₦airaland Forum

If we read Hebrews 7:8 in its context, it is easy to see that that verse is not speaking of the monetary tithe that is being preached in the pulpits today. Back up to verse 5. What does it say?

Hebrews 7:5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:

Who has the command to receive tithes? Pastors on Gentile soil? Nope. The sons of Levi... Israelites who were given the command and authority to receive the tithes way back in 1450 BC. (Numbers 18:21-28; Nehemiah 10:37-38) And what was the tithe that they were to receive? An agricultural tithe.

Here men that die (Levites) have a command to receive tithes. It was AD 66, and the Temple was still standing. The Levites and Temple Priests who did not recognize Jesus Christ as Messiah were still operating in the commands of the Mosaic Law. They had a command to receive agricultural tithes from their brethren.

Hebrews 7:8 does not endorse a monetary tithe requirement doctrine for the New Testament Church.

hisableplc:
if d law was abolishd y dont we mould graven image n worship steal n do dos tin which were commanded not to do. one thing u fail to understand is dat d law led to imperfection and dat was wat led to d new testament message which is luv dat envelops d whole law if u can luv u can kip d whole commandment

simply because we love the Lord. We have no need to mold graven images when we serve the true God. Why steal, when our God provides for us all that we need?

Do you keep the whole commandment, hisableplc? Do you take His tithe annually to Israel and give it to the Levites in Hebron, Shechem, and forty-six other Levitical cities as written in the Law? If not, don't act all pious, saying we can keep the Law.

PastorKun:
You are obviously new on this forum otherwise you would have known that I have been debating and teaching image123 about tithes as far back as 2008. Me and several people on this forum have severally taught and explained the biblical truth about tithes to him but because of the filthy lucre he derives from this practise, he is ready to sell his soul to the devil and twist scriptures just to defend the scam.

There is nothing to teach image123 again, he knows the truth though he rejects it. We can only pray for the holy spirit to convict him.

Right! And let's not forget the theological tithe discussion (of which Image123 was a participant) that lasted 58 days. Image is well aware of what the Bible says concerning tithes. He refuses to accept it.

hisableplc:
i understand u all clearly the way i give when i have is between me n God what am saying is that a 10th is in isignificant to cos d noise....now d old testament kicks against eating of blood do u eat blood today cos we r no more under d law. Now during Christs ministry how come dey had a purse Judas was in charge remember they dropped their profession n followed Jesus where was d money coming from. you paid it or give it is all offered most of what we r giving are used majorly for running church activities for our benefits and its nt enough that most of d leaders go through this silently frm their pocket without disturbing their members in my church i av lil info about dat so if u r in a congregation where they pay pastors we dnt pay pastors or leaders or workers so u r talking based on where u com frm which i dont knowam also talking frm a diff point of view

Command to abstain from blood given to Gentile converts in New Testament. Acts 15:28-29

Christ, being from the Tribe of Judah, was not authorized to receive the tithes of the people. Only Levites, widows, orphans and foreigners had that authority. Luke 8:1-3 reveals that many women ministered to Jesus with their substance. Love offerings, not tithes. Money was never given to others as a tithe. On one occasion, Jesus had Peter catch a fish to find money. (Judas obviously had no money at that point in time) Matthew 17. Who knows? He may have been very adept at finding money when money was needed.

To teach people to submit to Malachi 3:10 by ‪#‎tithing‬ is tantamount to instructing them to spend the night in the bed of a harlot.

Romans 7:1 (KJV) Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Romans 7:2 (KJV) For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Romans 7:3 (KJV) So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Romans 7:4 (KJV) Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. ‪

(pay close attention to verses 3&4)

Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Galatians 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

hisableplc:
i only see sticky fingers talking this way if u cant give a tenth how can u give half or all pls spare all this if u av a personal problem with giving keep ur hands in ur pocket n stop looking scriptures to back up stingy acts am a giver naturally so i dont even have a problem with it.
Nt sparing those who recieve to enrich themselves they should repent n desist from such but by their fruits u wil knw dem

the Bible tells us we are to give as we purpose in our own hearts to give. You have no right to judge others in their giving who do not tithe. More than likely, you are not tithing in the manner that the Bible prescribes yourself. So stop with your hypocrisy.

God never commanded anyone in His Word to tithe money to a Church or a Temple. Yet, so many In Churches around the world today are lied to every time the offering plate is passed. "God requires you to tithe your money" is spoken from the pulpit. "If you don't tithe, you are a God-robber! You are cursed!" Is often shouted to put the laity in a state of guilt and condemnation. Relax Saints of God... Fear not. God never authorized that pastor to speak those deceitful and unkind words to your ears.

Let's examine the Scriptures and see what they say concerning God's commanded tithe, shall we? But first, let us visit two sons of Aaron at the Tabernacle...

Leviticus 10:1-2 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

In the above text, two of Aaron’s sons were struck dead because they offered “strange fire” to God upon the altar of the Lord. What exactly was this “strange fire” that they offered that so displeased the Lord? We are not told. But we are given a special insight as to how precise God wants our offerings to Him be.

Nadab and Abihu had offered something that God had not commanded. Now, one would think, “Hey, at least they were offering something to God. What wrong can be in that?” But God said they offered something that was not commanded.

A lesson should be learned by all from the reading of the account of Nadab and Abihu. That lesson is, “Do It By The Book”.

God has given us His Word as an instruction manual. This “manual” tells us what God expects of us as His dear children. If we are disobedient, God’s chastening hand will be upon us. It surely was upon Nadab and Abihu when they offered strange fire upon the altar.

The manner in which we are to live is laid out for us in the New Testament section of the Holy Bible. Now, please don’t go off on a tangent, saying I don’t like the Old Testament. I do. I cherish both the Old and the New. I read them both and learn from the both.

But the fact is, the New contains the pattern by which God wants us to live today. Hebrews 8 tells us that in AD 66 the Old Covenant was ready to pass away and that God was bringing us into a New Covenant. We cannot live in the Old Covenant promises, curses, edicts, laws, statutes, and ordinances. God doesn’t expect us to.

In AD 51, the Apostles met in Jerusalem with the religious leaders of the day. Their order of meeting was to discuss Gentiles who had been recently converted to faith in Christ. The religious leaders of Jerusalem were insisting that the Gentiles had to keep the Law of Moses or they could not be saved.

The Apostle Peter spoke before them all, rebuking them for placing a yoke upon the Gentile Brethren that neither the Jews of that day, nor their ancestors could keep themselves. Peter told them they were tempting God in their demands. The Apostle James said the Judsizers were overthrowing the souls of the Gentiles.

At the close of the meeting, James wrote a letter to the Gentile Believers and sent it to them by the hands of Paul and Barnabas, telling the Gentiles that the Apostles had given no such command that they keep the Law. He also sent Judas and Silas with the same words, but not written… they were to speak to the Gentiles, telling them that they were not commanded to keep the Mosaic Law.

The Mosaic Law was part of an Old Covenant that was soon to pass away. It was given to the Israelites living in the promised land.

In many Churches around the world today, there is a doctrine being taught that could be called “strange fire”. That doctrine is the monetary tithe requirement doctrine. Pastors will stand in their pulpits and preach from the Old Covenant the command to tithe that was given to Israel. But, they replace the tithe God commanded, an agricultural tithe, with a tithe consisting of money. It no longer is the tithe that God required of Israel. It has become “strange fire.”

No longer the agricultural tithe that was commanded by God for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai, (Leviticus 27:30-34) it is now a monetary tithe.
No longer a tithe that was to be given to Levites, to widows, to orphans, to strangers in Israel, (Numbers 18:21,24,26,28; Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Nehemiah 10:37-38) it is now given to pastors of Churches around the world.

The “tithes” were good when God had control of them, but modern-day Nadab’s, modern-day Abihu’s have turned them into a “strange fire” which God never commanded. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Many pastors today are tempting God and putting a yoke upon their congregations that God never authorized them to do. Search the Scriptures. When you do, you will find that God’s holy tithe was never carried to the Church, never commanded of the Church, and never controlled by the Church.

Pastors would do well to set aside this sin of preaching a strange fire and offering it to God in the Sunday prayers. Seek out what the New Covenant says concerning the saved and their giving. They are not to be coerced into giving, they are not to be made to fear a curse from God. Rather, they should be taught to give simply because “they love Jesus.” Teach them as the Apostle Paul taught the saints and brethren at the Church in Corinth… as they purpose in their hearts to give, give cheerfully and willingly God will be honored more by a loving offering than by “strange fire”

Do it by the Book

People, If you insist that God requires you to tithe, that you are being obedient to God and His Holy Word, at least have the decency and respect for God and His Holy Word to do it in accordance to what He has written in His Holy Word.

When you tithe, don’t take it to a Church in a Gentile land. God never commanded such. Instead, do it by the book, as God commanded, and take it to the Promised Land. ( Deut. 12:1,10-11 )

When you tithe, don’t give it to a Gentile preacher. God never commanded that. Instead, do it by the book, as God commanded, and take it to the Levite, the widow, the orphan and the stranger (which would include yourself) in the Promised Land. ( Deut 14:22-29 )

When you tithe, don’t tithe money. God never commanded such a tithe. Instead, do it by the book, as God commanded, and tithe agricultural products that are grown in the Promised Land. ( Leviticus 27:30-33)

If you insist on tithing, don’t tithe that which comes from Gentile hands on Gentile soil. God never commanded it. Instead, do it by the book, as God commanded, and move to the Promised land Israel so you can cultivate the land and have the tithe that God required in the Mosaic Law.

But remember…

.Galatians 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

If you are not going to “Do It By The Book”, don’t try to convince me that you are being obedient to God in tithing. It is just the opposite… you are being rebellious to what He decreed concerning how His Holy tithe was to be observed and kept.

Maybe it's best you stop offending in that point of the Law and just submit to God's will concerning your giving today.

2 Corinthians 9:6 (KJV) 6 But this [I say], He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

2 Corinthians 9:7 (KJV) 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

God does not require tithe of your money. Instead, He wants you to give simply out of your love for Him. Not as others dictate, but as you choose in your heart. Give with a willing heart and He will be pleased.

vooks:
The dumbest excuse I have heard from image for tithing is, blessings come from various things such as prayer,charity and tithing and that nobody can refute this. I wonder whether they admit menstruating women to their congregation and what blessings come from that, or what the Spirit has led them to develop out of that and apply today.

And since they believe there is nothing wrong with keeping Feasts, why don't they keep them to secure whatever blessings accrue to these. Or circumcise their boys as well and fulfill all righteousness

since the Bible says the Feasts were to be observed in Israel, I highly doubt they even keep the Feasts.

Bidam:
Can you define "require" and "requirement" as USED IN CONTEXT of what i wrote concerning giving? Even you pasted "require" to mean demand of something? Is it not synonymous to command? What do you understand by synonyms and antonyms?

I already showed you Paul using the Law of Moses where God "requires/commands/demands...(you can add other synonyms since na you sabi english pass) the church to give in 1 Cor 9:13-14.

If you and your cohorts lacks simple comprehension like this, then i am sorry i cannot help you. Only God can.

1 Corinthians 9:13 (KJV) 13 Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live [of the things] of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar
1 Corinthians 9:14 (KJV) 14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

There is no requirement/command/demand in that passage. It says "should", not "must".

And Paul was not speaking of stationary Elders of the Church in 1 Corinthians 9 receiving support for ministering... he was speaking of Apostles, who were called out of local assemblies to preach the Gospel.

Acts 13:2 (KJV) 2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

Acts 13:3 (KJV) 3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid [their] hands on them, they sent [them] away.

1 Corinthians 9:1 (KJV) 1 Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

1 Corinthians 9:2 (KJV) 2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 9:3 (KJV) 3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,

1 Corinthians 9:4 (KJV) 4 Have we not power to eat and to drink?

1 Corinthians 9:5 (KJV) 5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and [as] the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

The Apostle Paul was answering his accusers who had been questioning his authority as an Apostle to accept meals in exchange for preaching. And Paul said that, though he had the power to accept from the people, he did not exercise that authority.

This proves the care of the Apostles for preaching was not a command to the people. Had it been a command, Paul would have accepted it and not refused it as he did.

OLAADEGBU:
This explains your predicament. Nothing stops you from giving without loving, but you cannot say that you love without giving.

who says I don't fellowship? What was it Jesus said? Oh yes... Where two or more are gathered on my name, there am I in the midst.

Your argument fails again, Olaadegbu.

OLAADEGBU:
Does this not show your hypocrisy? How do you claim to have a God driven giving heart and then spend your lifetime teaching people not to give to God?

Jesus said to your likes again:

i don't teach people to not give. I teach them to give according to God's will for their lives. According to the Word of God, tithing is not God's will for Gentile Christians. No hypocrisy being taught by me. You might want to check your own heart. The tithe Jesus taught was the agricultural tithe as the Law prescribed. Your tithe doesn't even reflect the tithe of Matthew 23:23.

Physician, heal thyself.

OLAADEGBU:
The verse I quoted reveals the biblical formula God gave to Israel. Christians today will do well to learn this secret as they read the OT. The topic of this thread is tithes and offerings, which is essentially giving in the NT. Obedient Christians will do well to learn from the indictment received by Israel when they stopped giving their tithes and offerings. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not come to abolish the Law He came to fulfil it. He said:

Psalms 147:19 (KJV) 19 He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.

Psalms 147:20 (KJV) 20 He hath not dealt so with any nation: and [as for his] judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.

Acts 15:23 (KJV) 23 And they wrote [letters] by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren [send] greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:

Acts 15:24 (KJV) 24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, [Ye must] be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no [such] commandment:

Acts 15:25 (KJV) 25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

Acts 15:26 (KJV) 26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 15:27 (KJV) 27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell [you] the same things by mouth.

Acts 15:28 (KJV) 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

Acts 15:29 (KJV) 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Acts 21:23 (KJV) 23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;

Acts 21:24 (KJV) 24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave [their] heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but [that] thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

Acts 21:25 (KJV) 25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written [and] concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from [things] offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

Bidam:
so do you give in your local. assembly or do u quote scriptures without applying the truth in them

i have no local assembly. The last assembly I was a member of made sure of that.

As to my giving, when I see someone in need, and I have the means to meet that need, I give. Whether it's a neighbor in my community, or a beggar downtown as per 1 John 3:17.

Bidam:
One may argue that God does not "require tithes" but the question yet would be: Does the same God "require" giving?

1 John 3:17 (KJV) 17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

1 John 3:18 (KJV) 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

The Word of God reveals that if we do not have a compassionate, giving heart then we do not have a God-driven heart.

OLAADEGBU:
Who said this?

was not the Law still in effect at the time Malachi delivered that message? Yes, I believe it was.

And what did the Law say that God's holy tithe consisted of?

Leviticus 27:30 (KJV) 30 And all the tithe of the land, [whether] of the seed of the land, [or] of the fruit of the tree, [is] the LORD'S: [it is] holy unto the LORD.

Leviticus 27:31 (KJV) 31 And if a man will at all redeem [ought] of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth [part] thereof.

Leviticus 27:32 (KJV) 32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, [even] of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.

Leviticus 27:33 (KJV) 33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

Leviticus 27:34 (KJV) 34 These [are] the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

Well, whatya know about that?... God said His holy tithe was agricultural. Not the mammon your god requires.

And in Hebrews...

Hebrews 7:5 (KJV) 5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:

Hebrews 7:6 (KJV) 6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

Hebrews 7:7 (KJV) 7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.

Hebrews 7:8 (KJV) 8 And here men that die receive tithes; but there he [receiveth them], of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.

Imagine that!... 1500 years later, and the tithe is still agricultural... According to the Law.

And no wonder,...

Deuteronomy 12:8 (KJV) 8 Ye shall not do after all [the things] that we do here this day, every man whatsoever [is] right in his own eyes.

Man could not tithe money. He was required to tithe what God said to tithe,... agricultural products. He could not do what seemed right in his own eyes.

Sorry, Olaadegbu... Your god has you doing something contrary to God's design.

OLAADEGBU:
Mammon's message is definitely different to my God's.

my God said His holy tithe was to go to Levites, widows, orphans and foreigners in Israel. Your god says tithe belongs in your Gentile organization.

My God said His holy tithe was agricultural. Your god requires mammon.

OLAADEGBU:
You should rather accept God's message instead of assuming the role of an adviser.

i've already accepted God's message. It is contrary to yours.

OLAADEGBU:
The moral of the article is that we should offer to God wholeheartedly and that which is without blemish if your offering is to be accepted by God.

if your message is to be accepted of God, it should be without blemish. God doesn't honour lies.

OLAADEGBU:
Daily Manna
Friday 03, October 2014

Simply the Best

TEXT: LEVITICUS 22:17-25

"Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats" (Leviticus 22:19).

In a small village in one of the states in a country in Africa, a local government chairman went visiting. The poor villagers taxed themselves and presented him with a quality gift. The gesture surprised the visiting politician who there and then, promised to rehabilitate their roads that had been abandoned for years. This is what good gifts can achieve.

If earthly rulers are considered so deserving, what does the Ruler of the universe and the Creator of all things deserve? If the children of Israel had any difficulty figuring it out, the Lord Himself, in our text made it clear. “Ye shall offer at your own will…,” He demanded. There should be no coercion. Offerings to the Lord must spring from the bottom of the heart of the giver and that with no strings attached but with pure and godly motives.

Beyond that, God would not accept anything that had a blemish. Animals constituted the bulk of Israel’s items of sacrifice then. For an animal to be suitable for sacrifice to God, it must not be blind, lame, bruised, crushed, broken, cut or have skin disease. On the part of the offerer, this implied an overwhelming sense of honour to God and entailed painstaking search among his lot to fetch a most suitable animal.

The Christian believer is not obliged, today, to offer animal sacrifice to God - Christ Jesus had satisfied that demand as “a Lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). However, we are expected to offer to God spiritual sacrifices. In doing this, the same principles apply. We must offer to God wholeheartedly and that which is without blemish. We must remember that Ananias and Saphira were not punished for offering something but for offering a half-measure. God is not mocked. Your gifts to Him need be wholesome and entire.

Higher Everyday for Youths - Link: http://highereveryday.dclmhq.org/

Thought for the day: "The Giver deserves the best gift"

See more at:

Ananias and Sapphira were punished for giving a half-measure? That's a new one on me.

First, the Bible does not tell us the percentage they kept back. Only that they kept back a "part". They part they kept could have been far less. It could have been far more. We are not told the amount or the percentage.

Second, the Bible does not say they were punished for keeping any of the price. It says they were punished for lying to the Holy Ghost.

Image123: What is the correct quote Mark?

28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Says nothing of giving up best or worse.

WinsomeX: ^^^

MarkMiwerds pls can we have a link to those messages.

Here is the link for the page that has Fred Jr's three sermons.
http://www.faithdome.org/echurch/sundaysermons.html

And for the link for an early broadcast of his father teaching the tithe that was re-broadcast June 27th of this year, go here:
http://www.lightsource.com/ministry/ever-increasing-faith/video-player/tithes-and-offerings-1404-320472.html

Ever since Fredrick K. Price began Ever Increasing Faith Ministries in Inglewood, CA., the Church has taken the stance that tithing one's money is commanded by God in the Bible. Even this year, June 27, 2014 the wife of Price aired one of his earlier messages at EIFM in which he states emphatically that the Church is the storehouse and that God requires monetary tithes of the saints to be brought to the Church.

Less than three months later, in three separate sermons Price's son, Fredrick K. Price, Jr., delivered a message at the Faith Dome's EIFM TITLED "Tithing Under Grace". This message aired September 7th, 14th & 21st. In the message, Fred Jr. Covered every single verse in the Bible that dealt with tithing and revealed to the congregation that God never commanded tithes of money from anyone in His Holy Word.

While it is refreshing to see EIFM is being honest concerning the Biblical tithes after more than 30 years of guilting its members into giving, one has to wonder what happened that caused the shift to doctrinal truth? Are there more doctrinal shifts in the future at the Faith Dome? And what about the father/son clash in doctrine if Fred Sr. still believes tithing is a Biblical mandate? Will it cause bad blood between family members? Will those who have tithed faithfully for the last 30 years "lest they be cursed God-robbers" be angry now that they know the truth?

OLAADEGBU: It is true that the love of money is the last thing to give way to the Lord. Those who give God the best will not become the last.

nice misquote of Scripture. Of course, that seems to be the norm for you.

vooks: Any idea why nobody from Pentecost till 400 years later thought of tithing?

no Leer jets to fuel.

One I wrote back in the early 90's...

I was on a downhill slide while running with my friends
When I heard who Jesus died to save me from my sins
How one day on a rugged cross in His amazing grace
Christ shed His blood for sinners lost, in love He took my place

I fell down on my knees that day and cried out to God above
Forgive me of my sins, I prayed, and cleanse me with Thy blood
Teach me O Lord, to wait on Thee and help me do Thy will
And remind me of that rugged tree that stood on Calvary's hill.

He's pulled me from the mire and given me a home
With Christ as my desire, no more in sin I'll roam
I'll tell the world the story and share Salvation's plan
How He left His Home in Glory to die for fallen man.

brocab: God knew the plans-he had in the garden of eden, by placing the tree of good and evil, and without knowledge and wisdom we humans fail everytime. God gave adam a job to do, which he did, and adam wanted someone equal to him, god made him eve, and adam was decieved in love by the woman. Same with eve. And yes eve was deceived by satan of old, and both ate the fruit. So now this is the fun part, we all know what is good and evil. and we all know we have a choice, and what better way in life we decide who we follow. The same choice the lord God gave to adam and eve when in the garden. It was god's plan-to give us a freewill life. And for those who choose to follow the lord, has been set free from that curse that happen at the beginning.. Thats why we have a Heaven and Hell. CHOOSE...quote author=BabaGnoni]

Thanks MarkMiwerds would you also agree or refute in additions to your replies that:
#1) "greatly increase or multiply her conception" note not "greatly multiply her sorrow in conception" actually has to do with accelerating or speeding up the gestation cycle in anticipation of man's redemption
( i.e. coming of God in the passage of time through Mary)

#2) Would also agree or not that Adam actually triggered on the curse on Earth, bear in mind that Adam too was earth, so by association, the earth became corrupt on account of Adam, with "thorns and thistles" etc sprouting out

#3) You said "God allowed Eve to live because of Grace. As I said, He could have spoken a word and removed her completely. But we see in the second Chapter of Genesis that God put the woman and man together as husband and wife. They were now one flesh. God had given the woman to the man to be his help meet and his wife. To remove her would have left Adam incomplete.

We also see in the fifteenth verse of Chapter 3, the prophecy that our Lord would be born through Eve's family line. So, in my thoughts, Eve was spared that we might ultimately know Christ."

Would you also agree or not, that Eve was part of the master plan. She was God's backdoor, not literally though, but at least you know what am getting at or mean (i.e. among other things Eve to Adam, she was also God's back up plan) Eve was to be Adam's salvation before Jesus Christ.

#4) You also said "The Law was given that man might learn to fear God"
Is this the law in Eden you are inferring to here, or the law in the wilderness?

#5) Lastly, bro, I still do not get the connection of the Cross with the pre-Fall.
Why? There must have been something God was after in Eden before the fall (i.e. something He aimed or wanted to deal with once and for all)
Whats your thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance and after this, you may step down, as I wont have any further questions.
Cheers.

Scroll up. The answer was delayed due to unexpected company, but I have posted it.

BabaGnoni: Thanks MarkMiwerds would you also agree or refute in additions to your replies that:
#1) "greatly increase or multiply her conception" note not "greatly multiply her sorrow in conception" actually has to do with accelerating or speeding up the gestation in anticipation of man's redemption
( i.e. coming God through Mary)

You are welcome, Babagnoni. I am not sure about the speeding up the gestation period, for the pronouncement was in the conception, not the period of time after the conception.

#2) Would also agree or not that Adam actually triggered on the curse on Earth, bear in mind that Adam too was earth, so by association, the earth became corrupt on account of Adam, with "thorns and thistles" etc sprouting out

Since the two were one flesh, and Adam was taken out of the Earth, then yes, Adam's disobedience triggered that curse upon Earth.

#3) You said "God allowed Eve to live because of Grace. As I said, He could have spoken a word and removed her completely. But we see in the second Chapter of Genesis that God put the woman and man together as husband and wife. They were now one flesh. God had given the woman to the man to be his help meet and his wife. To remove her would have left Adam incomplete.

We also see in the fifteenth verse of Chapter 3, the prophecy that our Lord would be born through Eve's family line. So, in my thoughts, Eve was spared that we might ultimately know Christ."

Would you also agree that Eve was part of the master plan. She was God's backdoor, not literally though, but at least you know what am getting at or mean. Eve was Adam's salvation before Jesus Christ.

God is omniscient. Being omniscient, He knew that man would disobey Him and that there would be a need for an atonement for sin. Yes, Eve was indeed a part of that Master plan. Her role in the birth of our Lordwas known by God from the beginning.

#4) You also said "The Law was given that man might learn to fear God"
Is this the law in Eden you are inferring to here, or the law in the wilderness?

In the Garden, we see only one Law given... the forbidding of partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I do believe that God wanted Adam to fear Him. Not a "fright" type of fear, but rather a "reverent' fear, a worshiping of God in great awe. Of interest, after partaking of the Tree, both Adam and Eve displayed a "fright" fear. "We hid because we heard Thy voice and were afraid." The lost, those in rebellion to God, will one day hear His voice and they indeed will be afrightened. We see the same characteristic in the story of Saul of Tarsis while on the Road to Damascus.

God also had set the Mosaic Law, all 613 statutes, ordinances and torts, as one indivisible unit.

#5) Lastly, bro, I still do not get the connection of the Cross with the pre-Fall.
Why? There must have been something God was after in Eden before the fall (i.e. something He aimed or wanted to deal with once and for all)
Whats your thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance and after this, you may step down, as I wont have any further questions.
Cheers.

Sorry, was interrupted by company...

What God wanted in Eden prior to the fall was fellowship. He desired man to commune with Him. If there is a connection between the cross and Eden before the fall, it would be, in my opinion the communication between God and man in both accounts. IN the Garden, God communicated with man, at the cross, He was still communicating with man.

BabaGnoni: @MarkMiwerds

Well done again bro

All praise goes to God, I am only His servant, as you are.

This is about your intro verse (i.e. Genesis 3:16). Please are you able to shed some light on why does God have to greatly multiply Eve's conception

Good question! Why does God have to greatly multiply her sorrow in conception? My thoughts are, (mind you they are just my thoughts, not necessarily God's reasoning) that the sorrow would be great, as I inferred in the presentation, that Eve would know that she would be bringing a child into the world that, once perfect, now bore thorns and thistles along with hard labour. Contrasted with what Eve and her husband had before she ate of the forbidden fruit, one can see much sorrow in raising a child in poor conditions as opposed to the lap of luxury that the Garden was.

Next is the intro paragraph, where you said: "...He put a curse upon the Earth as well".
Please if able to, clearly tell without doubt whether God cursed the earth. Like did He really? Outrightly and verbally curse the earth?
Why is the earth cursed? What has earth getting cursed for Adam's sake have to do in the position or situation Adam found himself?

Again, good question! My thoughts once more... Yes, God cursed the Earth, even audibly. Not with swear words, mind you. Rather, He cursed it with a pronouncement of it producing that which inflicts pain and sorrow... "thorns and thistles shall it bring forth". I've been stuck with many a thorn, and I can honestly say I didn't rejoice when it happened. My first reaction was to pull back, then to minister to the affected area to ease the pain that the thorn had caused. Due to this curse upon the Earth, Adam would no longer see only good come from his hard labour as he did in the Garden. Now, his hard work could be choked out by unwanted plants.

Comparing all three of these pronouncements; that were upon the woman, the man, and the Earth as well, one can see God saying "You have brought me great sorrow this day, now sorrow shall be your lot.

It is interesting also, that the curse upon the Earth, "thorns and thistles" were instrumental in torturing our Saviour during His trial and in His crucifixion.

Talking of the wonder of God's grace in relation to where you said: "God allowed the woman to live. He allowed her to give the fruit to her husband. Her husband ate of the fruit, and died spiritually with her."
Please why did God allow Eve to live. To what end and/or purpose(s) was this all about?

Again, good question! My thoughts... God allowed Eve to live because of Grace. As I said, He could have spoken a word and removed her completely. But we see in the second Chapter of Genesis that God put the woman and man together as husband and wife. They were now one flesh. God had given the woman to the man to be his help meet and his wife. To remove her would have left Adam incomplete.

We also see in the fifteenth verse of Chapter 3, the prophecy that our Lord would be born through Eve's family line. So, in my thoughts, Eve was spared that we might ultimately know Christ.

Further on you stated: "Deuteronomy 12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

Man could not just do whatever he chose to do. God did not give those 613 Laws to man so man could simply ignore them and do his own thing. He had to follow the Law precisely in the way that God had prescribed."

To what end and purpose is all this, because if Adam yet without the sin nature imputed on him, was unable to handle one law, what chance did the Israelites have dealing with 613 laws?

Again, my thoughts... The Law was given that man might learn to fear God. That man would see his depravity and dependency upon God for life.

Lastly please explain if all this journey(ies) from Eden to the wilderness, to the Cross, was all the about the Mosaic law?

You don't have to answer any, talkless all, but thanks in advance for reading this and for if you do respond

Again, my thoughts... the journey from Eden to the wilderness, to the Cross was important. As I said in the reply to the last question above, it all pointed to the cross. It all showed the sinfulness of man, the deceitful heart and stubborn mind that all men have, and the need to submit to God as our direction, our source of life and all that is good.

Luke 5:37 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
Luke 5:38 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.
Luke 5:39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

In the above passage, Jesus was demonstrating the fact that Law and Grace CANNOT mix. The Old wine representing Law, the New representing Grace. The Old man, upon trusting Christ Jesus, becomes a New man. Grace (New Wine) is bestowed to the New man (New wineskins)

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Many refuse the New Wine, saying, "The Old is better". Yet Christ came to make all things New and in His death on the cross, has done away with the Old.

Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

But after nearly 1,440 years of the the Wonder of God's Grace being displayed in the dispensation of the Law, in an even greater demonstration of the Wonder of God’s Grace, God sent His Son, whose life, death, burial and resurrection would be the catalyst for a New Covenant with Israel. And not with Israel only, but with every nation upon the face of God’s Earth.

Throughout His life on this Earth, Jesus Christ was manifesting the Wonder of God’s Grace everywhere He went. At twelve years old, the child Jesus amazed Rabbi’s in the Temple, answering questions concerning the Holy Scriptures. At twenty-nine He performed the first miracle man had ever seen Him do at a wedding feast in Cana. The wonder of God’s Grace is seen in His raising Lazarus from the dead, His healing blinded eyes, His casting out devils, in multiplying a few loaves and fishes for hungry crowds of thousands who had come to hear Him speak, and in the countless other miracles He performed while walking this Earth as the Son of man.

The Wonder of God’s Grace is seen in His restoring a servant’s ear after Peter had cut it off with a sword in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And then, we come to Golgotha, that horrible hill on which the Saviour was hung. As He was dying, He revealed once again the Wonder of God’s Grace when He said, “It is Finished!”

It is true, as He said in Matthew’s Gospel, that He did not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. And fulfill it He did. He did what no other man was able to do, He kept every aspect of the Law that applied to Him as an Israelite, born of the lineage of David.

But, we are told in Ephesians 2:14-15 that Christ, in His death, burial and resurrection, abolished the ordinances written in the Law.

Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Cancelled out. Completely! Man, who has trusted and is now married to Jesus Christ, no longer has to be governed by the Mosaic Law.

Romans 7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Romans 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Romans 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Romans 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

In Romans 7:1-4, the Apostle Paul likened a person who submits to the Law, while married to the One who has risen from the dead, to an adulterer married to a spouse, but living in the home of another.

My Brethren, The Wonder of God’s Grace has called us out of the bondage of the Mosaic Law. We have been freed from not only the law of sin and death, but we are told that we have been brought into a New Covenant. The old is ready to vanish away, as the author of the Book of Hebrews said nearly 2,000 years ago.

Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Hebrews 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Colossians 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,

Where Grace abounds, there is liberty. There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus; who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The Word of God has indeed freed us from the Law, never to be entangled again with its yoke of bondage. We needn’t wear that yoke, Christ wore it for us. We needn’t submit to the ordinances, Christ took them out of the way, nailing them to His cross. As the Apostle Paul wrote in the third chapter of Galatians, it is foolish for one who has begun in the Spirit to subject himself to the Law. How are we to expect Grace and Mercy from the Father, when we turn our backs on the price his Son paid for our freedom and choose to walk in ordinances that God’s Word said belonged to national Israel alone?

So many today are being told that they are lost and in need of a Saviour. This is true. So many are told that eternal life is a gift from God to man, and that the only things man has to do to receive this wonderful gift is to believe on Jesus Christ. This also is true.

The problem arises when we get the new Convert into the Church, the Convert quickly finds that, according to the pastor, there is a price to pay. The new Convert is told to keep certain of the ordinances that were given to national Israel. That God requires these ordinances to be observed by the Church members today. My Brethren, nothing could be farther from the Truth.

My Brethren, cast out the bondwoman and her son. Break away those chains that cause you to be unfaithful to the Lord. It is only when you walk away from the Law, that you will truly know the fullness of the Wonder of God’s Grace.

What is the Wonder of God’s Grace? It is all that I have mentioned this day, and more. It is the recognition of where God found us, what God offered us, what He has given those of us who have accepted that offer, and what He has prepared for us… despite the fact that we are a fallen race, despite the fact that we fail from time to time, despite all of our shortcomings.

The Wonder of God's Grace assure us that we are accepted in the Beloved.

As we come to the close of e-Grace Convention 2014, I want to acknowledge all who have participated in this great event. My prayer is that the messages have spoken to our hearts and challenged us to be more diligent in our studies of God’s Holy Word.
……………………………………………………………………………

For those who may have followed the speakers over the last three days, if you are unsure of your eternal state after this short existence on Earth, do not hesitate to make that decision today. Our Lord’s return is more nigh us that it has ever been. If you should die without Christ, you will miss the Wonder of God’s Grace, If you should die without the Lord, your only hope is to face Him in His wrath.

If you need to talk to someone concerning God’s Holy Word, I am sure any of the speakers of the Convention will be glad to open the Word and share Christ with you.

God bless all who work for His eternal Kingdom!

END

But Oh, the wonders of God’s grace that the woman was given the chance to live a long life, if only outside of the Garden that she once walked with her husband and the Lord God in the cool of the day.

We read in the third chapter of Genesis how that after God sentenced mankind through judgment, God clothed man with coats of skin. We are not told what skin was used to cover the man and his wife. We do know that it was a type and shadow of a future sacrifice and covering that would be offered for all mankind through the death, burial and resurrection of God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ.

By one man’s disobedience sin entered into the world. And that man’s disobedience brought sin and death upon all men. We are told that because of that one’ man’s disobedience, the world quickly became full of wickedness. The Bible tells us that “man’s heart was only evil continuously.” God set His heart against man and against the Earth that He had created. He decided that the world was useless to Him and that He would destroy it completely.

No doubt, just as He spoke and the worlds were framed, He could have just as easily spoken and made them vanish in an instant of time. But because one man caught God’s attention, the Wonder of God’s Grace was shown to that man and his family.

The Wonder of God’s Grace allowed righteous Noah and his family to enter the ark and stay safe while the rest of the world, mankind, flora and fauna as well, perished in the great worldwide flood.

We are reminded of the Israelites, slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, who witnessed the Wonder of God’s Grace as God poured out plague upon plague upon Egypt. The plagues affected the Egyptians, but the Israelites were not affected. Prior to the last Biblical plague upon Egypt, the death of the firstborn of every Egyptian household and of every firstborn animal in the Egyptian flocks and herds, lambs were slain by Israelite households and the blood from those lambs put upon the doorway of the Israelite home, a type and shadow of the blood sacrifice that Jesus Christ the Righteous gave on Golgotha, the place of the skull, for all mankind.

It was that final plague that caused Pharaoh to release the Israelites and allow them to journey away from Egypt to go worship the LORD their God.

As they were journeying toward the Red Sea, the Wonder of God’s Grace is seen once again as God guided them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night until they reached the Red Sea.

We all know the story… Pharaoh had a change of heart once again and gathered an army to chase after the Israelites. The Wonder of God’s Grace made a way where there was no way. He parted the waters and they walked across on dry land! The Egyptians pursued them. God caused the waters to fall upon the Egyptian army and they were drowned. The Wonder of God’s Grace had protected the Israelites and destroyed their enemies.

We read of the wilderness wanderings, how that men began to murmur and complain, God provided manna from Heaven, birds brought them food as well. And twice they were given water from a rock. And yet, they did not see the Wonder of God’s Grace even though He had clearly bestowed it.

It is no surprise that Jesus later said, “No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.”

The Israelites murmured and complained, they voiced how they wished Moses had left them alone under the hands and rule of the Egyptians. The Wonder of God’s Grace had provided for them constantly, and yet, they were not focused on God. Had they focused on Him, they would not have complained as they did and would have recognized the Wonder of God's Grace.

Moses went up on the Mount to speak with God and God gave him commandments for the Israelites to observe and follow. There were 613 commandments in all that God told Moses the children of Israel were to observe.

It must be noted that God gave these commandments to Israel alone. He did not give them to Gentile nations.

God’s Word tells us in Exodus 12:49, “One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

God was very careful to construct His words as He spoke them to Moses. Notice He said “and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you,” and not “and to you who live among the strangers” This reveals to us that the Mosaic Law was restricted to those living in the Promised Land.

We find further confirmation of this decree in the writings of King David,. In Psalm 147, we read:

Psalms 147:19 He sheweth His Word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel.
Psalms 147:20 He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for His judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.



God’s Law given to Israel, which was in effect from 1450 BC to 70 AD, all 613 statutes, torts and ordinances contained in that Law, was never given to Gentiles.

We have examined only a handful of the accounts of the Wonder of God’s Grace being shown in the Old Testament. There are many, many more. It was the wonder of God’s Grace that was bestowed upon the widow of Zarephath who shared her last meal with the Prophet and we are told that God multiplied what she had. We see the Wonder of God’s Grace in the story of the Hebrew children Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego as they declared to the king “we will not bow to your image, nor worship it”. The Wonder of God’s Grace was seen in a den of lions when the man of God, Daniel, was cast in for praying to Almighty God, disobeying the kings command.

Oh, that we will have that same boldness in the face of tribulation and persecution, that we might witness the Wonder of God’s Grace as the men of God in the Book of Daniel did!

Let us move forward to the year 4 BC. The year that an angel appeared to a young virgin named Mary. We are told how that God sent His Son into the world, made of a woman, to save His people from their sin.

Oh, the Wonder of God’s Grace extended in the giving of His only begotten Son to a sin-sick world! God’s chosen people Israel were still under the Law handed down to Moses from Heaven above. They were bound to the sacrifices, the offerings, ...all ordinances, statutes and torts written in that Law.

The could not deviate from the guidelines that God had established. In Deuteronomy 12:8, we read:

Deuteronomy 12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

Man could not just do whatever he chose to do. God did not give those 613 Laws to man so man could simply ignore them and do his own thing. He had to follow the Law precisely in the way that God had prescribed. Where God did allow substitutions, God revealed what those substitutions were to be. It was to be done God's way, not man's.

The Wonder of God’s Grace
Genesis 3:16 (KJV) Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Genesis 3:17 (KJV) And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Genesis 3:18 (KJV) Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Genesis 3:19 (KJV) In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

In Genesis 3:16, we see the God of all creation, who is clearly angry because of man disobeying Him, pronouncing judgment upon the first married couple who ever walked upon this Earth, and He put a curse upon the Earth as well. One man’s disobedience affected not just that one man, but the entire world and all of mankind who would be born upon the face of the Earth


Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

God had promised earlier in the creation story, death as the sentence to be carried out should the man and woman partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And just as God promised, the man and woman died that day as a result of disobedience. The immediate death was not physical, but rather it was spiritual.

In 1 Timothy 2:14, we read: And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Eve, being deceived, was in the transgression. At that moment that she partook of that fruit that God had forbidden, God could have struck her dead. He could have removed her life force from the face of the Earth and created another help meet for man. But, because of His infinite mercy, His unfailing love, and the Wonder of God's Grace, He did not.

God allowed the woman to live. He allowed her to give the fruit to her husband. Her husband ate of the fruit, and died spiritually with her. His love for his wife was so strong that he partook of the forbidden fruit, in spite of the fact that he knew he was being disobedient to God.

No doubt, there must have been a change in Eve’s countenance after partaking of that forbidden fruit… a change that caused her husband Adam to know that his wife was, though standing before him with life-giving blood flowing through her veins, now spiritually dead.

Jesus, toward the close of His speaking to the multitudes in what would later be known as “The Sermon on the Mount”, warned of false prophets, stating, “Ye shall know them by their fruits”. Adam must have witnessed something in Eve’s actions or expressions that instant that made him to know that his wife, the woman that God had told him to procreate with, had indeed spiritually died after eating of that forbidden fruit. For the Bible tells us that the man was not deceived, but the woman was deceived. Adam partook of that fruit with full understanding and full knowledge that he too, would die spiritually.

And so He ate, and subsequently hid from God. As God walked in the Garden in the cool of the day, the man and his wife hid in the flora, ashamed because their eyes had been opened to knowledge of good and evil. They realized their unclothedness and were afraid of being seen by God.

God called out to Adam, and Adam answered. In His calling out to Adam, God was revealing the Wonder of His Grace. God, being omniscient, already knew Adam had partaken of the tree that God had forbidden him to eat from. But God, in His infinite mercy and great love with which He loved Adam revealed His Grace by calling the man and his wife out of the bushes and unto Himself. What a perfect picture of the Wonder of God’s Grace so early in the first book of our sacred book, God’s Word.

God, in His infinite mercy, manifested the Wonders of His grace. Instead of destroying man for his act of disobedience, God extended that grace toward man and allowed him to live in a world that was once perfect, but now was cursed with thorns and thistles. Man, through his one act of disobedience had lost the authority to tend the Garden in Eden where the Tree of Life was planted. Man lost the ability to eat of that Tree of Life and live forever. Man lost his privilege to care for and dress the Garden that God had placed him in. But the Wonder of God’s Grace allowed him to continue to live outside the Garden in the now cursed world.

The woman, as our text above shows, did not go unpunished. God said that because of her rebellion she would have great sorrow in childbirth. We are not told whether the man and his wife had any children while he was filling the position of Caretaker of the Garden. However Genesis 1:28 reveals that God did tell them to “go forth and multiply”. God had given them His blessing to have children, thereby showing the Wonder of His Grace even before the fall.



The curse God gave to woman was that where there may not have been great pain in giving birth, she now would be tasked to endure much pain… “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and they conception” Sorrow where joy may have once been. Sorrow, not just because of the stress on her body during childbirth, but also because of knowing the life every child born to her would ultimately have to face because of her being deceived and giving in to the lust of the eyes.

Oh, how it must have torn at her heart to know what she had lost and what her children could have had if she had only been wise to the serpent s words when he beguiled her. And how she must have remembered God’s Words each time she brought forth children and experienced that “great pain” that God said she would experience through childbirth.!