to an understanding that to live means to surrender in love to God. To die means to enter into rebellion against God and the principles of life. God offers us freedom to choose, but all must choose and deal with the consequences of that choice.
One of the interesting concepts in the Bible is that of death. One of the odd things that death presents is that all who follow death must end up in the grave. All through the Bible the name given for the grave was hell. Psalms 16:10; 86:13 marginal reference; Proverbs 7:27; I Corinthians 15:55 marginal reference; Revelation 20:13-14. Thus, Avatar’s Hell’s Gate is a way of stating that all who go through this gate love death and want the grave, or are willing to go to the grave. In the movie all of the people who had come to Pandora were willing to die because of the high potential reward. Pandora was supposed to be a very dangerous place to be but all that came were willing to take the risks.
In the Bible the stakes are a little higher. God did not intend for anyone to die on Earth and He did not make anything evil or harmful. God says, “an enemy has done this”. Matthew 13:27-28. God did not want anyone to go to the grave. But when God warned man not to sin, He told them that in the day that they would sin then death would come to them and they would then go to “hell” or to the grave.
But God also had a solution for all those who would go to the grave. God promised to resurrect them to eternal life, if they wanted it. God does not want to be separated from us. He wants us to live forever and to be with Him. All who will choose Him can have the gift of eternal life and to be resurrected to heaven, and then eventually to return to Earth. But for this to occur each one of us must have a personal experience with God. If we choose to do this He will resurrect us from the grave, and eventually He will destroy death and destroy the grave, because no one else will ever go there.
This little study is a response to Avatar’s message of “Hell’s Gate”. God recognizes what hell’s gate means – that we have chosen to reject God and have chosen death over life. God wants us to live forever with Him, we can choose to reject eternal death today. Even though we may die, and go to the grave, yet the promise of God is available to us, He will come and resurrect us and we will live forever. What choice will you make today?
In the Bible there is a similar story with some major differences. In the Bible story there was no death in the Garden of Eden. Nothing killed, and nothing harmed in God’s kingdom. Isaiah 11:9. God put only one warning sign up and that was that Adam and Eve were not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If Adam and Eve left that tree alone, there would never be death of any kind. On the other hand if Adam and or Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, then death would come.
As the story unfolds Eve eats of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She eats because she accepts the thoughts of a speaking serpent/dragon. See Genesis 3:1-7, 14; Revelation 12:9. When she eats of the fruit, she then becomes the medium of temptation to Adam. When he chooses to eat of the same fruit, he concludes that he is naked and would be ashamed to come into the presence of God with no clothing. God comes at His normal time to talk to Adam and Eve and finds that they are now afraid to talk to Him. God asks if they had eaten of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and they prove they had by their blaming one another. After discussing it, God offers them new clothing that is purchased by blood and death. Genesis 3:21 Thus, the first death that happens on earth is a symbol of the coming of the true Avatar – Jesus Christ.
After God clothes them with clothing that He made for them, He then informs Adam and Eve that they must leave the Garden of Eden and they must leave the Tree of Life. Thus death is inevitable for Adam and Eve for they no longer can eat of the tree that brings healing and life. In time Adam and Eve will die.
Shortly after leaving Eden, Adam and Eve come face to face with death again. In Genesis 4 death comes to their second born son at the hands of their first born son. Cain kills Abel over the struggle of whether to bring an offering of fruit and vegetables or to bring an offering that symbolizes the slain life of Jesus. Cain is upset that God did not accept his sacrifice while God did accept the sacrifice of Abel. This disagreement led to the death of Abel and the running away of Cain.
This process continued with increasing frequency until by the time of the flood people were thinking evil thoughts continually and when people think evil thoughts all of the time they get violent. One of the concepts from the Old Testament is that when Israel turned away from God they practiced human sacrifice in the sense of offering up their children to their heathen but non-existent gods. They offered their children as sacrifices by making them pass through the fire. II Kings 23:10; II Chronicles 33:6. After 120 years God sent a flood to wash away the sins of the world, but in the act of cleansing there was death to all of the animals, and people on the planet Earth except for those animals and people on the Ark that Noah built by God’s instructions.
After the flood, the same selfishness of people began to manifest itself again in the meanness of people toward one another. All of the things that people did before the Flood were repeated by their children after the Flood, which eventually led to God confounding the language of man. This would slow down the negative process but man still found ways to think of evil continually. Man seemed to love death while rejecting life. The selfishness of man seemed to know no bounds, yet God, through His people Israel, tried to offer man another way – that of life. Israel, as a nation, was raised up to show an alternate way of life through obedient connection with God. All who would, could, and eventually would live forever and return to a way of life that nothing was to die or to harm one another.
Yet Israel did not do a very good job of revealing the life of surrender to God. They most often left their post with God and went to worship other Gods. They often ended up practicing the same behaviors as those who hated God. This went on for hundreds of years until the time finally came where God Himself came to be among the people. God lasted a few short years on Earth until He was hung on a cross and died. After His death Jesus Christ became the First to be raised from the dead. By this I do not mean that Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead, but that by His resurrection authorization had been given for all of those resurrected from the dead in the Old Testament times and those in the New Testament times. God revealed that there was a solution to the death problem and that solution was God Himself.
This process of rebellion against God, as started by Adam and Eve, has continued all through time down to the year 2010. God has revealed that any rebellion against Him, and His law, creates death. With death comes the trip to the grave. But God’s goal is to remove death once and for all time. God plans to bring everyone to an understanding that to live means to surrender in love to God. To die means to enter into rebellion against God and the principles of life. God offers us freedom to choose, but all must choose and deal with the consequences of that choice.
One of the interesting concepts in the Bible is that of death. One of the odd things that death presents is that all who follow death must end up in the grave. All through the Bible the name given for the grave was hell. Psalms 16:10; 86:13 marginal reference; Proverbs 7:27; I Corinthians 15:55 marginal reference; Revelation 20:13-14. Thus, Avatar’s Hell’s Gate is a way of stating that all who go through this gate love death and want the grave, or are willing to go to the grave. In the movie all of the people who had come to Pandora were willing to die because of the high potential reward. Pandora was supposed to be a very dangerous place to be but all that came were willing to take the risks.
In the Bible the stakes are a little higher. God did not intend for anyone to die on Earth and He did not make anything evil or harmful. God says, “an enemy has done this”. Matthew 13:27-28. God did not want anyone to go to the grave. But when God warned man not to sin, He told them that in the day that they would sin then death would come to them and they would then go to “hell” or to the grave.
But God also had a solution for all those who would go to the grave. God promised to resurrect them to eternal life, if they wanted it. God does not want to be separated from us. He wants us to live forever and to be with Him. All who will choose Him can have the gift of eternal life and to be resurrected to heaven, and then eventually to return to Earth. But for this to occur each one of us must have a personal experience with God. If we choose to do this He will resurrect us from the grave, and eventually He will destroy death and destroy the grave, because no one else will ever go there.
This little study is a response to Avatar’s message of “Hell’s Gate”. God recognizes what hell’s gate means – that we have chosen to reject God and have chosen death over life. God wants us to live forever with Him, we can choose to reject eternal death today. Even though we may die, and go to the grave, yet the promise of God is available to us, He will come and resurrect us and we will live forever. What choice will you make today?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Avatar’s Dragons
In the movie Avatar one of the right of passage experience is to go on a strenuous climb to find a dwelling place for the smaller of Pandora’s dragon species the Ikran. Jake is told that he is to find one of the Ikran and he will know if it has chosen him by the attempt to kill Jake. If Jake can subdue his Ikran then he can connect with his antenna, the queue, and complete the process of Tsahaylu. When Tsahaylu is completed then Jake would be able to control his Ikran and become a successful member of the clan. He would have proved that he was a successful man and have passed the tests of manhood and be a functional member of the village. Jake, on completion of subduing his Ikran, would be thought of as a successful hunter and warrior. When Jake completed his growth tasks he would then be considered eligible to mate with one of the females of the clan. All of these things Jake accomplished and in a positive manner.
It is interesting that Mr. Cameron chose to use a flying dragon as one of the symbols of growth and maturity in the culture of the Na'vi. In the Bible a flying serpent, Isaiah 14:29, is used to communicate an evil messenger, someone to avoid if at all possible. The dragon, or the great serpent, is named Satan – the Adversary. Revelation 12:9. This adversary came to Adam and Eve and tempted them to rebel against the revealed will of God, and thus introduced sin into the world and opened Pandora’s box. Sin led to death and destruction.
The use of a dragon in Avatar is an interesting mix of symbols. In the movie Avatar, friendship with a dragon is a function of becoming an adult in the Na’vi culture. There is a greater dragon – the Great Leonopteryx – that is so deadly that few make any connection with this dragon. But there is an occasional hero that is able to make Tsahaylu with the Great Leonopteryx and when that rare thing happens the hero is called Toruk Makto and he is able to lead all of the tribes of Pandora together.
In James Cameron’s mind, the dragons of Pandora are used for positive purposes, to show maturity, courage, and to allow the warrior access to the air to be a greater hunter and thus a greater deliverer. In the Bible’s perspective contact with the Dragon is to open the door to being deceived and to be harmed in some way. God warns us to stay away from the dragon, in any of his forms, and to stay focused on Jesus. To not go through the rite of passage ceremonies by keeping your distance and not entering into a deep, personal, and emotional contact with a dragon would be good in the eyes of God. It would show a dependence upon God and trust in Him to care for all of the needs of the culture as well as the needs of the individual.
In conclusion, God warns us to flee from the dragon and we will be blessed. Avatar encourages us to have contact with the dragon and that this contact leads to blessings and social advancement. Each person has to make these decisions for themselves. God has revealed His holy will to man through the stories He has told us. We have seen the impact of sin on people and we have seen the destruction of peoples, cities, and nations through their disobedience to the will of God. The concept of uniting with a Dragon in the mind of God is to commit sin and to turn against God and against your community; this God warns of and encourages us to stay faithful to Him so that He can do great things for us. Stay away from the dragons, in any shape, form, or culture. The True, and real God, has warned us to flee from dragons and enjoy sweet communion with Him. Today we can choose the fantasy or to choose the real and the true.
It is interesting that Mr. Cameron chose to use a flying dragon as one of the symbols of growth and maturity in the culture of the Na'vi. In the Bible a flying serpent, Isaiah 14:29, is used to communicate an evil messenger, someone to avoid if at all possible. The dragon, or the great serpent, is named Satan – the Adversary. Revelation 12:9. This adversary came to Adam and Eve and tempted them to rebel against the revealed will of God, and thus introduced sin into the world and opened Pandora’s box. Sin led to death and destruction.
The use of a dragon in Avatar is an interesting mix of symbols. In the movie Avatar, friendship with a dragon is a function of becoming an adult in the Na’vi culture. There is a greater dragon – the Great Leonopteryx – that is so deadly that few make any connection with this dragon. But there is an occasional hero that is able to make Tsahaylu with the Great Leonopteryx and when that rare thing happens the hero is called Toruk Makto and he is able to lead all of the tribes of Pandora together.
In James Cameron’s mind, the dragons of Pandora are used for positive purposes, to show maturity, courage, and to allow the warrior access to the air to be a greater hunter and thus a greater deliverer. In the Bible’s perspective contact with the Dragon is to open the door to being deceived and to be harmed in some way. God warns us to stay away from the dragon, in any of his forms, and to stay focused on Jesus. To not go through the rite of passage ceremonies by keeping your distance and not entering into a deep, personal, and emotional contact with a dragon would be good in the eyes of God. It would show a dependence upon God and trust in Him to care for all of the needs of the culture as well as the needs of the individual.
In conclusion, God warns us to flee from the dragon and we will be blessed. Avatar encourages us to have contact with the dragon and that this contact leads to blessings and social advancement. Each person has to make these decisions for themselves. God has revealed His holy will to man through the stories He has told us. We have seen the impact of sin on people and we have seen the destruction of peoples, cities, and nations through their disobedience to the will of God. The concept of uniting with a Dragon in the mind of God is to commit sin and to turn against God and against your community; this God warns of and encourages us to stay faithful to Him so that He can do great things for us. Stay away from the dragons, in any shape, form, or culture. The True, and real God, has warned us to flee from dragons and enjoy sweet communion with Him. Today we can choose the fantasy or to choose the real and the true.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Avatar and the State of the Dead
In the movie Avatar there were several presentations of the dead. In one scene a dead member of the Na’vi is shown being prepared for burial and a seed from the Tree of Souls is placed in the burial place. Apparently this seed was to be a connecting link to the soul of the dead family member.
In another scene Neytiri is presented as attempting to explain to Jake how the Tree of Souls keeps an account of each dead member of the tribe. The dead people, and their memories, are retained in the Tree of Souls and anyone can come to the tree and “connect” to this record of lives and thoughts. Apparently one could communicate with the record of the dead one but perhaps not to the person himself or herself.
In the Bible the state of the dead is a complex set of concepts. God tells us in Genesis 2:7 that God made a living soul out of the dust of the ground and then God breathed into the person the breath of life and he/she became a living soul. This formula requires to parts to be a living soul – a body and the breath of life. Without either of these to parts the living soul does not take place. In Ecclesiastes 12:5-7 God tells us that when death occurs that the body breaks back down into dust, and the spirit, or life energy, returns to God. Thus the living soul comes to an end.
Ecclesiastes 9:1-10 gives us some additional information as to what happens to us when we die. It says:
1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.
2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 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.
6 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.
7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
9 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.
10 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.
In this text God tells us that we will all die, unless we are translated to heaven without seeing death. Death happens to all people and if the normal process occurs we all will experience this death process. When we die, the Bible says that our love, hatred, envy, knowledge, and wisdom all stops. There is no communication with the dead for all mental, and physical processing, is terminated. God even goes so far as to say that all our thoughts perish (Psalms 146:4) and that we no longer can praise God. Psalms 115:17 So from the Word of God all cognitive processing stops and ceases to function.
An interesting question comes up and that is many people claim to have communications with the dead, or tap into the memories of the dead, as in the Tree of Souls in the movie Avatar. If we use the Bible to guide our thoughts, since it is God who only knows all about life or death, then we are instructed not to seek wisdom from the dead. God wants us to seek wisdom and instruction from the living, He wants us to come to Him and He will grant us wisdom and truth. He does not want us to seek other avenues of information controlled by Satan, He wants us to come to Him and He will guide us.
“And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God, for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it I because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:19-20
“When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.” Deuteronomy 18:9-14
(Necromancers are people who attempt to communicate with the dead, and familiar spirits are the supposed spirits of dead people dwelling in animals to communicate their thoughts to Necromancers, Wizards, and Witches. God forbids all of this.)
God is aware that Satan has chosen to attempt to communicate his will through avenues that God has forbidden us. The reason He forbids this is because the information sent to us from Satan is based totally on deception, error, and sin. Satan attempts to use avenues that God has forbidden. All communication with the dead can not happen because God says that the dead do not think, feel, share, praise, or anything, for they are dead. The dead do not communicate. So any communications that supposedly come from the dead come from Satan, not from God. Therefore all “communications” with the dead come from Satan, not from the person that can not communicate until they are resurrected. God wants to communicate the truth, and only the truth, Satan wants to communicate error to prevent us from trusting in God.
So God’s answer to the dead is to allow them to “sleep” until Jesus comes to awaken them again. I Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18 When He puts the breath of life back into their bodies, they will then be able to communicate again. Until then they simply rest in God and are not aware of anything under the sun.
Satan, on the other hand, wants to communicate with us his thinking. He wants us to distrust God and to disobey Him. Satan communicated this thought to Eve and through her distrust in God, and trust in Satan, she opened the proverbial Pandora’s box and introduced sin to Adam and then they disobeyed God and ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Thus they introduced death to the Earth, something that God did not want to occur. So all communication with Satan will eventually produce death if accepted, for Satan always wants to do anything and everything that God forbids.
So, as in all things, God has given us a choice. We can obey Him and prosper or we can disobey Him and get into trouble. God wants us to have truth only. He does not want us to have error for error produces death. So leave the dead alone and allow God to watch over them until the resurrection takes place. Let us connect with God and get all of the knowledge we can possibly use and live a life that will help all around us.
In another scene Neytiri is presented as attempting to explain to Jake how the Tree of Souls keeps an account of each dead member of the tribe. The dead people, and their memories, are retained in the Tree of Souls and anyone can come to the tree and “connect” to this record of lives and thoughts. Apparently one could communicate with the record of the dead one but perhaps not to the person himself or herself.
In the Bible the state of the dead is a complex set of concepts. God tells us in Genesis 2:7 that God made a living soul out of the dust of the ground and then God breathed into the person the breath of life and he/she became a living soul. This formula requires to parts to be a living soul – a body and the breath of life. Without either of these to parts the living soul does not take place. In Ecclesiastes 12:5-7 God tells us that when death occurs that the body breaks back down into dust, and the spirit, or life energy, returns to God. Thus the living soul comes to an end.
Ecclesiastes 9:1-10 gives us some additional information as to what happens to us when we die. It says:
1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.
2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 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.
6 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.
7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
9 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.
10 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.
In this text God tells us that we will all die, unless we are translated to heaven without seeing death. Death happens to all people and if the normal process occurs we all will experience this death process. When we die, the Bible says that our love, hatred, envy, knowledge, and wisdom all stops. There is no communication with the dead for all mental, and physical processing, is terminated. God even goes so far as to say that all our thoughts perish (Psalms 146:4) and that we no longer can praise God. Psalms 115:17 So from the Word of God all cognitive processing stops and ceases to function.
An interesting question comes up and that is many people claim to have communications with the dead, or tap into the memories of the dead, as in the Tree of Souls in the movie Avatar. If we use the Bible to guide our thoughts, since it is God who only knows all about life or death, then we are instructed not to seek wisdom from the dead. God wants us to seek wisdom and instruction from the living, He wants us to come to Him and He will grant us wisdom and truth. He does not want us to seek other avenues of information controlled by Satan, He wants us to come to Him and He will guide us.
“And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God, for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it I because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:19-20
“When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.” Deuteronomy 18:9-14
(Necromancers are people who attempt to communicate with the dead, and familiar spirits are the supposed spirits of dead people dwelling in animals to communicate their thoughts to Necromancers, Wizards, and Witches. God forbids all of this.)
God is aware that Satan has chosen to attempt to communicate his will through avenues that God has forbidden us. The reason He forbids this is because the information sent to us from Satan is based totally on deception, error, and sin. Satan attempts to use avenues that God has forbidden. All communication with the dead can not happen because God says that the dead do not think, feel, share, praise, or anything, for they are dead. The dead do not communicate. So any communications that supposedly come from the dead come from Satan, not from God. Therefore all “communications” with the dead come from Satan, not from the person that can not communicate until they are resurrected. God wants to communicate the truth, and only the truth, Satan wants to communicate error to prevent us from trusting in God.
So God’s answer to the dead is to allow them to “sleep” until Jesus comes to awaken them again. I Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18 When He puts the breath of life back into their bodies, they will then be able to communicate again. Until then they simply rest in God and are not aware of anything under the sun.
Satan, on the other hand, wants to communicate with us his thinking. He wants us to distrust God and to disobey Him. Satan communicated this thought to Eve and through her distrust in God, and trust in Satan, she opened the proverbial Pandora’s box and introduced sin to Adam and then they disobeyed God and ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Thus they introduced death to the Earth, something that God did not want to occur. So all communication with Satan will eventually produce death if accepted, for Satan always wants to do anything and everything that God forbids.
So, as in all things, God has given us a choice. We can obey Him and prosper or we can disobey Him and get into trouble. God wants us to have truth only. He does not want us to have error for error produces death. So leave the dead alone and allow God to watch over them until the resurrection takes place. Let us connect with God and get all of the knowledge we can possibly use and live a life that will help all around us.
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