Behold!

 

"Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever."

-- Genesis 3:22

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Note to the reader:  This might seem like a continuation of an earlier post, Consider, If You Will..., which was inspired by my friend Bill Folsom.  In a way, it is.  In another way, it seeks to create more questions than answers and, as usual, seeks to make the reader think and consider possibilities that are hidden somewhere out in "left field," so to speak.  To this end, please enjoy the following humble offering, with my sincere thanks for giving your time to do so.

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Genesis 1:26 states, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness," which not only bodes the question of whom God was talking to, but, why God would be so concerned when man became all he could be or all that God must have intended, as stated in Genesis 1:27, "in His own image."  Yet, there certainly seems to be concern of overreach, of an experiment gone too far, or not well thought out. 

"...the man has become like one of Us," is the first hint we have that God is not alone.  Is this declaration of God, set out in Genesis 3:22, a confirmation of a successful experiment or the affirmation of its failure?  Was it intended that we become gods, or did the omnipotent "gods" make a mistake?  God commanded that Adam and Eve not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as though telling a child not to do something isn't temptation enough.  Nowhere is it written they shouldn't "take also from the tree of life, and live forever," and yet it would seem God feared this transgression, as well.  

There is much discussion of what was meant by God's statement, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness," but, it seems to be well clarified in Genesis 5:3, "And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image..."  The statements, at this point, stand on their own merit as evidence that God intended us to be in His own image and likeness, just as any parent intends for their child. Just don't eat the fruit.

So, let's get this story straight, as it verily reeks of heresy (or hearsay, for those Gentiles who fear excommunication).  

We have a bunch of scientists (re: gods) who are attempting to enhance the aboriginal gene pool and, oops, made a mistake, probably not the first, while creating what they hope will be the perfect "righteous" life form.  It could be, one of the scientists (let's call him Satan) willfully violated a prime protocol, and the "experiment" failed.  Being against murdering life, the other scientists open the entrance to the laboratory (Eden) and banish Adam and Eve to fend for themselves.  The offending scientist, and those few who support his views, are also banished from the “Kingdom of Heaven,” never to work at "Eden Laboratories" ever again.   

I offered that this is "probably not the first" mistake the scientists have made, because Cain, Adam's son, kills his brother Abel and "went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.  And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch.  And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son - Enoch."  

It would seem Adam and Eve were not the first human life forms, but there were enough humans to populate a city that Cain felt was worth building.  One might argue, “If you build it, they will come.”  I think Cain built it because they were already there.  Could it be, the knowledge that Cain's genetic structure now possessed, was the impetus that allowed him to build the city?  Perhaps the first city that man ever conceived?  So, it might be, these people were either all failed attempts of "gods" enhancing existing genetic material they found readily available on the planet in the form of lesser life forms.  Just a thought. 

Regardless of our gullibility level, the question of “multiple gods” remains through scripture's evidence.  Clergy quickly interprets these stories in ways that make little sense to anyone with a brain to reason.  History has forgotten God's wife, so why not attempt to erase the knowledge of any other lesser gods?  It would be one way of ensuring any message or instruction passed down to us, from one on high, is from a single source, to maintain clarity and uniformity, in order to mitigate ambiguity that occurs when a message is passed through multiple sources.  If anyone wants an example, one simply has to look at current media and news reporting, which can be more opinion than news, slanted to meet a particular political agenda instead of simply stating the truth per the facts as known.  This tendency of man to bastardize the truth is why God wrote everything we need to know across our hearts and minds, instead of bloviating.  

But, before He did this, in order to ensure uniformity, God sends down an edict: 

“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me..."

-- Exodus 20:3-5

When God handed down the Ten Commandments to Moses, God began the commandments, as stated in Exodus 20:2-3, with: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.”  This Commandment is the foundation for the next nine and, in particular, the first four which are summarized in Deuteronomy 6:5 as: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Agreeing with this summation, we read in Matthew 22:37-38: "Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment."  One can see the Creator's insistence that man will only seek answers and instructions from a single source, dictating loyalty and love to the same, and making this rule number one. 

Do we violate the "no other gods" edict, this first and most holy of commandments, by making for ourselves "a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above" when we worship before an image of a crucified Jesus Christ?  I would have to say yes, but what else is new?  We read scripture and excuse our violations of it constantly.  We excuse it by our lack of understanding of everything Jesus told us while he was here on earth.  Most of this misunderstanding comes to us from ministers who spread these misunderstandings, these misinterpretations like so much cyanide-laced Kool-Aid. God wrote everything we needed to know across our hearts and minds so there would be no misunderstanding.  Man wrote the Holy Scripture.   

Does this make my interpretation right?  No.  It simply evidences that I think for myself and choose to find God through my own interpretation of scripture, through what God wrote in my heart and my mind.  I feel that we have all been set, on our own path, on a path to find the great truth.  I also feel it is necessary to discover yourself, your own truth before you can discover anything greater than yourself.  We have, indeed, become like gods, knowing of good and evil; and now, we stretch out our hand to search for the tree of everlasting life.  It was written into our genetic makeup, whether by accident or design, and it is our destiny.  Personally, I think this one God is trying to show us the way, perhaps to correct a mistake or, just maybe, to show us how to become all we were intended to be.   

Maybe we should read what He wrote in our hearts and minds. 

"Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."

-- Hebrews 8:9-12

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch - it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either view any more right or wrong than the other. Opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form their own opinions, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint.

I fervently hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions, and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions offered. After twenty-three years of military intelligence, I have come to believe that engaging each other in this manner, and in this arena, is a way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience... and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. Following his service career, he spent 17 years working with the premier and world-renowned Western Institutional Review Board, helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. He also served 8 years on the Board of Directors for the Angela J. Bowen Foundation.

Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As a weapon for his war on intolerance... he chose the pen. He wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's personal, spiritual path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as the lead chaplain at a regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony at: tolerantpastor@gmail.com