BEAST or BEST

Part 1

HOW WILL YOU BE REMEMBERED ?

Since the beginning of creation They were there with God (Genesis 1:26).

How do I know it was 'They'?

Well, I'm glad you asked.  Right away, in Genesis 1:2b we are told "the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters."  Then notice how that verse in Genesis 1:26 is worded to say ... "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;"  and notice how the Hebrew translators were sharp enough to use capital letters for "Us" and "Our."  Those capital letters were intentional; they were not typo's.

You have to read closely to realize "Us" and "Our" does not include the Beast, but Whoever the "Us" and "Our" are, 'They are important enough for God to say "Us" and "Our."  I'll tell you more about "Them" later in the post.

The Beast existed at that time, and he exists to this day according to Revelations 13:18; his role at the time of creation had more to do with making the earth tremble and shaking kingdoms, according to Isaiah 14:16-17.  God tells us in Isaiah why the Beast was relegated to trembling and shaking things rather than building them up.

Described as a Morning Star that became a fallen angel in God's Word,  Isaiah 14:12-15 tells us about what I call:

"The Five I's:"

"How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!
    "But you said in your heart,

1. 'I will ascend to heaven;
2. 'I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
3. And 'I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.
4. 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
5. 'I will make myself like the Most High.'

"Well isn't that special.  Who could have led you to sin?  Could it perhaps maybe have been ... maybe SATAN!"

"Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.

That should tell you that the Morning Star's "I's" were bigger than reality.  The "I's" of his heart's desire exposed a way out of proportion ego revealing that he wanted to have even more power than God; he wanted to be the God above God.

That is just not going to happen.  Thinking like that does not and has not worked since mankind was created.  Dana Carvey's, "Church Lady" character is right, when she repudiates such thinking:

So, the Morning Star was thrown out of Heavenly bliss.  His first stop was Eden where he changed in appearance or figuratively from a morning star into a serpent, more crafty that any beast of the field we are told in Genesis 3:1.  The serpent found Eve and her husband Adam naked and innocently unashamed in the Garden of Eden according to Genesis 2:25.

The serpent went to work and gained a couple of additional nicknames, a deciever and a "craftier beast of the field" in Genesis 3:1.  Here is how the beast, now serpent, works:

• He cast doubt in Eve's mind of God's command. Genesis 2:16-17 gives the command and the consequence for disobeying it.

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

• Knowing that God gave Adam the command before Eve was even created, the serpent crafted a plausible, but false command by manipulatively adding and excluding select words that God had used to Adam.  All the serpent asked Eve was ... "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" (Genesis 3:1b)

• Indubidably indeed, Eve answered, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.' " (Genesis 3:2-3)

• Realizing that Eve had an imperfect knowledge of God's command, the serpent pounced like a lion.

• In what had to be a lightning reaction, her imperfect knowledge gave the serpent the ability to use his deception and missdirection tactics.

• The now deceiving and missdirecting serpent was also presented an opportunity to obtain the nickname of "liar" by contradicting God's consequences for disobeying His command. "The serpent said to the woman, 'You surely will not die! ' " (Genesis 3:4)

• The manipulating, lying, deceiving, and misdirecting serpent now was also given the opportunity to denigrate God in Eve's eyes and mind and to accuse God of withholding knowledge of good and evil to purposefully keep her from being like Him, being like God, knowing good and evil.  "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5)

• Eve was finally completely snagged, hook, line and sinker.  She became as bad as the beastly manipulating, lying, deceiving, misdirecting denigrating serpent when she contaminated her husband by inviting him to do as she had done.  "When [she] saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate." (Genesis 3:6)

WOW.  Becoming a sinner whose actions helped to bannish mankind from the Heavenly Garden of Eden forever sure didn't take long did it?

You might even be thinking that Adam and Eve didn't do something so grave as to warrant condemation forever.  If so, be very, very careful with that thought.  That kind of thinking is what all of mankind has been thinking since then.  Look at what it has yielded.

To this day, all of society tries to explore and figure out ways around the boundaries of God's commands, to skirt God's Laws.  You might think by now that we should all realize that mindset and subsequent actions are not going to do any good.

You see, the difference between God's expectations and mankind's actions is the difference between the Beast, 666, and the Best, 777.

Stay tuned for the next post, which will take stock of the other names for the beast in the Bible and provide another perspective in realizing that God's standards are exacting and unwavering.

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