Genesis 3:8-11

This year we have covered the first seventeen chapters of The Gospel According To Matthew.

Matthew chapters 18 and 19 are two crucial chapters of the New Testament. These chapters have the answers (HOW/WHY) church today is NOT creating the value needed to bring about God's Will on earth as it is done in Heaven.

However, people miss the solutions presented by Jesus because they lack the foundational doctrine. We will see most churches today do the OPPOSITE of Matthew chapters 18 and 19.

In order to more fully appreciate the information, we will spend the rest of this month getting foundational background.

In the previous post, we covered Genesis 3:1-7. Here is the summary:

God intended for Adam and Eve to live in PARADISE...to live in the moment and NOT look to the future. I believe He opened up their nucleus basalis and gave them direction. With each piece of information, their thoughts in their conscious brain would have been IMMEDIATE...that is, they would have gone through only one causal feedback loop....would have looked at only immediate contradictions.

However, Adam and Eve encountered a creature that was NOT novel to Adam, but MAY have been novel to Eve. (Adam named all the creatures BEFORE Eve was created.)

I believe their CONSCIOUS decision to eat the fruit was an expression of THEIR WILL to control their nucleus basalis.

Once they ate the fruit, they were able to LOOK BEYOND the immediate moment...to look at Long Term implications.

Ed makes the point Adam and Eve ALWAYS knew they were naked. However, upon eating the fruit, Adam's and Eve's EYES WERE OPENED and they KNEW they were naked...so this must mean they KNEW the Long Term implications and took Long Term actions. (Perhaps they were afraid they might cause "others" (angels, God, animals, etc.) to commit sexual immorality. Perhaps Adam and Eve hadn't had intercourse yet and this realization of HOW sex could be perverted made them ashamed. I do not know...) Whatever the specific realization, Adam and Eve were no longer living in the moment...they were no longer experiencing Paradise.

From this point on, everything in this Genesis account takes on a much deeper meaning when viewed from Ed's perspective...


GENESIS 3:8-11
"8 And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden."

Clearly, Adam and Eve RESPONDED to the voice of God by hiding!

This month we have covered a lot of background in order to appreciate this one verse. Let's take a moment to understand the implications of this verse...

During the post titled, "Doctrine of Sin (Overview)", we saw that while sin is a violation of God's objective standard, the standard changed twice throughout the Bible. People make the mistake of seeing The Law as ALWAYS being God's objective standard. However, there was one standard BEFORE The Law and a new standard in our dispensation once Jesus fulfilled The Law and sent the Holy Spirit. If you want a complete explanation, please click on the previously provided link. Here is a brief excerpt from "Doctrine of Sin (Overview)":

"BEFORE THE LAW (Genesis)
Before the Dispensation of The Law, people didn't know SPECIFICALLY what was a sin UNTIL they did it. Then once they had done a SPECIFIC sin, they knew that SPECIFIC action was sinful BEFORE they did it the next time."

In that same post, I presented a parable to illustrate the three different conditions related to sin. Here is an excerpt of that parable dealing only with the condition that existed in Genesis (BEFORE The Law):

"SIN PARABLE
Imagine you are in a completely dark living room. How would you make "progress"? How would you get from one wall to the opposite wall?"

"You would begin walking forward, slowly, until you ran into an object. Then you would adjust and try not to walk into that object again. This is the same as sin before The Law."

"The object is analogous to "sin". You don't know the "sin" until you encounter it...then you work to avoid it in the future. You work according to YOUR understanding and experience...your faith."

This month, we also brought greater Resolution to the Doctrine of Sin by understanding there are First Dimensional, Second Dimensional, and Third Dimensional sins.

Here is the summary from the post titled, "First Dimensional Sin":

"First Dimensional sins are committed as an effect of stimulus from outside the individual."

"We all have First Dimensional sins."

"First Dimensional sins are committed against people and will be resolved through Justice according to the Reward Model."

"First Dimensional sins ought to be resolved by people through confession and repentance, not God."

"All unresolved First Dimensional sin will be resolved by God during the First judgment on Judgment Day."


Here is the summary from the post titled, "Second Dimensional Sin":

"Second Dimensional sins are committed in response to the Words and actions of the individual. The stimulus for Second Dimensional sin is First Dimensional sin. The stimulus is from inside the individual."

"We don't have to commit Second Dimensional sins."

"Second Dimensional sins are committed against God and will be resolved through Righteous according to the Salvation Model."

"Second Dimensional sins ought to be resolved NOW by confessing and repenting to God."

"All unresolved Second Dimensional sin will be resolved by God during the Second judgment on Judgment Day."

"God is MUCH MORE focused on Second Dimensional sin than First Dimensional sin."


Applying all of this to verse 8, we see:
-Adam sinned against Eve by not teaching her the Word of God.

-Eve sinned against Adam by offering him the fruit.

-Adam and Eve hiding from God's voice was in response to the First Dimensional sins they had committed against each other.


THE BIBLE vs. MAN-MADE NOVELS
One of the subtle differences with the Bible as literature is how the main Persons were presented. In a novel, we learn about some aspect of the character in the beginning...and we continue to get more and more understanding of the true nature of the character as the story goes on.

In the Bible, when it comes to The Trinity, the best understanding of each Person was obtained upon Their introduction...and then They became more and more abstract as the story went on. For example, how often did God the Father speak throughout the Bible?

He began the Bible speaking to people directly (Adam, Eve, Cain...) and by the time Moses is gone, God the Father is only speaking to people through prophets. In the New Testament, God the Father spoke during Jesus' Baptism and the Transfiguration...and very little is mentioned about God the Father directly.

In the Book of Matthew, Jesus gave a specific explanation of His objective and doctrine during His PREMIERE Teaching (Matthew chapters 5 through 7). This was the clearest explanation of Jesus' doctrine. Everything after that Teaching was more abstract and complex because Jesus adjusted to people.

Notice, The Holy Spirit appeared in The Book of Acts, which was the best description we get and then became more abstract through the rest of the New Testament...as the Holy Spirit adjusted to people.

Consequently, the best understanding of God the Father comes at the beginning of the Bible. As people make more and more poor choices, God the Father adjusted to humans and we see less and less of His Nature directly and more of Him indirectly. That means the following exchange between God and Adam/Eve will give us the clearest understanding of God's Nature and Objectives.

This is a VERY well-known story. However, I have found people don't consciously recall this story correctly. In fact, I've learned our Unaware Brain KNOWS this story accurately. I believe the disconnect between what people consciously SAY about this story and what the Unaware Brain DOES with this story is what is causing some people today to believe the Bible is NOT truth...that it is NOT the Word of God. A lot of pastors and national ministries are lamenting the statistics showing 90% of the teenagers raised in the church don't attend church once they graduate high school...yet these pastors and national ministries don't want to consider the reason may be their inability to teach God's Word accurately and without contradiction.

Realize, a person who sets out to read the Bible AND consciously misinterprets this FIRST STORY of the Bible will VERY LIKELY not be able to finish reading the Bible (let alone Genesis) without the Unaware Brain juicing the person AWAY from reading the Bible!!!!

Think about this: teaching the Bible incorrectly ACTUALLY encourages people to NOT be motivated to read their Bible because their Unaware Brain recognizes the contradictions and Long Term damage!

We have seen people who read "Modeling God" WANT to read their Bible MORE because the Bible makes sense. "Modeling God" is NOT the answer. The Bible is the answer. "Modeling God" is a tool helping people get the answer...people who read "Modeling God" GET the Bible.

These next three verses COMPLETELY determine YOUR view of God.

For the rest of this post, I'm going to ask you to PREDICT what God said. I'm going to ask you to PREDICT the next verse.

If you want to GROW, answer the questions before proceeding with the verse.

So, let's back up...

"8 And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden."

For their entire life, Adam and Eve openly received from God when God spoke. Now, Adam and Eve HID themselves from God when they heard His Voice.

What is the next verse?
-Who spoke?
-To Whom did They speak?
-What did They speak?

Take a moment to answer each question before proceeding...



THE NEXT VERSE:
"9 And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou?"
-God spoke
-He spoke to Adam
-God asked a Question

Notice, God did NOT judge Adam and Eve. He SPECIFICALLY asked Adam a Question. If your answer was a Statement, then you believe God is focused on judging. If your answer was a Question along the lines of "Why are you hiding?", then you STILL believe God is focused on judging because God would be accusing Adam of hiding.

God asked Adam a Question: "Where art thou?"

What is the next verse?
-Who spoke?
-To Whom did They speak?
-What did They speak?

Take a moment to answer each question before proceeding...



THE NEXT VERSE:
"10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."
-Adam spoke
-He spoke to God
-Adam spoke a Statement that followed the First Feedback Loop and Second Feedback Loop Models.

Stimulus: heard God's voice
Connecting Thought: I am naked
Associated Emotion: Afraid
Response: Hid

The First Feedback Loop resulted in a Full Thought: I heard God's voice and became afraid because I was naked.

The Second Feedback Loop resulted in a Response: I hid myself.

We are seeing Adam's Thought Process!

One more verse...

Adam shared his Thought Process.

What is the next verse?
-Who spoke?
-To Whom did They speak?
-What did They speak?

Take a moment to answer each question before proceeding...



THE NEXT VERSE:
"11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?"
-God spoke
-He spoke to Adam
-He asked TWO Questions.

Most people who claim to know this story answer with God making a Statement to Adam and Eve that judged/condemned them!

God did NOT condemn Adam and Eve EVEN at this point. Most people who tell this story present a God that is focused on judgment and condemnation for First Dimensional sin. However, we have seen this is NOT THE CASE according to the Bible.

God asked THREE Questions!!!!

In fact, did you notice anything strange about these Questions?

God asked Adam: Where art thou?

God asked Adam: Who told thee that thou wast naked?

God asked Adam: Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

We are going to conclude today's post with a Question for you:

WHY did God ask Adam these three Questions?

In order to make this easier, let me share the two most popular answers to this Question:

1. God did NOT know the answers to these Questions.
-God did NOT know where Adam was.
-God did NOT know who told them they were naked.
-God did NOT know if they ate of the tree.

2. God knew, but He wanted Adam to know that He knew in order to judge/condemn him.

Notice, people who believe answer #1 are actually saying, "God is NOT God...He is NOT omniscient...HE doesn't know what has happened."

People who believe answer #2 are actually saying, "God is a Determinist (Calvinist). He is focused on things that are in the past...on things we can't do anything about...because He is NOT the God of the living. He wants us to focus on things in the past that we can't do anything about."

Remember, your Unaware Brain knows the non-contradictory answer.

Your conscious response shows how much incongruity you have when it comes to God's Word...and God's Nature.

Obviously, people who give (or teach) either of these two answers are damaging their brain...and the brains of others.

Tomorrow, we will answer this last Question in a non-contradictory manner...

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