Written by Noble.
To better understand the garden of Eden, we will have to delve into the story of the fall of Lucifer from Heaven[1] and why Earth was created. For Lucifer, over time, became the major opponent to all who wish to know God. From his heavenly name meaning ‘bringer of light’ to the name he is most known by, that of Satan, a Hebrew word meaning ‘adversary’,[2] his story is one that all should be aware of.
In Heaven, Lucifer was the first archangel, who was able to communicate with God. At that point in time, not everyone could do this because God was a Spirit, invisible to all. He was given the duty as an angel, word which means messenger, to educate other souls so they could also commune with God.
Now the question to be asked is why did Lucifer revolt against his Maker? The answer is that his pride got in his way.[3] He liked the adoration, the feed back that he was getting from the people as he walked amongst them. He was powerful. He was beautiful.[4] He was somebody that the people could see, touch, talk to. Over time, he decided that he wanted to replace God whom many people could not see.[5]
To keep all his glory and power, he knew that he had to stop the people from reaching a spiritual level of communication with the Creator. To achieve this, his scheme became that of promoting the material world over the spiritual. As many people embraced this new concept, the advancement they needed to connect with the spiritual world, hence with God, was lost. This was the same strategy he tried to use with Jesus, when he offered him all the ‘material’ kingdoms of the world, if he, Jesus, would bow down and worship him.[6]
But not all the people of Heaven were deceived into believing this new teaching. Under the banner of another archangel, Michael, a war began.[7] It started as a war of words, but ended in a physical battle. Lucifer and his followers lost and were expelled from Heaven.[8]
Lucifer was thrown out of Heaven along with a third of its citizens.[9] Millions of souls fell with him. In Book 1 of Paradise Lost, lines 606 to 612 reads: “the fellows of his crime, the followers rather… condemned forever now to have their lot of pain; millions of spirits for his fault amerced (deprived) of Heaven, and from eternal splendors flung for his revolt; yet faithful how they stood…”
How long did they fall, one might ask? In Paradise Lost, there are two places where it refers to a period of nine days.[10] Nine days does not seem long for such a terrible crime against God and Heaven. One would then wonder, how long is a day for God? In the Bible, it is written, ‘with the Lord a day is like a thousand years.’ [11] Based on that biblical verse, those souls were left in the dark void for nine thousand years. Logically with time their flesh would have perished and without a physical body, these immortal souls would have suffered horrendously.
In time, the Lord had pity on these rebellious souls for they were still His creations. After hearing their laments and cries, He mercifully granted them a new life and home. On a new planet called Earth, they were allowed to live and populated it during the period we call the six days of creation. Proof of this statement can be found in Genesis, when after the fall of Eden, it is written that Cain took a wife. Where did he find a wife since Eve (his mother) was supposedly the only woman created? The verse also states that he started building a city which he named after his son. [12] Not a community, but a city which usually indicates a lot of people.
So, the question remains, why was Adam specifically brought into the garden? It was due to the fact, that though the rebels were granted life, they were not given the breath of life. This breath of life as seen in the previous dissertation was the Light, the Language, the Comprehension to commune with God. This was why the garden was created, to start over again and make Earth into another version of Heaven filled with children of God.
[1] Bible: Isaiah 14:12-14. In Heaven, he was called Lucifer Morning Star [2] The Norton Anthology of English Literature (5th Edition) Milton’s Paradise Lost, Book 1 (footnotes #1) [3] Ibid.: Book 1, lines 36-37 [4] Ibid.: Book 1, lines 589-591 [5] Ibid.: Book 1, lines 40-41. Isaiah 14: 13-14 [6] Bible: Matthew 4:8-9 [7] Bible: Revelation 12:7 [8] Ibid.: 12-9 [9] Milton’s Paradise Lost, Book 2, line 693 [10] Ibid.: Book 1, line 50. In Book 6, there is a reference to the timeline in the summary. [11] Bible: 2 peter 3:8-9 [12] Ibid.: Genesis 4-17
#womenofsubstance#equality#womensrights#genderequality#humanrights
Comments