The Failed Test of Lucifer

 

Introduction

I wish to advance a theory of the fall of The Bright and Morning Star. This individual is Lucifer, but more commonly known as Satan. This writer does not believe that Genesis 1:1-2  resulted from Lucifer’s fall and the later re-creation by God.

Creation & Theory

There is a theory that God had to recreate everything that He once created. This destruction lies between Genesis 1:1-2 because of the void and darkness on the earth. Some say Lucifer caused this emptiness on the planet. If one believes this theory of the gap resulted from Lucifer’s playing havoc in the Earthly and Celestial Heaven, one would have to think that God lost control of creation. God and losing power is not an option for God to entertain.

Genesis 1:1-2 says,

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.

This writer thinks this so-called devastation between Genesis 1:1-2 is not valid.

Genesis 1:31 says,

God saw all that He had made, and behold; it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

Scripture is clear that when God looked back, He said “very good.”

Had they cast Lucifer out between Genesis 1:1-2, God the creator could not say it was “very good,” now could He.

It could be as simple as not having the exact words to describe the beginning of creation. Now go to a place like Lowe’s or Home Depot. There is everything one must have to build a home. It just does not look like anything yet. One can go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and see only building supplies, yet a contractor can see a beautiful building. God did the same thing, gathering everything needed to create everything we see. Everything was there that God needed, but we cannot see the beauty in the mind of God.

Men come up with complicated theories about the creation and then misses the obvious in front of their eyes.

Testing of Man’s Loyalty

God gave man one rule for living in the garden. Do not eat from the Tree of “the knowledge of good and evil.”

Genesis 2:16-17 says,

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;   but from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.

God gave upon us the ability of choice for ourselves in these two verses amounted to possessing free will. With this new free will, we now have a responsibility toward the person who gave it to us. Will we obey and do his bidding or do as we please?

“The tree of the knowledge of good and evil” was the test set before all humanity. It was a test of our free will and of who we are. However, Adam and Eve failed the test and then passed the blame on to someone else, done in today’s world. One wonders what would have happened if they admitted their guilt before God on their disobedience. What would God have done is an exciting concept to muse over?

We are to own up to our deficiency by not say he or she made me do it. One only can speculate what God would have done if they owned up to their sin and confessed.

Testing of Lucifer’s Loyalty

God tested man for his loyalty with the Tree of good and evil. God also tested all His Angelic creation for their devotion to Him. Perhaps this trial was the man himself, and God, having created man by His hand, was Satan’s test.

Genesis 1:26 says,

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

The man is a unique creative act of God as He made us in His image. God did not create Lucifer in His image. The human species were to rule over everything God created. When one thinks of this vast power God placed into our hands for safekeeping, our humility should bring obedience and awe.

Of every creation that God made, it is only the man who has the divine right of dominion overall. However, Lucifer assumed he could take this power over.

Man, given a great responsibility to care for God’s creation, perhaps it was Lucifer’s jealousy and his pride got the best of him. At this moment, Satan surrendered to his great pride and said, “I will make myself like the Highest.”

Psalm 8:3-6 says,

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.

Man, favored by God, ran around in Lucifer’s head. Satan yielded to his pride, saying, “I will make myself like the Highest.”

Isaiah 14:14-17 says,

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, they will ponder over you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?

Lucifer lost everything because of his PRIDE

Conclusion

God tested the loyalty of both Man and Lucifer. The man was the test for Lucifer’s faithfulness, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil was the test of Man’s loyalty, and both failed.

Think about a loyalty test you have had from a family member, friend, spouse or boss for a moment. If there were no tests of loyalty, how could they trust you? God, our family, friend, spouse or boss must verify commitment out of necessity, so confidence is gain in that individual. Something placed in front of you having an alluring to test you, if there were no fascination, the test would be mute.

Proverbs 16:18-19 says,

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly; than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Sola Scriptura–By Scripture Alone

Sola Fide–By Faith Alone

Sola Gratia–By Grace Alone

Solus Christus–By Christ Alone

Soli Deo Gloria–Glory to God Alone

Copyright George L Gallant, ©2021

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995)

Multiple Wives & Adultery

 

Jesus forgives her Adultery

Introduction

Do those individuals who get divorced and remarried live in the perpetual sin of adultery? Does the Scripture say anything about this so-called chronic adultery issue as sometimes portrayed and perpetuated by the Church as a reality?

Old Testament Heroes

Several Old Testament figures had many wives, King David, King Solomon, Joseph, and Jacob. However, Scripture teaches that man was to have only one wife at a time if he were a leader.

1 Timothy 3:2 says,

An overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife.

The example is God, bringing to Adam only one woman, Eve. So, the question is, did these men of old live in perpetual sin, no? However, what we see from multiple wives is a never-ending problem that plagued their lives. One wife wants this, another wife wanting something else, and it went on and on to the point of ad nauseam this was not God’s plan for the family, for there is no unity with multiple wives, only disunity.

Genesis 2:18 says,

Then the LORD God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.

Genesis 2:21-24 says,

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said,

This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

God took one rib only, and this one rib could represent only one woman at a time. One can only achieve unity in marriage, with one man and one woman together as husband and wife.

The Sin of Adultery

Matthew 19:9 says,

And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.

If one discovers a spouse to be immoral, is the innocent party allowed to remarry without adultery consequences? If the answer is yes, then why does the Church hold them back? Often pastors who ended up in a divorce and the innocent party had to promise never to remarry if they wish to remain a pastor.

One can only wonder why the Church puts men in a situation to burn in lust. Is it to see them fail, and then the Church can say, it is because of your divorce why you have failed? This author was a guest speaker at one Fellowship, and the head deacon and I were talking, and he told me even to have a divorced person in the Pulpit would contaminate it. This so-called contamination says that the individual’s salvation experience means nothing and that God has not forgiven them.

The Question Is

Why is it so easy for the Fellowship to forgive a murderer, a thief, a liar, a rapist, or any other sin, but they cannot pardon someone divorced and remarried? If individuals commit homicide, they will always be a murderer; this will not change, even if they never do this crime again. It is the same with any sin against God; there are no exceptions. All people are sinners, yet each sin has a name, and we are that for the rest of our lives.

Arrogance in the Leadership

An example of this arrogance is the rude talk given by many Baptists Fellowship leaders about the Mormons at their Annual Convention in Utah several years ago; this is the same egotism of the Jewish Pharisees at the time of Jesus. They may attempt to deny this, but the proof is in the records if one but looks.

Luke 18:10-14 says,

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner! I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Visualize being told that “you cannot have God’s best” because of divorce and remarriage, think of the mental anguish it would put you through. If this was true, then God does not forgive and forget what we have done, and the blood of Jesus was for nothing. This arrogant behavior by the leadership has kept many a good man from doing God’s will. I tell you this that every gift one receives from God is the BEST He gives.

James 1:16-17 says,

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Whatever God gives you will be His absolute best for you. The Church in America is full of egotists who call themselves Christians or leaders. Who controls the Church with an iron-fisted dictatorship is one of the primary reasons for the Church’s weakness today. However, no one will voice this opinion, fearing being called a heretic.

God and Forgiveness

When one confesses his or her sin, God has forgiven and has forgotten them.

Psalm 103:11-14 says,

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.

1 John 1:9 says,

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Therefore, God says that He will remove ALL of our sins if we but ask Him. The real question, who do these leaders think they are when they block a man from serving God in the Pulpit or a woman serving as a Sunday school teacher when they are 100% forgiven by God.

Conclusion

God must forgive all individuals who wish to serve Him and not to live in sin. The Church should not rule that a person is living in an adulterous state if they remarried because they may have asked for forgiveness from God. There is no Biblical evidence to support this beyond any reasonable question that a divorced person is ineligible to preach the Gospel. Please do not use First Timothy as the proof text, as I have shown why there should be only one wife at a time. This book says nothing about divorce and remarriage and serving God.

1 Timothy 3:2 says,

An overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife.

I believe that is referring to one wife at a time. If a man’s wife dies, and he remarries, he has had two wives, and according to the Church, he could no longer be a preacher.

Sola Scriptura– By Scripture Alone

Sola Fide– By Faith Alone

Sola Gratia– By Grace Alone

Solus Christus– By Christ Alone

Soli Deo Gloria– Glory to God Alone

Copyright George L Gallant, ©2021

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995)

God’s Creative Act: Genesis 1:1-2

 

Introduction:

Our Earth is neither billions nor millions, but a few thousand years old.

Christian educators and pastors would try to convince believers; there is an enormous amount of time between Genesis 1:1-2 (i.e., C. I. Scofield). The Gap Theory is where evolution and the millions of years in the past needed where the great dinosaur lived and died. It was between Genesis 1:1-2 were Satan fell to Earth and destroyed it.

At this supposed point, God recreated the Earth Genesis 1:2, and making God a liar for when He looked at ALL His creative work and in Genesis 1:31, pronounced it “very good,” it could not have been this way if the world fell into chaos.

Genesis 1:31 says,

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Some claim a Gap between these verses one, two, and if valid, God would not have said His creation was ‘very good.’

Some removed the ‘AND’ between Verses 1 and 2

The chapter and verse divide in Scripture is a human invention as far back as the 16th-century for ease of memorization. Robert Estienne, known as Robertus Stephanus in Latin and called Robert Stephens by 18th and 19th-century English writers, was a 16th-century printer and classical scholar in Paris who number these separations. They completed the New Testament in 1551 and 1571 for the Hebrew Bible. The Holy Scriptures for 1500 years had no chapter and verse setting, as in the Bible we have today. (Wikipedia)

There are many English translations from the Greek and Hebrew language and outstanding to read. However, many translations abandon this simple word, ‘and,’ substituting the word, ‘the’ instead.

The Hebrew word וְ (the conjunction, ‘and’) starts the second verse but removed from many English translations for the sake of the English language flow. The Hebrew word וְ (the conjunction, ‘and’), left off, has opened the door to many interpretations of these two verses. This little word וְ, the meaning “then, and, together with, that is,” shows a connection to the previous statement, not a whole new thought. Verse two starts with ‘the’ it, could lead the reader down the wrong road as it has with many if they do not have even a basic knowledge of the original language.

Pastors and teachers should use Greek or Hebrew to prepare for the Sunday service or Sunday school. Doing this will give deeper meaning to the words used in Scripture. However, many Sunday School Teachers will just read from the little book provided to them instead of studying.

The Test of Man

Many individuals of the scholarly persuasion believe that Satan fell between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, and it was he, Satan, that caused the “darkness and void.”

When God placed Adam in the garden after his creation, God said everything was his to eat, except the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil.” However, even this tree had a pronouncement of ‘very good’ after God created everything. God only restricted the eating of its fruit.

Genesis 2:16-18 says,

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;   but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. Then the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.

Adam passed his knowledge of the ‘good and evil tree’ to Eve because of the Scripture statement as she conversed with the serpent.

Genesis 3:3 says,

But from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.

Genesis 2:16-17 says,

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.

Eve knew not to eat, yet her pride and the lust for knowledge she caved into its desire. Now, where did she get touching the forbidden tree meant death? One may see the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil” as a test of loyalty to God. Adam and Eve failed this loyalty test of obedience God gave them.

The Test of the Angelic Beings

The obedience and loyalty of man and Angelic hosts experience testing to determine their loyalty and obedience to God.

Satan did not fall between Genesis 1:1-2 and the Earth, resulting in destruction. The author contends that Satan’s fall after Genesis 1:31 because God said everything He created was “very good.”

Adam and Eve had a test of loyalty with the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil.” Thus, would it be ridiculous to assume that Satan would also have a test to determine his loyalty to God the creator and knowing God took special care to create man?

The author believes that Satan’s test was Adam and Eve and his reaction to God’s creative act, and he failed and wanted to drag humanity down with him.

Conclusion

Perhaps, depending on these breaks to interpret Scripture can be misleading. The dropping of this small but mighty word “and” can and often cause much trouble.

One cannot stress this too much to study God’s word using the Greek and Hebrew language, even if one has only superficial knowledge.

Ezra 7:10 says,

For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

2 Timothy 2:15 says,

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

To compromise the Scripture for a smooth flow of the language is to damage the actual meaning. One must study the original language to explain the word of God without error.

James 3:1 says,

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.

Sola Scriptura–By Scripture Alone

Sola Fide–By Faith Alone

Sola Gratia–By Grace Alone

Solus Christus–By Christ Alone

Soli Deo Gloria–Glory to God Alone

Copyright George L Gallant, ©2021

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995)

Cain’s Wife: Where Did She Come From

 

Introduction

Cain’s wife, the woman most talked about throughout history, and the question is, why? Even the famous Scopes Trial of 1925 in Tennessee raised the problem of where Cain got his wife.

ACLU lawyer Clarence Darrow asked William Jennings Bryan, the lawyer for the Christian view if he knew how Cain got his wife, and Mr. Bryan could not answer this question.

The world should have had its eyes opened when Christianity lost the court battle. The reason for this loss, most Christians cannot defend Holy Scriptures. One could give many other reasons, but let us not waste time; we must move on and improve ourselves. We must always answer for the hope within us, as Scripture teaches.

1 Peter 3:15 says,

but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.

We will try to show just how Cain got his wife. The only tool you need is already in front of you, The Holy Bible, God’s Word. However, we must first give a little background information before we start.

Answer to the Problem of Cain’s Wife

Why should it be imperative to respond to this question?

First, many people believe God created many races on Earth, and from this other race of individuals, and it was one other race where Cain got his wife.

The marriage of family members to each other is an obstacle for many Christians to accept or believe. Disbelief in interfamily marriage caused many Christians to think The Book of Genesis is a fable.
This refusal has led to theistic evolution, the gap theory, the destruction, of  Earth and the re-creation of Earth.

Christians must be able to show all humanity comes from ONE BLOODLINE, Adam, and Eve. Sin being brought into the world by Adam, as Scripture states.

Romans 5:12 says,

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

1 Corinthians 15:45 says,

So also written, “the first man, Adam, became a living soul.” the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Sin passed to all because all are descendants of Adam. The scriptures also stated that Eve was the mother of ALL the living.

Genesis 3:20 says,

Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

ALL this means is no person came into being without Eve. Eve, the mother of all individuals today and the past, comes from her.

Romans 3:23 says,

For all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God.

One Race of People

God created only one race of man, and this means we are all related. We are one color, just different shades. We are our brother’s keeper, and we are looking out for each other because we are family.

Acts 17:26 says,

And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the Earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.

Every individual on this planet started with Adam and Eve. We are of one blood. God created no such thing as races, only people groups having different cultures and customs.

If we could wrap our thinking around this concept and realize we are all related, we could all get along.

Cain’s wife was a descendant of Adam. Since God took the rib from Adam’s side and his DNA, even Eve’s blood possessed Adam’s DNA showing that all people came from one man.

She could not have come from another “race” of people, as many people say. The Holy Scriptures are clear that all humanity came from Adam and Eve, and Eve is the mother of ALL the living.

Genesis 3:20 says,

Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

Eve came from Adam’s side, as this was a unique event.

Genesis 2:21-24 says,

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

In the New Testament, Jesus (Matthew 19:4-6) and Paul (Ephesians 5:31) use this onetime event as the foundation of one man’s marriage and one woman.

Matthew 19:4-6 says,

And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

Ephesians 5:31 says,

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

God removed one rib clarifying, He created only ONE woman, Adam’s wife, from the beginning, and that man is to have only one wife at a time. There could not have been a “race” of women.

Oppositions Raised for Intermarriage

Many people reject that Adam and Eve’s sons and daughters married each other, for the law was against brothers and sisters to intermarry. They say one cannot marry his or her relative. When one marries, he or she always marries a distant family member. If not, then one does not get married to a human. The husband and wife before they married are descendants of Adam and Eve. We are all one blood, yet the law does forbid close relatives to marry.

Remember that Abraham married his half-sister according to Scripture.

Remember that the law forbidding the marriage of close family members did not exist until 2,500 years later.

Genesis 20:12 says,

Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.

Biological Deformities of Married People

Since offspring inherit their parent’s DNA information, they also collect defects passed down through generations. Unlike our first parents’ DNA, Adam and Eve were perfect beings until sin affected their DNA. The DNA defects started with their children also from the result of sin.

Today’s DNA contains many mistakes caused by sin and the Curse. The cumulative effect on the DNA took place for 2,500 years when God had finally instituted a ruling on marriage between certain relatives, as stated in (Leviticus 18-20).

The problem is that people look at close relations marrying from the point-of-view of today. Forgetting that when God made everything and looking back, he declared it “very good,” no mistakes in the DNA as known today.

By Moses’s time (about 2,500 years later), degenerative mistakes would have accumulated so much in humans; it would have been necessary for God to bring in the laws forbidding brother and sister and near relatives to marry as stated in Leviticus 18-20.

Cain and the Land of Nod

Some claim Cain went into the land of Nod and found a wife. When one looks at these verses, one can see it does not say that.

Genesis 4:16-17 says,

Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.

Cain had relations (sexual) with his wife, and she had a son. Nowhere in Scripture suggest Cain traveled to the land of Nod to look for a spouse.

One theory of why Cain went to Nod was the fear of death by close family members for murdering his brother Able. Another argument could be that he could not face his mother and father for killing his brother.

Scripture records this event, and one-day, some archaeologist might discover in a dig somewhere and find the reason Cain went to Nod.

Cain built a City: He had the Technology

Current technology is an accumulation of 6,000 years of knowledge. Therefore, the descendants of Adam and Eve down through to today were intelligent people.

Cain had the technology to build a city, as these people were intelligent and did not live in caves as the scientist would have one to believe. Humanity was not a group of mute hunters and gatherers, but farmers, but no meat until after Noah’s Flood.

Genesis 4:21 says,

His brother’s, name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who played the lyre and pipe.

So, Jubal was a musician and made people happy with music.

Genesis 4:22 says,

As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

Tubal-Cain knew the workings with metal. The people were much more intelligent than we give them credit.

As I already stated, our technology today is the total accumulation of over 6000 years of brain development.

Conclusion

One cannot understand Scripture while using world history as today’s standard. One must look at these changes with the eyes of the individuals going through that era of time to see the truth, making a genuine scholar.

Remember, Eve was the mother of ALL the living. Only one race of people, not the many some would try to have you believe. Cain’s wife thus came from Adam and Eve as he did.

Sola Scriptura–By Scripture Alone

Sola Fide–By Faith Alone

Sola Gratia–By Grace Alone

Solus Christus–By Christ Alone

Soli Deo Gloria–Glory to God Alone

Copyright George L Gallant, ©2021

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995)