Reflections of Fall

Reflections of Fall

The seasons come and seasons go.
Now fall is here but almost done,
The leaves to rake, the grass to mow,
Apples to pick, errands to run.

Time never stands still, its always going.
Like leaves from the trees flutter to fade and rot,
So too our lives drift on breezes blowing,
To fall to the ground only to fade and be forgot.

But Oh! to those leaves that time has let rotten.
This is not the end, for some leaves so splendid
Are plucked from the ground, they are not forgotten.
Their beauty so precious, Oh no! its not ended.

Their color so beautiful, it must be preserved,
And thus between pages the leaf it is pressed.
While others so drab are given a fate full deserved,
Being raked and burned, their dullness addressed.

So our lives often so pretty in the spring as they bud,
Some so green in the summer; some fast faded,
In the fall of our years, some brilliant others dulled
Fall to the ground, some preserved others burned.

We all have been given the same time to be radiant;
The opportunity to be pressed in the pages of His Book of Life.
The question comes forth "What will your color be?"
Time draws to the end; "Will it be burned or will it be brilliant?"
Christian - 2008

Dear readers, as I reflected upon fall and all its beauty, I thought I would share with you a poem . Look for more in depth discussion later this week. As for me, I've got to hit the books. School has begun!!
Our God is an awesome God!!!
Christian

But I Don't Want To Go!!!!

God has just handed out His divine judgement upon the disobedient creation. As we watched, He passed judgement upon the serpent, the devil, the Woman, the ground, and Adam. Now let us turn our attention to the crowd's reaction. . . .


And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
Here Adam finally give his wife an identity - He names her Eve. Prior to this she was known as Woman which was the equal of Man. Adam, by the way, means "ruddy", Eve means "lifegiver". In so naming Eve, he designated her primary task: "the mother of all living." God set Adam's primary task in chapter 1:26-28, in chapter 2:15, and again reiterated it in His sentence upon man here in chapter 3:17-19. It is to have mastery over the earth and to provide the necessities for him and his family.

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. Interesting point from the Scriptures here. God's standard of decency is NOT the same as man's. As we discussed briefly in reading verse 7, man sewed together fig leaves (remember fig leaves are approximately 5-7 inches in length) into an apron (word means a belt or girdle) which would then cover from the waist down and thought that was decent. God's standard of decency was that of a complete covering. Coat then meant the same thing essentially as it means today - a covering, a coat or robe. (all definitions of Hebrew words taken from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Greek and Hebrew Lexicons). God covered from the neck down.

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Satan was right. The truth was that man would become as his Father: he would know the difference between good and evil. Man now has that aspect of God and because of God's sentence of physical death and spiritual redemption, man would not be allowed to access the tree of life and eternal life. Can you imagine one man (or many) living for all time committing sin and wickedness? We are not talking about a man who lives a span of 60-100 years in his sin and wickedness but one that has been living since the creation of the world. As we know the reveled plan of redemption, eternal life is offered only through obedience to one Man (John 10:25-30; I john 2:23-25); the Man that Adam foreshadowed - Jesus (Romans 5).

Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. To prohibit man from gaining a eternal life physically, God sent him from the garden. Not only did this accomplish the purpose of prevention, it also signified the end of God providing their sustenance. This literally meant that man would have to toil to cause the ground to produce his food.

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Man did not want to leave. God sent, and then drove (no not in a Beamer) man out of the garden. The word drove here means "A primitive root; to drive out from a possession; especially to expatriate or divorce: - cast up (out), divorced (woman), drive away (forth, out), expel, X surely put away, trouble, thrust out." Then to prevent man from returning, God put a guard. Did you ever notice how much East figures prominently in the Bible? Just a thought question. The entrance to the garden was on the east side and the guard was placed there. The guards were of the heavenly beings and were known as cherubims (see Ezekiel 10 for a description of cherubims), and they had a flaming sword that turned about every which way. This means that it watched all sides, no one could enter to gain access to the tree of life.

Readers, I am adding a new subsection to each post entitled "Lessons from this text." I hope you will help me develop this section in the comments with your own lessons.
Lessons from this text:
1.) Names have meanings: They can be used for identity, for position, and for description. Example: Eve means "lifegiver" and was given because she was the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20). Esau means "hairy" and was so named because he was a hairy child from birth (Genesis 25:25). Jesus means "Jehovah is salvation" and He was named so because "for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21).
2.) God's ways and standards are not the same as man's ways and standards. Man thought he was decent with just a simple apron. God's standard of decency was more covering in the form of a robe. Sure shows how far man has fallen when one looks at the "fashions" of today.
3.) God means what He says.
A.) When God has a plan, no one interferes with the carrying out of that plan including a tree of life.
B.) When God passes judgement, it is carried out completely. There is no compromise. His court is fair, and just the first time with no need for a retrial. Our judgement has yet to happen. We need to make sure that the evidence for our salvation is clear and present or we will not be judged favorably.
C.) When God sends, you go. Jonah found this out the hard way as well (read the book of Jonah). God sent and man went though not very willingly.

Christian