Isaiah chapter 55
Today we are walking in: The Garden of Eden: Yah’s Kingdom On Earth
Numbers 24:7
He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. BEMIDBAR (NUMBERS) 24:7 ×ת CEPHER
KINGDOM
Today we look to the word-KINGDOM- H4467 mamlâkâh, (mam-law-kaw') -dominion, (abstractly) the estate (rule) or (concretely) the country (realm):—kingdom, king's, reign, royal
The Torah testifies...............
Exodus 19:6
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Yashar'el. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 19:6 ×ת CEPHER
Numbers 32:33
And Mosheh gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Re'uven, and unto half the tribe of Menashsheh the son of Yoceph, the kingdom of Ciychon king of the Emoriym, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about. BEMIDBAR (NUMBERS) 32:33 ×ת CEPHER
Deuteronomy 17:18
And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this Torah in a cepher out of that which is before the priests the Leviyiym: DEVARIYM (DEUTERONOMY) 17:18 ×ת CEPHER
The prophets proclaim..................
1 Samuel 10:18
And said unto the children of Yashar'el, Thus says Yahuah Elohai of Yashar'el, I brought up Yashar'el out of Mitsrayim, and delivered you out of the hand of the Mitsriym, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: SHEMU'EL RI'SHON (1 SAMUEL) 10:18 ×ת CEPHER
Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of Yahuah Tseva'oth will perform this. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 9:7 ×ת CEPHER
Jeremiah 18:9
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; YIRMEYAHU (JEREMIAH) 18:9 ×ת CEPHER
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 9:5
Then I will establish the throne of your kingdom upon Yashar'el forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man upon the throne of Yashar'el. MELEKIYM RI'SHON (1 KINGS) 9:5 ×ת CEPHER
1 Chronicles 17:11
And it shall come to pass, when your days be expired that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will raise up your seed after you, which shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. DIVREI HAYAMIYM RI'SHON (1 CHRONICLES) 17:11 ×ת CEPHER
Psalm 145:13
Your Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. Yahuah is true in his word, and holy in all his works. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 145:13 ×ת CEPHER
Chapter One
THE GARDEN OF EDEN: Yah’S KINGDOM ON EARTH
EVERYWHERE I go, I am discovering that more and more people worldwide are tired of religion.
Not long ago I was invited to speak at an international “ spiritual ” conference in Mexico City . It was truly an ecumenical meeting of global proportions. Featured speakers included a leading Hindu Sikh, as well as one of the chief imams of Islam. The Dalai Lama himself was immediately ahead of me on the schedule. The Catholic Archbishop of Mexico was there, as was the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury (from England). I was the only “Evangelical” on the list of speakers.
As my wife and I arrived in Mexico City, we were uncertain as to how we would be received. We needn’t have worried. These interfaith folks greeted us enthusiastically with warm hugs and encouraging words. In fact, the woman who was in charge of coordinating everything said to me, “We know you well by reputation. Feel free to speak however you wish. Say whatever you want to say.”
My allotted time slot for speaking was the last on the schedule, about three o’clock in the afternoon. All the other speakers had preceded me, and those sessions were scantily attended. I don’t know what word went out about me, but when it was my turn to speak, the meeting was packed. Seated right on the front row with my wife were the Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim leaders, all decked out in their fine robes.
As I surveyed the large crowd, I thought, Most High, have mercy! and then I got excited. I took off my human fear, stepped onto that stage in the power of the Holy Spirit, and said, “Stand up, everybody; we’re going to pray. Let’s hold hands together and agree by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Everybody in that stadium did exactly what I asked. The anointing came upon me with authority, I began to pray, and something hit that arena. All of a sudden, everybody started crying. Except for the sound of soft weeping, the place was very quiet.
Finally, I said, “Be seated.” By now it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. “Today,” I said, “I want to speak to you about Yah’s original purpose and why Yah made every human being.” I knew I had one opportunity to speak the message they all needed to hear. When I concluded my remarks 35 minutes later, the meeting erupted in a standing ovation. Shouts of “More, more, more!” arose throughout the arena. The director came out on stage, clapping and nodding in agreement. “Give them more,” she urged me, smiling.
“More?”
“Yes. They want to hear more. Please continue.”
So for the next 25 minutes I told them why Yahusha Hamachiach is different from Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, and all of the other “founders” of the world’s religions. “First,” I said, “let me clarify and make it perfectly clear that I am not a religious man. Second, I am convinced that the number one source of all of our problems is religion.”
The place was absolutely quiet.
“Third, I am here to represent a Man who was never religious, and whose theology, psychology, and ideology are far above religion. I believe that His thesis on human manners and humanity’s future is the only answer we have. After analyzing all of your other presentations, and all of the ideologies that you have presented, I proclaim that His is superior.”
Although it hardly seemed possible, the room got even quieter.
“For example,” I continued, “most religions say ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ but this great philosopher says, ‘Love your enemies.’” The Muslim imam squirmed in his chair. “I came to talk about what we need the most. We don’t need more religion in the world, because all of us know that we are the problem. What we need is a government in the world, and I have come to tell you about an alternative government. The only one that works is the Kingdom of Yah. Every single person in this room has misunderstood Yahusha Hamachiach .”
I continued on in this vein for almost half an hour and concluded to another standing ovation. Why was my message so well received? Because I didn’t talk about a religion. If I had preached “Christianity,” it never would have worked. Instead, I talked about Yah, His Son, and His “big idea,” and the people ate it up. Why? Because people are tired of religion. They are tired of something that does not work and cannot answer the deepest questions and longings of their soul. People all over the world are looking for something more.
Our world today is wracked by unrest and violence. War, genocide, “ethnic cleansing,” and terrorism all speak to the violent clash of cultures on an unprecedented scale. At the heart of this cultural conflict lie fundamental, deeply entrenched, and thoroughly differing ideologies that are religiously based. Whenever religion becomes the foundation of a culture, then changing that culture is very difficult because it is based on a belief system. Historically, religious differences have been and continue to be responsible for most of the violent conflict throughout the world. Clearly, religion has failed humankind.
A UNIQUELY BEAUTIFUL IDEA
Religion is man’s idea, not Yah’s.
Yah’s original idea is much bigger and much better than anything we humans could ever dream up. And what was Yah’s big idea? He decided to extend His heavenly Kingdom to the earthly plane, to expand His supernatural realm into the natural realm. Or to put it another way, Yah decided to fill the Earth with the culture of Heaven.
How did Yah bring His big idea into being? In this, as in almost everything else He does, Yah did the unexpected. Typically, human kingdoms and empires rise—and fall— through war and conquest. Not Yah’s. Because His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways (see Isa. 55:8), Yah did something completely different. When Yah decided to bring the culture of Heaven to Earth, He did not use war. He did not use conquest. He did not issue a code of laws right away. No, when Yah set out to bring Heaven to Earth, He did something much simpler, something uniquely beautiful and wonderful.
He planted a garden.
Although invisible, Heaven is a literal place. It is a Kingdom with territory and a government—Yah’s government. From the beginning, Yah had a very simple goal: to extend His invisible heavenly Kingdom to the visible Earth. This original intent lies at the heart of the Scriptures. Historically, whenever the rulers of a kingdom or empire have desired to expand its influence or territory, they have done so primarily by one of two means: outright conquest or colonization. As the sole and uncontested Creator and Ruler of all that is, Yah chose to expand His influence and domain from the spiritual to the natural and from the invisible to the visible by establishing on Earth a colony, or outpost, of Heaven. His plan was to populate this outpost with His own children—human beings created in His own image—who would live by and operate His heavenly Kingdom government in the earthly realm.
Unlike the pattern that would be followed by human kings and rulers throughout history, this original outpost of Heaven on Earth did not consist of an imposing fortress with thick walls, battlements, and stockades, intended to intimidate a cowed and frightened population. No, Yah initiated His Kingdom on Earth by planting a garden in Eden, a place specially prepared as the habitation for the first human representatives of His Kingdom government on Earth. From this hub of abundance and beauty, they would follow their government’s mandate to “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28), filling the Earth their kind and planting Kingdom “gardens” wherever they went. In this manner, like leaven in bread, they would infuse the territory of Earth with the nation of Heaven.
UNDERSTANDING Yah’S ORIGINAL INTENT
The key to understanding humankind’s presence and purpose on Earth is to understand Yah’s original intent. If we know what Yah intended in the beginning, we can make better sense of where we are now and where we need to be going.
Intent can be defined as original purpose. It is more important for us to know what a person intended than to know what he or she actually said or did. If we do not properly discern intent, misunderstanding will follow. This is one reason why there are so many confused people in the world: We have misunderstood Yah’s original intent; we have misunderstood not only ourselves, but also Yah’s purpose for us on Earth.
Understanding intent gives us the “big picture.” If we see or hear only a small part of the whole, we will misunderstand and draw an incorrect conclusion. Yah has a purpose for everything He does. All of us who are citizens of His Kingdom are part of His overall plan, but often all we can see is the tiny portion that involves us at any given moment. Regularly referring to the Bible, Yah’s guidebook for life in His Kingdom, will inform us of His intent, which will, in turn, help us keep the big picture before us.
Intent is also the most critical component of motivation. It is the source of motivation and the reason why someone does something or creates something. Unless specifically stated, however, intent is usually hidden. A good example of this is a work of art by a master painter. Artists rarely state their intent plainly; they let their art speak for itself. For those who take the time and effort to search it out, the intent behind an artist’s
work can be discerned from the painting itself. No other explanation is necessary.
As I said before, if intent is unknown, misunderstanding is inevitable. Misunderstanding intent guarantees a waste of time, talent, energy, gifts, and resources. Unless we know what Yah intended, everything we do will be a waste of time. That is the problem with religion. Religion, at best, is humankind’s best guess at Yah’s original intent. Most religions focus on trying to get Yah’s attention, which is the wrong approach. We already have Yah’s attention. The key to life and purpose, however, is to get Yah’s intention.
Fortunately for us, Yah has not hidden His intent away in some obscure manner the way an artist might in a painting. Instead, He has revealed Himself and His intent through His creation (sometimes called “general revelation”) as well as through His Word (sometimes called “special revelation”). An example of the first is found in Psalm 19:1: “THE heavens enumerate the glory of El; and the expanse shows his handywork. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 19:1 את CEPHER.” General revelation refers to what we can learn about Yah through observation of His created order. Special revelation has to do with what Yah reveals about Himself explicitly through either direct statement or manifestation— things about Him that we could never learn or discern on our own. The Bible is full of such statements of Yah’s self- revelation.
In fact, Yah’s original intention is stated explicitly in the very first chapter of the Bible:
And Elohiym said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So Elohiym created man in his own image, in the image of Elohiym created he him; male and female created he them. And Elohiym blessed them, and Elohiym said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. BERE'SHIYTH (GENESIS) 1:26-28 את CEPHER.
The phrase “Yah said” indicates that what follows is the expression of the intent that Yah purposed beforehand in His mind. Whenever Yah speaks, we need to listen carefully, because we are about to receive His revealed intention. In this case, we learn about Yah’s intention—His purpose—in creating the universe, the planet we call Earth, along with all its creatures, and especially the human race. First, Yah tells us what He intended to do: create a species called “man” in His own image and likeness. Then He tells us why: so that they may exercise rulership and dominion over the Earth and all its creatures.
In order to facilitate this, Yah prepared a special habitat for His human representatives, a “home base” from which they would fulfill His intent and fill the Earth with the culture of Heaven:
And Yahuah Elohiym planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. BERE'SHIYTH (GENESIS) 2:8 את CEPHER
And Yahuah Elohiym took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to guard it. BERE'SHIYTH (GENESIS) 2:15 את CEPHER
Yah’s original intent was to populate the Earth with humankind, who then would rule and dominate the planet for Him and in His name. It’s really very simple.
MADE FOR HABITATION
There are many other references throughout the Bible that also clearly express Yah’s original intention. For example, the Hebrew prophet Isaiah states that Yah created the Earth specifically as a habitation for humanity:
For this is what the Most High says—He who created the heavens, He is Yah; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited—He says: “For thus says Yahuah that created the heavens; Elohiym himself that formed the earth and made it; he has established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am Yahuah; and there is none else. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 45:18 את CEPHER.
In Yah’s plan, the Earth has always had a purpose. Yah never intended to create the Earth and then leave it empty. From the very beginning, even before He formed the Earth, Yah envisioned it filled with plant and animal life of every variety, all of it overseen and ruled by human beings created in His image and exercising His delegated authority.
One of the ancient Hebrew psalms says, “The heavens, even the heavens, are Yahuah's: but the earth has he given to the children of men. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 115:16 את CEPHER. Yah’s desire was to extend His kingly rule from Heaven to Earth, but He did not want to do it personally. Instead, He chose to create humankind in His own image—spiritual beings inhabiting physical bodies perfectly adapted to inhabit the natural realm. The Earth has been given to mankind. Any religion, therefore, that teaches or emphasizes leaving the Earth to live forever in some other place in the “life to come” misses the point. If we are eager to leave Earth forever to live somewhere else, we misunderstand Yah’s intent.
Although the Bible plainly states that this present world will pass away (see 1 Cor. 7:31; 1 John 2:17), it also promises that a new Earth will take its place:
For, behold, I create renewed heavens and a renewed earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 65:17 את CEPHER.
“For as the renewed heavens and the renewed earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says Yahuah, so shall your seed and your name remain. YESHA'YAHU (ISAIAH) 66:22 את CEPHER.
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for a renewed heavens and a renewed earth, wherein dwells righteousness. KEPHA SHENIY (2 PETER) 3:13 את CEPHER.
AND I saw a renewed heaven and a renewed earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. CHIZAYON (REVELATION) 21:1 את CEPHER.
If Yah’s original intent—for the Earth to be inhabited—was going to change with the passing of this present world, why would He create a new one? Humankind’s future in the Kingdom of Heaven will always involve the Earth—a recreated Earth.
Yah’s original intent—and His continuing purpose—was and is to extend His invisible heavenly Kingdom to the Earth, to influence Earth from Heaven through the rulership of His earthly children created in His image. The expansion of a kingdom government (or any government) from one place to another by planting an outpost in that new place is called colonization, and the outpost so planted is called a colony. Simply stated, Yah’s original intent was to make Earth a colony of Heaven.
I understand that most people today think of colonization in very negative terms, particularly those who have lived under colonial rule, as I have. And with good reason: throughout history almost all human colonization has been characterized by coercion, brutality, greed, exploitation, victimization, and oppression. These traits, in fact, reflect the nature and tactics of satan, the original enemy of humanity, who illegally seized control of Yah’s original garden “colony” and deposed its rightful rulers: Adam and Eve.
Colonization was Yah’s original idea, but unlike the human way of colonizing, His colony on Earth took the form of a garden. As an analogy, a garden shares the same general traits as a colony, but without all the negative baggage. In sharp contrast to the violent and forceful way that human empires expand, Yah’s way was much more subtle. Just as a garden gradually, beautifully, and completely transforms the fallow ground where it is planted, the influence of Yah’s Kingdom on Earth grows gradually and often invisibly until eventually it will fill the Earth, infusing it with the culture of Heaven. Yahusha likened the process to the way yeast leavens bread:
Another parable spoke he unto them; The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. MATTITHYAHU (MATTHEW) 13:33 את CEPHER.
He also compared the Kingdom to a mustard seed:
What is the kingdom of Yah like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew, became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches (Luke 13:18-19).
Yah’s ultimate goal in planting His garden “colony” was to fill the Earth with His glory. The glory of Yah is one of the significant themes of the Bible. For example, Yah told Moses, “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Yahuah. BEMIDBAR (NUMBERS) 14:21 את CEPHER. King Solomon, son of David, prayed, “And blessed be his glorious name forever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amein, and Amein. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 72:19 את CEPHER. Yah reiterated this theme to the ancient Hebrew prophet Habakkuk when He said, “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahuah, as the waters cover the sea. CHABAQQUQ (HABAKKUK) 2:14 את CEPHER.
In Hebrew, the word for “glory” is kabod, and the equivalent Greek word is doxa. Both words mean “weighty,” or a “heavy weight.” More specifically, “glory” refers to the full nature of a thing. Yah wants to fill the Earth with His full weight, His full and true nature, the fullness of who He is and what He is like. He wants to be on Earth just as He is in Heaven. Psalm 19:1 says that the heavens are filled with the glory of Yah. He wants the Earth to be filled the same way, by filling it with people who are filled with His nature and His Spirit.
THE RISE...FALL...AND RISE...OF A KINGDOM
Understanding Yah’s original intent helps us understand the Bible, His written Word. Many people misunderstand the Bible and its message because they misunderstand Yah’s original intent.
Simply stated, the Bible is about the rise, fall, and rise of Yah’s Kingdom on Earth. It tells the story of a kingdom established, a kingdom lost, and a kingdom regained. The first two chapters of the Book of Genesis describe the establishment of Yah’s earthly kingdom under the rulership of Adam and Eve, who Yah created in His own image and to whom He then gave dominion. Genesis chapter 3 tells how Adam and Eve lost their earthly kingdom, while the rest of the Bible records the working of Yah’s plan to regain that kingdom and restore it to its former place.
The Bible begins with the Creation of the natural realm— the heavens and the Earth—but even earlier than that, He created and established the supernatural realm, which we know as Heaven, as the invisible center of His power. Heaven is Yah’s first and original Kingdom. As a Kingdom, with Yah as its King, Heaven is a country just as real as any nation on Earth, even though invisible. The New Testament Book of Hebrews describes Abraham and other ancient people of faith as “aliens and strangers on earth” who were “looking for a country of their own” (Heb. 11:13-14). This does not refer to their earthly countries of origin, to which they could have returned had they so desired, but to another country in another place:
But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore Elohiym is not ashamed to be called their Elohiym: for he has prepared for them a city. IVRIYM (HEBREWS) 11:16 את CEPHER.
Heaven, therefore, is a country, a Kingdom ruled by a King: Yah. “King” is the only appropriate title to describe Yah’s place in Heaven, because no one voted Him into power. Yah rules His Kingdom by divine right, by right of creation. Because Yah created all things, all things belong to Him. He alone is the rightful ruler of the universe. Psalm 103:19 says, “Yahuah has prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom rules over all. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 103:19 את CEPHER.” There will never be another ruler, because Yah’s Kingdom is eternal: “Your throne, O Elohiym, is forever and ever: the sceptre of your Kingdom is a right sceptre. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 45:6 את CEPHER.
Since it is the nature of kingdoms to expand their territory, Yah decided to expand His invisible, supernatural Kingdom into the visible, natural realm. He created the heavens and the Earth and then planted a beautiful Garden in Eden as the focal point and starting place for His Kingdom expansion on Earth. He filled the Earth with plants and animals of all varieties. Finally, He created a man and a woman—human beings fashioned in His image and likeness—and placed them in the Garden as His Kingdom citizen-representatives to rule on Earth under His overall authority.
Human beings were given dominion over the earthly realm, but Yah is still King because everything belongs to Him. The psalmist said:
THE earth is Yahuah's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 24:1-2 את CEPHER.
For Yahuah ELYON is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 47:2 את CEPHER
When Yah created humankind, He gave us rulership over the Earth, but He never gave us ownership. Yah is King of the Earth, and Adam and Eve were its stewards, imbued with almost unlimited authority to rule in His name.
As the initial outpost of Yah’s invisible Kingdom in the visible realm, Eden was a touch of Heaven on Earth. Everything about it reflected Heaven’s culture, government, and ways. Truly, it was paradise. Unfortunately, this idyllic state of affairs did not last long. Genesis chapter 3 tells the tragic story of how a demonic usurper and pretender to the throne, through a combination of subtlety and deceit, gained control of Heaven’s earthly outpost. Eden’s human stewards, Adam and Eve, were tricked into disobeying their King’s command, thus surrendering their earthly dominion and authority. Satan, an unemployed cherub with delusions of grandeur—and Yah’s archenemy—seized control of a domain that was not rightfully his and quickly contaminated it with the poison of his own evil nature. Paradise was lost, and ever since, we humans have longed for the restoration of our lost kingdom.
The next eight chapters of Genesis describe the deepening corruption of human culture, morals, thoughts, imaginations, and behavior due to the sin nature inherited from Adam and Eve, as well as the continuing deadly influence of satan’s evil and illegal rule.
Genesis chapter 12 begins the story of Yah’s plan to regain and restore the earthly kingdom that humanity lost. He calls Abraham, through whose descendants He builds a nation of people He calls His own, and through whom He later sends His own Son to the Earth to reestablish His Kingdom on Earth and take it away from the great pretender.
After centuries of preparation, and when the time was just right in Yah’s plans, Yahusha Hamachiach , the Son of Yah, was born to a virgin and grew up in a low-class family. Because His mission was to reestablish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, it is no surprise that His message was a Kingdom message, a message of colonization, as it were. Yahusha’ first recorded public words were, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt. 4:17b). His life, ministry, death, and resurrection broke the power of the pretender, restored the earthly kingdom to His Father, and opened the door for humankind to regain our rightful place in that kingdom.
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
Yahusha taught His followers to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:9-10). With these words, He was calling on His Father to once again restore His Kingdom rule and culture on Earth as it had always been in Heaven—and as it had been in Eden at the beginning. What was Yah’s Kingdom on Earth like? What was life like in Heaven’s earthly outpost, Yah’s “Garden colony” on Earth?
Essentially, Eden was a direct reflection in the natural realm of Heaven in the supernatural realm. For one thing, it had land —territory. Every kingdom must have territory, for without territory there is nothing for a king to rule over. Although invisible, the supernatural realm of Heaven is vast and infinite —much larger than the natural realm visible to human eyes. Eden was a physical realm with physical territory. That is why Yah did not create man first. He created the Earth first so that man would have territory to rule. Adam and Eve ruled Eden and the entire created order, just as Yah ruled in Heaven.
Second, Eden shared a common language with Heaven. Any nation or kingdom needs a common language or else it will begin to lose national and social cohesion. Adam and Eve shared a common language with their Creator. They conversed openly and easily with Him in a completely transparent relationship and always knew exactly what He expected. All that changed when the pretender took over. Even though all humans spoke a common language with one another for many centuries—until Yah confused their speech at the Tower of Babel (see Gen. 11:1-9)—they lost their ability to understand and speak Yah’s language, the language of Heaven. That is why, when we are outside the Kingdom, we do not understand what Yah says and no longer know what He expects. One characteristic of Kingdom life is that we can speak and understand the language of the Kingdom in a way that those outside the Kingdom cannot.
Eden also shared the laws and constitution of Heaven.
These were not written down anywhere, because Yah had inscribed them on the hearts and minds of the human couple He had created. They knew what He expected and demanded. They understood how He wanted them to live and what He wanted them to do. Yah’s instructions were simple: Be fruitful, multiply, fill the Earth, and subdue it. He placed only one restriction on their activities, and it was for their protection: “And Yahuah Elohiym commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die. BERE'SHIYTH (GENESIS) 2:16-17 את CEPHER. Aside from this one prohibition, they were completely free.
In the beginning, Eden operated under Heaven’s moral code. Every nation must have a moral code, or else the people will become a law unto themselves and do whatever they want, resulting in chaos, disorder, and anarchy. At first, Adam and Eve had no consciousness of a moral code; they lived in perfect harmony with Yah. There was no lying, or stealing, or murder, or sexual immorality, or any other corrupt behavior that characterizes life in a fallen world. However, when the pretender’s trickery and deceit led them to disobey Yah’s one restriction, they discovered immediately the full weight of the Kingdom’s moral code as it pressed down on them, producing a deep sense of guilt and shame.
Eden and Heaven also shared common values. Part of being a citizen of any nation is agreeing with the expressed values of that nation. In the Kingdom of Heaven, the most important value is obedience to the will of the King. Through their disobedience, Adam and Eve revealed that they no longer shared the King’s values, which is why they had to leave the Garden.
The disobedience of Adam and Eve violated not only the Kingdom’s moral code, but also its customs and social norms. All nations and kingdoms have customs (unwritten codes of conduct and expectations that have become so ingrained in a people’s consciousness that they take on the force of law). They also have social norms (the manners, etiquette, graces, and standards of behavior that are regarded as normative for that society). Violation of those norms causes one to be labeled as “anti-social,” and sometimes even as “criminal.”
In the Kingdom of Heaven, the King’s word is law, and it encompasses both customs and social norms. It is absolute and inviolable. Defiance of the King is not tolerated. Lucifer (satan) and one-third of the angels in Heaven discovered this the hard way when they mounted a coup against the King and were cast out of Heaven for their trouble. Adam and Eve made the same discovery when they found themselves banished from paradise.
In short, as an outpost of Heaven on Earth, the Garden- colony of Eden displayed the culture of Heaven. Culture is the culmination of all these elements: land, language, laws, constitution, moral codes, shared values, customs, and social norms. Culture defines a people. It is inherent; it comes naturally, which is exactly what Yah wants for His Kingdom citizens. He doesn’t want us to strive to obey laws written on stone tablets or laid down in books. He wants to write them in our minds and in our hearts so that they will become second nature to us. That way, we won’t have to think about living the Kingdom culture; we will simply do it.
By creating an outpost of Heaven on Earth, Yah wanted to establish a prototype of the original country of Heaven in another territory. Planting the Garden was a particularly apt way for Yah to accomplish His desire. First, the natural beauty, vibrant life, and abundant fruitfulness of the Garden are visible reflections of equivalent characteristics of Yah’s invisible Kingdom. Heaven is a spiritual country of indescribable beauty, vibrancy, and abundance because it is the center of power for the King of the universe, who is all of those things and more—infinitely more.
Second, a garden transforms the land it occupies, turning it from barren soil into a place of beauty, provision, and purpose. In the same way, the Kingdom of Heaven transforms the natural realm, wherever the two intersect, so that the natural realm becomes a true reflection of Heaven.
Yah’s big idea was to reproduce the Kingdom of Heaven in the visible realm by planting a Kingdom outpost on the Earth and populating it with Kingdom citizens who would govern according to Kingdom government, live according to Kingdom culture, and expand Kingdom influence until it filled and transformed the Earth. Politically speaking, the term for this kind of governmental expansion is colonization. As a Kingdom outpost on Earth, Eden was a colony of Heaven established by a righteous, just, and benevolent King who is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love (see Ps. 103:8).
But Eden was also a garden. And just as kingdoms expand by transplanting their governments and cultures in another place through colonization, gardens expand through the transplantation of seedlings and cuttings onto new soil and graftings into new plant life. Yah’s purpose was that His Kingdom citizens in Eden—His steward-gardeners—would expand the Garden and the government and culture of His Kingdom by transplanting them wherever they went.
That is still Yah’s big idea—and His purpose for today. Yah is still in the horticultural business. All Kingdom citizens share a common call and commission from their King to be royal gardeners, sowing seeds and planting “gardens” of Kingdom culture and government throughout the world until “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahuah, as the waters cover the sea. CHABAQQUQ (HABAKKUK) 2:14 את CEPHER.
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