Paradise, Eden, and the Kingdom of God

PARADISE, EDEN AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD

1-16-2019

The Garden of Eden as described in the book of Genesis has generated a considerable amount of speculation in both religious and secular circles.  Was it an actual place created by God at the beginning of creation for Adam and Eve or is it merely symbolic imagery representing a perfect area of the world?  Of course, most people consider Eden a metaphoric addition to the Genesis record but let’s suppose it was a real place.

If Eden was an actual area of land, which is a high possibility, then it would be the model for the Kingdom of God or a window through which heaven would come to the earth.  The earth was to be an expression of heaven and the will of God, but this was to come as the earth progressed from chaos to the appearance of the garden.  The Garden of Eden is/was also called “paradise”.  God placed Adam in the orchard or garden of Eden and instructed him to care for it and to maintain it. Afterwards He created Eve from a part of Adam so that both Adam and Eve would be of one body.

Paradise began as a small limited piece of real estate. Some claim it was possibly located in the northern Iraq/Turkey area.  Adam and Eve were called to increase the Kingdom until it filled the whole earth. If Adam had been able to do so, all things would have been put “under his feet” (Psalm 8:6).

Psalms 8:4-6 NET Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them, (5) and make them a little less than the heavenly beings? You grant mankind honor and majesty; (6) you appoint them to rule over your creation; you have placed everything under their authority

However, Adam failed, and so this calling was transferred to the “last Adam,” which is Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:45 NET (45) So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living person"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

The gateway to the Earth of the paradise of Eden is Jesus Christ.  It is prophesied by Isaiah that the world will eventually become a replica of the Paradise of Eden.  However, it will not instantly occur at the return of Jesus but only after a period of time when all people have been resurrected and instructed by the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Millennium lasts for a thousand years.  At the end of the Millennium all remaining people will be resurrected and reeducated by the fire of God.  At this time will be the possible restructuring of the earth into the paradise of Eden occur.

When the Kingdom of God transforms the entire earth in the paradise of Eden, some animals will no longer be lethal to each other or to people.

Isaiah 11:6-9 NET A wolf will reside with a lamb, and a leopard will lie down with a young goat; an ox and a young lion will graze together, as a small child leads them along. (7) A cow and a bear will graze together, their young will lie down together. A lion, like an ox, will eat straw. (8) A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand. (9) They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain. For there will be universal submission to the LORD's sovereignty, just as the waters completely cover the sea.

Other Old Testament millennial prophecies include:  Zechariah 14:8-21; Joel 3:18;  Psalms 46:4; Micah 4:1; Isaiah 65:17-25; and Isaiah 66:18-24.

The animals will eventually become as they were at creation, tame and docile.  Genesis 2:19 seems to indicate that all the animals, including birds, willingly approached Adam to be given a name.

Genesis 2:19 NET The LORD God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

The finale of the Kingdom may be found in Revelation 21.  John envisioned a “new heaven and a new earth”.  The exact definition of this statement (new earth) is unknown.  Most commentators doubt that a new planet will appear to replace the original earth.  It could be that a transformation of the earth will present the appearance of a new earth. 

Revelation 21:1-3 NET Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more. (2) And I saw the holy city -- the new Jerusalem -- descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. (3) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: "Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them.

“And the sea existed no more” It is thought that the original earthly creation did not contain surface water, with the water all being underground within the earth.  During the flood of Noah, Genesis states that it actually rained but the majority of the water came from under the ground. In the new earth the oceans and seas may again become underground reservoirs.

The word “Jerusalem” is said to be a plurality designating two Jerusalems.  The old earthly Jerusalem is supposedly prophesied to be destroyed according to Isaiah 26 but the New Jerusalem will perhaps be created by God on the new earth although it is said to descend from heaven.  As the city of the glorified saints it will be as a bride for Jesus Christ, who is the husband.

Genesis 2:24 KJ3  Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife and they shall become one flesh (or one family).

As previously stated, the transformation of the earth to Paradise will not happen suddenly.  It was perhaps take about 1000 years.  The glorified saints of the first resurrection will be given authority to subdue the nations to Christ during the Tabernacles Age which will also be the seventh or Sabbath Millennium and there will be no debts or servitude.  The end of the seventh Millennium will also witness a war consisting of unbelievers attacking the people of God.

Revelation 20:7-8 NET Now when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison (8) and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea.

The mentioned, God and Magog, may be similar people but are not the same people of Ezekiel 38 and 39 which has already been mostly fulfilled by the Khazarian Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe and ended with the state of Israel in 1948.

At the Great White Throne judgment all remaining people will be resurrected at the second resurrection.  Each will confront the court of judgment and they will receive the judgment of God.  The law requires that all law breakers will be symbolically sold to various masters or redeemers as a version of mandatory subjection.  Their redeemers will be granted the responsibility to teach each of them righteousness.

Isaiah 26:9 NET I look for you during the night, my spirit within me seeks you at dawn, for when your judgments come upon the earth, those who live in the world learn about justice.

Adam’s sin prevented him from completing his calling which was to subdue the earth into a paradise as an expansion of the Garden of Eden.  He was given the Fruitfulness Mandate but was unable to fulfill it.  The Mandate may have been passed down through all the generations after Adam but it was definitely given to Abraham by God.  Then it was given to Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Ephraim, etc.  At the second coming Jesus Christ will attain the Fruitfulness Mandate and it will then be totally fulfilled.

Genesis 1:28 NET God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground."

The Chosen & the Unchosen

THE CHOSEN AND THE UNCHOSEN

The title of this article should really be “the currently chosen at the return of Christ and the currently unchosen at that time”.  It is my belief, through years of research and study, that a universal reconciliation of all people will eventually take place at some point in time. This will not occur at the return of Jesus Christ or during the Millennium.  It may involve another thousand years after the Millennial era.  Every person involved in the second resurrection will be corrected as God sees fit.

In this article the chosen will be those, both alive and dead, who will be included in the first resurrection.  The so-called unchosen are not actually unchosen for all time, because God loves and cares for His entire creation, even the most unlawful, sin-filled, human being that has ever lived.

Jesus stated, in Old Testament legal terms, the corrective punishment each type of law breaker would receive at their judicial time of the second resurrection.

Luke 12:46-48 NET then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the unfaithful. (47) That servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or do what his master asked will receive a severe beating. (48) But the one who did not know his master's will and did things worthy of punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked.

The second resurrection will occur after a thousand years, subsequent to the metaphoric return of Christ and the literal first resurrection.  This second resurrection will inculcate the White Throne Judgement of God.  Books will be opened, including the Book of Life.  The unlawful but redeemed individuals found in the Book of Life will receive light judgment and then will be released with a glorified body.  However, their rewards will be minimal and they will not participate within the ruling class of the elect of the first resurrection.

The unbelievers, unredeemed, and unremitting law breakers will be sentenced to the lake of fire.  As written in previous articles, the lake of fire is not an eternal hell fire of punishment for the unredeemed, and it also does not eternally burn up sinners. 

For the record, God is identified as some type of fire throughout the Bible.  Nowhere does one find in the divine law a provision for burning anyone alive for ANY sin.  Most people do not understand the difference between literal fire and the character of God.

Deuteronomy 4:24 NET For the LORD your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God.

Jeremiah 23:29 NET My message is like a fire that purges dross! It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! I, the LORD, so affirm it!

Luke 12:49 NET "I have come to bring fire on the earth -- and how I wish it were already kindled!

In Daniel 7, the “fire” that proceeds from the throne is the judgment of the divine law according to their works of those being judged.  This depiction of fire is a universal symbol of law and authority to judge the people.  The divine fire burns “the flesh” in our souls, as it purifies us by means of discipline.

Daniel 7:9b-10 NET "….. His throne was ablaze with fire and its wheels were all aflame. (10) A river of fire was streaming forth and proceeding from his presence. Many thousands were ministering to him; Many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. The court convened and the books were opened.

The actual corrective procedures are not known other than Old Testament quotes contained in the New Testament.  It is doubtful that actual beatings or whippings will take place.

Only the justice of the divine law found in the Bible is true justice. Its purpose is not only to repay all victims for their injuries, but is also designed to work toward the sinner’s forgiveness and restoration.  Actual Old Testament examples of legal justice shows us how we ought to interpret the law.

If a man committed murder, the law cannot restore the victim back to life, and so restoration is not possible because of fleshly weakness. If a married woman is raped, the sinner does not have the power to un-rape her. Because of human, fleshly weakness, then, the law is weak. This is why in such cases, the sinner was put to death. Whenever the crime was such that there was no possible way to restore the lawful order, the sinner was to be put to death.

The death penalty is not justice— it was the law’s way of deferring judgment to the Great White Throne, where justice could be completed, where there was no longer any fleshly limitation in the law’s power to restore the losses incurred by the victims.

The function of the law is not to forgive sin, but to do justice by enforcing various penalties, depending upon the infraction. Forgiveness is something that only victims can do.

God, the ultimate judge, will sentence all unbelieving sinners by imposing upon them the debt incurred for every sin they ever committed.  All sinners will be held fully accountable according to their deeds, as Revelation 20: 12 and 13 clearly tell us.

Revelation 20:12-15 KJV  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  (13)  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.  (14)  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  (15)  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Consider that the Millennium, or the Kingdom of God, is supposedly the seventh thousand years of the earth’s existence.  Thus it will be a type of Sabbath millennia. 

Dr. Stephen Jones has some additional thoughts and opinions concerning the Jubilee:

The Jubilee occurred every 49 years (Lev. 25: 8-17). However, on this highest level, I believe that the Jubilee will occur at the end of 49,000 years of human history. (We are currently at the end of just 6,000 years and awaiting our first millennial Sabbath-rest.) The Creation Jubilee will set all men free, for all debt to the law will be cancelled. Until that time arrives, however, they will have to remain under authority until the Jubilee. During that time, the saints in authority will teach them righteousness.

Biblical Types of the Chosen and Unchosen

Jacob had two wives named, Leah and Rachel.  When he thought he was married to Rachel, the next morning he discovered his wife was actually Leah.  Although Leah and Rachel were twin sisters according to Jasher 28:28, Leah was said to have “weak eyes”, whatever that means.  Laban gave the excuse that Leah was older and had to be given in marriage before the younger could be married.

It was then necessary for Jacob to again work for Laban for seven years as a substitute for a dowry for Rachel to be his wife and he was given permission to marry Rachel the following week.

Leah and Rachel represent two levels of love relationship. Leah was certainly the lawful wife of Jacob, but Jacob loved Rachel. In types and shadows, we find that Christians, too, have different relationships with Christ. Some are merely lawful Christians, in that they have gone through the steps of justification by faith. Others have a love relationship with Christ.

These different levels of love relationships with Jacob teach us also the difference between the general Christian and the overcomer or the elect.

While camped in Mahanaim (Gen. 32:2) Jacob heard that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 armed men. Jacob became afraid and divided his family, flocks, and herds into two camps (Gen. 32:7).  One camp contained Rachel and the other camp contained Leah.  Leah birthed many more sons (children) than Rachel.  Thus the elect group will be composed of less individuals than will the second resurrection.  Jacob’s escape from Esau and the underlying events are given in detail in the book of Jasher.

The events in the life of Jacob are fundamental proofs that Jacob was a type or a pattern of an overcomer (elect).  He was trained by God, by working for Laban, wrestling the angel, and his conflict with Esau.  Through all of these incidents and trials he was showing us the path from "Jacob" to the name given to him by God which is "Israel."

What Method of Corrective Punishment Will Be Used?

According to Dr. Stephen Jones from:  Judgments of the Divine Law

Editor’s Note:  Dr. Jones statements are beyond my knowledge base.  I personally do not agree or disagree with him.  He could be correct but I am not recommending or claiming his understanding as FACT.

From Dr. Jones:

Since God will judge the whole earth according to His law, this provision is very important. It gives us the basic outline of what life will be like during that final age of judgment. Redeemers will purchase their debt note and thereby receive authority over the sinners. This sheds light on Jesus’ parable in Luke 19, where He spoke of the righteous receiving authority over ten cities, or five, or even just one city. Who will they rule? What will be the basis of their authority?

Luke 19:16-19 KJV  Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.  (17)  And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.  (18)  And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.  (19)  And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.

The answer is in the law, which prophesies that which shall be. The righteous will be given authority over debtors to the law— those who did not avail themselves of Jesus’ provision to pay their debt. The sinners will be placed as servants of the sons of God. The sons of God will receive authority, but also the responsibility to teach them righteousness.

There may be cases where the judgment of God will call for a sinner to be burned quite literally. Ex. 21: 23-25 prescribes,

23 But if there is any further injury, you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 BURN FOR BURN, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

Hence, at the Great White Throne judgment, it is likely that those who tortured others during their life time will, in turn, receive the same identical torture at the hands of the Law. Those responsible for burning people at the stake could find themselves judged in like manner. If they committed these sins multiple times, they might find themselves raised from the dead (as it were) multiple times in order to equal the amount of torture they inflicted upon others.

However, it should be stressed that such a judgment would fit the crime exactly. It would not be unending punishment, but neither will it be a pleasant experience. But the use of fire or burning as a one-size-fits-all punishment for any and all sin is a clear violation of the Law, where all judgment must fit the crime.

We should also say here that if a murderer places his faith in Jesus Christ, then His crucifixion (death) will satisfy the law at the Great White Throne Judgment.

John 5:27-29 NET ….and he has granted the Son authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. (28) "Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice (29) and will come out -- the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation (KJV translates as “damnation”) (krisis:  an official judgement).