Why God, why? Why did you work in the Garden of Eden the way you did? Why did you deal with man and woman outside Eden? Why did you talk audibly to Adam and Eve, to Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham and others? Why, God, did you continue to make yourself so real when man turned away from you, afraid of you and your voice? Why?

God has reasons for all things He has done in working with man on planet Earth from the time He created Adam, the first man, up until now.

Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me (Jeremiah 32:27). Nothing is too hard for the Lord. Man and woman have been God’s hindrance. It isn’t a matter of God not having the power to bring deliverance when needed; He has had the power all the time. God can do anything, but He has obligated himself to man and woman by giving them eternal souls, a part of Himself that can never die. He made man and woman with free choice, and until that time of choice is over, God’s hands are tied. Only when man and woman will allow it are His hands set free. People tie the hands of God. Israel, for example, limited God, tied the hands of God and brought great trouble on themselves.

Genesis, the first book of God in His Holy Book, tells startling things, describes the great, great love of God in so many unbelievable ways that people have stumbled over them. They haven’t really looked upon God the way they should, the God in Genesis. His moves, His compassion for the man and woman He had made are amazing, and have been a mystery to many.

In theology, a mystery is any assumed truth that cannot be comprehended by the human mind but must be accepted by faith. Much in Genesis has to be dealt with through faith. People have not used the faith of God in studying His Word, and that lack has caused confusion, doubt and many missed blessings.

God Knows the Heart

The earth, once beautiful, had been destroyed when Lucifer was cast out of Heaven; it was covered with water and darkness for the benefit of Lucifer and the fallen angels. God made Lucifer the god of darkness. Then perhaps millions of years later, we don’t know how long, the Lord decided to have a paradise down here, something different than what was in Heaven, and He made Eden. He is the great God who can speak things into existence, our God who made a man from the dust of the earth, took a rib from that man and made a woman.

And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20). For many years Adam and Eve lived in the peace and contentment of God’s presence. Then when they sinned, they tried to hide their nakedness, sewing fig leaves together to make aprons. But they couldn’t cover their hearts from God. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them (verse 21). Since their souls came from God, were a part of God, the Lord had to shed blood to clothe them and cover their sin; otherwise, He would have destroyed them, for God cannot look upon sin. This shed blood is a type of Christ who shed His own blood to redeem mankind from sin.

Now we find man and woman driven outside Eden; they’re in a backslidden condition. Eternal souls that God never intended to be contaminated with sin have been taken over by the archenemy of God and mankind.

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD (Genesis 4:1). They still recognized God, still knew that God is God, the Creator of all life. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground (verse 2). Adam and Eve had their children outside Eden. Had Adam and Eve not sinned they still would have been in Eden; Cain would not have murdered his brother in that sinless place. Sin is what drove Adam and Eve out of paradise.

The Importance of the Blood

Cain brought a fruit offering to the Lord, but Abel brought the firstlings of his flock. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell (Genesis 4:4,5). God worked His plan for mankind the best He could, and God did not respect Cain’s offering because no blood was involved. Remember, God had shed the blood of animals to clothe Adam and Eve. It was the first death in Eden. Abel offered the right sacrifice, but Cain failed. Evidently Cain knew what God would accept. However, like many people today who know better but refuse to repent, confess, renounce their sins and live holy, Cain refused to obey God.

Many today have heard there is no other name under Heaven except the name of Jesus whereby we can be saved, but they don’t reach out for that salvation. They join a church, shake the preacher’s hand, are baptized in water, but no blood is applied to their souls. Use the blood; stay under the blood of Jesus. Live under the blood. The blood is your protection against the power of the devil, for there is wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb. You will not be holy unless you live under the holy blood of Jesus. Without shedding of blood is no remission (Hebrews 9:22). People today know better than to go against the will of God, but still they prefer to ignore His will, thinking they will get by in their sins.

Cain decided to sacrifice unto God his way and not God’s. He brought what he considered to be an adequate offering without caring what God said about it. He did as he felt even though he knew his offering was wrong; that’s the reason his punishment was so great.

In this final hour, people know better than to commit sin; and because of that knowledge their punishment will be great, too. They will not be excused.

Angry with God

The Lord said to Cain, If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him (Genesis 4:7,8). When the spirit of jealousy took Cain over because God would not accept his sacrifice, Cain murdered his brother. Cain was furious with God, and he took his rage out on Abel. Many turn their anger toward the person God is blessing because they are jealous and they can’t get to God.

Cain didn’t know how clearly God could see his actions. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper (Genesis 4:9)? Note the arrogance, the deceit in Cain. He thinks he can lie to God and God will believe him. Cain didn’t respect the importance of the blood sacrifice that foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross; Cain was in grave error.

Bitter, lost, undone, Cain lied to God when God asked, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground (Genesis 4:10). What a startling occurrence! A voice of the blood of a slain child of God cried to God. God heard that voice in Heaven. God looks out for His children in every way, and He never forgets when one is mistreated. Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord (Romans 12:19). Mistreating a real child of God is as dangerous as mistreating God. We must have love, must wear the love bridle, be very, very careful what we do and say.

God told Cain his punishment: And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth (Genesis 4:11,12). The Lord brought immediate judgment on Cain.

Judgment Is on the Heels of Sinners

Thank God that Jesus has come, that we don’t always receive immediate judgment for our errors. Jesus holds back the hand of judgment for a time, giving people a chance to repent of their sins. This deceives many people. They think their sins have been overlooked, that they will not have to pay for their misdeeds; but sooner or later judgment will catch up with them. The Lord has promised judgment to the ungodly, and it will come. It will come faster, saith the Lord, and much quicker in this last hour because He is revealing Himself in all His greatness; and He is revealing His Son Jesus to the people in the greatest way ever. The Lord isn’t going to spare people the way He once did. Judgment will be right on their heels, saith the Lord, in this last and final hour. Mark these words: they are thus saith the Lord.

And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear (Genesis 4:13). It doesn’t matter what we tell God; He knows the truth. Cain had knowledge of what God wanted, I say again; he wasn’t in darkness. If you have knowledge of what God wants and don’t live up to it, God is subject to cut you off. He is giving great, great knowledge, unveiling Himself like never before to the Bride in this her final hour. The Holy Ghost is a reality to each true child of God and to everyone else who will accept His invitation to come to Calvary and be saved.

Cain is facing reality now: Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me (Genesis 4:14). Shut away from the face of God, Cain is cornered, afraid; his protection from God has been lifted. And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him (verse 15).

The mark of Cain has been discussed again and again. The Lord doesn’t tell us what it was. It was a special mark and has nothing to do with us. We wouldn’t be any better off knowing what it was or any worse off. It’s enough to know that Cain had a mark to protect him from being killed but not from God’s judgments or punishments. The earth had a curse upon it. Among other problems, Cain wouldn’t be able to grow crops the way he once could. Life was going to be hard in his new surroundings not too far from Eden. And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden (Genesis 4:16).

Where Did Cain Get His Wife?

People want to know where Cain got his wife. Of course he had to marry someone related to him. How was that possible?

In Genesis 5 we read of the descendants of Adam. Adam himself lived 930 years. His son Seth lived 912 years. Enos lived 905 years before he died. The oldest man recorded in the Bible lived to be 969. For hundreds of years these people begat children. They populated the earth. It was not uncommon for brothers to marry sisters. Abraham, for example, married his half-sister in a time many years removed from Eden. People today who live no more than fifty years can easily have a half dozen children. If they would live hundreds of years they obviously could have many times that number. Where did all the people in Cain’s day come from? From people who lived hundreds of years and had many, many children.

God has worked in every way to save the seed of the man and woman that He had created. He has done whatever He possibly could in the face of man’s disobediences and backslidings. Finally He gave all of Heaven when He gave Jesus.

God talked to Old Testament people; He lived with them. He didn’t enjoy coming down and walking among some of them, but He did. He enjoyed coming down to Abel but not to Cain. In His great love, He talked to them in an audible voice as one person talks to another, just as He had talked to Adam and Eve in the Garden.

Sons of God and Daughters of Men

In the sixth chapter of Genesis we learn some shocking information. And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown (Genesis 6:1-4).

The sons of God were angels that took human women for wives. God allowed it in that period of time, but He didn’t let it continue. He saw it wasn’t going to work. The Bible doesn’t say the angels sinned for taking the women as wives. Evidently they were permitted to do so, for God didn’t tell them they could not. From these unions giants were born—angels taking humans as wives.

We don’t know what God allowed among the angels before He limited them. Not after this time recorded in Genesis has He allowed angels to take wives of humans, not since the flood. We do know Jacob wrestled with an angel all night one time, but we don’t find these things in our day. A change has taken place. God evidently changed the body. He saw that the kind of bodies angels had would not work.

God Repented

And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). Did God know man would become so degraded? No. He didn’t want to know. The sixth verse proves this: And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. If God knew man would become so wicked, why did He repent? Why was He grieved in His heart? You must accept what the Bible teaches. It doesn’t matter what you believe; what matters is what God put in His Bible. God has allowed many things in the past He does not allow today.

And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Genesis 6:7,8). God repented, thinking to destroy everyone and everything on planet Earth, the entire human race—but then He saw Noah. This shows us that God had not looked into the future; He did not have all these plans of destruction because He did not forsee man’s rebellion and disobedience against Him. But as long as anyone will look to God, please Him, God will walk with that person.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence (Genesis 6:11). Jesus compared those corrupt days of Noah to the time of the second coming of Jesus—our day. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be (Matthew 24:37-39).

The world is filled with violence today. When God looked on the violence of Noah’s day He said, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth (Genesis 6:13). Only Noah and his family were spared.

God Provided a Way of Escape

God in His great love told Noah exactly how to build an ark, Noah’s way of escape. He was told how wide, how long to build the ark, how many stories tall the ark was to be. Everything that was to go into the ark was made clear to Noah. Noah and his family used God’s knowledge to build the ark. Although it rained forty days and forty nights, Noah and his family were in the ark over a year before enough dry land appeared for them to begin another home outside the ark.

The Lord hovered over the Noah family, protected them, kept them as a holy family unto Himself. No children were born to Noah or his three sons for over one hundred years. God didn’t want any contamination to enter the Noah family, and if children had been born, they may have brought contamination. God didn’t take that chance.

God has done everything He could to have holy people. He made man and woman holy in the first place, and after sin entered the world He worked with mankind, finally giving the Law and then at last His Only Begotten Son to restore man to that place of fellowship in Him. Yet there are those today who preach that people cannot live free from sin. It’s not the message of God; it’s the message of Lucifer.

God gave Noah instructions about the animals that would be on the ark. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens (Genesis 7:2). Why did God specify clean beasts by sevens? Because when Noah came out of the ark the first thing he did was offer a sacrifice unto God. God was going to preserve the animals, and so extra ones were included for sacrifice in order that God’s plan would not be destroyed. Noah took seven, God’s perfect number.

And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth (Genesis 7:6).

A Miracle of Supply

It was not possible to load enough food on the ark to feed the Noah family and all the animals for over a year. God was doing business on the ark, the only place He was working on the earth during the flood. We read of a widow woman’s meal barrel and cruse of oil, how they stayed full by God’s miracle hand. It’s hard to tell how many meal barrels on the ark God kept filled or how much feed for the animals He supplied. God looked after it all.

No doctors, no hospitals were available to those on the ark; and no one became sick. The Lord gave them good health for that year just as He had kept them in good health during the building of the ark. God has keeping power. It’s great to study the mysteries of God in the light of the Holy Scriptures.

When Noah came out of the ark, God made a great covenant with him, a covenant to never again destroy the earth by water. As a token of the covenant, colors appeared in God’s heaven, a sign of God. We still see it today, the rainbow. Some don’t believe the whole earth was covered with water, but the Bible says it was.

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth (Genesis 9:1). God started over with eight people. Thousands and thousands had died in the flood, and now God in His love, longsuffering and patience determined to preserve every human life, every living soul that is holy in His sight and will love Him and walk in His righteousness. God’s love, grace and patience have no end.

God gave Noah dominion over the earth: And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air (Genesis 9:2). This authority, this dominion that God gave the first man, Adam, is now passed on to Noah.

In the third verse, God tells the Noah family they can eat meat, but with an exception: flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat (Genesis 9:4). Some people do not believe in eating meat, but the Lord ordained it after the flood. We don’t know if He ordained it before. The Noah family had found grace, and the Lord let them know that meat was good for them.

Some people don’t believe in capital punishment, but the Lord introduced it in Genesis. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man (Genesis 9:6).

Noah’s Vindictive Son

After Noah came out of the ark, he began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without (Genesis 9:20-22). What is the situation here? Ham had a grudge in his heart, envy, strife, rebellion against his father. He was delighted to see his father in this humiliating position—drunken, naked, ugly. With love, Ham would have covered his father, but he didn’t have that love. He rushed out, gloating, delighted to see his father’s disgrace; Ham had a devilish spirit. Anyone who gives in to that spirit really has to suffer for it, saith the Lord. Too many people today are like Ham; seeing someone in an embarrassing position makes them feel superior, powerful. They like to gloat, to let others know the full force of their scorn; they have the wrong spirit, the wrong heart. Ham wanted his brothers to see how ridiculous he thought his father was, to expose him, to even the score. “I want you to see this! I told you the old man was nothing!”

The Bible doesn’t say where Ham got this grudge, this devilish spirit of wanting to degrade his father, whether it happened during the ark days or afterward. Ham’s brothers, Shem and Japheth, did not have that spirit. Unlike Ham, they respected and loved their father too much to want to see him in a drunken stupor. They knew it would have embarrassed their father. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness (Genesis 9:23). Imagine how Noah felt the next morning when he found the cover over him and realized he was naked. Who had seen him in that humiliating position? Ham, no doubt, came to him and mocked him, telling him how ridiculous he looked. But the other two said, “Dad, we didn’t see you. We covered you.” They had great love.

Do you have great love? Do you try to cover the embarrassments of others, or are you like Ham who mocked? Do you gloat over others’ mistakes and blunders? Of course it was wrong for Noah to have gotten drunk. He had sinned against himself, but it didn’t need to have been told at all. No one would have been damaged had Ham shown respect and love for his father.

How many times people have damaged the work of God with their scoffing instead of using the blanket of love to prevent damage from taking place! There should be great sorrow in your heart, saith the Lord, if you have been guilty.

And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant (Genesis 9:24-27). This was an appalling judgment that came upon Ham and his seed, but he deserved it.

Perhaps because you mocked, you are one who has suffered and never opened your eyes to why. “Why am I going through all of this?” That’s thus saith the Lord. You bring much on your own head. Never forget the lesson of Noah’s three sons. Keep it marked; study it again and again and decide what kind of person you are. Have you brought suffering upon yourself by trying to put someone else down, by gloating over the mistakes of others when you should have used the love covering God wanted you to use? If you didn’t use the love covered for others, God didn’t use it for you; and He uncovered you. Many times people do not receive mercy because they do not show any to others. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:14,15).

God help us to show great love, to not gossip. God despises gossip, hates it. Gossiping is dangerous, using destructive words against another. You are a dangerous person to God and His people if you gossip. It doesn’t matter if the words are true; it’s still gossip, malicious. Were someone to tell all the truth about yourself, could you handle it?

After all the rebellion of man, after all the destruction man caused, God is still talking, still coming down, still dealing with tender care. I marvel at God’s patience—I marvel at God! He wants you to know Him in all His love and greatness in this your final walk, oh Bride of Christ.

Walls of Languages

In the eleventh chapter of Genesis we read of the tower of Babel. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech (Genesis 11:4). The Lord had promised to never send another flood over the entire world. Noah’s descendants knew about the flood and God’s promise; it had been told them. Ignoring that promise, however, they decided to build a tower, a refuge of escape in case God didn’t mean what He said. When you substitue anything other than God to save yourself from God, His judgment is after you; and you are in great trouble.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth (Genesis 11:4). They sought to make a name for themselves by convincing people they were providing an escape from impending disaster. Their egos demanded it. Many people want others to look to them rather than to God. Look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Follow the example of John the Baptist who didn’t seek to make a name for himself. He said that Jesus must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).

The Lord was so interested in this tower-building that He came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech (Genesis 11:5-7). God saw the destruction of egotism, disobedience, doubting, security in self rather than confidence in God. He brought a halt to their arrogance by confusing their language. This wall of language has caused trouble for the whole human race. Nation has risen against nation, considering each other inferior because of the different language.

Those building the tower of Babel brought just punishment on themselves; God didn’t have it in His plan at all. God kept working with man as long as He could, trusting, hoping. When there was nothing in them to work with, the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth (Genesis 11:8). God didn’t cause the confusion; man did. For God is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33). Man and the devil bring confusion. Truth has no confusion. If you have confusion, it is outside God’s truth. God is the author of truth.

Father of the Faithful

Years passed, and once again, God found a lover of the truth, Abraham, Father of the Faithful. Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee (Genesis 12:1). Abraham journeyed to the land of Canaan, the land God gave to Abraham. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land (verse 7). For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered (Genesis 13:15,16). The Lord said the land would belong to Abraham’s seed forever. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks or how much we love other people in that land; what counts is what God has said.

Abraham Had to Learn How to Trust God

Abraham and Sarah his wife went down to Egypt because of a famine in their land. Now Sarah was fair, lovely, a real beauty. Abraham was afraid he would be killed and Sarah taken because of her striking good looks. He instructed Sarah to tell people that she was his sister, not his wife. She did so, and when the Egyptians saw how very fair she was they told Pharaoh, and she was taken to Pharaoh’s house. And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way (Genesis 12:17,19). They were run out of the country.

Abraham should have trusted God, but he was afraid. The Father of the Faithful had to learn how to trust God, how to conquer fear. Because Abraham looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10), God was able to deal with his heart.

Lot, Abraham’s nephew, was with him when they came up out of Egypt. Their herds and substance were so great that the land was not able to contain them. Strife raged between the herdsmen of Lot and Abraham, and so Lot took his following and pitched his tent toward Sodom; Abraham settled in Canaan.

God loved Abraham much, and He kept little from him. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years (Genesis 15:12,13). God told Abraham of Egyptian’s bondage. And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance (verse 14). Did they do it? Yes they did. The seed of Abraham spoiled the Egyptians.

God is loving the Bride so greatly that He won’t keep much from the Bride, saith the Lord, in this last hour. The Bride will have much of God’s knowledge and wisdom to draw from.

Keep in mind that we are studying God, for He today is revealing Himself. Study the way He has worked in the past so you can understand how He is going to work in this last hour.

Getting Ahead of God

Gradually the Lord let Abraham know His plan. Sometimes, however, Abraham got ahead of God. The Lord promised Abraham a son, but because the fulfillment was long in coming and Sarah was growing old, she talked Abraham into having a son by her handmaid, Hagar the Egyptian. This wasn’t the divine plan of God. God had promised Abraham a son by Sarah, and after Abraham had relations with Hagar, Sarah was despised in her eyes. Sarah dealt so harshly with Hagar that she fled to the wilderness. But God had great love for Hagar, too; she wasn’t responsible for Sarah’s and Abraham’s decision; she hadn’t sinned against God. And the angel of the LORD found her [Hagar] by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction (Genesis 16:7,8,10,11). Because Abraham got ahead of God, two nations began which today are the Jews and the Arabs. Disobedience has caused the Promised Land to be filled with dissension and wars down through the years because Abraham’s seed failed God. Had they obeyed Him, there would have been no confusion. God won’t take the blame for all the strife today in Israel. He didn’t plan it that way. God has worked with man, not against him. Walking many paths, God has tried the best He could to save, to help man out of his countless self-made messes.

More Questions

What exactly does the Bible mean when it says we were created in God’s image? An image is something very like another. We are made very much like God, in His likeness. We have eyes, ears, hands, feet like He has. The Bible, for example, speaks again and again of the hands of God. God walks upright as we do.

Since God created the universe with the different planets, why did He choose to put human souls only on planet Earth? It was God’s choice. We don’t know just why He chose this planet; He doesn’t tell us in the Bible. What God doesn’t tell us, I say again, is not necessary for us to know.

There is life outside Earth; it’s in Heaven. I don’t believe other souls exist in the universe. God has spent too much time with people on Earth, even giving His Only Begotten Son for the redemption of their souls,

If the cave men had living souls, God would have dealt with them in a different way; He would not have destroyed them all. He could have destroyed Adam and Eve had they not possessed souls, but they had souls, a part of God, in them.

Because people have souls that cannot die, God deals with mercy and patience as long as there is a glimmer of desire in the soul for God. The soul in eternity will have a living death in hell or a living life in Heaven.

Nothing that is a part of God can die. God has done everything, I say again, that He can to help man and woman.

Did God put some people on Earth knowing their souls would be destroyed? No. God does not predestine a soul for either Heaven or hell. That decision is left up to the individual. The soul that comes from God has to return to God or else be damned in hell. One day it will leave the body.

Why didn’t God start over when Adam and Eve sinned, kill them and make two new people? Because, I say again, a living soul is eternal and cannot be destroyed. God’s mercy gave man another chance. He would not have counted Himself just had He destroyed Adam and Eve without giving them every chance to get right with Him. God is giving people every chance today to get right. If they go to hell it’s because of their own sins and disobediences, through their own will and not because God sends them there.

Had Eve alone sinned, God probably would have slain her and given Adam another helpmate. She wasn’t the head of the human race; Adam was. Since Adam was the head and Eve enticed him to sin, God could do nothing other than what He did.

Did God know He was going to give the Law when He drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden? I seriously doubt it. If you trace and retrace God’s steps, you will find that He didn’t give His plans ahead of time. He worked according to how He could help people in their time of need. He put people under the Law to try to help them honor and obey Him when other methods were not accepted. No matter what God would do, man wouldn’t obey Him.

God looked out for the Israelites during their wondering in the wilderness forty years, fed and clothed them. He was justified in destroying the disobedient; they had years to repent, but they would not. He let them die out, all who were twenty years and older when they left Egypt, so He could show His mercy to those who would yield to Him. At that time, the young did yield to Him; they were not responsible for worshiping other gods, but their mothers and fathers were. Had God been planning the Law, He would have put people under the Law from the start.

Even though God, in the beginning, came down and talked to people in an audible voice—to Cain and Abel, to Adam and Eve, to Enoch, to Noah, to Abraham and others—Abraham’s seed still went into darkness. We must know that God did His best. He didn’t expect man’s disobedience. God in His great mercy used plan after plan, move after move of love to help people, to turn them from their evil ways, to turn them from darkness to light so they would recognize Him. The last thing God wanted to do was sacrifice His Son Jesus. God gave man every chance to straighten up and be obedient and holy. Most would not accept His plan. Most today will not accept the blood of Jesus that stained the Old Rugged Cross.

In type and shadow in the Old Testament, God gave signs of a plan to redeem mankind if all else failed. He demonstrated His great love in the Garden; He was willing, if need be, to sacrifice, not an animal, but His Only Begotten. God waited many years before the sacrifice at Calvary was set into motion; He didn’t do it just to experiment. He kept working with man, hoping and trusting and wanting man to do right, knowing that man could be holy.

Had God intended or wanted to let Jesus die for all mankind, He would have done it in Noah’s day or before. Man has hindered God’s plans; his disobedience has caused God to bring about alternate plans and is the reason God has done all He has. God didn’t plan many things that the disobedience of man brought about. He has had to work as He could with mankind.

God has a handicap: human beings. When that handicap is lifted, God will go into business however He wants. He will have a new Heaven and a new Earth. The new Jerusalem will come down from Heaven and rest on that new earth. That’s how God will work without man’s hindering.

Don’t blame God for the wrongs of this world. He won’t take the blame. He is explaining Himself, telling you that He didn’t plan the world to be in the condition it is today.

It’s time to recognize why God has worked the way He has. Why, God, did you drown all the people in Noah’s day but eight souls? Why, God, did you wait over one hundred years for the ark to be built? Why, God, why, why, why? When you reason with God, you can’t blame Him for anything.

God Saves and Heals

If you do not have Jesus in your heart, pray he sinners’ prayer with me now. Oh, God, I’m lost. I’m so sorry that I sinned against you. But I have come home, and I’m going to serve you, Lord, the rest of my life. I believe the blood of Jesus washes away all of my sins. Come on into my heart, Jesus! Come on in!

If you meant that prayer, you can say, Hallelujah, He has come!

You who are sick and afflicted, let me pray for you, too. The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up (James 5:15). You can be healed of that heart trouble, that cancer, diabetes, deafness. The little handicapped ones can be healed, brains re-created because this is God’s work. These things are done in the name of His Son Jesus.

Lord, I bring them to you in your holy name. In the name of Jesus, in the holy name of Jesus, let your power come upon them now. I bind their sicknesses and diseases, casting them from them in the holy name of the Lord. From your gift of miracles and your gifts of healing it comes in the name of Jesus: Heal! Heal! in the holy name of the Lord.

Feel God’s healing power flowing, feel His presence going into your body. I felt it that night the Lord came to me when I had been so nigh to death. I felt it go into my body, all over me, and it made me whole; it made me well. Let that power work and get you well. Serve the Lord, honor Him. His promises are true.

Thus Saith the Lord

Yea, saith the Spirit of the Lord: I’m in the midst of this people, and I’m here to open your eyes. Do not criticize my knowledge. Do not lean to your opinions, and do not dispute what my servant is speaking because he is speaking Thus saith the Lord. He is telling you my heart, my heart, and my desire for you. If you turn from my wisdom, and if you criticize my knowledge, I will turn from you, and I will let you go into the night. I will let you be helpless without me. You have used your opinions against me, against my Word. You have used your opinions against what I have given to my servant to preach to you. Some of you have resented it again and again and said, “That can’t be.” But it was and it is, saith the Lord. And now I warn you. I warn you, and then judgment will be yours if you don’t take heed.

You don’t know, really, the hour that you’re in. You don’t know, really, what you are facing. And yet some of you in your lukewarmness think you know so much when you know so little. That little is going to sweep you right into darkness because you don’t have enough of me to hold you unless you yield. I am giving you this opportunity to know me. I’m giving you an opportunity to destroy that which has hindered you—your own thoughts and your own opinions. I’m giving you an opportunity to take my mind, my thoughts for you. But just like the people of past ages…I tried to give them light, and they put it out. I tried to give them light, and they turned it out.

If you turn my light out you will walk in darkness, saith the Lord, and I will let you go. You will believe a lie and be damned thinking that you’re all right. I will let you be deceived. And I will not walk with you. I’m not going to walk with you in the dark.

I’m giving you my light, and I’m calling my servant unto me many, many hours in my presence so that I can deliver to you exactly what I want you to have. I will do everything that I can do to help you as I have done everything I can do to help people in the past. But you are living in the hour of destruction. You are living in the final hour. You better check your garments daily, and you better make sure that there’re no spots, wrinkles or anything that is unholy or unlike your Lord.

Oh my true children of God, take heart! Look up, look up and don’t be discouraged. Don’t look at the ones that are failing. Look at the ones that are obeying me and the ones that their hearts are crying with great joy: Redemption draweth nigh!