East of Eden

Transcript

I thought we'd actually explore this x theme x East of Eden and it's it's it truly is a x theme like I said in my teaser that that x spans scripture and it's it's it's it x truly is maybe a little eclectic but the x thing is it does make a full circle for x us when we start looking at it and so to x start let's actually go right back to x Genesis 2 and start looking at Eden x itself x so as we go back you know the Garden of x Eden is God's Garden isn't it and so the x the first thing we need to see is we go x down to verse 8 in Chapter 2 of Genesis x and it says on the Lord God planted a x garden Eastward in Eden x so a lot of times we run this together x the Garden of Eden we just think of this x one place but I think we need to think x out of the box a little bit here x you know we have the land of Eden and x now we have God separating out part of x this in the eastern part of Eden x as his garden x and again it is God that establishes the x garden and this is what this verse is x all about it is God that does all this x so the verse goes on to say and there he x put the man whom he had formed x it's God that put the man there man x hadn't gone there by himself x God places him there x and out of the ground God made the Lord x God made to grow every tree that is x Pleasant to the site and good for food x it's God that claws the plants to grow x and to yield food and more so brother x and sisters the tree of life also in the x midst of the garden it's God that x crossed caused that tree of life to grow x and also we have to remember x the tree of the knowledge of Good and x Evil and God caused that to grow also x and so as we come down a little bit x farther in that chapter we get a little x bit more insight into the man that he's x going to place there x and so we go down to verse 15 and it x says in the Lord God x took them in and put him into the Garden x of Eden to dress it and to keep it x so it's a verse that we can actually x kind of look at quite quickly and x dismiss it and say yep so Adam's there x you know he's he's going to till the x garden easy he's gonna he's gonna keep x it keep it pretty x but I don't think that's what this verse x is really saying x and when we look at the first ver first x word there put x you know x um x in the Hebrew x it's enough x which means to cause to rest to give x rest to or make quiet and in fact you x know if there's other places in the x scripture where it actually brings us x out x you know in Deuteronomy x um 12 verse 10 it says but when you go x over Jordan and dwell in the land which x the Lord you heard God giveth you to x inherit when he giveth you rest from all x your enemies round about so that you may x dwell safely x it's that same word it's that same x thought so if we think about this x Adam is put there x in a state of rest x and it's an interesting concept x because the thing that's interesting x is of course we know that man has not x sinned at this point in time sin is not x in the equation x and so God can put him in the garden to x rest x and that's why Paul would go later on in x Hebrews tell us we labor to enter into x that rest x trying to come back to this concept x well the next thing we look at is to x dress x which is yabad x which means to serve by labor but notice x the the way it's used actually this word x means to serve with levitical services x to serve God x and so it isn't that just Adam is just x placed in this Garden to wander x he's placed in this Garden at rest which x means that God will take care of things x for him x but he is in God's service x and to keep it x that that verb is Shemar x which means to guard keep watch x Ward protect and save life x and we have to look at that and say did x he actually do that x and God only gave one commandment at x this point identity x you understand 17 of Genesis 2 it says x and the Lord God commanded the man x saying of every tree of the garden thou x mayest freely eat x but of the tree of the knowledge of Good x and Evil Thou shalt not eat of it for in x the day that thou eatest thereof Thou x shalt surely die only one commandment's x needed brothers sisters x because sin hasn't entered the world yet x the law is not needed at this point in x time x it's not a concept that would even Adam x would have understood x but we know that there's something that x Adam x doesn't do x the thing that he doesn't do is he x doesn't keep guard on the garden x you know let me stop at this point in x time and just just as As a matter of x housekeeping here if you could hold your x comments and your questions till the end x we should have enough time at the end to x discuss them if I if I do it in the x middle I'm x I'm going to get confused I'll tell you x so we find that Adam really doesn't do x that and what's the outcome of that x brothers and sisters well sin enters the x world x and we see that in the very next chapter x in the first six verses x and what happened at that point in time x well we have the serpent beguiling Eve x and I would like you to consider the x concept brother to sisters x that Adam was supposed to guard and keep x this Garden in God's service to guard it x from sin and it seems when you really x look at this there's a great possibility x that x the serpent did not keep that x commandment x because it seems that he probably did x eat of that tree x and he's x Not Dead x so maybe he can get somebody else to do x it too x because the other thing he would know x now also is that he has sent x but he's not going to go down down alone x so we know this story x you know it's one that we learn in x Sunday school all the time x you know he beguiles Eve who then goes x and deceives her husband x and sin enters the world x and because of that what happens well we x know that Adam and Eve hide themselves x they're hot trying to hide from God and x they try to cover their own their own x their own shame and their own sin with x clothing that they make for themselves x out of the vegetation x and so God comes and he confronts the x serpent the way she confronts all three x but we look at the sentence of the x serpent x and the serpents to be cursed above all x cattle all domesticated animals x cursed above every beast of the field x over all life he's cursed there's nobody x that's going to be lower than the x serpent because of what he represents x representing sin x he's supposed to move on its belly all x its life crawling forever before God in x humility x for what has happened x and notice this easy to eat the dust of x the Earth x and you think of what he told Eve Thou x shalt not surely die x and God says because of that eat the x dust of the Earth as a reminder every x day x that this is where you're going to x return x enmity between him and the woman x hatred for what the serpent had done and x hoped and he hates the woman for the x hope that she will have x enmity between their offspring it's x going to be a Perpetual hatred x throughout all future generations for x everyone that's righteous x against the unrighteous x righteousness against sin x and it will bruise the Serpent's head x who are actually in the Hebrew it x couldn't it it can be rendered he x he will bruise the serpents and we know x who that points to x know it points to Jesus because Jesus x would deal sin that that complete fatal x blow x and the serpent would bruise his heel x the wound that is not fatal x but the wound that would Usher in x forgiveness x the Forgiveness that would come from the x destruction of The Serpent and in this x we see our hope isn't it x and it was in this sentence x that the Hope comes out and comes to us x throughout the ages x but then we went to the sentence x on Eve x well it says that she's going to have x her sorrow greatly multiplied pain and x worrisomeness would now come into her x life these Concepts were not known x before why would they x he hasn't sin hadn't been here there was x no reason to be sorrowful God supplied x them with everything x greatly multiply her conception and this x is another thing I don't think we think x about often enough x but you know it's not until verse 20 of x this chapter after all this has taken x place x that Adam calls her Eve x the mother of all living x before this x she didn't have to bring fourth children x and that's a whole study in itself and x hopefully I'll be having a a article in x the in the tidings x hopefully soon on that x because that's a whole class in itself x the fact that childbirth would be x painful x a reminder of where she was and what x what was the outcome of this but in that x childbirth there would also be hope x and I want you to really think about x this when you read into in second x Timothy chapter 2. x her desire would now be for her husband x instead of being thinking that she had x the answers like she did before that she x could be on her own x she now wants to come under her x husband's wing x and her husband would rule over her he x would have dominion over her she x wouldn't be as independent as she was x before she thought she could handle this x on her own x which she couldn't x but then we come to the sentence to Adam x the ground is now cursed x you know before this he didn't want for x anything did he x you know the the garden that God had x given him supplied him with everything x he need x but now now that's going to change x the ground isn't going to bring forth x everything like it did before x he would eat in sorrow all his life x eating in pain knowing what was lost x you would grow thorns and thistles not x the pleasant visitation that the garden x had given him that he enjoyed x and he would eat of the herbs of the x field and I want you to think about this x brothers and sisters because this is x actually an interesting side light of x this x because it's actually going to be x pointing back to what he's lost x you know if you think about what it says x in Chapter 2 in in verse 9 where it says x an out of the ground made the Lord God x to grow every tree that is Pleasant to x the site and good for food x and so when we take fruit from the trees x what are we doing we're we're looking up x to grab that fruit it's above us x we're looking up to the heavens we're x looking up to our Heavenly Father x but now it would happen x the herbs of the field he's bent over x he's picking things up off the ground x he's looking down for his food x not up to God x but looking at that Earth where he's x going to return x he's going to eat in the sweat of his x face all his days laboring now is for x his food and like before when it was x just given to him working the soil as a x constant reminder x of where he came from and where he was x headed x and that he would surely die and return x to the dust of the Earth x and there was another thing that they x had to learn x and of course that was that sacrifice x was now instituted x they couldn't cover themselves to hide x their own sin something had to die to x accomplish this x and of course we know that again this x points to the sacrifice it would x eventually come from God's only begotten x son x and so what happens well x Adam and Eve were driven from the garden x and they're driven out by God because as x it says in Genesis 3 verses 22 and 23 x and the Lord God said behold the man has x become as one of us to know good and x evil and now lest he put forth his hand x and take also of the tree of life and x eat and live forever x we have to get him out because God's x actually giving Mercy on man x so that he wouldn't live forever in sin x because that was now the danger x if he goes back into the garden goes x back to the Tree of Life x for all eternity x the state that we are in right now would x be the state that we would have forever x and that just can't be x therefore the Lord God sent him forth x from the Garden of Eden to till the x ground from whence he was taken man's x constant reminder of his death sentence x looking at the ground he had to work x and where he would return x and where is he cast out x is cast out to the east x says so he drove the man x and he placed at the east of the Garden x of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword x which turned every way to keep the way x of the Tree of Life x he goes out through the East Gate of the x garden x and that cherubim is placed there as a x way to protect them from our everlasting x life of sin x but the theme starts x traveling East traveling that Eastward x motion is a path away from God x and away from God's blessings x but there's something else that happens x brother and sisters when we travel east x compared to when we travel West and I x think this is what Adam and Eve x experience x I have to tell you doing what I did for x all these years x you know sitting in the hospital x overnight going through sometimes x horrendous nights x the thing that would always help was x when that sun came up in the morning x things weren't so bad x all of a sudden the light of day x things cleared x and it made you feel better and you were x renewed again x and brothers and sisters x this is where Adam and Eve are now x they're going out into a new day x they're going into that dawn of the new x day with hope x they're not going Westward into the x Setting Sun and into the darkness x they're going out into the light and x it's a constant reminder for them that x there is hope x a reminder that every day they'll have x sinned There's Hope for a new day x each new day is a chance to start fresh x and the hope of the one that would come x to provide an everlasting covering for x sin x and surrender forgiveness and the gift x of everlasting life I mean this is this x this is the hymn that we have don't we x knew every morning is the love our x waking and Uprising proof x through sleep and darkness safely x brought restored to life and power and x thought x and so David would say of the king to x come and shall be as the light in the x morning when the Sun rises even a x morning without clouds is a tendered x rest springing out of the Earth by clear x shining after rain x because this is what our Lord and savior x represents from sisters x that new day x but we don't have to go far do we till x we find out that x though there's this hope here and we've x had this problem and sin is now here x well it gets accentuated just a little x bit more doesn't it x because the next chapter we find x the story of Cain and Abel again things x we've heard since we were children x Adam and Eve have those two sons x and we know that there's a problem isn't x there x and because of this king is going to do x something and there's going to be a x punishment x we know that you know Abel x is one that tends the flocks you know if x we look at chapter four x you know and we look at verse two it x says and Abel was a keeper of the sheep x and it says in Abel he also bought of x the first first things of his flock and x the fat thereof x and the Lord had respect unto Abel unto x his offer because this is a type of x sacrifice God was looking for x something had to die x so that that sin could be covered x so that that curse could be reversed x something had to die and Abel recognized x this x but Cain doesn't and what does it say x s Cain was a tiller of the ground x and it says Cain also brought his x offering and he had not respect x and Kane was very rough and his x confidence fell x because Cain offers what he thinks is x actually what God requires x and of course this isn't it this isn't x it at all is it it's his own x interpretation of what sacrifice is x indeed x these were the things he had and so you x can say it's the sacrifice of him giving x from what he has but it isn't what God x requires x and so we know the outcome he kills his x brother out of envy and frustration and x it seems that he probably x berries berries able x and again trying to hide his own x complicity and sin but we also know that x God knows what's happened x God knows what's happened he's taken on x a life that he has no power to create x and so what does God say because of this x in verse 9 of chapter 4 of Genesis it x says and the Lord said unto Cain where x is Abel thy brother and he said I know x not my My Brother's Keeper and he said x why has thou done the voice of thy x brother's blood cryeth unto me from the x ground and now Thou Art cursed from the x earth which hath opened her mouth to x received thy brother's blood from thy x hand x when thou tell us the ground it shall x not henceforth yield unto thee her x strength x a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be x in the Earth x he's sentenced to a life where he will x not Farm successfully anymore because x remember that's what he did he was the x farmer x he was bringing a great abundance of of x fruit and produce x but it's not going to happen anymore x and now he's going to become a Wanderer x wandering from place to place begging x for sustenance x and so what's the outcome of the x sentence x and Cain went out from the presence of x the Lord and dwelt in the Land of Nod on x the East of Eden and actually there's a x digression this is the verse that John x Steinbeck drew his inspiration for his x his novel The East of Eden x but notice here Cain goes out from the x presence of the Lord he's traveling East x and now look what happens x it seems that when Adam and Eve x are taken out of the garden x I don't think they'd go very far x I still think that they reside in Eden x itself x they want to be close and maybe try to x get back x to do whatever they can realizing what x what they've lost x but now x now Kane x leaves Eden itself x and goes even farther east to the land x of not farther away from God x further away x from the things that his mother and x father had taught him x but even sober of those sisters he's x still traveling East as he's wandering x East he can still see that Rising Sun x that that that that sign that there is x hope still if he'll just turn back to x God as he travels into the new day x but we know what happens from here x brother and sisters don't we mankind x goes farther and farther from God until x finally at the time of Noah they have x gone so far from God x the mankind is wiped from the face of x the Earth by a flood x and Noah's the only righteous man that x lives x he and his family x and it's from them that the world is x reborn again x but this time there's sin in the world x it's not like before x you know Noah is still a sinner just x like the rest of us x and so that curse is still on him and x the curse of Adam and the curse of Eve x still rests upon mankind x and we know that there were problems x right you know you know right off the x bat you know we we know the problem of x of Noah planting the vineyard and what x happens there x but we also know brothers and sisters x that Noah as he's as he's teaching his x sons and he's teaching his family he's x teaching them about God and they've seen x the power of God firsthand x But as time goes on x that thought x and that feeling x in that knowledge of God begins to get x less and less and less x and we find mankind then again being far x from God x and we come to chapter 11. x and it says and it came to pass as they x journeyed from the East that they found x the plane on the land of China and they x dwelt there x and that that that phrase from the east x from our sisters is the same one x that we talked about in Genesis that's x that Eastward Direction and in fact if x we look at the NIV the Jewish x publication Society the RV they actually x translate this verse is that people x moved Eastward x they found a plane in shinar and settled x there x they're still traveling away from God x brothers and sisters x they're relying upon themselves x because this is what they say x they said to another x go-to let us make brick and burn them x through Lee and they had brick for stone x and slime they had from order and they x said go to let us build us a city in a x tower whose top May reach unto heaven x and let us make us a name lest we be x scattered upon the face of the whole x Earth x they're relying on themselves moving x completely away from God is not even in x the picture here x so now at this point in time they're x even worse than Cain x and they've even forgotten the lesson of x the Flood Brothers and Sisters x and of course what's the outcome of this x one x chapter 11 verses 8 and 9 it says so the x Lord scattered them abroad from this x upon the face of all the Earth they left x off to build the city therefore is the x name of it called Babel because the Lord x did there confound the language of all x the Earth and from thence did the Lord x scatter them abroad upon the face of all x the Earth the thing they tried to avoid x by their own hand is now their sentence x they sought this to coalesce one x and God says no not in the state that x you're in x and he scatters them x but juxtapositioned against this x brothers sisters we have an amazing x thing that happens x because even though we see this terrible x state of mankind x there's a man that rises up x that God sees and God wants x and that's the man Abram x and now we have a reversal of the x direction x is given to Abram x and we're told that God calls Abram out x of herb of the chaldees you know it's x still in that land of China x that's where he's from in Mesopotamia x but x God has sees something in this man in x his character that he desires and it's x so much so that he's that actually x Abraham is is going to be called the x friend of God x and Abram's journey is to be directed by x God he you know we think about this he x doesn't go on his own way but allows x himself to be led by God x and then when you think about that x brothers and sisters think how x remarkable this is this isn't the only x incident you can actually see these same x type of things you know you can see them x time and time again x and what that is is think about what x happens in reality in his life x as he's packing up and packing up his x household x and he's Gathering everything he has x and people will say well Abram what are x you doing he says well I I have to leave x I'm I'm about to take a journey and they x say where are you going and he says I I x don't know x they said well x how do you know what he's going to get x there and he says God will tell me x and I'm sure there must have been x ridicule that he felt at that time but x he presses forward brother and sisters x and time and time again we see that same x theme x and it's an amazing faith that Abraham x displays x and notice brothers and sisters he's not x LED Eastward but he's LED Westward to x the land of Canaan the Promised Land x not Eastward away from God anymore x but God is bringing him back x it's the beginning of the Journey Back x to Eden x back to that Garden x and we know that God promises the land x to him x he's promised the land of Israel for x possession along with his seed x but we also know Abraham or x abrahamasilla Wanderer during his x lifetime x and the reason being brothers and x sisters is during that mortal life he x can't possess the land because he's x still a sinner x he can't get back into that Garden x that's for a time to come x well brothers and sisters the theme x continues though doesn't stop there x one of the other themes we began to x explore is we we see that Abram truly is x a man isn't he he's a sinner just like x the rest of us and it's proven at the x end of chapter 12 because there's a x famine in the land that he goes down x into Egypt and while in Egypt x he doesn't x tell a lie but it doesn't tell the x complete truth x because he we know the story how he says x this Sarah is a sister but he neglects x to tell anybody that she's his wife x and Pharaoh Caesar and what does pharaoh x do x well it's interesting brothers and x sisters it says in verse 16 of chapter x 12 of Genesis that he entreated Abram x well for her sake and he had sheep and x oxen and she and he asses and Men x servants and maidservants and she asses x and camels x and he gives all these things to Abram x in exchange for Sarah x and we know that God plagues Pharaoh's x house and Pharaoh understands that x there's a problem x and he understands now what is happening x he says what have you done x and it's at this point in time that x Abram confesses what he has done and x what's what's he told x he's told to leave take everything you x have and leave x and so he does x he does brother and sister and as he x goes up to Bethel x and there we have an amazing thing at x because the theme continues in the story x of lot x Abram and his household have now x journeyed from Egypt back North to x Bethel x and it seems that there is just not x enough Pastor to support the herds of x the family x we have the herdsmen of lot and the x herdsmen of Abram fighting amongst x themselves for the pastor land I mean we x have to think why does this happen at x this time well I'd also x like you to consider x that before this I don't think Abram x have that much to travel with x I think his x his nephew lot did x lot's father died back in in Mesopotamia x and lot inherited that household x but at this point in time Abram's been x given all of this wealth and the land of x Egypt x which is actually an interesting thing x because it completely foreshadows what x would happen you know hundreds of years x later when the children of Israel would x come out of Israel because they would x spoil Egypt also then x but again coming back into the into the x story x so they're now in Bethel up in the x mountain and while there Abram gives lot x the choice of where to go in the land x and so if we look at a map here x right here is Bethel and actually he's x Abram is probably actually living x between Bethel and AI because that's x where he had built the the altar x and so as they are in this area x lot has a choice and this whole area x truly x truly is is is great for pastoring but x he sees this area in the Jordan Valley x which is just Lush and he says you know x what that's where I'll go x and so x he travels there x and what is he doing he goes east to the x plain of Jordan x he's going East Providence sisters away x from God Eastward away from Abram and x what Abraham has taught him x he's now going into kindling upon x himself x and brother and sisters what I think has x happened is he when he goes there he x actually crosses Jordan x because the next thing we find out in x chapter 14 x is the Battle of the Kings x and we know we have the the Four Kings x from Mesopotamia under Chevrolet Omer x come against the five Kings from the x east side of Jordan including the kings x of Sodom and Gomorrah and zor x in that the armies of Mesopotamia are x victorious x and they completely plunder the land and x part of that is they take lot and his x family and everything that he has away x but then there's something remarkable x brothers and sisters that happens and we x know that Abram goes up and he rescues x lot x and brings him back into the land x he's now back in and we know that x because as they come down x we find that x Abram actually then encounters x Melchizedek x the king of Salem x Melchizedek the king of righteousness x the king of Peace foreshadowing him who x would be there in the future x that Future King under that future order x and Abram does obeisance to him and lot x would see this x and lot has given a chance to come back x brother and sisters to come back into x this into this this his relationship x with his uncle and more so brothers and x sisters to his relationship with God x but he chooses to go back East again x well what's the outcome of that brother x and sisters well the outcome of that now x is even worse than before x in chapter 19 he says and there came two x angels from Sodom and even and lot sat x in the gate of Sodom x he's actually living in the city of x Sodom itself x and we we think of the words in second x Peter x you know in in Chapter 2 verses 7 and 8 x it says just lot vexed with the filthy x conversation of the wicked that x righteous man dwelling among them and x seeing and hearing vex's righteous soul x from day to day with her unlawful Deeds x and so he still is trying to hold fast x but it's it's it's quite hard x and brother and sisters we know we can't x be part of the world if we believe in x God even if we try and it could be that x he thought if he went there he could x teach them about God x her brother and sisters when he saw that x he couldn't he didn't leave x he stayed there x and so what happens we know that the x angels are telling him this this this x city is going to be destroyed x God is going to destroy it because of x the wickedness x and so he's told to gather his family x and of course the only ones that he that x he has there with him in the morning are x just his wife and his two daughters x and so the Angels actually take him x literally by the hand x and pull him out of the city and it says x and it came to pass when they brought x him forth abroad that he said Escape for x thy life look not behind thee neither x thou stay on the plane escape to the x mountain lest thou be consumed so where x are they telling him to go back back x West go to the mountains of Israel x go back to Abram go back to your God x but what's his reply brother and sisters x lot said unto them oh not so my Lord I x cannot escape to the Mount unless some x evil take me and I die because he's x forgotten how to trust in God x even though he is now being saved by him x and he had been saved by him in the past x but still he trusts in himself we know x he does because he says behold now the x city is x oh it's a little one let me escape x thither still trusting in himself that x he knows a better way x still not trying to come back to God but x going farther away x and so he goes to zor but after the x destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah a lot x leaves or x but he still doesn't go back to Abram x he's still trusting in himself that he x knows what to do x he's not trusting in God x but he's still in that Eastward path x and the legacy of Sodom is found in his x daughters x because of his choices x it was failure of teaching God correctly x his family has paid the price also x you know the daughters now have taken x the example of the men of Sodom and x Gomorrah x and the outcome of that is they stay x east of the land x they don't go back into the land and we x know the countries of Ammon and Moab x east of the land arise x and so time goes on brothers and sisters x and we find the nation of Israel being x established at the foot of Mount Sinai x and as they as they as they walk through x the Wilderness they have problems x but they still are trying to come back x and God is leading them back leading x them x Westward into the land coming back to x him x back to the garden x but as the decades unfold Israel removes x herself from God farther and farther x and we we read about those problems x don't we in these unfolding chapters we x read about it during the period of x Joshua it starts and we see it in the x judges so distinctly x and then more so into the time of the x Kings x and so the nation splits x and God removes the northern kingdom x because they have not held to God and x have gone their own way God leads them x East x under the Assyrians x and takes them to Assyria and then x because Judah doesn't learn the lesson x and she turns from God and goes farther x and farther away God takes them East x also x to Babylon x but though they're carried East they are x given hope aren't they x as Jeremiah told them for thus saith the x Lord that after 70 years be accomplished x at Babylon I will visit you and perform x my good word toward you and causing you x to return to this place and it happens x and it's remarkable we read about that x in Ezra and Nehemiah they're brought x back Westward again God is unfolding x them again x but even at the time as soon as they x come back they're starting to have x problems x and then we know how the history goes x we have the grecians coming in and x taking over the land x but they're still there x and then the Romans x and it's at that point in time brother x and sisters that they've gone so far x from God that they're scattered x throughout the world by Rome due to x their behavior towards God x and brother and sister is the the x remarkable thing here is this is x something that God had told him he would x do going back into Deuteronomy it says x in verse 63 and it shall come to pass x and as the Lord rejoiced over you to do x you good and to multiply you so the Lord x will rejoiced over you to destroy you x and to bring you to not and you should x be plucked up from the land whether thou x go to possess it and the Lord shall x scatter them among all the people from x one end of the Earth even unto the other x and there Thou shalt serve other gods x which thou nor thy fathers have known x even wood and Stone x and among these nations Thou shalt find x no ease neither shall the soul of thy x foot have rest but the Lord shall give x thee there a trembling heart and a x failing of eyes and a sorrow of mind x and we know that happened isn't it x and it happened x when it's there today x we also know that God says no I will x still bring you back we have a nation x being founded again in 1948. x again God trying to bring them back but x we still know the state of Israel today x and the Heart Is of of of the of the x Jewish races and complete with their God x yet x and brothers and sisters the thing that x we have to realize is this is where we x find ourselves today isn't it x we have to think about this if we have x been adopted as Sons and Daughters into x the nation of Israel well we're x scattered throughout the world also x and it is a curse x you know there's so many of us have have x friends in the truth or brothers and x sisters in different parts of the world x and it's so hard to be able to talk with x them and to see them yes I mean we can x do that on the phone and you can do that x on FaceTime and it's not the same as x being there face to face x they have that that warm touch that warm x hug x but we also know brothers and sisters x it's a blessing isn't it because of the x scattering because of what's happened x God's word has been taught throughout x the entire world x and this entire world knows about God x and knows about his son x and we too brother and sisters look x forward to the coming of our Messiah to x reverse the curse of Adam and to bring x us back to the garden x and so we're given some wonderful x prophecies about this x and one of the things I'd like to look x at x is the wonderful lessons in Ezekiel x and in particular x the temp x Le x in Ezekiel 40 verses or chapter 40 x through 48. and we do know that x sometimes it's hard to study these x chapters isn't it x um I remember you know as a as a young x young person growing up coming through x these chapters and reading about all the x measurements and all the all the x chambers and and all the gates and x um the the way it's it's situated in the x land it was it's it's almost x overwhelming x but what God has done is given us a x glimpse into the kingdom age and if we x view it this way brother and sisters we x can create an excitement x as we look forward to that new wage x because that's what God is doing for us x it's the age of sinlessness and x perfection x Our Hope x so what is this to do with our topic x East of Eden x well there's some details of the east x side of the Temple x they give us some wonderful Reflections x on our way back to God x and reminders x on where we came from x and what it took to heal us and where x we're going x and so we look parallel of the gates x particular the East Gate of the Temple x and if we look over at Ezekiel chapter x 43 x it's a remarkable statement that's given x here x because it says in Verses 4 and 5 and x the glory of the Lord came into the x house by the way of the gate whose x Prospect is toward the east x so the spirit took me up and brought me x into the inner cord and behold the glory x of the Lord filled the house x God's glory enters through the East Gate x the East Gate of Eden where man was cast x out brothers and sisters x because that's what this is reflecting x that path Now lies open the angel with x the Flaming sword is now removed x there's nothing there that blocks x just the door x and the reason is why this can take x place is mankind has now been perfected x the way to the tree of life has now been x laid open through the work of Jesus our x sins have been forgiven x we are now changed x and so we go over a chapter brother and x sisters and in the first three verses of x chapter 44 we're given this remarkable x statement x since then he brought me back by the way x of the Gate of the outward Sanctuary x which look at toward the East and it was x shut x then said the Lord unto me this gate x shall be shut it shall not be opened no x man shall enter in by it because the x Lord the god of Israel hath entered in x by it therefore it shall be shut x and then notice it is for the prince x the prince he shall sit in it to eat x bread before the Lord x he shall enter in by the way of the x porch of that gate and he shall go out x by the way of the same x and so let's look at the details brother x and sisters x we're again told this is the gate where x God's glory has entered x and it's it's something we have to x remember God has come in by this gate x there is nothing about Sin that can x again reflecting on that East Gate of x Eden and who's allowed to enter in the x priesthood the prince however is allowed x to enter in through this gate where God x has gone and we know who that is it's x Jesus who's able to enter in by that x gate x and Jesus can enter in by the same gate x because he is now and always has been x sin less x the only one that can do that x the only one that can go where his x father is x and we know that because he sits at the x right hand of his father today x and he's going to go out through that x same gate and why again brothers sisters x because he is and always has been x sinless he can come and go throughout x the gate x he can come and go throughout that East x Gate of Eden there is nothing that will x stop him from going back and forth x and so we come down a little bit further x resistors into chapter 46. x and it says this and the prince shall x enter by the way of the porch of the x gate without and shall stand by the post x of the gate x and notice and the priest shall prepare x his burnt offering and his peace x offerings x and he shall worship at the threshold of x the gate x then he shall go forth but the gate x shall not be shut until the evening x likewise the people of the land shall x worship at the door of this gate x before the Lord and the sabbaths and in x the new moons x sacrifices are taking place at this gay x brothers sisters x sacrifices taking place at this gate as x a reminder x what it took for all this to happen x the sacrifice of Jesus x and it's something we can never forget x and this will be there for the time of x the Kingdom brothers and sisters x and it goes on in verse 8 to say and x when the prince shall Enter he shall go x in by the way of the porch of that gate x he shall go forth by the way thereof x only Jesus again is allowed to use that x gate because he's the only one who x walked the Earth's sin less x know that the people come and they x worship at that gate but they can't get x in x they can't go in through that same way x because x even though now they've been perfected x they were Sinners at one time x and they're been tainted by that sin x and so what about the rest of the people x what are they to do how can they come x into worship x we go down a little bit farther in that x chapter brother and sisters and it says x this but when the people of the land x shall come before the Lord and the x solemn Feasts x he that entereth in by the way of the x north gate to worship shall go up by x this way of the south gate and he that x entereth by the way of the south gate x shall go forth by the way of the north x gate he shall not return by the way of x the gate whereby he came in but shall go x forth over against it x the subjects of the Kingdom you and I x Brethren and sisters x because that's the way we have to look x at ourselves x you and I brothers sisters go through x either the north gate or the South Gate x and when we leave the temple we go out x the opposite gate x and why x my brother and sisters x because we have sinned x we have sinned x and what this will be a reminder is when x we go in by the one gate x it's showing that we go out by the other x gate because there's been a change x we're not the same one that we were when x we entered that that Temple but we have x been changed it's a reflection on who we x were no longer Sinners but made perfect x for the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior x Jesus the Christ x and because we are now now sinless x we can meet once again with our God in x his Temple x but notice brothers and sisters it also x goes on to say this x and the prince shall go in the midst of x them and when they go in she'll go in x and when they go forth she'll go forth x unless Jesus is there we can't be there x it's a constant reminder of who we are x and for where we came brothers and x sisters x something we can never forget for all x time x the lessons of scripture given by God x that we cannot accomplish anything by x ourselves x especially our Redemption without his x help x and so brothers sisters x a new day dawned x are the wanderings in the world will x only stop when God's kingdom is set up x upon the Earth through his son and x there's those remarkable words that we x read in psalm 103. x verse 12 and I want you to think about x them in this theme brothers sisters x as far as the East is from the West x so far hathy removed our transgressions x from us x you know from our brother Steve Davis x gave such a great class on the um x what that meant and that's where we're x living now isn't it we're living in x Exile x but our Exile ends at this time x through the love of our heavenly father x and the sacrifice and love of his son x and there's something else interesting x Brethren that we see in Revelations x because in the last chapter of x Revelation the first five verses it says x this x and he showed me a pure River of Water x of Life clear as Crystal proceeding out x of the Throne of God and of the lamb in x the midst of it x on either side of the river there was x the Tree of Life which bear 12 manner of x fruits and yielded her fruit every month x and the leaves of the tree were for the x healing of the Nations the way is now x open for the Tree of Life brother and x sisters here it is for the taking there x shall be no more curse the curse of of x the garden has now been reversed x completely x but the Throne of God and the lamb shall x be in it in a servant Shall Serve him x they shall see his face and his name x shall be in their foreheads and there x shall be no night there