C H U R C H R E F O R M S E R I E S
By Biblicism Institute
When God speaks, His words are alive.
When God speaks, it is prophecy.
When God speaks, it echoes throughout the universe.
Expulsion from the Garden of Eden
THE WORD AND THE SEED
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11
God’s word is like a seed.
A seed does not look like much, yet when it grows it produces a trunk, stems, leaves, flowers and/or fruits with more seeds. Thus the result of planting that one tiny seed becomes the very real multiplication of manifestations.
A seed is impregnated with data God designed. Said data only materialize after the seed is planted and goes through its growth cycles.
In much the same way, when God says something it may appear to be only one simple thing, yet it is coded with data that are not noticeable at first, until it begins to display various manifestations throughout creation.
For instance, from the very beginning God spoke these words in the Garden of Eden:
“The LORD God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.’ ” Genesis 3: 14,15
These prophecies are so loaded with meanings that it’s very difficult to even know where to begin. Let’s try anyway while keeping it simple.
1. The Serpent
In the natural world. The serpent allowed Satan to take control of it, therefore it was cursed. In cursing the serpent, God’s words are still echoing today.
That’s why 90% of all people on earth have a visceral fear of snakes – a fear unlike any other. It echoes back to the Garden of Eden.
Those who are not afraid have a healthy respect for them because they know what snakes are capable of. Actually, such a favorable disposition is itself fear, but fear somewhat conquered and camouflaged as respect.
Further, with said curse the serpent lost its legs.
“On your belly you will go…” Genesis 3:14
Still, this is how Discovery puts it: “Snakes used to have legs, and now new research suggests snakes lost their legs by growing them more slowly or for a shorter period of time until the legs eventually disappeared.”
Why are scientists so baffled by this when God Himself cursed the serpent so?
Discovery continues: “The research, outlined in the latest issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, strengthens the belief that snakes evolved from a lizard that either burrowed on land or swam in the ocean.”
These pseudo-scientists refuse to believe that God is the one who caused the serpent’s legs to disappear. That’s because they don’t want to acknowledge His existence or recognize the veracity of His words and the incontestability of their echoes. Instead, they prefer to rely on unproven theories and conjectures, like the cockamamy Theory of Evolution.
Finally, when God said that the serpent would eat dust all the days of its life… well, it still does. Carl Wieland explains:
“There is an organ in the roof of a snake’s mouth called ‘Jacobson’s organ’. This helps the snake to smell in addition to its nose. Its darting, forked tongue samples bits of dust by picking them up on the points of the fork, which it then presents to its matching pair of sensory organs inside its mouth. Once it has ‘smelt’ them in this way, the tongue must be cleaned so the process can be repeated immediately. Therefore serpents really do lick dust and eat it.”
In the spiritual world. Satan was also cursed. As a result, he was destined to fall.
“And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’ ” Luke 10:18
From that point on Satan never ceased to be known as the Serpent, the poor beast he took control of in order to seduce Eve. Again, more echoes!
“…the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan…” Revelation 12:9
2. The battle of the seeds
Satan’s seed was to be the Pharisees, his followers. They were the ones who pushed for the trial and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8: 44
Botticelli’s Madonna and Child
The woman’s seed was to be Jesus, born of the woman Mary.
Now keep in mind that a woman has no seed. Mary is the only woman since the beginning of creation who became pregnant without the use of a man’s seed. God implanted the divine seed in her. As a result, that seed became hers, just like a man’s seed is his.
“The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’” Luke 1:35
3. The Enmity and the Bruising
Satan caused the woman in the Garden to induce God’s first son Adam to fall. So God used another woman, Mary, to bring forth His second son, Jesus, who this time was to battle Satan in order to bring about his fall.
“The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8
During their clash Satan managed to bruise Christ’s heel. He did so by killing Him on the cross, but that was not the end of the story.
Christ’s descent into Hades
Jesus’s Spirit went down into Hades, Satan’s territory.
“He went and preached unto the spirits in prison.” 1 Peter 3:19
As Christ took over Satan’s domain, the Serpent was bruised on the head. In other words, the Devil was defeated with a crushing blow.
“Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” John 12:31
Then Jesus resurrected with power and in victory.
“I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Revelation 1:18
Therefore Jesus’s death on the cross was just a slight contusion to the heel.
THE ECHOES
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.” Deuteronomy 32:1
The words from Genesis 3:14,15 that God spoke in the Garden of Eden began their echoes or ripple effects the moment they were uttered.
Just like a seed with its set of data, they contained within them God’s entire plan of salvation for mankind. A plan that would bear fruit 4000 years later in the person of Jesus.
Here are some major echoes or ripple effects from those words that left their marks before Jesus would even appear.
1. Echoes on earth
Hawaiian human sacrifice
Various cultures experienced distinct ripple effects, especially in their pagan religions.
Most of them had some sort of human sacrifice as part of their rituals. Sometimes they would require a virgin and at other times a baby or a child. It was their way of appeasing their gods.
What they actually felt was the echo of God’s prophecy that would ultimately bring about the sacrifice of a chosen one who would arrive on earth as a baby by way of a virgin mother. He would then become the sacrificial atonement for man’s sins.
Mass sacrifice of 53 young women in Cahokia
However, they couldn’t decipher the true essence and the true meaning of said echo.
“For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.” Job 33:14
It was like a thick dark cloud that hung over them, equivalent to a bad omen.
“Where there is no guidance, a people falls…” Proverbs 11:14
Satan saw this as his opportunity to encroach. It was his cue to do what he does best. He perverted the meaning of the bits and pieces of the ripple these people managed to grasp, and the end result was their demonic sacrifices that accompanied their pagan rituals.
Child sacrificed to Moloch
Remember, Satan is an expert at twisting God’s word to embroil gullible people, especially those who are willing to serve him. He’s been a master deceiver since the Garden of Eden.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’ ‘ ” Genesis 3:1
These cultures also caught further echoes – from even more prophecies – that later on would make them appear to be even more “similar” to the Christian faith.
Nevertheless, many seem to believe that it’s the other way around, and that Christianity is the one that displays similarities to pagan religions. In other words, they fool themselves into believing that Christianity plagiarized its Jesus figure from the religions of the heathens.
Some of the names they mention to back their accusation are Mythras, Horus, and Zoroaster, just to name a few. Those who bring these charges conveniently sidestep the fact that the names they mention only came about after the Garden of Eden prophecy. What they also overlook is that none of the ones they mention managed to change the world the way Jesus did.
By and large, these so-called plagiaristic similarities that Christianity is accused of are so very insignificant that they’re not worth arguing about. Many of them are actually lies, with some blown way out of proportion. Even those that are “facts” are simply the ripples/echoes of God’s prophecy that wormed their way into those pagan religions.
2. Echoes in the heavens
Star of Bethlehem
The stars also felt the echo and obediently aligned themselves to announce the birth of Christ by the Virgin.
“And there was a great wonder [sign] in heaven; a woman clothed with the Sun, and the Moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” Revelation 12: 1,2
Dr Ernest Martin, history and theology professor, explains the ripple effect in the stars this way:
“The only time in the year that the Sun could be in a position to ‘clothe’ the celestial woman called Virgo … is when the Sun is located between about 150 and 170 degrees along the ecliptic. This ‘clothing’ of the woman by the Sun occurs for a 20-day period each year……In 3BC., the Sun would have entered this celestial region about August 27 and exited from it about September 15.
“In the year 3BC, these two factors came to precise agreement for about half an hour, as observed from Palestine, in the twilight period of September 11th. The relationship began about 6:15 p.m. (sunset), and lasted until around 7:45p.m. (moonset). This is the only day in the whole year that the astronomical phenomenon described in the twelfth chapter of Revelation could take place.
“This also shows one other important point. The Moon was in crescent phase. It was a New Moon day, the start of a new lunar month.”
The Star that shone over Bethlehem also felt the echo and had no choice but to clamor the birth of the Savior.
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judah, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying, ‘Where is the one who is born king of the Judahites? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’ ” Matthew 2: 1,2
The Open Scroll explains:
“The appearance of a new bright star in the head of Coma would have spoken loudly to the Magi.
The Comah Constellation
“The ancient name of the constellation Coma is spelled ‘Comah.’ It is a Hebrew word which means ‘the desired,’ or ‘longed for.’ The word is found translated that way in Haggai.
” ‘I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord almighty.” Haggai 2:7
“The association with Jesus is obvious!
“About this constellation, an Arabian astronomer named Albumazar (eighth century AD) is quoted as saying: ‘There arises in the first Decan (which means: ‘part,’ or, ‘associated constellation’) as the Persians, Chaldeans, and Egyptians, and the two Hermes and Ascalius teach, a young woman, whose Persian name denotes a pure virgin, sitting on a throne, nourishing an infant boy, having a Hebrew name, that some nations called IHESU, with the signification IEZA, which in Greek is called Christos. The boy in the virgin’s lap is widely recognized as symbolic of Christos – the anointed, the Messiah!’ “
CONCLUSION
When God speaks, His words are active.
When God speaks, it reverberates.
When God speaks, creation reacts.
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
Biblicism Institute 